Best Year for Nintendo Switch Library

[-Apples-]

As of today, what do you think was the best year for Nintendo Switch games? Like which year had the best games on average? For your information:

• 2017 - Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, Splatoon 2, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, 1-2 Switch, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Pokkén Tournament DX
• 2018 - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee, Super Mario Party, Kirby Star Allies, Mario Tennis Aces, Nintendo Labo, Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
• 2019 - Pokémon Sword/Shield, Super Mario Maker 2, Fire Emblem Three Houses, New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, Yoshi’s Crafted World, Astral Chain, Ring Fit Adventure, Tetris 99, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
• 2020 - Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Mario Bros. 35, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Mystery Team DX, Pikmin 3 Deluxe, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, Paper Mario: The Origami King

Not all titles are listed, but these are the major titles for each year (including unreleased games).

That being said, which year had the best new games for the Switch and why? You can also list the worst year as of now.

 

[tumut]

2020 is the weakest year imo. Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity is the only exciting game for this year. And I wouldn't mind playing a Pikmin game for the first time but its nothing too crazy (and I prob won't have time this semester.

New Horizons was hype until I played it and realized it was an unfinished, boring, worse version of new leaf.

3D All Stars is nothing new for me so I won't be picking it up.



2019 and 2018 are really close for me. But Smash alone pushes 2018 just a bit higher.

 

[DarkDesertFox]

2017 hands down is my favorite even if 2 of them are just deluxe versions of the previous games from the Wii U. I still continue to pour hours into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. BOTW and Super Mario Odyssey were both incredible games with their art style, gameplay, vast open worlds, music and the content. I also still play Splatoon 2 a lot.

 

[~Kilza~]

I'd say 2017 was the best year for the Switch, solely because of both BotW and SMO. Both amazing games that remain the top 2 games released on the Switch IMO.

 

[Halloqueen]

I'm partial to 2019's lineup. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is the heavy hitter of the year for me and, while I don't like Pokémon Sword and Shield as much as I like the rest of the series for a few reasons, Sword and Shield are still fun in their own way. I've also gotten a good amount of enjoyment out of Tetris 99, more than I would've thought when I first tried it. I've never played Ring Fit Adventure, but the friends I know who've played it have seemed to enjoy it and I'm a bit interested in it. Can't speak to the rest of them (I love the original Luigi's Mansion, but I didn't enjoy Dark Moon so I never picked up Luigi's Mansion 3) but they all seemed well regarded from what I saw.

As far as second place is concerned? 2018's offerings, particularly Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Mario Party, and Mario Tennis Aces, make it the more appealing year to me personally, but I'm not confident in saying it's a better year than 2017. 2017's list has a bunch of enhanced ports, but Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on their own seem to me to make a stronger case for 2017. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is one of my absolute favorite Switch games, in the top 3, but it's only one really strong game against a number of greats.

2020 is definitely in last place for me. Animal Crossing New Horizons is fun in its own ways, but it's divisive and with any hope its best days are ahead of it if highly requested aspects of the previous games make their return through updates. Aside from that, the only other standouts from that list are Pikmin 3 Deluxe and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, which are just more enhanced ports, and Paper Mario: The Origami King, but I don't really play Mario games so there's not much for me to say about that. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is interesting too, but even that doesn't boost 2020's case to any significant degree for me.

TL;DR: 2019 > 2017 > 2018 > 2020.

 

[-Apples-]

As someone who liked Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine over Super Mario Odyssey, 2020 wins. And even if it weren’t for 3D All Stars, Animal Crossing: New Horizons sure made it the best.

2017 gets the silver medal for that it was a good beginning of a great console. As much as Wii U ports on the Switch is annoying, it had the best Switch port of a Wii U game (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe), as it was one of my most played games. It also had a new Mario game and a new Zelda game.

2018 at least stays ahead of 2019 for that it had Smash, Mario Party, and Pokémon Let’s Go (which in my opinion beats Pokémon Sword and Shield).

 

[Mr_Persona]

2018 because it's when it started to get to the good stuff

 

[oak]

I only got my switch in 2020 so I have nothing to compare to. I don't have any of those older games but 2017 looks like a solid year. I picked 2020 though cause acnh is the most played game on my switch.

 

[Manah]

Whichever year had this absolutely ridiculously packed September. Was it 2019?

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

I said 2017 because of Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. Those games brought me so much joy and hours of fun.

Runner up would be 2020, because of New Horizons of course.

Those are the most notable games exclusive to Switch for me.

 

[EpicGamer12]

Like everyone else I'd say 2017 is the best because of Breath of the Wild. But my runner-up is 2018 because of Smash Bros. Ultimate.

 

[Matt0106]

2017 because of Breath of the Wild, of course, but also because I finally got a chance to get Skyrim (Never got to play it on a device that I actually owned lol)

 

[Seastar]

For me it's a tie between 2017 and 2018. 2017 has a lot of stuff I'd say is great, and then 2018 has two of my most favorite Switch games.

 

[Mairmalade]

It's nice to see games also appearing (or reappearing) on Switch such as Rune Factory 4 Special, Friends of Mineral Town, Hades, Atelier, Dragon Quest, etc., but for Switch-specific games alone, 2019 was easily my favorite year. Astral Chain was a great surprise. Three Houses was another I sunk a bunch of time into. While I didn't spend much time with Pokemon Shield, it is one I want to get back into.

2020 would be my favorite if we were to combine remasters/definitive editions. Looking forward to the new Hyrule Warriors in November too!

 

[-Apples-]

2017 because of Breath of the Wild, of course, but also because I finally got a chance to get Skyrim (Never got to play it on a device that I actually owned lol)

I didn’t count third party games since I was focused more on first-party titles, but if I were to include third-party games, then 2020 still wins because it was the year the only SpongeBob game on the Switch came out, even if it’s an HD remake of a 2003 game. Sorry for the run-on sentence.

 

[Matt0106]

I didn’t count third party games since I was focused more on first-party titles, but if I were to include third-party games, then 2020 still wins because it was the year the only SpongeBob game on the Switch came out, even if it’s an HD remake of a 2003 game. Sorry for the run-on sentence.

I would agree with this, but it isn't the Spongebob Movie game from GC, so 2017 still wins imo (Also got other great hits like SMO and Splatoon 2 obviously).

 

[liliyoa]

2017, and i wish it wasnt </3

 

[Flicky]

I'm not really sure, but I guess 2018 since Luigi's Mansion 3 and Sword/Shield (even if they were a bit disappointing) were released. I've played LM3 more than I have Odyssey, and I'm only a fan of the Game boy Zelda games, so the ever-popular Switch games aren't my cup of tea.

Least would be 2020, I guess. The only one out of those I even purchased was ACNH.

 

[Briar]

Out of these years, I think 2017 would have to be my favorite based on the games listed. Super Mario Odyssey and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are two of my favorite games on the Switch. I've replayed Super Mario Odyssey a few times, and I have fun each time I play it! I love all of the 3D Super Mario games though, so it's no surprise really. For Breath of the Wild, the only other Zelda game that I've really played is Ocarina of Time, and I don't remember much of it since I played it so long ago. Breath of the Wild was a really fun experience though. Splatoon 2 was also really fun, although I've moved on to Splatoon 3 now. I like the Splatoon series a lot. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is another fun game, but I'm not very good at it. And the last one that I've played from the list is Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this game or not, but I actually enjoyed it a lot despite it being a type of game I don't normally play.

For 2018, the games I played from the list are Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee, Super Mario Party, and Kirby Star Allies. Pokémon Let's Go Eevee and Kirby Star Allies were decently fun, but Super Mario Party was a letdown. Mario Party Superstars definitely seems like the superior Mario Party on the Switch.

For 2019, I played Pokémon Shield, New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, Yoshi’s Crafted World, and Luigi’s Mansion 3. Shield was enjoyable, not my favorite Pokémon game, but it was fine. I'd already played New Super Mario Bros U, but it was fun to replay it with the Deluxe version. Yoshi's Crafted World was okay, but it wasn't as good as Woolly World, so I was a bit disappointed. Woolly World was super fun; I loved it! I loved Luigi's Mansion 3. I also loved the first Luigi's Mansion, but I didn't like the second one as much, so I was glad that this one suited my tastes more.

The only ones I played from the 2020 list were Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Of course I loved New Horizons, although I don't really know whether it's my favorite Animal Crossing or not. As I stated earlier, I'm a big fan of 3D Mario games, so 3D All-Stars was perfect for me. I did play Pikmin 3, but I played the regular version on the Wii U, not the Deluxe version

 

[Sheando]

Honestly going to have to say 2017. I think that's the part of the Switch that's been a bit weird for me--lots of solid games, but nothing has really topped their very first releases, which feels strange to still be saying after six years of the console. Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, and MK8 are STILL such standout games.

Other favorites from your list:
2018 - Smash Bros, Captain Toad
2019 - Pokemon Sword, Yoshi's Crafted World
2020 - AC:NH, Super Mario 3D All Stars, Origami King

If we are indeed getting a Switch 2, I'd like to see some more truly groundbreaking titles like Breath of the Wild.