5 Best Nintendo Games Everyone Forgot

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For almost five decades, Nintendo has been a leading force in the video game industry. Since the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1983 (and 1985 in North America), they’ve consistently remained a major player. Even when consoles like the GameCube and Wii U didn’t perform as well as others, Nintendo continued to create excellent games. Over the years, with so many releases, some truly charming and well-made games have been overlooked. A few of these hidden gems really stand out as the best games that people have largely forgotten about.

Here are the best Nintendo games that everyone forgot.

5) BoxBoy!

The BoxBoy series, including all four games, is among Nintendo’s finest puzzle offerings. Developed by HAL Labs – the studio famous for Kirby – the team also has a strong history with puzzle games, notably Picross 3D, which many consider Nintendo’s best in the genre. This background makes their success with the creative and imaginative BoxBoy series all the more understandable.

The game begins with easy puzzles, but quickly challenges you with increasingly difficult brain-teasers. You play as Qbby, known as BoxBoy, and must create boxes to navigate obstacles and progress. Later games built on this core mechanic, leading to incredibly clever puzzle designs. Hopefully, HAL Laboratory releases a fifth game soon!

4) Wave Race 64

Some at Nintendo initially described Wave Race 64 as being like F-Zero but on water, and that’s a pretty accurate comparison. It had a similar feeling of fast-paced action, and its bright, varied characters made it memorable on the Nintendo 64. However, the game’s most impressive feature was undoubtedly its realistic water physics.

Nintendo put a lot of effort into making the waves in Wave Race 64 feel realistic and affect how you race. It’s not just a visually appealing water effect; the waves genuinely change the gameplay. This makes the game a little challenging to learn at first, but it’s worth the effort so you can win against your friends in the fantastic multiplayer mode.

3) StarTropics

StarTropics is considered a highlight in the career of Genyo Takeda – and that’s high praise considering he also produced Punch-Out!! and helped develop the Wii. Takeda was heavily involved in StarTropics, serving as producer, writer, and director, making it a truly personal project for him.

In this game, you play as Mike Jones and explore a big world, interacting with lots of different characters. Mike fights using a yo-yo at first, but you can unlock baseball-themed weapons as you play. The combat is similar to the original The Legend of Zelda, though A Link to the Past later showed how the Zelda fighting system could really evolve. A unique feature of this game was a real letter included in the box – you had to get it wet to reveal a code you needed to continue playing. It was a memorable touch, and a sign of the times!

2) ARMS

Nintendo attempted to bring its unique style to the fighting game world with ARMS on the Switch. This 3D fighter allows up to four players to battle using extendable arms that help them reach each other. Each character has unique powers, and players can further customize their fighting style with different arm types.

The game’s overall presentation wasn’t strong enough to really capture players’ attention. With more developed online multiplayer – a problem partly caused by Nintendo’s unusual approach to online gaming – people might have kept playing for longer. Sadly, a sequel never materialized, meaning we missed out on the chance to refine the experience and build on what could have been another fantastic Nintendo franchise.

1) Golden Sun

Camelot Software Planning is famous for creating popular sports games for Nintendo, particularly the Mario Golf and Mario Tennis series. However, their most acclaimed game isn’t a sports title at all.

It surprised many fans when Camelot, known recently for games like Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, announced they were creating a medieval fantasy game for the Game Boy Advance. Fortunately, they succeeded, and Golden Sun became one of the greatest RPGs ever made for the system.

The game looked fantastic, even on handheld consoles. The story featured well-developed characters, though it occasionally used familiar fantasy elements. Combat and puzzles cleverly incorporated magic, encouraging players to explore. The original game ended with a cliffhanger, which fans loved, and was followed by two strong sequels. Sadly, we haven’t seen a new Golden Sun game since 2010, except for brief appearances in Super Smash Bros.

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2025-12-07 00:17