Founded in 1889, Nintendo first gained notoriety producing and distributing playing cards in Japanese markets. However, they would later manufacture a broad range of children's toys, and, in the early 80s, they would eventually enter the burgeoning video game market.
These days, Nintendo and gaming are synonymous, but the company is perhaps most well-ed for its pioneering efforts in the late 80s. The Nintendo Entertainment System more-or-less single-handedly revived the home console market in North America, and titles like the originalSuper Mario Bros. became iconic staples within the medium. What's more, many Nintendo-developed and published titles still hold up, something that can't be said for many primitive eight and sixteen-bit outings.
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Nintendo is credited with reviving the video game industry following the 1983 North American crash by bundling it with ROB the Robot and marketing the whole thing as a more traditional toy. That said, we have to imagine that the excellent pack-in title that was Super Mario Bros. likely boosted sales, as well.
After taking a different approach to the game's sequel, 1988's Super Mario Bros. 3 returned to the classic formula established in the first title, improving upon it by adding new power-ups, new enemies, and an entirely new overworld system. It was way ahead of its time, and modern Mario titles still draw inspiration from it.
Wario's Woods
This may seem like a pretty out-of-left-field pick, but Wario's Woods, the final Nintendo-developed game to land on the NES, is a satisfying and at-times incredibly difficult puzzle title that'll have even the most experienced Tetris players scrambling to say one step ahead of their opponent.
It's ittedly pretty unfriendly to new players, but learning the game's ins and outs is, for some, part of the fun. Put simply, players attempt to stack falling creatures in columns and rows of the same color and then destroy them via a bomb of that same color. Games can get to be quite a bit more complicated than that, but, provided you're up against an opponent of equal skill, Wario's Woods can still be a blast—pun intended.
Super Metroid (SNES)
1987's Metroid stood out from the rest of Nintendo's first-party offerings on the NES, offering a darker, more atmospheric experience that required some serious planning and dedication to get through. However, classic though it is, it's outclassed in every way by its successor, 1994's Super Metroid.
Ostensibly a vastly more fleshed-out version of the original 8-bit title, Super Metroid was, for a time, one of the most tense and The game is a staple in the semi-eponymous Metroidvania genre, and it's still one of the best Nintendo-developed games of all time.
The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
The third entry in Nintendo's monumental an absolute must-play for Nintendo fans, and it's often cited as one of the very best entries in an already stellar lineage of games.
A longer, much more robust return to the open-world format introduced in the original Legend of Zelda title on the NES, A Link To The Past provided the foundation upon which all other modern Zelda games would be built, and it's arguably aged better than its more talked-about successor, The Ocarina of Time.
Mario Kart 64
Some old-school gamers may argue that the Nintendo 64, which debuted in 1996, is a bit too recent to be considered a "classic" gaming system, but that shouldn't take away from the influence the console's library had on young players.
Though not the first entry in the arguably the first fully-realized title in the series. It may not have been all the engaging alone, but Mario Kart 64 was a key pillar in the golden age of on-the-couch multiplayer gameplay, and it's every bit as fun today as it was a quarter of a century ago.
Star Fox 64
A sequel to a Super Nintendo title that, though impressive in the 90s, certainly hasn't aged all that well, Star Fox 64 was an innovative take on the spacefaring shoot-em-up genre that refined and revamped everything from the painfully-polygonal original.
Considered by fans to be the best game in the series, Star Fox 64 was groundbreaking in many ways, though it's particularly notable for its choose-your-own-adventure approach to mission structure. While it only takes about an hour or so to beat, replay value is the name of the game here, which makes Star Fox 64 perfectly approachable for newcomers in 2021.
Mario Party 2
Considered by many to be the quintessential party game—it's quite literally in the name, after all—Mario Part 2 is one of the best releases in a series that has, unfortunately, declined drastically in quality over the years. The first three Mario Party games are bonafide classics, but we would argue that the second release is the best of the bunch.
A game so enthralling that Nintendo legally had to issue safety gloves lest gamers injure their palms, Mario Part 2 is the series' high-water mark thanks to its unforgettable boards and iconic minigames, and it is leagues more engaging than newer installments in Nintendo's party gaming franchise.
Super Mario 64
This is an obvious one, to be sure, but Super Mario 64 stands among the most influential video games of all time. Mario established how platforming could be done in the second dimension, and he did much the same once gaming in three dimensions became feasible on home consoles.
It may seem relatively simple now, but, in a way, the simplicity of it is what makes it so appealing. The game is so fluid and precise that the simple act of moving Mario throughout a level is satisfying, and, thanks to a recent—and somewhat controversial—re-release on the Nintendo Switch, the game remains perfectly playable today.
Super Smash Bros.
The hit crossover fighting game that started it all, Super Smash Bros., developed by HAL Laboratories, is a must-own title for N64 gamers, and there's not a Nintendo fan alive who doesn't have at least some knowledge of the series.
While many would argue that the series peaked with the subsequent GameCube iteration, there's no denying the elegance of the comparably pared-down N64 title. Today, Super Smash Bros. is a veritable gaming institution, but those intimidated by the increasing complexity and ever-expanding character roster size may want to check out the franchise's debut title.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Nintendo's sixth-generation console may well be too new for some to accept as a classic, but the GameCube is home to some of the publisher's best titles, most of which were tragically overlooked during their release periods.
One of the system's greatest offerings, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, serves as a successor to the original N64 spiritual successor to Super Mario RPG on the SNES. Certainly the most fleshed-out and worthwhile entry in a franchise that has since earned a mixed reception from fans, Thousand-Year Door is a must-play for newcomers to the genre, though it's pretty tough to get a hold of these days.
