Top 15 Nintendo Franchises of All Time

10. F-Zero (SNES, N64, GBA, GCN, Arcade)

Nintendo’s super fast futuristic racing franchise, credited with having created an entire genre, is one of the most revered and hardcore franchises of all time. The series, known for consistently pushing technical boundaries and for delivering an exhilateringly high sense of speed, was at the forefront of pushing 3D graphics way back on the SNES with its excellent use of Mode7 technology, delivered a game locked at 60 frames per second back on the N64, and then delivered what is widely regarded as the best, and hardest, racing game of all time with the Gamecube installment F-Zero GX.

The series is also known for its super cool protagonist, Captain Falcon, who has been known for his trademark ‘Falcon Punch and Falcon Kick,’ along with being known for is Super Smash Bros. appearances. Although Falcon only ever appeared in the SNES and Gamecube games, his leading role in the anime based on the games have shot him to the top of the pop culture charts.

However, outside of and beyond that, F-Zero remains one of the best racing game franchises around. And while it’s been missing in action ever since its Gamecube game, we hope it will make a triumphant return sometime soon. The 3DS, in particular, looks well suited to this kind of a game, wouldn’t you say?

9. Advance Wars (GBA, DS)

Advance Wars is another of those breakthrough handheld success stories. Whereas the series originally began on the Famicom in Japan as Famicom Wars, in the west, it only saw its first release as Advance Wars on the Gameboy Advance. The Advance Wars series is a series of turn based strategy games, one of the very best and highest rated. Its Gameboy Advance debut was a dream, with the game getting almost insanely high scores from critics, and the game sold like peanuts. It’s immediate sequel on the GBA, while not changing much, was also well received, although it didn’t find nearly as much favor with the audiences.

However, if the Advance Wars series will be remembered for anything, it will be for the DS game, Advance Wars Dual Strike. The game that singlehandedly sold Nintendo’s rather odd dual screened handheld to hardcore audiences, and the game that first demonstrated how to put those two screens to good use, Advance Wars Dual Strike implemented excellent balance, and addictive turn based gameplay employed over a lengthy campaign. It’s support for wireless multiplayer, along with the vast variety of features it offered, basically made it the DS’s first killer app.

Of course, the series went downhill from there. The 2008 DS game, Day of Run, came and went without having any impact whatsoever, and the series has been largely silent since then. However, we can hope that it will soon make an appearance on the 3DS as well. Maybe history will repeat itself, and turn the fortunes of the flagging fortunes of Nintendo’s newest handheld.

8. Donkey Kong (Arcade, NES, GB, SNES, GBC, N64, GCN, GBA, DS, Wii)

The massive gorilla who made Nintendo Nintendo, Donkey Kong is probably Nintendo’s coolest franchise to date. Although it didn’t come into its own until the breakthrough SNES game, Donkey Kong Country- the game that is incidentally credited with extending the SNES’s lifespan well into the Playstation generation, and which ultimately sealed Nintendo’s victory over Sega’s Genesis- since then, Donkey Kong has been on a roll. The SNES games are widely remembered as some of the most memorable platformers of all time, the N64 game, Donkey Kong 64, sustained the system when it was under heavy fire from the Playstation, and while the Gamecube adventure remains a bit of an oddity, the Wii saw the old gorilla return to form with the Retro Studios developed Donkey Kong Country Returns.

On the handheld side, Donkey Kong has seen a vertical platformer on the original Gameboy, a port of the Donkey Kong Country games on the GBC and GBA, and a series of puzzle games, Mario vs Donkey Kong, on the GBA and DS. Whereas he hasn’t been at his best on the handhelds, his games still have been consistently high quality.

Donkey Kong has achieved the sort of pop culture fame that few gaming icons do, and this is all backed up by a series of some incredibly well made games. He can only go up from here, and his future looks bright on the 3DS and Wii U. Here’s looking to a Donkey Kong 64-esque adventure on the 3DS sometime soon, then.

7. Star Fox (SNES, N64, GCN, DS)

Star Fox, the Nintendo Cool franchise.

The Star Fox series is probably one of Nintendo’s most innovative and beloved franchises. Known for its intense shooting segments, as well as top of the line production values which brought us voice acting and branching paths in the story back in 1997, Star Fox has always been at the forefront of gaming innovation too, from its pioneering use of Mode7 to create pseudo 3D on the SNES, to its innovative use of rumble and vibration (a feature which is now used in every singe game).

Backed by a cast of likeable characters and some (for Nintendo) uncharacteristically intense story sequences, the Star Fox games remain Nintendo’s coolest franchise, a series of game that even gamers who are typically Nintendo haters can enjoy. And while the quality of the series has plummeted greatly in recent years- the Gamecube games were average, the DS one intolerable- here’s hoping to a return to form with the upcoming 3DS game, Star Fox 64 3D, a remake of the best installment in the franchise so far.

6. Metroid (NES, GB, SNES, GBA, GCN, DS, Wii)

The odd one out of Nintendo’s franchises, Metroid is not bright or colorful, and filled with a cast of chirpy and lively characters. It does not focus on whimsical jumping mechanics, or wacky and over the top item useage. Metroid is a franchise about atmosphere and isolation, about exploring derelict and run down ancient civilizations, about being all alone with the haunted ruins of something that predates you by a thousand years. Metroid if a franchise about a corrupt and bureaucratic governmental organization, and about a gang of space pirates so evil that it literally cannot be countered. It is a game where the protagonist has to make morally gray choices, and a game with a heavy, brooding backstory.

The Metroid games have always been known for their unique brand of gameplay, which marries action, adventure, and exploration. They have been known for their atmosphere and for their feeling of haunting isolation. They’ve been known for their excellent graphics and haunting soundtracks. They have been known for their protagonist, the sexy bounty hunter, Samus Aran.

Whether it be Super Metroid’s pinnacle perfection of 2D gaming, or Metroid Prime’s world changing transition to 3D gaming, the Metroid franchise has always been one of Nintendo’s most ‘hardcore’ ones, whatever that means. More than anything else, however, it has been a series of some truly excellent games, its recent debacles on the Wii notwithstanding.