When it comes to longevity in the console market, none can compete with Nintendo. The Switch is just the latest in a long line of home consoles that dates back to the early 1980s. In total, the Japanese company has released seven home consoles as well as a number of hugely successful handhelds. There was also the Virtua Boy, although the less said about that, the better.
Over the years, some of the largest franchises in gaming have found a home on Nintendo’s machines. Many of them are the company’s own creations, but there are plenty of top third-party titles in the consoles’ back catalogs as well. Some come and go, but there are a select few that have been with Nintendo since the very beginning. What’s more, they don’t look like they’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.
10 Kirby
Masahiro Sakurai’s pink puffball floated onto the NES in 1993 in Kirby’s Adventure and debuted on the SNES two years later in Kirby’s Avalanche. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Kirby Air Ride were the only Kirby games on the N64 and GameCube respectively.
The beautifully crafted Kirby’s Epic Yarn brought the series to the Wii in 2010 and, five years later, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse released for the Wii U. Star Allies then became the series’ first physical release on the Switch when it arrived in 2018.
9 Tetris
Tetris is perhaps best associated with the Game Boy due both to it being bundled with the handheld and its ridiculously high sales figures on the system. What many might not realize though is that the series first appeared on the Famicom, releasing one year before the Game Boy port. Tetris Battle Gaiden released on the Super Famicom five years later and Tetrisphere became the first Tetris title for the N64 in 1997.
Tetris Worlds dropped onto the GameCube five years later and the 2008 title Tetris Party Deluxe marked the series’ debut on the Wii. The Wii U actually had a couple of Tetris games, but the first was Puyo Puyo Tetris in 2014. The game was hugely popular and, as a result, was rereleased for the Switch three years later, making it the first Tetris title on both consoles.
8 Mario
Mario is one of the most recognizable faces in gaming. He’s appeared in hundreds of games over the years, but his first on a Nintendo home console came in Donkey Kong for the Famicom way back in 1983. It wasn’t until the release of Super Mario Bros. two years later that the series really took off though. Super Mario World followed on the SNES in 1990 and Super Mario 64 for the N64 in 1996. Both of them were launch titles for their respective systems.
The plumber featured in three other GameCube games before Super Mario Sunshine arrived for the system in 2002 and four Wii titles before the eventual release of 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy. New Super Mario Bros. U ushered in the short-lived Wii U era of Mario games in 2012 before a rerelease of Mario Kart 8 brought the series to the Switch in 2017. Super Mario Odyssey followed six months later.
7 Donkey Kong
After taking arcades by storm in the early ’80s, Donkey Kong swung onto the Famicom in 1983. Perhaps his finest moments came in the early ’90s though, in the shape of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, the first of which released on the SNES in 1994. The great gorilla next appeared in Donkey Kong 64 in late 1999.
Donkey Konga, a series of bongo-based games, brought the series to the GameCube in 2003, while the 2007 title Donkey Kong Barrel Blast was the Wii’s first DK game. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze ushered in the Wii U era in 2014 and was subsequently rereleased on the Switch in 2017, making it the series’ first release on both machines.
6 Zelda
Link’s adventures began in The Legend of Zelda for the Famicom Disc System way back in 1986. Since then, the young Hylian has appeared on all of Nintendo’s home and handheld consoles. A Link to the Past became the first Zelda game for the SNES when it released in 1991 and Ocarina of Time brought the series to the N64 seven years later.
As with the N64 before it, the GameCube got two mainline Zelda releases in the forms of The Wind Waker and The Twilight Princess, the latter of which was also the first Zelda game on the Wii. Many of the older Zelda games were rereleased for the Wii U, but the first and only new mainline entry came in the form of Breath of the Wild in 2017. As with Twilight Princess, it launched simultaneously across two generations of Nintendo consoles, therefore making it the first Zelda game for the Switch as well.
5 Bomberman
Bomberman may not have had the same impact as Mario and Link have, but he’s been around for just as long. He made his debut on the Famicom in 1985 in a self-titled game and blasted into the 16-bit gaming era in the 1993 title Super Bomberman. Bomberman 64 hit the Nintendo 64 in 1997 and Bomberman Generation took the series to the GameCube five years later.
The first Bomberman entry on the Wii came in 2007 in the form of Bomberman Land, but from here, the rate of releases slowed down quite a bit. There were a few WiiWare games over the next few years though, with a rerelease of Bomberman 64 the sole Bomberman title available on the Wii U. In 2017, Super Bomberman R was one of the launch titles for the Switch.
4 Star Wars
The first Star Wars game for a Nintendo system was actually a Japanese exclusive. Star Wars released for the Famicom in 1987 and was loosely based on A New Hope. A similar game did release in the West in 1991 and was also called Star Wars. This was followed up by Super Star Wars for the SNES the following year.
The series’ N64 debut came in the form of the 1996 title Shadows of the Empire, while Rogue Squadron II brought the franchise to the GameCube five years later. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed then made its way to the Wii in late 2008, and the 2013 title Star Wars Pinball was one of a handful of Star Wars games on the Wii U. It was also the franchise’s first physical release on the Switch, although was beaten to the punch by some digital rereleases.
3 Batman
The caped crusader has appeared in countless video games over the years, many of which have appeared on Nintendo consoles. The first of these came in 1989 for the Famicom and, like many of the Batman games of that era, was simply titled Batman. His first appearance on the SNES was the aptly-titled Batman Returns, which released in 1992. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker was the only Batman game to make it to the N64, doing so in 2000.
Batman Vengeance followed for the GameCube one year later before Lego Batman: The Videogame became the first of the series’ entries on the Wii in 2008. Four years later, Batman: Arkham City released for the Wii U. Both of the Batman games for the Switch so far have been Telltale titles, with the second, Batman: The Enemy Within actually appearing a few months before the original Telltale series.
2 Pac-Man
Namco’s long-running series, Pac-Man first debuted on the NES in 1984 with Pac-Attack arriving on the SNES nine years later. 2000’s Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness was the series’ one and only release for the N64.
As Nintendo home consoles switched from cartridges to discs, a sequel to Pac-Man World was ported to the GameCube in early 2002 and this was followed by Pac-Man Party for the Wii in 2010. Three years later, Bandai Namco released Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures for the Wii U and Pac-Man Vs. was then rereleased for the Switch in 2017 as part of the Namco Museum compilation.
1 Mega Man
The very first Mega Man (or Rockman, as it’s known in Japan) title appeared on the NES in 1987, and it would go on to spawn five sequels for the system. Mega Man 7 blasted its way onto the SNES in 1995 and was followed up by Mega Man 64 just three years later.
The 2003 spinoff title Mega Man Network Transmission was the series’ first entry on the GameCube, while Mega Man 9 and 10 released on the Wii in 2008 and 2010 respectively. The first seven mainline Mega Man games were rereleased on the Wii U in 2013, as were the first three titles in the Mega Man X line of games. Although there have been plenty of collections on the Switch, the first new mainline release was Mega Man 11 in 2018.
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