The 5 Hottest Nintendo Games This Holiday Season

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Ho, ho, ho-ly crap, Christmas is right around the corner! And with the holiday season coming to a close, we say goodbye to the nightmare  year that is 2017, which was actually one of the best years for gaming we have ever seen. It sure is a good time to own a gaming PC, or a PS4, or an Xbox One; but forget that noise, it is a great time to own a Switch and a 3DS because Nintendo sure took us on a wild ride this year! (Dare I say it’s cool to be a Nintendo fanboy again?) Our bodies just weren’t ready for the success the Switch saw in such a short time and it is incredible the 3DS is still viable…almost seven years later…so let’s take a look at what our friends, family, Italian plumbers, etc. are hopefully getting us for Christmas this year.

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)

We’re starting off with the OG himself, Mario, who has stolen the spotlight once again with the best Super Mario installment since Super Mario Galaxy 2. He’s not spending too much time in outer space this time around though, but rather flying around on a top hat-shaped airship through various “Kingdoms” such as a desert, a city, and The Land Before Time, chasing after – you guessed it – Bowser who has kidnapped – right you are, again – Princess Peach. Bowser isn’t taking it slow anymore, he’s trying to wife Peach up in this story and you (as Mario) are speaking now and not forever holding your peace because that’s your woman!

The level design in Odyssey takes you back to Super Mario 64 basics with 3D, free-roam worlds and the game-play (think Super Mario Sunshine) is familiar too yet totally refined with the addition of Cappy, your trusty sidekick atop your head whom can be thrown at enemies like Koopas and freakin’ dinosaurs to shadow control them. You also collect Power Moons in additions to coins to purchase additional outfits so you can dress up like a chef or take Mario’s shirt off – in 1080p.

If the ability to play as topless Mario isn’t convincing enough, the game is Nintendo’s fastest-selling Super Mario game ever and it has received near perfect or absolutely perfect reviews by every respectable critic, because it damn well deserves it. Super Mario Odyssey is simply a must-have for every Nintendo Switch owner, and truthfully a sole reason alone to get your hands on a Switch!

Metroid: Samus Returns (Nintendo 3DS)

Let’s slow it down a bit now by bringing up a special lady/bounty hunter who seemed to be forgotten: Samus Aran. Remember Metroid II: Return of Samus? We back to that, but with improved graphics and now you have more controls such as firing at any angle and countering melee attacks. The game also introduces Aeion abilities which allow Samus to do new stuff like scanning the area for hidden items or routes as well as old stuff like Power Bombs.

Samus Returns isn’t so much a remake as it is a “re-imagining” of Metroid II and a solid one at that. Plus, after the garbage that was Metroid Prime: Federation Forces (and Metroid: Other M, to be honest), this installment is essential for Metroid fans. And it won Best Handheld Game at The Game Awards this year so if you’re into platform shooters, or just itching for something new to play on your 3DS, then voilà.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Nintendo Switch)

If you never played or even heard of the Xenoblade Chronicles series, fear not because this JRPG might still be for you! You play as a warrior named Rex who wield a sword that is also alive, her name is Pyra. Y’all are searching for a place called Elysium which can serve as the ultimate paradise for humanity because civilizations are currently living on the backs of a bunch of ginormous beings called Titans – no, not the ones from Attack on Titan (that would be terrifying). Also, although it is technically a sequel, the world is new and so are the characters and the story-line can be understood without having played Xenoblade Chronicles or Xenonblade Chronicles X.

The game plays like your typical open-world, action role-playing game (think Final Fantasy, or Kingdom Hearts even), the graphics are pretty stunning for what the Switch is capable of and the music will slay you, beautifully. It has been well-received by critics too; this is the JRPG to get if you were looking for one on this console, hands down.

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon (Nintendo 3DS)

Here we are again, with another Pokémon. The second installments of the seventh generation of the main series titles Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon are quite similar to its predecessors yet different enough to give you a fresh – or at least fresh enough – experience this time around. The game revolves around Necrozma, who is up to no good thanks to those pesky Ultra Wormholes, and introduces a new group called the Ultra Recon Squad as well as a familiar group called Team Rainbow Rocket. There’s also a few new Pokémon to catch and locations to explore.

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were reviewed positively and are definitely solid purchases if you missed out on Sun and Moon, but seriously who on Earth – Pokémon fan or not – missed out on those!? Therefore, it comes down to how much you love this franchise and how long you want to wait for the next, genuinely new main series title to drop…which, truth be told, is gonna be awhile. Besides, it’s Pokémon; it’s always fun.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch)

We’ll end on a high note here, perhaps the highest of notes Nintendo has ever hit: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I feel like just mentioning this game, which won multiple Game of the Year awards this year, is enough…but I’ll go on, I suppose.

In Breath of the Wild, Link embarks on an adventure like never before after waking up from a hundred-year snooze to the sound of Zelda’s sweet voice to find out Ganon has unleashed evil upon Hyrule once again. However, this isn’t your ordinary Zelda; no sirree, this Zelda features an open-world environment for the first time ever, insanely complicated physics, breath-of the wild taking graphics that push the Switch’s limits, and Zelda talks!

Link’s core mission is to reclaim these gigantic metal animals called Divine Beasts located in each of the four corners of the map and then take on Calamity Ganon in the center Hyrule Castle. You use your Sheikah Slate (the poor man’s Switch) abilities to create bombs, control metal objects, freeze water, stop time AND take pictures – all of which helps you along your adventure…yes, even the camera app. There are also shrines (mini-dungeons) to clear which serve as warp points on the way, and they reward you with Spirit Orbs for upgrading your heart count or stamina limit. However, there are just so many side quests to complete, towers to para-glide off of, areas to explore, special armors to craft, unique weapons to find, meals to cook, friends to make, mini-bosses to pummel and Koroks to play hide and seek with that you will forget a monster like Ganon even exists!

I, and everyone who has played Breath of the Wild, can’t recommend this game enough. It is worth getting a Switch for, even over Odyssey (but, like, why not both?), although if you own a Wii U you should know there is a Wii U version – which I played through myself before getting a Switch and it’s just fine. And, Breath of the Wild recently received two pieces of downloadable content available to purchase, so it’s still relevant…even though it has been all the rage since release. Well, what are you waiting for? Zelda needs you!

Honorable Mention:

Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)

I wanted to give a quick shout out to Splatoon 2 because although it’s quite similar to its predecessor, Splatoon, it is still a solid game. The best parts about Splatoon are present in Splatoon 2 with the addition of a way better single-player campaign. There’s new weapons as well as a new type of weapon, dual-wield pistols, and a new co-op mode.

It basically is just Splatoon on the Switch but if you haven’t played Splatoon, this is a solid purchase as long as you enjoy shooters (think Overwatch I guess) and know what you’re getting into – which is playing multiplayer matches over and over and over with breaks in between to upgrade your weapons and gear. However, it’s the only shooter and one of the better multiplayer experiences on the Switch, for now…

Anyways, as always, let us know which of these games you have played, are playing or might be playing soon! And, Happy Holidays!

P.S. We at PokéJungle sincerely hope you didn’t wait this long to get your Christmas shopping done, but we hope this list gave you a a good idea.

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1,574 thoughts on “The 5 Hottest Nintendo Games This Holiday Season”

  1. Battaby
    ”battle+wallaby”
    Fighting
    Vital Spirit
    “It uses its tail for balance and to appear bigger. Battaby are weak and inexperienced but train very hard every day.”

    Cuttaroo
    ”uppercut+kangaroo”
    Fighting/Electric
    Static/Iron Fist
    “Due to Cuttaroo constantly moving, its fur creates friction and then stores the created electricity. It appears overconfident and cocky, but is a fair fighter.”

    Evolves from Battaby when exposed to a Thunder stone

    Reply

    • Dojoey and Kickaroo

      Normal/Fighting with the ability Lead Feet (Kicking moves deal 30% more damage at the cost of -1 priority)

      Reply

  4. I hope that Metroid finds it’s way on to the Switch. This game I mean. I know it’s that they are using it to sell their Hundredth 2DS model… So it likely won’t .. but still

    Reply

  5. So I’m watching Trollhunters and I’m noticing a lot of HTTYD recycled models namely
    Their hammer models (with the weird abstract spikes)
    Throk’s Axe
    And now even Maces and Talons game board including the pieces

    Reply

  6. Earlier mentioned fakemon expansion if anyone cares to read:

    Name: Snoozit (Snooze meaning a light sleep + hit)
    Classification: The sleeping fist Pokemon
    Type: Psychic/Fighting.
    Ability: Hypnotic Fist – A sleep version of Poison Touch.
    “ A novice in the training of the Martial Arts, born with an urge to learn to fight. Its’ swaying as it attempts to learn new moves often has the unexpected side effect of making others fall asleep”

    Snoozit have white fur covered faces, black furry torsos and either light red or lilac leg fur resembling trousers depending on gender. They are small and their arms and legs are quite stubby. They have short black furry tails, the females is slightly wider but they are really quite stumpy. Their eyes are large and black like smooth shiny coal.

    Name: Sleepight (Sleep tight a saying meaning to sleep well + Fight)
    Classification: The sleeping fist Pokemon
    Type: Psychic/Fighting.
    Ability: Hypnotic Fist – A sleep version of Poison Touch.
    Evolves at level 17
    “This Martial Arts apprentice often excitedly tells others of its’ progress in honing its’ skills, unfortunately its’ garbled speech and excited demonstrations often leave others dozing off into a slumber. They sometimes use their psychic power instinctively to steady themselves when attacking”.

    Larger and with fully formed limbs, the face fur is longer, the beard of the male is more pronounced and the females hair is longer. The male now has a darker brick red fur covering its’ body like a sleeveless karate gi, its’ tail wraps round its’ waist fully and looks exactly like a belt unless unfurled. The female has similar except it’s fur is purple, It has short sleeves and its’ tail ends in a short bow at its’ back. The eyes are semi-closed but shine white when attacking.

    Name: Driftuff (corruption of drift off meaning to fall asleep and tough)
    Classification: The sleeping fist Pokemon
    Type: Psychic/Fighting.
    Ability: Hypnotic Fist – A sleep version of Poison Touch.
    Evolves when knowing Hypnosis at level 44
    Description: “This Pokemon has great natural fighting skills and yearns to teach others, however it has the inane habit of expelling a sleep inducing aura as it does so, leading to it becoming disheartened as others fall asleep during its’ lessons. Their psychic power allows for great precision in their attacks and greater anticipation of their opponents movements.”

    Driftuff has a face covered in long white hair and pronounced long white eyebrows. It has a long beard if male or a natural ponytail if female. Males have dark red fur covering their bodies which resembles an old martial arts masters robes, the females have dark purple fur resembling a kimono, both have black under-shirt like fur. They are probably Baboon size. They have long black tails that act like belts around their waists, the females is wider like a sash with a large bow at its’ back. They are meant to look kind of like old martial arts masters. Eyes appear closed but fully open and glow Crimson for males or Amethyst for females when attacking.

    Reply

  7. Really looking forward to seeing Poipole doing some stuff in the anime. It’s such a great Pokemon. Will also be very interesting to see how they handle the rest of the UBs. It’s clear that if they’re doing USUM content in the anime that the movies will never feature them. So it should be fun

    Reply

  8. This is what I’d like the character roster to be in Mario Kart S (for Switch)

    Mario
    Luigi
    Peach
    Daisy
    Toad
    Rosalina
    Waluigi
    Wario
    Donkey Kong
    Diddy Kong
    Grampa Kong (new)
    Dotty Kong (new)
    Koopalings (all make up one box, can choose within box for which one)
    Broodals (new)
    Yoshi
    Birdo
    Toadette
    Brown Headed Beard Toad (forgot this guys name) (new)
    Metals (a slot for Metal Mario, Pink Gold Peach, Baby Metal Mario, Baby Pink Gold Peach, and Ultra Silver Luigi)
    Link (new) (different outfits; first game, OoT, MM, SS, BOTW)
    Zelda (new) (different outfits; first game, OoT, MM, SS, BOTW)
    Ganon (new) (different forms; pig, human, Calamity)
    The King (new) (different versions; OoT, MM, SS, BOTW)
    Monk Maz Koshia
    Bokoblin
    Guardian Stalker
    Urbosa
    Mipha
    Daruk
    Revali
    Cappy
    Tiara
    Pauline
    Madame Broodal
    Pikachu
    Listen line (Litten, Torracat, Incineroar)
    Popplio line (Popplio, Brionne, Primarina)
    Rowlet line (Rowlet, emo Rowlet, Decidueye)
    Solgaleo
    Lunala
    Diancie
    Isabella
    Villager
    K.K Slider

    Reply

    • Glad to see this lol. I was actually revisiting a lot of songs I haven’t heard for a while, and I remembered Handlebars. Such a great song!

      Reply

  14. After extensive playing, I’ve concluded that mantine surf and ultra wormhole riding simply are not fun. Getting gangbanged by sharpedo while descending and not absorbing space orbs when you literally pass right through them is annoying and ruin these minigames

    Reply

  15. I remember when people were speculating how different or serious USUM would be based on the artwork. Oh, how wrong those people would be…

    Reply

  17. Guys I discovered something today. Torracat should never not have Leech Life

    It was getting beaten left and right in 1-2 hits, until I added now everything it touches get demolished. Also gave Minty, Smart Strike to widen its move pool

    Reply

  20. For any other artist on this site, have you ever started drawing but realized you wanted to do more than that and add some meaning to it? Like, not in that ” art must have a deeper meaning!” type of way that many pretentious artists spew but more of, “I’d like to make something that is meaningful.” I feel like I’m like that when I draw. It’s not that I don’t want to create something, I just want to make something that is enjoyable.

    Reply

      • I can see that honestly. Lately, I’ve been doing what I feel “makes” a character enjoyable to me and then adding “meaning” to them later with their personality. I guess it depends on which you want to do first.

        Reply

  25. Preview of something I’m working on

    Combo Name: Terra Hammer
    Combo Moves: Rock Wrecker/Hammer Arm
    Type: Rock/Fighting
    Description: As Rhyperior charges up a gigantic Rock Wrecker, it uses Hammer Arm to slam it down straight onto the foe. The debris can form rocks on the battlefield, to Rhyperior’s advantage.
    Effects: Add rocks to the battlefield, extremely traumatic damage to the foe, but leaves Rhyperior immobile for a short time.

    Combo Name: Seismic Slammer
    Combo Moves: Earthquake/Hammer Arm
    Type: Ground/Fighting
    Description: Rhyperior uses Hammer Arm to launch into the air, and as it comes back down it readies Earthquake to simultaneously strike the earth with Hammer Arm. This causes Earthquake to violently chuck up earth, and is devastating if Rhyperior directly makes contact with the opponent.
    Effects: Slows Rhyperior down but not the same extent as Terra Hammer, can destroy field hazards and terrains.

    Combo Name: Arockalypse
    Combo Moves: Rock Wrecker/Earthquake
    Type: Rock/Ground
    Description: Rhyperior embeds Rock Wrecker into the earth as it charges up to a massive size. Rhyperior will be on top of the rock if it charges, and will actively attempt to pin its opponent under the rock. Then, Rhyperior piledrives the rock and crushes it, causing a severe earthquake that sends out a storm of stony shards. Although amazingly powerful, it is risky as the debris can be very inaccurate if the opponent isn’t pinned. Rhyperior is left in an extremely vulnerable position and is also quite tired after using it.
    Effects: Completely razes the battlefield. It has the field reset aspect of Seismic Slammer and the rocky field aspect of Terra Hammer, but is weaker in both aspects than either. The residual stones are smaller than Terra Hammer’s, and the field cleanse isn’t as precise and may leave lingering effects.

    Reply

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