Poll: So, How Would You Rate Nintendo's 2021?

There were a lot of games, some very good ones. But in general nothing I'd go crazy about like a completely new 3D Zelda, completely new 3D Mario, Xenoblade etc therefore I'd give it an 8

I put 9/10, because it was a very good year for RPG gamers. I played many platforms too. I can't wait for 2022!!! <3

6 of the 12 are remakes or remasters. Most of the other 6 weren't that exciting to me. The OLED is cool but far from exciting. They essentially just put a new screen on the switch. Hopefully Nintendo gets it together next year.

First party was not good, but third party games were damn good.

10/10 as I have spent a ridiculous amount of hours playing my Switch in 2021.

Thank you Nintendo

Bowser's Fury was amazing, and Metroid Dread was a much-needed return to form.

Wasn't too keen on WarioWare - felt like it lacks content compared to the previous games, though it is fun enough for a bit.
Diamond and Pearl are poor efforts and do nothing to make me gain the trust of the Pokémon brand again after Sun and Moon completely killed it for me.

To be honest, there wasn't much going on this year Nintendowise, aside from the amazing Bowser's Fury.

8/10. Not quite excellent, but leagues better than last year.

Pretty good, there were no standout games for me but the Calendar felt full of a bunch of smaller and indie releases, some turning out to be hidden gems! I also really liked how all physical editions I was waiting for came out this year! But 2022 is set to be a monster year!

7/10, they were filled with casual games and remasters and remakes, but none I'd consider bad, especially with some good stuff like Bowser's Fury, Metroid Dread and Mario Party Superstars.

Hopefully 2022 is more exciting, but 2021 not a bad year for Nintendo overall.

Let's just hope Metroid Prime 4 releases before climate change kills us.

7/10 for me.

SM3DW + BF was absolute joy (the kind of game that has you smiling from beginning to end), and I thought Famicom Detective Club & Metroid Dread were pretty solid titles too (maybe not quite top tier for me, but they were VERY good). New Pokemon Snap was cute, though I can't say it stayed with me for long.

Luckily there were a good slate of 3rd party titles to help out, like Star Wars Republic Commando, Ninja Gaiden Master Collection, & SMTV.

I voted 7.
It was good but during year 2020 and 2021, my focus was on building PS3 games library, with Wii + Wii U + Gamecube + PS4 during year 2021.
Suddenly my motivation to build Switch games dropped during year 2020 and 2021.
I want to give a chance for my other games library grow as many as my Switch games.

Dread was good. But other than that, Nintendo didn't really put out much that caught my attention.

I give it a 5, only because of Dread.

Top 5 years on Switch:

5. 2020
4. 2021
3. 2018
2. 2019
1. 2017

8/10 for me. I'm having a lot of fun with Pokémon BD, WarioWare was a blast and I still have to get Metroid:Dread, but I'm waiting to see what I'm getting for Xmas.

9/10 for me. Metroid Dread, Famicom Detective Club and New Pokemon Snap were the highlights for me, the rest were solid.

7. Some good games, but overall not their best year. I realized recently that I only picked up two of their games this year, Skyward Sword and Metroid Dread.

Theres alot of decent games but not too many that I play personally.

I'd give it an 8 out of 10. There were some great games like Dread, Superstars, SMTV, and Rise, but overall nothing extremely heavy-hitting, like a new Mario or Zelda game. They did have a very good lineup, though.

I'd put it as 8/10. A nice balance between old and new as well as it mostly being well spread out while taking into consideration release dates of major 3rd party releases like MH Rise. NSO Expansion Pack is absolutely terrible though.

Ranking the Switch years so far would be:

2017 > 2019 > 2021 > 2018 > 2020

5 for me, not terrible but nothing really great either outside of maybe one or 2 games

Upon review, it was better than I originally thought.

7/10, a lot of good games, and nintendo started to resurect franchise to diversify and make new games for the system . Very promising for the future.

• Pokemon snap was very fun
• Metroid 5 was a very good metroidvania, in a genre that saw countless indies do very well, it was kind of hard to stay at the top,
• Mario Party Superstar was finally a good mario party after a lot of time,
• WarioWare was fun.

Overall Nintendo made a lot of games this year that were good, but with the remakes, remaster, the ports and the fact that most of the games were from franchise not as know as the big ones, it feels like a less impactful year.

I think they did a very good job this year, but ultimately the slate felt a bit average - and some of the games on that slate were also a bit average. I'd say 7 is about right, but I can see why some would think an 8 if you throw in AC DLC and the NSO updates as something you appreciated.

Why do the comments all mention 3rd parties while also giving high scores? The question is about Nintendo's 2021 first-party output right? Outside of Wario and Metroid I can't think of anything good from Nintendo this year.

Any year we don’t get a new 3d Zelda or Mario can’t be above an 7 for me. That being said, they did good mostly everywhere else.
They really fumbled the NOS expansion tier that I was REALLY looking forward to… but a couple Pokémon games, 3d world, skyward sword. Plenty for me to do, but still underwhelmed

Cool to see them revive WarioWare, Pokemon Snap and Metroid this year and 3D World is a good game but it's a port. I wouldn't say Nintendo's line up was bad, just not a lot there that wows me. Metroid Dread is the only first party game I bought this year. I felt like third parties provided more exciting games this year, Monster Hunter Rise, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and Shin Megami Tensei V being examples.

A good 7. I'm not happy with the direction some games took, or the pricing of certain games (particularly full priced ports of decade old games regardless of how good they are), but I still had a good time all around this year.

Some high quality games but too many remasters or niche releases to be a great year overall for them.

I didn’t play as much as I did last year (from what my year in review told me), but I had something to play every month. Plus there was a lot of diversity. If every year was this or better, 95% of us would be happy.

10/10. Lots of games bought 2021. Bought another switch with ring fit included.
Metroid dread still sealed.

Disappointed not to get more Zelda

7/10, this year was alright, but I feel like a lot of it was getting hyped for next years games, instead of this years.

SMTV
Metroid
Pokemon

All at the top of my GOTY list. I was really only impressed by Halo and GOTG on other platforms. Pretty good software year.

NSO still sucks though

@MajorTom You're absolutely right. Looks like many people didn't even read the question before answering the poll. I guess most people just look at the game they have played and judge ''Nintendo's'' year based off that.

Overall I ranked it a 6/10. New Pokemon Snap was the main game from Nintendo that excited me this year.

If I was a big Metroid fan I'd probably have given the year a higher score though.

(If I was ranking third party games, which this poll isn't about....I'd probably bump it up to a 7/10 thanks to SMT IV)

This year had a lot of niche or "B-list" Nintendo releases. New Pokemon Snap, Miitopia, Warioware, Famicom Detective Club, and Metroid of course. Not exactly 2017 in terms of the BIGGEST names, but as someone who's keen to play practically all the stuff Ninty usually publishes, I had a great time! I particularly enjoyed Warioware. Though it's a bit lacking in some areas, it was overall probably one of my favorites in the series. At this point, Nintendo is genuinely running out of unrepresented series on the Switch. What a nice, big, fat library it's got.

I know it (rightfully) drew plenty of criticism, but I really enjoyed the Mario festivities earlier in the year. I went and beat Mario 1, Lost Levels, 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, 3D World, and of course Bowser's Fury and I really enjoyed myself.

Also also it doesn't really count as a "new release", but ACNH 2.0 is my GOTY anyway, screw it. I instantly poured like eight trillion more hours into Animal Crossing once that update came out. I love it, seriously. That was enough to make the year fantastic in my own personal, heavily biased and AC-loving book.

Next year I would like Part-Time UFO 2. Please and thank you.

I give it an 7.5 some real good stuff this year but it was just lacking that big release like a BOTW, Odyssey caliber game plus the Online service is still a huge black mark on Nintendos year

6/10

It was a noticeable stepdown for me after 2020 (personally), but for what was still there in 2021, it was pretty passable and I've seen worse.

Metroid Dread and Mario Party Superstars were the definite highlights of this year for the Big N for me and while I expected better out of this one, I'm still happy to have a Mario Golf game on Switch (I'm talking about Super Rush). I would also say that I'm glad to see Super Mario 3D World, Miitopia, and Skyward Sword on Switch, but those are ports...and the increased frequency of Nintendo Directs was good to see. Oh, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons' updates definitely added more to the enjoyment I had since launch, with the 2.0 update being the jackpot of them all.

On the flipside, Nintendo's 2021 didn't really kick off for me until October, which was the month of Metroid Dread and Mario Party Superstars; the rest of the others either I had no interest in or are just "nope" to me (if anything, I enjoyed more indie games this year on Switch than Nintendo's games on the same system). More Smash Ultimate DLC fighters is always nice to see, but the ones released this year (Pyra/Mythra, Kazuya, and Sora) were indifferent for me, not to mention that I wanted to move on from Smash Ultimate already.

As for 2022, outside of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Sequel and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, I don't know what else to look forward to from Nintendo's wagon. Metroid Prime 4 still hasn't had a say or show as to what it would be like, this rumored 2D Donkey Kong game (by the Super Mario Odyssey team) needs to be announced right now, and as a huge Kirby fan since birth I do hope Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a lot more than just "oh look, Kirby in 3D! Hooooreeeeee!!!11" (fully bring back the expanded movesets for each Copy Ability, Elemental Effects from Star Allies, and the Helpers system, HAL Laboratory).

8.
I really like that this year they focused on more niche of their IPs, like Brain Age, , Famicom Detective, Mario Golf (while still Mario, it's even still golf ), Pokemon Snap (same as Mario Golf), Warioware and of course Metroid. Heck, even Advance Wars was supposed to be released this year, and I think we can count even Cruis'n Blast since, while it wasn't developed nor published by Nintendo, is still a Nintendo's IP. And of course we had Bowser's Fury!

@Gwynbleidd yep, but the question at the beggining is " What score would you give Nintendo's first-party output this year?" not what you thought of nintendo's output or nintendo in general

7 for me. Any year with Metroid, with the exception Fed'Force, is going to be a good one at the very least.

Some other nuggets but too many ports and not enough top-tier titles.

2020 <<< 2018 <<<<<<<<<< 2021 < 2019 << 2017

This year had multiple 10/10 games in Bowser’s Fury and Metroid Dread, with tons of great stuff like Pokémon Snap, Mario Party, FDC, and WarioWare thrown in. Really great year, leagues better than 2020 and 2018 and roughly the same quality as 2019. If im rating each year I’d say
2017: 10/10
2018: 6/10
2019: 8/10
2020: 3/10
2021: 8/10

Switch has built up an absolutely insane library by this point. We’ve reached a point where several of my favorite games of all time came from the last 5 years

Simultaneously one of the most uninteresting years for me since 1986 regarding original Nintendo releases and one of the best years ever for indie & third party. Played some absolute bangers on Switch this year, just not much by Nintendo. All the Wii U ports were residual Iwata era games, we are now in the next era & so far it has been rather clinical, sterile and unwelcoming to me. Metroid Prime 4 & BOTW 2 are the only first party games I'm interested in.

My only criticism is I wish there were more big titles released in Nov/Dec. In the past, it seemed like the 'Holiday Season' was huge for highly anticipated games, but I can't think of one from this year that I was looking forward to, seems they've all been pushed to Spring 2022.

I only bought Metroid Dread, honestly. I'll replay it some day.

10/10. I absolutely loved Nintendo's 2021 output with the likes of 3D World + Bowser's Fury, WarioWare GIT, Metroid Dread, New Pokémon Snap, Miitopia, Game Builder Garage, Mario Party Superstars, Skyward Sword HD, etc...

I also very much appreciated the return of several B-tier IPs that didn't got a brand new game in quite some time, like the second Pokémon Snap game in 2 decades, the first new 2D Metroid in 19 years, the first Big Brain Academy in 14 years or the first brand new traditional WarioWare in (also) 14 years

I feel it is a 6. Dread was amazing but not much really to shout about, the OLED was a big disappointment as well. Hopefully, next year will be a cracker though.

4/10.

Metroid Dread was the only interesting release for me this year. Everything else feels like stuff from an indie studio.

While it's not really a problem by itself, there was absolutely nothing that really stands out (except Metroid).

In fact someone yesterday asked me what new games Nintendo released this year... And I could only remember Metroid and Big Brain Accademy

• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury - A long-awaited port. Haven't played much of Bowser's Fury yet though.
• New Pokémon Snap - Surprisingly addictive and bursting with charm and replay value. A real treat.
• Game Builder Garage - The tutorials were grating on my nerves as I just wanted it to get to the point rather than waffling on with silly conversations between the various anthropomorphic nodes. I intend to experiment with the Joy-Con one of these days though.
• Miitopia - Another highly anticipated port. Loved playing through it all over again. Lack of new content was disappointing though. Touch controls would have also been appreciated (which are frustratingly absent from games that would really benefit from them).
• Mario Golf: Super Rush - Nothing special. The fact that it was missing content at launch didn't endear me to it either. I would have preferred a Wii Sports Club port instead.
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD - I've enjoyed what I have played of it so far and intend to play it entirely with motion controls. Never played it on Wii.
• WarioWare: Get It Together! - A new entry from a franchise that doesn't come along nearly enough. Sadly, this wasn't the Smooth Moves follow-up that I have been yearning for since the release of the MotionPlus accessory for the original Wii. It's still fun to get into every now and again, and this along with Miitopia are likely my most played games this year (at close to 200 hours each which is a rarity). Had this come along after a Smooth Moves successor, I think I would have viewed this more favourably, but this seemed to play it very safe by not opting for a docked/tabletop only experience.
• Mario Party Superstars - Solid, but the lack of motion controls really sting and I think I will ultimately favour Super Mario Party.
• Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl - Unfinished at launch with a 2.5GB-ish download. Nearly a month after launch and it's still unfinished. I enjoyed what I have played of Shining Pearl (I've completed the main part of the game and need to catch all of the legendaries now), but this has been such an underwhelmingly unambitious remake. Frankly, I would have preferred the Let's Go mechanics as battling the same old Pokémon in the wild repeatedly got old fast. While I was a little over-leveled, the fact that I had a lot of weak Pokémon on my team (esp. Chatot, Kricketot, Pachirisu) made the game surprisingly challenging later on.
• Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain - I enjoyed my time with it (3+ hours so far according to my Play Activity listings), but there is so, so little content in this (I saw all that there was to see in about 60-90 minutes), though those who intend to play with family/friends would likely get a lot more out of this. Unlike Brain Training that preceded it, it only tracks your high score as opposed to your progress on a daily basis, which reduces its longevity in single player.

I also have Metroid Dread, but I'm in no rush to play that as of yet as I haven't even touched Samus Returns on 3DS. Enjoyed the demo though.

I also would have bought Famicom Detective Club had there been an English language physical release.

All in all, a solid year with mostly modest releases. I was glad to see some older IP resurrected/ported. Given my current library, I appreciate that things seem to have slowed down a bit.

not a bad year for 1st party, but still not good enough if we're talking about Nintendo. they can do much better than that. 5/10.

i gave it a 7/10. a few things from Nintendo were fun to play. like Metroid Dread, Shin Megami Tenesi V, and the Animal Crossing New Horizons DLC and Patch 2.0. i think next year will definitely be better though. with BOTW 2, Kirby, and Bayonetta 3.

2021 was like a trip down memory lane. Much of the lineup was re-releases, remasters, and remakes. It was also the year that did the best in terms of generating a lot of hype for highly anticipated releases. All of the stuff shown this year makes 2022 look extremely promising.

Okay, so I kind of hate the framing of this poll. I get that many people are conditioned to think that Nintendo systems are for Nintendo games but I have never subscribed to that notion. For me, this year has had incredible consistent software support and that's great. That is what anyone, imo, SHOULD expect for a console. If you start adding caveats to what constitutes that, then you're just setting yourself up for disappointment. Owners of other consoles are completely okay with output that is considerably worse from Sony or MS and if they get 1 to 3 great first-party games along with the usual third-parties, they're set and it's an "amazing" year.

Nintendo puts out 4 or so games this year and third-parties supported Switch fairly well and it's just a "meh" year. Again, I get the marketing and expectations that gaming outlets set, but I just don't buy into that logic and the framing of this just feeds that narrative. Everyone always complains about third-party support on Nintendo systems, but when the bigger games in a year come from them, all of a sudden the Nintendo console didn't have a good year. Yes, that is what this poll is really grading (Switch's 2021) because that's how people view Nintendo systems, as first-party machines. I'd love NL to prove me wrong and have a separate article asking for the overall view on Switch's 2021, but we know that's not happening. And thus (with my flawless logic) it is apparent that this loaded poll is not as good at rating 2021 for Switch as NL would have you believe.

Anyone rating it 8 and above is being far too generous in my opinion.

Metroid Dread was stellar but the rest was not for me, I had some decent fun with Bowser's Fury but nothing special

6/10. Metroid Dread and those Famicom Detective Club remakes are pretty cool, but otherwise it was an extremely pedestrian year first party-wise. Third party support really carried Ninty.

I've had fun, but its about a 6 right now. I'll vote AFTER today's direct.

Well if we include the stupid NSO expansion pack, I give them a 4/10. That really rubbed me the wrong way.

I haven't touched my Switch in so long that it wants a divorce

Pretty sure Metroid Dread was the only game I bought for switch this year.

5/10 for me

Superstars was great, and seeing Metroid return was cool, but that was kinda it for me. Definitely the weakest of the big 3 this year

Feels much like a filler year ahead of 2022 with BOTW 2 and Arceus

A disappointing Mario Golf (especially out of the box). Too many remasters (though I didn't own a Wii U so bought Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury).

On the flipside, it was good to see WarioWare and Pokémon Snap return, and Metroid Dread is outstanding from what I've played so far.

There are only so many games I can play, and I won't get to play them all, so 8/10

From a first-party perspective (or at least, “Nintendo games” perspective), I’d give say it was a solid year. Based on my personal preferences I’d give it around a 7.5, maybe an 8.

There wasn’t much I cared about in the first half. I already have 3D World on my Wii U so I don’t care to double dip unless it drops immensely in price, even with the Bowser’s Fury story added. Game Builder Garage didn’t interest me as I like tinkering with the Unity game engine myself so I’d rather create stuff there. And Mario Golf… man, that game was a slap in the face to longtime fans. What a subpar golf/Mario sports game.

I skipped Skyward Sword HD as it was my least favorite 3D Zelda title and, while I still enjoy the game, I’d only buy and play through it again at a much cheaper price. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were good. Not great… but good. Pretty standard for new Pokémon releases these days.

Outside of that, everything else was really nice. New Pokémon Snap was really fun even if it felt a bit repetitive. WarioWare was fantastic and I was glad to see the series finally hit the Switch. Big Brain Academy is coming in the mail in a couple days so I’ll have my opinions on that soon, but I really enjoyed the demo. The two big games of the year for me were Metroid Dread and Mario Party Superstars. They really brought the franchises back to their glory days and I’m having a ton of fun playing through them still!

Good year overall. Nothing huge but it’s nice to see some of the smaller franchises take the spotlight and perform so well!

EDIT: Forgot to mention the Animal Crossing updates and DLC! I’ve yet to play them but heard great things. I’m excited to jump back into AC!

Every year is always a bit of a disappointment with Nintendo. A multi-billion dollar company charging full price for ports of old games and consistently botching online features. Even the big AC update features content we probably should have had well over a year ago anyway.

It was an ok year. 7/10. Highlights for me were mario golf, ss HD, bd2, and metroid dread.

Metroid Dread, Skyward Sword HD and Famicom Detective Club are my highlights for 1st party software for me. Especially Famicom Detective Club, that was a nice little treat that I wasn't expecting.

I feel like Nintendo's kind of been phoning it in these last two years. That said, I did enjoy Metroid Dread and Famicom Detective Club 1&2 were a great pair of surprises. Pokemon Snap was pretty polished as well. WarioWare didn't have a lot for me to return to it and Mario Golf and Diamond/Pearl were disappointing. Gonna have to go with 5/10.

A lot of awesome purchases for me personally, so would give it a 9/10.

The 2021 Switch games I bought are the following:
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Bravely Default II
Saviors of Sapphire Wings/Stranger of Sword City Revisited
Monster Hunter Rise
SaGa Frontier Remastered
New Pokémon Snap
Miitopia
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster
World's End Club
Game Builder Garage
Legend of Mana
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
The Silver Case 2425
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
NEO: The World Ends With You
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 1
WarioWare: Get It Together!
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot + A New Power Awakens Set
Astria Ascending
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
Metroid Dread
Mario Party Superstars
Shin Megami Tensei V
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond
Danganronpa Decadence

@Cheez, I totally agree. you're right about the OLED switch, and the remasters WERE kinda lame.

I'd give it a 10/10 except some of the games punished me for finishing them.

7 for me. Lots of remakes, but we got Metroid Dread.

I did my year in review on the Nintendo website and I used my Switch a lot less this year compared to other years. My most played game was Hyrule Warriors AOC (which is technically a 2020 game). Metroid was only OK for me, the N64 online was a mess from once the price was annoucned followed by poor emulation, and nothing else springs to mind so that probably says it all for me. 4 out of 10. Would have ranked lower but I still enjoyed older multiplayer games with friends on occasion.

It was a fantastic year for 3rd party games on the Switch, with Monster Hunter, No More Heroes and SMT. As for 1st party, Metroid Dread was the star together with WarioWare.

Metroid Dread and Warioware... otherwise, meh. Dread alone definitely made this year better than last though.

I don't really know how to take this. For me personally, the first party output that I've been interested in has been very low this year. In fact, in the end, the surprise Animal Crossing DLC was the largest by far.

Objectively, it was a little better than I'd rate it personally, largely because of Metroid Dread. It's a title that I have absolutely no interest in, but I'm happy for Metroid fans. But first party-wise aside from Metroid and Animal Crossing DLC, this wasn't the strongest year for Nintendo. The Pokemon remakes are a major disappointment that I will not be purchasing. Aside from that... what is there? Wii U port in the beginning of the year, a mediocre Mario Golf, and Mario Party Superstars, which looks fun, but is overpriced for what it offers. WarioWare as well, that's okay. (Edit: I always forget about New Pokemon Snap. There's a reason. It was too much the same as the 1999 game and I mean, the 1999 game was already too simplistic. NPS might fun if it was like a $15 eShop game, but $60? please)

I think I'd give it somewhere around average (so maybe 4/10, 5/10, or 6/10). It's hard to know how to rate this year. Animal Crossing DLC and Metroid Dread were objectively fantastic, but aside from that there just isn't much. Is it fair to rate a year above average with only two standout releases? And the majority of the year was dry, and in terms of first party offerings, I only really played maybe two-three months out of the year (third party releases evened it out a bit better, but we're not talking about them here). And with that, it's pretty standard for the Switch, a lot of Switch's years have been like this.

To not end on such a low note, I will say that next year is shaping up to be very strong. Perhaps the Switch's finest. I hope it holds up.

Meh it was ok, not my favorite year.

Year itself? 3/10. Friends leaving single-file or fighting with me, pets dying, had a mess of dark thoughts for long stretches of time, and there weren’t even many good games releasing! Next year has to be better… it has to…

Nintendo’s year? 6/10. I bought New Snap and Dread, and the Smash DLC was great! But I’m not overly interested in the other stuff. Next year has to be better with Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Splatoon 3, BOTW2, and more awesomeness. I’ve got a good feeling my wallet’s gonna sting then.

If the question were "How was your year with Nintendo?" I'd answer with a 10/10, because I purchased the Switch in January 2021.
It's been a long time I had this fun gaming.

It was okay, we got a few good games, but most of them were more niche. I expected higher profile games.

Certainly better than last year. Hopefully they don't rest on their laurels next year though

When I played a good amount of new games on the system and there are still a sizeable handful I wanted but never got, I’ll consider that a very good year.

The video game industry as a whole was down big time this year (as far as my interests are concerned). With that said, Metroid Dread was absolutely fantastic and by far the most memorable gaming experience of the year for me.

Considering how I entered the year expecting BoTW2 and Switch Pro, 6/10.

Realistically? 7/10.

I give it a 7. Would be 9 or 10. But Nintendo is really annoying me with their online "service." If only they just made online play free again... they could still have that service if they didn't include online for it...

Metroid Dread alone made this year an 11/10 for me.

While they made some mistakes outside of the games, I think this year was one of the best libraries Nintendo's brought to the switch so for! 3D World + Bowser's Fury, WarioWare, Metroid Dread, are all some of my favourite games in my collection, and I'm super excited to get games like Mario Golf, Skyward Sword HD & Mario Party Superstars! 8/10 year!

@Blue_Dread Hell to the yeah!

Metroid Dread, 3D World and Skyward Sword HD were my Switch highlights this year although I've mainly been working on the old backlog. Will get Pokémon Snap eventually.

It was pretty much just remasters except for Metroid which I'm not into and SMTV which I do intend to get to but I'm playing another JRPG at the moment so I haven't gotten to it. The only switch game I played was Hades and that came out last year...and I also didn't really care for that one.

I think next year will definitely be better with Bayonetta 3, Kirby and possibly Zelda but yeah this year was pretty much a wash for myself on Switch.

None of my top three titles played on the year in review were released this year. I see that as a problem. I think the Animal Crossing update was the biggest release for me. I hopefully have SMT V under my Christmas tree. I like that Nintendo released a lot of different types of games this year though.

I really like that they continued to be experimental: Bowser’s Fury, a new Pokémon Snap, Game Builder Garage, new modes in Mario Golf, a twist on WarioWare, bringing back classic boards for Mario Party, Big Brain as a budget title, Animal Crossing DLC, etc.

I voted for 8 but was hovering between 8 & 9.

This year not my cup of tea but next year is when everything is coming out that im excited for.

@AlexHarford @Silly_G I am forgiving with Mario Golf. They announced that free DLC was coming before it launched. So you could take a chance and buy it or wait and see.

Waiting for the extra stuff to be finished before releasing would have put this in a crowded fall line up. A summer release was better.

9/10 for me. Some of my favorite first-party Switch games launched this year. Metroid Dread, Mario Party Superstars, and Bowser's Fury were all phenomenal. I know I'm in the minority, but I've also really been enjoying the N64 expansion. I've already logged about 70 hours. I actually went into this year hoping for a new WarioWare and Mario Golf more than anything, and while we got those, I did think they were a bit underwhelming. I still had fun with them, but they're definitely two of my least-favorite games in their respective series. The third-parties also delivered, with Crash 4, Tetris Effect, Monkey Ball, Sonic Colors Ultimate, and Nick All-Star Brawl.

2021 has probably had the best first-party lineup for me, in all honesty, though I think 2019 was my favorite year for the Switch overall with its fantastic third-party games. Spyro, A Hat in Time, Cuphead, Dragon Quest 11, Crash Team Racing--all amazing stuff. Super Mario Maker 2 was also incredible, and we got Luigi's Mansion, Yoshi, and Link's Awakening that year as well.

2017 is honestly only my third-favorite Switch year. I don't really get all the hype behind it. Breath of the Wild was groundbreaking, but I got really burned out and can hardly look at it anymore. Super Mario Odyssey was a bit disappointing to me, with its overabundance of easy Power Moons and kingdoms that could have been more fleshed-out. Mario Kart added Battle Mode, which was great, but still a port at the end of the day with no new tracks. Splatoon 2 became great with updates like Octo Expansion, but at launch, it's easy to see why people were calling it a port. Third-parties were also still pretty reluctant at this time; it launched with Street Fighter II, Puyo Puyo Tetris, and Bomberman, which is a pretty solid lineup...for a console released in the 90's. It was weird to be a die-hard Nintendo fanboy in 2017, and yet my favorite games that year were Microsoft's Cuphead and PlayStation's Crash trilogy, which wouldn't find their way to Switch until some time later.

It's crazy to think we went into 2021 having no idea what Nintendo was working on beyond a port of 3D World. After a disappointing 2020 that was mostly just ports and remakes, I was a little worried there that Nintendo was just kinda...done. Like after the success of the Switch, they were just gonna pack up and quit while they're ahead, lol. But the February Direct calmed my worries, and 2022 is already out to a great start. Nintendo has done an excellent job keeping the Switch relevant with a slew of great games, and I honestly couldn't be happier. Last year was a bit of a train wreck for reasons beyond anyone's control, but they've really gotten the ball rolling again, and I'm so glad.

So, to recap my ranking of the years:

1. 2019
2. 2021
3. 2017
4. 2018
5. 2020

Nothing special for me,
I cant wait for the pokemon arceus game. I am not a pokemon fan, but this game got my attention. I love RPG. So this will fill my hunger lol.

Anyone who calls this a bad year doesn't remember the REAL bad years (Wii U, late GC era). This wasn't their best Switch era year though. Probs a 7 for me.

2 fantastic MH games (though on PC), Metroid Dread, the incredible SMT V, a decent Pokemon remake plus the pretty great PM Snap and some great DLC for Hyrule Warriors AoC so for me its a 9.

Most of Nintendo's 2021 isn't in my library yet, but the list above speaks for itself anyway. The glorious returns (or overdue westward advents) of Pokemon Snap, Famicom Detective Club, Mario Golf, WarioWare AND Metroid, all within one year? Alongside the Skyward Sword I won't have to emulate and a Super Mario World I won't have to buy a home console [that still goes for Switch tier prices here] for? Need I say more? And that's without getting started on all the other fantabulous stuff we've got this year - as someone who primarily plays third party games on his Switch, I'd have a LOT more to say in this regard.

Not much that got me really excited, but I always had great games to play (including and maybe even mostly older ones for cheap), so I'm not complaining. Also, Cruis'n Blast. Technically first party, I suppose, and lots of good third party games in the not-AAA category. My favourite. I had a good year games wise, and World War Z even made me get an NSO subscription, so yeah, there's a victory for Nintendo as well, as I said I wouldn't pay for online (technically I didn't, I paid for it with store credit gotten through a points system of a game store here, but they did get the money and I use the service...)

I didn't buy a single Nintendo game this year, so there's that. Got a couple of LRG releases (Doom, Castlevania collection) that's it. Pretty content, but it would be nice if they released Dark Souls 2 already

@Dizzard agreed on Metroid. I think it’s a really cool franchise, but it’s a bit challenging for me. Might get better if I gave it more of a chance, but it is awkward for me, at least the 3ds was

10/10 thanks to Pyra/Mythra being added to Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

This was actually a really great year for Switch despite it being a little soft on the 1st party side. That is due in part to both Monster Hunter Rise and Stories doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Overall though I'd give the Switch an 8 out of 10 this year, but if we're talking purely 1st party then its probably closer to a 7

I only played three games this year;
-Mario 3D World was great as expected but Bowser's Fury really took me by surprise!
-R-Type Final 2 was a mixed bag but mostly worth picking up.
-Metroid Dread was a love it/hate it experience but it ultimately won me over and I'm on my 3rd playthrough.

Next year I'm looking forward to the new Kirby and Zelda entries. And where the hell is Fall Guys???

ShinMegamiTensei/10

9 out of 10. Metroid Dread was a classic. A lot of really solid titles that came out. First party offerings were not great, but Metroid Dread almost made up for all of that, it was that good.

PORTS
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
New Pokémon Snap
Famicom Detective Club
Miitopia
Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

NEW IP
Game Builder Garage

SEQUELS IN NICHE FRANCHISES
Mario Golf: Super Rush
WarioWare: Get It Together!
Mario Party Superstars
Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain

GOTY CANDIDATES
Metroid Dread

Personally speaking it has been a fantastic year for me, I may not have bought a ton but the ones I did I thoroughly enjoyed. I really have no complaints this year, games like SMT 5 have been enough of a reason for me to consider it a great year.

Nothing from this list but thats okay because Mh Rise and SMT V have literally hoisted the Switch on their shoulders this year.

But I'll probably grab Mario Party soon, thqt looks decent.

4/10 ...nothing special

It was a great year to catch up with my game and series backlog.

So many generous Nintendo fans in this forum. I've been playing Nintendo games for 30 years and this year was a pretty weak-sauce effort, no doubt partially COVID related.

From a business standpoint, it was a good year. Existing games like MK8 continue to sell, so no need to release a bunch of new AAA titles or sequels. As a player, this year was rough. When a 2D Metroid is the biggest release of the year, that should say everything. No new Mario, Kart, Zelda, or 3d Metroid. Instead we get ports and more ports.

I give 2021 a very generous 4/10.

Got my stats for how much i played this year... 32h. Half of which was when in was stuck at a cabin.

I barely touched my Switch this year.. Like last year. I was excited for Mario Golf, it didn't deliver. I was excited for Metroid Dread, I finished the game is less than 8 hours and will probably never touch it again. Mario 3D World was a re-release and it was okay, my most played game this year I think, something like 20 hours.. Great.. Nintendo hired and are making space for their employees, maybe that in 4 or 5 years we might be seeing the release of more than 1 interesting game every 4 months! The thing is, I got a computer, and in comparison I play in two weeks there more than I play in a year on Switch.. Nintendo fails to entertain me since a few years, and still I keep checking news and watching every direct when there is one. A miracle can happen, I'm optimistic

I would have given it a 5, but Dread came out, so that automatically boosts it to a 9 for me.

New Metroid. 10/10.

8 out of 10 and it's only because of Metroid Dread, otherwise I'd give it a 4.

2021 just was a very poor year for games as far as I'm concerned. Games which actually released in this year the only good ones were the Binding of Isaac DLC and Dungeon Encounters. Shadowverse was pretty alright and Monster Hunter Rise was an awesome co-op experience... But stuff like Metroid Dread, Bravely Default 2 and SMT5 ended up being very disappointing.

Even for older games which I first played this year I didn't really go for the right ones Slay the Spire was awesome and Cadence of Hyrule was surprisingly competent but stuff like Chrono Cross, Suikoden 3, Half-Life and Starfox Assault didn't really do it for me as much as I had hoped.

Games can be subjective, but this year has been a poor year.

If I rate Sonic Colours as possible the best game I bought this year that says it all.

It didn’t fee that bad but the year in review Nintendo sent me was pretty telling, barely played 77h this year (vs 195h) last year and my spouse is down from 495h to 135h.

Granted we got a PS5 in march but that didn’t affect much, I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything I wanted (still on the fence on skyward sword).

They had it going on all year, but they had to be pulled back to a 7 for me the way they dropped the ball with the whole NSO "Expansion Pack" debacle.

Average year to be honest.

8/10. Metroid was a highlight. As was Bowser's Fury. But the year for Switch itself was an 11/10. Some of the games that came out from third parties were incredible.

10/10 for the new games, remakes, and for adding N64 to Switch online.

Metroid, Bowser's Fury, Mario Golf, Mario Party and Cruis'n are excellent exclusives in my opinion.

7/10 definitely a few misses this year 3 ports and 2 remakes, really been Metroid and MHR and MHS2 carrying all the weight, though the latter two being only exclusive for a year.

If I'm counting 3rd party games then I can bump it up to 8/10....maybe 9/10 if I squint.

2022, will be a completely different story.

For first party titles, Metroid Dread and Bowser's Fury were high points, but both relatively short and sweet. Remasters were appreciated but it's hard to treat those as a high point of the year on any format. Still got Mario Party Superstars waiting under the tree in a couple of weeks. Overall, good but not great in terms of number of hours of gameplay I got out of Nintendo's 2021 output.

A solidly average year. Just not one in my favor

METROID: DREAD saved the year. Simple as that.

9/10. People who didn't like it probably intentionally avoid good games, deal with it.

It lacked a BIG game this year. Metroid Dread was good but not great. Not big surprises from Mario, Zelda, or anything new.

It was decent. Hopefully next year is better with Splatoon 3 and hopefully a new Zelda and/or Mario and/or Metroid and/or Donkey Kong (yeah right).

The last Nintendo game I bought was Luigi's Mansion 3 in 2020. This year had nothing for me and in general I have stopped buying games on the Switch. Hades carried me through this year, and Tetris 99.

5, Nintendo output this year could be better, next year is when Nintendo will hopefully exceed expectation and surpass 2017 as Switch best year, 2021 was not a great year for Nintendo, third party for Switch yes, but first party games no.

Very solid one from an objective stand point. I mean this year announced to bring back so many dormant IPs, mostly from the GBA, N64, and DS. But yeah half of those were rereleases in the first half. I loved Metroid Dread and will buy Wario Ware next month, also liked Famicom Detective Club, Pokemon Snap and Skyward Sword. It did what I wanted them to do which is revive the dead IPs. Also I'm not into builders but game builder garage as a new IP.

Also third party announcements like No More Heroes 3 and Shin Megami Tensei V, a game I was not planning originally to get but wanted an Atlus Game. I think if there was a modernized Donkey Kong or Star Fox, I'd give it higher. I won't say a new 3d Zelda or Splatoon or Mario because those take time and are coming later and here's a simple concept for everyone, not every year can or should get one.

Thought they did fairly solid. The lockdowns in Japan really put a hurt on their development cycle for games, plus learning how to navigate the remote work waters for a traditional Japanese business is no small feat. I hope they have figured out how to manage their resources with lockdowns looming in other parts of the world. Not referring to the manufacturing of hardware since that isn't within their control, but the development of games within their studios. Bayonetta 3 seems to be a light in the dark, along with the Breath of the Wild sequel, so I am optimistic Nintendo will have an excellent 2022.

@Gwynbleidd it did save the year in a sense, but I think it gave them a boost from mediocre to pretty good for 2021. There were so many factors Nintendo had to deal with this year coming off of 2020. Here's to 2022 will be better!

@Gwynbleidd blanked out. SMT V came out this year... I forgot since I haven't dived into it. Thanks to Metroid Dread and SMT V, it went from mediocre to great! Either way, I hope 2022 will be truly excellent.

Voted 7/10 and that mostly thanks to Metroid Dread, which proved to be much better than expected.

The first half of the year was quite barren for me. The first 1st-party game I bought this year was Skyward Sword HD in summer!

Terrible year, and anyone giving over a 7 really has no idea.

Disregard all rereleases.

Leaves with Pokemon snap, Warioware, Mario golf, game garage and dread.

We purchased 0 of those, and indeed 0 Nintendo first party titles.

Really lacking that one big release, and they are lucky Sony and Microsoft after still struggling.

No wonder Halo gets a mention on Nintendo Life. .

If this year is a "10", next year will be a "20", just based on Zelda and Bayonetta alone. Genuine, AAA, big budget releases.

I'm not critical of Nintendo, they have done what they need to - I'm critical of the fans voting poorly here.

Thank goodness for 3rd parties, and SMT5.

I will give it an 8 out of 10. Games like Mario Golf could have been better. A few disappointments, like GTA Trilogy, Taxi Chaos etc. (can't remember the other titles right now). Also I'm not a fan of digital only releases/download requirements in games. And we didn't much info on the new Zelda and other big titles.

But we did get Tony Hawk 1+2, Crash 4, Monster Hunter Rise, SMTV, Super Mario 3D World, a better version of Mario Party and of course Metroid Dread (which was great).

It was ok, but no Metroid Trilogy still hurts, as well as a lack of new Star Fox. After getting Metroid Dread which singlehandedly saved the year, SMW + Bowser's Fury was the next biggest deal for me, and Mario Golf would have been next if it was a bit better. Getting Spelunky HD and 2 was actually a serious light in the dark - which says this year was not very exciting really. I also expected GBA N64 to be added to NSO without extra payment. I know NSO is cheap, but them getting a regular £20 of ALL of us should have allowed for a diverse retro selection. I think they went back on there original intent with the service and got greedy (again). I mean, we can only play one retro game at a time, and this was meant to be the netflix of retro gaming.

Considering still pandemic and Nintendo 2021 is doing a first rate at getting a OLED out that helps to bring more into Switch gaming is more then enough for a 2022 start.

Eh a solid 7/10. There was far more they could have done but each month I found something new to play.

Very good year. They got me playing a few franchises I usually ignore (metroid, mario party…and monster hunter even though it is 3rd party and I bounced off it) plus I really enjoyed warioware even though it was a little smaller in scope (felt like a minor reboot ). Nothing that captivated me (as I am playing AoC as my GOTY… but that is a psudo win since it is a Zelda game) but all great games this year. 8/10 for me. If I include third party, it was a 9/10.

Both 2020 and 2021 were Bad Time (3/10) for me. Nintendo basically stopped making new games in the last 2 years, apart from Metroid Dread and Animal Crossing (delayed 2019-game)

Pretty boring in my opinion.
I'm hoping 2022 will be like 2017 again...

New 3D Mario (pretty please)
New 3D Zelda
New Rabbids
New Splatoon

And maybe another surprise.

Gonna go with 9 considering I put over 1k hours on my switch despite beating a lot of games across many systems. SMT V, Dread, and MH rise are imo the best switch exclusives now and I’m really happy nocturne is on it. I have a feeling 2022 is gonna be on the same level if not perhaps better than this year

@Gwynbleidd
I wish it wasn't like that. But all the other releases were basically remakes. Luckily there was some descent third party support this year.

8/10

But 2022 BETTER be a 10/10 #Nintendo I expect So Much BETTER out of you especially with the Switch!!!

7/10 so very good. The lack of a major marquee game hurt them, and outside Metroid Dread, there wasn't a whole of other interesting major titles either. In saying that, I'm glad it's been a slow year, just like last year, because I have so many other games to play. I suspect now Nintendo are saving all the major marquee titles for the Switch 2. With titles like Mario Kart 9, Zelda BOTW2, Mario Odyssey 2 and Metroid Prime 4, I really don't expect anything even announced until late next year. Nintendo will keep plowing on and building their customer base even more with existing titles.

I voted OUTSTANDING and it’s pretty simple; I got within months apart No More Heroes 3 and Shin Megami Tensei V, enough said.

I don’t think this will ever happen again, and both games are everything I could expect them to be, lets not forget Metroid Dread also in the mix between those releases, I don’t need mario and zelda every year, 2021 lineup, when you look back at it, was pretty damn strong

9/10 solid year overall. Hope next year is better

8/10

Metroid Dread, Monster Hunter Rise and New Horizons 2.0 + DLC were my biggest gaming highlights. I have barely even touched my PC this year which usually gets equal play between it and my Nintendo console.

MHR I have played almost 350hrs of, and it convinced me to go back and get Generations Ultimate which I sunk another 150hrs into.

Metroid Dread was a much awaited return to form for the series, I was so happy with the way it turned out.

And Animal Crossing 2.0 reignited my love affair in an already amazing title that I had sunk about 700hrs into.

Barely 7/10.
I only bought Metroid Dread, but have been letting it sit. haven't beat it.
It's a 7/10 only for how strong and sales have been and the future releases. I would've bought Mario Party Superstars, but I've already purchased 3 extra joycons all for them to drift. I'll never purchase a game, no matter how fun, that uses them again. Any game using joycons should automatically start with a 9/10 score before being rated due to that issue alone.

7/10 A pretty solid year.

really great, played many games on CEMU and distributed tons of roms to my friends this year. playing great games for free is so satisfying

For me, it felt like one of the last Wii years. I was waiting for one of : Odyssey 2 or Galaxy 3 MK9, Ocarina Of Time/Majoras Mask remasters (based on 3ds versions for the 35th), even Super Mario Galaxy 2 as rumours used to say after the release of All Stars, and BOTW2 (which I am not hyped at all because I hated Skyward Sword and I hate everything that has to do with the sky in Zelda games) and we only got...Skyward Sword. The only Nintendo title I liked was Mario Party Superstars. And not everyone is a fan of Metroid. The only real big title this year. Nintendo is lazy with the Switch. In the Wii U years produced more titles for the Wii U and the 3DS combined. And more ambitious titles, like Splatoon or MK8 and Pikmin 3 and DKTF, more experimental like Captain Toad, now they play it safe. Not even a MK8 DLC. So it was a very very very bad year.

Skyward sword was the only first party Nintendo game I got. Thank goodness for indies.

@niner new Pokemon snap isn’t a port. It’s a sequel.

For me it was a 9. All my fav games this year was on the switch. SMT5 and No more heroes 3 both surpassed my expectations. Not to mention how great Metroid dread and monster hunter rise were too! If a new great fire emblem or next xenoblade came as well it would've been a 10. Next year is shapint up to be nice too with advanced wars, bayonetta 3, zelda, kirby 😉

It was bad enough for me to jump ship.

Hmm, I guess 4/10 for me.
The only games that were remotely interesting to me were New Snap and Skyward Sword, which I both did purchase. I was kind of waiting for the other HD Zelda games to come over, but I guess they will keep those to fill the gap when Botw2 gets delayed. The way NES/SNES/N64 works with Online also kind of left me just not wanting to buy a subscription at all.

But yeah, there's wayyy too many interesting games I still want to play on Steam as well to just sit there and wait for Switch games.

Maybe I'm growing out of Nintendo a bit. The biggest series I cared for like Zelda and Pokemon all go into a direction I don't really like, and Steam is way better (and cheaper) than Switch for indies too, especially with the Deck coming up.

8/10 for me. A good year. Micro SD healthily filled up