Tag: Best Games
Feature Best Super Mario Games Of All Time
All the mainline Marios ranked
With exciting news that Nintendo may be bringing “most of Super Mario’s 35-year catalogue” to Switch, what better time to take a look at some of the classics which could be coming to a handheld hybrid near you soon? With that in mind, here’s our ranking of all the mainline Mario games. Enjoy! What's the best...
Feature Best Free Switch Games - Download And Play Right Now
Free-to-play right away
How times change! It used to be you went to your local video game emporium, perused the shelves, took your chosen game to the counter and handed over cold hard cash before heading home and popping it in your console. Not only has digital distribution removed the need to even leave the house, but many games can be downloaded...
Feature Best Resident Evil Games Of All Time
You sort the S.T.A.R.S. from the lickers
The Resident Evil series has evolved so much over the years that even hardened fans find it hard to pin down a favourite. Which brand of Resident Evil are we talking about? Do you prefer old-school tank controls and fixed camera angles, or are your tastes more action-oriented? Regardless of the individual...
Feature Best Nostalgic Nintendo Switch Games
Scratch that nostalgia itch with these Switch neo-classics
Ah nostalgia - it's a tricksy thing. How many times have we gone back to revisit a treasured classic only to find that modern games have spoiled us, if only a bit? For all the brilliant aspects of retro games, the mod cons and performance we're used to now are pretty fantastic, too, and...
Feature Best Monster Hunter Games Of All Time
What's that coming over the hill?
What's the best Monster Hunter of all time? In a series where half of the titles have the word 'Ultimate' fixed on the end, it can be a difficult decision to make. We're not averse to difficult decisions though, so have taken it upon ourselves to rank every single Monster Hunter game (yes, even the non-Nintendo...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Couch Co-Op Games
Teamwork makes the dream work
While there's a huge variety of gaming experiences available on Switch, the chances are that couch co-op games were a big part of the reason you bought Nintendo's hybrid console. After all, the Switch is tailor-made for those experiences thanks to its Joy-Con controllers, which double up as two separate pads when you've...
Guide Every ACA Neo Geo Game On Nintendo Switch, Plus Our Top Picks
A complete list of Hamster's ACA Neo Geo Switch titles
Much like Hamster's Arcade Archives series, the company's line of Neo Geo titles - which goes by the bespoke title 'ACA NEOGEO' to separate it from the rest - has been a regular fixture of the weekly Nintendo Switch eShop download lists. With over a hundred releases under the ACA banner, Hamster...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Family Games
Fun for the whole family
Switch is the perfect console for co-op multiplayer gaming and certainly goes down a treat at a party, but if you want to play games with your young kids, for example, it can be tough to find games that are fun for everyone involved. There's a world of difference between gaming with a 5-year-old and a 10-year-old, and we...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch RPGs
Our round-up of the best RPGs on Switch
In the three years since Nintendo Switch launched the console has amassed a huge number of quality titles across almost every category, and the RPG genre is certainly no exception. Below you'll find our picks for the console's essential role-playing games, in no particular order. This selection will evolve...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Online Multiplayer Games
The best online games available for Switch right now
Nintendo Switch is the perfect console for local multiplayer - simply crack off those Joy-Con and start having fun with whoever happens to be in the room with you. However, the console has built up a solid portfolio of online multiplayer games since launch, too, and we've picked out a handful - in...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Games - The Best Switch Games 2020
The very best Switch games ever (so far)
Nintendo Switch has amassed a huge amount of great games in the three years since the console launched. Of course, this abundance of riches leaves us in something of a pickle - too much software, not enough time to play it all. In fairness, it's a lovely problem to have - Help! There are too many excellent...
Feature Best Animal Crossing Games Of All Time - Where Does New Horizons Rank?
Is it the latest and greatest?
With Animal Crossing: New Horizons finally upon us, many of us have been looking back on the serene life sim series as we gear up for the next chapter on Switch. Animal Crossing has a habit of taking over your life, becoming a part of your daily routine like doing your teeth or walking the dog. Consequently, it etches...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games
Pack a spare pair of underpants
Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic? Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre or ghost? If the answer is "no"... you obviously haven't been playing any of the excellent horror games available on Nintendo Switch. There's...
Feature Best Zelda Games Of All Time
All the Zelda games ranked
What are the best Zelda games? Ranking The Legend of Zelda series is one heck of an undertaking. Bar a couple of exceptions, each entry is pretty much a classic, with even the 'lesser' ones still being really rather good. Many remain fixed as among the very best games on the consoles that parented them, so ranking them is...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Metroidvania Games
Updated with La-Mulana 2
The word 'Metroidvania' might rub some core gamers the wrong way, but it's a useful catch-all to describe a very specific type of game experience. Combining elements from both the Metroid series and Koji Igarashi-produced Castlevania titles, this broad platforming genre has you using an ever-growing skill set to open up new...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Party Games
Maximum fun, minimum fuss
So, you're having a party - possibly on a rooftop - dancing to the music and all that jazz, but there's suddenly a lull. Fear not because we've got just the thing to get the party started again! Nintendo Switch has a whole host of crowd-pleasing co-op and competitive party games, whether you're hosting a birthday party for...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Strategy Games
The best RTS, 4X, strategy and tactics games on Switch
Strategy games by their very nature require deep thought and careful consideration, and many gamers these days often find it hard to embark on epic multi-hour campaigns in a single sitting. Planning a multi-turn offensive in a 4X game like Civilization or outfitting your party with optimal gear...
Feature Best Nintendo DS Games
As voted for by you
This ranked reader-voted list of the 50 best Nintendo DS games is governed by Nintendo Life User Ratings and can change depending on those scores. Feel free to rate your favourites and, perhaps, rejig the ranking below. Enjoy! One of the joys of Nintendo's Switch is how it marries the company's home console heritage with its...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Racing Games
Feel the requirement for rapidity!
While the Nintendo Switch lacks the raw processing grunt of the Xbox One and PS4, petrol heads have been increasingly well served on the hybrid console, with a steadily growing catalogue of fantastic racers. Switch may lack the killer driving simulators of rival consoles, but there are plenty of arcade thrills and...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Shmups
Shoot 'em up, all of 'em
The humble shoot ‘em up has been a staple genre ever since the very beginning of video games when Spacewar! laid down the basic groundwork in 1962. No, that is not a typo; in the year that Marilyn Monroe died and The Beatles recorded ‘Love Me Do’, some boffins at MIT were busy inventing video games. Of course, it...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch 2D Platformers
Jump around
With so many excellent platformers available on Switch, picking something out from the overwhelming selection can be hard. The platforming genre has a very strong pedigree on Nintendo systems going all the way back to the original Super Mario Bros. on NES (which you can find on Switch along with several of its celebrated sequels via the...
Feature The Most Relaxing Switch Games - Chill Games For Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch and chill
Had a tough day? When it comes to getting adrenaline coursing and your pulse racing, there are more than enough video games that fit the bill. Whether battling to recover your humanity in Dark Souls, making it to the final two in a round of Fortnite or going up against a rock-hard retro classic, there are plenty of Switch...
Guide Every Arcade Archives Game On Nintendo Switch, Plus Our Top Picks
A complete list of Hamster's Arcade Archives Switch titles
Since 2017 we've seen a steady supply of Hamster's Arcade Archives releases bringing arcade classics to the Switch eShop. What's more, the series includes previously unreleased or hard-to-find arcade games from Nintendo itself. Having been so well acquainted with many of the NES versions,...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Beat 'Em Ups
Take the fight to the mean streets
Beat 'em ups have been a staple of gaming since the mid-1980s when Kung Fu Master birthed the genre in the arcades. It was arguably 1987’s Double Dragon which kicked off the golden age of the side-scrolling brawler, though, and some of our best gaming memories involve strutting down streets and getting into...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Short Games
Blast through these games in a single sitting
The Switch is the perfect console if you travel a lot, for work or pleasure. The console's portability makes it the perfect choice if you're spending any time at all in planes, trains and automobiles. Of course, you may choose to pass the time playing a trusted standby, or grinding through your...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Fighting Games
Updated with Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r]
It's ironic that one of the most violent video game genres is also one which has pulled millions of people together; ever since the early days of Fatal Fury and Street Fighter II, the humble 'fighting game' genre has created (and arguably ended) countless friendships. This style of game that is...
Feature Best Pokémon Games Of All Time
Where does Pokémon Sword and Shield rank?
What are the best Pokémon games? Ranking such awesome games proved a lot more difficult than we first anticipated, given how many of them end up being among the best games of their particular generation. We deliberated for many hours here at Nintendo Life Towers to decide the order of these turn-based RPG...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch FPS Games
Updated with two Metro Reduxes
Nintendo Switch's bulging catalogue of games covers practically every genre, and First-Person Shooters are no exception. Nintendo systems have historically lagged a little behind other consoles in the FPS field despite hosting some classics in the past. GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark helped define the FPS on consoles,...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Action-RPGs
Hack-and-slashers welcome
When does an RPG become an action RPG? Is it the moment turn-based battles are switched out for real-time combat? When does an action RPG stray into adventure or hack-and-slash territory, then? Do numbers have to go up? What year is this? Who is the President? It's questions like these that keep the more fastidious among...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Games For Kids
The best Switch games for your little ones
Nintendo Switch is a console with brilliant software for gamers young and old. Over the years Nintendo has fostered a wholesome, family-friendly image which is well-earned, and with characters like Mario, Luigi and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom gang, Switch games to cater to the young and the...
Feature Best Castlevania Games On Nintendo Consoles
Far from a miserable pile
The Castlevania series has a rich history on Nintendo consoles ever since the original game came first to the Japanese Famicom Disk System way back in 1986, and then to the NES a year later. There may be a significant release or two from Konami's vampire-killing catalogue still missing from Nintendo platforms (we're looking...
Feature Best Fire Emblem Games Of All Time
Fancy a game of Swords-Axes-Lances?
It might have taken a while for Nintendo's premier SRPG series to find its feet in the West, but the storming success of last year's Fire Emblem: Three Houses on Switch proves that nearly 30 years since first launching in Japan Intelligent Systems' turn-based strategy series is now up there with the Marios and the...
Feature Best Donkey Kong Games Of All Time
Every DK game ranked for your pleasure
While Mario is the undisputed man when it comes to all things Nintendo, let it never be forgotten that it was Donkey Kong who gave the plumber a leg-up in the world of video games. The ape's original game not only conquered the arcade and introduced the world to the character who would become Nintendo's mascot,...
Feature Best Metroid Games Of All Time
Ranking Samus' adventures
What's the best Metroid game of all time? Well, we're about to tell you just that with our list of all Metroid games ranked from worst to best. As is the case with these lists, we've taken all the opinions of Team NL along with a host of other variables, put that data into a blender, mixed it into a delicious smoothie,...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2019
The best games from Switch's third year
2019 was a fantastic year for Nintendo Switch owners, with a stellar lineup from the platform holder itself joined by a near-endless stream of brilliant third party games; finding the time to play them all was by far the biggest problem facing Switch or Switch Lite gamers. Nintendo's console got off to a...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch 3D Platformers
Workin' the Z-axis
Ah, the 3D platformer. Ever since Super Mario 64 landed and showed everyone just how good three-dimensional platforming could be, there have been developers hoping to capture just a smidgen of that game’s magic. It was a tough act to follow, even for the plumber himself, but his latest outing on Switch has him at the very top of...
Feature Best Switch Sports Games
Be a sport
Since the dawn of humankind we homo sapiens have sought to prove ourselves with competitive feats of skill, dexterity or sheer strength. This has taken many forms, but usually involves performing some task in the quickest time, besting your opponent(s) in a physical bout, or scoring the most points, usually with a ball of some...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2018
The very best games from Switch's sophomore year
Cast your minds back, if you will, deep into the mists of time, all the way back to 2018. Yes, it's only last year but a lot has happened since then, not least where Nintendo Switch is concerned! After a barnstorming opener which featured genre-defining winners like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2017
I just wanna go back, back to 2017
Remember 2017? While it might be something of a hazy memory now, it was the fateful year when Nintendo released the juggernaut that is the Nintendo Switch to the world. The portable powerhouse would hit the ground running with the wonderful The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild upon its March 2017 launch. July...
Feature Beat Blue Monday With The Best Feel-Good Games On Nintendo Systems
Turn that January frown upside down
Blue Monday has arrived and, no, it's not some new post-Christmas Black Friday-alike designed to keep the retail sector ticking over through the lean winter months. It's the day of the year when people are statistically most downbeat and gloomy according to scientists, or something. To be fair, it's...
Feature Best Super Smash Bros. Games Of All Time
What's the ultimate Super Smash Bros.?
When Super Smash Bros. Ultimate arrived on Switch and brought with it every single fighter from the series' history, it sent us back through the older games. With the original Super Smash Bros. now over 20 years old it's incre
Feature Best Mario Kart Games Of All Time
Burn rubber
Back when Nintendo announced the very first Mario Kart game in the early '90s, there were some in the industry who proclaimed it as a sign that the veteran firm had finally lost its marbles. Sure, Mario had appeared in other games, but his forte was 2D platformers – he had no place on the racing track, and Super Mario Kart was...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Kart Racing Games
Who could possibly be in pole position?
When it comes to kart racers, there's one undisputed king of the crop on Nintendo systems, and we're not talking Crash Bandicoot. Let's not kid ourselves here - we all know what's sitting at number one on the list below of the best kart racers on Nintendo Switch. With a record like Schumacher in his prime,...
Feature Best Nintendo Switch Exclusives
Games you can only play on Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch has become home to a great many games in a relatively short space of time. A great deal of them have appeared on other platforms, whether celebrated indie games or huge AAA releases getting a second wind on Nintendo's handheld hybrid. However, the console is also home to a clutch of...
Feature Game Of The Decade - The Best Games On Nintendo Systems 2010-2019
The best games of the past 10 years, as ranked by you
Happy New Year everyone! As the 21st century passes from its teens into its twenties, we've been looking back over the last ten years in the video game industry. It's been quite the rollercoaster journey for Nintendo in particular, riding the highs of the Wii and DS period through the trials of...
Black and white brilliance
Friday 21st April 1989 – the day that the Game Boy launched in Japan. Thirty years ago today the video gaming landscape would be forever changed as Nintendo opened up the new frontier of portable gaming to the masses. The company’s Game & Watch line let you take limited gaming experiences on-the-go, but the Game...
Feature Best Professor Layton Games
The mainline Layton games, ranked by you lovely lot
The release of Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy – Deluxe Edition on Nintendo Switch marks the belated debut of the Layton clan on Nintendo's current console. A clutch of excellent puzzle games came out for the Nintendo DS and 3DS handhelds, but it has taken...
As ranked by you lovely people
The Nintendo GameCube is eighteen years old today! In honour of reaching this prestigious milestone (which now enables it to enter pubs and watch a whole range of naughty movies in the UK), we asked Nintendo Life readers to score their favourite GameCube games. The results have now been assembled into the list of 50...
Feature Best Nintendo 3DS Games
As voted by you
As dwindling software sales and a paucity of games on the horizon finally signals the end of Nintendo 3DS' long day in the sun (despite what Nintendo might claim), there's no better time to look back over the extraordinary catalogue of what may well be Nintendo's final handheld-only console. After a slow start, the portable went...
Feature Best Nintendo 3DS RPGs
A quest for the best
As the 3DS's sixth year in the world draws to a close, we can already look back on its impressively varied library with wonder; along with plenty of standout platformers, life sims, rhythm games, and puzzlers, it's also carved out a particular niche by delivering an almost non-stop barrage of first class RPGs. Responsible for...
