Inspired by Alex's Final Fantasy thread, which Nintendo games do you most feel are better than their ratings/reputation suggest, and what about them do you think makes them good?

All of their NES games. Yes, I know. They're classics. People respect them. But polling always has SNES versions above them... which I can understand from a certain point of view. After all, they're basically NES games with more polish. But those NES games, they invented the wheel, they didn't refine it. To be able to do what Nintendo did during that era, to dream all of those franchises up, and to do so at such a level as to still have sequels to them selling in the millions today? Simply unreal.

Luigi's Mansion (GameCube). I know it has a lot of fans, but I feel like there's still quite some people who consider it a bad game, and I had a lot of fun with it.

I would say Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii, but it's a fantastic game, and I only see Melee fanboys dumping it.

Kirby Air Rider (GameCube). The City Trial mode is so fun it has infinite replayability. The multiplayer makes it even better.

Kirby's Ghost Trap ('Kirby's Avalanche' in America). This game is super fun & addictive.

Warioware Inc (GameCube). Best Warioware, perfect multiplayer game

Super Mario Bros 2. Am I the only one who likes this more than the first Mario Bros? One of My favourite Mario games of all time. The Super Mario All-Stars version is the one I'm thinking of.

Space Station: Silicon Valley (I know it's made by DMA Design (now known as Rockstar) and not Nintendo but it's extremely Rare/Nintendo-ish). It's a 3D platformer with open levels which encourages the player to explore like all Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie, Donkey Kong 64 & Conker's Bad Fur Day.

Great game; my parents bought this one for me and my brother when I was 9, setting up complex chain reactions and watching them go off in a cascade of effects was so satisfying.

Yoshi's Story

Some people misunderstand this game. They treat it like it's Yoshi's Island, like it's an A to B platformer, and it's not. They go through the levels, eating whatever fruit they see, and before they know it, they've breezed through six stages and the game is over in no time at all.

It's a game about getting the highest score possible, and it has more depth, and is far more difficult, if you play it properly. You go through it (at least) four times to unlock every level. This allows you to play each level as many times as you want in practice mode, find out the secrets, where all the watermelons are, where the hidden coins are, how to exploit the enemies (e.g. change colour of Shy Guys), all to get as many points as possible. You can then plan your best route through the game, and put it into practice to get that high score.

Fair enough if you don't like the game, how it handles, the aesthetic, music etc. Just don't say it's too easy. Getting 30 watermelons on every level is pretty tough. You wouldn't say you'd completed a Mario Kart game just because you'd done the first cup on the easiest difficulty would you? That's what it's like when you say Yoshi's Story is too easy and can be completed in 30 minutes or whatever.

I'm one of the people who played this game wrong then. Treated the points in the game the same way as I did in Mario games, never looked at them. 

Yoshi Touch and Go, now there was a game that I understood that collecting score was the point. But that game is built around arcade-like playstyle and there is no real ending or way to archive victory. But Yoshi's story have "Story" in its name, so I do not think it markets that getting the highest score is the best way to experience the game.

Now I haven't played this game for about 15+ years, but I remember liking Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team more than the 67 it got on Meta suggests.

Federation Force, for one. It’s not what fans wanted, but it’s a solid squad-based shooter.

Star Fox Zero. I get that the control scheme is alienating, but I’m one of the lucky ones that clicked with it.

Excite Truck. The presentation isn’t great, but I love its no-frills arcade sensibilities.

Yoshi’s Island DS. I love this one. The addition of multiple playable babies helps elevate the adventure. I’d call it the second best Yoshi game, after the original Yoshi’s Island.

Super Mario Sunshine is criminally underrated IMO. It has always sat as one of my favorite 3D Mario games, yet so many label it as the “black sheep”. To me, it’s everything Mario 64 was but polished up on newer technology.

Also Kirby Star Allies, Mario Tennis Aces, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom are three that immediately come to mind.