The best and worst Nintendo series of all time – Part 1
What Nintendo series is the best? The question has puzzled scholars for decades and turned forums into vicious flame wars. But today I’ve worked out once and for all what the greatest Nintendo franchises of all time (up to this point) are. Unfortunately, it’s through counting average review scores via Metacritic, so there’s a number of things I need to point out before I go into detail.
1. No games on consoles before the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color and arcade games will be considered. Because Metacritic didn’t exist back then. If a series has had only one game released since (such as Punch-Out!!), it won’t be considered.
2. No Japan-only games. It’s English or it doesn’t count. This puts series like Rhythm Heaven out of the contest due to only having one game released outside of Japan.
3. No stupid DSiWare apps will be counted. Dr. Mario Express is OK, the Animal Crossing Calculator on the other hand is not.
4. No third-party titles will be included. How much spare time do you think I have?
5. If a game is released on more than one platform (like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) the scores of both versions will be counted.
6. Ports and remakes are OK.
With that out of the way, here’s the top 5 Nintendo series of all time, at least according to Metacritic.
#5 – Wave Race
Average Score: 86
Best Game: Wave Race 64 (92)
Worst Game: Wave Race: Blue Storm (80)
Hey, Wave Race! Anyone remember that series? After Blue Storm, the franchise disappeared which is a shame because Wii Sports Resort finally figured out how to pull off jet ski racing on the Wii. Ah well, even if another sequel never happens, Wave Race 64 is still available on the Wii’s Virtual Console, so you can check out the series for yourself for the low price of 1000 Nintendo points. It’s a fun racer with interesting courses and pretty (well, “90’s pretty”) graphics. And that’s why it’s part of the fifth best series.
#4 – Mario Kart
Average Score: 87.2
Best Game: Mario Kart: Super Circuit (93)
Worst Game: Mario Kart Wii (82)
As good of a racing series Wave Race is, it seems that it can’t quite compare to the multiplayer madness offered by Mario Kart series (no blue shells in Wave Race, though). It might have made it even higher on the list if Metacritic included scores for Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Arcade GP. Well, maybe not Arcade GP. Having Pac-Man in your game nowadays is practically the kiss of death. As a series, Mario Kart might be getting a bit stale (adding bikes won’t change that), but it’s still genuinely fun to play with a group of friends and so the critics’ scores reflect that. Also, it’s number 4.
#3 The Legend of Zelda
Average Score: 87.8
Best Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (99)
Worst Game: Freshly Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland (66)
According to Metacritic, Ocarina of Time is the best reviewed game of all time, with Wind Waker and Twilight Princess not far behind. So with such a strong, highly rated line of games, what’s keeping Zelda from taking the number one spot? The answer to that question is Tingle. Zelda’s other green-clad character got his own spin-off game that was only released in Europe and Japan. With an average score of 66, it was about as well received as Tingle himself. Technically it isn’t a Zelda game, but where else am I supposed to put Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland? Link’s Crossbow Training wasn’t too hot either.
#2 – Super Smash Bros.
Average Score: 88
Best Game: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (93)
Worst Game: Super Smash Bros. (79)
Ah, Smash Bros. Naturally, a series that takes parts from almost every other Nintendo franchise should be up there as one of the best. Now if only the original game was better received when it first came out… It took a while for the real fun of the series to catch on (adding a single player mode that didn’t take five minutes to beat probably helped), but critics soon recognized the Super Smash Bros. series as a ridiculously fun multiplayer game and one of the best Nintendo series. But not quite the best…
#1- Golden Sun
Average Score: 88.5
Best Game: Golden Sun (91)
Worst Game: Golden Sun: The Lost Age (86)
Surprised? Yep, according to Metacritic, Golden Sun is the best Nintendo series out there. To be fair, two games isn’t much of a series, but when they’re two of the best RPGs on the Game Boy Advance, I think it can be overlooked. At least that’s what I’ve heard, having only played a few hours into the original. It’s a shame that the series hasn’t seen a release for years but here’s hoping that the upcoming Golden Sun DS will be out soon and just as good as, if not better than the two previous games. Heck, I might actually play it this time.
So that’s the top five Nintendo series according to Metacritic scores, but what about all the other ones? What about Metroid? And 1080? Snowboarding (couldn’t overlook that one)? Never fear, because in the next and final part I’ll be revealing the average scores of the other series, as well as taking a closer look at the bottom five franchises. The results may surprise you.
