The most and least useful amiibo figures ever released
With confirmation that the Nintendo Switch 2 is backwards compatible with Switch software, it’s safe to assume that includes amiibo – and if that’s true, then it’s also safe to assume that Nintendo’s signature lineup of toys-to-life figurines isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. That being said, there are hundreds of amiibo figures to choose from, and that’s not even including amiibo cards. So today, we’re analyzing which specific figures are the most useful across many Nintendo games. And although we did look at eight of the most useless amiibo almost a year ago, we’ll also be determining the definitive most useless amiibo today.
The most useful amiibo
Generally speaking, amiibo of super-popular characters tend to be compatible with more games. A Mario amiibo, for example, is a great contender for the most useful one. It’s got specific compatibility for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario 3D World, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, among others. Several Nintendo Switch games also support non-specific amiibo. For example, in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, you can tap a non-Xenoblade amiibo to receive a random assortment of materials. Likewise, you can tap non-Kirby amiibo in Kirby Star Allies and Kirby and the Forgotten Land to receive some weaker healing items.
If we had to pick a definitive “best amiibo”, it would probably be one of the Inklings. In addition to dropping exclusive gear in Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3 (the exact gear depends on the color and gender of the amiibo figure), it also unlocks an exclusive Mii Racing Suit in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, can be trained as a (fairly weak) Figure Player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, plus it has read-only capabilities in many different games. That being said, the yellow Inkling amiibo released for Splatoon 3 doesn’t work here – Splatoon 2 doesn’t have exclusive gear for it. So the choice would have to be the orange, green, or pink Inkling Girl, the blue, purple, or green Inkling Boy, or any of the Inkling Squids.
Any of the Link amiibo are also a good option. In addition to working in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, they also drop exclusive items in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom. The exact drops depend on the Link figure you’re using. They also work in Link’s Awakening to save custom dungeon layouts, but we’re not sure anybody is really doing that in 2025. Furthermore, the Link amiibo unlock an exclusive costume in Bayonetta 2, unlock rare weapons in Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition, and drop an exclusive costume in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. You could argue in favor of either the Inkling amiibo or the Link amiibo; the former has more compatibility with write support, while the latter is applicable to more different games.
The least useful amiibo
If you’re looking for the least useful amiibo, you’ll probably want to count out every figure whose character is playable in Smash Bros. Ultimate. There’s hours of fun to be had training amiibo, which is more than you can say for the figures we’ve lumped into this section. The Chibi-Robo figure is as pointless as always, and there is actually no Nintendo Switch game that offers specific support for it. It only works with Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash on Nintendo 3DS. This means Chibi-Robo only offers non-specific read support in certain games, which gives it very little functionality otherwise. The Yarn Poochy amiibo is another contender; it offers rewards in Yoshi’s Woolly World (only the Nintendo 3DS one) and Yoshi’s Crafted World, but it has no specific reward otherwise. Even crazier is that it’s super expensive. You generally won’t find a Poochy for less than $80 on the resale market because it hasn’t been reprinted at all. So it’s a lot of money for almost nothing! You could also argue for Qbby, a Japanese-exclusive $300 resale amiibo that has no compatibility with anything other than in the BoxBoy games.
Do note that several of these amiibo in both categories have additional rewards on Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. We targeted the Nintendo Switch for this post in terms of listing each amiibo’s rewards by game. What do you think are the most and least useful? Have you gotten any mileage out of your amiibo figures in general? Feel free to let us know in the comments down below, and check out the official website for amiibo in the meantime.
