It's the season of end of year awards, and now it's time to reveal your winners for the best games on Nintendo hardware in 2015. Thousands of you cast your votes, and now the results are in.

You had all of the same categories as in our staff awards, and these are the gongs that mean the most; rather than a team of 20 or so writers pitching in, you've voted in significant numbers to highlight your favourites of the year, bringing some fascinating results.

You don't need a pre-amble - you want to know who's won! To the results, then...

Wii U Retail Game of the Year

A relatively comfortable winner, as it was in the staff awards, tallying a few hundred more points than the runner up and scooping 29% of all votes. The new IP has shown that Nintendo can still create fresh ideas and reinvigorate genres, in this case competitive third-person shooting. It's been a mainstream success, with weekly updates and freebies keeping the online lobbies busy.

Second Place: Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)

Third Place: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Monolith Soft / Nintendo)

Fourth Place: Yoshi's Woolly World (GoodFeel / Nintendo)

Fifth Place: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse / Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush (HAL / Nintendo)

Wii U eShop Game of the Year

It's not easy for December releases to win these awards, but such is the must-have nature of this sci-fi racer that it stormed to number one in your voting; it also scooped the staff award. It's a fantastic title, combining beautiful visuals with high-speed action and buttery smooth gameplay. A worthy winner.

Second Place: Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (WayForward, 2015 release in EU / Australia)

Third Place: Fatal Frame / Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water (Koei Tecmo / Nintendo)

Fourth Place: Affordable Space Adventures (KnapNok Games / Nifflas)

Fifth Place: Runbow (13AM Games)

3DS Retail Game of the Year

It seems so long ago at this time of the year, but there was plenty of buzz around this title back in February when it launched alongside the New Nintendo 3DS models in the West. It's another terrific remaster from Grezzo, with sharpened visuals, strong performance and, most importantly, the same classic adventure. A favourite among keen Legend of Zelda fans, it's no surprise that this secured the staff / reader award double.

Second Place: Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (Monolith Soft / Nintendo)

Third Place: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (Capcom)

Fourth Place: The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (Nintendo)

Fifth Place: Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. (AlphaDream / Nintendo)

3DS eShop Game of the Year

The first award that's brought a difference between the staff and reader polls, and shows just how quickly the latest Image & Form release has won over 3DS gamers. Arriving in December after a long wait, this follow-up (but not a 'sequel') in the series maintains fantastic presentation values but shakes up gameplay with turn-based action. With skill-based attacks and a side-on 2D angle it's a neat twist on the genre, and this writer's pleased to see it get rewarded by the Nintendo Life community.

Second Place: 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA)

Third Place: Gunman Clive 2 (Bertil Hörberg)

Fourth Place: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (Nintendo)

Fifth Place: Pokémon Picross (Nintendo)

Overall Game of the Year

As per the Wii U retail category, this was a popular choice, meaning Splatoon has secured the Game of the Year double from Nintendo Life staff and readers. The colourful shooter has been a triumphant 2015 release for Nintendo, and a reminder of the young development talent that can lead a bright future with strong ideas and concepts. Few would have bet on Nintendo succeeding on a mainstream level with a competitive online shooter, yet it's achieved just that with Splatoon. A deserved winner of your Game of the Year award.

Second Place: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Monolith Soft / Nintendo)

Third Place: Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)

Fourth Place: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (Capcom)

Fifth Place: Yoshi's Woolly World (GoodFeel / Nintendo)

The staff and reader results agreed on all but one winner, and oddly both set of polls even duplicated the weird scenario of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate coming behind The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D in the 3DS Retail vote, but performing better in the overall award. Xenoblade Chronicles X and Super Mario Maker also swapped positions in different categories - that's the joy of democratic awards!

Those are your games of the year; we want to thank you for all of your votes. As always you can chew over the results in the comments below - Happy Holidays!