What a year it has been for Nintendo fans. Starting in March with the release of both the Nintendo Switch and the highlight anticipated latest game in the Zelda series, both landing on the same day the amount of releases never let up with one major title following the next. For a while there it almost seemed that their was always a major Nintendo game only a few weeks away, either on the 3DS or Switch. And the best part? Most of these games are excellent, sometimes even the best their series has ever delivered or maybe a breakout new IP that showcases a bunch of new ideas. All of which begs the question, was 2017 Nintendo’s best year ever?

For starters, let’s take a look at all of the major first party releases from Nintendo to have released in 2017 (in alphabetical order)…

TITLE PLATFORM 1-2-Switch NS Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp MOBI Arms NS Bye-Bye! BOXBOY! 3DS Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King 3DS Ever Oasis 3DS Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia 3DS Fire Emblem: Heroes MOBI Fire Emblem Warriors NS/N3DS Flip Wars NS Hey! Pikmin 3DS Kirby’s Blowout Blast 3DS Magikarp Jump MOBI Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions 3DS Mario Kart 8 Deluxe NS Mario Party: The Top 100 3DS Mario Sports Superstars 3DS Metroid: Samus Returns 3DS Miitopia 3DS Pokémon Duel MOBI Pokémon (Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon) 3DS Pokkén Tournament DX NS Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World 3DS Snipperclips: Cut it Out, Together! NS Splatoon 2 NS Super Mario Odyssey NS Team Kirby Clash Deluxe 3DS The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild NS/WIIU Tank Troopers 3DS Xenoblade Chronicles 2 NS Yo-Kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters 3DS HARDWARE Nintendo Switch New Nintendo 2DS XL Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition

That’s… an insane amount of releases.

To break it down Nintendo published 31 new games in 2017 across four platforms as well as released a brand new console, a handheld redesign and a retro system as well. That level of output absolutely blows away any other video game company by a wide margin and not only helped the company recover from poor showings in 2015 and ’16 in terms of game releases but also helped make sure that ‘Nintendo’ was always at the forefront of player’s minds when it came to what was coming next.

But it wasn’t just the quantity of games released that was impressive this year but the quality as well. Many of the Nintendo published games ended up garnering praise from the media and gamers alike, especially the newest entries in long running series like Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Metroid: Samus Returns, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia and Pokémon (Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon), which were incredible titles in their own rights and considered by many to be the best their series’ have ever offered. Newer franchises also got in on the action with Splatoon 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 rounding out the lineup while new IP’s like Arms, Miitopia, Ever Oasis and Snipperclips: Cut it Out, Together! gave us a taste of the new ideas brewing at Nintendo and with their development partners.

One area where Nintendo has struggled with, essentially since the days of the Nintendo 64 has been in garnering strong third-party support for their systems, especially their home consoles. Well in 2017 this seems to have also turned a corner with the Switch not only getting more third-party support than the Wii U so early in its life but from companies that hadn’t historically supported Nintendo’s systems. NIS America and Bethesda are two standouts of this early support, bringing major releases like Disgaea 5: Complete, Doom and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to the system. And then there are companies like 2K, EA, Sega, Capcom, Bandai-Namco, Koei-Tecmo, Square Enix and Ubisoft (to name a few) who have all either released games for the Switch or have some coming in the near future to ensure that the Switch isn’t labelled as ‘another system only for Nintendo games’.

It’s also worth noting that third-party exclusives seem to be finding a home on the Nintendo Switch as well. So far we have gotten Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle from Ubisoft, Super Bomberman R from Konami and Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers from Capcom, each of which has a dedicated fan base attached to it. And this list will only continue to expand in 2018 thanks to games like Octopath Traveler, Bayonetta 3 and Travis Strikes Back: No More Heroes contributing to the third-party revival for Nintendo.

So all in all, 2017 was a pretty fantastic year for Nintendo and that can’t really be argued. But is it the best year ever? Here’s a sample of some other impressive seasons for the Big N (first party only).

1985

Nintendo Entertainment System

Clu Clu Land

Golf

Hogan’s Alley

Ice Climber

Pinball

Super Mario Bros.

Wrecking Crew

Duck Hunt

Excitebike

1987

Metroid

Kid Icarus

The Legend of Zelda

Mike Tyson’s Punch Out

1991

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Super Mario World

F-Zero

Pilotwings

Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

Metroid II: Return of Samus

1996

Nintendo 64

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble!

Donkey Kong Land 2

Kirby Super Star

Pilotwings 64

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Super Mario 64

1998

Game Boy Color

Wario Land II

Yoshi’s Story

F-Zero X

Pokémon (Red / Blue)

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

2001

Game Boy Advance

Nintendo GameCube

Conker’s Bad Fur Day

Dr. Mario 64

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity

Kirby: Tilt ‘n’ Tumble

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Luigi’s Mansion

Mario Kart: Super Circuit

Mario Party 3

Mario Tennis

Paper Mario

Pikmin

Pokémon (Crystal)

Pokémon Stadium 2

Super Mario Advance

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Wario Land 4

2007

Nintendo DS Lite

WarioWare: Smooth Moves

Hotel Dusk: Room 215

Final Fantasy VI Advance

Wii Play

Wario: Master of Disguise

Custom Robo Arena

Super Paper Mario

Pokémon (Diamond / Pearl)

Mario Party 8

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree

Pokémon Battle Revolution

Mario Strikers Charged

Picross DS

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

DK Jungle Climber

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol

Battalion Wars 2

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

Super Mario Galaxy

Mario Party DS

2013

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Dillon’s Rolling Western: The Last Ranger

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D

Dr. Luigi

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Game & Wario

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

NES Remix

New Super Luigi U

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity

Pokémon (X / Y)

Pikmin 3

Super Mario 3D World

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

The Wonderful 101

Wii Fit U

Wii Party U

Wii Sports Club

Definitely some stiff competition but all things considered I would still give the nod to 2017. If only for the more consistent quality of the games released and the fact that this was a comeback year for Nintendo. They put everything into making the Switch a success and the system’s 10+ million units sold is a testament to that quality.

As we prepare to turn the page on 2017 and welcome 2018 with open arms, it’s a bit hard to imagine Nintendo having a better year than they did in this one. That being said some of the announced 2018 games for the Switch look incredible with Kirby: Star Allies and Octopath Traveler leading the pack but with mystery games like the new Fire Emblem also coming at some point points to another stellar year from Nintendo. Will it be enough to top 2017? Only time will tell but I think we’re all hoping it does.