The build up to Metroid Other M continues with our boss video. http://bit.ly/d0CnlA

	Tetris Party Deluxe review ^{DS, DSI} Once more around the block
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	Metroid: Other M review ^WII Samus is back for some classic Metroid action
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Nintendo Features

100 Best Nintendo Games - Part Five

100 Greatest Nintendo Games - The Complete List

Feature

100 Best Nintendo Games - Part 6

2-Mar-2009 The top ten revealed!

100 Comments

It's created many discussions so far but we expect things to get even more heated as we reveal our top ten Nintendo games of all time. Take a look and let us know what you think of our top ten by commenting below.

10. Super Street Fighter II
Format: SNES. Released: 1994
Proof that the beat 'em up is one genre that hasn't necessarily benefited from advances in technology, Super Street Fighter II is still the best fighting game of all time some 15 years after its original release. Unbelievably this was the fourth Street Fighter II game but it improved upon previous versions with more characters and better visuals. Pitch perfect fighting action.

9. Resident Evil 4
Format: Wii. Released: 2007
Despite the brilliance of the Resident Evil remake, people were growing tired of the Resident Evil formula by 2005. So Capcom reinvented survival horror by bringing back Resident Evil 2's all-action hero Leon. This time he was fighting against waves of mutants and all the Resi trademarks (dull door opening cut scenes, odd camera angles) were stripped out in favour of fast-paced shooting action. The Wii version improved upon the original with Remote aiming.

8. Zelda: A Link To The Past
Format: SNES. Released: 1992
It's rare that a prequel should be better than the original but Link To The Past turned Link into Nintendo's second superstar. This is a great adventure and seeing as it introduced multi-level dungeons, heart containers, the hookshot, the master sword and parallel worlds, it's importance in the Zelda legacy can't be overlooked. Yet even if you ignore all that, Link's journey to rescue Princess Zelda from the dungeon of Hyrule Castle is still gripping now.

7. Super Mario World
Format: SNES. Released: 1992
This SNES launch game took the classic Super Mario Bros. template, added more colour, 3D(ish) backgrounds, new moves and introduced us to Yoshi, Mario's dinosaur buddy who could always be relied on for a lift. Perhaps most importantly it was the first Nintendo game to reward gamers for 100% completion. There are 72 levels in the game but many of them also featured hidden secret exits and finding all 96 will take you an age. Newcomers who found NSMB a bit too short should check this out immediately.

Super Mario World

After Super Mario World, Yoshi would go on to star in his own game with Baby Mario as his rider (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island) but we'd have to wait another four years for Mario to play the starring role again and, as we all know, it was well worth the wait.

6. Super Mario 64
Format: N64. Released: 1996
While Super Mario Bros. is platforming perfection and introduced us to the wonderful world of the Mushroom Kingdom, Super Mario 64 is credited with kickstarting 3D gaming. Housing the adventure in Peach's castle was a stroke of genius as you got to know the different levels in the game so well that they felt as familiar as your own home. It's so good it took more than ten years for Nintendo to top it...

5. Tetris
Format: Game Boy. Released: 1989
It hasn't got a plot, any main characters or particularly impressive graphics.
But Tetris has got everything if we're talking about simplistic, genius puzzling with a near-infinite appeal.

Tetris ranks alongside games like Space Invaders, Pac-Man and, of course, Super Mario Bros. as one of the most instantly recognisable, iconic titles ever released.

In particular, that theme music - if you can't hum it to yourself, you really need to boot it up again and have a listen. It even, randomly, inspired a release as a 'proper' track, taking the form of a terrible Europop cover version (masterminded by Andrew Lloyd Webber, believe it or not).

While there have been many different versions of what is basically the same game, it was the original Game Boy version that properly kickstarted the Tetris craze. The best recent version, Tetris Party, is available on WiiWare, and is well worth a look for both loyal fans and newcomers alike. The original winning formula of the Game Boy version has been expanded upon with the addition of both local and online multiplayer, and a whole bunch of different game modes that keep the experience varied.

Tetris

But whatever version you choose (the DS update is also worth a look), Tetris' timeless gameplay simply must be experienced. One of the ONM team's mums still religiously plays their copy on the original Game Boy. Another of the team's flatmates plays it against friends on Facebook pretty much every single night.

And though you may raise an eyebrow at how high Tetris has been placed, we don't think anyone can argue that it's anything other than a brilliantly intuitive, addictive and accessible game. Like the effect Super Mario Bros. had on the NES, Tetris was the game that made the Game Boy brand a true gaming giant. And it still shares that timeless pick-up-and-play feel that seems to be a common theme among all of our top five selections. And because of that, Tetris also subtly indicated the direction in which the videogames industry would eventually turn as one of the first titles to truly attract a huge mass market fanbase.

It just goes to show how varied the range of gaming experiences that Nintendo has brought to the world is that a puzzler like this can mix it with much more complex games in the top five. What it might lack in technical prowess, it more than makes up for with raw playability and a compulsive desire to keep beating that high score. In terms of handheld gaming, it really can't be bettered. On that note, we're off for another go.

4. Mario Kart Wii
Format: Wii. Released: 2008
This version of Mario Kart ranks so highly simply due to the sheer number of hours that the ONM team has plunged into it since its release in April last year, be it alone, with friends or running down strangers online. It's a completely different experience to a Zelda or Mario game of course, but it could be argued that it trumps both when it comes to pure multiplayer laughs and longevity.

Mario Kart Wii

And there are millions of people online that would agree, too. While we got a taste of how Mario Kart shapes up online with the DS version, it wasn't until the Wii version arrived that its potential was fully realised. The Mario Kart Channel lets you take on the world's best - or simply take out your friends online.

Everyone loves Mario Kart. And we mean everyone. Like Super Mario Bros and Wii Sports, it seems to be one of those titles that balances pick-up-and-playability while offering more dedicated players a real challenge, should you accept it. We've been playing it practically non-stop since its first, near-legendary outing on the SNES right through the GBA, N64, GameCube, DS and now the Wii version. It never gets boring, and it takes immense skill to master Mario Kart. Just take a look at some of the times from the world's best on the Mario Kart Channel if you don't believe us.
Though it might seem easy to find your way around the 32 tracks on offer, the true masters of their trade know every corner, quirk and shortcut. Relentless practice and knowledge of the courses really makes a difference. And makes anyone with these hardcore ninja skills all the more satisfying to take down with a Blue Shell.

Speaking of the hardcore, the Retro tracks are a deliberate nod to its huge long-term following, forged from similarly brilliant SNES and N64 versions of the classic formula. But for us, the number of tracks, four-man multiplayer and, in particular, that online mode makes Mario Kart Wii the definitive version. And the definitive version of the most universally-loved multiplayer series in gaming history surely deserves a spot in the top four Nintendo games of all time, right?

3. Super Mario Galaxy
Format: Wii. Released: 2007
OK, so here's where it all gets a bit controversial. How can Super Mario Galaxy, a brilliantly constructed, hugely imaginative and fantastically executed game like this only come third? It's certainly not because it's no good. Quite the opposite.

Super Mario Galaxy

We were worried that in our original review we were swept away by that excitable little boy inside us jumping for joy at the mere arrival of a new Mario game. But we didn't get carried away at all. Playing it again now, away from those first flushes of New Mario Game Excitement, it's still utterly fantastic. It's almost embarrassing how superior it is to many other platformers on the Wii - there's more love, imagination and quality design in one galaxy of this game than there is in almost any other game we could mention.

If anything, when we played it through the first time, we didn't take enough time over it; we simply wanted to experience every brilliant moment and ingenious challenge as soon as we could. If you haven't done so already, it's worth starting a brand new game again, as there are just so many great moments in this game that, if you're anything like us, you'll have not fully appreciated them all in the mad rush to see and do everything. You can't really say that about many other games.

It goes without saying that if you own a Wii, you should own this game. In fact, we'd be pretty appalled if you didn't have Galaxy already and are nodding along to this entry in the top 100 in appreciation. We think it ranks above all but one of its predecessors because it's essentially as good as any modern Mario game is going to get. While it can't ever recapture the significance, influence and purity of the original back in the mid-'80s, it remains an absolutely masterful evolution of the series. We just wonder how on earth Nintendo plans to top it with the next Mario game. If they do, we may have to revise this list a little...

2. Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Format: N64. Released: 1998
When it comes to 'greatest ever' lists, Ocarina Of Time is something of a veteran - in fact, we defy anyone that has experienced this N64 masterpiece not to place this in at least the top three. It seems that whatever your taste in gaming, absolutely no-one has a bad word to say about this Zelda epic.

Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

But let's talk about its impact first. Like many of its contemporaries in the upper echelons of this list, Ocarina Of Time was a giant leap forward for gaming when it hit UK shores in December 1998. It was the first time that Nintendo was able to construct Hyrule's rich universe in full-on 3D and, arguably, the first time it truly came alive. While the previous four titles were all considered great successes (to varying degrees), for many gamers of the N64 era, Ocarina Of Time was a maiden voyage into Hyrule and it remains the most compelling Zelda adventure to this day.

The scale of the title is something that still impresses 10 years on. It was initially conceived as a flagship title for Nintendo's hard drive peripheral, dubbed 64DD, but was later crammed into a 256 megabit cartridge (the biggest ever released at that time). As a result, completing the main quest is a mammoth - but never gruelling - task. Take into consideration all the secondary tasks and collectibles and it's an absolute beast
of a game.

The plot is legendary, the game mechanics and controls superb. That Nintendo took on a project of this scale and executed it with so much class and intelligence is something to behold. And the visuals and audio boast the same Nintendo magic that makes the Mario series so iconic. It's all worryingly brilliant, so much so that Nintendo's Zelda lynchpin Eiji Aonuma stated last year that he will continue to work on the series until he manages to surpass the brilliance of Ocarina Of Time. He might be plugging away for some time.

Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

For us, it stands above the SNES classic Link To The Past as the greatest Zelda game ever made, and by extension the best adventure game on any console in history. An essential gaming experience.

1.Super Mario Bros.
Format: NES. Released: 1985
This is the game that transformed the games industry forever, inspired a generation of Nintendo fans and kickstarted the career of Mario, the mascot that has given the world (as you'll have just learnt) some of the very best games ever created.

Some of you may wonder why on earth we've placed Super Mario Bros, a game that's over 20 years old, top of a list that includes greats like Super Mario Galaxy and the legendary Ocarina Of Time.

Well, for one it remains utterly brilliant. The platforming is pitched perfectly, with an incredible feeling of being in control at all times. If you die, it's all your fault, and no-one else's. The beautifully crafted levels remain design classics to this day, introducing so many platforming conventions that are still used over 20 years later - bottomless pits, moving platforms, secrets tucked away to reward the more adventurous gamer, power ups - we could go on.

On a technical level, the sheer amount of stuff to discover in this game is absolutely mind-boggling given the limitations placed on Miyamoto and his team of videogaming visionaries. A quick look at some of the other games released around that time really hammers that point home. They look positively medieval when compared to Super Mario Bros' timeless look and playability.

More than anything though, it really sums up what Nintendo is all about. Anyone can pick up and play this game (and millions have), yet it offers a real challenge once you delve a little deeper. And it keeps you coming back for more.
The DNA of every single subsequent Mario game made since this NES release back in the mid-'80s starts right here. Would Nintendo be where it is today without this game and its many sequels? We very much doubt it.

Super Mario Bros.

If you've never played it, download it at once from the Virtual Console and marvel at just how well it has aged. Everything in it is iconic, from the colourful visuals to those insanely catchy tunes. It's like studying an important historical document, except it's actually fun. And this game, more than any other, laid the foundations for what we call videogaming today.

The Super Mario Bros. formula has been replicated many, many times, but it's never been bettered. Current Olympian buddy and former rival Sonic The Hedgehog has a lot to thank Mario for too, alongside the countless other platformers that have sprouted up looking to replicate the magic of Miyamoto's classic.
None of them have really succeeded. Mario remains the most bankable videogame star ever and is by far the most consistent in terms of producing game after game after game brimming with new ideas and good old-fashioned fun. Super Mario Bros. started all this, and that's why it's the greatest Nintendo game of all time.

Tom East