A Look Again At Each Sport Nintendo Life Scored 10/10 Over 20 Years

NL 10s – 20 Years of Critiques

To begin with, although, some numbers and housekeeping.

The Stats

After eradicating re-releases and ports from the equation, Nintendo Life has given out 10/10 scores to 69 video games over 20 years. (Sure, sure, that is simply the quantity it occurs to be!) That averages to only below 3.5 ‘Excellent’ video games per 12 months.

That may sound rather a lot, nevertheless it’s price remembering the sheer variety of evaluations we have printed, together with migrations from the VC Critiques period and our newer Mini Overview format. Keep in mind, additionally, that Digital Console releases resulted in an inflow of 8-, 16-, and 64-bit classics, producing a clutch of ‘classic’ 10/10s early doorways. The location could also be 20, however we have coated almost half a century of video video games!

Digging into the backend, the info says we at present have…7,599 evaluations within the archives. Blimey.

That averages to roughly one evaluation a day. Each single day, for twenty years. Some years have been busier than others (we had a mind-boggling 609 go stay in 2018, for example), nevertheless it’s nonetheless fairly astonishing. An enormous shoutout and thanks to all NL workers and contributors, previous and current, who helped make the location what it’s from the mid-2000s proper to date.

The Royal ‘We’ & Different Misconceptions

For the Swap 2 era, NL switched from utilizing first-person plural (‘we’) in evaluations to the singular (‘I’), partly to assist treatment confusion for readers who weren’t accustomed to the conference. “How will you give GAME X a 7 once you gave GAME Y a 9, and that is objectively higher?!” Erm, is it? Did I? That was a unique particular person… *checks notes* over a decade in the past.

Continuity is most popular, with one author tackling the identical sequence, for example – one thing we endeavour to do each time attainable. Regardless, a evaluation cannot be something however the subjective opinion of the author, and a snapshot of their considering on the time. That must be self-evident, however nonetheless, it appears to confuse lots of people! Likewise, it’s not an editor’s job to arbitrarily push scores up or down in response to private choice or what ‘the location’ awarded an identical sport.

Some video games under may need you elevating an eyebrow, and a pair you won’t have even heard of. Simply keep in mind, if there’s one thing under that you would not give a ten…that is high-quality! In some circumstances, you may discover feedback from the unique reviewer exploring in the event that they nonetheless maintain the sport in such excessive esteem years after the very fact. (A giant thanks to those that contributed!)

The Bar (What constitutes a ten/10 in 2026?)

In 2026, for us, it is elevating the style bar which makes for the very best attainable rating.

Executing completely and having ‘nothing mistaken with it’ is not sufficient nowadays – there needs to be an ambition in a sport’s design that pushes on the limits, that expands the chance house.

For example, a sequel to a sport we gave 10/10 years in the past would not routinely get one for being ‘higher’ by comparability. You will see a number of video games under that bought re-released later and did not hit the identical excessive in a contemporary context. Video games evolve and the medium strikes ahead; one of the best examples should transcend merely refining what got here earlier than. In some vogue, a ten ought to break new floor.

It is price remembering, too, that there actually is not any such factor as a ‘excellent’ sport. Let’s remind ourselves of our present standards for awarding our highest rating, as communicated in our Scoring Coverage:

10/10 — Excellent
The head of a given style on the time of launch, these titles increase the bar in nearly all important classes. You may make sure that a sport awarded this rating has the very best high quality presentation and expertly honed gameplay, but in addition breaks boundaries and pushes the {industry} ahead in a significant method.

Okay, sufficient preamble. Sufficient caveats. Sufficient signage to faucet when the feedback are available in. Under is each online game Nintendo Life has awarded a ten/10 rating in its 20-year historical past, introduced in launch date order.

Notice. The place a number of variations of the identical title have gotten prime marks — RE4, Hyperlink’s Awakening, BOTW, for instance — we have distilled them right into a single entry and famous the duplicates.

Let’s begin in the beginning and have fun some exceptionally good video video games ‘we’ have had the pleasure of reviewing…

Each Sport NL Awarded 10/10 (2005-2025)