50 Greatest Nintendo Moments: 50-41

6 Comments

If you're reading this, the chances are you're a fan of Nintendo gaming. We'd usually charge money for such outstanding mind-reading, but that one's a freebie. So, as a dedicated Nintendo fan, we'd expect that you have loads of memories of great moments in the games you've played over the years. You may fondly remember the first time you completed a difficult game or a particular piece of dialogue that made you laugh.

The thing is, over the past three decades Nintendo systems have been host to countless memorable moments, and the best ones are different for each person. That's why, to celebrate the 50th issue of the magazine, the ONM team sat down and had a long 'discussion' (or raging argument, in other words) about our own top 50 favourite moments in Nintendo history.

Flipnote Studio

50. Our First Cartoon - Flipnote Studio, DSi
Ever since it was first announced, gamers had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Flipnote Studio on DSi. When the application was finally released a few months ago, it was downloaded in its hundreds of thousands by eager DSi owners. Getting used to the controls and creating your first ever animation (usually a stickman, if our first attempts were anything to go by) was an immensely satisfying experience.

WarioWare Inc

49. You Nose It - WarioWare Inc, GBA
There are plenty of mental micro-games in WarioWare so if one of them stands out as the daftest of the bunch you know it has to be seriously weird. We give you the Gold Digger game, where you have to pick a nose by pressing the A button at the right time. Thankfully you don't get to see the 'treasure'.

Super Ghouls N Ghosts

48. Child's Play -Super Ghouls 'N' Ghosts, SNES
At certain points during the brilliant Super Ghouls 'N' Ghosts on the SNES you'd come across tempting treasure chests. While these usually contained items that helped Arthur out, sometimes an evil magician would pop out and proceed to turn you into a baby, rendering Arthur completely defenceless. The game was difficult enough without a crazed wizard showing up randomly every now and then to humiliate you!

Super Mario Land

47. The Sub-Pop - Super Mario Land, Game Boy
Super Mario Land's two shoot 'em up stages took a lot of gamers by surprise. The first and best of these was World 2-3 which saw Mario hopping into the Sub Pop, a tiny one-man submarine that could fire missiles. The game's last level did the same in the sky but the Sub Pop will always be our favourite.

Star Wars: Rogue Leader

46. Trench Warfare - Star Wars: Rogue Leader, GameCube
The GameCube launched with a whole host of killer games in the UK but arguably the best of the bunch was the brilliant Rogue Leader, a Star Wars shooter based on the original trilogy which started with a superb Death Star level that looks incredible even to this day. This was the best possible way to show the Cube's power.

Pikmin

45. Pikmin Genocide - Pikmin, GameCube
No game makes you care about its characters quite like Pikmin. As a result, there's no greater feeling of terror than when you accidentally guide your cute little Pikmin army to certain death by leading them into water or into the mouth of a ravenous Bulborb. Watching helplessly as their little ghosts float into the sky, we wouldn't be surprised if you shed a tear for your fallen heroes.

Killer Instinct

44. ULTRAAAAA! ULTRAAAAA! - Killer Instinct, SNES
Super Street Fighter introduced the idea of 'combos' to fighting games. The more you could hit someone without them being able to fight back, the higher your combo. Since combos looked cool and Rare wanted to make a fighting game for Nintendo that defined cool, Killer Instinct let you string together combos of well over 100 hits, causing the in-game announcer to yell "ULTRAAAAA! ULTRAAAAA!" at the top of his lungs.

Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

43. The Write Idea - Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, DS
Dungeon-crawling and Zelda games go together like Amy Winehouse and poor lifestyle choices. Given the scale of some of the series' dungeons however it's sometimes tricky to figure out what to do next, especially if you save the game and come back later on. That's why Phantom Hourglass, which allowed players to use the touch screen and write on the in-game map, was such a revolution and earns a place on our list.

Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes

42. Praying Mantis
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, GameCube
The Cube remake of Metal Gear Solid had many a memorable moment, not least the brain-bending Psycho Mantis. Mantis tried to 'read your mind' by telling you which games you'd been playing recently (based on the saves on your memory card). Stop reading our minds, you weird floating freak!

Scribblenauts

41. Good Vs Evil - Scribblenauts, DS
The controls may be a bit broken but there's still some staggeringly cool moments in Scribblenauts, the extremely ambitious puzzle game from developers 5th Cell. With thousands of words in its vocabulary there's huge scope for tomfoolery but our favourite memory is still pitting God and the Devil against each other, especially when the Devil comes out on top and you chuckle at the thought of some religious fundamentalist losing their rag.

Advertisement: