Here are mine, listed by North American release date. Been working on this for awhile now, lol. Rather than limit myself to just one game per year, which I could never do, I instead opted to break it down by console. But even so, some years I couldn’t just pick one game per console…and then I just kinda gave up further down in the list once there just started to be too many great and influential games to me that I simply couldn’t narrow it down to just one, two, or even three in some cases…lol. But I spent entirely too much time putting this together so I can’t not share it now, even if I kinda threw out the whole “game of the year” thing. =p
1985
NES - Super Mario Bros.
1986
NES - Donkey Kong Jr.
1987
NES - The Legend of Zelda
1988
NES - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
1989
NES - Tetris
GB - Super Mario Land
1990
NES - Super Mario Bros. 3
GB - Dr. Mario
1991
SNES - Super Mario World
GB - Metroid II: Return of Samus
NES - NES Open Tournament Golf
1992
SNES - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
GB - Kirby’s Dream Land
NES - Yoshi
1993
SNES - Super Mario All-Stars
GB - The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
NES - Kirby’s Adventure
1994
SNES - Donkey Kong Country
GB - Donkey Kong
NES - Wario’s Woods
1995
SNES - Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
GB - Kirby’s Dream Land 2
VB - Virtual Boy Wario Land
1996
N64 - Super Mario 64
GB - Kirby’s Block Ball
SNES - Kirby Super Star
1997
N64 - Star Fox 64
GB - Kirby’s Star Stacker
SNES - Kirby’s Dream Land 3
1998
N64 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
GBC - The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
GB - Pokémon Red Version
1999
N64 - Donkey Kong 64, Super Smash Bros.
GBC - Pokémon Pinball
GB - Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition
2000
N64 - Pokémon Stadium, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
GBC - Pokémon Gold Version
2001
GCN - Super Smash Bros. Melee
GBA - Wario Land 4
N64 - Pokémon Stadium 2
GBC - Pokémon Crystal Version
2002
GCN - Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Animal Crossing
GBA - Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, Sonic Advance
2003
GCN - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Kirby Air Ride
GBA - Pokémon Ruby Version
2004
GCN - Sonic Heroes, Pokémon Colosseum
DS - Super Mario 64 DS
GBA - Sonic Battle, Sonic Advance 3
2005
GCN - Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Shadow the Hedgehog
DS - Animal Crossing: Wild World, Kirby: Canvas Curse
GBA - Pokémon Emerald Version
2006
Wii - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Wii Sports
DS - Elite Beat Agents, Tetris DS, New Super Mario Bros., Kirby: Squeak Squad
GCN - Sonic Riders
2007
Wii - WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Super Paper Mario, Super Mario Galaxy, Pokémon Battle Revolution
DS - Pokémon Diamond Version, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
2008
Wii - Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Wii Music
DS - Kirby Super Star Ultra, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time
2009
Wii - New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Sports Resort, Bonsai Barber
DS - Pokémon Platinum Version, Rhythm Heaven, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
DSi - Bird & Beans, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
2010
Wii - Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M
DS - Pokémon HeartGold Version, Picross 3D, WarioWare: D.I.Y.
DSi - Cave Story, Photo Dojo, Aura-Aura Climber
2011
Wii - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
3DS - Mario Kart 7, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
DS - Pokémon Black Version, Kirby Mass Attack
DSi - Plants vs. Zombies, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords - Anniversary Edition
2012
Wii U - Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U
3DS - Kid Icarus: Uprising, New Super Mario Bros. 2
Wii - Xenoblade Chronicles, Rhythm Heaven Fever
DS - Pokémon Black Version 2
2013
Wii U - Game & Wario, Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Super Mario 3D World
3DS - Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokémon X, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
2014
Wii U - Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
3DS - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Pokémon Omega Ruby, Tomodachi Life
2015
Wii U - Xenoblade Chronicles X, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker
3DS - The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, Yo-kai Watch
New 3DS - Xenoblade Chronicles 3D
2016
Wii U - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, Paper Mario: Color Splash, Star Fox Zero
3DS - Kirby: Planet Robobot, Hyrule Warriors Legends, Rhythm Heaven Megamix, Picross 3D: Round 2, Pokémon Sun
Mobile - Miitomo, Super Mario Run
2017
NSW - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, ARMS, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
3DS - Miitopia, Metroid: Samus Returns, Pokémon Ultra Sun
2018
NSW - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Kirby Star Allies, Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, The World Ends with You: Final Remix
3DS - WarioWare Gold, Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido
2019
NSW - Pokémon Sword, Ring Fit Adventure, Astral Chain, Super Mario Maker 2, Super Kirby Clash, Team Sonic Racing
3DS - Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn
2020
NSW - Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
2021
NSW - Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir, Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind, NEO: The World Ends with You, Metroid Dread, WarioWare: Get It Together!
2022
NSW - Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Like I said, I may have gone a bit overboard…lol. Also, making this list has just further highlighted to me why arbitrarily dividing games up by year just doesn’t make much sense. What’d be better would be, rather than a “game of the year” list, to have a “games of the console” list, where you list your top 5 or so games per console. Might not work out as nicely for people who play a lot of multiplatform stuff, I guess, but it’d work great for Nintendo-exclusive gamers like me.