What is your least favourite first party line up on a Nintendo system?

[PekoponTAS | 171]

Just what the title says. I feel like this is a question that could result in some interesting answers. Reminder that I'm not interested in what is "factually the worst", I'm interested in the individual opinions of what your least favourite is. Be as biased as you like, as there's no reason why someone should think your subjective opinion is bad. Don't let nerd rage ruin your evening.

What's hard about this question is that there's never been a truly terrible line up of first party games for a Nintendo system, so it's hard to decide which one left you the least impressed. However it's hard for me to ignore how much I enjoyed the DS when it came out, and how little I've cared about it since.

Here's a list of the more notable first party releases for the Nintendo DS. Tell me if any of these are games you revisit frequently outside of Pokemon.

New Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario 64 DS
Yoshi's Island DS
Yoshi Touch 'n' Go
Super Princess Peach
WarioWare Touched
WarioWare D.I.Y
Wario Master of Disguise
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong 2
Mario and Luigi Partners in Time
The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Metroid Prime Hunters
Metroid Prime Pinball
DK Jungle Climber
Kirby Canvas Curse <- (This one is good though)
Kirby Squeak Squad
Kirby Mass Attack
Pokemon Diamond Pearl
Pokemon HeartGold SoulSilver
Pokemon Black White
Pokemon Black 2 White 2
Pokemon Conquest
Pokemon Ranger
Pokemon Trozei
Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
Star Fox Command
Nintendogs
Brain Age
Brain Age 2
Planet Puzzle League
Rhythm Heaven
Magical Starsign <- (This one's cool too, as are the next two)
Tetris DS
Elite Beat Agents
Custom Robo Arena
Chibi-Robo Park Patrol
Animal Crossing Wild World
Golden Sun Dark Dawn

Now I'm not going to say the line up is terrible, but that a HUGE list of games I that almost exclusively played once, and never looked back at. Nintendo DS easily gets my vote for my least favourite line up of first party games, but how about you?

Edited December 8, 2022 by PekoponTAS

[Reed Rothchild | 9,584]

Consoles?  Wii or Wii U I assume.

Handheld?  Probably GBC or DS.

[Koopa64 | 51]

The DS has a bad first party lineup? If anything it's got one of the best. Mario Kart DS is in many ways the best Mario Kart game of them all. Super Mario 64 DS is a remake done right and is the perfect launch title for any console. It's a port of Super Mario 64 with multiplayer a great assortment of mini-games that show off the features of the DS. It's like if the Wii launch title was Wii Sports + Super Mario Galaxy. Super Princess Peach is a miracle that it ever got made.

Also, you're missing Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story from your DS list, for shame.

Now the 3DS, that's a system with a poor first party showing. Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, New Super Mario Bros 2, Paper Mario Sticker Star, all three Mario Parties, Metroid Prime Federation Force, Hey Pikmin, Chibi Robo Ziplash, Super Smash Bros 3DS, Mario & Luigi Paper Jam, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga remake and Yoshi's New Island are all either bad games or were done far better by previous series entries. Paper Mario Sticker Star is especially horrible, completely devoid of everything that made Paper Mario great.

Or to put it another way: The DS has a re-release of Chrono Trigger, the 3DS doesn't.

(yes the 3DS can play all DS games. I'd sooner use a DSi and not have to deal with the slow 3DS menu system)

Edited December 8, 2022 by Koopa64

[fcgamer | 4,753]

Super Nintendo. The series entries on the NES were so much better than their 16 bit counterparts. Once the novelty of pretty graphics wore off, I never looked back after seeing they had no soul.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,584]

3DS also had Link Between Worlds, five (!) Fire Emblems, the definitive versions of Ocarina, Majora, DKC Returns, and Star Fox 64, four Mario & Luigis, Samus Returns, 2 Luigi's Mansions, Xenoblade, Robobot... not to mention the Layton games.

I'd take that in a heartbeat over the GBC.  Among others.

Of course some of those can be called 2nd party.  A distinction I'm not fond of.

[PekoponTAS | 171]

20 minutes ago, Koopa64 said:

The DS has a bad first party lineup? If anything it's got one of the best. Mario Kart DS is in many ways the best Mario Kart game of them all. Super Mario 64 DS is a remake done right and is the perfect launch title for any console. It's a port of Super Mario 64 with multiplayer a great assortment of mini-games that show off the features of the DS. It's like if the Wii launch title was Wii Sports + Super Mario Galaxy. Super Princess Peach is a miracle that it ever got made.

Also, you're missing Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story from your DS list, for shame.

Now the 3DS, that's a system with a poor first party showing. Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, New Super Mario Bros 2, Paper Mario Sticker Star, all three Mario Parties, Metroid Prime Federation Force, Hey Pikmin, Chibi Robo Ziplash, Super Smash Bros 3DS, Mario & Luigi Paper Jam, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga remake and Yoshi's New Island are all either bad games or were done far better by previous series entries. Paper Mario Sticker Star is especially horrible, completely devoid of everything that made Paper Mario great.

Or to put it another way: The DS has a re-release of Chrono Trigger, the 3DS doesn't.

(yes the 3DS can play all DS games. I'd sooner use a DSi and not have to deal with the slow 3DS menu system)

So uh, is 3DS your choice? Or is that just making a point in favour of the DS? Like I said, there's no need for anyone to get upset over this thread, so you don't have to defend a system if someone chooses it as their least favourite.

Though since we're doing this, it's worth pointing out that most of the overly hated 3DS games are actually good, but people just repeat what the internet says about them. Sticker Star, New Island, Federation Force, Hey Pikmin, Triforce Heroes, and Chibi Robo Zip Lash are all very fun games. It's just that nobody's actually played them, so people just say they're bad.

Edited December 8, 2022 by PekoponTAS

[RH | 4,967]

I’m going to go with that lol Pickachu console thing.  If you refuse to accept it, then any system before the NES that basically has trash interpretations of Donkey Kong and Mario Bros.

And I am kind of serious.  I feel like it’s hard to say any line up is bad.  I’m least familiar with the full 3DS library but even that seems fine from what I can recall.  I guess one could make a strong argument against the Wii U. It does have a lot of stellar titles but since most of those were re-released or side-released with the Switch, the Switch option is the better pick.

[PekoponTAS | 171]

I feel like some people are already not quite understanding what the thread is about. I'm not asking for a black and white "best" or "worst". I'm asking what your personal "least favourite" is. So a system may have some first party games you like on it, but overall it's still your least favourite compared to the other systems. "Systems" means both handhelds and consoles.

What is your overall least favourite line up is the question. Not which line up is "good" or "bad".

Edited December 8, 2022 by PekoponTAS

[wongojack | 221]

How about the Switch?  Almost all of the 1st party games were already on the Wii U or they are sequels of Wii U games or remakes of even earlier games.  As a guy who doesn't give two sh!+s about Pokemon or Animal crossing, the only really unique game is Super Mario Odyssey. 

[Koopa64 | 51]

1 hour ago, PekoponTAS said:

So uh, is 3DS your choice? Or is that just making a point in favour of the DS? Like I said, there's no need for anyone to get upset over this thread, so you don't have to defend a system if someone chooses it as their least favourite.

Though since we're doing this, it's worth pointing out that most of the overly hated 3DS games are actually good, but people just repeat what the internet says about them. Sticker Star, New Island, Federation Force, Hey Pikmin, Triforce Heroes, and Chibi Robo Zip Lash are all very fun games. It's just that nobody's actually played them, so people just say they're bad.

I had the misfortune of playing Sticker Star, it is absolutely dreadful. It is not only the worst Paper Mario game, but it's one of the worst Nintendo games of the 2010s, which sadly there's many bad ones and even more painfully bland ones, even continuing on the Switch with games like Switch Sports, Mario Strikers Battle League, Super Mario Party and the Mario Golf/Tennis updates.

3DS is my choice for worst 1st party lineup. I was trying to defend the DS.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

This may be considered heresy, but I'm not really a fan of the NES first-party lineup.  Obviously with almost 70 titles there's some great ones in there, but almost half are the black box games, few of which I'd consider being worth more than a cursory play (I'm not really into the late 70s/early 80s arcade games that comprised a good chunk of the black box lineup).  There's only around 10 games I genuinely consider to be above average or higher, and of those around half were developed by other companies.  And of those 10, only maybe 3 or 4 are games I'd play through for fun after beating them once.  So yeah, just not really my cup of tea. 

[DefaultGen | 5,433]

Switch. Nintendo had the opportunity to coast on ports, remakes, and minor updates this generation and they took it. Still plenty of good stuff, but as someone who mostly dabbles in modern stuff to check out NEW Nintendo games, I’m buying like 2 games a year.

Edited December 8, 2022 by DefaultGen

[DefaultGen | 5,433]

Actually GBC is probably worse for the same reason on top of it being one of the worst Nintendo consoles in general. The best games are Link’s Awakening: In Color and Pokemon: But Half the Game is Just Pokemon Red/Blue again (I love both of those games but they’re not exactly totally new).

[Gaia Gensouki | 1,079]

I would say on handhelds it's definitely GBC and on consoles the Wii. Nintendo's GBC games were mostly just ports, some of them even severely downgraded like Super Mario DX or Donkey Kong Country. However, the Zelda games were obviously still good and Pokemon Trading Card game was great, but other than those I don't see much reason to play GBC exclusives.

And the Wii seemed just overall pretty boring to me with a gimmick that I don't particularly like either.

DS and 3DS however are my favorite Nintendo handhelds and I've invested hundreds of hours into the Advance Wars games alone! (Plus around 1400 hours into all sorts of Pokemon games).

As for favorite home console, I would put the SNES there, simply because Nintendo put out a bunch of titles that are still among my favorite games of all time.

[RH | 4,967]

I’m probably going to join the chorus against the GBC.  There was so much good stuff on the GB, the GBC rolled around and felt like a breather for Nintendo.  I don’t know, maybe they put 90% of their efforts back then into the N64 so the GBC was largely neglected.  Other than Link’s Awakening DX, Tetris DX and Super Mario Bros, I can’t think of many first party titles for the GBC.  All three are remakes and two of those were even GB/GBC hybrids.

I know you guys want to knock the Switch for “phoning in” so many games for it by porting Wii U titles to it, but I don’t quite see it as the same as the GBC example.  Whether you love it or not, the Wii U was a flop.  By porting those games to Switch, they improved the graphics and the experience. If I had to choose between the two, I’d take the Switch over the Wii U any day.  If I had to choose between the GB or the GBC, I’d choose the GB line-up because it is better.  Why reject a mostly copy-cat line up if the copies are a better quality? It’s my opinion, but that’s why I’d still pick the Switch.

Edited December 8, 2022 by RH

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

3 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Switch. Nintendo had the opportunity to coast on ports, remakes, and minor updates this generation and they took it. Still plenty of good stuff, but as someone who mostly dabbles in modern stuff to check out NEW Nintendo games, I’m buying like 2 games a year.

Ignoring handheld stuff, this would be my answer as well.

[cj_robot | 546]

4 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

This may be considered heresy, but I'm not really a fan of the NES first-party lineup.  Obviously with almost 70 titles there's some great ones in there, but almost half are the black box games, few of which I'd consider being worth more than a cursory play (I'm not really into the late 70s/early 80s arcade games that comprised a good chunk of the black box lineup).  There's only around 10 games I genuinely consider to be above average or higher, and of those around half were developed by other companies.  And of those 10, only maybe 3 or 4 are games I'd play through for fun after beating them once.  So yeah, just not really my cup of tea. 

Same. Outside of Kirby's Adventure and the Mario games, there's nothing that I really ever want to go back to on the NES.

As for portables, doesn't it just have to be Virtual Boy?

[Reed Rothchild | 9,584]

4 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Switch. Nintendo had the opportunity to coast on ports, remakes, and minor updates this generation and they took it. Still plenty of good stuff, but as someone who mostly dabbles in modern stuff to check out NEW Nintendo games, I’m buying like 2 games a year.

How many Wii, Wii U and Gamecube games were you buying?  Someone with some bandwidth needs to lay out the full offerings for each system.

The NES slate is pretty barren, but I credit a lot of gravitas to the Mario trilogy and the 2 Zelda titles.

[MagusSmurf | 577]

We should also probably define "first party" here. Nintendo has published lots of games in certain regions they didn't have anything to do with the development of, a fair amount of games using Nintendo IP are not actually developed by Nintendo or its subsidiaries, and then there's various developers it works closely with and owns some of the shares for but are technically separate companies.

Assuming we're being fairly inclusive though, I'd probably concur about the DS for similar reasons as the OP. The bulk of the Nintendo IP on that thing are pretty mid and underwhelming. Nintendo on GBC is probably worse overall but between its brief period of relevance and higher average quality it was hard to care; there weren't a lot of good, new Nintendo games on GBC, but if you picked one up it was probably pretty good, barring a couple unfortunate Rare titles. Definitely can't say that about their DS lineup.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,584]

26 minutes ago, MagusSmurf said:

We should also probably define "first party" here. Nintendo has published lots of games in certain regions they didn't have anything to do with the development of, a fair amount of games using Nintendo IP are not actually developed by Nintendo or its subsidiaries, and then there's various developers it works closely with and owns some of the shares for but are technically separate companies.

Assuming we're being fairly inclusive though, I'd probably concur about the DS for similar reasons as the OP. The bulk of the Nintendo IP on that thing are pretty mid and underwhelming. Nintendo on GBC is probably worse overall but between its brief period of relevance and higher average quality it was hard to care; there weren't a lot of good, new Nintendo games on GBC, but if you picked one up it was probably pretty good, barring a couple unfortunate Rare titles. Definitely can't say that about their DS lineup.

Right. What are we calling Eternal Darkness and Astral Chain?  Are we splitting hairs on 1st and 2nd party?

What about Cadence of Hyrule or Mario Rabbids?

 

[doner24 | 1,197]

17 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Super Nintendo. The series entries on the NES were so much better than their 16 bit counterparts. Once the novelty of pretty graphics wore off, I never looked back after seeing they had no soul.

Good lord, nothing you say should ever be taken seriously after this travesty. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,584]

21 minutes ago, doner24 said:

Good lord, nothing you say should ever be taken seriously after this travesty. 

Once he admitted he'd never actually played A Link to the Past, I moved on from "debating" him on the matter. 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

8 hours ago, cj_robot said:

Same. Outside of Kirby's Adventure and the Mario games, there's nothing that I really ever want to go back to on the NES.

As for portables, doesn't it just have to be Virtual Boy?

For me it's the Zelda games, Punch Out, and Final Fantasy that I can enjoy any time.  Kirby was alright, but far too long for what it is, and my dislike of the Mario games is well documented. 

[wongojack | 221]

Does the group consider Tetris to be a first party NES game?  The non-Tengen one of course.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

19 minutes ago, wongojack said:

Does the group consider Tetris to be a first party NES game?  The non-Tengen one of course.

Yeah, and that was one on my shortlist as well...just forgot to mention it.