We've had some threads talking about great and low years for Nintendo, but this one will only be focused from 2000-2024 (as 2025 has only started about 3 months ago). If enough like this idea, me or someone else can eventually make a thread from the 1980s through 1999.

Criteria

-Financials are irrelevant. April 2013-March 2014 (a fiscal year) was one of Nintendo's worst years ever but that doesn't inherently mean you need to put 2013 as one of Nintendo's worst years.

-No fiscal years are included (see previous rules). A calendar year is what matters here. 

-A release of a game or hardware can be included in multiple years. For instance, if you were to say 2012 and 2013 were good or bad years, you would acknowledge Japanese releases of Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing, and that they released in 2013 in other regions.

-Software and hardware matter here. No movies, theme park lands, etc. 

What are the five best years and the five worst? And why?

I had to do some Googling for this

Some of my favorites:

2017 - Nintendo came out swinging with the Switch: Super Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, and my pick for the best game ever, Breath of the Wild

2013 - When you combine WiiU and 3DS, it’s stacked: Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, A Link Between Worlds, Fire Emblem Awakening, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, etc.

2003 - A sneaky good year: The Wind Waker, SoulCalibur II, Double Dash!!, The Sands of Time, Beyond Good & Evil, Aria of Sorrow, Superstar Saga, Fire Emblem, etc.


The weakest years were at the tail end of Wii and WiiU: 2012 and 2016 in particular. The software pipeline really dried up. Although 2012 gave North America arguably the best game of the generation, Xenoblade Chronicles, so it wasn’t all that bad.

Best is tricky.

2010 and 2022 are tied for the most games I've ever bought for a single system in a single year; (on Wii/Switch respectively) I was practically snowed under with great stuff to play and it was awesome. 2017 and 2023 also deserve a mention for packing in a ton of top tier first party content.

Weakest has gotta go to 2016, the Wii U's final year was embarrassing.

Best Years
1. 2017: We've discussed this on many threads, and I have in posts as well. Nintendo's 2017 was goated. In a little under 10 months Switch got a staggering line-up including
Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Stardew Valley, Skyrim, Xenoblade Chronicles, etc. Wii U still got Breath of the Wild as promised and 3DS still had some support.
2. 2019: After a quieter 2018 (particularly pre-Autumn), 2019 brought back a lot of the energy of 2019 on Switch. Super Mario Maker 2, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Luigi's Mansion 3, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC, Dragon Quest Builders 2, and so on.
3. 2013: This year was carried almost entirely by 3DS. Super Mario 3D World is great and all, but Wii U had some brutal droughts this year, especially before Pikmin 3 launched. Two of my favorite games ever got their international releases this year: FE: Awakening and Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Round it out with A Link Between Worlds and some other releases on 3DS and it's still a strong year.
4. 2001: The debut of GBA and GameCube which started strong as well as some late titles for N64 (such as international releases of Paper Mario and Mario Party 3 and the Japan-only debut of Animal Crossing) and GBC.
5. 2005: Nintendogs, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Mario Kart DS, the Japanese release of Chibi-Robo, and some others.
Honorable mentions: 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2023
Worst Years
1. 2016: Wii U still got a little support this year, but more muted in terms of first-party and almost no third-party that wasn't eh or shovelware. Pokemon was pretty much the main offering here with mainline titles on 3DS, Pokemon Go on mobile, and Pokken Tournament on Wii U.
2. 2012: A quieter year for 3DS in terms of international releases, a not great start for Wii U, and not much on DS or Wii.
3. 2015: Lows that I avoided like Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, Mario Party: Ultra Smash and the like. This year is saved from the top several spots due to Super Mario Maker and Splatoon to name a few.
4. 2011: The Wii was dying quite fast despite some support, DS was replaced, and 3DS screwed up its launch in many ways. I love Ocarina of Time 3D, Super Mario 3D Land, and Mario Kart 7. I love 3DS as a platform as well. But Nintendo screwed up a lot this year.
5. 2021: Though COVID-19 was felt in 2020, I feel like it was as strongly felt if not more severely here. Nintendo did still release a steady number of first-party titles just really very little I cared about. And almost no third-party games this year stuck out to me either.
Dishonorable mentions: 2004, 2018, 2020

2021 I actually thought was quite strong, though of course that's a matter of subjective taste.

That year I enjoyed Metroid Dread, Monster Hunter Rise, Crash 4, Dusk, Dying Light, Strange Brigade, Death's Door, World War Z, No More Heroes 3, Bowser's Fury, Cruisn' Blast, and the expansions for The Outer Worlds.

2001-2004, 2014, 2017, 2023. These are peaks Nintendo years.

Pretty identical to my list of the best.

2004 was a bit more of a sleeper for me since DS didn't start out strong and there wasn't a ton on GBA or even GameCube I was really into.

Still GameCube had some quality games like Paper Mario TTYD (Goated), Spider-Man 2, Mario Power Tennis, and Mario Party 6. 

The latter years of the Gamecube were pretty dismal, with just a few rays of light amidst the gloom like Prime 2 in 2004, RE4 in 2005, and the Wii arriving to save the day in 2006.

2004? Gloom? You’re talking about the year with TTYD, Pikmin 2, Metroid Prime 2, MP6, and DS, no? That’s like…one of Nintendo’s greatest years ever!

DS didn't exactly get off to a flying start, and Gamecube's flow of software was slowing down. Wasn't a fan of Paper Mario or Pikmin 2 personally. Prime 2 was brilliant though.