The Best Nintendo Game Every Year 1983 - 2024

2010 was a pretty strong year for Nintendo seeing the likes of Donkey Kong Country Returns, the West finally getting Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 arriving which we’re giving silver this year for the sake of variety.

The gold - and every other colour of the rainbow - goes to the joy in video game form that was Kirby’s Epic Yarn, one of the year’s most pleasant surprises. Turning the Kirby series into something totally fresh, it’s funny to look back at Epic Yarn winning Best Graphics awards for the year but it truly deserved it as few games had attempted such a handcrafted feel before.

With the Wii in the home of plenty of families, the game was a no-brainer buy for those with young children but there was still enough flair for people of all ages to enjoy.

It was the attention to detail, and the breadth of that detail, that made Epic Yarn such a wonderful experience. Even though the game presented next to no challenge (players couldn’t die), there was always a reason to keep going. Each new stage presented new gimmicks, transformations or just fun visual ideas that kept the game captivating.