Well fine curl, I'll do it properly. My pick is Majora's Mask, for a few reasons. First, it is the best execution of what it tries to be, no other game has done a time travel Groundhog's Day style game like that, at least that I know of, and certainly not to the level of the 3DS version's execution. Second, what it tried to do was actually a lot more than a Groundhog's Day concept. The Groundhog's Day time travel mechanic was just a narrative mechanic to deliver what the game wanted to give you. The game portrayed really mature themes at a level a child could understand, because it was a game about growing up. It took the player through the stages of grief, taught you that part of growing up is losing people that are important to you. Through the foil of the main villain Skull Kid, it showed what happens to those that can't accept this truth, and also taught that just because people aren't in your life anymore doesn't mean they stopped caring. Link has to learn this to accept the loss of his friend Navi. Through various characters in the main story and sidequests, he has to learn that death and loss are a part of life, and that even the Hero can't save everyone. Once you've conquered every task and gotten every mask, and gone through the stages of grief, you face the final boss. If you didn't get all the masks, and thus haven't learned all the game wants to teach you, you don't get the Fierce Diety Mask, but if you did, you get it, and it basically transforms you into adult Link. Without the mask, the final boss is somewhat difficult. With the mask, you spank the final bosses ass like a misbehaving child, because you've achieved manhood, and the problems of childhood are nothing to you now. At least that's more or less how I see the game. Every Zelda game is a different take on a coming of age story, that's why the original character was based off of Peter Pan. Majora's Mask is the Zelda game that does this coming of age story in the most powerful way possible. Not just better than any other Nintendo game, but better than any game ever, in my view. So in addition to be a fun game that still looks great in the 3DS version and still has a fun concept that has yet to be executed better anywhere, it also is just the most meaningful game I've ever seen Nintendo make.

Mario Galaxy or Wind Waker for me, the reason, they are the 2 Nintendo games I've enjoyed the most.

Punch-Out!! (NES), The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC/Wii/Wii U) and Rhythm Heaven: Megamix (3DS). You could lock me in a cage forever with those three games and I would live happy. Well, at least as happy as you can be while locked inside a cage...

It's like 35 words! tl;dr.

The game Nintendo made that impacted me the most was Ocarina of Time. It's hard to say if it's my favorite game or not, as that can change depending on when you ask. Possible candidates at any given time would be:

Metroid Prime
Mario 64
Ocarina of Time
Link to the Past

Edit: I forgot Melee and Goldeneye (does that count?).

And outside of Nintendo:

Final Fantasy VIII/XII/X/Crystal Chronicles
Resident Evil 4
Dragon Quest IX/XI

I'm bad at remember games, so this is off the dome.

To me, it was Ocarina of Time.
Now it is Breath of the Wild.

Other games that I believe are contenders for best Nintendo game are Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World and Super Metroid.

Edit:

I believe it was Ocarina of time because it was their most successful game critic wise, not only by journalist and press but also by their fans, at least at that time (dunno about the recent fad of hating OoT) and even several years later the game still appears on many best-games lists.

Now Breath of the Wild is replicating OoT reception, both with the press and overall fanbase. On top of that, it is expanding (or at leasts sales point that) the fanbase of the franchise.

The Legend of Zelda (NES)

These are the reasons why it is the best game of all time.

1. Best NES game - Not only is it my favorite NES game (and just my plain favorite game), but it was consistently voted that way throughout the NES era.  Before the internet came around, the common narrative was that Zelda 1 was the best game ever made.  Here are a few quotes from Zelda 1's wikipedia entry: "it was the first NES game to sell over 1 million", "The game placed first in the player's poll "Top 30" in Nintendo Power's first issue and continued to dominate the list into the early 1990s." "The Legend of Zelda was also voted by Nintendo Power readers as the "Best Challenge" in the Nintendo Power Awards '88.  The magazine also listed it as the best Nintendo Entertainment System video game ever created, stating that it was fun despite its age."  "The Legend of Zelda is often featured in lists of games considered the greatest or most influential. It placed first in Game Informer's list of the "Top 100 Games of All Time" and "The Top 200 Games of All Time" (in 2001 and 2009 respectively)...."

2. It Killed Off the Arcades - Throughout the 70's and early 80's it was understood that the arcade games were always superior to the home games.  Super Mario Bros. showed that the home versions could be equally good.  But The Legend of Zelda showed that you could have a game that was better than the arcades.  The action in Zelda 1 was just as intense as any arcade game, but it also had the depth, exploration and character development of a PC RPG.  Because Zelda was better than anything you could play in the arcade, this game, more than any other, contributed to the death of the arcades in North America.  

3. Most Innovative Game - Zelda 1 is arguably the most innovative game ever made.  You have to realize, first of all, that Super Mario 1 was considered an extremely innovative game in it's day.  Think about that.  Just the fact that the screen scrolled in 1 direction and there was music playing and a second button for running and fire -- all of that was extremely new at the time.  However The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros were developed at the exact same time.  Zelda had 4 way directional exploration.  It had dual purpose items that could be used for both combat and to find secrets.  Hell, it had far more secrets than any game that came before.  It was the perfect marriage between arcade action and PC depth.  It was the first console game to actually use a save state.  It was also the first major console game to use anything like hit points.  It was so freakin' innovative, that they included a hint guide with the game.  This is also why you don't start with a sword in Zelda 1.  Miyamoto wanted people to realize that this game was not like anything that had come before.

4. Ages Like Wine - Some old games still are fun decades later and some are not.  Zelda 1 is the only game I've played that was amazing the first time and somehow got better with later replays.  This is because Zelda 1 has so much freedom, while at the same time your choices are extremely important.  For example you can choose the order in which you complete the dungeons.  Also you can choose to do a wooden sword only run or even a swordless run (up until the last boss).  There are a lot of ways to play this game and each one makes the game feel different.  I once chose dungeon 3 first and got the ladder without having the boomerang or bow and arrow.  The game felt totally different.  And yet it made me realize that the ladder is also a combat upgrade.  You can hover over water and attack foes which makes you more powerful in combat.  This leads to my next point.

5. Many Items Have a Dual Purpose - Many items upgrade your combat ability while allowing you to explore the game farther.  I've already mentioned the ladder, but the candle and bomb are two other obvious items.  The items are not just there to unlock the next area like it a lot of other games.  The items almost always make you more powerful.  Zelda 1 is an actual RPG.  You become more powerful as you progress through the game.  Even the items you might think of being about puzzles and secrets upgrade your combat ability too.  This leads us too...

6. Never Been Outdone - Super Mario Bros 3 is clearly better than Super Mario 1, and Final Fantasy 3, 5 and Tactics are clearly better than the first.  For these two franchises the later iterations felt "the same yet better".  Zelda 1, however, has never had a game that was "the same yet better".  Zelda 2 is lacking in exploration.  A Link to the Past is too easy and lacks a lot of the freedom of Zelda 1.  Breath of the Wild actually does have that level of freedom, but neither the dungeons or combat are as good as the original.  And the other 3D Zeldas...instead of making a better game, they simply made a very different kind of game.  It is very common for a sequel to be a "same yet better" game, and yet Zelda 1 has never been bested at its own way of doing things.

7. Second Quest - After completing this amazing and highly polished game, what do you get?  A whole another quest to complete.  You basically get a whole second game.  Today's games will sell you DLC to download.  This is like a major DLC pack that is also free and included on the physical copy of the game.  It is far more generous than anything the modern game industry will offer you.  In fact, Nintendo is not this generous anymore.  Imagine if you'd completed Mario Galaxy 1 and then found you'd unlocked Mario Galaxy 2 and got it for free already included on the disk.  That is what the second quest in Zelda 1 is like.


For all of these reasons and more, The Legend of Zelda (NES) is the greatest game ever made, Nintendo or otherwise.

Pokemon RBY

Or does it not count as a Nintendo game?

It is difficult and easy at the same time:

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time

I think it doesn't require any explanation.

I love how we've got answers ranging all the way from the Switch to the NES, and every console in between.

Zelda, Mario, and Metroid are the clear favourites as far as franchises go, as expected, but still too many popular picks to fit into a poll.