Best 21st century Nintendo System

  • Game Boy Advance

  • GameCube

  • Nintendo DS

  • Wii

  • Nintendo 3DS

  • Wii U

  • Switch


Results are only viewable after voting.

Ramsay

Member
Jul 2, 2019
3,627
Australia
Sunshine, Wind Waker and Double Dash were all disappointing sequels imo. Twilight Princess wasn't exclusive either.

I think the best Nintendo system the last 20 years from a purely 1st party perspective is probably 3DS, but it's also pretty heavy on remakes, remasters and ports so a lot of that isn't really exclusive either.
Oh no. If anything, the 3DS is probably the worst Nintendo system from a 1st party perspective. Let's go over each franchise (not counting ports/remakes):

Mainline Mario: 3D Land (good, but one of the weaker 3D Mario games) and NSMB2 (the worst 2D Mario)
Mario spinoffs: Mario Kart 7 (decent, but one of the weakest Mario Kart games), Sticker Star (complete garbage, and the worst Mario game, period. Hotel Mario for the CDI was better), Dream Team (decent), Paper Jam (the worst Mario and Luigi game) and Dark Moon (good, but the worst Luigi's Mansion game)
Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (really good - the only great 3DS game) and Triforce Heroes (the worst Zelda game)
Pokemon: Gens 6 and 7 (two of the worst Pokemon generations, and where the decline of the series started)
Kirby: Triple Deluxe (good, but unexceptional) and Planet Robobot (also good)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (good, but unexceptional)
Metroid: Federation Force (the worst Metroid game - even Other M was arguably better)
Fire Emblem: Awakening (serviceable), Fates (complete garbage, and the worst Fire Emblem by far) and Echoes (decent)

I'd say that the only franchises that were above-average on the 3DS were Kirby and Animal Crossing (and neither of them were particularly special), and almost every other series were at their worst on the 3DS.
 
Last edited:

fiendcode

Member
Oct 26, 2017
25,001
Not including Classic NES Series, Virtual Console or Switch Online:

Based on Super Mario lineups:

Wii > Switch > Wii U > 3DS > GBA > GC > DS

Based on Zelda lineups:

3DS > Wii U > Switch > GC > Wii > GBA > DS

Based on Metroid lineups:

GBA > Wii > GC > 3DS > DS/Wii U/Switch
 

fiendcode

Member
Oct 26, 2017
25,001
Oh no. If anything, the 3DS is probably the worst Nintendo system from a 1st party perspective. Let's go over each franchise:

Mainline Mario: 3D Land (good, but one of the weaker 3D Mario games) and NSMB2 (the worst 2D Mario)
Mario spinoffs: Mario Kart 7 (decent, but one of the weakest Mario Kart games), Sticker Star (complete garbage, and the worst Mario game, period. Hotel Mario for the CDI was better), Dream Team (decent) and Paper Jam (the worst Mario and Luigi game)
Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (really good - the only great 3DS game) and Triforce Heroes (the worst Zelda game)
Pokemon: Gens 6 and 7 (two of the worst Pokemon generations, and where the decline of the series started)
Kirby: Triple Deluxe (good, but unexceptional) and Planet Robobot (also good)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (good, but unexceptional)
Metroid: Federation Force (the worst Metroid game - even Other M was arguably better)
Fire Emblem: Awakening (serviceable), Fates (complete garbage, and the worst Fire Emblem by far) and Echoes (decent)

I'd say that the only franchises that were above-average on the 3DS were Kirby and Animal Crossing (and neither of them were particularly special), and almost every other series were at their worst on the 3DS.
You missing a lot of stuff even from the franchises you singled out. There's OOT/MM3D, Samus Returns, Luigi's Mansion 1-2, Mario Maker, Hyrule Warriors Legends, Mario & Luigi 1/3 remakes, Extra Epic Yarn, Captain Toad, a bunch of Mario Sports, etc. Plus a ton of other stuff like Boxboy, Pushmo, DKCR, Xenoblade, Starfox 64 3D, Smash 3DS, Kid Icarus Uprising, Ultimate NES Remix, 3D Classics, Style Savvy 2-3, Tomodachi Life, Rhythm Heaven Megamix, Wario Ware Gold, Poochi & Yoshi, Ever Oasis, Codename STEAM, 3D Picross 2, Dillon, Harmoknight and so on. You're badly misrepresenting 3DS here.
 

Bioshocker

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,206
Sweden
I'm not into handhelds so I'm only going to judge the home consoles (I'd say Switch is a handheld too but a handheld you can also dock to your TV but let's leave that discussion out for now).

I'd say Gamecube. A small and sweet console with a decent third party support. Gems as Resident Evil 4 and Super Monkey Ball showed the variety on that system too. And a regular and decent controller included!
 

Ramsay

Member
Jul 2, 2019
3,627
Australia
You missing a lot of stuff even from the franchises you singled out. There's OOT/MM3D, Samus Returns, Luigi's Mansion 1-2, Mario Maker, Hyrule Warriors Legends, Mario & Luigi 1/3 remakes, Extra Epic Yarn, Captain Toad, a bunch of Mario Sports, etc. Plus a ton of other stuff like Boxboy, Pushmo, DKCR, Xenoblade, Starfox 64 3D, Smash 3DS, Kid Icarus Uprising, Ultimate NES Remix, 3D Classics, Style Savvy 2-3, Tomodachi Life, Rhythm Heaven Megamix, Wario Ware Gold, Poochi & Yoshi, Ever Oasis, Codename STEAM, 3D Picross 2, Dillon, Harmoknight and so on. You're badly misrepresenting 3DS here.
Many of the games that you've mentioned are ports or remakes, most of which are arguably the worst version of the aforementioned games (i.e. Mario Maker, Captain Toad, Xenoblade, DKCR, Smash 3DS, Majora's Mask 3DS etc.) - and most of the new games that you've mentioned aren't anything special at all (i.e. Tomodachi Life, Ever Oasis, Harmoknight), much less good enough to redeem Nintendo's 3DS lineup.

Edit: As an example, if we're counting ports/remakes, then the Wii U ports on the Switch are much better than the all the ports on the 3DS - and if we're not counting ports/remakes, then BOTW and Three Houses (if you don't count BOTW) are both significantly better than anything found on the 3DS.
 
Last edited:

Herb Alpert

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,036
Paris, France
As a system, I'd say the switch. The Hybrid concept is brilliant and a gamechanger. Unlike the other consoles (except gb advance and gamecube), the tech is rather good.
Sadly its biggest flaw is the build quality.

Regarding library, I'm not sure. Each system (even WiiU if you forget third party support) has great games.
 

Mickagau

Member
Dec 11, 2018
2,205
France
Switch is the best of both world. But before that I had mostly became a Nintendo handled only gamer. DS and especially 3DS were so great.
 

Peek-a-boo!

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,242
Woodbridge
The GameCube, mostly because Nintendo were going through a fantastic 'brimming with newfound creativity' phase that we haven't really seen quite to the extent since those days.

  1. 1080° Avalanche
  2. Animal Crossing
  3. Battalion Wars
  4. Chibi-Robo!
  5. Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest
  6. Custom Robo
  7. Donkey Konga
  8. Doshin the Giant
  9. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
  10. F-Zero GX
  11. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
  12. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
  13. Geist
  14. Kirby Air Ride
  15. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure
  16. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
  17. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
  18. Luigi's Mansion
  19. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
  20. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
  21. Mario Party 4
  22. Mario Power Tennis
  23. Metroid Prime
  24. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
  25. NBA Courtside 2002
  26. Odama
  27. Pac-Man Vs.
  28. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
  29. Pikmin
  30. Star Fox Adventure
  31. Super Mario Sunshine (I dislike how the new Super Mario games are so, so easy in comparison...)
  32. Super Smash Bros. Melee
  33. Wario World
  34. WarioWare Inc. Mega Party Games
  35. Wave Race: Blue Storm

I really like the Switch, and it has welcome oddities such as Labo and Ring Fit Adventure however, the lack of new IPs and unique creativity inspired games like the GameCube had is sorely missing.
 

Don Fluffles

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,106
It's not the best system post-2000.

Switch is their best system post-SNES. Their 3rd party support alone skyrockets it to the top.
 

Goodbye

Member
Oct 27, 2017
547
I was thinking GameCube > Switch > WiiU > Wii. This wasn't too hard.

But then I saw the handheld options. Now I cannot decide. GBA, NDS and 3DS were all such amazing machines. There's no way to put them in the right order. Thinking about all those handhelds does make me wonder about the launch versions vs. the redesigns. At launch most Nintendo handhelds are with major flaws. Redesigns often improve a lot including screen quality, comfort and battery life. But that's another discussion I guess.
 

fiendcode

Member
Oct 26, 2017
25,001
Many of the games that you've mentioned are ports or remakes, most of which are arguably the worst version of the aforementioned games (i.e. Mario Maker, Captain Toad, Xenoblade, DKCR, Smash 3DS etc.) - and most of the new games that you've mentioned aren't anything special at all (i.e. Tomodachi Life, Ever Oasis, Harmoknight), much less good enough to redeem Nintendo's 3DS lineup.
Like literally, I just said the excellent 3DS lineup was port/remake heavy so ymmv. You listed a remake too so ease up on the Doesn't Count arguments. This is par for the course with handhelds, only DS (mostly) bucked the trend really. GBA's even worse here too.

Mario Maker 3DS is the better version I'd argue too, it basically has a full single player campaign crafted by EPD in it. Plus Ocarina/Majora (even with f-ed Zora swimming), Smash 3DS (circle pad is better srsly), Metroid 2, the Mario & Luigis, Starfox 64 and some others. And while some might be worse I think games like Captain Toad or Hyrule Warriors even running on 3DS at all is sort of a tech miracle and they're still very playable downports. Originals like BoxBoy, KI Uprising, Pushmo, RH Megamix, WW Gold, Luigi's Mansion 2 or 3D Picross are great and among Nintendo's best in their categories, you're again being overly dismissive here with your "most" mischaracterization. Most of the games I listed here are actually great. And I'll throw in Fantasy Life too since Nintendo technically developed it (Brownie Brown).
 

Mr. Capo

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
527
Switch followed by 3DS because of backwards compatibility with DS games plus the solid 3DS library.
 

score01

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,720
I'm going to go with the Wii. Still have it hooked up and still play fairly regularly.
 

Phendrana

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,110
Melbourne, Australia
DS > GCN > GBA > Wii = Switch > 3DS > Wii U

Surprised to see so many people praising the 3DS. On the first party front it was largely meh, and it didn't have anywhere near as much (good) third party support as the DS.

Switch could rise, but the first party catalogue hasn't done much for me so far. Breath of the Wild, Three Houses and Splatoon 2 are the standouts imo. Smash and Odyssey are really good, too. But that's pretty much all I've enjoyed from Nintendo on the system - there's been a lot of poor quality titles. Granted I've been skipping most of the ports.
 
Last edited:

Ramsay

Member
Jul 2, 2019
3,627
Australia
DS > GCN > GBA > Switch > Wii > 3DS > Wii U

Surprised to see so many people praising the 3DS. On the first party front it was largely meh, and it didn't have anywhere near as much (good) third party support as the DS.

Switch could rise, but the first party catalogue hasn't done much for me so far. Breath of the Wild, Three Houses and Splatoon 2 are the standouts imo. Smash and Odyssey are really good, too. But that's pretty much all I've enjoyed from Nintendo on the system. Granted I've been skipping all of the ports.
Eh, the Wii U isn't that bad. 3D World, Bayonetta 2, Mario Kart 8, Tropical Freeze and Splatoon are all really good, and I'd say that the Wii U didn't have a major disappointment (Xenoblade X was still decent, Color Splash sucks, but I don't think anyone expected anything from it after the reveal trailer).
 
Last edited:

SGRU

Member
Jan 20, 2020
24
GameCube, the last Nintendo console that wasn't ten years later in graphic capabilities.
 

Kane

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,050
It's still Gamecube until Switch gets: Metroid Prime game(s), F-Zero game, proper Paper Mario game, Pikmin game(s), Eternal Darkness sequel ( this one is never gonna happen, lol.).
 

Firebrand

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,744
DS for the sheer amount of games that appealed to me. Ace Attorney, Castlevania, Ouendan etc.
 
Oct 27, 2017
1,497
I'm not into handhelds so I'm only going to judge the home consoles (I'd say Switch is a handheld too but a handheld you can also dock to your TV but let's leave that discussion out for now).

I'd say Gamecube. A small and sweet console with a decent third party support. Gems as Resident Evil 4 and Super Monkey Ball showed the variety on that system too. And a regular and decent controller included!

I don't mean to go into that discussion, but are you really not into the Switch because of an extra feature that you can very well ignore?

It functions perfectly fine just like every other console. You can tape it or even screw it to the dock if it makes it better.
 

iswasdoes

Member
Nov 13, 2017
3,089
Londinium
Very hard choice, I think you could make a strong case for any one of those systems

I voted 3ds, because the one I carry around has a full library of 3ds, ds, snes, Genesis, nes and gameboy games. You can do that on an android phone, but the user experience is nowhere near as good.

Once the switchroot/android thing is working optimally, that may well change
 

bushmonkey

Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,647
It might be because of the time in my life it represents but I have a sweet spot for the GameCube. No other Nintendo system comes close for me.
 

Łazy

Member
Nov 1, 2017
5,249
Switch 1, Gamecube 2.
If only because there wasn't indies like the Switch has on the cube.
 

psilocybe

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,402
Since the Switch got most of the WiiU games, I will go with Switch.

If it was just about original releases, then WiiU.
 
Nov 4, 2017
7,473
Switch for me hands down. My second favourite Nintendo device after the Snezz.

It's hard to rank after that though. Every Nintendo handheld has been on point, I hated the Wii and never owned a WiiU. N64 and GC were tight, but definitely played third fiddle to my PS1, PS2 and handhelds. For the first time ever, I'm choosing games on Nintendo over other platforms in case I want to play them on the go. Switch is killer.

So I guess for me it's Switch > all the handhelds > N64 > GC > Wii (WiiU?)
 

Dr. Mario

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
14,042
Netherlands
Being an adult for all these I don't think I'm influenced by nostalgia when I say Switch (recency bias maybe, we'll have to find out). I do have fondness for all of the home consoles (I have owned some of the handhelds, but I have little love for the non full phat experience, which also supports my choice for Switch). The standout gems of the Gamecube, even if they were a bit few and far between (basically just Zelda, the Metroid Primes, Tales of Symphonia and RE4). The craziness of the Wii, the Wii U which was terrible as a system but provided some peak Nintendo exclusive quality in an increasingly cynical industry. And now the Switch, which wins because it has both the Wii U games' second to none quality assurance as well as the craziness of Wii in Labo, Ring Fit and 1-2 Switch (the last of which I didn't super like but I appreciate the off screen videogames they were going for).

I'll have to admit I consider Breath of the Wild more a Switch than a Wii U game though. If you waited with buying the Switch, I think you could make an argument for the Wii U winning this in games output, with the Switch' best games outside of Odyssey being Wii U ports or safe iterations. On the other hand, the Wii U system itself, oof.
 
Last edited:

Norsuchamp

Member
Feb 6, 2020
916
Switch is good and DS was really good, but I still gave my vote to 3DS. For me the 3DS has the most +100h games than any other system (Monster Hunter x3, AC: New Leaf, Smash, Fire Emblem x3 etc.) as well as some of the nicest little touches on the feature side of things (Street Pass, Activity Log, Miiverse). Took a rough start but once again proved the whole world that in the end, talent wins.
 

Vampirolol

Member
Dec 13, 2017
5,910
My Switch vote is kind of a bet, but if they manage to keep this quality throughout the console's lifecycle it's going to be their best one.
 

Deleted member 49535

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 10, 2018
2,825
The Nintendo DS was ridiculous. And the DS Lite is one of the most beautiful consoles/handhelds ever made.
 

halcali

Banned
Nov 7, 2017
6,317
Hong Kong SAR
NDS made dreams come true!

Switch needs time...

I haven't seen anything on par with CiNG, Layton, Ace Attorney, Etrian Odyssey, Advance Wars, Daigasso Band Brothers, Elite Beat Agents, Trauma Center, Castlevania, etc.
 

Mugy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,468
I'm probably alone on this one, but i'll say: The Wii. Not only you could play original titles for the system (which most of them supported GCN controller anyway), but Gamecube games as well. It is a fantastic emulator machine, and due to being so popular, it had a lot of compilations of classic games.The risk for releasing games for the system was so low, that companies tried different ideas for some games concepts too, and the results were really interesting (Zack & Wiki, Punch Out!!, Red Steel 2, The Darkside Chronicles). It was also my most proficient attempt to online gaming outside Halo 2 for the OG Xbox. I played the hell out of MKWii, The Conduit, Goldeneye 007, etc I have great memories of it.
 
Last edited:

King_Moc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,143
It's the switch and it's not even close. It's probably their best one ever at this point for me.