Well here we are finally arriving at my number one slot on this list right as 2023 draws to a close and yes it’s true: In a year that saw Nintendo release a long awaited sequel, one knockout of a remaster and an all new return to form across their holy trinity of IP (Zelda, Metroid and Mario of course), what can I say?

It didn’t get any better than Pikmin 4.

When Nintendo revealed that Metroid Prime 4 was in development, rumors instantly began swirling around about a rerelease of some kind for the original trilogy. A series of first person adventure games that began on Gamecube and seemingly wrapped up on the Wii. Days turned into years without anything materializing, until that fateful moment in early February of 2023. When an official announcement was made that not only was there a remaster of the original installment on the way, it would be available like right then. A “shadow drop” as the children say, I believe.

Well that equaled yours truly frantically stumbling to close the living room blinds for one sexy happy dance.

It’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. Of course any new entry in the at this point iconic side-scrolling series of Mario games is something to be excited about. And once hands on impressions and previews began trickling in, it was sounding as though Wonder played like the Switch’s answer to SMW2: Yoshi’s Island (on most days, my personal favorite game of all time). Or even some kind of return to form; the direct follow up to the great Super Mario World we’d always dreamed of. If I kinda, maybe squint real hard enough I can sorta see the latter. Which makes me wonder:

Man, can you imagine if Nintendo had had the goombas big enough to just call this thing Super Mario Bros. 5!?

The 99 line of games available to NSO members is a series of essentially battle royales where you, the player take on 99 other players via the internet and compete to the “death”. Introduced with Tetris back in 2019 (!?), it has proven to apply itself much more naturally to some games than others. Tetris is an absolute natural for this concept, and highly addictive. The Super Mario Bros. version was oddly fun (though timed and no longer available) and a Pac-Man attempt was a bit too frantic and maybe didn’t work all that great in my opinion.

Well, recently Nintendo decided to give a certain SNES launch title a swing at the gameplay style and oh man, F-Zero 99 where have you been all my life?

This placement on the countdown will probably rub a lot of people the wrong way but we’re all just going to have to accept the fact that not everyone has the same opinion. I know there’s a quality game here and Tears of the Kingdom is an experience which meant quite a bit to many video game players and lovers of the franchise.

It’s just kinda the opposite of everything I loved about BOTW…it’s just kinda too much.

We interrupt our 2023 top ten countdown to bring you this very important announcement: 1080 Snowboarding is now available for the Nintendo Switch. I honestly couldn’t begin to calculate how many hours I sunk into this game back when it first came out for the N64 in 1998.

Mostly because I was 17 years old, real deep into my house music listening/raver days and more often than not in some form of heavily altered state.

Beginning with Mario Kart 8 in the previous entry on this list and as you’ll see for the rest of it, 2023 was a fantastic mixture of both old and new for Nintendo. In anticipation of Pikmin 4, the company decided to release HD versions of the first two installments released for the Gamecube way back when. And with Pikmin 3 already available as a Deluxe version on the console, this makes the Nintendo Switch home to every mainline game in the series.

And this makes the Nintendo Switch quite an awesome Nintendo video game playing machine.

Mario Kart 8 originally appeared on the Wii U way back in 2014, meaning many Nintendo enthusiasts have been playing a good chunk of these courses for nearly a decade now. So how is it possible that the Nintendo Switch Deluxe version released not long after the console launched back in 2017 makes a top ten list in 2023? For the same reason that it still regularly hovers near the top of monthly sales charts and is by far and away the highest selling title for Nintendo’s hybrid:

Quality and a ridiculously high volume of content.

If Nintendo had not had one absolute banger of a 2023, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider would have ranked much higher on this list. Playing like some kind of lost SNES gem, this one came out of nowhere and absolutely handed me my ass.

Not it a bad way though, in good kind of ass-handing way!

Unless Batman: Arkham trilogy which is due to arrive tomorrow turns out to not run horrendously on Switch, Tanuki Justice will mark my final purchase for the year. It was released in October but I only just downloaded it last week and upon pressing start, a huge idiot grin was instantly plastered across my face. What a fantastic game to end the year on!

Well it’s that time of year again people, when best of 2023 lists of all shapes and sizes begin to crop up across every corner of the internet. And here at The Dorkside that means it’s time to check off the top ten Nintendo Switch games that yours truly played over these last 12 months. In compiling and ranking this countdown though, my personal rule was that each title had to be released in 2023 which added up to precisely 10 purchases. Meaning that the first couple of games here managed to make the list purely by virtue of fitting into that guideline.

Which isn’t to say that Gravity Circuit is a bad game, far from it!

The whole daylight savings “turn the clock back an hour” thing this time of year really seems to be rough on all of you outgoing, extroverted, weekend warrior, morning person types, but I love it. The main issue is apparently that nighttime has taken over and there’s a tragic shortage of daylight. Well, that’s kinda my jam so it’s pretty exciting when nature finally decides to provide a nonstop blanket of cold and darkness. For me, it signals that the winter season is officially upon us and along with it a time filled with beautiful lights, nostalgic sounds, comforting smells and of course big holiday Nintendo releases.

Batman Returns is a classic 16-bit sidescrolling beat ’em up where players assume the role of the Dark Knight as he attempts to murder hundreds of criminals before the Penguin steals Christmas. This was one of those games that I wanted more than anything as kid. But since I was never given Nintendo related gifts outside of my birthday and the occasionally stellar report card, unfortunately it was one of many to slip through the cracks.

Well I’ve been an adult for a while now and obviously scored a copy at the first opportunity many years ago so here’s what I think about it!

C’mon. It had to be Luigi’s Mansion 3 in the top spot right? Having taken over development duties with Luigi’s Mansion 2: Dark Moon for the 3DS (and also behind the great Punch-Out!! for Wii), Next Level Games proved themselves to be a studio with formidable technical skills and a real eye for art design. And here, once again their work on Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a sight to behold with stunning animation and gorgeous details oozing from every corner of the screen. It is hands down one of the most graphically gorgeous games ever released featuring these characters and is a no brainer for the Halloween season. I’m just gonna say it: This is Nintendo’s “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

That translates to: We’ve got ourselves a tradition.

Yes, we’ve got a bit of a cheat here as I’m recommending a specific stage in a game rather than the entire thing. It’s a slippery slope for sure but by God I’ve lost enough sleep since beginning this countdown at the thought of not including it. To be fair, Banjo-Kazooie is in my top ten games of all time and the entirety demands to be played any time of year. But all of the little details in this Mad Monster Mansion area: From that amazing stage music right down to transforming into a damn playable Jack ‘o Lantern…listen, it really doesn’t get much more Halloween than this.

Except for the #1 entry in this countdown I guess.

Outlast II is perfect: It is also definitely not for everyone. But for what the developers are setting out to accomplish, the game is just flawless in my opinion. From the airtight controls to the jaw dropping graphics (really pushing Nintendo’s aging little hybrid console and flexing it’s capabilities), here we have a truly terrifying experience with tense mechanics, a beyond unsettling narrative and…

..well, I could just go on and on about this one!

Layers of Fear: Legacy is one of those “psychological” horror games where your mind occasionally “plays tricks” on you. It’s the kind of experience intending to immerse players in an atmosphere where you’re forced to “question” your own “sanity.” Sort of a distant relative of Eternal Darkness for the GameCube in that regard: Plenty of environmental puzzles offered within a spooky setting. It’s also one of very few non first party Switch titles that I burned right through upon starting, compelled to completion amongst a ridiculous backlog of games.

That means I sure liked it!

You couldn’t really go wrong with just about any entry in this series but I’ve chosen the high definition remaster of the iconic remake that originally released on the Gamecube back in 2002 to single out. Actually it was specifically a toss up between either this or the remaster of RE4. But as much as I do love that fourth *ahem* game changing installment, it leans harder toward the action genre than this, the original, the classic, the great Resident Evil.

Now that you’ve finished cleaning up that drink you just spat across the screen, yes I know this is a licensed game “based” on a total box office failure. One starring a certain TCruise that was meant to kick off a ahem, Universal Monsters cinematic universe *crickets*. But stick with me here for a second, as the connection to that film is loose at best. Really what this is is a rock solid Metroid-like 16-bit style sidescrolling shooter developed by WayForward (Contra 4, Duck Tales: Remastered, The Shantae Series). And it totally stands on it’s own as a really fun game.

Honest!

Slender: The Arrival has a lot in common with the original Blair Witch Project and first Paranormal Activity. All low budget ventures using a clever, simple concept out of necessity to mass effect resulting in genuine scares. I am a devout fan of this approach, so upon finally getting the chance to play this game which had been around for a while before hitting the Wii U (and eventually Switch), what a surprise!

It actually scared me.