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Discussion Best decade of Nintendo

I think the best is...

  • 80s

    Votes: 2 1.7%

  • 90s

    Votes: 43 36.1%

  • 2000s

    Votes: 29 24.4%

  • 2010s

    Votes: 17 14.3%

  • 2020s (So far)

    Votes: 28 23.5%
  • Total voters
    119
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Chain Chomp
Decades can have a vibe all their own, with their own iconic style, music, movies, and games.
Which decade of Nintendo do you think was the best, and why? (That is, a decade as in the 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, not like 1995-2005 or 2011 to 2021)

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90s no question, Mario World, LTTP, Super Metroid, Mario 64, Ocarina Starfox 64 etc... So many of nintendos best games of all time were released at that ime both 2d and 3d
 
Call it nostalgia but I really do think it has to be the 90s. The SNES and early N64 years were just an incredible time for the company and the Game Boy was no slouch either. Even the late NES was still putting out bangers like Kirby's Adventure (and SMB3 in US/PAL). SNES is probably still my all time favorite console.
 
Even though I have been there since the NES-days, I'd say...the 2000s. This was after the era of "rough" 3D graphics, and before these very long development cycles. It was the era that gave us Pikmin, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime, Super Mario Galaxy, and tons of creative little titles on handhelds. Best era in general too.
 
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I mean this will always be the decade in which you grew up with it.
 
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I didn't exist for most of the 90s, barely remember the 00s, and the 10s had high school and the Wii U. It's the 20s by default for me.
 
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90's is the right answer.

You got the entire life of SNES, the end of the NES and most of N64's life (outside 2000 and 2001), and most of the GameBoy's life which stretched over a decade.

Just some new IP that started in the 90s...

Kirby
Donkey Kong Country
Yoshi
F-Zero
Star Fox
Wario Land
Mario Kart
Pokémon
Super Smash Bros.

Then overall you had games release this decade that people still point to as some of the best games of all time like SMB3 (outside Japan), Mario World, ALTTP, Super Metroid, Mario 64, Link's Awakening, Earthbound, DKC 1 + 2 + 3, Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64, Pokémon Red & Blue, and so on.
 
It'll end up mostly being the ones that we grew up with- Mine continues to be no different. 2000's baby! The last time I feel Nintendo took risks that lined up especially with my desired video game experiences! Granted, my nostalgia bias will influence my choice drastically, and that's not to say Nintendo hadn't taken risks before and after- And that's not even to say they didn't play it safe occasionally WITH that generation! 4 Mario Partys on the GC alone? The plethora of mario sports titles which presumably, always had some audience for them? There's a lot of easy no brainers-even outside of the usual "This console gen gets a mario, gets a zelda, etc."
But!
There's a lot of "Flash in the Pan" types of genius shown during the generation that I feel are locked to that generation of gaming for me. For all the shit I can give it, Geist is a very inventive shooter that I feel encapsulates a lot of what I love about the generation- Things like Super Paper Mario come to mind, Fortune Street, just a lot of creativity that I haven't seen outside of indie titles. Even if it was critically panned, I doubt Nintendo would risk something like Other M again- A huge narrative focused story trying to give immense lore to a series that traditionally, didn't try to have it front-loaded within it's structure. And that's not even mentioning when they just got it ABSURDLY right. Chibi-Robo is one of the greatest examples of this for me, whether it be Park Patrol on the DS or the original. Pokemon Colosseum and XD are absolutely fantastic titles that brought Pokemon to the 3rd dimension for an experience that blew the Stadiums out of the water, and hey, beats out Gen 8 for me. Toon Link is one of my favorite designs, period, and the emphasis on him this generation was beautiful. It's the last time we got a punchout, an F-Zero, the last time the west got a non-shitty Chibi-Robo...
...And I would be remiss not to mention that the GBA formed my childhood, and that Wario Land 4 REMAINS the greatest platformer I have touched. Shoutouts to Summon Night 1/2! More experimental shit on the GBA! We love it! Shoutout to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Pokemon Ranger that got their start this gen! They're both better than the mainlines for me! I'm definitely missing stuff! This generation was TAILOR MADE for me. I got to the end of my point without even mentioning Animal Crossing! Here's that! Animal Crossing is so fantastic, it's what got me to meet our dear admin Aurc for the first time! Something that integral NEEDS a shout!
anyway second choice is current gen, 3rd party support has never been better, and mario kart 8 with all of it's new tracks is too addicting.
 
lemonfresh said:
I cant put my finger on it, ive never been here but I feel like I have if you know what i'm saying
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I gotcha, it's the same feeling I get when I listen to Japanese citypop. This weird nostalgia for a time and place I wasn't present for.
 
In reality, it's probably the 90s. Mario 3/World/64, Ocarina of Time, Super Metroid and Pokemon Red and Blue are some of the most classic and important titles in the history of games and they alone make the decade hard to top .

For me personally though, it's the 2000s. This was the decade with the highest output for my two favorite Nintendo franchises - Zelda and Metroid (with some of my personal favorite games in each series coming from this decade; MM and TP for Zelda, Prime and Zero Mission for Metroid). Along with this, you also had my favorite Smash with Melee and my favorite Pokemon with Gold and Silver. Likewise, beloved new ips like Advance Wars, Pikmin, Animal Crossing and Golden Sun and games often considered best in series like Thousand Year Door and Mario Galaxy also make a strong argument for the 00s
 
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2000s

90s era probably a hair better console wise, but the 00s is so much better handheld wise. That more than makes up the gap.
 
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I'm probably on the younger end of this board and I'd say probably this current decade will end up being the best. The 90's is fantastic but it doesn't have some series I care about or doesn't have their best respective games, and the 2000's is somewhat ruined by the Wii being a bit lackluster for my tastes. It can't really be the 2010's because even if they made some great games, their software pipeline was struggling and it showed.

While I have grievances with the Switch lineup here and there, Nintendo has never been better than they have been now. They're using that success to keep niche series alive and try new things, and it's great. These last 3 years of the Switch have been just as good as the first 3 and I see no reason why it'd stop with the successor.
 
I don't care how much it is fueled by nostalgia; it is the 90's by a mile.

-The entire SNES lifecycle (still unarguably a top 2 all-time system)
-The greatest collection of JRPGs of all-time is on the SNES
-One of the biggest Nintendo franchises of all time is started in Mario Kart
-The best years of Nintendo Power
-4 player multiplayer games with Nintendo 64
-The Legend of Zelda officially becomes a household name
-3D games become front and center, led by trend setters Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time
-90% of the Gameboy/Gameboy Color era
-Birth of Pokémon mania (still a fad, right?)
 
2000s would be the runner-up to the 90s imo. Had the end of N64/GBC, the entire GCN + GBA lifecycles, plus the best years of Wii + DS. Gave us new IP too like Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Paper Mario, Luigi's Mansion, WarioWare, Wii Sports, and so on.

80s I think struggle to hold up today. You had the arcade era of Nintendo and most the life of the NES, plus like only the launch of GameBoy.

The 2010s had the complete disaster transition for end of life DS + Wii into the 3DS + Wii U generation which was a struggling time for Nintendo. 2010s was saved at the end by the first 3 years of Switch but its hard to ignore how rough it started. Then I think 2020s is too early to call cause a lot of it rides on how the next console goes.
 
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You know what though, just for fun

2000's > 1990's > 2010's > 2020's (so far) > 1980's

Fully expect the 2020's to be the best by the end, though.
 
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I'd take 2010s over 2000s I think. Nintendo's first party offerings on the DS were on the weak side besides Pokemon (plus with the 2010s you still have HGSS, BW, and BW2), and everyone knows how I feel about the GameCube. Wii U had some great games on it despite the console, 3DS was solid overall, and the Switch was the Switch. Late N64/GBC, GBA and Wii were great but overall I consider that decade a bronze.

2020s is way too early to tell but for me 2023 has been the only particularly exceptional year so far (understandable due to COVID).
 
I’ll say it every time: 3DS era was so damn good got me. Wii & Wii U were also fun because of the come together and play together aspects of the system. Online gaming is fun but getting the friend group/family together and playing around the TV is unmatched.
 
The 2000s. It’s hard for me to argue against the best years of Game Boy Color, DS, and Wii as well as the entirety of GameCube and Game Boy Advance.

The 2010s may get overlooked because Wii U flopped even though for like two years Nintendo was straight up releasing banger after banger. 3DS was also really strong. And of course, there were a couple years of Switch.

While the 1990s has some of my favorite games, I don’t think Nintendo 64 aged especially well.

[gets booed off stage]
 
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Catsylvania said:
The 2000s. It’s hard for me to argue against the best years of Game Boy Color, DS, and Wii as well as the entirety of GameCube and Game Boy Advance.

The 2010s may get overlooked because Wii U even though for like two years Nintendo was straight up releasing banger after banger. 3DS was also really strong. And I f course, there’s a couple years of Switch.

While the 1990s has some of my favorite games, I don’t think Nintendo 64 aged especially well.

[gets booed off stage]
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hey get back on stage, you dropped your crown
 
2010’s. They had maybe 2 truly rough years but the beginning and end of this decade were so great. Anyone with a Wii in 2010 ate that year. Super Mario Galaxy 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Sin & Punishment 2, Metroid Other M were the highlights. It had great third party support with No More Heroes 2, Tatsunoko VS Capcom, Red Steel 2, and Sonic Colors. Then there’s the DS side of things with Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver and Golden Sun.

2011 started rough but still had Pokémon black/white and turned into a good launch year for 3DS. And the year ended with Skyward Sword.

2012 was maybe a little weak but it had Kid Icarus Uprising and the Wii U’s launch.

2013 and 2014 were absolute banger years across the board. MASSIVE year for 3DS, and the Wii U got some of its most iconic releases. These are years I think people forget about the most often but some of Nintendo’s best of all time are in these years.

2015-2016 was where it started to get dicey. Obvious software slowdowns and some unknowns regarding what would be the Switch made Nintendo feel like they were in a limbo period. Zelda BOTW would also get delayed twice in this time period, so the stage was set for the rest of the decade. And I mean, 2017-2019…do I have to explain them?

My next vote would’ve been the 90’s.
 
I'd actually say the 2010s are probably my second place vote. What @Christo750 just said above about the final years of the Wii, plus the hidden gems of the WiiU (Wooly World, Bayo2, Xenoblade X, come on) and the make-or-break first years of the Switch, all that seriously rivals the SNES/N64 years for me. The 2010s was when I was drawn back into Nintendo after a looooong time of being a Sega/Xbox fanboy.
 
Video games have never been better or more accessible. Heck, I have the best NES and SNES games on my Switch right now through NSO, and plenty more besides.
 
2010s is easily the weirdest decade for me.

Nintendo wasn't releasing bad games per se but they released very few classic ones until the Switch launch. The end years of the DS and Wii were really rough and the 3DS/Wii U - while not awful (at least for the 3DS)- failed to produce anything that really caught on outside of the, at the time, very insular Nintendo fanbase. Like Nintendo went from putting out mostly classics to mostly putting out games in the 8 range this decade.

It also saw the release of a lot of the most contentious installments in a lot of beloved franchises such The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Metroid: Other M and Federation Force, Star Fox Zero, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival and, arguably, New Super Mario Bros 2/Wii U. I'm not necessarily saying the aforementioned games are bad but they were, and continue to be, polarizing to this day.

It was the first decade where they took a lot of their franchises in directions that felt very alienating and frustrating. Alot of games from this decade just lacked impact compared to what Nintendo put out the decades prior (and continued to put out from 2017 onwards) and in general the 3DS/Wii U libraries feel like footnotes that mostly appeal to a niche of younger or very hardcore Nintendo fan.

Again - I want to emphasize that I don't think Nintendo was bad during this decade just that alot of their output felt weirdly minor or low ambition compared to what they proved capable of up to that point.
 
If you take their overall successes and failures together, it's probably the 2000's. The 2000's continued the GameBoy and carried into the GBA and DS. Just phenomenal the entire way for handhelds. Gamecube, while not perfect, fixed a lot of the 64's failures and had a really solid library beyond the tiny handful of first party heavyhitters the '64 had. I guess technically you could also count some of those first party N64 games in that era since it has Majora's Mask. Then we get to the Wii... Well, it's no question at that point. The entire decade was just very strong and didn't majorly falter or have failed experiments like the N64's pitiful third party library, Virtual Boy, or Wii U.

Switch and 3DS really hold up the 2010's as well, but those Wii U years... Basically N64 2, with some solid first party stuff but not a whole lot else, with major games from its generation being ported to its more popular successor. Speaking of, if Switch's successor is even half as good, the 2020's are probably a lock for taking the crown. Way too early to tell about that though.
 
2000s easily and most likely will always remain that way. Zelda with a combo of Majora's Mask, Minish Cap, Wind Waker, Spirit Tracks, Mario Sunshine and Galaxy, Pikmin, Jungle Beat, Paper and Super Paper Mario, the greatest Fire Emblem game, plus the GBA entries and Radiant Dawn. Metroid hitting with Zero Mission, Fusion and the Prime games. Peak weird Wario World. CiNG games? Kyle Hyde with a duology of the greatest games ever made, and Ashley with Another Code/Trace Memory not being that far behind. Mother 3, Punch-Out, Custom Robo? peak.

They'll never make another game like Jungle Beat.

And that is just counting the first party stuff.
 
chocolate_supra said:
I'd actually say the 2010s are probably my second place vote. What @Christo750 just said above about the final years of the Wii, plus the hidden gems of the WiiU (Wooly World, Bayo2, Xenoblade X, come on) and the make-or-break first years of the Switch, all that seriously rivals the SNES/N64 years for me. The 2010s was when I was drawn back into Nintendo after a looooong time of being a Sega/Xbox fanboy.
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That's definitely a fair choice. The Wii U had EPD at the top of their game (3D World / MK8 / Pikmin 3 / technically BOTW etc) and it's been fantastic to see that continue into the Switch. The first few years of the Switch had tons of games as well, and it's probably the best console Nintendo has released in decades, if ever.

For me personally it's a decade of extreme highs and extreme lows. 2011/2012, 2015/2016, and 2018 being kind of weak for a Switch year are the only reasons I don't think it's quite as good as the other decades.
 
90’s.

Pinnacle of 2D gaming and masterful transition to 3D.

Second was 00’s. Really loved how they tried to redefine how we play videogames with Wii. Plus Majora’s Mask.
 
batfax said:
Switch and 3DS really hold up the 2010's as well, but those Wii U years... Basically N64 2, with some solid first party stuff but not a whole lot else,
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...I never thought of it this way but you're right. WiiU -> Switch is like SNES -> N64 but in reverse.😮
 
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2000s is where my nostalgia lies, though for what it's worth I do genuinely from the bottom of my heart believe that it's when their best games were released, even outside of the period of time in the 2000s I'm really nostalgic for (which is 2001-2007 for the most part, with 1998-2000 also being nostalgic but basically just for Pokemon for me). Melee (and even Brawl to a lesser extent), Twilight Princess, GBA Fire Emblems (and the Tellius duology AND the physical wide release of Thracia 776), Pokemon gen 2-4 (depending on how you count Japan and US Release Dates), EBA/Ouendan, Mario Kart DS, Super Mario Galaxy, the first three Paper Marios, Kirby Air Ride, DK Jungle Beat, Hotel Dusk, Majora's Mask, and Minish Cap are all among my favorite Nintendo games.
 
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90s no question. The 00s is marred by a lot of GameCube games simply not hitting the way they should, and the 10s kinda don't have the quantity the 90s does despite being really good. 20s is way too early to call for now - it might also be stellar, but I can't rate it in good faith right now. 80s set the standard of things to come, but the 90s really refined and introduced even more things to the mix. I say this with the Wii/DS as my favorite Nintendo era, but it's split between the 00s and 10s.

And I was born in 1997 so I didn't grow up with most of the 90s games.
 
90s for SNES, Gameboy and N64. The early and late years of the 2010s would be my second pick, unfortunately the middle years are as their name, mid.
 
Judging by the poll I am still among brethren, feels good 😎 90's all the way, although the past few years (notably, Switch years) haven't been bad either.
 
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2010s. Im more of a modern Nintendo fan than a retro Nintendo fan, probably because Im only 20.
 
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