Summary
Nintendois one of the biggest video game companies in the entire world, and it has been responsible for some of thebest and most beloved franchises,fromSuper Mario Brosall the way up toPokemon. This is also one of the longest-running companies in the industry, so they’ve been developing and distributing quality titles for a long time.
Because of Nintendo’s enormous legacy, some of its most iconic franchises have released asurprisingly huge number of games. But a burning question remains: which one holds the record of the most games released in its lifetime? This is an approximate list, and it features some expected and unexpected contenders.
Some Nintendo franchises are so influential and popular that most fans mistake them for having a higher number of releases than they actually do. AndMetroidis one of the most egregious examples.16 games in totalis actually quite impressive, but for a franchise that began in 1986, it pales in comparison to other IPs that were released around the same time.
While, luckily for the players, this means that there’s a solidMetroidgame on almost every single Nintendo platform, some of the most critically acclaimed are remakes of previous titles. That said, this franchise completely skipped theNintendo 64generation, and this reduced its total of games quite a bit. However, with the recent success ofMetroid DreadandMetroid Prime Remastered, alongside the upcoming release ofMetroid Prime 4, this number will certainly increase in the future.
The tactical role-playingFire Emblemfranchise was exclusive to Japan for over 12 years until it finally reached the Western market in 2002, with the release ofFire Emblem: The Blazing Bladefor the GBA. And if that wasn’t enough, it became a true mainstream series with the incredible success ofFire Emblem: Awakeningin 2012.
This means that, when audiences all over the world could finally try out this series, there were already 7 other existing games. This number kept growing each year, and it skyrocketed after the newfound popularity brought byAwakening, with countless main series entries alongside remakes and spin-offs.Fire Emblemis now one of Nintendo’s most successful franchises, and it likely won’t stop releasing new titles anytime soon.
While Mario andDonkey Kongoriginated from the same game, the iconic plumber has had a more prosperous trajectory. But this doesn’t mean that DK and his family of fellow apes didn’t find their own success, with them branching out into their own series of belovedvideo games of many different genres.
Admittedly, some of the entries in theDonkey Kongfranchise are shared with theMariofranchise. But this character is also responsible for a good number of unique games that are separate fromMario, like the revolutionaryDonkey Kong Countryseries or the great 3D platformer that isDonkey Kong 64. DK left his own mark on the industry, and most fans hope he’ll keep having more isolated adventures in the upcoming years.
Kirbyis a perfect character to make a lot of video games about. Not only is he adorable and, therefore, very marketable, but his main gimmick of absorbing enemy abilities is filled with the potential for many different and creative concepts. On top of that, this franchise has been handled mostly byHAL Laboratory, meaning that Nintendo didn’t have to get that much involved in the development of these games.
This perfect formula resulted in theKirbyfranchise having over 44 games. There are obviously many solid main titles on both home consoles and handhelds, but this cute pink ball has also starred ina lot of different spin-offsthat experimented with unique graphics and creative mechanics. TheKirbyfranchise also has some great remakes that feature so much additional content that they feel like entirely different experiences.
Surprisingly enough, and despite being one of two of Nintendo’s flagship franchises,The Legend of Zeldadoesn’t have as many games as one may think. This is due to the fact that most of these are huge and complex titles that take a lot of time and resources to develop.
The number of entries in this legendary franchise has increased significantly in recent years, as Nintendo has switched to more of a yearly model. While mainlineLegend of Zeldagames – likeBreath of the WildorTears of the Kingdom- still take quite some time to release, Nintendo has filled in the gaps with countlessremakes, remasters, and spin-offs. And most of them are just as good as the mainline titles, so it worked quite well for them.
Nintendo Game and Watch: The Legend of Zelda
This one should be taken with a grain of salt because theGame & Watchseries is completely different from any other Nintendo property on this list. These were born as simple electronic handhelds with individual games that were released as toys. Butthey were quite revolutionary, and Nintendo kept releasing new and different versions for several years. Some of them are even based on other major franchises, likeMario,Donkey Kong,andThe Legend of Zelda.
However,Game & Watchcan be considered its own franchise, based on its representation in theSuper Smash Bros.series and the fact that the company has developed special edition systems as recently as 2021. When all of that is taken into account, it amounts to 62 differentGame & Watchreleases, which is one of the biggest numbers of any Nintendo IP.
There’s no doubt thatPokemonhas been one of the biggest multimedia franchises in the world ever since the release ofPokemon Red and Bluein 1996. So it’s no surprise that this incredible success led toGame Freak,Creatures Inc.,The Pokemon Company, and Nintendo to greenlight countless different titles that span from many different genres, resulting in more than 120 in total.
Game Freak has been doing a great job with the mainline series games that were basically system sellers on Nintendo handhelds and found new life on the Nintendo Switch. But this franchise exploded in popularity so much that it spawned ahuge number of excellent spin-offs, likeMystery Dungeon,Ranger,orPokemon Go. And that’s not even taking into account all the obscure titles exclusive to Asia that were never released overseas.Pokemonis a global phenomenon that has no signs of stopping, so this number will likely keep getting bigger and bigger.
It should be no surprise that Nintendo’s #1 flagship franchise and the most influential video game character of all time has the highest number of video game releases of the entire company. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact number of games in theMariofranchise, but it’s definitely more than 300, especially because there are a lot of branching elements in theMarioseries.
There are mainline platformers (in both 2D and 3D), successful sports spin-offs likeMario KartorMario Tennis,and beloved RPGs like thePaper MarioorMario & Luigiseries. If that wasn’t enough, theMariofranchise also encompasses other popular series that star characters who originated from it, likeYoshi,Wario Ware,andDonkey Kong. Mario is one of gaming’s biggest icons, so it’s only appropriate that he’s been responsible for somany quality gamesthroughout the years. And he’ll most likely keep starring in great titles for many more years to come.
