I’ve been gaming since I was about 7 or 8. The very first video game console I ever owned was the GameBoy Color, rocking Pokemon Silver 24/7. Pokemon Silver is was got me hooked to this phenomenal medium and is still one of my favourite games of all time. I also loved playing Spyro the Dragon on the original PlayStation, my first home console. However I didn’t start my current, habitual gaming hobby until I was about 15, and that’s when I got my PlayStation 3 as a Chirstmas present. And for a long while, I primarily played my PS3, I didn’t own an Xbox 360 at the time and I never did end up grabbing a Wii. And that leaves me with a confession: my very first Nintendo home console was the Wii U. People find that statement to be quite a shocker, especially because of how much I love video games. I never owned an NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, or a Wii; I guess you can say I jumped on the Nintendo bandwagon fairly late. In addition to my Wii U, I also have a 3DS which I do love and wish I had more time to play. So I thought I’d share my sad list of completed Nintendo titles with you all and express my interest on the other titles, whether they be recent or classic, I wish to experience, and hopefully you more experienced gamers can suggest some of your favourite Nintendo titles that I forgetfully omitted!
The very first Legend of Zelda game I played was Wind Waker, thanks to the HD remastered edition released on the Wii U. And this is another shocker to most people as Wind Waker was apparently quite the polarising entry back when it was originally released in 2002 on the GameCube. Its more cartoonish art design, however, aged extremely well, and if I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought that Wind Waker HD was a brand new entry in the Zelda series, just based on its looks alone. I immediately fell in love with its gratifying sense of exploration, as I sailed across the vast waters of the Great Sea. I even loved its simple, but enjoyable combat and the exquisite level design of the many dungeons. I loved Wind Waker so much that I went out and bought a copy of the next 3D Zelda, Twilight Princess, immediately after Wind Waker’s credits rolled; and even though I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much, I still thought it was an amazing game. Earlier this year I decided to play one of the more influential entries in the series, The Ocarina of Time. I wrote a little piece on my experience with Ocarina of Time a couple months ago and in it I said that it quickly became one of my favourite games of all time and is a golden standard for gaming. And it was just the perfect title for the 3DS, I was pretty much glued to that thing for a good month straight. So those are the only Zelda games I’ve ever completed, a little sad I know. I do own a copy of Skyward Sword, which I have yet to play due to my backlog of games and I do plan on eventually picking up Majora’s Mask on the 3DS. I’d love to revisit and play some of the traditional 2D classics, such as the original on the NES and A Link to the Past, before I go tackle the most recent 2D entry, A Link Between Worlds.
So as I previously mentioned, I grew up playing Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot on the original PlayStation, so since I didn’t own a Nintendo console as a kid, they were my Mario and Zelda. The first Mario game I ever completed was, don’t laugh, Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii. I did play other Mario games such as Mario Sunshine, Paper Mario, and New Super Mario Bros Wii, but they were experienced at my friend’s house and in small doses. Super Mario Galaxy 2 was the first Mario title that I sat with and dedicated myself to, and in return, I was blown away. The level design, the art direction, the soundtrack, and goodness gracious, the platforming were all so impeccable. It really got me hooked to this legendary, iconic series and I was just itching for more. So I bought Super Mario 3D Land and World on the 3DS and Wii U respectively, and while both were fun (the latter more so than the former), they just couldn’t match the scope and perfection that was Mario Galaxy 2. In terms of Mario titles I wish to play, where do I begin? Let’s start with the original Super Mario Bros released back in 1985, undeniably the most important video game of all time. I feel sort of ashamed to have never fully played it and call myself an avid gamer, but hopefully redemption will arrive in due time. Same goes for Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES and Super Mario World 1 & 2 on the SNES. And it doesn’t hurt that I find the 16-bit era of gaming absolutely gorgeous. Now in the 3D landscape of the Mario series, I truly understand that I need to play Super Mario 64. Whenever I talk to my friends about how much I love Galaxy 2, their immediate response is: “play Mario 64 then come talk to me”. So I want to experience this open world title as it arguably pioneered the 3D platforming genre and gave light to the franchises that I adored growing up.
I absolutely love the Super Smash Bros series and have played every entry released on home consoles (sorry 3DS). It is a fantastic party game and some of the most chaotic local multiplayer fun you can have nowadays. That’s my primary reason for loving it, but I understand that I’m missing a big component on what makes Smash Bros such a popular and successful series. Smash Bros is an undeniable tribute to Nintendo’s legacy and seeing how far video game characters have come over the many years. It’s extremely heart-warming and nostalgic for those who grew up with these characters but unfortunately I didn’t; so that’s why I wasn’t phased by the surreal, unbelievable moment of Link and Mario dishing it out for the first time. But hopefully I can make up for lost time and experience these characters’ origins and understand their importance to Nintendo and gaming as a whole.
And it’s time for the sad to get sadder; I have never played any title in the Donkey Kong series, Star Fox series, Kirby series, Mother series, or the heavily acclaimed Metroid series. I’ve only played the newest additions to the Mario Kart and Mario Party series and have truly completed only one Pokemon game: Pokemon Silver. Luckily we live in a technological world where digital distribution is the standard and can be retrieved with just a simple click. Because of the beauty that is virtual console, I can experience most if not all of these legendary games. So that’s my primary reason for starting a Classic Corner feature, so I can express my thoughts on these classic titles and see if they live up to their universal acclaim. So what are some of your favourite Nintendo titles? Are there any that I forgot to mention and should check out? Please feel free to comment and/or leave some recommendations. Have a great weekend everyone!
After Story Gaming 
Pokémon Silver was one of the first games I can remember completing as a kid and led me to go back and play Pokémon Red. I also played a lot of Spyro and Crash on the PS1 and I owe my love of video games to these three series’. I like that even though you started late on the Nintendo home console front you still want to go back and play the classic games. I would definitely recommend playing Super Mario 64, and as you mentioned never playing anything from the Starfox series, although unlike the usual entries, Starfox Adventures on the GameCube is one of my all time favourite games and is definitely worth a play if you get the chance.
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First off, thanks man for the continuous support and liking and commenting on my posts, I really appreciate it and it means a lot 🙂
Anyway, yeah I’m glad you share the same experiences with Pokemon silver, crash and Spyro as myself! The whole purpose of this post to get insight on great Nintendo games that I should try out and I’ll definitely give starfox adventures! Would you happen to know if it’s available on virtual console?
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No problem man, your content deserves the praise 🙂 I’m unsure whether Starfox Adventures is on the virtual console, it would be great if it is!
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It doesn’t look like it is on VC 😦 I’ll just have to find another to play it. But thanks again for the recommendation!
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I think you have got it all covered. I sort of envy you, because you have a load of stellar Nintendo gaming experiences in front of you!
Here is what I recommend for the following series you have never tried:
Donkey Kong – Donkey Kong Country 2 and Tropical Freeze.
Star Fox – Star Fox 64
Kirby – Kirby’s Adventure, Kirby Super Star, and Epic Yarn. (Keep in mind that Kirby games are purposely very easy)
Mother – Earthbound
Metroid series – Super Metroid and the Prime Trilogy.
As for people saying “play Mario 64 then come talk to me” regarding your love towards SMG2, I feel that has a lot to do with nostalgia. I was born in 1990 so I grew up during the N64 era and I have a special relation with Super Mario 64, but I can easily say SMG2 (and SMG too) are far superior. SMG2 is the best Mario game of all time, but the others are also worth checking out.
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Thanks a lot for your recommendations! Yeah at times I feel sort of lucky because I get to experience these classics for the first time, and I know a lot of people would love to experience that again. And I’ll be sure to try out all of your suggestions, I’m particularly excited to play earthbound and super metroid and prime trilogy! I guess I’ll have to try Mario 64 and see for myself, but it’s just hard for me to picture anything better than SMG2, but then again Nintendo are known for upping the ante.
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Have fun!
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Super Mario World. It is perfection.
Donkey Kong Country 2 (1 and 3 are also excellent, but 2 is the masterpiece) and Tropical Freeze.
Earthbound.
Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario.
Super Mario 64 (Galaxy 2 is better though, tell your friends I said so).
Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.
Basically any Mario Kart.
Those are the essentials I can think of that you haven’t played or mentioned (though you did mention 64).
You really did spoil yourself with Zelda though. Wind Waker is my favorite entry in the series, had I started there the other 3D entries may not have had the same effect. It’s like how I made the “mistake” of playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night before any other Castlevania. The rest couldn’t stand a chance.
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Can’t believe I forgot to mention Kirby! Shame on me. Kirby Super Star, Kirby’s Epic Yarn and a number of others are all worth it.
And I really can’t believe I failed to mention Yoshi’s Island! It is absolutely essential.
I do have to disagree with your statement of Melee being “undeniably the best” Super Smash Bros. title. The Wii U version is an improvement in every conceivable way (I would also say Brawl is an huge improvement in most ways). Melee just had no sense of balance, and some of the creative decisions were outright baffling (Pichu hurts himself!). A good game, to be sure. But Nintendo’s outdone it.
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Thank you for the comment! I was hoping to get comments from you and Matt from nintenobound because you guys write so many Nintendo reviews so I thought your insight would be needed! Now that I finished bloodborne, I’m thinking of taking on one of the Mario titles, either world or 64, any presence amongst the two?? And yes I kind of agree with your Zelda statement, after playing wind Waker, I didn’t enjoy twilight princess or skyward sword as much. But I did love ocarina of time so that’s why I’m excited to try Majora’s mask. I really want to try kirby’s epic yarn, love the art design and has got me super stoked for Yoshi’s wooly world. Looks like I’ll have a busy schedule, so many games to play 😛 but I shouldn’t be complaining, it’s quite exciting actually! And about smash, I don’t know but I just had the most fun with Melee, could never grasp why
I loved the single player mode in brawl, with cinematics and all and I was fairly sad that they didn’t include those into the wii u version. And the smash tour mode isn’t the greatest either, but I will agree that Melee does have its faults too. Maybe I just have tinted goggles when I think about Melee? Perhaps.
But anyway, thank you so much for the feedback friend! Much appreciated!
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Glad to know my opinion is appreciated. 🙂
Between Super Mario 64 and Super Mario World, well, you can pair World with just about any game, and I’d pick World. I could go on and on about why I think it’s so excellent (and I plan to soon), but there just aren’t many games that match up to it for me.
With that said, Super Mario 64 is also a gaming experience that shouldn’t be missed. I think it ranks behind both Galaxy titles, but it’s one of the few games from its era that truly holds up. If you’re more used to playing 3D games maybe you should start there, but there are very few games I’d say are as essential as Mario World.
For a little bit more on my own Zelda opinions, they’re all pretty great in their own right, but Wind Waker just did it all best, and very uniquely. Twilight Princess felt too creatively restrained (it largely only existed to cater to the people who complained about Wind Waker’s style), it just didn’t bring anything meaningfully new to the table. Skyward Sword was great in a lot of ways, and took the series in new directions, but the game would have actually been better had it been cut a few hours short. It had a little too much padding and backtracking, it ended up feeling stretched longer than it needed to be.
That’s my two cents on that, anyway.
Also, it’s important to note that Epic Yarn is a game about the experience, not challenge. Some people don’t like it for how easy it is, but I think it should be judged by its merits. If you want difficulty though, Donkey Kong is always there.
As for Smash Bros., I can respect Melee being someone’s favorite. I’ve just never quite grasped the unanimous praise it gets at the detriment of subsequent entries. It did set the standard for the series in a lot of ways, with the sequels more building on it than reinventing it, so I appreciate it for that. I just feel the sequels had a more creative bag of tricks (though don’t get me started on the inclusion of Dark Pit in the newest games).
Also, can’t believe I forgot to mention Mega Man (mostly 2 and 3). Star Fox 64 also comes recommended.
Always happy to help with Nintendo suggestions.
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