Top Nintendo Games

Well, I haven't posted anything for a few days and can't think of any terribly interesting topics, so I think I'll go to the ol' personal/meaningless-top-ten-list well. I've always been a video game dork, and, more specifically, a Nintendo whore. So today I'll cover some of my favorite games to appear on any Nintendo system throughout the years. If you feel the Wii is underrepresented (in that it's not represented at all), you can chalk that up to the facts that I don't play games nearly as much as I used to and that I was about three years late to the party with Nintendo's current system. So, without further ado, let's count 'em down...

10. GoldenEye 007 (Nintendo 64, 1997)

We start with one of the greatest shooters of all-time. GoldenEye breathed new life into the genre when it stormed onto The Big N's last cartridge-based system in the late '90s. The single-player mode was deep and inventive, with mission-based objectives to complete rather than just killing everything that got in your way (though there's still plenty of that to enjoy, too). The real highlight, though, was the multiplayer deathmatch mode. Strap in with three friends for the classic splitscreen mayhem, and you'll quickly lose track of the hours (and days). Before there was Halo, there was GoldenEye.


9. Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64, 1997)

Speaking of multiplayer goodness, no collection could be complete without the best of the series that has cutesy weirdos driving around in go-karts while hurling banana peels and turtle shells at each other. When you think about it, Mario Kart is a very odd kind of racing game. Fortunately, you'll be having way too much fun to care. The N64's edition of this popular series features some of the best tracks around, and I definitely found myself going back to it far more often than the other systems' entries. Playing with an equally skilled friend (or two or three) is the best way to go, as this will result in nail-biting races often decided by the fickle fortunes of the game's curious rubberbanding AI. Don't throw the controller!


8. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GameCube, 2006)

Note: I haven't played the Wii version, so that's why I've listed this for the Cube.
The largest and prettiest Zelda game to date (and likely to stay that way for a while if Skyward Sword is any indication...yes, I went there), Twilight Princess was the spiritual successor to Ocarina of Time. Not a bad game to draw inspiration from. Some complained that it was too similar to OoT, which led me to complain that these people don't know what kind of things to complain about. TP marked a most welcome return to the darker and more realistically styled Zeldas after a jarring dip into toon-crazy Wind Waker land. It also had you periodically transform into a wolf, my favorite animal, and started to mix up the dungeons in some interesting ways (Snowpeak, anyone?). Throw in an epic quest, gorgeous visuals, and Link's best sidekick ever, and you have one of the better entries in the classic series.


7. Star Fox 64 (Nintendo 64, 1997)

Here's a game that's just a hell of a lot of fun. Perfecting the formula established by its SNES predecessor, Star Fox 64 is the ultimate forward-scrolling space shooter experience. With a slew of alien worlds and space battlefields, intense action, and engaging cockpit chatter, this game will keep your pulse pounding. And despite its brevity, branching paths greatly add to the replay value. Star Fox 64 also introduced the N64's Rumble Pak (yes, that's how they spelled "pack"...aren't they cool?), a controller add-on that gave you force feedback to match the actions taking place in the game. This rumbling feedback is the norm in games today.


6. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (Nintendo 64, 1998)

Giving Star Fox 64 a run for its money as top space shooter just one year later, the magnificent first entry in the Rogue Squadron series made every wannabe X-Wing pilot's dreams come true. And unlike Star Fox, Rogue let you freely roam about the planets at all times. You wouldn't want to piddle around for too long, however, as you had specific objectives to complete. Couple all this with a variety of ships to pilot and a host of planets to blast through, and you have one spectacular Star Wars game. I'm sure many would argue that the follow-up to Rogue Squadron, Rogue Leader, was in fact the superior game. You could certainly make a good case. But for me, the first was the more memorable experience that kept me coming back again and again.


5. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GameCube, 2002)

One of the most overlooked games of all-time, Eternal Darkness was nothing short of brilliant. With a riveting story and a unique presentation, it's the only game I could ever describe as "playing like a book." Presented in chapters, you play as twelve different characters in twelve different time periods, united by the common goal to defeat centuries-old evils threatening to lay waste to the planet. The fates of the characters intertwine in unexpected ways, and the actions you take in one time period end up affecting what you can do in other time periods later on. And this is, by the way, a psychological horror game. You encounter an assortment of monsters and other unseemly horrors along the way, and these encounters can take a heavy mental toll on your characters. If your sanity meter dips too low, your characters (and perhaps you, as well) will start to hallucinate. When that happens, all bets are off as to what's real and what isn't. Top to bottom, Eternal Darkness is an intelligent, chilling masterpiece that you should definitely give a look.


4. Donkey Kong Country (SNES, 1994)

My favorite game for the SNES also happens to be the game that saved the system. With fierce competition from Sega at the time, Nintendo needed a blockbuster title to pull ahead and stay ahead in the console race. The original Donkey Kong Country delivered. With then-stunning pre-rendered backgrounds, DKC packed a visual wallop that showed how cartridges could still hold their own at the advent of the CD era. More than just a pretty picture, however, DKC also played like a dream with challenging platforming, varied levels, and a vast quantity of hidden bonus rooms to keep players coming back to find every secret. While frequently hailed as a visual powerhouse, it was no slouch in the audio department, either. The mesmerizing music still stands as some of the best featured in any game. And though you could make a strong case that DKC2 surpasses the original in terms of gameplay, I'd argue that the original still blows it out of the water in terms of charm. With a cast of colorful characters, including the unforgettable Cranky Kong, DKC is funny, witty, and magical. I don't think I'll ever stop playing it.


3. Metroid Prime (GameCube, 2002)

Appropriately dubbed by some as "the Ocarina of Time of the Metroid series" (I keep mentioning that game...hmm), Metroid Prime was a rousing success at transitioning the series to 3D. Though mislabeled by some as a first-person shooter, MP is actually a first-person adventure game with a healthy amount of shooting thrown in for good measure. In other words, exploration comes first. You traverse wildly different terrain in the various sections of the breathtaking Tallon IV, a formerly biological paradise that's been having some problems since it was struck by a mysterious meteor. With gorgeous locations, clever enemies, intriguing puzzles, memorable tunes, and impressive attention to detail, Metroid Prime is a slick, well-designed stunner. There's very little not to like.


2. Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64, 1996)

The second (or first, chronologically) in our series of successful transitions to 3D is the game that ushered in the whole 3D era in the first place, Super Mario 64. For many, this ranks high on the list of memorable gaming experiences, as no one can forget what it was like to play a true 3D game that actually worked for the very first time. While many might argue that Super Mario Galaxy 1 or 2 or even Banjo-Kazooie surpassed SM64 in terms of 3D platforming, I just can't agree. SM64 did it first and did it best. I prefer SM64's large, open worlds to SMG's tiny, disjointed space bodies, and BK just had a few too many items to collect. But any way you look at it, SM64 changed the gaming landscape forever and remains unforgettable for it.


1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64, 1998)

Were you really expecting anything else? Although I didn't mean to, it probably seems like I was trying to find a way to mention Ocarina of Time in every entry on this list. And why not? The greatest game of all-time deserves all the accolades it gets, and then some. Some may be sick of hearing all the praise heaped on OoT through the years, but I'm not one of them. Our final example of a game that expertly handled its series' transition to 3D, OoT did the impossible by not only delivering on absurdly high expectations but by somehow surpassing them. This game just nails everything. Action, adventure, plot, setting, characters, music, dungeons, locations, items, bosses, climax. It has it all, it does it all, it owns it all. I could gush about it for hours, but suffice it to say I've played it start-to-finish an embarrassing number of times. It's the most critically acclaimed game ever for a reason. And, while I'm open to being proven wrong, for me personally, I don't think Ocarina of Time will ever be topped.


And...that was a hell of a lot more work than any normal blog post would've been. I should think twice before doing another list again. Now someone comment to make me feel like that wasn't all for nothing.