20. Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)

Xenoblade Chronicles is epic in scale and setting, and you'll spend many hours examining its incredible complexity, enhancing your abilities and exploring the world's ecosystem. Whether you play it on Wii, on New Nintendo 3DS, or on Switch in the sublime Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, it delivers a huge (and hugely enjoyable) JRPG experience that developer Monolith Soft would build on with its sequel and Xenoblade Chronicles X, although the original game was arguably never bettered.

19. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

There's an argument to be made that Mario 64 never got a 'true' sequel until this game: Sunshine's FLUDD muddied the waters with its feature set; the Galaxy games cleverly eschewed large open playgrounds for impeccably crafted planetoids designed around specific gameplay elements; 3D Land and 3D World were deliberately constrained with linear design to attract players of 2D Mario into the third dimension.

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube766k
Watch on YouTube

Super Mario Odyssey was a return for the 'sandbox' style players had been pining for since 1996, and it delivered everything you could want and more. Cappy's capture abilities keep things fresh in a game which blends all sorts of ideas and art styles into an improbably coherent, compelling whole. It really shouldn't work, but New Donk City's human inhabitants are able to co-exist with the anthropomorphic cutlery of the Luncheon Kingdom and the big-eyed cute characters of the Mushroom Kingdom clan thanks solely to the developers' impeccable execution. The mechanical mastery on display here is breathtaking, with so many distractions to discover, and there's a joyful abandon which carries through every kingdom you visit. We don't envy the designers who have to come up with Mario's next game, but if Mario Odyssey is anything to go by, absolutely anything is possible.

An utterly remarkable entry in this most celebrated of series, then, and an essential purchase whether you like Mario or not.

18. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)

How does this 'ultimate' version of Smash stack up against the rest? Vocal concerns about past games were actively addressed. Every single fighter from the series is present (even Pichu) and joined by a colossal roster of DLC characters from the annals of gaming (let's not forget that this is the game responsible for bringing Banjo and Kazooie back home to a Nintendo console). The customisability is overwhelmingly vast, and it’s all topped off with super-solid single-player modes to boot.

We’re not sure how you could make a more robust or pleasing Smash game. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate truly is the ultimate instalment in the series, and it makes you wonder where Masahiro Sakurai can possibly take this franchise next.

17. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

With Super Mario Galaxy 2 Nintendo gave us that rarest of treats — a direct sequel to one of its finest games. While anyone who played and fell in love with Super Mario Galaxy would have been overjoyed to hear there was more on the way, the expectations couldn't have been higher. Somehow, Galaxy 2 expanded on the first game's inventiveness, turning up the colour dial to eleventy-stupid. This was EAD Tokyo tearing up the text and pasting it back together in fascinating, surprising ways, flexing its beefed-up and confidently creative muscles with a huge variety of environments and obstacles, plus Yoshi and a host of new power-ups. It's an absolutely brilliant time. It may be missing from Switch's 3D All-Stars collection, but this game is truly worth hunting down a Wii for if you missed it.

To argue over which Galaxy is better is pointless, really — they're both wonderful and utterly essential, so if you never got around to playing the sequel, carve out some time as soon as possible.

16. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)

As if its library wasn't impressive enough, the 3DS got a wonderful reworking of a game which collects ‘Best Game Of All Time’ awards like beer mats.

It was always going to be good, but Grezzo managed to strike the perfect balance between evoking nostalgia for the N64 original and carefully updating and polishing the experience to help it shine in the 21st century. It’s just like you remember, but going back and actually comparing the two reveals that it’s vastly improved and overhauled, from UI to textures to character models. The modifications this release brought to the table make this the best way to play the game in the present day. And everybody should play Ocarina of Time.

15. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Where Sunshine faltered, Super Mario Galaxy truly did shine. Taking Mario into space gave Nintendo the opportunity to play with gravity and give him a whole new (final) frontier of planetoid playgrounds to blast between, setting the stage for endlessly creative snippets of platforming perfection.

All that aside, there's also Rosalina and the Lumas' story to enjoy if you go looking for it; an affecting and underrated aspect of an utterly sublime game. It's available to play on Switch, and you really should — Super Mario Galaxy is an infectiously fun trip through the cosmos which begged the question: Where could the plumber possibly go next?

14. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Wii U)

In this HD remaster, Nintendo did a valiant job of breathing new life into what was already an exceptional Legend of Zelda title. It took the game’s timeless art style and gave it a glorious new HD sheen, while also making an extensive amount of worthwhile improvements to previously flawed aspects of the gameplay. Sailing across the Great Sea, discovering new islands, and exploring exciting dungeons — the designs of which still shine even today – has simply never been as much fun as it is on Wii U.

It’s fair to say that Nintendo could have done more in certain areas (there really isn’t anything substantial in the way of new content), and the updated lighting, though lovely in its own right, is not necessarily 'better'; it's heavy on the bloom compared to the sublime original. Still, The Wind Waker was never in need of a drastic overhaul; this refinement made welcome tweaks that brought it more in line with modern standards. A great game made (for the most part) even greater, then.

13. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

As toweringly important as the original Super Mario Bros. was, Super Mario Bros. 3 was a colossal leap forward in practically every way. It refined the basics, switched up the visuals, and added more mechanical variety and one-and-done elements than any video game to that point — so many that even today there are certain suits, stages, and secrets that many fans never found.

So many ‘old’ games are best approached with historical context in mind, or come with caveats when playing them years after release, but SMB3 needs none. It's just as boundingly inventive and fresh as the day it was released, and easily one of the very finest video games ever made. Play it, now.

12. Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch)

With Metroid Prime Remastered, the seemingly impossible has been achieved: a masterpiece has been made even better. The minor issues we have with the motion controls and the occasional visual hiccup pale in comparison to the enhancements that have been made here. The visual improvements are extensive, right through to the minor details, and it all comes together to create one of the best-looking games on Switch, remaster or not. The new twin-stick control setup works flawlessly for both veterans and newcomers, but if you're itching to go back to the original GameCube controls, that option is there too. With an expanded gallery feature to round things out, Metroid Prime Remastered feels like a new benchmark in how older games can be thoughtfully revitalised for the modern age.

11. Metroid Dread (Switch)

Metroid Dread is a triumphant return for both Samus Aran and developer MercurySteam. This is a super-slick, hugely entertaining and exquisitely designed entry in the Metroid franchise that plays better than anything we've seen from the series so far. With a bunch of fantastic new abilities, super tense and enjoyable stealth sections, plenty of great big boss fights and a story that fans will definitely enjoy, we can't really see how this one could have been improved.

Best Metroid game ever? There'll likely be calls of recency bias, but there's a very strong argument that 2D Metroid has never been better.

10. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)

Given the 'Cel-da' controversy that blighted the game at its initial reveal, it's fitting that The Wind Waker has come to be so loved and admired over time. Where other games of the era struggle under the weight of modern high-definition scrutiny, Toon Link's maiden voyage looks almost as fresh as the day we first set out from Outset Isle to discover what had happened to the Hyrule we once knew.

It's not without flaws (and the HD remake on Wii U addressed many of them) but thinking back, we don't really remember the repetitive wind conducting, the infamous Triforce shard hunt or Tingle's sea chart extortion. No, it's the rainbow colours of the tempestuous ocean, the breezy panpipes of Dragon Roost and the salty self-reflection our voyages brought about that stick in the memory. Beneath the surface, it's very much a continuation of the 3D Zelda template laid down in Ocarina of Time, but there's undeniable magic in The Wind Waker, and in spite of its imperfections, it's still one of our very favourites of the series.

9. Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver (DS)

The original Pokémon Gold and Silver games are fondly remembered by Pocket Monster fans all over the world, and with good reason: they introduced features that genuinely evolved the original Game Boy games, such as breeding and an in-game clock (not to mention colour!), features that have become series staples. Add in fan-favourite monsters and these remakes were always going to be well received.

Future games would trickle in additional quality-of-life features and other innovations, but some would argue — if they're able to get over an enduring love of the original 151 — that it never got better than travelling across the land, searching far and wide in these DS remakes. The Game Boy originals may be a little hard to return to these days, but Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver strike the very best balance of nostalgia and that patented catch-'em-all gameplay.

8. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN)

The power of GameCube enabled greater fidelity of its paper-based art style than the original, but otherwise Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door stuck closely to the original's blueprint. It's a wonderfully colourful adventure packed with clever callbacks to the portly plumber's history and the same irreverent spirit which makes so many Mario RPGs refreshingly different from the mascot's platformers. Where other entries have dropped the ball in an area or two, Thousand-Year Door gets everything right; plot, writing, battles, presentation - the lot.

Prices for a GameCube disc — still the only official way to play (though not for long thanks to a recently announced Switch remaster) — have skyrocketed in recent years and given the quality, it's not hard to see why. Treasure your copy if you've got one, and perhaps lend it to a trusted friend who never visited the town of Rogueport.

And if you don't have a copy or a GameCube? Well, have we got some good news for you!...

7. Super Metroid (SNES)

We dislike overusing the word 'masterpiece', but in this case (and in the case of a chunk of top-tier SNES releases) it's absolutely accurate. Super Metroid is the standard by which all Metroid games are judged, and an impossibly high one, at that. If you're a franchise fan, you'll have played this to death. If, however, you've never dipped your toes into Nintendo's pool of sci-fi action exploration, this is the one you need to play. That's all there is to it.

6. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB)

It would be difficult to argue against The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening being the pinnacle of gaming on the Game Boy. The developers were able to squeeze an extremely lengthy quest into the tiny package and push just about every facet of the handheld hardware to its limit. Not only is Link's Awakening not the dumbed-down Zelda adventure many initially feared it would be, but it turned out to be one of the best entries in the series and one that is beloved among Zelda fans the world over. It laid the foundation for so many Zelda mechanics we still see today, introducing flying with Cuccos, trading sequences, playing songs on an ocarina, fishing, and even minibosses.

For such a tiny game, Link's Awakening created enormous shockwaves in the Zelda franchise that we're still feeling today. If you want to experience the very best that the portable system has to offer, do yourself a favour and get this (or the DX version for Game Boy Color with the extra dungeon that's handily available via Nintendo Switch Online) immediately. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)

It’s impossible to talk about everything that makes The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom so incredible, and making many of those discoveries yourselves is part of the magic. It’s also impossible to overstate just how much there is to do in this Hyrule the second time around. Much like its predecessor, this will likely become your playground for several years to come, with a little sprinkling of that older Zelda fairy dust mixed into Breath of the Wild’s formula. It’s a glorious, triumphant sequel to one of the best video games of all time; absolute unfiltered bliss to lose yourself in for hundreds of hours.

4. Super Mario World (SNES)

There is endless debate about whether Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World is the better game. For our money, they are two sides of the same coin — two faces of a monumental peak in the video game landscape. This remains an incredible achievement of invention and sheer entertainment that the 2D platforming genre has struggled to match ever since. Introducing Yoshi and an expanded overworld with multiple paths, Mario World overflows with secrets and secret exits that were perfect for fuelling playground gossip and elevating it to the upper-est echelons of platform video games, 2D or otherwise.

Decades on, it still doesn't get much better than this. All games have flaws, but if there exists an exception to that rule, Super Mario World is it.

3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is one of the best games of all time, and if you haven't experienced it yourself... you probably have through one of the other Zelda games, such was its influence on the series and the action-adventure genre. It introduced many mainstays of the franchise, including various stalwart items and the idea of parallel worlds. Link could move diagonally and run thanks to the Pegasus Boots, and he could swipe his sword sideways, allowing for a much wider range when attacking.

There's no shortage of 2D and 3D Zeldas to choose from these days, but this 16-bit entry codified the core elements of a 'Zelda game' for the decades that followed. It's still got that touch of magic about it many years later. Unmissable.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

What is there that hasn't already been said about this one? A seminal video game, Ocarina of Time brought The Legend of Zelda into the third dimension as successfully as the plumber made the leap in Super Mario 64. Yet where Nintendo could throw any playground-style idea into Mario's launch game, Ocarina had to tell a story and evoke a consistent mood throughout.

Going back these days, the frame rate and cumbersome menus may surprise you, and Hyrule Field feels decidedly smaller (more like a field, in fact) compared to the vast kingdom of Hyrule presented in Breath of the Wild, but the pure magic of the game still shines through any ageing systems. This set the template for not only every subsequent Zelda title, but also the majority of action-adventure games from the past two-and-a-half decades; no wonder it's so revered.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on 3DS is the more streamlined version, but there are things that Grezzo's excellent remake couldn't quite recapture. Whether it's the Rumble Pak-powered Stone of Agony or the 64-bit mist hanging over Lake Hylia in the early hours, the N64 original still has that special something.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a landmark release, both for its franchise and Nintendo. It was the first time that the company truly took on the open-world genre, and by arriving late to the party it embraced the strengths of top-in-class games while also forging its own unique identity. This game was a revolution for the series, but the Legend of Zelda essence is still there — its soul remains, and the end result is captivating. After years of following the same old template, Nintendo bravely took Zelda in a new direction and delivered an absolute triumph which still has us regularly revisiting its iteration of Hyrule. Its sequel expanded on the open world first presented here, but the excitement of exploring this wilderness for the very first is an experience nobody should miss.

And there you have it! Let us know below how this aligns with your personal ranking (maybe just the top 10!) and if you feel there are any games which should have made the top 100.

Remember, if you find that game in our database and rank it, there's every chance it could supplant one of the lower-ranked entries here and make an appearance — it simply needs a high enough rating to break the Top 100!