It's the final Year in Review post for 2025 - and this time, it's Nintendo's year in review, which they actually put out in January instead of December, so it should account for my entire year's worth of stats. And the good news is that I played a considerable amount more Nintendo than I did last year, but then again, I did set the bar remarkably low.
2025 brought with it the Nintendo Switch 2, which took a second to obtain (including the delivery person driving aimlessly around my complex for a couple minutes and deciding "Maybe we'll let somebody else try tomorrow") but ended up being a great time.
Let's take a look at my highlights from last year's time spent playing Nintendo.
Gameplay Totals
I matched last year's total of 16 games but nearly tripled my hours played. That's a decent job of bouncing back, if you ask me.
Top Games
- Pokémon Violet - 19 hours
- Mario Kart World - 19 hours
- Fitness Boxing 3 - 15 hours
"Pokémon Violet" coming out on top came as a bit of a surprise until I remembered that I told myself that I could only purchase the new "Pokémon Legends: Z-A" if I beat "Violet" first. Challenge accepted and completed.
I'm not necessarily a big "Mario Kart" guy - I enjoy it, but I'm not hardcore like some people - but "Mario Kart World" was fun and is a great game to play with the family. I spent a lot of time trying to track down all of the costumes for each character. I'm still a couple short, though, which irritates me.
Another year of "Fitness Boxing." This one is a Top Games mainstay because it's the only game that I play on a near-weekly basis. I'm bad and miss a week from time to time, but it's a nice way of getting some extra movement in.
Gaming Trends
A decent balance of game types. I accept.
Monthly Breakdown
As you can see, I got the Switch 2 in July. October was the month in which I challenged myself to beat "Pokémon Violet."
Favorite Game
My Nintendo game of the year is Mario Kart World. I really had fun with it, especially playing with my oldest son. There is a decent amount of stuff to do, from tracking down alternative outfits to collecting things in the open world, not to mention racing for glory across its handful of official cups. I also like the new ability to adjust races to start on one course and transition into another. Thanks to its extreme replayability factor, a lot more Mario Kart lies ahead for me and my family in 2026.
Top Games of All Time
One really cool feature in this year's Nintendo Year in Review was the ability to look back at previous years. Nintendo even provided a full breakdown of my top games over the past eight years, when I first bought the Switch 1.
Here are my top 20 games of all time:
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons - 217 hours
- Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 61 hours
- Mario Golf: Super Rush - 50 hours
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 45 hours
- Pokémon Shield - 41 hours
- Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope - 40 hours
- New Pokémon Snap - 40 hours
- Pokémon Violet - 34 hours
- Pokémon Brilliant Diamond - 33 hours
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus - 30 hours
- Super Mario Odyssey - 29 hours
- Luigi's Mansion 3 - 21 hours
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 - 20 hours
- Metroid Dread - 20 hours
- Mario Kart World - 19 hours
- Fitness Boxing 3 - 16 hours
- Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu - 15 hours
- Mario Tennis Aces - 15 hours
- Pokemon Legends: Z-A - 13 hours
- Donkey Kong Bananza - 13 hours
Past Years Comparison
- 2025
- Games played: 16
- Hours played: 103
- Top games: "Pokémon Violet," "Mario Kart World," "Fitness Boxing 3"
- Game of the year: "Mario Kart World"
- 2024
- Games played: 16
- Hours played: 38
- Top games: "Fitness Boxing 2," "Sid Meier's Civilization VI," "Super Mario Party Jamboree"
- Game of the year: "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate"
- 2023
- Games played: 23
- Hours played: 169
- Top games: "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," "Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope," "Metroid Dread"
- Game of the year: "Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope"
- 2022
- Hours played: 140
- Top games: "Pokémon Legends: Arceus," "Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope," "Pokémon Brilliant Diamond"
- 2021
- Hours played: 189
- Top games: "New Pokemon Snap," "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," "Mario Golf: Super Rush"
- 2020
- Hours played: 235
- Top games: "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," "Mario Tennis Aces," "Pokémon Shield"
- 2019
- Hours played: 56
- Top games: "Pokémon Shield," "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3," "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu"
- 2018
- Hours played: ~85
- Top games: "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," "Super Mario Odyssey," "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild"
Final Thoughts
Overall, it was a decent and fun year of Nintendo for me. Granted, the Switch is not my primary console and it is often dominated by my oldest child, but I like to get in some time every now and again. I've got a bit of a backlog right now, with games like "Donkey Kong Bananaza" and "Pokémon Legends: Z-A" just sitting there, waiting to be played, so hopefully I'll be able to continue chipping away in 2026!
*****
We finally did it! That's the end of our 2025 Year in Review posts! What were your top Nintendo games of 2025? Any recommendations for the upcoming year? Let us know in the comments below, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook.
Until next time!
