Metroid: Samus Returns It just came out for Nintendo 3DS and we igamesnews celebrate for two reasons: first, because we’ve loved the space bounty hunter since its inception on NES and its return to 2D style has been very good; the second, because Nintendo has once again entrusted its own IP to an external one of third parties with a favorable result for both parties.
And we don’t just have the example of Samus Returns for this second reason. We also celebrate the successful launch of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Let’s remember that the Kyoto company gave the intellectual property of Mario to Ubisoft to create this game so full of charm.
Hey! 3DS Pikmin or the next Fire Emblem Warriors show us that Nintendo’s will is to maintain this production model of video games with their own IPs in the form of a spin-off, remake or game with a lower budget in the hands of third parties.
Use: In this ranking we will not have Japanese companies absorbed by Nintendo for decades, such as Intelligent Systems, Hal Laboratory or Game Freak.
Of course there will be titles you love that are not represented on this list. It’s a Top-10 personal and consistent with the editor’s criteria, and not necessarily objective. As always, we want to know your opinion and your particular ranking of games with Nintendo IPs developed by third party companies. ¡We debate!
10. Pokémon GO / Niantic Inc. / iOS y Android
Pokémon GO is not a good game. At least, that’s the way I see it. Niantic Games reduced the strategy and fighting skills of the Pokémon series to very simple battles in which to attack with an absurd movement on the mobile touch screen. But it showed that Nintendo IPs are the most loved, with nothing that comes close. Especially Pokémon, the game that marked the generations of children from the 90s.
9. Starfox Adventures / Rare / GameCube
Rare has given many valuable games to Nintendo. We igamesnews are very grateful. Many of the most famous games used their own IPs –Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Battletoads- or concessions from film companies –GoldenEye, which for me was their best game-. However, Nintendo did entrust them with the IPs of Donkey Kong and Starfox. Starfox Adventures for Game Cube is a pinnacle of Rare at Nintendo, introducing many mechanics learned during their decade of collaboration. More than just a Zelda-style adventure game: Banjo Kazooie platforming and Lylat Wars Shooter levels were there.
8. Excite Truck / Monster Games / Wii
It and its quirky sequel Excitebots are neglected and neglected games from the Wii era. The first came out with the launch of the console and showed motion control adapted to the car genre. Especially cars on mountain circuits, with big jumps and forests to go through. Not only did we use the gyroscope to steer the car, but the position of the car had to be adapted to the slope of the ground when landing from a jump. It is the best installment of the Excite saga (Excitebikes was the first, on the NES.) Without leaving the US, Monster Games made a sequel called Excitebots: Trick Racing that recycled most of the elements of the previous game but turned it into a crazy fun experience.
7. Mario Tennis / Camelot Software Planning / N 64
Mario has practiced all sports. Only two of these sports are represented in this ranking. The delivery of Tennis was mythical for getting a very accurate gameplay which, together with the aesthetics for all audiences of Super Mario, gave dozens of hours of fun to those who preferred the 64 to the new Playstation. Mario Power Tennis for GC deserved to be on the list but there is no room for two. And this one wins by precedence.
6. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze / Retro Studios / Wii U
First Retro Studios game in this Top 10. Wii U was a failure, but only relative. Those who bought Nintendo’s asymmetrical console will know that it hid many gems. Among others, Tropical Freeze. Exquisite level design and very well defined difficulty. Also, the jump to HD was necessary after Retro’s Donkey Kong Country Returns for Wii. The American company is clearly the largest non-Japanese company developing for Nintendo after Microsoft’s purchase of Rare. Luckily, we know that the Donkey Country will not lower the quality bar.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap / Capcom / Game Boy Advance
Undoubtedly the most forgotten Zelda game. Capcom managed to do what few can: make a Nintendo game and nobody realizes that another company has done it. In Minish Cap it is like this: the title breathe the winds of adventure they usually blow in the saga of Link. Full, round, endearing. It nails the A Link to the Past style that was installed in the Game Boy and Advance era, brought back in A Link Between Worlds on 3DS.
4. Mario Strikers Charged / Next Level Games / Wii
Sublime multiplayer game, with the best Wii online. With a bold, non-conservative design from a Mario sports game. It’s not the first of its kind (Strikers came out first for GC), but improved on everything from the predecessor and is the most competitive and hardcore Mario sports gamewith multiple strategies for each lineup created.
3. Donkey Kong Country / Rare / Super Nintendo
We got to the podium. For many at number 1, here in bronze medal. Rare managed to pre-render the game’s objects and background in 3D, achieving amazing graphics for the time this game came out. absolute success, the British company won the trust of Nintendo. They asked for two sequels, spin-offs, racing games, Game Boy ports, and even the adaptation of the series to 3D graphics with Donkey Kong 64. The beginning of a saga. Capital in the history of Nintendo.
2. Mario Party [1-8] / Hudson Soft / N64, GameCube, Wii
Any of those made by Hudson Soft. This company now defunct, although absorbed by Konami. You can roughly tell when its decline began by looking at the Mario Party game timeline. From when did they stop being games with freedom of movement on a board to become combats against Bowser, or more fanciful concepts on 3DS? Since Hudson stopped taking charge of the saga. This company invented it. His is the merit. Hours of fun for all audiences -I have played these titles as a child in afternoons with schoolmates, even as an adult on nights of drunken fun-. Now with Mario Party The Top 100 for 3DS we can recover his legacy. And this makes me happy.
1. Metroid Prime / Retro Studios / GameCube
The most category game that could have been chosen for this ranking. The first installment or the second, I don’t care. Work of worship and total master. Nintendo owes this character’s fame to an American studio, which knew how to bring the idiosyncrasies of Metroid to 3D graphics without losing an iota of the saga’s adult science fiction content. Quite the contrary, taking the legend of samus to another level. Retro Studios, never stop collaborating with Nintendo.
Conclusions
Obviously Rare and Retro Studios deserve high spots on the list for coming up with the concepts of Donkey Kong Country and Metroid Prime, which have made Donkey Kong and Metroid IPs such benchmarks within the industry without being first party games. In other words, they are in the same quality category as Ocarina of Time or Super Mario Galaxy, two masterpieces from Nintendo.
But I have not only wanted to reward cult games. It is important to point out that part of the success in sales of games with Nintendo IPs has been done by third-party companies. Mario sports games and any of Hundson’s Mario Party are capital to understand the commercial progress of Nintendo in its stage within the video game industry. In this sense, Pokémon GO is also included for being a milestone in this progress, the one that made the Big N reach mobile phones through the front door.
Finally, I have taken the luxury of including great games that marked my experience on Nintendo consoles: Minish Cap and Excite Truck. Freedom makes us human.
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