My top ten Nintendo Switch games
With just three days to go until Nintendo Switch 2 lands in our eager hands on June 5th, I thought now would be a fitting time to share my reflections on the Switch and rank my top ten games for it. It's not easy to do because the Switch has had such a long, fruitful life, but it's fun to look back on the Switch and, personally, consider how much has changed in my life since it was released in March 2017.
One disclaimer before I begin: I have not played every major Switch release, so this list represents my top ten, not what I consider the top ten.
Exhibit A: I loved Fire Emblem Awakening for 3DS, and I was excited to get a copy of Fire Emblem: Three Houses for Switch since, by most accounts, it's the culmination of Awakening's design. But I never managed to play Three Houses thoroughly—meeting and marrying my wife and having three kids within the past five years will do that to a person's gaming schedules and appetites. There's a chance it would appear on this list if I had, but as it is, it is omitted. Many others are as well.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The first hour of this game—emerging from the Shrine of Resurrection and exploring the Great Plateau—was the most magical game experience I've ever had, bar none. This was a game that completely trusted in your innate curiosity and rewarded you for each and every act of exploration. Everywhere you looked and thought, "I wonder what's over there," or, "I wonder what that is," there was something to be found. Breath of the Wild set a new benchmark for what it means to be an adventure game.
Breath of the Wild's art style is central to its success. Somewhere between the whimsy of Wind Waker and the grit of Twilight Princess, it gave us a fully-realized open world filled with moments of gutto kuru, a Japanese phrase meaning "to stir the soul" that inspired the game's art design. Here's one such gutto kuru moment I captured when I was first playing it through.
I was on an open plain, and a breeze was rustling the grass. The clouds were casting broad shadows, and the morning light was soft. It was serene. I took this screenshot (and many others) because I wanted to remember the moments when I stopped to admire the beauty in this amazing game.
I put over 250 hours into Breath of the Wild, and I still haven't finished it. I defeated the four Blights at each of the Divine Beasts, completed the DLC dungeon, 115 of the 120 shrines, and found 420 Koroks of the 900 total. I'd resolved in my mind that I would never complete the game 100%, especially now that I have three kids 3 years old and under, but the Zelda Notes feature in the Switch 2 upgrade pack has me intrigued to give it another go.
As far as I'm concerned, for open-world games, time is now measured in years Before Breath of the Wild (BB) and years After Breath of the Wild (AB).
Truly a legend.
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
I put over 300 hours into Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the most of all my Switch games, and like Breath of the Wild, I cherished my time with it as one of my very favorite gaming experiences. Before this entry, I had tried New Leaf on 3DS, but it never clicked. Why, exactly, Animal Crossing hooked me to the tune of 300+ play-hours this time around took some reflection.
Here are three reasons I think it clicked this time:
- COVID-19. This game will always be associated with COVID because it released one week after the whole world basically shut down. I imagine someone at Nintendo is wondering how in the world Animal Crossing sales will ever surpass New Horizons given that this was the perfect game to play for hours on end in a world that couldn't go anywhere or do anything.
- Gaming in my 30s with my wife. My wife and I had been married about six months when the game came out. She had not enjoyed or played very many video games before me, so I wanted to (had to?!) find games we could enjoy together. Animal Crossing had the perfect balance for us: easy-going gameplay, no split-second reflexes needed; wholesome multiplayer; and daily discoveries and chuckles. She paid off her fully-upgraded house before I did.
Where Animal Crossing didn't jibe with me in my 20s, as a mid-30s gamer, I was ready for a game of simple pleasures. I talked to my island inhabitants and laughed at their banter. I dug up every fossil I could find every day for weeks and filled out my museum collection. I terraformed a small mountain as the source of my island's rivers, replete with a stone shrine at the top. I returned islanders' lost items and mended their broken fences. I must have pulled up over a million weeds. I marveled at all the island's creatures, big and small. I loved it. - A refuge from family tragedy. To briefly touch on this point: two of my nephews died in a car wreck shortly before the game came out. They were both big gamers and loved Nintendo. It was a welcome respite from grief to have this heavenly little island to tend to.
Now that I've played an Animal Crossing game, I can say confidently that I am a fan. I still pop in on my island every so often when I want to wind down after a long day of work and family life. Every time, I leave with a smile.
3. Super Mario Odyssey
My goodness, what a game. Where to begin? You can be a Bullet Bill in this game. Or a Goomba. Heck, you can be a stack of Goombas. Or a T-Rex! Super Mario Odyssey is a supernova of joy. It bounds from colorful deserts to lively cities, it leaps from enchanted woodlands to sunny beaches, and it just goes and goes and goes from playgrounds to puzzles to thrills.
And the music! I haven't mentioned music before in this list, but every single one of these games has an amazing soundtrack. Some folks may have scratched their heads when Nintendo announced a music app, but I downloaded it as soon as it was available. Just give a listen to the Fossil Falls theme. It sounds like you've just walked into the greatest theme park on earth.
That's exactly what Super Mario Odyssey is: an epic theme park, where you are the fun-loving Mario with his magical cap.
4. Luigi's Mansion 3
In terms of raw technical power, it's common knowledge that the Switch is years behind its PlayStation and Xbox contemporaries. It doesn't do 4K or ray-tracing or really anything anyone would consider cutting-edge. But in terms of art and animation, Luigi's Mansion 3 is every bit the peer of the biggest big-budget games. Take a look at any walkthrough video on YouTube (here's one), and the care and detail that went into this game becomes immediately apparent.
The art style isn't just for show, either. This is an action-puzzle game that relies on character to immerse you in the story and action. Luigi is a rich, expressive character, determined to save his brother and friends, trembling with fright every step of the way. The ghosts are all expressive and have unique personalities. Even the hotel is a character, where every floor has its own tone and theme. It feels like Pixar made this game.
The game itself is just about perfect. Perfect length—not too long or drawn out, not too short. Perfect difficulty—enough to keep you on your toes without punishing you. Perfect pacing—I never tired of the game's mechanics and the situations you find yourself in. Luigi's Mansion 3 is exquisite.
Nintendo bought the developer of Luigi's Mansion 3, Next Level Games, in 2021 after this game's success. I look forward to seeing more from this studio, including new entries for Luigi's Mansion.
5. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Speaking of Nintendo's subsidiaries, perhaps the most well-known and revered is Retro Studios, the group behind the Metroid Prime series and the revival of the Donkey Kong Country series with 2010's Donkey Kong Country Returns. That game got the HD remaster treatment and released on January 16, 2025. If you missed it on Wii and 3DS, you should absolutely pick it up for Switch.
In every regard, however, its sequel, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, is the superior game, and one of Nintendo's finest platformers they've ever published. Yes, I know this is a Wii U game in Switch clothes (as is another game on this list, and Breath of the Wild, too, for that matter). But I'm so glad Nintendo brought it to Switch for its much larger audience to enjoy it.
This game is up there with Super Mario Bros. 3 as one of the best 2D platformers of all time. Every level is rich in detail, with intricate timings that are challenging but never unfair, and robust mechanics that always make you feel firmly in control. It is incredibly good.
I went back and fired up Tropical Freeze while I was writing this post, and one level in particular floored me all over again: Cannon Canyon. Get to the part with the barrels, then watch as the level launches DK through a complex of explosives and collapsing bridges and pillars. The gameplay is fairly straightforward in that level, but that's the degree of detail and design the entire game is built with. Masterpiece.
6. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
This one was a complete surprise to me. I had played a few Kirby games before, but like Animal Crossing, none of them had drawn me in. They were all pleasant, but none were remarkable.
Hence my surprise when I gave Kirby and the Forgotten Land a spin and found it every bit as delightful as Super Mario Odyssey, even if it is more straightforward. It's an odd art direction that has a bubble-gum colored ball in a lush, dilapidated landscape, but when Kirby slurped up and turned into a vending machine, I knew I was in for something special.
As I was writing, it dawned on me that a lot of games Nintendo made over the past 7 or 8 years have a decidedly zany feel and outlandish antics. Here's Mario with his cap turning into a real-looking T-Rex in Odyssey; here's Kirby turning into a vending machine that shoots soda cans in Forgotten Land; and later in this list, here's Mario in Wonder jumping to the beat in a Ninji nightclub. Nintendo went kinda bonkers in the Switch era, and I love it.
7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Like Tropical Freeze, Nintendo must have known that the Wii U's meager install base didn't do this game justice. So, they brought it to Switch, and, well: 68.20 million units sold as of March 31, 2025. Where Breath of the Wild set a new high watermark for single-player open-world adventures, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe likewise set a new standard for family-friendly racing games.
Also, let's take a moment and congratulate Nintendo on supporting this game so well during the Switch's lifecycle. It was released in April 2017 and received fairly regular updates all the way up to September 2024, including the Booster Pass which added many brand new tracks to the game as well as multiple tracks ported over from the mobile game, Mario Kart Tour. Mario Kart Tour wasn't my cup of tea, but playing those tracks on the Switch was super fun.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
This is the newest game on the list, but it belongs here. Blending open-world elements from Breath of the Wild with familiar 2D top-down Zelda gameplay, Echoes of Wisdom endeavors (and mostly succeeds) in setting a new standard for 2D Zelda gameplay. The central twist of playing as Zelda rather than Link worked—Zelda's limited combat abilities made me think first instead of hack-and-slash my way through obstacles and enemies. It was a nice and necessary change of pace.
Once again, the music in this game: perfection. A big part of the fun I had was moving into new areas and whistling and humming along with the tunes. The plastic diorama art style that Link's Awakening started reached its full potential here. (Side note: I'm looking forward to seeing this game and Link's Awakening take advantage of the Switch 2's extra power to smooth over the framerate rough edges in both games.)
My only qualm was that the game's central mechanic, cloning enemies and items, wasn't quite polished enough to make the echoes distinctive. Often, I solved many puzzles and encounters with the same handful of echoes, and after a while this skewed the gameplay into a rinse-repeat affair. Making the player employ specific echoes, and unique combinations thereof, would have made for more interesting scenarios.
9. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Take a moment, fellow 80s and 90s gamer, and time-travel with me to visit your younger self, probably playing Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World. Now, tell yourself: "You see that Piranha Plant? Well, one day they're all going to jump out of their pipes and do a musical number." The resulting "don't be ridiculous" look you see on your younger self's face is exactly the inner-kid Super Mario Bros. Wonder is made for.
2D Mario leading up to Wonder had gotten stale, frankly. While 2012's New Super Mario Bros. U was a great game in its own right (re-released in 2019 as New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, a la Mario Kart 8), it was also the product of a design approach that began in 2006 with the DS's New Super Mario Bros. and refined slightly in 2009 with New Super Mario Bros. Wii. By the time Wonder came out, 2D Mario's design language hadn't been updated in 17 years. It was time for a shake-up.
The only reason Wonder sits where it does on this list is because it was over a little too quickly. I 100%'d the game in less than 30 hours, and while it's a sign of a great game that leaves you wanting more, this left me feeling hungry. With one more main world in the game, I would have placed this higher, maybe 3 or 4.
The reason it absolutely deserves a place here is for how zany it is, and how assuredly it goes where it does over and over. The more I think about this game, the more it feels almost Wes Anderson-esque in its commitment to being quirky and different but always in the service of fun.
It's obvious that Wonder was lovingly crafted with the utmost respect for the 2D Mario franchise's rich and storied heritage, and I loved it. More please!
10. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
In terms of placement, this was the hardest decision I made in this list. I adore Tears of the Kingdom. It is a stupendous title, taking everything Breath of the Wild accomplished and layering in new mechanics and dimensions to the game world that could each themselves be entire games. It builds on and refines the monumental mold forged by Breath of the Wild. And that is both its strength and its weakness.
For those of us that played Breath of the Wild for hundreds of hours, there was still much to be surprised by in Tears of the Kingdom, in twists on the familiar elements and enemies, as well as the entirely new abilities. The Ultrahand ability has to be one of the wildest propositions in game design yet, and the incredibly thoughtful and robust execution stands as a testament to Nintendo's design-first ethos and talent pool. That said, amongst all the deserved accolades and awards, and myself having played over 150 hours of Tears of the Kingdom—it just didn't resonate the same way Breath of the Wild did. If ever there were a prime example of why (generally) you shouldn't do a new entry in a franchise simply for the sake of it, this has to be up there with the foremost case-in-points.
That said, this also deserves to be said: this game has my favorite story moment in the entire Zelda franchise. I will not even begin to touch upon it, lest I spoil even a hint of what happens towards the end of this journey.
Absolutely deserving a spot in my Switch top ten, but I can't shake the feeling that it's there only because the Breath of the Wild template it built upon is timeless. An audacious sequel that stands on the shoulders of a legend.
And there you have it: my top ten Switch games. There are many other games I enjoyed on Switch, so I might have to do an 11-20 list, too. This was fun.
The Switch was an incredible triumph, a bold and resounding comeback success story after the Wii U threatened Nintendo's relevance. I'm hopeful that Switch 2 will continue its legacy—we're just three days away from its launch as well as what appears to be a reimagining of Mario Kart.
I will endeavor to write more frequently here about my experiences with Switch 2 now that our youngest is 1 year old and sleeping through the night. Gaming in my 30s, and now my 40s with kids, has changed gaming for me significantly. But Nintendo will always have a special place in my heart and on my entertainment center.
