Best Releases From Every Year Of The Nintendo Switch, Ranked

With the Nintendo Switch 2’s June 5, 2025 launch, Nintendo has somewhat officially sunset its original hybrid console. Despite finding a unique middle ground between its similarly successful home console and portable handheld systems, the Nintendo Switch’s eight-year time as Nintendo’s hardware focus has brought a supremely substantial number of industry-defining experiences.

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From genre-invigorating new installments and uniquely timed social software to hardware-defining launch titles, every year of the Nintendo Switch’s market dominance — from 2017 to 2025 — has been one filled with some of the very best video game software that the industry has seen.

9

2017 – The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

The Launch Title That Continues To Dominate Nintendo Switch Discussion

Systems

Released

March 3, 2017

Developer(s)

Nintendo EPD

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Despite its place as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch (and a cross-platform release alongside the Wii U version), the acclaim of Nintendo’s minimalist fantasy open-world experiment as “one of the greatest games ever made” has remained stoic throughout the near-decade since its release.

Considering the jam-packed software lineup of the Nintendo Switch’s first year on the market, the seemingly undeniable industry-defining quality of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is all the more apparent. With first-party system sellers like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, and Splatoon 2 sitting alongside more experimental titles such as ARMS, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and 1, 2 Switch, the fact that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild remains so revered is a testament to its quality.

8

2018 – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

A Cultural Touchstone & Industry-Spanning Celebration Of Gaming

Systems

Released

December 7, 2018

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Although the promotion and release of a new Super Smash Bros. title is seemingly always a momentous occasion, the scale of having every returning fighter plus notable newcomers available to fight with and against made Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s release all the more impressive. While it may have been excusable for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s expansive roster to have papered over any cracks in gameplay, the tried-and-true platform fighting of the series has been lauded as being so refined that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate remains “arguably the best entry in the franchise”.

Although multiple critically lauded titles were released in 2018, the exuberant scope and tightly wound gameplay of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is seemingly untouchable not only in the fighting genre but in the video game industry as a whole. Although 2018 provided players with a slew of first-party ports and sequels of best-in-class experiences, such as Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Bayonetta 2, bolstered by genre-defining third-party support with Octopath Traveler and Undertale, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s industry-capturing hype-cycle and mechanical fluidity are so impeccably created that not much can compete against it.

7

2019 – Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes Of An Elusive Age – Definitive Edition

The Prominent RPG Franchise Makes Significant Cultural Headway

Released

September 27, 2019

Publisher(s)

Nintendo, Square Enix

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Although Nintendo themselves are prone to releasing some of the most graphically intensive and expansively astounding titles on their home consoles, 2019’s release of Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition brought “one of the most beautiful games available on the Nintendo Switch” to its already ballooning software library. Beyond the acclaimed quality of the role-playing game and its commercial success, Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition‘s success on the Nintendo Switch has made it a hardware-defining installment.

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Beyond that, the game’s Luminary protagonist went on to make their way into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s industry-spanning fighting roster, with such an inclusion seemingly a testament not only to the Dragon Quest franchise’s JRPG dominance but Dragon Quest 11‘s continued prominence and acclaim. Especially considering the Nintendo first-party big-hitters that were released in 2019 — such as Pokemon Sword and Shield, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Super Mario Maker 2 — the fact that Square Enix’s enhanced port of their 2017 instant-classic created such ripples in the Nintendo Switch ecosystem is commendable.

6

2020 – Animal Crossing: New Horizons

A Uniquely Positioned First-Party Cozy Experience

Systems

Released

March 20, 2020

Developer(s)

Nintendo EPD

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Although Animal Crossing has always been a Nintendo staple, 2020 was the year that the cozy, cutesy social simulation title effectively became one of the hardware company’s most recognizable intellectual properties. Launching “at a time when many people were stuck indoors and looking for an escape”, Animal Crossing: New Horizons became not just the quintessential Nintendo Switch game of 2020 but arguably the quintessential video game overall for the year.

Especially considering that Nintendo brought many new experiences to the Nintendo Switch in 2020, with Paper Mario and the Origami King and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, alongside third-party modern classics like Ori and the Will of the Wisps dropping on the system, the social-centered fun of Animal Crossing: New Horizons being so tied to the system’s success is all the more impressive.

5

2021 – Metroid Dread

The Long-Awaited Return Of Nintendo’s Genre-Spawning Series

Action

Adventure

Metroidvania

Systems

Released

October 8, 2021

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Despite its position as a front-running Nintendo property and its protagonist Samus retaining a key role in Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. platform fighting series, Metroid remains a relative cult classic. However, with the October 8, 2021 release of Metroid Dread, Nintendo produced not only the best-selling installment in its genre-creating Metroid franchise but arguably “one of the best games of 2021.”

Although it faced steep quality competition from first-party series — with Mario Golf: Super Rush, Warioware: Get It Together!, and New Pokemon Snap bringing many quintessential Nintendo franchises into the fold — and third-party behemoths like Shin Megami Tensei 5, Metroid Dread‘s reinforcement of the now-popular Metroidvania genre solidified its place within the Nintendo Switch ecosystem.

4

2022 – Xenoblade Chronicles 3

A Genre-Defining Role-Playing Experience That Reinvigorated A Franchise

Systems

Released

July 29, 2022

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Despite its relative obscurity in the video game industry, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 remains not only one of the quintessential role-playing games on Nintendo hardware but also one of the best RPGs of the decade so far. While Nintendo has consistently focused on producing smaller-scale, quality titles, Monolith Soft’s 2022 installment in its much-revered Xenoblade Chronicles subseries produced the biggest launch the series has seen while providing the Nintendo Switch with one of the most expansive open worlds on the hardware.

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Considering that Nintendo provided players with a plethora of AAA experiences in 2022 — with Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Splatoon 3, and Bayonetta 3 launching throughout the year — Xenoblade Chronicles 3‘s tightly wound mechanics and expansive open world aided the series’ ascension into the upper echelons of Nintendo’s first-party franchises.

3

2023 – Super Mario Bros. Wonder

A Transformative Twist On Mario’s Industry-Defining Platforming Roots

Systems

Released

October 20, 2023

Developer(s)

Nintendo EPD

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

After nearly 20 years of consistent aesthetic and gameplay homogenization throughout Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. subseries of 2D platformers, Nintendo’s mascot was arguably in need of a visual and mechanical revitalization. As a result, Super Mario Bros. Wonder “revamped various aspects of the classic 2D Mario formula” and provided players with a truly unique experience on the Nintendo Switch.

Although incredible video games found their footing in 2023 — such as Pikmin 4, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Sea of Stars — the indisputable heart and quality of Mario’s first wholly unique 2D platforming title in nearly a quarter-century is not just emblematic in its cross-generational promotion with the Nintendo Switch 2 but in its position as one of the most creative experiences on Nintendo’s original hybrid console.

2

2024 – Balatro

The Industry-Defining Indie Card Game That Continues To Influence

Strategy

Digital Card Game

Roguelike

Released

February 20, 2024

Developer(s)

LocalThunk

Publisher(s)

Playstack

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Despite its humble beginnings and seemingly casual game systems, Balatro effectively “captured the gaming world’s imagination” by storm when it launched on February 20, 2024. Nominated for Game of the Year and leaving the Game Awards as a best independent game award-winner, Balatro’s unique roguelike take on poker play dominated the world of video games in 2024.

With steep competition from Nintendo’s first-party offerings — Mario and Luigi: Brothership, Mario Party: Jamboree, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom similarly launched in 2024 — Balatro was able to command discussion in the video game industry throughout the year, and its scrappy influence will no doubt expand as time rolls on.

1

2025 – Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

A Hardware-Defining Open-World RPG That Bookends The Nintendo Switch’s Software Lineup

Systems

Released

March 20, 2025

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

While Nintendo’s 2025 ambitions are firmly focused on the June 5 launch of its new Nintendo Switch 2 console, the “massively immersive action RPG” and formerly Wii U-exclusive experience of Xenoblade Chronicles X found a solid place within Nintendo’s first-party offerings to original Nintendo Switch players. 2025’s Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition not only bolstered an already seemingly phenomenal Monolith Soft title with improved performance and presentation but also brought one of the Wii U’s best unique titles over to the Nintendo Switch with added content.

Although Nintendo’s software sights are firmly placed on the aforementioned Nintendo Switch 2, Xenoblade Chronicles X outpaced Nintendo’s own first-party offering for the beginning of the year, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, to dominate not just first-party discussion but general Nintendo Switch software conversation overall.

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