It’s that magical time of year again. May 2023 has come round rather fast and while we eagerly await the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, May is special to us for another reason as well. Having founded Miketendo64 in May 2015, this year marks our humble little site’s eighth anniversary and as you might expect, we’re feeling rather nostalgic.
So nostalgic, in fact, that the original Miketendo64 bros. and founders of our outlet, have reflected on their three most favourite Nintendo published games of each year the site has been running. So, strap yourselves in for here are our three best Nintendo games of 2017:
M64 Retrospective | Our 3 Best Nintendo Games of 2017:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Wii U | Nintendo Switch)
Jack: There are many reasons to love The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but for me, the one that stands out the most, is what the game represents. It’s more than just a celebration of all things The Legend of Zelda, bur conclusive proof as to what the Nintendo Wii U was capable of.
Many were too quick to dismiss the Wii U, deeming it a failure and a console incapable of running large-scale games, but then along came Nintendo. Having developed this game with the Wii U in mind, Breath of the Wild was the perfect showcase of demonstrating just how powerful the Wii U actually was and the fact that Breath of the Wild went on to achievement many accomplishments and best game of the year awards, were the icing on top of a glorious cake.
You can hate the Wii U as much as you want, but even though Breath of the Wild was a launch title for the Nintendo Switch, the simple truth is it was a Wii U game and what a game it was to go out on as Nintendo made it the last game, they released on the Nintendo Wii U.
Mike: Ah, yes. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I owe a lot to this game personally. Not because it is one of my favorite Zelda titles (behind Ocarina of Time, of course), but because it was actually this game that inspired me to start up Miketendo64 in the first place. Before we got the title of the game and it was simply referred to as Zelda U, it was my relentless scouring of the internet, searching for any information about the game that led me to create my own blog with the intention of sharing what I found in a single place so any likeminded individuals would save themselves the time of searching and find it all in one place. Hence, Miketendo64 was born.
As for the game itself, I actually played this on the Wii U first as I wasn’t in a financial position to buy myself the game on Switch and the console itself. I had already made sure Jack could get a Switch and review the game himself so I went for the Wii U version which I still own. I did eventually get a Switch and the Switch version of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and I am glad that I got to play the game on both systems. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it on Wii U and on Switch and now I can’t wait to play Tears of the Kingdom when that releases a little later this month.
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)
Jack: Being a Nintendo site, of course, Mario would be popping up at some point during our best of picks, but in all fairness to Super Mario Odyssey, it is just an all-out impressive game. It’s quite possibly one of Mario’s biggest and greatest adventures yet and everything about it has been very well made.
The segments where Mario jumps from 3D to 2D gameplay with 3D backgrounds, is something that still resonates with me now and there is no forgetting that New Donk City scene. It gives me chills every time I play it and it was ever so nice of Nintendo to give Pauline the glow-up that she deserved, so much so to the point that she’s made appearances in the likes of Mario Tennis Aces and Mario Strikers: Battle League.
Mike: Wahoo! Super Mario Odyssey was simply put, one of the best Super Mario games I have ever played. The kingdoms, the characters, the outfits! Being able to revisit Peach’s Castle and the homages to Super Mario 64 (and the outfit to boot!), what more could a Mario fan ask for.
Another reason why I hold this game so dear was that it was the very first game that we received from Nintendo directly. Miketendo64 had been running for a couple of years and while were had a reputable standing with indie developers at the time, the Big AAA companies were still a little out of our reach. That was until Nintendo UK finally took notice of us and added us to the press list and sent us a physical copy of Super Mario Odyssey!
We are forever grateful to Rhea and the team of Pretty Green, who handled Nintendo’s PR in the UK, for giving us a chance and some credibility. They saw that we weren’t just a couple of chancers with a blog hoping to score some free games but were actually a trustworthy site that published content frequently, and would deliver reviews on the games we were given.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Nintendo Switch)
Jack: Considering the fact that I wasn’t initially hooked on Xenoblade Chronicles 2 when it was first announced, I ended up falling in love with it the more I learned about it and the second I started playing it, I was hooked. So much so that my Xenoblade Chronicles 2 addiction saw me play it nonstop until the end of 2017 and then carried me through most of 2018.
It is one of my most beloved RPGs of all time and was the game that made me hooked on all things Xenoblade .Plus, you know, the expansion pass was epic, especially Torna and it’s just surreal to see how well this game took off and set the stage for more instalments and added content to come, which includes Rex’s return in Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed.
Mike: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was not the first Xenoblade Chronicles game I played (that would be Xenoblade Chronicles X) but it was the first one that cemented by love for the series. I never played the first game in the series and while I did enjoy Xenoblade Chronicles X, XC2 just had something special with a truly great story and deep characters.
There was a point during the game where I had to focus on other projects and games (reviewing games is great but it can take you away from casually enjoying them at your own leisure. Especially if it is a game that you are not vibing with and would sooner play a game you do enjoy.
I got back into Xenoblade Chronicles 2 a good couple of years later when I finally had time to get back into it and I am glad I did as it is truly one of those games that you have to play in your lifetime at least once. If you are an RPG fan, you will certainly love and respect this game.
We would like to take this moment to thank all of you who have shared in our journey for the last eight years. It’s been a hell of a ride and if you’d like to know what other games made our best of list, we hope you’ll check out our other instalments of this mini-series.
Until next time, keep on gaming.
