Top 10 Most Underrated Nintendo Titles

Nintendo is a company who has a long history of quality games. Within those ranks of quality games are many titles which were deemed as average or just straight-up bad games due to comparisons to other games in the franchise, or other games the company made as a whole, despite being very good games. Here are my Top 10 most underrated Nintendo titles of all time!

Number 10

Super Paper Mario

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Metacritic Average: 85

Boxart for Super Paper Mario

Super Paper Mario is the third entry in the Paper Mario series. Unlike the previous two games, which are turn-based RPGs, Super Paper Mario is more of a 2D-sidescroller (like a traditional Mario game) with some RPG elements. This vast change in gameplay caused many fans of the series to deem Super Paper Mario the worst in the series, with some calling it a bad game altogether. This is entirely false. Super Paper Mario is definitely not the worst game in the series, and is by no means a bad game. In fact, the story of Super Paper Mario is more compelling and well-written than any of the other games in the series, and the villains are much more memorable. In addition, it is one of the first games where Bowser is fully playable as a protagonist, which is awesome if you ask me. 

Number 9

Custom Robo

Platform: Gamecube

Metacritic Average: 65

Boxart for Custom Robo

Custom Robo for the Nintendo Gamecube is partially underrated because it is not very well known. This game is exactly what the title would suggest, a game where you customize robots and battle them. With hundreds of possible combinations to make, this game never gets old. The multiplayer can keep you entertained for hours on end and the single-player campaign has a pretty well-developed story about the ethics of battling robots who may or may not have souls. It is astounding to me that this game was reviewed so poorly, which is why I believe it is one of the most underrated Nintendo titles.

Number 8

Yoshi's Story

Platform: Nintendo 64 

Metacritic Average: 65

Boxart for Yoshi's Story

I am not entirely sure exactly why this game was rated so poorly. Perhaps because it was compared too closely to the predecessor Yoshi's Island, or perhaps because it was compared to other platformers of the generation like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. Regardless of the reason, Yoshi's Story is not a bad game. It is a colorful and fun adventure that stars one of the best characters: Yoshi. It maintains the core gameplay of Yoshi's Island moves the focus from protecting Baby Mario to individualizing the Yoshi species as their own set of heroes. True, maybe this is not the best game on the system, but it is by no means a poor title and needs to be given a little more credit than it has.

Number 7

Luigi's Mansion

Platform: Nintendo Gamecube

Metacritic Average: 78

Boxart for Luigi's Mansion

  After years and years of being in the shadow of Mario, Nintendo finally decided to release a game starring Luigi. Luigi's Mansion had its own unique gameplay which is completely separate from the core Mario franchise and focused on vacuuming up Boos instead of stomping on Goombas. Despite the innovative gameplay, spooky tone, and the wonderful cast of characters, Luigi's Mansion received average reviews. Now tell me something, why is it that anything that has Mario's name on it scores high, but the second Luigi brings out a game, it scores average? Luigi's adventure was just as grand as any of Mario's, and while it may not have been traditional Mario gameplay, Luigi's Mansion deserves its chance to shine. 

Number 6

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Platform: Nintendo 64

Metacritic Average: 95

Boxart for Majora's Mask

  Now Majora's Mask is a different case than most of the other games here. As you can see above, Majora's Mask was actually very highly praised by reviewers. Despite this, Majora's Mask seems to be the Zelda game that fans enjoy to take a sh** on. The main reason for this is that Majora's Mask is always put in the shadow of its predecessor: Ocarina of Time, which is hailed to be the greatest video game of all time. While I do agree that Ocarina of Time may be better, I do not agree to the extent that most fans believe. Ocarina of Time is far from vastly superior to Majora's Mask, and is slightly superior at most. While Ocarina of Time is more of a grand adventure that tells the tale of Hyrule, Zelda and Ganon, Majora's Mask is a more personal story that focuses solely on Link. While Ocarina of Time stressed the main quest and made side-quests little more than petty fetch quests and errands, Majora's Mask reduces the stress on the main quest and stresses the importance of side-quests, making every single NPC in the game have their own little backstory that plays a role in the overall theme of the game. Majora's Mask should not be so easily overlooked by Zelda fans as it is just as much of a classic as Ocarina of Time and is far from a terrible Zelda title.

Number 5

Super Mario Bros. 2

Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System

Metacritic Average: N/A

Boxart for Super Mario Bros. 2

 Despite it's name, Super Mario Bros. 2 is not actually the second game in the series. In Japan, Super Mario Bros. 2 was very similar in gameplay to Super Mario Bros., and was eventually released in other regions under the title Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. This Super Mario Bros. 2 was the one that was released in America and changed the core gameplay of the original Super Mario Bros. game vastly. Many Super Mario fans see this game as the low point of the original Super Mario trilogy, but I disagree. Super Mario Bros. 2, while different in gameplay, is a masterpiece in its own. It was the first Mario game to introduce Princess Peach and Toad as fully playable characters, along with Mario and Luigi, and each character had its own unique style of play, some of which is still maintained today in games where Peach and Luigi are playable. Super Mario Bros. 2 is a prime example of how different does not always translate to bad or worst. 

Number 4

Star Fox Adventures

Platform: Nintendo Gamecube

Metacritic Average: 82

Boxart for Star Fox Adventures

Star Fox Adventures is another example of how a change in gameplay has caused the fanbase to deem the game "bad" or "average." Star Fox is usually a space shooter, but this game saw Fox come out of his Arwing for the first time for a platforming adventure very reminiscent of the Zelda franchise. Instead of everyone speaking via radio like in the previous games, Fox was able to fully explore an entire world and meet face to face with a variety of different characters. The boss battles, gameplay and dungeon puzzles were extremely well-crafted and the overall environment of the game was beautiful. Other than the change in gameplay, this Star Fox title was an extremely well-made game, and I can guarantee had it not used Star Fox characters, it would have been praised far more than it was. 

Number 3

Super Mario Sunshine

Platform: Nintendo Gamecube

Metacritic Average: 92

Boxart for Super Mario Sunshine

  Much like Majora's Mask, Super Mario Sunshine is not on this list for receiving poor reviews, as it actually received great reviews. But, in comparison to the other 3D Mario Platformers, Sunshine was rated the lowest by far and is considered by the fanbase to be a step-down from Super Mario 64 and the worst in the franchise. The reason for this is, once again, a change in gameplay. While the change is not to the core-gameplay like Star Fox Adventures was, the change came from the addition of F.L.U.D.D., "the talking super-soaker" as fans call her. Sunshine had the players focusing on washing graffiti. What is this? Nintendo trying to make us CLEAN? Are we maids? Well guess what, it was actually insanely fun to spray that "super-soaker." Not to mention that this game easily had some of the best level and boss design of the franchise. Also, the game was the first Mario title to have VOICE ACTING. And guess what? It was actually GOOD! There was not one thing done wrong with this game other than trying something new, which as you can tell by this point in the article, is not an indication of a bad game. 

Number 2

Pokemon Ruby & Pokemon Sapphire

Platform: Gameboy Advance

Metacritic Average: 82

Boxart for Pokemon Ruby & Pokemon Sapphire

Generation III of Pokemon is the one that receives the most hate from fans. Some fans are hardcore purists and believe anything outside the first two generations is garbage. Other fans believe everything before generation four was boring. Some specifically target generation three and claim it has terrible Pokemon designs and that the games were lackluster and boring. Regardless of which of these fans most people are, they all agree that generation three sucks. I honestly do not see why. Sure, I do agree that Generation III may not be the best Pokemon titles, but they improved on almost every aspect of the previous generations. They added a weather system which allowed for new ways of battling. It also added double battles which has become somewhat of a big standard for the series, especially in the console titles. This generation also had three of the most lovable starters of all time: Torchic, Mudkip and Treecko. So exactly what about these games are so bad? I'll tell you what: nothing. Ruby & Sapphire were revolutionary for the Pokemon series, and while maybe they didn't have the best Pokemon, characters or villain, they did improve on all elements of the gameplay and set a new standard for the Pokemon titles we see today, which makes them vastly under appreciated games.

Number 1

Metroid: Other M

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Metacritic Average: 79

Boxart for Metroid: Other M

  I will start out by saying that I too was in support of this being one of the worst Nintendo titles of all time until recently. I remember first playing this game back when it came out. I thought it was okay. The main reason for this was because I was so used to the FPS style of gameplay that the Metroid series had been converted to in the past years before this game came out. After finishing the game, I started to nitpick on little aspects of the game and slowly began agreeing with the fans that Other M was a disgrace to the Metroid series. It was not until recently, when I decided to give the game another go, that I realized exactly how wrong I was. When I had first played the game, I had never played a Metroid title outside of the Prime trilogy. Coming back to it, I had played nearly every game in the series, and I started to realize how Other M was actually more true to the originals than the Prime series was. Sure, the game did have a very farfetched story, but let's be honest, what games nowadays don't? One of the biggest complaints about the game was that Nintendo apparently "changed" the personality of Samus. But playing this game for the second time, I realized, Samus didn't really HAVE a set personality in the previous games because she never had voice-acting. Samus was always a silent heroine so we made up our own personality for her, so if her personality in this game clashed with our initial idea, it would ruin the character for the player. But y'know what? I liked seeing a different side of Samus. I liked seeing that even she is scared sometimes. I liked hearing about her past, about her troubles, about her care for the Baby Metroid and about the effect the past games have had on her. Metroid: Other M is by no means a bad game, and is in fact, a great game and is definitely the most underrated Nintendo title of all time. 

Article By:

Giuliano V.