Over the years Nintendo has drifted away from having "traditional" sports games on their consoles (although the Switch has brought them back) but they have had plenty of memorable titles on their consoles over time. Like many great Nintendo games, the best ones usually have a Nintendo mascot on the box and that continues to be true for their sports franchises.
Simulation sports games may have mainstream dominance, but they don't have the personality and charm that comes with Nintendo games. From Tennis to Bowling to Soccer and everything in between, here are the best Nintendo sports games.
10 10. Mario Hoops 3-on-3
The only game featuring the Mario sports take on basketball, Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is not only a fun basketball game but an excellent example of how to properly use the Nintendo DS touch screen. Featuring a wide variety of characters and courts, the game has a very fleshed out roster, even if the characters all fall into certain archetypes. The game's biggest downfall is a lack of ways to play multiplayer, especially using the Wi-Fi capabilities of the Nintendo DS, but that's something that plagues most Nintendo titles.
9 9. Mario Tennis Aces
The first of hopefully many Mario-based sports games to come for the Nintendo Switch, Mario Tennis Aces is easily the most complex and most enjoyable Mario Tennis game to date, even if it lacked features at launch. Featuring full tennis matches and a roster of characters that have been continuously added to since launch, the game plays incredibly well. The single-player mode has a campaign of minigame and tennis matches. At launch, the online mode was fairly barebones for match types, but the game has been updated with more modes since.
8 8. Super Mario Strikers
While the majority of Mario sports titles are arcade-like in style, Super Mario Strikers takes that to it's highest potential, with this violently over the top 5-on-5 soccer game. Take to the pitch to duel it out between Mario characters in their most dangerous forms.
This soccer game features tournament-style play for both single-player and multiplayer modes, all with a wide variety of items and gimmicks to go around. Not only is this an enjoyable take on the sport, but it also is a blast with other people, if you can get them around for local co-op.
7 7. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Despite being one of the "less popular" sports, there seems to be no shortage of great golf video games, especially ones with Mario's face plastered on them. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour for the Nintendo Gamecube (a console with many great Mario-themed sports titles) is not only an excellent arcade version of Golf, but it's also a fantastic golf simulator when it wants to be. The game has no shortage of modes and characters to play with, each having unique play styles to give the game some variety. The game's one shortcoming is that it has bad camera controls, but that's not a unique issue for Gamecube games.
6 6. Mario Super Sluggers
The Nintendo Wii sequel to Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Super Sluggers builds on the arcade baseball in the original with more characters, more maps and motion controls if you want to. The motion controls being optional is great for not only playing the game but also surprising for a Wii game. This game features an expanded single-player mode, where characters are unlocked via minigames, baseball and the occasional puzzle-solving. The game has a wide variety of fields to play on with interesting gimmicks that can be disabled for the hardcore.
5 5. Mario Golf
Whatever inspired Nintendo to pick up a golf video game developer in the Nintendo 64 era to make Mario Golf deserves to be rewarded for bringing the world this classic video game.
The game features cartoony Mario inspired graphics but contains gameplay and depth that would make any golf purist satisfied to play. The game featured simple controls along with interesting courses and of course, Mario.
4 4. Golf Story
The Nintendo Switch-exclusive golf RPG Golf Story is another example of the potential for great games Golf has. Golf Story follows an aspiring Pro-Golfer as they try and earn their way into the pro-circuit. To accomplish these goals, you will have to play through various golf-adjacent minigames, as well as actual golf courses, usually with some type of twist on them depending on the course. Completing these will award you with money and EXP, which allows for improved golf skills and being able to purchase items and equipment.
3 3. Mario Tennis: Power Tour
A game filled to the brim with an RPG-style single-player, exhibition mode and mini-games galore, Mario Tennis: Power Tour for the Gameboy Advance is easily the best Mario Tennis game to date. Incorporating aspects of the Gamecube game as well as pushing the handheld to its graphical limits, this game has it all. The main game follows tennis rookies Clay and Ace as they enroll at the tennis academy to improve their skills. The game also features many recognizable Mario characters, blending them into this strange but amazing tennis game.
2 2. MLB Power Pros
One of the more interesting baseball sims to ever be released, MLB Power Pros for the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 2 takes the typically exclusive Power Pros series and gives it the Major League Baseball treatment. Underneath the bobblehead styled characters and over the top style is a game featuring the physical and statistical realism that hardcore baseball fans love.
The single-player "success" mode has you create a character and follow their journey from college freshman to baseball pro, upgrading stats and doing JRPG style side activities along the way. The season mode allows for creative control over an MLB team for ten years as you change rosters and try to be the best.
1 1. Wii Sports
It would be wrong to put anything other than the best-selling (single-platform) game of all time, with 82 million copies as of 2017. The pack-in for the motion-control-focused Nintendo Wii, this game features five sports titles, baseball, tennis, bowling, boxing, and golf. None of these games are very deep, but instead offer very strong motion control focused gameplay that can be done with up to four people, depending on the sport. Every game has enough going on to make them extremely replayable and ultimately one of the best sports offerings to ever appear on a Nintendo platform.