Spinoffs are something we adore even when things go terribly wrong. Yes, Mario has had plenty of bad spinoffs includingMario is Missing, but that did not diminish the brand at all. They are footnotes in Mario’s and Nintendo’s overall history. That doesn’t mean we can’t laugh at it and other examples though.
So how did this past decade do forNintendomade spinoffs? We will look at games that launched between this year and 2010, ranking them from the best of the bunch to the very bottom of the barrel. To keep it more diverse we only included one game per franchise. It should not surprise anyone to find a lot of a certain genre on here. What could that be? Read on to find out.
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10Hey Pikmin (69)
Pikminhas never been a huge money maker for Nintendo, but its dedicated fans have helped keep the franchise alive. Rather than double down on them Nintendo tried to turn the franchise into a Mario clone withHey Pikmin. The combination of platforming and puzzle solving isn’t terrible, but the formula is definitely missing something. The biggest issue is the screen allocation. Keeping track of what’s on top and what’s on the bottom screen can be taxing.
9Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (66)
This is without a doubt the worstKingdom Heartsto date. Coded was originally a mobile game in Japan until it got reworked for the DS. We’re talking about a flip phone game.
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Anyway it’s yet another rehash of the original game except without any good new story bits like inChain of Memories. It looks ugly, sounds ugly, and is a chore to play on DS. Every main and spinoff game is cannon, but skipping this won’t ruin any story for those wanting to become a completionist.
8Metroid Prime: Federation Force (64)
After the disappointing release ofMetroid: Other Min 2010, fans had been begging Nintendo for another entry for years. Their cries were eventually met in 2016 withFederation Forceaka not exactly what fans had in mind.
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It’s a better co-op game to be sure as it was designed around that mechanic. However, even with a friend, or two it doesn’t help make it feel like a generic clone with theMetroidname slapped on the box.
7Game And Wario (61)
Wario is often overlooked as the star he is. His platformers are weird, experimental side stories to Mario’s adventures and they’re all great. On top of that his mini game collections in theWarioWarefranchises, which this game is in, are often hard to put down. There are some good mini games in here, but likeFederation Force, it felt like a rushed job with the idea of Wario swapped in at the last minute. Actually that is exactly what happened as this game started out as a series of tech demos to demonstrate the Wii U’s functionalities.
6Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (55)
The low score forMario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Gamesshould not surprise anyone. Yes, this can be fun in party situations, but it has diminishing returns and isn’t even as robust as Mario Party. That’s saying something since that series is often docked for the same thing. Thankfully Nintendo and Sega have learned their lesson with this year’s new Olympic tie-in being the last. Hopefully now we can get a proper Mario and Sonic crossover.
5Kirby Battle Royale (57)
Don’t let that name be misleading. No, this is not theFortniteof the Kirby franchise. It’s more like an arena brawler with a rather small limited set of players. As a free game it was fine to mess around with for a few hours, but it certainly didn’t have any staying power. Now a real battlefield filled with a hundred Kirby heroes sounds like a blast. Make this a priority Nintendo.
4Rabbids Land (52)
Oh look, another bad mini game collection. This should not surprise anyone. To save ourselves from repeating too much, this is an annoying complication without much thought put into it. With friends it can be entertaining, but it lacks the meat of similar games likeMario Partyas we mentioned earlier. It’s actually more fun for kids. They eat those Rabbids up like they were the funniest thing ever invented. Don’t have kids? Well, trust us on this one. The Rabbids are the Minions of video games.
3Chibi-Robo Photo Finder (49)
Chibi-Robois a super niche franchise, likePikmin, wherein Nintendo will decide to revive the titular character out of the blue. The original game was charming for a puzzle platformer starring a toy robot that cleans up after his masters. This has a similar mechanic, but one on a smaller scale. It feels like it would have been better suited as a free to play phone game. Then the photo gimmick would have made more sense.
2Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (46)
Since it began in 2001 for the N64 Japanese audience,Animal Crossinggraced almost every system after that. It skipped the Game Boy Advance, but then moved onto the GameCube and then the DS, Wii, and 3DS. AfterNew Leaflaunched in 2012 on 3DS, fans were wondering when the series would come to the Wii U. Then at long lastAnimal Crossing: Amiibo Festivalwas announced in 2015. Unfortunately it was a party game spinoff and one that was incredibly hated by both critics and fans. Way to read the room Nintendo.
1Pac-Man Party 3D (43)
Last and certainly least, we havePac-Man Party 3D. Guess what? It’s another party game. Yeah we really don’t need to say much. Be it in a party scenario, or a platformer, none of Pac-Man’s spinoffs were any good. He has and always will be a champion of the arcade scene though. Bandai Namco should make more games that build off of the original. We will all be happier for it. This is all to say avoid this game at all costs.
NEXT:10 Games to Play on Switch for 2019
