All Nintendo Systems Ranked from WORST To BEST

[Music] it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that without nintendo the games industry as we know it simply would not exist the big n has been responsible for pioneering and popularizing a multitude of things that we take for granted in video games across both hardware and software and though they have like any other company been through some rough times looking back on their track record there's way more stuff to be impressed by than there is to be lukewarm on given their massive pedigree and their enduring quality ranking every single major gaming platform that they've ever produced seems like an insane task but we're nothing if not a little bit insane so that's what we'll be doing here join us or prepare to skewer us on your pitchforks as we rank every single nintendo handheld and home console from the worst to the best 13. the virtual boy while ranking pretty much every other system nintendo has made was far from easy there was never any doubt in our minds that the virtual boy belongs at the very bottom of this list there is some reserved praise to be given here for its outside the box ideas and its usage of stereoscopic 3d back when games hardly even did polygonal 3d but beyond that the virtual boy has few redeeming qualities over the course of its life and it was a very short life the system got less than two dozen games in total a shockingly low number and not one of them was worth writing home about the asinine design of the hardware only drives home the fact that the virtual boy is best left to the recesses of our memories 12. game boy color more than a hardware revision but not quite a full-fledged successor the game boy color was caught between two worlds which means even if we had wanted to we simply couldn't have placed it very high on this list but even considering the fact that it was more game boy 1.5 than a complete successor and the fact that it didn't have a ton of games that could not also be played on the original game boy the game boy colour's value and quality still can't be denied it was the first ever handheld console to display colour visuals which for its time was an impressive accomplishment on top of that even though it didn't have a lot of out and out exclusives there were still a few that stood out including the likes of the legend of zelda oracle of ages and oracle of seasons and a surprisingly impressive port of metal gear solid 11. the wii u the wii u is in many ways one of nintendo's most disastrous failures of all time in fact if not for the virtual boy it would be their biggest ever commercial flop in the hardware space the console's failings in terms of sales lacking third-party support form factor and branding and marketing have been talked about aplenty over the years in spite of all the issues of which there were several the wii u still holds a special place in our hearts because of its library which all said and done is a very strong one donkey kong country tropical freeze mario kart 8 super smash brothers super mario 3d world xenoblade chronicles x super mario maker pikmin 3 splatoon nintendo's first parties were firing on almost all cylinders during the wii u years 10. the game boy just as nintendo established the model for home consoles that the industry follows to this day with the nes which we'll get to in a bit so too did they establish the model for hand held with the game boy technology was extremely limited at the time so to create a portable machine that was capable of delivering proper fully fledged games was an achievement in and of itself but nintendo backed that achievement with a steady stream of excellent games many of which are considered to be some of the best games ever made from pokemon red and blue and pokemon gold and silver to the legend of zelda link's awakening and super mario land number nine the game boy advance the proper successor to the game boy and what a successor it was each of the models that nintendo put out for the gba from the original to the game boy advance sp to the game boy micro was ingenious in its design and collectively the game boy advance solidified nintendo status as the king of the console market at a time when the japanese giant was floundering in the console market with commercial struggles brought about by the gamecube's low sales the game boy advance's rapturous success kept them afloat the only reason we don't have the gba higher on this list is because frankly a huge chunk of its library is made up of ports and re-releases to be fair many of those re-releases saw their best versions ever on the gba while there was no shortage of excellent original releases for the handheld during its surprisingly short lifetime either number eight the wii by the mid-2000s nintendo's stock in the console market was at an all-time low their sales and influence had been steadily falling with the n64 and then the gamecube and for the masses the playstation was king with their fifth console then nintendo decided to tear up the rulebook and try something new with the wii they stopped chasing the hardcore console crowd stopped worrying about cutting edge technology and instead opted for mass appeal and accessibility and in the process ended up releasing their most successful home console to date and the wii success is well earned whether you're looking for casual fun with games like mario kart wii wii sports or super smash brothers brawl or traditional experiences like the super mario galaxy games the legend of zelda twilight princess or xenoblade chronicles the wii's library had best in class games to offer for everyone issues like a daily use of shovelware lack of third-party support and outdated technology were knocks against the console for sure but even with all of that the wii was an absolute win for nintendo number 7 the nintendo entertainment system earlier we spoke about how the games industry as we know it essentially wouldn't exist if not for nintendo well nintendo wouldn't exist if not for the nes the legacy of this console could never be overstated the nes was single-handedly responsible for reviving the gaming industry and then driving it to mainstream success it is responsible for creating the model of home consoles that's followed to this day its library is full of industry icons that are remembered to this day as some of the most influential games ever made and have created entire genres from the legend of zelda to super mario some of the biggest franchises known to the games industry were born on the nes and sure a lot of those classics haven't aged too well but purely on the basis of what it did for video games as a whole the nes will always be remembered as one of the most important consoles of all time 6. the nintendo 3ds at the beginning of its life the 3ds was suffering from a lot of the same problems as the wii u coming off the back of the wildly successful ds the 3ds was struggling with branding issues a pretty steep price and a lack of compelling games in its first year or so on the market nintendo soon turned things around though with a price drop and a barrage of one hit after another and by the time the handheld approached the end of its life it had accumulated a stellar library of games which included incredible releases like the legend of zelda a link between worlds super mario 3d land kid icarus uprising mario kart 7 animal crossing new leaf and many many more the 3ds's stereoscopic 3d gimmick might not have paid off and the handheld had some design issues that couldn't be ignored but one look at its library is enough to convince even the biggest of 3ds's early naysayers of its value number five the n64 the n64 was in many ways representative of everything that led to nintendo's struggles in the console market which saw them losing a massive share of the market to playstation but there's just so much to love about this system for its time it was incredibly powerful and delivered stunning 3d visuals that its competitors could only hope to replicate meanwhile though third-party megatons had adopted the ps1 as their platform of choice nintendo's first party studios proved to be more than up to the task of filling that void n64 exclusives like the legend of zelda majora's mask super mario 64 perfect dark banjo-kazooie and goldeneye 007 are to this day considered among the greatest games ever made and that's just the creamiest of the cream of the crop the n64 was not without its issues though to say the very least its weirdly shaped controller in and of itself is enough to baffle even the biggest nintendo fans but on the back of its incredible library it stands tall as one of nintendo's best systems ever 4. the nintendo ds much like they did with the wii with the ds nintendo approached the market in a way that was quite different from how they had approached it in the past with a focus on mass market appeal and accessibility and much like the wii they chose to do that with what seems like a gimmick on paper but turned out to be a genius idea the ds's two screens and its implementation of a touch screen could easily have set nintendo up for a massive failure but their first party studios and a number of third-party developers adopted the handheld's bizarre ideas in excellent fashion the ds's library is a legendary one succeeding in terms of both quality and quantity and was chock-full of incredible titles the ds also launched at a time when nintendo were facing actual stiff competition in the handheld market for basically the first time ever with the psp and in spite of that it turned out to be the big n's most successful piece of hardware to date as it stands right now the ds is the highest selling handheld of all time and the second highest selling gaming system to date behind only the ps2 looking at its impressive and massive library and its knack for innovation that success is very easy to understand 3. the gamecube barring the wii u the gamecube is nintendo's lowest selling console to date but even though it was a commercial disappointment for the company for the fans and the players it was a dream console and there's very simple reason for that the gamecube's catalog of games is one of the best we've ever seen for any system the number of games in its lineup that are regarded as all-time greats to this day is astounding the legend of zelda the wind waker super smash brothers melee metroid prime metroid prime 2 the resident evil remake resident evil 4 paper mario the thousand-year door beautiful joe mario cart double dash pikmin star wars rogue squadron 2 f-zero gx the list goes on and on and on oh and did we mention that the gamecube has one of the best controllers ever made because it does number two the nintendo switch after the colossal failure of the wii u nintendo needed another brilliant idea to bring them back from the brink and just as they did with the wii they once again decided to do something completely unprecedented realizing that splitting their resources between handhelds and consoles was no longer a smart move they decided to converge those pipelines with the console handheld hybrid that we know as the switch the moment it came out it became abundantly clear that this one was one of the best pieces of hardware nintendo had ever produced on top of its ingenious form factor however something else that the switch has going for it is a spectacular collection of games it's only been out for about four years at this point but with the likes of the legend of zelda breath of the wild super mario odyssey mario kart 8 deluxe animal crossing new horizons super smash brothers ultimate and countless others it's already a master collection of generation defining titles many of which can easily be called some of the greatest games ever made most of the wii u's impressive library which sadly never got the chance to reach the masses has also been brought over to the switch while the system has also become a haven for indies with gems like hollow knight ori and the will of the wisps celeste and stardew valley to name just a few adorning its library there's also the fact that the switch has also enjoyed better third party supports than any other nintendo system in a long long time what's even more exciting is that we're only at the halfway point in the switch's life cycle by the time it comes to an end it may very well have become nintendo's best system ever number one the super nintendo entertainment system there is no possible combination of words in the english language that can possibly do justice to how much of a resounding success the snares was and we can go on and on about its influence on the industry or its excellent form factor or its timeless controller but the biggest point in the console's favor is of course its library which is possibly one of the best gaming libraries for any system to date some of the best games ever made games that have defined entire genres and informed the trajectories of massive developers and publishers came out on the snares first party nintendo classics like super mario world and the legend of zelda are linked to the past beloved icons like star fox and super mario rpg timeless classics like super metroid and super mario kart the volume of world beaters in the snez's library is simply staggering no amount of praise and adulation will ever be enough for the snez this is the essence of console gaming representing nintendo at their very best and hell the entire game's industry at its very best a true classic that will forever be remembered as an all-time great and that wraps it up if you like what we're doing please consider subscribing to our channel we upload new videos daily so make sure you don't miss them by subscribing we appreciate your support and we thank you for checking us out

Channel: GamingBolt

Views: 7,852

Rating: 4.6073618 out of 5

Keywords: all nintendo consoles ranked, all nintendo gaming hardware ranked, gamingbolt, virtual boy, game boy color, wii u, game boy, game boy advance, wii, nintendo entertainment system, nes, nintendo 3ds, n64, nintendo ds, gamecube, nintendo switch, super nintendo entertainment system, snes

Id: BEphaC7wlrE

Length: 15min 35sec (935 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 18 2021