The Best year of every Nintendo console (so far)

NES: 1987

By this time both the system and Super Mario Bros were in millions of people's living rooms. At the height of its popularity we got the international releases of Zelda, Metroid, Mega-Man, Castlevania, Punch Out, and Kid Icarius.

Game Boy: 1996

1993 is a strong contender due to Link's Awakening and so is 1994 for the release of the Super Game Boy and titles like Donkey Kong '94 and Wario Land 1. But I'll give it to 1996, of course since we got the first real improvement in the Game Boy's design with the GB Pocket and obviously Pokemon Red and Blue released.

SNES: 1995

Chrono Trigger, Yoshi's island, Donkey Kong Country 2, and Earthbound is self explanatory. 16-bit reached it's peak in that year (1994 is a close contender)

Virtual Boy: 1995

Most of it's measly 22 games released that year

N64: 1998

Every one its short six years was really solid. 1996 for Mario 64, 1997 for Golden Eye 007, 1999 for Smash/Party/DK64, and 2000-01 gave us Paper Mario, Perfect Dark, Majora's Mask, Conker's Bad Fur Day etc. But 1998 for Ocarina of Time and Banjo Kazooie

GBC: 1999 = 2000

Super Mario Bros Deluxe, Pokemon Gold/Silver, Donkey Kong Country port. GBC was pretty short-lived

GBA = 2003

Probably the most consistent console performance across its four years. 2001 was a great launch year, and 2002 continued the momentum. 2004 was a great finale for the GBA as well. But I'll give the win to 2003 since we got the GBA SP that year along with M&L Superstar Saga, Warioware, Mario Advance 4, Fire Emblem, Sonic Advance 2, Advance Wars 2, etc…

GameCube: 2004

Again, 2002 and 2003 were great line-ups but 2004 gave us Metroid Prime 2, Sonic Heroes, Pikmin 2, Paper Mario: TTYD, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Party 6 was lit too

DS: 2006

DS lite released and eclipsed the original phat model and of course New Super Mario Bros dominated. This was when Nintendo finally left the GBA/GC era behind in favor of the DS.

Now we get to nostalgic territory for Gen Z

Wii: 2010

The end of the first half of the Wii's lifespan was it's peak in my opinion. Super Mario Galaxy 2, DKC Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Xenoblade, Sonic Colors, M&S at the Winter 2010 Olympics, and so on

3DS: 2013

2012-2014 was the apex of the 3DS and of those three years 2013 is easily the pinnacle. FE: Awakening, Link Between Worlds, AC: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Pokemon X/Y, DKC Returns 3D (heh, again), Shin Megami Tensei, and M&L: Dream Team. Banger Year

Wii U: 2014

What 2013 was to the 3DS, 2014 was for the Wii U and then some. During it's underwhelming life, 2014 was really a stand out year for quality/quantity. Mario Kart 8, Smash 4, DKC: Tropical Freeze, Bayonetta 2 and Amiibo started that year.

Switch: 2017 & 2023

For Switch I'll break it into Pre-Covid and Post-Covid

For Pre Covid , 2017 was a flagship year for the Switch. Some of the best first year releases in Nintendo's history. Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 DX, Arms, 1-2 Switch, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey

For Post-Covid, 2023 was a great year. the Switch went gangbuster during the lockdowns and in the first year after a return to normalcy we got Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Wonder, Pikmin 4, Metroid Prime Remastered

Switch 2: TBD

We'll see how the Switch 2 does when it reaches it's apex