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[Betta Lines]

1. Tetris (Game Boy); I still play it regularly. A perfect game.
2. Super Mario Land (Game Boy); My first Nintendo experience, and therefore I prefer the movement of Mario in this game above all others. The physics in SMB feel weird to me.
3. Super Mario Kart (SNES); The first racing game that seemed more fun than the arcades. Still prefer the handling of this over every other Mario Kart.
4. Wii Sports (Wii); Arguably still the best motion game. Perhaps not a Revolution, but a revelation all the same. Blew my mind at launch, and the minds of everyone I introduced it to.
5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES); The best adventure.
6. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii); Unequalled platforming.
7. Super Mario 64 (N64); The unforgettable leap to 3D.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64); The second unforgettable leap to 3D.
9. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii); Despite the rather tacked-on feel of the motion controls, they worked really well and I wouldn't want to play it any other way.
10. The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (GBA); The best handheld adventure.

 

[Sadist]

Sin & Punishment counts as a Nintendo franchise, so yes. Allowed!

Updated the second post, includes all the handheld games I could find

I'm disqualified you say?

Whateverrrrrrr

Oh you

 

[Caspel]

1.Super Mario 64
2.Super Mario Bros. 3
3.Pokemon Red/Blue
4.Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
5.Fire Emblem (GBA)
6.Mario Kart 64
7.The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
8.Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
9.Metroid Prime
10. Advance Wars (GBA)

 

[CrazyDude]

I gave reasons as to why it's great, how about giving reasons as to how it's not? Can't just make a claim like that without stating why.

True enough. The overworld was a chore to go through. I can hardly take a couple step without having to go to a side scrolling portion. It becomes very tedious fast. The combat was unfair. To be honest, I should probably give the game another try. It's been ten years since I last played it. Memory might be skewing my thoughts of the game.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

1. Metroid Prime [GCN]
2. Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door [GCN]
3. The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask [N64]
4. Animal Crossing: Wild World [NDS]
5. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker [GCN]
6. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons & Ages [GBC]
7. Chibi-Robo [GCN]
8. Eternal Darkness [GCN]
9. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn [WII]
10. Hotel Dusk [NDS]

Preaching the Scripture.

 

[Boney]

Sakamoto has GAF account? I need Zero Mission on 3DS VC asap!

No man a Sakamoto made list would read something like this

Metroid Other M
Famicom Tantei Club Part II
Metroid Fusion
Minna no Rhythm Tengoku
Metroid
Wario Ware Inc
Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru
Card Hero
Tomodachi Collection
Kiki Trick

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Okaeri! Chibi-Robo! Happy Richie Oosouji! (Japan Only)

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

Great thread! This is tough, but here goes:

1) Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
2) Super Mario Galaxy 2
3) Super Smash Bros Brawl
4) Super Mario 64
5) Pokemon Blue/Red
6) Animal Crossing
7) Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
8) Super Mario Bros
9) Donkey Kong Country 2
10) Mario Kart Wii

 

[Lord_Byron28]

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3. Super Smash Bros. Melee- Probably the most amount of time spent on any game.
4. Metroid Prime
5. Super Mario World
6. Pokemon G/S
7. Star Fox 64
8. Pikmin 2
9. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
10. Donkey Kong Country Returns- Retro's version. Rare's version sucks balls.

Other contenders:
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario 3D Land
Yoshi's Island
Metroid Fusion
Mario Kart DS- The best entry in the series
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Zelda: The Wind Waker
Zelda: Twilight Princess

 

[CrazyDude]

Say what you want about the rest of the game (which I liked) but the temple music was really good.

The music was one of the best in the series though.

 

[Hazelhurst]

1. Super Mario Bros. 3
2. The Legend of Zelda
3. Metroid
4. Wave Race 64
5. Star Fox Adventures
6. Super Mario Bros.
7. Super Mario Bros. 2
8. Punch-Out!!! (NES)
9. 1080° Snowboarding
10. Diddy Kong Racing

One day I'll get around to playing Kirby Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns. They look amazing. I may just hold out for the inevitable HD versions on the Wii U.

I think Super Mario 64 is overrated. It's no where near as good as Super Mario Bros. 3, which is what I compare it to.

 

[Raw64life]

1. Super Mario Bros. 3
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
3. Super Mario Galaxy
4. Super Mario 64
5. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
6. Super Smash Bros. Melee
7. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
8. Super Mario World
9. Earthbound
10. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Could spend all day toiling over changes I'd make to a list like this but this is just off the top of my head.

 

[mr stroke]

1-Zelda Link to the Past-SNES
2-Super Mario World-SNES
3-Mario Galaxy-Wii
4-F-ZERO-SNES
5-Super Metriod-SNES
6-Star Fox-SNES
7-Super Mario Kart-SNES
8-Super Mario 3-NES
9-Pilot Wings-SNES
10-Wave Race-N64

 

[Kusagari]

1. Earthbound/Mother 2
2. Super Mario Galaxy
3. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
4. Fire Emblem (GBA)
5. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal
6. Super Mario Brothers 3
7. Super Smash Bros: Melee
8. Donkey Kong Country 2
9. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
10. Super Mario 64

 

[Cromat]

Really surprised at the lack of Pokemon on many peoples list, as well as on the Famitsu list. It's weird that when people think of Nintendo they immediately think "Mario, Zelda, Metroid" even though Pokemon is a more important game than either of the last two (in terms of sales and influence).

I still believe Pokemon is the best JRPG.

 

[ecierif]

I'm surprised no one (other than my honorable mention) has mentioned Conker or Perfect Dark. Rare was still a second party when they released, right? They're also not included in the list of games on the first page. I mean, they are flawed, but they must stand out to someone.

 

[ace harding: private eye]

Wow, this was tougher than I thought.

1. Super Metroid SNES
2. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening GB
3. Super Mario Kart DS DS
4. Super Mario Bros 2 (USA) NES
5. Super Mario World SNES
6. Tetris DS DS
7. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 GB
8. Virtual Boy Wario Land VB
9. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! NES
10. New Super Mario Bros WII

 

[DimmuBurgerKing]

1. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
3. Earthbound (SNES)
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
5. Super Metroid (SNES)
6. Star Fox 64 (N64)
7. Mario Kart 64 (N64)
8. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
9. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GCN)
10. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (GCN)

 

[chris3116]

I'm surprised no one (other than my honorable mention) has mentioned Conker or Perfect Dark. Rare was still a second party when they released right? They're also not included in the list of games on the first page. I mean, they are flawed, but they must stand out to someone.

The thing is other than Donkey Kong and StarFox Adventures all the games Rare made are their own IPs (Banjo, Perfect Dark, Conker). They're not Nintendo games even if they were made exclusively on Nintendo consoles.

 

[Kujo]

1. Donkey Kong Country 2
2. Metroid Prime
3. Super Mario World
4. Yoshi's Island
5. Mario Galaxy 2

 

[dc89]

1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time A true timeless classic and it will forever remain that way. The scale & the scope were just incredible at the time and the world still holds up today.

2. Mario 64 I will never forget playing it at Toys 'r' Us first. I died in the moat. I then got it for Christmas and it was just incredible. The first 3D game I played.

3. Pokemon Red/Blue I got Pokemon Blue and my brother got Red. Holding a world in your hands felt magical. Then when you realised what you had to do, catch all 150 and go on this epic journey you know it was going to be good.

4. Goldeneye 007 The first FPS I played. I remember getting it after going to the dentist as a kid. It was awesome, I played it over and over and over and did for many years. The multiplayer really lay a foundation for today.

5. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask The dark and twisted Zelda title. I really want this to come to 3DS too. I loved the mechanics and the setting. The characters were all really strong too.

6. Animal Crossing: Wild World Such a time sink, so much to do, so many animals to meet and so much to collect! Tom Nook is a brilliant character too and others such as Red deserve mentions.

7. Pokemon Soul Silver/Heart Gold Remake of a fantastic game. The nostalgia you get when playing it is fantastic. The music is simply awesome.

8. Yoshi's Island The best handheld game I have played that has anything to do with Mario. The graphics are very unique and are a joy to behold.

Edit: I will put in 9 and 10 when I choose them.

 

[electroplankton]

1. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest SNES; a masterpiece in the platform genre, I loved 1 and 3 equally.
2. Pokémon Gold / Silver GB; the first one was breathtaking, but this one was simply one of the best game I had ever played. Something like 300 hours in! Nostalgia listening its soundtrack, a joy for my ears.
3. Super Mario World SNES; superb in its realization, a great level design for a classic.
4. Tetris GB; my first game!
5. Sin and Punishment N64; hectic, fast, for me it was a really different experience at that time.
6. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island SNES; slightly less defining than the first world, but one of the best level design I have never seen. Memorable.
7. Rhythm Paradise DS; crazy and addictive, one of the best games of this generation. Love also the first one though.
8. Mother 3 GBA; an incredible RPG experience that made me reflect.
9. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 DS; as above, but it was a point-and-click adventure. Thanks to it, I though about death seriously for the first time.
10. Animal Crossing Wild World DS; it accompanied me through several months, it was incredible to see how the small village grew with me and my actions!

 

[Dr. Feel Good]

1.) Super Mario World
2.) Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal (if it has to be narrowed down I would go Crystal)
3.) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
4.) Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land
5.) The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
6.) Animal Crossing (GameCube)
7.) Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
8.) Paper Mario: The Thousand Year-Door
9.) Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
10.) Kirby's Dream Course

The last bits were hard, wish I could include these too:

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Super Mario 64
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Mario Kart 64
Kirby's Pinball Land
Pokemon Pinball
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Elite Beat Agents

 

[lazybones18]

Won't be a lot of Zelda, Metroid, or Donkey Kong in my list

1. Goldeneye 007; coincidentally, it's my all-time favorite game. So I guess it stands to reason that it's my #1 Nintendo game

2. Super Mario 64; favorite 3D Mario overall

3. Super Smash Bros. Melee; perfect mixture of characters, levels, replay value, and overall fun. Much better than the disappointment that is Brawl

4. Super Mario World; favorite 2D Mario overall. Funny how I never fully played the entire game until it was re-released on the GBA cause I never owned the SNES

5. Super Mario Galaxy; game had me with the soundtrack. So fucking beautiful

6. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker; pretty much the only main console Zelda title I've liked so far

7. Super Mario Galaxy 2; continuing the greatness of SMG 1 in more ways than one

8. Animal Crossing; those damn Real World spoof commercials. Might not have had online like its future installments, but I never grew tired of this game. So much fun playing this.

9. Mario Kart 64; never played SMK on the SNES (cause I never owned the SNES in the first placed). Playing this game over and over again at a friend's house and at home was more than enough to make me a MK fan.

10. Kirby Canvas Curse; first Kirby title I played. And with it being on the DS it, made for an interesting game that was worth owning

 

[nincompoop]

Sin & Punishment counts as a Nintendo franchise, so yes. Allowed!

Updated the second post, includes all the handheld games I could find


Oh you

Your list is still missing Wiiware and DSiware and 3DSWare games EDIT and Satellaview games

 

[LSauchelli]

1) Super Metroid; Even though some aspects of Super Metroid were highly refined in Zero Mission and Fusion, Super is still the best.
2) Super Mario Galaxy 2; The best 3d Mario Game ever.
3) Super Mario World; I really think this is the best Nintendo 2d platformer. Its reply value and the way it aged is incredible.
4) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past; My favorite Zelda.
5) Super Mario 64; For a long while I thought this would be Nintendo's best 3D platformer, only SMG and then SMG2 could beat it in my eyes. But yet, it still is an amazing game to reply over and over and over again.
6) F-Zero GX; Would've picked X, mainly because of the difficulty in GX, but GX really is the better game.
7) The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening; Many consider this the best Zelda game ever. And to an extent I agree -it certainly is better than any modern Zelda- and I wish more games in the series followed this kind of structure.
8) Wave Race 64; While Blue Storm is in many aspects the better game, I just never had as much fun in that one. For a long while it was the sole reason for me to have a second joystick on my N64, and it was worth it.
9) Punch Out Wii; The sheer fun one can have in this game is amazing. It probably would've landed a better spot in my personal list if the multiplayer would've been better.
10) Mario Kart 64; Say whatever you want about this game. It's the one I spent the most hours playing and having a blast.

 

[Shadowlink]

1.) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island; Why number 1? Because it's the greatest game ever created. The OST, levels, art style, animation, etc. are all perfect.
2.) Super Metroid
3.) Super Mario World
4.) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
5.) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
6.) Donkey Kong Country 2
7.) Kirby Super Star
8.) Super Mario Galaxy 2
9.) Metroid Prime
10.) Pokemon Gold/Silver

 

[Snakeyes]

I always try to pick one game per series in these lists.

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee; the definitive fighting game, arcade sticks be damned. There is no other fighter that gives players the same amount of options and freedom while retaining competitive balance and being newcomer-friendly at the same time. The engine is so flexible that you can often tell who is playing just by looking at their movement if you've watched them enough. The dynamics of a match are always changing based on the stage, damage percentage, positioning and edge-guarding adds a whole new dimension to the old-school concept of cornering the opponent.

Why this game out of the whole series? - Smash 64 was too combo oriented and Brawl was more accessible than it needed to be. Melee was the (almost) perfect balance of both.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask; a superb take on the Zelda formula. The apocalyptic scenario and the atmosphere were top notch and the three day format was a stroke of genius. Majora's Mask is the real Ocarina of Time to me because when you think about it, the latter had very little actual time-based gameplay.

Why this game out of the whole series? - It's by far the most unique Zelda game ever made.

3. Perfect Dark; What a game this was back in 2000! It had a huge amount of unique weapons, amazing graphics for its time, superb AI and a huge amount of options for multiplayer.

Why this game out of the whole series? - Goldeneye was surpassed by it in every aspect and Perfect Dark Zero didn't add anything new to the formula.

4. Star Fox 64; This game did so many things right. The graphics, the controls, the levels, the branching paths... I also loved the constant banter between Team Star Fox and their enemies.

Why this game out of the whole series? - I was too young to really enjoy the original and the later games lacked something. SF64 was also the first game I played on my brand new N64.

5. Super Mario World; the definitive 2D Mario, full of secrets and charm. It was also the first Mario game I played when being old enough to understand what was going on.

Why this game out of the whole series? - It was my "real" first Mario game.

6. Metroid Prime; Perfect transition from 2D to 3D Metroid.

Why this game out of the whole series? - The levels are more cohesive than in the sequels.

7. F-Zero GX; Best racing game ever made. What's even more impressive is that it earns this title through very basic, but perfectly tuned gameplay. There are no obnoxious power-ups or random stage hazards, only you zipping through the tracks at supersonic speeds with pinpoint precision.

Why this game out of the whole series? - It's the most impressive one from a technical standpoint.

8. Banjo-Kazooie; This is the best N64 platformer in my opinion. The power-ups and moves were a breath of fresh air and the levels were very unique.

Why this game out of the whole series? - Levels like Jolly Roger Lagoon and Click Clock Wood give it a slight edge over Tooie.

9. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door; An unconventional take on the JRPG formula coupled with a unique art style.

Why this game out of the whole series? - I enjoyed TTYD's locations more.

10. Sin & Punishment 2: Star Successor; Awesome rail-shooter in a great setting. Like other Treasure games, it is difficult but fair.

Why this game out of the whole series? - It's the most impressive one from a technical standpoint.

 

[Neiteio]

Gah, this topic is impossible. All I know is Majora's Mask, DKC2 and Metroid Prime are waaaaaaaaay up there.

EDIT: Oh snap! Rare-owned IPs count? Then Banjo-Kazooie is also waaaaaaaaay up there!

 

[spliced]

1. Super Mario Bros
2. Super Mario 64
3. Super Mario Kart
4. Blast Corps
5. Super Mario Galaxy 2
6. Donkey Kong Country Returns
7. Wave Race 64
8. Super Mario World
9. NES Open Tournament Golf
10. Super Mario Sunshine

First 2 are the top 2 of any best of list Nintendo or not. The rest are just a hopeless attempt at picking one masterpiece over another.

 

[King of the Potato People]

I didn't think about the order too much except number 1.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

This game concentrates on quality rather than quantity with only 4 dungeons. The 3 day schedule turns the world into the most detailed one in a Zelda game, with each character having their own time table which must be followed in order to get all the side quests. This game feels personal and it feels intense because of the apocalyptic style, and there's the soundtrack that conjures up the emotion and darkness. The masks' transformations add variety, and Majora himself is possibly the most sadistic character in a video game. A jigsaw puzzle of a game where you use new weapons to create short cuts and pass what you've learnt over the time loops.

2. Super Mario Galaxy 2

I found the difficulty perfect and though it's a sequel that reuses ideas, there's also many new ones, including cloud/boulder/drill Mario and Yoshi going berserk by eating a chilli, as well as the hundreds of shadow Marios that chase the player around. The soundtrack is beautiful too.

3. Metroid Prime

Metroid games are about exploration and are usually a breath of fresh air because they're surrounded by games that have a man-in-a-suit who just kills everyone and moving through straightforward levels. In this the scanning and X-ray visor help make the environments more immersive, scored by a magnificent soundtrack. Metroid Prime has beautiful sights.

4: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

It revolutionised adventure game mechanics. What more can be said?

5: Super Mario 64

To enter the garden of Peach's castle for the first time is one of gaming's greatest joys, in full 3D with a controllable camera! This was not conventional Mario, it was about exploration and secrets in mini-sandbox levels, discovering the wing cap in the sky by staring into the ceiling's light, running into a wall to find the hidden caves and observing a music box, then to be sucked into it through the Boo's mansion. It's been about 15 years and many of us can still hum its tracks including from the bomb battlefield, that's the sign of a classic.

6: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

A perfect sequel with catchy music, a comical story, artistic visuals with great new mechanics such as a battle audience and being able to turn into paper objects.

7: Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2

The perfect childhood game, it looks like a story book come to life and drawn with crayons. Yoshi's can awesomely turn into a submarine, a train, a drill and a helicopter. The music perfectly suits the style of a bed-time story.

8: Super Mario Galaxy

A more streamlined version of the game play of SM64 and Super Mario Sunshine. It no longer has that sense of a world, since the levels are move like obstacle courses with more obvious goals, this includes using a bee suit to climb/hover up a massive hive, running around a small planet until the kinetic energy shrinks it, and using elastic sling pods to beat a ghost to the end of the level. Those who do not appreciate imagination will not like this game.

9: Super Metroid

With many SNES games, its stood the test of time and current games still have a lot to learn from its elaborate levels and rewarding upgrades. Having all Samus' best abilities is one of the most satisfying moments in a video game, the screw attack, the space jump, the power bomb and the plasma gun.

10: Xenoblade Chronicles

This game is set in a world on the bodies of dormant titans, each one representing nature or machinery. The levels are seamlessly free-roaming, beautiful and look unique with 100s of side quests as you interact with the charming NPCs. There is innovation such as the Affinity Board and battles' visions. The story is not perfect but works at being eccentric and philosophical. The British voice acting gives the game some character and the soundtrack manages to represent the epic nature. Overall all these strengths make it the best console JRPG for god knows how long.

 

[Electivirus]

1. Super Mario 3D Land

2. Super Mario Galaxy 2

3. Metroid Prime 2

4. Pokemon Black & White

5. Yoshi's Island

6. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

7. Kirby's Epic Yarn

8. Pokemon Emerald

9. Donkey Kong Country Returns

10. Super Smash Bros. Brawl

 

[Bigfoot]

1. The Legend of Zelda ; This is the game that got me to love Zelda and I still play it at least every other year. Even after all this time I still remember random trees to burn and walls to bomb. I know it is considered outdated by many, but I love the old-style feeling of being lost and having to figure things out on my own. No other Zelda game makes my list but many would be in my top 20. I've played them all but some not on their original console (played Ocarina on the GC and ALTTP on the GBA). However, the original is the one I come back to again and again.
2. Metroid Prime ; Easily the best game of last generation for me. Amazing graphics, atmosphere, and game play. Get the trilogy for the Wii if you missed this on the GC.
3. Advanced Wars ; Best game I bought for my GBA. I used to spend hours in the airports travelling for work and this game made time fly by during those waits.
4. Super Metroid ; I never had a SNES so I had to play this game on an emulator after I enjoyed Fusion and Zero Mission on the GBA. Super Metroid was easily the best of the 2D Metroids and I can see why it is so well remembered.
5. Super Mario Galaxy ; The best game I played on the Wii. This reminds me I also need to get back to Galaxy 2.
6. Super Mario World ; Played this on the GBA but loved it more than all the Super Mario NES games I used to play for hours when I was a kid.
7. Super Smash Bros Melee ; So much to do in this game and so much fun. Spent many hours playing this on the GC. Never got the Wii version because I knew I didn't have the time to play it.
8. WarioWare Inc ; Such a great portable game to play in short spurts. Still play it today when my GBA is out.
9. Super Mario Bros 2 ; Black sheep of the SMB NES games but was the one my brother and I played the most.
10. Punch-Out!! ; Wanted to put Rogue Squadron for the GC here but I guess that doesn't count. Punch-Out would be #11... I played this back when it was called Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!

I should point out that the only Nintendo consoles I've ever owned are the NES, GC, Wii, and GBA so my list largely reflects that.

 

[Sis Focaccia]

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past
2. Super Mario World
3. Super Mario Bros. 3
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. Super Mario Galaxy
6. Super Mario Kart
7. F-Zero X
8. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong-Quest
9. Banjo-Kazooie
10. Wario Land II

 

[krYlon]

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
2. Kururin Paradise
3. Kuru Kuru Kururin
4. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
5. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
6. Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
7. Tetris
8. Super Mario Galaxy
9. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
10. Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War


OP, please can you add the GBA Kururin titles to your list

 

[Tunavi]

1. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/Leaf Green/Fire Red - Essentially all are the same game, but there's no explanation needed. Game of the forever.
2. Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal - Updated the UI which was needed badly, added awesome interactive time features, great new Pokemon that fit in the universe perfectly, and color.
3. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - The game that got me into video games in the first place. Still holds up today as the most underrated platformer ever.
4. Metroid Fusion - The perfect action/horror platformer. Still waiting on Metroid 2 3DS. 2d Graphics, 3d effects.
5. Super Mario Bros 3 - Just great platforming
6. Advance Wars
7. Tetris
8. Mario Tennis Color
9. Mario Kart 7 - The same famous Mario Kart formula with perfect 3D, surprisingly great online, and 60 FPS.
10. Metroid Prime

 

[Sadist]

Hehe, seeing a lot of posters saying "man this is hard!". That's one of the reasons why posted this thread after the Famitsu list

 

[Earthpainting]

01. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; Argueably one of the finest crafted games ever made, whose influence we still see to this day. Easily the defining game of that generation hardware in my eyes.
02. Super Metroid ; While some of the later titles are probably better, I hold Super Metroid in the highest regard for getting it right first. The best game of that console-generation hardware to me.
03. Paper Mario ; The RPG catered to players like me. Does away with all the bullshit the genre has to offer and replaces it with bullshit of its own. I love it.
04. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening ; While this game has a lot of issues nowadays due to the hardware it was released on, it still remains the finest portable experience I've ever had.
05. Pikmin 2 ; I really wanted to like the first game, but it had a bunch of significant gripes that prevented me of enjoying it. Then Pikmin 2 came along and fixed everything.
06. Super Mario Bros. 3 ; I was never super crazy about the first Super Mario Brothers games, but the game that changed the tides was this one and I have yet to find a NES-era game that I like more.
07. Pokémon Gold/Silver ; I was a little reluctant to put Red/Blue here because of how it did everything I liked about this game first. On the other hand, the added and refined content, paired with the huge amount of time I put into this one trumped everything. This is the game I think of when I think 'Pokémon' and so it is only fair that I give it the spot.
08. Metroid Prime ; I was insanely sceptical about pretty much every aspect of this title, which made the impact of the shockingly great game all the heavier.
09. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island ; 2D platforming and presentation perfected. When a game can shine in spite of my dislike Baby Mario, you can't help but admire it.
10. Super Mario Galaxy ; This incredibly imaginative 3D platformer is one of the finest games of the current console generation.

That was painful. All of these ranking threads made me wish there was a videogame equivalent of Flickchart.

 

[Fou-Lu]

So many games on my list would probably change if I played certain games more, or if I'd finished games like Xenoblade or Earthbound or any of the Fire Emblems. Plus I couldn't really decide which Pokemon generation to add, so didn't add any. But for now, here is my list:

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee
2. Luigi's Mansion
3. The Legend of Zelda: Wind waker
4. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
5. Metroid Prime
6. Golden Sun: The Lost Age
7. Mario Kart 64
8. Pikmin 2
9. Custom Robo
10. Donkey Kong Country Returns

 

[Murrah]

1. Super Mario Bros. 3; This is my favorite game of all time, so it's obviously top of this list (although objectively speaking I think World is superior)

2. Super Mario Galaxy; Similar to Mario 3 above, I think Galaxy 2 is the better game, but the first Galaxy just left such a larger impact on me. Not to mention the soundtrack in 1 was vastly superior

3. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal; I love the DS remakes and played them to death, but the original GSC are the most nostalgic games of my childhood; whenever I think of Pokemon, I think of desperately waiting for school to be over so we could bust out our GameBoys and trade on the jungle gym while trading tips and rumors about new (fake) Pokemon. Best soundtrack of the series doesn't hurt either

4. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island; Not much to say about this one except it's platforming perfection. Touch fuzzy get dizzy ya'll

5. Super Metroid; A few years ago this would've been higher up my list, but I've played it so many times that it's not as fun as it used to be. Still one of the greatest games of all time though

6. Metroid Prime; First time playing a game I was ever truly scared/uneasy (underwater frigate). If it wasn't for the artifact hunt and nonexistent enemy AI this would be a couple spaces higher on the list

7. The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past; Link's Awakening, Majora's Mask and Windwaker all came close, but if I could only pick one Zelda for this it has to be LttP. I never even played it until the annoying GBA version and it still blew my mind. Flute boy plays again

8. Earthbound; Soundtrack alone is enough to rank it in the top 10 Nintendo games (HOSPITAL!), but it doesn't hurt that the actual game itself is so good. It has some issues, sure, but it's one of those games where the little flaws just add to the charm of the game instead of really seeming like problems

9. Super Smash Bros. Melee; Not much to say about this aside from the fact that it's another super nostalgic game for me, as well as still being in regular multiplayer rotation among me and my group of friends

10. Paper Mario; Paper Mario is the game that really, truly got me into gaming in a more significant capacity; without it I wouldn't really have the friends I do now (they're all pretty big gamers), and that's speaking nothing of living a life without knowing about GAF. So yeah, this one had to make the cut despite Thousand-Year Door being a vast improvement

Shoutouts to my lil fallen runner up homies

Animal Crossing; So much nostalgia for this, and I can't wait for the 3DS version (even if the Wii game was a huge letdown)
Kirby: Mass Attack; It may be too early to judge since I only got the game a bit over a month ago, but it's probably my favorite DS game, and that's saying a lot
Kirby's Epic Yarn; My single favorite gaming session of all time was playing through the entirety of this game in one sitting with a really good friend while sippin' on some hot apple cider on a chilly fall evening. Yeah
Mario Kart 7; Hasn't even been out a month and I've put 60 hours into it. I'm sick
Punch-Out!! (Wii); Sequel and remake all in one package, this is perfect Punch-Out
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest; Playing this with my mom on sick days from school are among my best childhood memories. It's also a pretty ok video game

 

[slaughterking]

1. Metroid Prime
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
4. Super Mario Galaxy
5. Paper Mario
6. The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past
7. Super Mario World
8. Pokémon Blue
9. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
10. Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!



Metroid Prime is undoubtedly my #1. The rest was more or less gut instinct and could look way different if I did another Top 10 next week.

 

[Shig]

1. DK Jungle Beat
2. Super Metroid
3. Panel De Pon/Tetris Attack
4. Zelda: Link to the Past
5. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
6. Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!
7. Mario Kart DS
8. Wario Ware Twisted
9. Super Mario Galaxy 2
10. F-Zero X

 

[Unicorn]

Lack of pokemon so far is disheartening.

1. Pokemon Heartgold/Soulsilver
Pokemon Blue was my first true foray into an RPG for longer than a song. It was also my first foray into playing a game for more than a triple digit number of hours (at least that a game would calculate). To say I was excited for Silver/Gold to release was an understatement. Pokemon Silver lasted me the last of my elementary school days and some of my jr. high days (until ruby/sapphire came out). The amount of content and advancement provided in Silver blew my 12 year old mind. The remakes for DS along with the pokewalker was a nostalgic trip to glorious times in my childhood and the remastering of all the music was phenomenal. Not to mention the inclusion of the entire GB sound collection. FUCK. More than Nostalgia played into this game being my favorite Nintendo game ever though. The competitive play I was finally able to fully explore with my friends made this an entirely new experience. A whole year of entertainment and weekend enjoyment for my friends and I.

2. Animal Crossing: Wild World
There was about a month one summer where I would do nothing but wake up, play Animal Crossing: WW, then go to sleep. Repeat. 19 hours a day everyday. It was really only possible because I had a couple people to play with. A certain Community website introduced me to quite a few people in different states and countries and a lot of us bonded and shared stories in-game that I still remember to this day. I remember talking to one kid who said that a friend of his that was a girl was at his window and he would be back in a bit. His in-game avatar stood there, dozing off as me and another person played Hide-n-Seek until he returned. I think he said he was 16 or so, but when he came back, he was a man. He briskly detailed how he had just lost his virginity. Moments like that, several weekends of t-shirt designing, role-playing pet jellyfish funerals with friends, and countless other made-up adventures in this game cemented it, and the series as a core must in my play log. Animal Crossing is the reason I bought a Gamecube, DS, Wii, and 3DS. If there were a game to combine Animal Crossing with Pokemon, I don't think I would need another game for any Nintendo hardware.

3. Pikmin 2
The first game gave me constant anxiety with the set time limit. That omission alone cemented the concept of this game as great in my mind, but all the added content and polish just delivered in every way. I only wish that the main story could be completed as co-op with another person as my girlfriend loves watching me play, but wishes she could help.

4. Majora's Mask
Such a bold out-step for the Zelda franchise. The Groundhog Day time aspect worked so much in its favor to help pull me into the world and the depth and breadth of characters. The dark overtones, and the bleakness of it all still resonates very profound chords within my psyche. A very difficult game that asks a LOT from the player. The amount of time I had to put into it without a strategy guide to figure everything out was well worth the effort.

5. Yoshi's Island
Everyone should know why this is such a fantastic game. I have no specific joyous or woeful memories of it, but everytime I play it, either on my SNES or GBA, I'm reminded how fun it is. Through and through.

6. Advance Wars 2 (does Intelligent Systems count? If not..) Dialhex/Rotohex
I got this for a smooth $10 one christmas sale, and up until STEAM I didn't think I would ever find a better bargain for my buck. Bus rides with friends were never the same after the first Advance Wars came out, with the amazing one gameboy pass-and-play style, but when AW2 entered the scene, it was more like weekends were never the same. The map editor provided endless content, but that was rarely touched as the included content was so plentiful, I don't think we ever played a map twice.

7. Mario Kart Super Circuit
This is a very special game for me. In my neighborhood most of the kids were a lot younger than me. My next door neighbor was around 9 and I was 13 or 14, but we would play this game a lot together. My favorite thing to do though was ghost trading for certain tracks with him. He loved to play Donkey Kong, which I thought was really cool, because I could never play heavy guys. Well, of course, I was a lot better at it than him so his ghosts provided little challenge, but he felt so motivated by my ghosts to improve. Over the weeks we played together he got better and better until he could hold his own in terms of lap times. A lot of my fond memories of this game stem from that. But most importantly, it was when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He had surgery to remove whatever cancer was there and there a was a long period that I never saw him. I later learned that after the surgery a lot of his memory had been lost. When I finally DID see him again, he didn't recognize me or remember my name. He didn't remember playing Mario Kart with me. Now, whenever I load up my GBA cart, I'm met by the ghosts of my former friend. His family has long moved, but his ghosts still linger, both in my game and in my heart.

8. Wario Land 3
prior to WarioWare, this was some CRAZY stuff, especially in any platformer I had ever played. Had an almost Metroid or Kirby feel in terms of needing certain abilities to reach certain areas of levels.

9. F-Zero GX
I got this for my 15th birthday. Instead of looking forward to eventually getting my driver's permit, I was dead-set on competing for international track records. Through a very convoluted, hidden track time sharing feature, I was able to post my track times to a website and pit myself against thousands of other players, vying for the grand prize (which I can't remember what it actually was). But, the rage-inducing Story mode and the rampant amount of Action Replay cheaters getting all the top-tier custom car parts cut my delusions of grandeur short. Instead, I stayed for the refined, flawless gameplay, the silky fucking smooth framerate, the blink-and-you-lose fucking light speed of races, fantastic cheesy soundtrack, fantastic graphics and tracks, and of course a fucking robust create-a-car. For a racing game that isn't Gran Turismo, this game was fucking STACKED.

10. Pushmo (if Intelligent Systems doesn't count...) Kirby Star Stacker
I'm a sucker for a damn good puzzler. I'm a bigger sucker for anything that even remotely resembles the Animal Crossing t-shirt editor. This game has both. The ease of the level editor rooted this game as a game I can continually play for months or even years.

I guess I fucking love Nintendo handheld games. They have the formula DOWN for that format.

 

[DNF]

01 Super Mario Kart (SNES) Probably the only game where i even enjoyed the time trial. Rainbow Road was so unforgivable.

02 Unirally / Uniracers (SNES) The soundtrack, the speed and the Anti-Uni. Sweet Memories.

03 Mario's Picross (GB) Only discovered this through Virtual Console, since i normally dont like puzzle games. But it's so addicting.

04 Super Mario Bros (NES) Don't like many platformers, but this is exceptional.

05 Super Punch Out (SNES) Funny characters

06 Nintendo World Cup (GB) Was so much fun to kick the opposite team.

07 Mario Kart DS (NDS) Nowhere near the original in terms of perfection, but still one of the best racers imo.

08 Super Mario Land (GB) So weird and unnatural compared to other Mario platformers but thanks to Virtual Console i could refresh memories again.

09 Sim City (SNES) Thanks to the weak cpu it got slower the more population you get. Really a addicting game.

10 New Super Mario Bros WII (WII) The last console game i played since years, how tastes have changed. 4 player co-op (more like co-enemy [hehe] or co-oh i'm sorry, it wasn't intentional) was so much fun.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Napoleon (Japan only)

Was released in France too...not that anyone will even consider voting for it.

It would be much easier if I could vote for 50 *grumble*. Anyway lets slap-dash something together. I'll limit myself to one per franchise:

1. Super Mario 64 THIS IS THE RUN 3-D Platformer. For 1996 it was amazing. Mario has a crazy number of moves and you don't have to collect them or unlock them (yeah Rareware). Plus the speedruns are great to watch. Sure the jump for set-piece to set-piece style of Super Mario galaxy might be better but it wasn't possible then (you kind of see it though)
2. Pokemon R/B This one snowballed like mad showing that the game can become the merchandise for kids toys (more modern day examples of this are Moshi Monsters and Angry Birds). It being the shortest Pokemon title makes it the most repayable in my mind and there are enough Pokemon to make it fun to do. Sorry modern "better" Pokemon games you have so much content it is nauseating and off putting.
3. Zelda LTTP I'm so sorry OOT but your 2D version is more enjoyable to me. Maybe OOT is more deserving of this one for all the great things it for gaming (cutscenes, lock-on making 3D combat a reality instead of a joke)
4. F-Zero X Yes F-Zero GX has insane difficulty and nicer graphics but I've got to hand it to the F-Zero that made me a fan
5. Rhythm Tengoku GBA Unlike the more popular DS version it does not suffer from crap controls (I'm not going into this again) plus I prefer the soundtrack
6 .Mother 3 I'm so sorry Earthbound, you may have better music (but only just) but the plot of Mother 3 is better
7. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole rising A good balance between content and not being broken gameplay-wise.
8. Xenoblade Chonicles. The best console JRPG this gen. Give me 5 years and I'll expect this is not here. Similar great score environments like Super Mario 64. Throw in Skies of Arcadia too for good measure
9. Goldeneye 007 An influential FPS that showed that the genre didn't just have to constant action.
10. Fire Emblem : Rekka no Ken (aka Fire Emblem) GBA Its always hard to choose with Fire Emblems but this one gets my vote. Close call with Seisen no Keifu or Thracia 776.

Honourable mentions:
Whatever I said before
Star Fox 64, Sin and Punishment 2 (I rank them as similar experiences)
Metroid (all, even Other Meh)
Wii sports/fit/music (more important to gaming than all of the above)
Brain Training
2D Mario games in general
Wario Ware/land
Kirby in general
Panel de Pon/Tetris Attack/Puzzle League/How many names can a product have?
See what I mean about how it would be easier to vote 50

 

[Tain]

I'm not so sure about this list, and I had to stretch a bit to fill ten slots with games that I'd vote for. Nevermind how strange it is to have Sega, Raizing, and Treasure games on the list!

1. Super Mario Bros 2 (J)
2. F-Zero GX
3. Super Metroid
4. Super Punch-Out!! (Arcade)
5. Super Mario Bros 3 (J)
6. Kuru Kuru Kururin
7. Super Mario Bros
8. Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
9. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
10. Tetris Attack

If I wanted to be more confident about this, I'd need to spend more time with the Fire Emblem games and Zelda II.

 

[demolitiongc1]

1. Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
3. Goldeneye 007 (N64)
4. Pikmin (GC)
5. Metroid Prime (GC)
6. Zelda: Link to the Past (SNES)
7. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
8. Super Mario World (SNES)
9. Fire Emblem (7 in Japan) (GBA)
10. Tetris (GB)

 

[Sadist]

It would be much easier if I could vote for 50 *grumble*. Anyway lets slap-dash something together.

It would be very, very hard to monitor a thread with top 50 lists per poster

Looking at the lists coming in, we'll have a very diverse Top 50 in the end.

If I wanted to be more confident about this, I'd need to spend more time with the Fire Emblem games and Zelda II.

You can edit your list untill the beginning of next month, so no worries

 

[SmithnCo]

1. Super Mario World; my favorite 2D Mario, tight mechanics and fun powerups.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; perfectly brought Zelda into 3D, introduced mechanics still used today in other games.

3. Earthbound; The game has a simple charm, and is one of the few RPGs that compelled me to play all the way through, thanks to its quirky story and settings.

4. F-Zero GX; A very satisfying racer when you master each course. No items to worry about, just wise usage of boost. Gorgeous as well.

5. Pikmin 2; A ton of new additions from the first Pikmin, and a lot of new enemies and items to discover.

6. Pokemon Gold/Silver; Added so much to the series that I was totally addicted to it as a kid. I spent a ton of time breeding Pokemon, messing around with the radio contests, and making sure to play on specific days to make certain events happen.

7. Super Smash Bros. Melee; a fun party game and a surprisingly good competitive game when it wants to be. Had a great variety of stages and characters.

8. Metroid Prime; Retro showed a great ability to craft a world: and they also nailed the feeling of isolation from previous series entries.

9. Punch-Out!! (Wii); This game overtook the original for me, as it managed to bring the simple but satisfying gameplay across with some really nice animations and humor.

10. WarioWare Twisted; My favorite WarioWare game, it saw the addition of a gyro sensor and rumble, which made for some fun and surprisingly varied minigames.

 

[Sadist]

woops