Nintendoprobably has the greatest and most highly praised catalog in all of gaming, having an undeniable influence in the gaming industry ever since the ’80s. Some could argue that Nintendo has put out a game that defined an era in each and every genre it has tackled.
What some people may not realize is that a lot of these Nintendo games weren’t actually made by Nintendo. Some of them are made by partner studios, second-party developers, or even complete curveballs you might not have expected.
Alright, fine, this, of course, isn’t one of the best Nintendo games not made by Nintendo, but we added it for the fun of it. It’s probably one of the absolute worst Nintendo-branded titles of all time. All three Zelda CD-i games are infamous for how bad they are and how removed they are from actual Zelda games.
Created after a failed attempt to manufacture a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES in partnership with Phillips, Nintendo ended up giving Phillips the license to the Zelda and Mario IPs to make their own games. They are, of course, not canon, and a reminder that pulling offa great Zelda game is not easy.
Now, for a superb game,Super Mario Strikers is probably the best Mario-sports-themed spinoff game, and therefore, the one that represents them all. And it is, of course, everything you’d want from a Mario football game. It’s over-the-top, exciting, and, as all actual Nintendo games should be, fun.
Strikers perfectly blends the intensity of realistic football and sports games with the fantastical and over-the-top creativity of any Mario game, letting you useMario-themed items, power-ups, and a super-powerful charged shot. All this resulted in a game that gave tons of people endless hours of fun with friends.
The first-ever RPG Mario game and, at the same time, the last Mario game ever released for the SNES. It was developed by the famous studio responsible for the Final Fantasy saga, Square, as they were called at the time. And boy, did it make an impression.
It was a game of firsts for Mario. First RPG, turn-based combat, and 3D isometric view. All of these were done immaculately, along with the game’s dialogue and humor. Not to mention, this is where the famous character Geno was created, who sadly still isn’t in Smash.
What a game, right? Before Rare was bought by Microsoft in 2002, it was known for its world-class, innovative games, like Goldeneye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and, of course, the Donkey Kong Country series. By using pre-rendered 3D models in a 2D space, DKC managed to look better than most SNES games at the time.
These games have it all. They are fun, with a great, immersive atmosphere and a majestic soundtrack composed by David Wise, and they are quite a challenge for inexperienced players. To top it off, DKC gave us a lot ofour favorite Kongs, like Funkyand Cranky.
Talk about an underrated gem. The Minish Cap is regarded by some fans as the best 2D Zelda game. Granted, those fansmight not have played A Link To The Past, but that doesn’t mean Minish Cap isn’t at that level or golden standard.
Developed by Capcom, The Minish Cap isanother one of “Toon Link’s” adventuresfor Nintendo’s handheld consoles. Ironically, the game’s length mimics its main mechanic of shrinking down into Minish size, as its only real flaw or criticism is that it’s too short if you’re not going for 100 percent completion.
Another fairly underrated little gem of an RPG. Being the second entry in the Mother series, they changed the name outside of Japan to simply “EarthBound” instead of “Mother 2” to avoid confusion as to what it was a sequel to, since Mother never launched officially in the west until years later.
Breaking the typical RPG conventions of grand epic adventures, EarthBound is a Japanese man’s vision of a kid’s life in 80s and 90s America. For example, epic set-pieces and fights against giant dragons in huge dungeons were exchanged for fights against bullies in arcade rooms. Those changes set EarthBound truly apart.
Grezzo has made its fair share of Zelda games and remakes, but the one that stands out the most has got to be Link’s Awakening. Probably one of the Zelda games that needed a remake the most, Link’s Awakening is a pretty deep and impactful game to be kept locked away in the Game Boy and Game Boy Color-era hardware.
The overhauled soundtrack, now complete with a real-life orchestra, along with the new clay-toy, diorama-like aesthetic, make for a truly cozy and special experience, one that can only be found on games with Nintendo’s seal of quality.
It’s curious to think that some of the best Donkey Kong games ever created were not actually made by Nintendo itself. After Rare was bought by Microsoft, and after a long drought of main-line DK platformers, Retro Studios came in with a couple of bangers: Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze.
Tropical Freeze is often considered the better one, and with good reason. The inventive level design, fun gameplay, and catchy soundtrack all feel like natural evolutions of what the original DKC saga should become. No wonder many fans think of it as the best 2D platformer, period.
No Pokemon game is made by Nintendo, and a bunch of them could’ve made this list. HeartGold & SoulSilver are simply the flagship titles of the Pokemon franchise to many. To put it plainly, they are some ofthe best remakes ever made of some of the best sequelsever made.
Game Freak really outdid itself with these. It was the first time you could actually have your companion Pokémon walk around with you in the overworld, which blew people’s minds at the time. The fourth-gen sprites are just gorgeous, and Go Ichinose’s rearranged soundtrack elevates the games to the sky.
10Metroid Prime Remastered
Retro Studios
Retro Studios one more time. Metroid Prime is, as Metroid games tend to be, one of the most underrated games of its generation. And its remaster, also made by Retro Studios, is probably the best-looking game on Switch, maybe tied with Luigi’s Mansion 3.
Metroid’s first foray into 3D territory was nothing short of a masterpiece, perfectly capturing the atmosphere and exploration elements found in Super Metroid’s 2D world and giving it a modern spin,with almost nothing lost in translation. Prime Remastered, looking as good as it does, is obviously the definitive way to play this top-class game.
