Recently, IGN teamed up with Nintendo Life to rank the Top 100 Best Nintendo Games of All Time. But this celebration wasn’t just about what we think: we also wanted to know what your list would be, too. This was calculated through our Face Off tool, which pits two games against each other until you’ve run through all of the permutations, and then places the games in order of their win percentage. So, following a face-off in which thousands of you voted — with your number one pick being involved in 21,405 duels — we’ve got a Top 25 based on the IGN audience’s opinion.
The games that appear in this list actually aren’t too different from the ones that make up our own top positions, albeit with quite a different order. You favour Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series over most others. So much, in fact, that the top 10 is dominated entirely by these two Miyamoto creations.
What follows is the Top 25 as voted by IGN readers, with a handy comparison below that shows your picks alongside the IGN and Nintendo Life’s list.
25. Mario Kart 64 – 59.0% Win Rate
24. Super Mario Bros. – 59.2% Win Rate
23. Pokemon Yellow (Red/Blue) – 59.4% Win Rate
22. Donkey Kong Bananza – 61.2% Win Rate
21. Chrono Trigger – 61.2% Win Rate
20. GoldenEye 007 – 61.9% Win Rate
19. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – 62.7% Win Rate
18. Super Metroid – 62.7% Win Rate
17. Super Smash Bros. Melee – 63.4% Win Rate
16. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – 65.3% Win Rate
15. Metroid Prime (+ Remastered) – 65.6% Win Rate
14. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask – 66.1% Win Rate
13. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 66.1% Win Rate
12. Super Mario Galaxy 2 – 66.8% Win Rate
11. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 66.9% Win Rate
10. Super Mario. Bros 3 – 67.9% Win Rate
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – 68.4% Win Rate
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – 69.0% Win Rate
7. Super Mario Galaxy – 69.6% Win Rate
6. Super Mario World – 70.5% Win Rate
5. Super Mario 64 – 70.5% Win Rate
4. Super Mario Odyssey – 71.3% Win Rate
3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – 73.2% Win Rate
2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 77.1% Win Rate
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – 77.5% Win Rate
So, that’s what you voted as the 25 best Nintendo games ever, but how does it compare to IGN and Nintendo Life’s version? Well, there are a few notable differences. The IGN readers picked Mario Kart 64 as number 25 — a game that didn’t even make our Top 100 as one of our two Mario Kart entries. On the flip side, we had Tetris placed at 5, but it was all the way down at 33 in the public vote.
You can check out the table below to get a direct comparison between the top 25s. Which do you ultimately agree with more? Let us know in the comments below!
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
