Think I need to nominate Super Mario Galaxy.
There are other Nintendo games I like more. There are other Mario games I like more. There is even another Mario Galaxy game I like more. But the first Mario Galaxy is a game that impressed me in such a way that it sparked a new joy for games into a (at that time) young adult.
The platform genre took a step in realizing the true potential of 3D platforming jumping from every angle of floating platforms.
The music is fantastic and for the first time Nintendo used a symphony orchestra for the soundtrack, bringing out the best sounding game music in a Nintendo game up until that point.
The game looked absolutely fantastic even if it get a dated look on modern high res monitors. The vibrant colors and space setting make the game pop with joy like nothing else on the comparably week Wii.
Most games I focus on clearing the objective, finish the quest, get the next level and so on. Some sandbox games other things to do take up my time. But Super Mario Galaxy is the only game I get my gaming fix by just running and jumping around. The basic movements of Mario in the Galaxy games is such a bliss to control that all else feels like extra. And that there is so much extra, even a compelling bit of story (in a Mario game?) elevates it to the best game Nintendo has ever developed.
