What are your favorite Nintendo games across all systems?

Chrono Trigger. Hands down my favorite. I get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I play that game. It's so so good.

Followed by TMNT IV turtles in time. I just love it so much. The soundtrack is rad AF.

Edit: I totally forgot about Star Fox! This one's definitely 3rd. I love that game. And the different soundtrack pulls everything together.

Then Zelda a Link to the past or Super Metroid. Both incredible classics.

Then it's a toss up between a whole bunch of games, old and new.

Flashback, Huntdown, Blasphemous, Sonic Mania, Hollow Knight, Rime, Broforce, Mother Russia Bleeds, Undertale, Gradius, Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario Kart, Earthworm Jim

I mean there are so many...

Original Majora's Mask is pretty high up there

Paper Mario for the N64, and Paper Mario and the 1000 Year Door (for GameCube, I haven't played the remake)

Just in general? I think I’ll say Pokémon Colosseum.

In terms of overall franchise quality I’d say Legend of Zelda.

DuckTales on Gameboy.

TMNT on NES.

I am old.

Zelda. ;)

Chrono Trigger had to be #1. That games just to good, too memorable. The music, the characters, the scope of the game. It's amazing.

Final Fantasy 6 is pretty close up there too.

But as far as most hours banked, mother fucking Mario Paint. I spent so much time on that drawing and animating, creating my own sprites, etc.

Xenoblade X on the wii U, and it's not even close!

Super Mario World - Hands down my favorite game of all time.

Donkey Kong Country - I know people typically prefer 2 but 1 holds a special place in my heart.

Super Mario Land 2: The 6 Golden Coins - Another game that holds a special place in my heart. It was still Mario, but it had charm of its own never revisited in any other Mario game.

Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land - Another game that was off the beaten path a bit compared to its other entries. It was the best Wario game in my opinion.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - I would play this game at my aunt's house in the basement just like Donkey Kong Country, and it was a visual treat as well as an auditory treat. This game memorized me as a kid, and still puts me into a trance to this day.

Mortal Kombat II - This was one of the games both my parents actually sat down and played with me when I was that young and could remember.

Stunt Race FX - One of the few racing games I ever played when I was a little tyke. It was fun, but looking back the frame rate and fidelity of the game leaves me in awe at how much things change. I didn't care then. Now I prefer much smoother frame rates.

Pokemon Emerald - I loved Pokemon even before I got to play the games. I did have yellow, but I didn't beat it or play much because it was gifted to me by my crush in elementary school. I still have the cartridge. The first pokemon game I had was Ruby, and later Sapphire. But Emerald was my favorite experience of this generation. The music is still haunting to me. I listen to it from time to time. I had over 300 hours into my save before the battery crapped out. I later moved all the Pokemon from this game as well as R+S to my DS games. I had so many friends, and cousins, even strangers I'd meet who would play these games with me. It was the first sense of community that I ever felt.

Pokemon Leaf Green - this game I got a special edition bundle of sorts and I got the manual with it. I would stay up late trying to beat it every night that I could. I tried not to use the manual, which I did mostly successfully. I layer for Fire Red too. I let my sister play Fire Red and we would play these games for hours and battle and train with each other.

Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga - I didn't get into a lot of RPG games prior to this. I already loved Mario games, and so this was a natural progression for me to pick up. I played this game to death. The cameos were wonderful in the coffee shop.

Wario Land 4 - it was my first GBA game, and felt different enough from all the others yet familiar enough to be similar to why I loved Wario Land 1.

Mario 64 DS - I never owned an N64 but I played it at a cousins house so when one Christmas I stumbled upon my presents this game was there a long with a DS.

Mario Kart DS - This game was so much fun. My sister had it, so did my step brother, but my step sister played as the guest character Shy Guy. I spent hours racing them, and I spent hours unlocking everything. A truly great portable experience.

Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends - while this game isn't something I'll ever go back to, I will always have fond memories of it. When I had this, my sister had another Nintendoga game. We played it together all of the time.

Pokemon Platinum - I skipped Diamond and Pearl, and didn't pick this game up until I was a bit older. I thought I had fallen off the series not helped by the constant bullying in school over it. I played this whole others focused on playing Call of Duty, Halo, and other "more grown up games." This game reminded me how much fun the series was, and how much these games built my childhood up.

Super Smash Bros. Melee - my first smash bros. Game that I owned. My step brother and I would play this. And this game brought out my discoveries on the Internet with cheat websites and gaming rumors. I remember trying to unlock characters that were not part of the game due to rumors.

Luigi's Mansion - Never was a horror fan per se but this game was so different to me and it gripped me. I loved this game so much. The exploration, the ghost catching, and all within a universe I love.

Mario Kart Double Dash - this was my second Mario Kart game, and although it wasn't the first I have played it definitely had great levels, great gimmicks, and is still fun.

Pokemon Colosseum - It was fresh, it was new. It was like a new more grown up Pokemon adventure was there to grow and change with me.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii - While I skipped the DS release of NSMB I did love this one. I played every level, collected every star coin, beat every level including world 9. It was wonderful because my first serious relationship the gal I was seeing and I had a competition when we were apart to see who could beat it first, and with all levels star coins collected.

Pokemon Y - back on to the Pokemon kick, I got Y when I got my 3DS and I loved this game. Felt a fitting entry into a more 3D type game for handheld Pokemon. From all of my GBA and DD games I brought my Pokemon to my copy of Y and got to see my childhood digital pals thrive in a brand new adventure.

There are so many more games I could list, but these games were some of the Nintendo games that hold a special place in my heart. I wouldn't be the same person had I not experienced these games when I did, with who I did. It brought me so much joy throughout growing up. Especially when I was having problems with health, or school, or parents splitting, or grieving over the loss of family who did play these games with me.

I'm now an adult with my own place, my own life, a career, and just miss the times when what mattered was the fun and friends I made along the way.

Really nice write up. Agree with a lot of your picks.

Only difference would be Pokemon Y which I had kinda the opposite reaction to! Nostalgia for Gen 1 & 2 Pokemon was maybe too strong. The primitive graphics on the gameboy games got me to engage my imagination more I guess.
- Thank you! I know a lot of what I put comes down to my rose tinted glasses but it's nice to know others can see some of it the same. I agree, games in their more primitive states can be more imagination engaging. I would say that, even the GBC and GBA still invoke a sense of wonder fueled by imagination to some extent.

Mario Galaxy 2

Pokemon - I love the whole series for what it is, but if I had to pick a favorite I would probably go with Heart Gold.

Wind Waker - I was late to Zelda games, and this was the first I ever beat. The whole feel of the game still keeps it as my favorite - it's a lot of light-hearted fun, with gorgeous visuals and fantastic music, but still tells a story that feels grave and important.

NES: The Legend of Zelda

SNES: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

N64: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

GameCube: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

GameBoy: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Wii: Wii Sports Resort

~~WiiU:~~ (never had one but it would probably be Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

Switch: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I, uh... I have a type.

Wii isn't Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess?
- They're not better than ping pong.

The original Zelda game. So many fun little surprises, like blowing a hole in a wall to reveal a secret entrance. Or finding a raft that gets you across the water.

I also love Super Mario Wii. The co-op is great — especially the option to play with younger kids where you can carry them around to “help” during the game. That was a brilliant idea.

And of course any of the Mario Cart games. I love ‘em all.

First party? Xenoblade. All of them.

In general? Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology, SMT V, both SMT Devil Survivor games, Magical Starsign, FF Tactics Advance and oddly enough Custom Robo Arena and Chibi Robo.

Are we talking about games developed/published by Nintendo or can we also talk about console exclusives?

Metroid Prime on gamecube is probably my favourite game ever. Playing it when it came out was a visceral experience and the world immersed me more than any other game until the original Dark Souls came along.

2nd pick would be SMT4 on 3DS. It synthesizes the story beats of almost all of the previous entries in the series into a wonderful concoction of all the best parts IMO. Best combat in the series too - love the smirk system.