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It is my distinct pleasure to wish a very Happy Birthday to the company that raised you better than your parents did, kept you up and engaged all night long, causing you to pass out in the middle of Social Studies the next day, and still brings back fond, fond memories to this day, Nintendo. How old is Nintendo, you ask? The answer may shock you: 125.
Imagine if you will, the Fall of 1889: There were 38 states in the Union, the “Wall Street Journal” was just founded and only 118 years away from a Rupert Murdoch takeover, Benjamin “What’s-His-Name” Harrison was President, and a man named Fusajiro Yamauchi founded a humble playing card company that would later be known as Nintendo Koppai. After considerable success in playing cards, they eventually expanded to multiple businesses, including a taxi company, food products, a TV network, and even a chain of no-tell Motels. Seriously. Nintendo Sex Hotels. But after their businesses crashed, Nintendo decided to find a new approach: Making video games, and the rest is history. With arcade hits like “Donkey Kong” giving way to their first home console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and a little game called “Super Mario Bros,” Nintendo went on to become one of the most prolific, successful and recognizable video game companies of all time.
Nowadays, Nintendo has fallen behind the competition a bit. Why? Their gamers (us) grew up. We wanted Call of Duty and Halo and other generic first-person shooter games, and they kept cranking out Mario Kart sequels. So we moved on. The company’s success has ebbed and flowed over the years; the Gamecube somewhat tanked compared to the N64, the Wii was a juggernaut, and their latest console has an iPad for a screen and a confusing name. Go figure. But I’ll bet nothing puts a smile on your face faster than dusting off a classic game like “Goldeneye” or “Super Smash Bros,” blowing in the cartridge, popping it in and wasting an entire afternoon. With that in mind, here are the 125 Best Nintendo games for their 125th Birthday.
125. Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers – NES – 1990
124. Tecmo Super Bowl – NES – 1991
123. Disney’s Aladdin – SNES – 1993
122. Harvest Moon – SNES – 1996
121. Super Monkey Ball – GCN – 2001
120. Mortal Kombat II – 1994
119. The Simpsons Road Rage – GCN – 2001
118. Ice Climber – NES – 1985
117. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game – NES – 1990
116. Mario Paint – SNES – 1992
115. Pilotwings – SNES – 1990
114. Final Fight – SNES – 1989
113. SimCity – SNES – 1989
112. Red Steel 2 – Wii – 2010
111. Double Dragon – NES – 1988
110. WWF No Mercy – N64 – 2000
109. Earthworm Jim – SNES – 1994
108. Mario Kart Wii – Wii – 2008
107. Gradius – NES – 1986
106. 1080º Snowboarding – N64 – 1998
105. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire – N64 – 1997
104. Super Mario Land – Gameboy – 1989
103. Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! (I refuse to call it anything else) – NES – 1987
102. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link – NES – 1988
101. Mega Man 6 – NES – 1994
100. Nintendoland – WiiU – 2012
99. Excitebike – NES – 1985
98. Donkey Konga – GCN – 2004
97. Pokémon Pinball – Gameboy Color – 1999
96. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron – N64 – 1998
95. SSX Tricky – GCN – 2001
94. Dragon Warrior – NES – 1989
93. Dr. Mario – NES – 1990
92. Wave Race 64 – N64 – 1996
91. Mario Power Tennis – GCN – 2004
90. Donkey Kong – Arcade/NES – 1981/1983
89. Castlevania – NES – 1987
88. Metal Gear – NES – 1988
87. New Super Mario Bros U – WiiU – 2012
86. Super Punch Out!! – SNES – 1994
85. Mega Man X – SNES – 1994
84. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader – GCN – 2001
83. Metroid II: The Return of Samus – Gameboy – 1991
82. Earthbound – SNES – 1995
81. F-Zero – SNES – 1991
80. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! – Gameboy Avance – 2003
79. Super Castlevania IV – SNES – 1991
78. Super Star Wars – SNES – 1993
77. Super Paper Mario – Wii – 2007
76. Xenoblade Chronicles – Wii – 2012
75. Perfect Dark – N64 – 2000
74. Super Mario World II: Yoshi’s Island – SNES – 1995
73. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour – GCN – 2003
72. Pokémon Ruby Version / Sapphire Version – Gameboy Advance – 2003
71. South Park – N64 – 1998
70. Donkey Kong Country – SNES – 1994
69. Conker’s Bad Fur Day – N64 – 2001 (The only N64 game my parents refused to let me play)
68. Luigi’s Mansion – GCN – 2001
67. StarFox – SNES – 1993
66. Paper Mario – N64 – 2000
65. Contra – NES – 1988
64. Advance Wars – Gameboy Advance – 2001
63. Viewtiful Joe – GCN – 2003
62. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – DS – 2005
61. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks – DS – 2009
60. New Super Mario Bros Wii – Wii – 2009
59. Mario Kart Super Circuit – Gameboy Advance – 2001
58. Kid Icarus – NES – 1987
57. Donkey Kong Land – Gameboy – 1995
56. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Oracle of Ages – Gameboy Color – 2001
55. Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins – Gameboy – 1992
54. Resident Evil – GCN – 2004
53. Fire Emblem: Awakening – 3DS – 2013
52. Donkey Kong Country Returns – Wii – 2010
51. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption – 2007
50. Pikmin – GCN – 2001
49. Animal Crossing – 2002
48. Mega Man – 1987
47. New Super Mario Bros – DS – 2006
46. Mario Tennis – N64 – 2000
45. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – Wii – 2006
44. Super Mario Kart – SNES – 1992
43. Fire Emblem – 2003 – Gameboy Advance
42. Super Mario Sunshine – GCN – 2002
41. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – Gameboy – 1993
40. Animal Crossing: New Leaf – 3DS – 2013
39. Donkey Kong 64 – N64 – 1999
38. Mario Party – N64 – 1999
37. Duck Hunt – NES – 1985
36. Pokémon Snap – N64 – 1999
35. Wii Sports – Wii – 2006
35. Golden Sun – Gameboy Advance – 2001
34. Mario Golf – N64 – 1999
33. Jet Force Gemini – N64 – 1999
32. Super Smash Bros Brawl – Wii – 2008
31. Yoshi’s Story – N64 – 1998
30. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 – N64 – 2000
29. Mario Party 2 – N64 – 2000
28. Pokémon Stadium – N64 – 2000
27. Banjo-Kazooie – N64 – 1998
26. Diddy Kong Racing – N64 – 1997
25. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! – GCN – 2003
24. Metroid Prime – GCN – 2003
23. Super Mario 3D World – 2013
22. Resident Evil 4 – GCN – 2005
21. Mario Kart 8 – WiiU – 2014
20. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – Wii – 2011
19. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker – GCN – 2003
18. Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Wii – 2010
17. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – SNES – 1992
16. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars – SNES – 1996
15. Metroid – NES – 1987
14. Pokémon Gold Version / Silver Version – Gameboy Color – 2000
13. Tetris – Gameboy – 1989
12. Super Smash Bros – N64 – 1999
11. Super Mario 64 – N64 – 1996
10. Super Mario World – SNES – 1990
9. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask – N64 – 2000
8. Super Mario Bros 3 – NES – 1988
7. Super Smash Bros Melee – GCN – 2001
6. Star Fox 64 – N64 – 1997
5. Mario Kart 64 – N64 – 1997
4. GoldenEye 007 – N64 – 1997
3. Pokémon Red Version / Blue Version – Gameboy – 1998
2. Super Mario Bros – NES – 1985
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – N64 – 1998
There you have it. 125 games, each filled with fantastic memories of playing with friends, older siblings, family members, and maybe even your hot babysitter. Thanks for everything, Nintendo. You were my third favorite parent..
Respond
@JayTasShow
@FireJayTas
How is NFL Blitz nowhere on this list? I’m not saying its a top 25 or even top 50 but it deserves a spot on this list.
Honestly, I found it so hard to put Sports games on there. There were just so many great ones from that era from different years and they were cross-platform to every console at the time that it was hard to pick one game from one year.
In the end, unless it was an iconic game like a Mario sports title or a very noteworthy game like Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES, which was the first game to have licensing from the NFL and the NFLPA and actually had both real teams and players for the first time and followed a real NFL schedule, I left them off. Just too many to choose from. NFL Blitz was a fucking masterpiece.
’97 and ’98 were some good years
I got my first handie in ’97
I respect the list and agree with most, but Donkey Kong Country for the SNES at 70 is a travesty, that has to be at least a Top 25 game.
Truth.
I am going to have to Falcon Punch you for ranking Melee over the original Super Smash Bros. Everything, from the game play, to even the commercial, was perfection by simplicity. Brawl was good, but you got the feeling that there was just too much going on during it.
Melee > Original > Brawl. That’s a fact, Jack.
Though the ones for 3DS and WiiU are gonna blow the other three out of the water.
Paperboy needs to be on this list. Spent way too much of my childhood throwing newspapers into people’s windows and being chased by the crazy dogs on that awesome bike
Full disclosure: Paperboy JUST fell off the list. It was in the 120s. But I decided it wasn’t purely a Nintendo game. It’s like putting a Sonic the Hedgehog game on there; sure, he’s mainly only on Nintendo consoles now but he started on Sega. Paperboy was Atari through and through.
A few notes
Wave Race and 1080 are ranked too low
I know its tough to rank sports games but Madden 64, Ken Griffey Jrs MLB, and NBA Jam should be on the list
The thought of F-Zero triggers nostalgia
I think we can all agree that the Legend of Zelda 2 for NES was a giganitc pile of shit. Side scrolling zelda? What?
Super Monkey Ball has to be higher than that. It was the penultimate party game. Super Monkey Ball Golf is still one of the best party game modes ever to be produced. Also, they drunker you get, the better it gets.
#1 isn’t even up for debate…I don’t think I have ever heard a dissenting opinion that Zelda Ocarina of Time isn’t the best game ever.
I dissent.
It’s not. Top 5 though.
Punchout would have to be top 10 imo. Also, interesting that Mario I and III are really high up, and II is nowhere to be found. It was so weird and different than the other two.