Feature: A Look Back At Every Game Nintendo Life Scored 10/10 Over 20 Years

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)

'Everyone is here.' And they really were.

"It’s Smash Ultimate," says Alex. "It’s the biggest and most ambitious crossover and fighting game all wrapped into one." Can't argue with that. "There’s no doubt in my mind, this is still a 10 any day of the week."

Personally, I've never really clicked with Smash myself, but the Banjo reveal was possibly the most glorious, joyous moment of the Switch generation and 2018's Smash Bros. Ultimate absolutely deserves its "Outstanding" status.

Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch)

Of all the new features in this sequel, 'slopes' was the headliner. The Story mode was an excellent addition, too, but perhaps Mario Maker 2's biggest achievement was getting this intuitive level-making suite in more players' hands than the Wii U could manage.

Alex absolutely loved this magic-filled Mario software back in 2019, but does he feel the same today? "As time has gone on, I definitely cooled on Super Mario Maker 2 a bit. It’s still fantastic, I don’t want anyone to think otherwise, but I think some of my excitement and praise was based on its potential, which I don’t think it fully achieved."

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)

"I don’t care what anyone says, New Horizons is better than New Leaf," says Alex, who awarded his third 10 of the Switch generation to Animal Crossing: Lockdown Life.

"Yes, it doesn’t have the island minigames and it’s missing some other fun features found on the 3DS, but there’s never been an Animal Crossing game that offered as much freedom and flexibility as this stone-cold classic."

Never before has the right game arrived at such the right time, and various updates over the years — including a big one at the beginning of 2026 — have only improved it.

A Short Hike (Switch eShop)

A pint-sized adventure that managed to distil Breath of the Wild's explorative wonder into an indie hit that became a poster child for quick-and-cosy games, Stuart Gipp was rightly enamoured with A Short Hike in 2018:

"The very best bits of multiple game genres, stripped of all padding and bloat, mixed perfectly into a delicious video game stew that only gets richer and richer the more you play. An exploration in every sense of the word, A Short Hike is cute without being twee, challenging without being obnoxious, and emotional without being cloying. A landmark game for all ages."

Agreed.

Hades (Switch eShop)

Another indie darling, and one at the vanguard of the roguelike wave that swept the Switch generation, Supergiant's exquisite Hades hit Nintendo's console in 2020 and became an instant classic, having benefitted from an extended Early Access period on PC.

PJ O'Reilly was charged with escaping the Underworld for NL, and he still relishes the challenge. "Hades is absolutely still a 10 for me, and I also still prefer it to its (also very good) sequel. They just nailed the roguelike loops and overall vibes first time out, didn't they? The sublime art style, slick controls, superb narrative, top-notch acting and writing - all nailed on so hard the resulting 10 is never coming off. Try to pull it off. Go on. It's stuck fast."

Horace (Switch eShop)

This unashamedly British game really struck a chord with Stuart Gipp. "The story-heavy side of things might not be everyone's cup of tea," he said in his 2020 review, "and Horace's debt to gaming's past could be mistaken for slavish imitation and lazy ha-ha-I-recognise-that humour that it absolutely isn't. Some stories are worth telling, and Horace's will stay with you."

Horace is a beautiful game, too, with spritework that rivals the generation's best and comedy — possibly the hardest thing to get right in a video game — that really works, with "genuine laughs woven into a genuine story." As Stuart noted, it's not for everyone, but if you understand a reference to a yellow three-wheeled van, this gem is probably for you.

Quake (Switch eShop)

It's Quake, beautifully and sensitively presented on console, with all the trimmings you could reasonably hope for. I recall some debate in the NL office when PJ proposed the score for Nightdive's top-shelf port, but it made sense and felt absolutely correct.

Any regrets, PJ?

"Imagine having the audacity to pay all due respects to one of the most influential shooters (or maybe even just games in general) of all time by giving it a 10, and then taking it back! Not me. I'm not having some sort of revenge slipgate opening up in my lounge and all hell spilling out all over my new rug because I downgraded Quake to a 9. Jeezo."

Metroid Dread (Switch)

MercurySteam returned for a 2D Metroid on a console in its absolute prime in 2021, and it grabbed PJ like one of those stalking E.M.M.I. robots. "I was flabbergasted by Metroid Dread. It's so damn good," he says.

However, the time we made him spend with it post-review might have taken its toll (sorry, PJ!). He brings up the terrirfying but pace-killing E.M.M.I. encounters as something that might make him reevaluate five years later. "They're a little bit grating. Yes, they are. Although, having done guides on this one, maybe that's just me having spent A LOT of time replaying these sections finally showing through."

Tetris Effect: Connected (Switch eShop)

Hookshot Media honcho and Editorial Director Damien McFerran (of this 'ere Nintendo Life fame) was very much taken with Tetris Effect: Connected when Tetsuya Mizuguchi's synesthetic take on the world's most famous block-falling puzzler video game finally came to Switch in 2021.

Adding precious portability to the mix, Damo called it "the best iteration of the classic puzzler yet" and said the game had "finally found the hardware that allows it to truly shine, making this an utterly essential purchase". Would he still give it a 10 five years on, though?

"Goodness yes. I'd give it 11 if I could." No arguments here.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Switch)

"Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a genuine masterpiece," PJ wrote in 2022, "and the highlight of Monolith Soft's superb series thus far."

Since then of course, we've had the Switch version of Xenoblade Chronicles X, which he rated equally highly (keep an eye out for it soon). Has that made him reevaluate XC3?

"A short amount of time spent actually considering the emotional impact of 3's incredible narrative — as well as all those nice combat tweaks, the new affinity systems, and so on — leads me to feel supremely confident in my 10," he confirms, "even a few years down the line. And that's before I even consider its stellar Future Redeemed DLC."

Persona 5 Royal (Switch)

Positively dripping with style, Persona 5 Royal took its sweet time coming to Switch (Joker arrived in Smash Ultimate three-and-a-half years earlier), but at least the wait was worth it.

Stalwart NL reviewer Mitch Vogel called it "the very definition of ‘required reading' for JRPG fans" in his 2022 verdict, highlighting its "deep and moving story, stylish presentation, amazing soundtrack, and decision-driven gameplay".

"This easily stands as one of the very best RPGs of the last decade," he said, and that's still true.

Bayonetta 3 (Switch)

"I don't care that some people don't like Viola," says PJ when asked about his glowing 2022 review of the gun-heeled witch's third outing. "Bayonetta 3 is, if anything, almost too much of a good thing. There's my time-based mental readjustment on this one."

One of Hideki Kamiya's final projects with Platinum, a few performance and presentation dips weren't enough to curb PJ's enthusiasm; he absolutely loved this one then, and still does now. "Platinum gave us a super-charged smorgasbord of slick Switch hack 'n slash action that has no right to either look or play as well as it does (and it's a solid 60fps on Switch 2 now, so make sure to check it out)."

Another one to redownload and play in Handheld Boost Mode, then.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)

But is it better than Breath of the Wild, though?

At this stage, it doesn't really matter which is best. For almost every person who fell in love with the wilderness in 2017 and admires BOTW's comparative purity, there's another who couldn't dream of going back to a world without the Sky Islands above, the Depths below, and Link's Swiss Army inventory of TOTK toys and tricks up their sleeve.

"Tears of the Kingdom makes Breath of the Wild look like a foundation," says Alana, who reviewed it in 2023. "It amps up the creativity and brings back more beloved, classic Zelda elements with an open-world twist. I love the beautiful emptiness of BOTW, but I equally love TOTK's sheer audacity, creativity, and size."

Three years on, would she still give it that 10? "Yep, no hesitation. Future game developers will be taking notes on this for years."

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Switch eShop)

"Considering that Ghost Trick was a 10/10 in 2010 when it first came out, and the re-release (or remaster, whatever we're calling it) only improved on it, I'd say it's the easiest 10/10 I've ever given!" says Kate Gray, formerly of this parish and still a contributor when we can tempt her back to writing about video games rather than for them.

The DS original only mustered a 9/10 on NintendoLife.com, but that was many moons ago, before Kate joined our staff. News of a Switch re-release in 2023 sent her marching to the reviews desk demanding she be assigned it (or politely asking in the relevant Slack channel, one of the two).

Capcom has form when it comes to reanimating the dead, but we were all particularly ticked that they exhumed this one.

Quake II (Switch eShop)

Without wanting to repeat ourselves...we will. It's Quake II, beautifully and sensitively presented on console, with all the trimmings you could reasonably hope for.

"Quake II was already an amazingly great thing, but this revamp was just something else," says PJ. "New content, enhanced graphics and audio, better enemy AI, new animations, and that entirely new episode from MachineGames. It still all adds up to a 100% essential 10/10 shooter on Switch." Indeed.

Dodonpachi DaiOuJou Blissful Death Re:Incarnation (Switch)

M2 is a company we all adore here at NL, and I'm very happy to see their work represented here; in this case, for their marvellous port work on Cave's 2002 winner, DoDonpachi DaiOuJou.

The site has a long history of shooter coverage (largely thanks to the aforementioned Damien McFerran's penchant for the genre), and it's fitting to see a shmup here.

"When you tap into its rhythm and begin to bend the game to your will, Hypers raining down, giant lasers decimating the screen amidst an epic hell-storm, it’s poetry," wrote Tom Massey in 2023, "the kind of unbroken euphoria and beat-by-beat accomplishment that gaming was created for. And, if a game can be played infinitely, its power and genius never diminished, its achievement never lessened, when does a 10 stop being a 10? Never."

Well said, Tom.

Balatro (Switch eShop)

"I’ve played a lot of poker in my time," says Ollie Reynolds (like a roguish, Robert Redford-esque barfly, I imagine), "mainly for fun and never for anything more than a grubby five-pound note." (Okay, scrap the Redford thing.) "I didn’t think you could do anything else with the concept, but Balatro proved me wrong."

Cards on the table (heh), LocalThunk's hit almost snuck under our radars in early 2024. Launching seemingly out of nowhere, the team was suffering from roguelike-deckbuilder burnout. Fortunately, we spied it before it was too late, yanked it from the slush pile, and what would you know, it's a doozy.

"Balatro’s gameplay is timeless," says Ollie. "I feel like I could pick it up in 10, 20 years’ time and have just as much fun with it as I do now. A remarkable game!"

Pentiment (Switch eShop)

Starting life on Xbox, Obsidian's Pentiment charmed PJ's socks right off.

"[It] was an exciting proposition because of its unique setting and gameplay hooks, but it wasn't all fancy medieval stuff for no reason. Everything here is dripping in detail that in turn informs the incredible mystery in which the game places you. It feels like I lived the events of Pentiment. That's how much it absorbs you into its world, whilst also being very clever, very funny, and very hard to put down at the same time. A 10 all day. Maybe even grounds for a 12."

I never got around to this in February 2024 (the aforementioned Balatro had me in its sticky grasp), but reading PJ's 12/10 deliberation above, it's now mine following a trip to the eShop.

Animal Well (Switch eShop)

"Screen after screen, Animal Well excels in delighting your eyes and giving your brain something to stew on," said Nile Bowie back in May 2024. "It’s a riposte against a culture of post-launch updates in favour of a meticulously crafted, singular vision with potentially years’ worth of discoveries baked in."

Billy Basso's cryptic Metroidvania brought some real mystery back to a genre that's seen so many entries over the last decade (and bloody good ones), you might feel like you've seen it all. Animal Well's ability to stand out in the crowd is almost as extraordinary as the game itself.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (Switch)

"Xenoblade Chronicles X, if you ask me, is the biggest technical miracle on Switch 1," says veteran NL reviewer PJ O'Reilly, filing his final 10/10 on this list. "I still can't quite believe how well it plays, in fact. How did they make it run so smoothly, and play so fantastically flawlessly on the equivalent of an old mobile phone?"

The recent Switch 2 Edition upgrade bumps the frame rate up to 60fps, too (although some shimmering textures and artifacts led to a mixed reception for that particular version).

The scale of Mira, XCX's open world, is remarkable wherever you play, though. "Come for the amazing narrative, incredible combat and best-in-series setting; stay for the ruddy big mechs."

Hollow Knight: Silksong - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (Switch 2)

And finally, our most recent 10/10 - the only one awarded since Switch 2 launched.

Describing what pushed it into the 'Outstanding' zone, Alana highlights Team Cherry's uncompromising approach. "Silksong is unwavering in its ambitions: it's bigger, bolder, and harder, and never once bends to the player. Everything you need to beat the game is in your hands, and it melds joy and frustration effortlessly to tell a story of femininity, motherhood, and struggle, and create a beautiful experience I can't stop thinking about."

Over six months on from release, this would obviously still get top marks from her. "I understand why the difficulty can be off-putting, but it made the experience so much more rewarding."