50 Greatest Nintendo Moments: 40-31

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We continue our countdown of the finest Nintendo moments of all time with a relative newcomer - Professor Layton. Don't forget to tell us about your favourite gaming moments in Nintendo history here. We'll be posting some of yours soon...

Professor Layton And The Curious Village

40. Ferris Wheel's Day Off - Professor Layton And The Curious Village, DS
That bit where Layton and Luke decide to explore St Mystere's abandoned funfair only to be faced with a huge ferris wheel hurtling towards them. Surely one of one of the most thrilling cut-scenes of all time?

Mario Kart Wii

39. Direct Hit! - Mario Kart Wii
It doesn't take an awful lot of skill to successfully hobble someone with a red shell in Mario Kart. Even less with a blue one. But there's nothing more satisfying than lining up, firing and hitting someone with the humble green shell, especially if it's during a heated multiplayer game. There's no shame in being hit by a red or blue shell, but when you're hit by a green one it's the ultimate gaming insult.

Mega Man 2

38. Mission Impossible - Mega Man 2, NES
If this were a list of the most difficult games of all time, all nine Mega Man games would feature. Perhaps the most difficult is Mega Man 2. Once you've beaten every boss you then go to Wily's castle and have to fight even more evil bosses before finally finding and defeating Wily himself. In short, it's the ultimate challenge.

Super Paper Mario

37. Switching Dimensions - Super Paper Mario, Wii
At first glance Super Paper Mario seems like a straight sequel to the great Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. However, not too far in you're shown the game's sweet new feature, the ability to flip from 2D to 3D in order to find doors, items and other secrets hidden from sight on the 2D plane. It's a genius, brilliantly executed idea that opens up a whole variety of different puzzles.

Metroid Prime

36. Catch Our Drift? - Metroid Prime, GameCube
Metroid Prime's beauty is inarguable, but where it reaches its high point is that first unforgettable moment when you walk out into the sparse, snowy landscape of Phendrana Drifts. As you emerge from a dank cave, the music slowly fades in and the feeling of desolate loneliness is really hammered home as you take your first steps through the stunningly-realised environment. Amazing.

Super Castlevania IV

35. In A Spin - Super Castlevania IV, SNES
Mode 7 was a feature that let the SNES rotate and resize pixels, and it was used to great effect in Castlevania IV's 'rotating room', which spun 90 degrees demanding you grab onto a nearby hook with your whip to stay alive. Dizzying, but very cool.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

34. The Four, The Merrier - New Super Mario Bros Wii, Wii
Some long-time gamers have been playing Mario games for the best part of 25 years and after New Super Mario Bros. on the DS many thought that the plumber couldn't go much further when it came to 2D platformers. Yet with one simple yet effective move - the ability to play the game cooperatively or competitively with multiple players at the same time - the Mario mechanics are flipped completely on their head and players have to completely rethink how they play the game. The most vicious multiplayer mode since Super Mario Kart.

Wave Race

33. Give Us A Wave - Wave Race 64, N64
Before the N64, water effects in Nintendo games were primitive at best. The release of Wave Race 64 blew people's minds, as the game's realistic wave physics gave the game a unique new challenge. Download the game on VC to see what we mean; it's still impressive to this day.

Tetris

32. It's A Blast -Tetris, Game Boy
The Game Boy version of Tetris had a nails 'Game B' mode where you had to clear 25 lines with random blocks stacked to a certain height. If you beat it on the hardest difficulty you're be shown a space shuttle triumphantly blasting into space - our favourite game ending ever.

Super Probotector

31. What A Headache - Super Probotector, SNES
We've spoken plenty of times before about how difficult Super Probotector (also known as Contra III) is, but it's also known for its awesome set-pieces during boss fights. The best of the bunch is at the end of the third level, where all of a sudden a huge alien skeleton dude rips open the massive hatch behind you and starts spitting lethal fireballs around. Not only is it a perfectly constructed boss fight but, brilliantly, when you finally kill it (and it ain't easy), the hatch snaps shut again and his head falls off. Ouch.

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