Nintendo Franchises Tier List: Every Series Ranked
Nintendo has more legendary series than any other publisher on earth, which makes ranking them a genuinely tough job. We're covering 25 franchises here, from the obvious icons to the cult favorites that never quite get the sequel they deserve.
This list reflects what fans and critics tend to agree on across forums, reviews and decades of sales charts, with our own opinions filling the gaps where the arguments get heated (and with Nintendo fans, they always do). Disagree with where something landed? That's half the fun. Rank it yourself and see how your list compares.
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SS Tier: The pillars of Nintendo itself
Super Mario
The blueprint for basically every platformer that followed. From Super Mario Bros. 3 to Odyssey, this series just doesn't miss, and it's still the first thing most people picture when they hear 'Nintendo'.
About Super Mario
Nintendo's flagship platforming series starring the world's most famous plumber. It began in arcades and has since spanned dozens of main entries and spinoffs across every Nintendo console.
- Debut
- 1985 (Super Mario Bros.)
- Genre
- Platformer
The Legend of Zelda
Few franchises reinvent themselves as successfully as Zelda does every generation. Ocarina of Time changed 3D adventure games forever, and Breath of the Wild did the same thing for open worlds decades later.
About The Legend of Zelda
An action-adventure series following Link's recurring quest to save Princess Zelda and the kingdom of Hyrule. Known for its puzzle dungeons, open exploration and orchestral soundtracks.
- Debut
- 1986
- Genre
- Action-adventure
Pokémon
The biggest media franchise on the planet didn't get there by accident. Even with the fan debates over recent entries, catching, training and trading has kept generations of players hooked since Red and Blue.
About Pokémon
A monster-collecting RPG franchise developed by Game Freak, covering games, a trading card game, anime and merchandise worldwide. Players capture and train creatures called Pokémon to battle and trade.
- Debut
- 1996 (Red and Green)
- Genre
- RPG
AA Tier: Consistently excellent
Metroid
Samus Aran was doing atmospheric, lonely exploration before 'Metroidvania' was even a word. Super Metroid is a masterclass in environmental storytelling, and Metroid Prime proved the formula works in first-person too.
About Metroid
A sci-fi action-adventure series starring bounty hunter Samus Aran, known for isolated atmosphere and nonlinear exploration. It's credited as a foundational influence on the Metroidvania genre.
- Debut
- 1986
- Genre
- Action-adventure
Super Smash Bros.
A crossover fighting game that somehow became more beloved than most of the franchises it's crossing over. Melee's speedrun and tournament scene alone has kept this series culturally relevant for over twenty years.
About Super Smash Bros.
A crossover fighting game series pitting characters from across Nintendo's franchises (and beyond) against each other. Developed by Sora and HAL Laboratory.
- Debut
- 1999
- Genre
- Fighting
Mario Kart
The blue shell has caused more friendships to end than any other object in gaming. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is one of the best selling games ever made, and that's not hype, that's just how many copies are on Switches right now.
About Mario Kart
A kart racing series set in the Mario universe, featuring power-up items and chaotic multiplayer races. One of Nintendo's best selling franchises overall.
- Debut
- 1992 (Super Mario Kart)
- Genre
- Racing
Kirby
Don't let the cute pink ball fool you, this series hides some surprisingly creative level design and copy abilities under all that softness. Forgotten Land showed Kirby can handle 3D just fine too.
About Kirby
A platforming series starring the pink, ball-shaped Kirby, who can inhale enemies and copy their abilities. Developed primarily by HAL Laboratory.
- Debut
- 1992
- Genre
- Platformer
Fire Emblem
Permadeath tactics games shouldn't be this addictive, but Fire Emblem makes losing a favorite unit feel genuinely painful. Awakening and Three Houses brought the series to a much bigger audience than it ever had before.
About Fire Emblem
A tactical RPG series featuring grid-based battles, permadeath mechanics and character-driven storylines. Originally a Japan-only series before growing internationally.
- Debut
- 1990
- Genre
- Tactical RPG
Donkey Kong
Started as Mario's arcade antagonist and grew into one of Nintendo's most physical, demanding platforming series. Donkey Kong Country's barrel-blasting and tight precision jumping still holds up against anything else in the genre.
About Donkey Kong
Originally an arcade game starring the giant ape as Mario's rival, later reborn as a platforming series through Rare's Donkey Kong Country games.
- Debut
- 1981
- Genre
- Platformer
Animal Crossing
A life sim with no fail state and an actual in-game clock sounded niche until New Horizons became a cultural moment in 2020. Turns out everyone wanted to pay off a raccoon's mortgage during a pandemic.
About Animal Crossing
A life simulation series where players move into a village or island and build relationships, homes and collections in real time. Known for its relaxed pace and real-world clock.
- Debut
- 2001
- Genre
- Life simulation
BB Tier: Reliable and well loved
Splatoon
Ink-based shooters shouldn't work this well for a family-friendly console, but Splatoon's turf war mode turned competitive shooters into something colorful and genuinely fresh. The idol group lore is weirdly deep too.
About Splatoon
A team-based shooter where players cover turf in colored ink as humanoid squid characters called Inklings. Developed internally at Nintendo as a fresh take on the shooter genre.
- Debut
- 2015
- Genre
- Shooter
Xenoblade Chronicles
Sprawling JRPGs with massive worlds and even bigger stories, this series has a smaller but fiercely loyal fanbase. The original Xenoblade on Wii still gets brought up as one of the best RPGs nobody outside Japan played at the time.
About Xenoblade Chronicles
A JRPG series known for massive open worlds, sprawling stories and large-scale exploration. Developed by Monolith Soft.
- Debut
- 2010
- Genre
- RPG
Paper Mario
The Thousand-Year Door is considered one of the best RPGs Nintendo ever made, which makes the series' later identity crisis all the more frustrating for longtime fans. When it's good, nothing else looks or writes quite like it.
About Paper Mario
An RPG spinoff series known for its papercraft visual style, turn-based combat and sharp writing. Developed by Intelligent Systems.
- Debut
- 2000
- Genre
- RPG
Pikmin
A real-time strategy series about tiny plant creatures and a stranded astronaut sounds like it shouldn't have lasted this long, but the puzzle-box level design keeps bringing people back. Pikmin 4's dandori challenges show there's still room to grow.
About Pikmin
A real-time strategy series where players command small plant-like creatures to solve puzzles and gather resources. Created by Shigeru Miyamoto.
- Debut
- 2001
- Genre
- Real-time strategy
Mario & Luigi
The timed button-press combat in this series is some of the most satisfying turn-based battling Nintendo's ever made. Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story are the clear high points, and fans still mourn the studio's closure.
About Mario & Luigi
An RPG series developed by the now-closed AlphaDream, featuring timed-hit combat and the two Mario brothers working together both above and inside enemy territory.
- Debut
- 2003 (Superstar Saga)
- Genre
- RPG
Yoshi
Yoshi's Island proved a spinoff could outshine the main series it spun off from, with watercolor visuals that still look gorgeous today. Later entries lean a little too hard on the arts-and-crafts aesthetic without the same bite.
About Yoshi
A platformer spinoff series starring Mario's dinosaur companion, known for its egg-throwing mechanics and distinct art styles like Yoshi's Island's watercolor look.
- Debut
- 1995 (Yoshi's Island)
- Genre
- Platformer
Wario
Wario Land gave Mario's greedy rival his own identity, but it's WarioWare's microgame chaos that really defined this franchise. Nothing else in gaming moves at the manic speed WarioWare does.
About Wario
A spinoff series starring Mario's greedy rival, split between the Wario Land platformers and the microgame-based WarioWare series.
- Debut
- 1992
- Genre
- Platformer / minigame
Mario Party
Friendship-ending minigames and boards full of bad luck, this series has been a party staple since the N64 days. The stigma around N64-era joystick-destroying minigames is a running joke that still follows it around.
About Mario Party
A board-game style party series full of minigames, developed for group multiplayer sessions. Known equally for its fun and its friendship-ruining reputation.
- Debut
- 1998
- Genre
- Party
CC Tier: Beloved but underserved
Star Fox
Star Fox 64 is genuinely great and 'Do a barrel roll' entered the gaming lexicon permanently, but the series has struggled to find its footing since. Nintendo keeps circling back to it without ever fully committing.
About Star Fox
An arcade-style rail shooter series following Fox McCloud's team of anthropomorphic pilots. Known for its Arwing space combat missions.
- Debut
- 1993
- Genre
- Rail shooter
Rhythm Heaven
A cult favorite with some of the catchiest, weirdest minigames Nintendo's ever made, but it's never gotten the marketing push to match its charm. Fans who know it tend to really know it.
About Rhythm Heaven
A rhythm game series made up of short, quirky minigames synced to music cues. Developed by Nintendo SPD with music by Tsunku.
- Debut
- 2006
- Genre
- Rhythm
F-Zero
F-Zero GX remains one of the fastest, hardest racing games ever made, which is exactly why Nintendo seems scared to touch it. Fans have been begging for a proper new entry for what feels like forever.
About F-Zero
A high-speed futuristic racing series known for its brutal difficulty and fast-paced tracks. The arcade spinoff GX is often cited as one of the hardest racers ever made.
- Debut
- 1990
- Genre
- Racing
Punch-Out!!
A boxing series built entirely on pattern recognition and timing, and it's aged remarkably well because of it. Little Mac deserves more than the occasional Smash Bros. cameo at this point.
About Punch-Out!!
A boxing series focused on pattern recognition and reflexes, starring underdog boxer Little Mac. Originated in arcades before becoming a console series.
- Debut
- 1984
- Genre
- Sports
EarthBound
A cult classic with genuinely weird humor and an unforgettable soundtrack, but its small library and Mother 3's absence outside Japan have kept it a niche pick rather than a mainstream one.
About EarthBound
A cult RPG series (known as Mother in Japan) set in quirky, modern-day settings rather than typical fantasy worlds. Known for its humor and unusually emotional storytelling.
- Debut
- 1989
- Genre
- RPG
DD Tier: Stuck in neutral
Golden Sun
GBA-era fans still ask for a new Golden Sun constantly, and the psynergy puzzle-solving and Djinn system deserved more than the lukewarm Dark Dawn follow-up it eventually got.
About Golden Sun
A Game Boy Advance era RPG series known for its Djinn system and psynergy puzzle-solving mechanics woven into both dungeons and the overworld.
- Debut
- 2001
- Genre
- RPG
Wii Sports
A legitimately important piece of gaming history that got an entire generation of non-gamers swinging remotes around, but as a franchise it's thin, mostly living off nostalgia for Wii Sports Resort's bowling and that one tennis game.
About Wii Sports
A sports simulation series bundled with the Wii console, using motion controls for games like tennis, bowling and boxing. Became a massive cultural phenomenon at the Wii's launch.
- Debut
- 2006
- Genre
- Sports
How we ranked them
We weighed cultural impact, consistency of quality across entries, how well each series has aged, and how much it still matters to Nintendo's lineup today. A franchise with one perfect game but years of silence ranks differently than one that reliably delivers. We also factored in how fans talk about these series now, not just how they were received on release.
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Rank these yourselfFAQ
What is Nintendo's best selling franchise?
Pokémon is the best selling media franchise in the world overall, though Mario's games individually have sold enormous numbers too, led by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Which Nintendo franchise is the oldest?
Donkey Kong and Mario both trace back to the early 1980s arcade era, making them Nintendo's oldest continuously running franchises.
Is Metroid underrated compared to Zelda and Mario?
Many fans think so. Metroid has a smaller release schedule than Mario or Zelda but a devoted fanbase that considers Super Metroid and the Prime series among Nintendo's best work.
Why isn't Star Fox ranked higher?
Star Fox 64 is a classic, but the series has had an inconsistent history since, with Nintendo rarely returning to it and some entries, like Star Fox Zero, dividing fans.
Will there be a new F-Zero or Golden Sun?
Nintendo hasn't confirmed new mainline entries for either series, though both remain some of the most requested revivals among longtime fans.
More rankings
Image credits
- Super MarioLogo: Original: Nintendo Vector: Hayden Schiff, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- The Legend of ZeldaLogo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- PokémonLogo: Pokémon, Nintendo/Creatures Inc./Game Freak Inc., Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- MetroidLogo: Dominic Roberti, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Super Smash Bros.Logo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Mario KartLogo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- KirbyLogo: PAL and Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Fire EmblemLogo: Intelligent Systems, vectorised by Zt-freak, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Donkey KongLogo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Animal CrossingLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- SplatoonLogo: Nintendo Co., Ltd., Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Xenoblade ChroniclesLogo: Quasiboost, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Paper MarioLogo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- PikminLogo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Mario & LuigiLogo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- YoshiLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- WarioLogo: Original: Nintendo Vector: Hayden Schiff, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Mario PartyLogo: Nintendo - Japanese multinational video game and consumer electronics company Vectorization: Mrmw, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Star FoxLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Rhythm HeavenLogo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- F-ZeroLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Punch-Out!!Logo: Wikipedia · Source
- EarthBoundLogo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Golden SunLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Wii SportsLogo: Nintendo, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source