For me, 2017 was undoubtedly the outstanding year of the console due to the excitement of the new system and fantastic first party releases like BOTW, Odyssey, MK8D and Splatoon 2. Nintendo seemed to plan the release schedule so perfectly, setting the console up for years of success with many evergreen titles.
The worst year was perhaps 2021, due to the effects of Covid having a huge impact on the release schedule. I recall only buying Skyward Sword and a few e-shop titles during this time, so it felt like pretty slim pickings.
So, what was your favourite year of the Switch and where do they rank based on games you've purchased? I'll be interested to get your thoughts below.
My rank with my highlighted games during that year
1. 2017 (ARMS, 1-2-Switch, Super Mario Oddysey)
2. 2018 (FF X/X-2, FF XII, World of Final Fantasy MAXIMA)
3. 2020 (ACNH)
4. 2019
5. 2021
6. 2022
7. 2023
I dunno if I can rank all of them, but these would be my top 3 years, with my favourite games from those years listed:
1. 2022: I Was a Teenage Excolonist, Nier: Automata, Persona 5, Wylde Flowers, No Man's Sky, Triangle Strategy, Nobody Saves the World, 13 Sentinels, Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers.
2. 2023: The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, Octopath Traveller II, Fire Emblem Engage, Super Mario Wonder, Astral Ascent, TotK.
3. 2017: Steamworld Dig 2, BotW, Rayman Legends, Super Mario Odyssey, Oxenfree, Snipperclips, Puyo Puyo Tetris, Steamworld Heist.
#1. 2017
No contest really. Year the hardware released and also when smaller titles were still interesting purely because they were on new hardware. Odyssey, BotW, Arms, Splatoon 2 and even stuff like Snipperclips. Just an all round good period for the hardware
#2. 2019
Astral Chain, Mario Maker 2, Link's Awakening HD. Lots of titles there I was just super into. Also it was the year when we got Untitled Goose Game which was all sorts of fun. Also while Sword and Shield were far from my favourite entries in the series they were still ok
#3. 2023
Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Wonder, F-Zero 99, Super Mario RPG. Admittedly Tears of the Kingdom is doing a fair bit of the heavy lifting here. I wasn't a huge fan of Wonder, it was ok, but Super Mario RPG was just gorgeous and F-Zero 99 was an entirely unexpected release. We also had Metroid Prime Remastered earlier in the year so... just lots of solid stuff here
#4. 2021
Metroid Dread and Skyward Sword HD. Of course the year in general wasn't as jam packed as some of the others Metroid Dread is still fairly comfortably one of my favourite games on Switch. And Skyward Sword, while maybe not everyone's favourite game, playing it on Holidays in 2021 is one of my favourite Switch memories. There's also Bowser's Fury here so, Mario Metroid and Zelda.. a bit like 2023 in that regard
#5. 2020
Animal Crossing carries 2020 a fair bit. There were some other titles here that were notable, Hades is still one of my most played games on Switch fairly comfortably. I also did enjoy Age of Calamity and there's also 3D All Stars which was nice to get into. But yeah.... 2020... 2020 did 2020 things...
#6. 2018
Ok, it is odd to put it here given Smash Bros. Even more odd given it's me making this given Bayonetta 2 and DKC Tropical Freeze. But for me, generally, 2018 was a bit.... average. Not much there grabbed my attention and the stuff that did I'd already played on Wii U. I did pick up Mario + Rabbits in 2018 but, technically, that's a game for the 2017 column
#7. 2022
Ok so resident Bayonetta guy puts the year Bayonetta 3 comes out as last on the list. What gives? I mean.... if I'm being honest outside of Bayonetta 3 there wasn't a whole lot in 2022 that grabbed my attention. Pokemon was a big swing and a miss, Splatoon 3 I skipped because why does there need to be a 3 and Xenoblade just isn't my jam. I mean sure, Legends Arceus was fine but... fine isn't enough to push it higher in my list
Some playlists: Top All Time Songs, Top Last Year
An opinion is only respectable if it can be defended. Respect people, not opinions
I have no idea. I play what I want when I want so apart from Breath of the Wild. anything Xenoblade related and Mario Odyssey (or any 3D MArio tbf), most games I don't play day one (even year one sometimes!)
But Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Dragon's Dogma and Dying LIght have all been highlights for me. The latter two i played after they released so my rankings are a bit more personalised than going off release schedules (and something I don'r see any value in keeping track of.). Boring I know.
1. 2023 - A close one between this and 2022 but went for 2023 as 1st because Nintendo finally decided to acknowledge the Gamecube's existence. Gamecube always seemed to be the legacy console that was left out but that year got stuff like a bunch of Double Dash content for MK8 Deluxe, Metroid Prime Remastered and Pikmin 1+2. It was also fantastic to see Advance Wars 1+2 and Pikmin 4 finally release, Future Redeemed was a fantastic expansion, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line was a lot of fun, Super Mario RPG got an actual physical version (the game never came to Europe on SNES so was a digital only game before the remake), SMB Wonder was fresh, etc.
Pokemon was a disappointment though, didn't get far in Teal Mask because of crashes and each DLC release made the game more unstable.
2. 2022 - After a nearly 7 year gap of no Mario Kart tracks released for a Nintendo console (April 2015 - March 2022), more tracks finally come in the form of the Booster Course Pass for MK8 Deluxe. That alone makes 2022 very high up but even outside MK8 Deluxe, it was a very good year. XC3, Crisis Core, Three Hopes, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Legends Arceus, Bayonetta 3, etc. Splatoon 3's a tough one as sometimes it felt like it would've been better as additional content for Splatoon 2 but I think the 2023-2024 support separated itself well enough.
Scarlet/Violet was an awkward situation though, I got lucky and only experienced problems a few times early on so I quite enjoyed the base game overall however it was very disappointing in the sense that a delay could've made it so much better.
3. 2019 - A tough decision between this and 2021 but went with 2019 given the floodgates were opened regarding PS 3rd party exclusives going to Switch. PS1 and PS2 were the best eras of Playstation by far so to experience games from that era on the Switch was quite something special. Even outside of that, there was a fantastic lineup of games like Astral Chain/NSMBU Deluxe/Mario Maker 2/Link's Awakening/LM3/DQXIS/Sword and Shield.
4. 2021 - Nintendo finally brought the best mainline Mario game to Switch (3D World) and even added in extra content (Bowser's Fury). It was nice finally being able to play Skyward Sword with reliable controls, Mario Party Superstars was the best Mario Party since the Gamecube, I actually enjoyed my time with Brilliant Diamond (the original Diamond pushed me away from Pokemon), Metroid Dread actually happened, etc.
I really disliked the delisting of 3D All Stars, SMB 35 and FE1 though.
5. 2017 - It was a really cool first year of the Switch with the main games that stood out the most to me were MK8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, Sonic Mania, FE Warriors, Mario Odyssey and XC2. Not a fan of BotW but at least TotK showed me that the BotW style can be fun, still massively prefer linear Zelda though. Not really much to say other than it was a very strong start to Switch.
6. 2020 - It's a tough one between this and 2018 but went with 2020 because the ports/remasters/remakes were more to my liking. TMS#FE Encore, XCDE, 3D All Stars, Pikmin 3 Deluxe were the big ones but I also liked some of the new games like Origami King and Age of Calamity. The Pokemon DLC was cool as well, particularly Crown Tundra.
7. 2018 - It was cool seeing stuff like Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors, Captain Toad and Torna but the extremely heavy focus on Smash was disappointing. Don't get me wrong Smash Ultimate is a good game but to pretty much dedicate E3 onwards almost entirely just to that 1 game was extreme. Also, Let's Go not supporting the Pro Controller was very disappointing especially considering the older Pokemon games may never come to current or future Nintendo hardware in their original form.
There's a lot more I can about each year but I think I've summed up things pretty well.
1) 2022 (MHR: Sunbreak; Triangle Strategy; Xenoblade 3; Kirby and the Forgotten Land; Pokemon Legends: Arceus; Splatoon 3; Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope; plus about a dozen other really good releases and ports. Absolutely untouchable year for me overall.)
2) 2017 (Best first year I've ever seen for a console. Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey represent peaks in Nintendo's two most iconic series. Splatoon 2 successfully transitioned the Wii U original to the Switch beautifully. Xenoblade 2 was the game that finally got me properly invested in the series. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was awesome. Plus several decent third-party releases that really sold the idea that you could play home console games on the go. Nintendo cleaned up this year.)
3) 2021 (Aside from the fantastic Metroid Dread and Bowser's Fury, third parties carried this year for me. Nocturne HD, the long-awaited SMT V, Monster Hunter Rise, Monster Hunter Stories 2, and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles were such satisfying releases in a few of my favorite series. I can see why people who buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games probably wouldn't have found much worth playing this year, but I absolutely loved 2021 on Switch.)
4) 2019 (Not a perfect year, but it saw several really good releases in its second half like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Dragon Quest XI S, Astral Chain, AI: The Somnium Files, Ring Fit Adventure, and Luigi's Mansion 3..)
5) 2023 (An objectively really strong year for the system with major releases throughout. If I had more time for gaming this year, it would have been higher, even though I didn't love Tears of the Kingdom or Super Mario Wonder as much as I thought I would. Still, so many major releases dropped this year.)
6) 2020 (Definitely one of the worse years on Switch, but I enjoyed Mario 3D All-Stars, Catherine, The Origami King, Animal Crossing, etc. I never felt like I didn't have stuff to play and enjoy.)
7) 2018 (Valkyria Chronicles 4 was my highlight for the year. Enjoyed Ys VIII despite the performance issues. Smash Ultimate is... more Smash. This year was a complete snoozer otherwise.)
1. 2017 - Mario Odyssey, Breath Of The Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, two of the best directs to date, Nintendo knocked it out of the park with the Switch's first year and I still don't think they've really been able to reach that high since.
2. 2023 - Certainly a packed year with a lot of big releases. Metroid Prime Remastered, Pikmin 4, RtDL Deluxe, Mario Wonder, Mario RPG, and of course Tears Of The Kingdom. That being said, I'm not a fan of TotK personally which does drag this year down for me a bit.
3. 2021 - This year probably had the most games that appealed to me personally. The fantastic ports of 3D World, Miitopia, and Skyward Sword were a strong start to the year, and the triple whammy of Metroid Dread, WarioWare GiT, and Mario Party Superstars was a fantastic streak of games.
4. 2020 - The lack of Directs made this year seem worse than it actually was, but with the benefit of hindsight, there was a lot of good stuff this year. PMD Rescue Team DX, New Horizons, Origami King, Clubhouse Games, Xenoblade Chronicles: DE, Pikmin 3 Deluxe were all pretty big highlights for me.
5. 2019 - One of the most packed years for the Switch, a lot of games came out in 2019 and we even got a ton of E-Shop games like Tetris 99, BoxBoy, and Cadence Of Hyrule. It didn't reach the highs of other years, but with games like Yoshi's Crafted World, Mario Maker 2, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Luigi's Mansion 3, and Link's Awakening, there was quite a lot to like. Shame about Pokemon, though.
6. 2018 - 2018 was an incredible year for indies, but aside from Smash Ultimate and the Octo Expansion, this year was pretty rough for Nintendo games. Lots of ports and while I personally liked Star Allies more than most, there still wasn't much here.
7. 2022 - It feels a bit weird to put 2022 last when it had one of my favorite games of all time, Kirby & The Forgotten Land. However, aside from that and Splatoon 3, there wasn't much I really loved this year. Nintendo Switch Sports, Mario Strikers, Bayonetta 3, and Pokemon SV were all pretty massive disappointments, and the last third of the year felt really dry.
1. 2019 - Mario Maker 2, Tetris 99, Ori and the Blind Forest, New Super Mario Bros Deluxe, Link's Awakening are all amongst my favorite Switch games. I also loved Yoshi's Crafted World, Ring Fit Adventure. And the snes NSO app which is the best of the NSO apps in my opinion. Just a packed year.
2. 2017 - Neither Odyssey nor BotW are my personal favorites, but they were still good and just the hardware itself pushes 2017 near the top.
3. (or 2b) 2023 - Mario Wonder, Mario RPG, Bayonetta Origins made the year for me and there are also a ton of good games from 2023 still on my wishlist. And I can't forget Suika Game. And a good Kirby game and GB to NSO. Another packed year. Maybe a tie with 2017.
4. 2020 - Animal Crossing, Mario 35, Short Hike, What the Golf. Not a ton of games but more of my very favorites. Plus 3D all-stars.
5. (or 4b) 2022 - Pokemon Legends and Kirby and the Forgotten Land are both number 1 of their respective franchises for me. Pokemon Violet was fun too. Probably another tie with 2020.
6. 2021 - 3D World, Tetris Effect, Toree, Glyph, Big Brain Academy. 3D World is one of my favorite Mario games.
7. 2018 - Captain Toad, Rogue Legacy, Gris. Not a ton of games for me, but a few good ones.
Honestly, most of these middle rankings could be moved around. Almost every year was great and the only personal rankings I am 100% confident of is 2019 first and 2018 last.
1. 2023 (Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, Pikmin 1, 2, & 4, Mario Wonder, Super Mario RPG) 2. 2020 (Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Pikmin 3 Deluxe, Paper Mario Origami King) 3. 2022 (Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Sparks of Hope) 4. 2019 (Super Mario Maker 2, Luigi's Mansion 3) 5. 2021 (Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Mario Party Superstars, WarioWare: Get It Together!, Game Builder Garage) 6. 2017 (Super Mario Odyssey, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) 7. 2018 (Kirby Star Allies, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)
Each year is paired with some key games that were my favorites of each year. 2017 being 2nd to last has to be an extreme hot take but I genuinely think that, while it's good, the other years were better.
2021 will always be peak for me because it had like half of my most wanted "will never happen" games of New Pokemon Snap + actual TWEWY sequel + Metroid Dread + Mario Party with online gameplay + Great Ace Attorney Localization , with a lot of others being nearly as cool like No More Heroes 3, Famicom Detective Club localization, Advance Wars being alive (when I thought it actually had a future again : ( ), Cruisn Blast on console, and tons of other things I wish I had the time to get into.
6. 2024 Zelda and Peach were my favorites for the year. Honestly a surprisingly good year though it did feel a little emptier than some and there was a bit of a pre-new-console tendency for 'some performance issues included'. So although I enjoyed the games this year, overall I rank the year a bit lower.
Adding 2024 to the list:
1. 2023
2. 2022
3. 2024 - Mainline Tomb Raider finally came to Switch and between 2024 + 2025, the PS1 classics came before the Survivor Trilogy which was a very cool surprise. Also, my favourite Sonic game (Generations) came to Switch with a fantastic new story campaign. 3rd party support as a whole was impressive for this point in the system's lifespan.
Splatoon 3 had a fantastic final year of content and Grand Fest was a magical experience to remember. With 1st party in general, while looking at game by game it was a very good lineup but as a combined lineup there was too much Mario. It's an understandable strategy if Nintendo wants to fully part ways with supporting Switch 1 when Switch 2 arrives though.
4. 2019
5. 2021
6. 2017
7. 2020
8. 2018
If January - March is any indicator of what 2025 will look like, I think there's a good chance it could beat 2023 as my favourite Switch 1 year.
I feel the post-E3 years were less exciting because we lost this central event for a lot of big-game announcements. Like 2017 had an incredible line-up,but also a really powerful E3 debut. I hope Nintendo starts doing a big summer direct to emulate this.
I feel the post-E3 years were less exciting because we lost this central event for a lot of big-game announcements. Like 2017 had an incredible line-up,but also a really powerful E3 debut. I hope Nintendo starts doing a big summer direct to emulate this.
I mean, they kind of have been. The June 2023 direct was pretty massive and actually the June 2024 direct was also even though it didn't quite feel that way because we all wanted Switch 2 news.
1. 2023
Advance Wars finally was ready to be released, FE Engange was fun despite not being as good storywise as Three Houses, Kirby Wii remaster did not see coming but it's a solid title and fun with friends! Metroid Prime remaster and shadowdropped during the direct was so fun, especially after just soaking in the news of GB & GBA hitting the NSO. Super Mario RPG remake + Wonder at the end of the year + new DQM and Octopath Traveler 2.
But... Zelda TOTK... What a masterpiece!
2: 2021
I was very happy to see Super Mario 3D World get a well deserved port. Still remember how people were shocked how highly rated it got when it came on Wii U for being a more multiplayer focused title of the more sandbox titles of the past. Was also happy to see Skyward Sword get a remaster where we finally could play with regular controllers, finally Mario Golf got a new game and was happy with Mario Party embracing older times with retro boards (something they should have done in SMParty too and not be afraid of doing the same as Mario Kart does). A new 2D Metroid in Metroid Dread I think few saw coming. This year we also got New PKMN Snap and gen 4 remakes, plus the first WarioWare. Solid year!
3: 2022
That it took this long for Kirby to get a 3D game was weird but it delivered! Pokémon telling the critics that they are not afraid to think new with PKMN Legends Arceus, plus that we got gen 9 too. Xenoblade 3 and Splatoon 3 also was solid titles. About time we got a new Mario soccer game and even Wii Sports was back with Nintendo Switch Sports. More HD-2D love with Triangle Strategy. Another solid year!
4: 2019
Finally we got Pokémon mainline games on a console. Yoshi also got a new game, plus the lovely Link's Awakening remake. New Luigi's Mansion game too plus Fire Emblem Three Houses. I was also super happy to see Collection of Mana finally get an English release (which meant finally Seiken Densetsu 3 had an official English translation, which got a new English name in Trials of Mana)
5: 2024
Mario vs DK was odd but nice addition. Paper Mario TTYD remake was faithful but still refreshing to play (with us fans hoping this playstyle can give new life to the franchise), Finally a new Peach game that was "different" but still fun. Mario Party Jamboree was solid and the best of the three, Mario & Luigi franchise is reborn with Brothership, Zelda finally kicking Link out of the main role in Echoes of Wisdom, Unicorn Overlord is beautiful, Luigi Mansion 2 HD was good and DQ3 remake shows yet again HD-2D beauty.
6: 2020
Ah yes, the start of a new decade and we we all locked down. Atleast Nintendo was super lucky with the timing of Animal Crossing New Horizons release date.
Also finally got to play the remake of Trials of Mana, but we also got Paper Mario Origami King with it's sudden reveal out of nowhere. Super Mario Bros 35th anniversary could have been more but I still enjoyed what we got. Sure we got another Xenoblade Blade 1 remaster but this is atleast the best edition. In a limited year, Nintendo did pretty well!
7: 2017
Good launch year with a launch title in BOTW going all the way to become GOTY. As a Nintendo fan it was an amazing redemption after everyone dooming Nintendo from their final Wii U years. Aside from that I found the end of the year line-up to be better than the launch, especially with Odyssey. Still a great first year!
8: 2018
I felt that this year things started to speed up, both 1st party and 3rd party. Kirby, Pokémon, Mario Party and Smash made their Switch debut. Also amazing games like Octopath Traveler (exclusive for about a year), Bayonetta 2 plus remaster of the first game, ports of Captain Toad and Hyrule Warriors and more.
1) 2023 - Just a great line-up of games, Pikmin 4, Mario Wonder, Advance Wars, are probably among my favourites on the platform, just a consistent flow of stuff that (probably) appealed to most Switch users.
2) 2017 - Second place for me purely on vibes alone, Odyssey and Breath of the Wild just had me so excited about the platform, two phenomenal games.
3) 2019
4) 2022
5) 2024 - Probably could rise with more time to reflect, I think it was a really good "Winding down" year personally.
6) 2021
7) 2018
8) 2020
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Topic: Rank Every Year of the Nintendo Switch
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