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Since the early 1980s, Nintendo was one of the first companies to come to mind when most people think of video games. Even before the Nintendo entertainment system saved the industry from a financial crash, its arcade games like Donkey kong and Mario Brothers. game defined. Today, Nintendo is a mainstay of the gaming world, and the popularity of the Switch and its exclusive titles is proof of that. But of the company’s long line of home consoles, which Nintendo console is the best?
Nintendo entered the console industry in the mid-1980s with the Nintendo Entertainment System, and its instant success cemented the company’s position as one of the top dogs in the business. Its simple but effective controller, combined with the solid line of NES games, crushed Atari and pushed Sega. Gamers have been playing on Nintendo platforms since, and it’s likely the company won’t be leaving anytime soon. These consoles tend to be extremely unique from their competition, and no matter how successful they are, each is memorable and fun to find.
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Over the years, Nintendo has released seven home consoles, ignoring any updated or alternative version, like the Nintendo Switch Lite or the Wii Mini. While these are technically considered separate hardware components, they run on the same operating systems and play the same game library, so they will not be counted on this list. Here are all of Nintendo’s home consoles, ranked from worst to best.
# 7 – Nintendo Wii U (2012)
It goes without saying that the Wii U is Nintendo’s weakest home console. He managed to outperform Virtual Boy sales, but that’s no feat. The device was malnourished, badly advertised, and its library released at a snail’s pace. The Wii U certainly had a few gems, like Xenoblade Chronicles X, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, Pikmin 3, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Gel, and Mario Kart 8. It’s also the birthplace of some of Nintendo’s most controversial titles, like Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, and Paper Mario: Splash of Color. However, most of these games have suites or ports on the Switch, which makes the platform even more redundant. There was fun to be had on the Wii U, but especially compared to the PS4 and Xbox One, many gamers felt their money was better spent elsewhere.
# 6 – Nintendo Wii (2006)
The Wii was Nintendo’s most financially successful home console, but the platform was largely a fad. This is where Nintendo’s appeal to a casual crowd reached its peak, which isn’t inherently bad, but it has alienated more hardcore fans in the process. The platform was severely underpowered compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3, and its controller forced gamers to use motion controls whether they wanted to or not.
Many players have also noticed that the popularity of Wii Sports and focusing on motion controls inspired the Wii library to consist of a lot of shovels. Still, the Wii offered some great games, such as Super mario galaxy 1 and 2, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Metroid Prime 3, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Donkey Kong Country returns. The Wii wasn’t Nintendo’s worst console, but it set the company up for failure when it created the aforementioned Wii U based on the success of the Wii.
# 5 – Nintendo Entertainment System (1983 in Japan, 1985 in the United States)
Known as Famicom in Japan, Nintendo’s first console came out at a time when people were losing confidence in the quality of the games they bought, but it found success with the power of the original. Super Mario Bros. Game. Since then, the developers have looked at the success of Nintendo’s hardware and software and emulated its execution. Mario popularized the platform genre, and THE Legend of Zelda does the same for the action-adventure. The NES is arguably Nintendo’s biggest and most revolutionary platform, but most of the games in its library have seen higher sequels. Super Mario, Zelda, Mega man, Castlevania, Metroid, Mother, and Final fantasy are all great, but there are equal or better versions of it all on the Super Nintendo only. The NES is historic, with a library of timeless classics, but many are looking for something more polished than those drafts of classic Nintendo series that haven’t aged well.
# 4 – Nintendo 64 (1996)
Similar to the NES, the Nintendo 64 revolutionized 3D console gaming, introducing fans to open worlds like Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Timeand the enhanced 3D freedom games offered over 2D games. It was also the first Nintendo home console to allow four players to play simultaneously, which was strongly reflected in its library. Golden eye revolutionized the console first-person shooter genre and the popularity of Mario party and Super Smash Bros. started on this platform. But at the same time Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask are often considered one of the best Nintendo games of all time, much of the N64’s library hasn’t aged well. Much like the NES, future platforms released improved variants of the N64 library, with Golden eye and Super Smash Bros, in particular, showing their age.
# 3 – Nintendo Switch (2017)
Nintendo’s current platform saved the company from a potential disaster heralded by the Wii U. Most fans had started to expect Nintendo’s hardware to be weaker than the competition, but it was was the first platform where this power difference felt justified. The ability to effortlessly switch between playing on a TV and playing portable is an extremely convenient change that has encouraged casual and hardcore fans to come on board. It even allowed the Switch to compete fiercely with PlayStation and Xbox.
The Nintendo Switch game catalog is also fantastic, with titles like Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon 2, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The console unfortunately relied on many Wii U Switch ports, such as Mario kart 8 or Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Gel, to bolster its library, however, which can make it feel like an extension of the Wii U era instead of something entirely new.
# 2 – Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1990)
After the Sega Genesis aggressively named the NES in its successful marketing campaign, Nintendo responded with the SNES, which is often considered one of the best consoles of all time. Its controller is one of the absolute best for 2D games and its library has stood the test of time. Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Final Fantasy 6, Crono Trigger, Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Earthbound, Donkey Kong Country, and Street Fighter 2 are just a few examples of the classics that defined the era of SNES gaming. If the NES revolutionized the 2D video game, the SNES refined it.
# 1 – Nintendo GameCube (2001)
In the same way the SNES took what the NES did well and made it better, the GameCube harnessed the strengths of the N64 and worked with them. The GameCube was a powerhouse, with games still looking pretty solid today. Just like the N64, games like Super Smash Bros. melee and Mario Kart: Double Dash !! continued to support Nintendo’s revered couch multiplayer.
The GameCube has also hosted many great single-player experiences, such as Zelda: The Wind Waker, Resident Evil 4, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness, Luigi’s Mansion, and Super Mario Sunshine. The GameCube didn’t attempt to call in to reinvent the wheel, but, ironically, it was on this platform that Nintendo was most innovative from a software standpoint. Most GameCube games are drastically different from those on other Nintendo platforms, and each brings something unique to the table of their respective franchises.
The GameCube might not have been Nintendo’s best-selling platform, but that hardly means the console was a failure. Today, its games are among the most requested by fans for Switch re-releases. This marked a time when the developer was more willing to take bold risks – not making a gadget controller with a screen or motion controls, but creating an entirely new experience that some might not like. All Nintendo Consoles have been fun and packed with great games, but the GameCube has a slight edge over what others can offer, with its stellar multiplayer and single player games.
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