The Best Nintendo Game of 2025

With the Switch 2 having launched successful June, 2025 marked the opening of a full caller console procreation for Nintendo. The much almighty hybrid console has seen an highly engaged archetypal six months, filled with fantabulous first-party games, astonishing third-party ports, and highly-anticipated indies. And adjacent heavy into its ninth year, the archetypal Switch provided its players with plentifulness to do, too, with the long-overdue arrivals of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles X, and a fewer cross-generation Nintendo games that made it to some Switches.

Nintendo itself published a whopping 16 games successful 2025 – dispersed crossed caller Switch 1 and 2 games and enhanced Switch 2 editions of older games – and on with the higher measurement of third-party enactment brought connected by a caller console, it’s a crowded tract to take the champion of the champion from this year. But ranking things is what we bash astatine IGN, truthful present are the Nintendo Switch games we went bananas for successful 2025, starting with the honorable mentions…

Honorable Mentions

Our unit voted for a wide assortment of games, but not each of them tin marque our shortlist of the apical 5 Nintendo Switch games of the year. They inactive merit a nod, though, and we commencement with Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, a Switch 2 motorboat crippled for the cozy gamers that combines chill enactment RPG systems with beingness sim mechanics. The Pokemon bid wasted nary clip debuting connected Switch 2 with Pokemon Legends: Z-A, a cross-generation merchandise successful the much experimental Legends subseries. It shook up the look by introducing a much action-focused conflict strategy successful an escapade acceptable wholly wrong Lumiose City. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was different beardown introduction successful the Zelda spinoff series, with flashy enactment that remixed Tears of the Kingdom’s abilities successful clever ways. And portion it arrived excessively precocious into the twelvemonth to person been included successful our ballot, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is yet here, 8 years aft it was archetypal teased astatine E3 2017. I reviewed it, and it turned retired great, with highs that rival the champion moments successful the full series. Now, let’s determination connected to our 4 runner-ups…

Runner-Up - Mario Kart World

Mario Kart World had a batch of expectations placed connected it. Its predecessor, Mario Kart 8, established itself arsenic the definitive kart racer implicit the people of the Wii U and Switch years, and it was pugnacious to spot however Nintendo would amended upon it successful a sequel. On apical of that, World was besides the flagship motorboat crippled for Switch 2, meaning it had the work of leaving a beardown archetypal content of the procreation to come. While it feels similar Mario Kart World is inactive surviving successful 8 Deluxe’s shadow, astatine slightest for now, it’s inactive a fantastic crippled successful its ain right. It’s a gorgeous showcase for Nintendo’s caller console with its vibrant, exaggerated creation style, and its choky controls are the astir polished of immoderate introduction successful the series. Plus, its frankly tremendous soundtrack is an implicit dainty for longtime Mario fans, with catchy remixes of tunes drawn from crossed the full franchise, from aged Mario Kart games, to platformers similar Yoshi’s Island.

The implementation of its unfastened satellite is uneven overall, but its miles and miles of interconnected roads let for World’s standout caller mode: Knockout Tour. This tense cross-country contention eliminates the bottommost 4 drivers astatine designated cutoff points, starring to moments wherever you thin guardant successful your spot and property the A fastener adjacent harder successful an effort to volition your kart crossed the decorativeness line. It’s a superb improvement of Mario Kart that volition nary uncertainty beryllium a staple connected household crippled nights for years to come. And we can’t extremity this without shouting retired Cow, the caller playable quality who stole our hearts.

Runner-Up - Kirby Air Riders

Switch 2’s first-party lineup featured a mates of fascinating risks successful its archetypal six months: alternatively of a 3D Mario, we got a 3D Donkey Kong. And alternatively of starting enactment connected a caller Smash Bros., Masahiro Sakurai alternatively directed Kirby Air Riders; a astonishment sequel to a niche GameCube racer that nary 1 saw coming. Air Riders turned retired to beryllium fantastic – Sakurai genuinely gave the Smash Ultimate attraction to Air Ride – and it’s hard to ideate a amended realization of this formula. It’s overflowing with wildly antithetic modes, meaningful unlockables and achievements to chase, and a borderline absurd magnitude of customization. There’s an utmost level of polish and attraction to item passim each pouch of Air Riders that makes the full happening radiance brightly. Its unsocial – and admittedly somewhat constricted – 1 oregon two-button power strategy isn’t going to beryllium for everyone. But if you conscionable Air Riders connected its ain presumption and click with it, you’ll find a cult classical successful the making that’s dissimilar galore different triple-A games retired there.

Runner-Up - Hollow Knight: Silksong

This year, some generations of Nintendo Switch got 2 long-awaited metroidvania sequels that were, successful hindsight, astir apt announced acold excessively early: Metroid Prime 4, and our adjacent runner-up, Hollow Knight: Silksong. While Prime 4 has immoderate disposable scars from its troubled development, Silksong someway managed to get sparkling similar a masterpiece whose artists conscionable didn’t privation to halt adding much to it. As IGN’s reviewer Tom Marks enactment it, “The full satellite whitethorn person been waiting for Hollow Knight: Silksong’s cocoon to yet ace open, but it definite doesn’t look to person been burdened by that pressure. This fantabulous sequel to an all-time large has much than managed to unrecorded up to the precocious expectations I had acceptable for it, lasting arsenic some a astute continuation of the archetypal Hollow Knight and a fantastic crippled of its own.” Silksong whitethorn not beryllium developed by Nintendo, but it feels close astatine location connected Switch 2, due to the fact that of some its evident indebtedness of inspiration to the Metroid franchise, and the information that the archetypal Hollow Knight truly took disconnected aft it was ported to the archetypal Switch successful 2018.

Runner-Up - Hades 2

The archetypal Hades was a runaway occurrence – it adjacent won IGN’s Game of the Year grant successful 2020 – truthful it’s singular that Supergiant Games managed to outdo itself with a sequel. Hades 2 is an unthinkable refinement of the innovative story-driven roguelite blueprint laid retired by its predecessor. As IGN’s reviewer Leana Hafer said, “There is nary 1 retired determination doing what Supergiant does arsenic good arsenic it does, and this exceptional enactment roguelite is immoderate of this team’s champion enactment connected astir each level (which is an astonishingly precocious barroom to clear)... The creation is breathtaking, the characters are captivating, the combat is fast, fun, endlessly varied, and tactical, and the euphony is spectacular.” Just similar the first, Hades 2 launched successful 1.0 arsenic a Nintendo console exclusive (alongside its PC release), giving Switch 1 and 2 players 1 of the year’s precise best. Hades 2 is besides 1 of lone 2 games this twelvemonth to people our highest standing connected IGN: a 10 retired of 10 masterpiece. But the different crippled that scored a 10 besides happens to beryllium a Nintendo game…

Winner - Donkey Kong Bananza

The harmless enactment would person been to merchandise a caller 3D Mario crippled successful the Switch 2’s motorboat window. But Nintendo made a bold determination instead, choosing to bring 1 of its archetypal mascots backmost in-house for the archetypal clip successful 20 years. The effect is Donkey Kong Bananza: an ambitious, masterful 3D platformer that brilliantly redefines 1 of gaming’s oldest characters portion simultaneously paying loving tribute to each epoch of the large ape. DK and Pauline’s travel to the satellite halfway was the Switch 2’s archetypal indispensable adventure, and our staff’s prime for the champion Nintendo crippled of 2025.

Few games consciousness arsenic satisfying to play arsenic Bananza. DK’s moveset is fast, expressive, and powerful, and the mode the meticulously designed breakable satellite is structured astir his destructive toolkit is incredibly impressive. Just ripping a chunk retired of the crushed leads to truthful galore dynamic options: you tin propulsion it, plaything it, treble jump, oregon adjacent surf. Romping astir each elaborate sublevel and hunting for hundreds of well-hidden collectibles arsenic the satellite crumbles earlier you is simply a blast. It’s ever breathtaking to spot what caller twist the adjacent layer’s terrain volition bring, and Bananza’s absorption connected platforming by mode of demolition is simply a wholly caller thought that pushes this genre successful groundbreaking caller directions.

Bananza besides takes wide inspiration from Nintendo greats similar Breath of the Wild successful the mode it approaches subordinate freedom. Not lone tin you teardrop each level down to the studs, Bananza is acceptable for astir immoderate series interruption you propulsion astatine it. Did you skip a layer’s situation wholly by cleverly platforming astir it? Pauline volition remark connected it erstwhile you’re diving to the adjacent area. Nintendo doesn’t halt you from playing however you want, ever allowing for a rewarding magnitude of flexibility, but it’s bold capable to besides fto you cognize the improvement squad thought of each these tricks first.

Donkey Kong has gone done truthful galore phases and stewards: from Shigeru Miyamoto’s legendary arcade original, to Rare’s classical Donkey Kong Country trilogy, to Retro’s fantastic revivals. But with Bananza, Nintendo yet brought Donkey Kong location again and kicked disconnected a marque caller epoch that’s hopefully conscionable getting started. Donkey Kong is Nintendo’s king of 2025.

What was your favourite Nintendo crippled this year? Let america cognize successful the comments! For much IGN awards, cheque retired our prime for the champion Xbox crippled of the year. And for a deeper dive connected Nintendo’s 2025, cheque retired our brace of year-in-review episodes of the Nintendo Voice Chat podcast implicit connected the IGN Games YouTube transmission oregon your favourite podcast app.