Game of the Year: Nintendo Life Readers' Awards 2013

Wow, I guess I was wrong. The Readers picks were slightly better than the staff picks. Is This Real Life?

What... no Layton? >:[
Lack of Animal Crossing is surprising, but I guess there were a lot of good games!

I'm more surprised Pokemon wasn't higher. I guess the newbs who joined up just to talk about their mons didn't want to go through all the effort of voting.

Bravely default won but isnt even out in NA yet? Wow it must be good...

I just got a Wii U for Christmas and have been playing the crap out of it. Pikmin 3 is by far my favorite game for 1 player, but 3D World is the best multiplayer game I think I've ever played. I can see why it won!

There were so many great 3DS games out this year. I can't wait for Bravely Default to come out in the US so I can see what all this commotion is about

Now THIS, is a list!

2013 was definitely a great year in games overall. Now, let's just see how 2014 holds up.

What, no Animal Crossing? That's just wrong.

Strange that the best first party Wii U games and the best overall Wii U games were the same games, but in a different order. How can I go about my day not knowing definitively whether people like Pikmin 3 or Windwaker HD more? It's a nightmare!

Good list though.

I probably would have voted for Bravely Default as 3DS third-Party game of the year, but it's not out in the US yet, so I haven't played. My vote was for Etrian Odyssey IV, but Shin Megami Tensei IV was a close second. Man, such a good year to be a Nintendo fan, even with Nintendo's financial woes!

I knew Super Mario 3D World would win. Or maybe Animal Crossing : New Leaf had towns invaded by yellow, green, pink, and blue cats. The cats wanted 3D World to win so the mayors were held hostage until they voted for 3D World.

The End.

I've got to say that this year has been a fantastic one for handhelds and my 3DS has had so much use largely down to Pokemon, Bravely Default, Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion and Animal Crossing. Happy new year everyone

Beyond the lack of Animal Crossing (which despite the countless amazing 3DS that came this year that is my favorite game of 2013) I am pleased with this list. Still haven't got Earthbound....I think I might being doing that shortly!!!!!!!!

Good picks and yes Bravely Default is a surprise. Can't wait for that demo!

The lack of Animal Crossing makes me a little sad. :,(

But a fine list, nonetheless.

I have to say i liked Pokemon but it just was not my favorite when comparing to older games i felt is should have been lower

Nice list!
All of my picks are on the list somewhere, hahaha!

The fact that a wii u game came out as the winner in a 3DS era proves that Mario is still the king of video games and that it is one hell of a game

No Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon? Now that's just wrong.

Awesome list! NSLU & Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies? Yay! All the rest of the votes are awesome too, go go WW HD!

This list also lacks The Wonderful 101. So this seems to prove the point. We are a vocal minority.

So DLC classifies as a game if it has a physical release?

I can't deny that A Link Between Worlds is very fun but still doesn't top Pokemon for me. Oh well great picks regardless.

Very good results. 2013 was a great gaming year and a great year for the 3DS so here's to 2014 where the Wii U will hopefully continue its comeback and charge into victory.

The only category that really surprises me is Wii U eShop Game of the Year. No love from the community for Runner 2? I would also say the absence of W101, but based on sale numbers very few people have played it.

@Mikky Dark Moon seems to be a favorite for many, but I just couldn't enjoy it. The animations are fantastic and it does a great job of making Luigi a likable character, but I found the game itself to be incredibly boring. I also don't like that it constantly interrupts you and seperates the game into levels. Just let me explore and figure things out on my own, something Nintendo got right this year with ALBW.

Not a fan of the lack of Wonderful 101, but I'm at least happy Bravely Default got the recognition it deserves.

There was such a glut of fantastic 3DS games that I'm surprised there were any clear winners at all. But glad to see Fire Emblem in the top three!

Wii U had a much more focused field when it came to good games, but seeing DuckTales in the top three makes me very happy. And at the price it's going for right now, the soundtrack ALONE is worth the price of admission.

Edit: Great choice on the 3DS eShop game of the year, guys! Phoenix had me literally laughing out loud more times than I could count!

Super Mario 3D World and Zelda ALBW winning the most important categories like a boss! Ah, those Nintendo haters can say whatever they want, but this year was nice for Wii U in terms of quality games, at least. It has the highest critically rated Next-Gen game right now and with obvious reasons, it is the best Mario I've played since Super Mario Galaxy in 2007.

I'm super excited for Wii U in 2014, is going to have some epic titles such as Bayo 2, and X and big system sellers such as Smash and MK8. Plus, all the unannounced stuff that would be revealed in future Nintendo Directs and the announcement of the brand new Zelda at E3. Forget Halo 5 on Xbone (and... what else? there's nothing else on that damn console to be kinda excited about!), forget Uncharted on PS4... ZELDA on Wii U is the real big thing to be excited this 2014!!

Obviously....
But wait! No Animal Crossing? Awww...

Glad The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker made it up there. Just started playing yesterday, and I've gotta say it's pretty cool. Never played a TLOZ game.

Animal Crossing was robbed by the RPG nerds. I know so many people who bought 2 or more 3DSes just for AC. But the big winner is....everyone! Happy New Year Nintendolifers!

@Noonch I've never played an Animal Crossing game. What's the deal, why would you want more than one 3DS?

@Falchion I agree. I haven't heard much about Bravely Default yet except that it is supposed to be a very good RPG and that it's supposed to be the last of Square's "gibberish title" games.

where is animal crossing?!

No W101

Well was a year with great games in both consoles.

Wow, Bravely Default won in it's category! Great... now the game needs only decent sale numbers. It would be great if both US and EU would surpass Japan (around 400 000 units).

@Nareva
The hardcore AC people buy two so they can trade with themselves and acquire more goods. I never played one before New Leaf but it hooked me. It's addictive. Perfect pick up and play. I've got over 1200 hours in now...it's a little sad.

Great picks ! Now people that hate nintendo & say they don't have any games look above haha
Nintendo for the win
It's so funny all these next ten consoles came out and none of them have any good games and mario comes along in a cat suit and beats them all

@Noonch Wow, that's 50 days! You certainly got your money's worth. I've been considering it for a while now. I might pick it up in the next few months.

@Nareva If you do, look me up

Nooch: 1200 hours in Animal Crossing??? Is that even possible...? You should had to play it every single day for almost 6 hours since day one...

I didn't even play AC:NL for 200 hours... D:
I got sidetracked by all these other games!

All in all, Nintendolife members have some pretty decent taste, I must say!

Wonderful 101 was a superb game, but I can understand it's absence given how great Super Mario 3D World, Zelda Windwaker HD and Pikmin 3 are.

However, I still feel Wii Sports Club was the eShop's Game of the Year. I mean, Wii Sports was already such a solid foundation. And this new entry really perfects the formula. You haven't played real golf until you've played Wii Sports Club! Tiger who?

Also, glad to see Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate place in the rankings. Everyone who owns the game probably voted for it, like I did. Problem is, too few people own the game. Idk why so many gamers ignore that title... it's one of those age-old questions we'll never have the answer to.

The readers had a better list!
I must be dreaming... I only have minor nitpicks here. Solid list all around. It's also nice to see such a niche game like Fire Emblem get so much community praise. 3rd place for overall game of the year isn't too shabby when you have the insanely recognizable Zelda and Mario ahead of it.

@El_Scorpio Got game on Jun 23rd. Many 12+ hour days in game.

@sinalefa
It's sort of a grey area, ya know? New Super Luigi U could have just retailed for half price and never been sold as DLC, and it would have been accepted as a retail release. Likewise, it could have only been sold on eShop for NSMBU owners and it would have been accepted as DLC.

It's kind of both. It is DLC, but it was also a physical release. So I guess it could be categorized into either group really. I mean, it did have a physical release, even though it's officially referred to as DLC

No Animal Crossing? BLEH

Did they ever say when link to the past was coming to the eshop in america?

Its not a bad list but I still can't believe A Link Between Worlds won.

2014-

Wii U game of the year: Super Smash Brothers 4
3DS game of the year: Super Smash Brothers 4
Overall game of the year: Super Smash Brothers 4
😆😆👏👏👏

My hype for Bravely Default is growing when it wins without having its release in NA yet. Two more days until the demo, will be stalking the eShop Thursday morning.

3DS game of the year for me is Fire Emblem: Awakening. I keep going back to it, I'm in love with (female) Morgan and she makes me more sure I'll never be a father because I know I'll never have a daughter as perfect as she is.

Second is Etrian Odyssey IV, best discovery I somehow missed from the DS days, and third is Monster Hunter 3U. I did get a bit worn out on MH3U after a while but my activity log tells no lies, it still was one of the best.

A lot of variety and big names this time around. It seems like most of my picks won; that's definitely a surprise. Sorry Animal Crossing fans, but I think it's only fair that Pokémon got some recognition this time; AC was already recognized in the staff votes (and at a higher position than Pokémon in these votes).
I'm a little surprised Sonic beat the Wondeful 101 given its less-than-stellar critical reception. Then again, it's hard to vote for something if you haven't played it, so I guess it makes sense that W101 didn't make it; or maybe there are just more people who think highly of Lost World than reviews would suggest.
I can't wait to try out the Bravely Default demo this Thursday.

@JaxonH

Had they only released it as physical stand alone, a lot of people would have acted "Not another NSMB game!" and skipped it, so it worked better as DLC.

Regarding Monster Hunter, I got Tri on Wii and felt burnout after 100 hours. Maybe in a year or two I may pick this one up. The game sometimes feel too punishing and I don't get my kicks with excessive frustration.

Shocked, no w101, pleased to see zelda and bravely. Odd though as I'm not coming across many bravely players though street pass.

Love Super Mario 3D World ... It Deserves GOTY ... But where is the Love For The Wonderful 101 on Wii U & Luigi Mansion Dark Moon on 3DS ?????

@sinalefa

A fair point. They would have complained about it wouldn't they lol...

To me, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate just looks so much better than Tri (especially the monsters), which helps to not get burned out. With the amount of new monsters and subspecies, there's always a new monster to look forward to hunting. Many of them, like Lucent Nargacuga or Stygian Zinogre, aren't available until G-rank. In fact, I think about 20% of the monsters aren't available in Low or High Rank Quests. And I think it took me at least 100 hours before I actually hit G-rank.

For me, the biggest factor that kept me playing was the online multiplayer. It's always a fun experience hunting in groups, especially if you have a friend to hunt with. Although I finally just started joining random parties from the lobby to hunt.

I was overwhelmed with how much new content there is in that game too btw. They really went all out. And as for the difficulty, I think it's all about hunting with others. I easily soloed Low and High Rank, but G-Rank is where the true test is. It's imperative to hunt in groups. But as long as you have a couple hunters with you that know what they're doing and aren't under-leveled, you'll be able to take on pretty much any quest in the game. I learned alot by hunting with others- proper techniques, weakness exploits and useful strategies. The skills Evasion and Evade Extender (as well as Earplugs) are really a must once you get to G-Rank. With proper timing and skill you can avoid almost any hit. It's difficult at first, but by the time you're 100 hours in it's like child's play. Speaking of which I think I'm near 600 hours in at this point!

I agree with the readers picks so muc more great winners.

Definetly surprised to see some of the games on this list . Ducktales remastered is just... yuck ! Overall it's a pretty good list .
I played the original windwaker to death and loved it . The only difference with the wiiu version is the HD so I haven't picked it up yet and may never . Being thoroughly familiar with the game I have to say that I would choose W101 over wwhd any day of the week . That also goes for sonic lost world . Most criminally underated game of the year goes to W101.

I like these picks better, too. Still perturbed about Ducktales getting any recognition. Obviously not enough people are familiar with the original for reference (to highlight how shoddy of a remake this is).

And seeing Sonic Lost World makes me want to wretch. Not The Wonderful 101? Not Deus Ex? Not Most Wanted U? Or even Black Flag, or Splinter Cell, or Swap Force, or Disney Infinity? Or basically any other third party Wii U release?!

That's gross.

I concur with most of these results!

I actually agree all around!

Forgot to mention that all the readers who voted for NES Remix can come over to play games at my house any time. True bros.

So (in order) my picks were:

• Super Mario 3D World
• Rayman Legends
• NES Remix
• EarthBound
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
• Bravely Default
• SteamWorld Dig
• Shantae
• Super Mario 3D World
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
• Super Mario 3D World

So everything I picked made it on the list!

LOL, I didn't get round to voting but I like that list, I would've picked SM3DW as my game of the year!

Most of my picks were actually on the list surprisingly. And if I had played 3D World before voting, then it likely would've been my GotY choice.

But this is a great list.

Not bad.

The voters did a great job. I don't personally agree 100% with everything, but clearly everything that received recognition was deserving.

Kind of bummed that Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon didn't win any awards...it was my personal 3DS GOTY.

No W101, Pokemon or Animal Crossing? I has confusion... O_o

Pokemon was third place 3DS first-party and 3DS overall.

I prefer the Staff Awards because, funny thing, my picks won there. Not surprising though, readers can't play it all, and some really good games with not big names on them can fly off the radar; like Runner 2.

Since Bravely Default and Link to the Past aren't out in North America until next year (hopefully LttP will be out in 2014), will they be eligible for this again?

@antdickens As do you, good sir! In fact, all the NL posse does; both staff and readers. So let's all toast tonight for a wonderful year in gaming that the big N brought to us in 2013! Hoping 2014 is as fun!

Cheers everyone!

Fire Emblem got my vote in all it's eligible categories, so I'm glad it at least made 2nd place in the 3DS categories. It's such an excellent game, the only reasons I haven't been playing it for the past few months is because of all the other games being released and the fact that I played it to death (90 hours on my 1st playthrough!) when it first came out. It's a game that definitely warrants a 2nd playthrough, so I might just have to start another file soon!

New Leaf rightfully is knocked out by Pokémon X/Y. I'm happy about that.

No Animal Crossing?!?! Uh oh...

I expected all of them picks.
I expect Nintendolife's 2014 GotY will be SSB4.

Staff list is a little better but both lack Luigi's Mansion.

Too many awesome games this year for just a top 3.

My 3DS game of the year is actually the StreetPass DLC games. Those gave me a greater incentive to take my system everywhere I go.

Unsprisingly and sadly, Batman: Arkham Origins did not show up here.

Wow, Fire emblem did AMAZING!! Same with Monster Hunter! I'm proud of my cult classic come popular games!

Happy New Year to all those on the east side of the pond! Although W101 Didn't win any awards this is still an excellent list.....based on what I've played. Great job fellow readers. Thanks for entertaining me for the last year.

Glad Rayman won something

I don't think NSLU should qualify as an eShop only game, unlike Ducktales, we all knew NSLU would be released in both formats (retail and eShop). Wind Waker was also released first on eShop in some regions and it didn't qualify for eShop section. Even ignoring what I said, its high quality add-on content, but not a full new game.

Im suprised Sonic Lost World made it...but I suppose there wasnt much to choose from.

@Frapp A top 5 or even an end of the year top 10 for each system would be great. Really happy to see Fire Emblem as it is one of my favorite franchises. I picked up MH3U when I first got my Wii U and can say that it also deserves the praise. I had to sell that game due to some money issues and have yet to pick it up again due to the amount of awesome games coming out that I want to play.

@donkeykong64 That game has really gotten some mixed reviews. I wanna buy it but I'm still on the fence. This list makes me think either NintendoLife is full of sonic fans or the game is actually enjoyable.

Everyone keeps praising "Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies" as an excellent eShop game despite its retail price, but where's the love for "Senran Kagura Blast" and "Unchained Blades?" I should not have needed to use a write-in to vote for "Senran Kagura Blast."

Glad to see 3D World was supreme.

@User1988 And I got a Gamecube instead of the Wii U, love it...

No pokemon 101 or animal crossing?

And how is a game thats not even a month old on teh list? thats not fair!

HaPpY NeW YeAr EvErYoNe!!!

Here's to another great year for Nintendo and us gamers!

Of course I was one of the peops that voted for the awesome and more hardcore Sonic Lost World

Ugh, why didn't Pokemon win at 3DS Game of the Year? Oh whatever, it sells like hot cakes anyways.

Didn't expect it to make it on here but Project X Zone is a really great game. Now that was a great 3rd party game. Bravely Default ain't out in the States so hard to say anything there.

Unchained Blades and Senran Kagura are also games that at least deserve some sort of honorable mention for being surprisingly good amidst expectations.

@CanisWolfred
Reader opinion is almost always better than staff opinion. Readers/gamers typically take more time to "get" games than so called journalist.

It didn't win but at least it came in 2nd twice and 3rd once. FEA is great! and these picks are great too!

A very boring list. When were the votes taken, anyway? I didn't even see the article.

@LunarFlame17 what financial woes? Nintendo are doing great. Its just the wii u that isnt selling as well as it should. But nintendo themselves are pretty much rolling in it thanks to the 3ds' phenomenal 2013

@T7L3R Im not a sonic fan,infact id say there hasnt been a good sonic game since sonic adventure,and thats aged badly. But sonic lost world is great,id even go as far as to say I enjoy it almost as much as mario 3d world

@Marshi I wouldn't argue that Nintendo is doing great. They're not doing nearly as badly as analysts and pundits would have you believe, but if you look at their financial results recently, they're either taking a loss or just barely making a profit. Not disastrous, but not great either.

Other than the usual stereotypic not-at-all understandable zelda/mario spam on first places, I agree with this list. It is pretty good, and I must applaud most of the readers for having brains and sense for quality. (By this I certainly do not imply that Zelda and Mario are bad franchises. I just didn't find the games to be that good, and yes, I played both ALBW and SM 3D World) I am simply both extremely surprised and proud as hell that Bravely Default actually won something when it has only shortly been out in Europe, and isn't out in NA yet. Being from Europe I finished the game a few days ago, and it is truly a masterpiece. Zelda was a bit disappointing and Mario was... Mario. Good, enjoyable, but old Fire Emblem: Awakening should have taken the overall first place for 3DS in my opinion, but alas, I am just a single person. I was surprised by Pokémon not taking anything bar 3rd places, but then again, even though I play it a lot, beyond battling and breeding there isn't that much to do (unless you enjoy harvesting berries or doing pointless things). Overall great list, while some of the winners are dubious (they won, no doubt, but again, I don't have to agree with the choices. The overall community does agree, and thats just how it is ) Thank you for a wonderful year Nintendo, Nintendolife and third parties (3DS is such a bliss for an RPG lover).

@Bassman_Q Haha, it was my only game except Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate back when I got my 3DS XL (bought it in march, was in the UK the day FE was released). Needless to say, it is currently the game I have spent most hours in, sitting at a wopping 1139 hours. 2nd place would be Pokémon Y at 7xx hours. Dat game warrants both 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th playthrough at least simply because of all the awesome support material, parent-children combinations and class combos. Loving that game. Thinking of doing a playthrough every 2 months when I forget the story a little bit

Oh I thought Pokemon X or Y would have a 3DS game award.

I completely agree with the top 3 overall games of the year!

I'm just happy that Rayman Legends took best third-party game! Ubisoft really did make a mess of things from a PR standpoint, but beyond all of that the game that they made is simply fantastic.

I disagree on 3DS game of the year. But since I seem to be the only one to dislike ALBW, it wont change anything

@Yrreiht I also dislike ALBW. I did buy it just to see if the hype was real, but sadly, I was disappointed. It doesn't deserve the 10/10 rating. It is a good game, but I'd say 8/10-8.5/10 maximum. It is still same old same old, except the few "innovations" as fans put it In other words an easier way of getting your equipment, but still same old Oh well.

What a year it was! So many great games for both systems it's not even funny. Really, no matter how you look at it, great games will be left out in any top 3.
Luigi U will always be a physical game for me. It was his year, and he got his own limited game in a green box, no way I wasn't going to add this to my collection!

While my personal favourites didn't make the list or finished 3rd, that's a good thing as it shows the variety of the games, and that there's something (or 5) great for everyone.

I voted for A Link Between Worlds but 3D World was awesome, couldn't go wrong either way between those two games.

@Blizzia Isn't a rehash of a 10/10 game still a 10/10 game?

Thrilled to see Phoenix Wright at the top. And Pokemon is at least mentioned here. But where is Luigi's Mansion?

how come pokemon didnt won any of this? its better than fire emblem thats for sure!

The Wonderful 101 are coming your way... ;(

@BulbasaurusRex Nope, it isn't. Each game is unique. Rehashes deserve their own ratings in relation to the times they are released in, and even though the original which was released AGES ago was (to some) a 10/10 back then, it is in no way a 10/10 now. Neither is the rehash, as it doesn't do much different than the original. You might not agree, but then again, each to his/her own

At least, Shin Megami Tensei IV managed a mention...one vote that mattered.

@Blizzia I haven't really played either game (not much of a Zelda fan), but most everyone claims the gameplay in ALttP holds up just as well today. The technical and user interface aspects of the game have been upgraded as appropriate for the 3DS hardware along with the addition of the well-regarded wall-hugging mechanics, so the game should be just as much of a masterpiece today as ALttP was in its time assuming the usual quality of work for a mainline Zelda game.

My point is that the game should be judged on its own merits and not discounted just for being a lazy sequel.

@xj0462 I have to disagree. I'm a huge Pokémon fan, and I love the new games, but even I voted for Fire Emblem.

@BulbasaurusRex I do have to disagree with you there. I judge it on its own merits, but it just seems way too similar not to discount it for the lazy sequel point. I agree the wall-hugging mechanics were completely awesome but it just still feels lacking and old. Sorry to say this too, but damn, when is Zelda gonna get a GOOD storyline :< The Zelda games have always been fun, but their stories always sucked. I never got through Ocarina of Time 3D because gameplay + story sucked, even though I played the GBA version And I am still of the opinion that ALttP and ALBW are at least 8.0 or 8.5 games. They are just not pure 10s. The only problem I have with them is that they always get fangoggles ratings. Heck, I'd have accepted a 9.0. BUT 10/10? Just screams fangasm. Also, @xj0462 the Pokémon games were awesome, but just not good enough to merit a rating of like top 2/top 3 to be honest. I love pokémon, and I love the X and Y games, but they still lack heavily in things to do post-storyline. I've bred like 40 competitive teams and it got boring after 2. Pokémon Amie and the boring repetitive soccer mini-game to get EVs? Nope. Fire Emblem: Awakening was seriously too good to rank below Pokémon.

I don't understand why everyone's crying for postgame content in Pokemon. Would you like Nintendo to cut out content just to slap it on at the end?

The 3DS games this past year were amazing. I personally think of Fire Emblem: Awakening as the 3DS game of the year for 2013, with Animal Crossing: New Leaf coming at the close second.

Now that I'm well into Super Mario 3D World, I can say it definitely deserves game of the year for Wii U and overall. This game is a masterpiece.

Well done your choices NL community~

This was such a great year to be a Nintendo gamer
Bout to try the Bravely Default demo to see if it's something I can really get behind (although I most likely will buy the Collector's Edition anyways, since the game is getting so much praise). I'm sad that we have to wait another month and five days for it though xD while it's good since I can save up for it, I just wish it came sooner.

Other than Monster Hunter clearly being robbed looks good, but then again I am a bit biased ^_^

Not bad I actually agree with your choices.

Seems there is a lot of love for Rayman Legends on this site! That's very nice to see!!