Nintendohas been making home consoles since 1983. Or even 1977, if we’re counting Color TV-Game. But nobody is counting Color TV-Game, because it was little more than a glorified Pong machine. So, we’ll roll with 1983, which is when the Nintendo Entertainment System - that’s “Family Computer (Famicom)” in Japan - made its grand debut.
While the Big N has launched myriad portable-only gaming devices, several of which to mass success, it’s these TV-bound titans that have commanded the company’s flagship status across the decades. And a fair few game series have stuck with them from NES to Nintendo Switch, lifelong partners through thick and thin. Here’s to them!
We’re not including the Nintendo Switch 2 in this list. As of this writing, it’s been out for barely two weeks. It has just over two dozen games at the moment, the bulk of which are ports and upgrades of existing titles. It’s not time yet!
6Tetris
I get a lot of flak, probably well-deserved, fornot enjoying Tetris. But I can’t deny it’s a perfectly-constructed vision of its core concept. The rules are simple, but the challenges can be enormous. And most gaming enthusiasts on this green-and-blue planet swear by it.
Small wonder, then, that it’s never left Nintendo’s domain. By the time the NES was wrapping up its long-lived era, there had already been no fewer than four separate versions of Tetris released on the console. It’s popped on everything since, usually at least a few times.
5Donkey Kong
This one goes hand-in-hand with Mario, because Mario (known as Jump Man at that point) technically debuted right alongside Donkey Kong.The first Donkey Kong gameactually pre-dates the NES by two years, as it was originally an arcade game. It was a launch title for the console two years later, and our beloved gorilla quickly became a household icon.
Standout releases for other systems include the Donkey Kong Country trilogy for SNES, Donkey Kong 64 and Diddy Kong Racing for N64, the Donkey Konga duology and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat for GameCube, Donkey Kong Country Returns for Wii, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for Wii U, and enhanced Switch ports of both DKC sequels for Switch.
As an aside, I highly recommend Tropical Freeze. It’s up there with the second entry in the now-five-game subseries, which is terrific in its own right.
4Kirby
The beloved pink ball of joy has been with Nintendo consoles through thick and thin.Kirby began his life of fine and not-so-fine diningon the Game Boy in 1992 with Kirby’s Dream Land, but one year later in 1993, Kirby’s Adventure arrived on the NES. This was followed by the excellent Kirby Super Star on SNES, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards for N64 and Kirby’s Epic Yarn for Wii, Kirby’s Return to Dreamland for Wii, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse for Wii U, Kirby Star Allies and Kirby and the Forgotten Land…
Aaaaand all the games I’ve neglected to mention, because as is commonplace with perennial Nintendo franchises,there are a lot of them.
3Pac-Man
While I was doing research for this article, I was honestly pretty surprised to see Pac-Man has been this constant on Nintendo hardware. Why? I’m not sure, really. I simply didn’t expect it. Hopefully, at least a few of you feel the same, because what’s the point in reading this stuff if you aren’t learning anything?
Pac-Man was certainly more prolific on Nintendo consoles earlier in his lifetime than later, with several appearances on the NES and SNES. Things slowed down substantially after that, but he’s never missed a beat when it comes to the big home hardware kits from the Big N.
2The Legend Of Zelda
Up until Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda had nearly always been one of those franchises with outsized cultural reverence and relevance relative to its commercial performance. Don’t get me wrong, the sales had been good. Ocarina of Time did especially well, with 14 million copies sold and counting. But most were in the single-digit millions range, which is great, but not quite what one would expect when much of the world recognizes Link on-sight.
Things changed big-time on Nintendo Switch, with Breath of the Wild north of 35 million and Tears of the Kingdom already past 22 million. But what of the consoles of old? We’ll skip the unnecessary sales talk for the rest of this ranking, but here’s what each home console has gotten through the years:
The series' legacy is tied in no small part to handhelds, as well; Link’s Awakening bursts to my brain’s forefront whenever I think about the Game Boy. But that’s neither here nor there for the purposes of this list!
1Mario
This last one’s probably the least surprising entry on the list. Mario Bros. was released in 1983, less than two months after the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System. It didn’t make its way overseas until a few years later (nor did the Nintendo itself), but it quickly proved itself enough of a hit to lead to Super Mario Bros., and the rest is legendary gaming history.
The SNES launched in all major territories with Super Mario World. The Nintendo 64 did the same with Super Mario 64. Super Mario Sunshine launched not far behind the Nintendo GameCube itself, and Super Mario Galaxy followed suit for the Nintendo Wii. The Wii U had Super Mario 3D World, and the Nintendo Switch, Super Mario Odyssey.
That’s not counting all the other Mario games on each system, and they are positively bursting with them. It goes without saying - you probably already knew this! - but the famed plumber is a Nintendo-brand fixture, and he always will be.#
