The Best (And Worst) Selling Games Of Nintendo’s Biggest Franchises
Have you ever ever questioned what the best-selling Tremendous Mario recreation is? How concerning the worst-selling Donkey Kong recreation? What number of copies do you reckon a Hearth Emblem recreation often sells? And is Animal Crossing extra in style than Metroid?
All of those questions and extra are about to be answered, as a result of we now have the definitive rundown of the best-selling video games of every of Nintendo’s mega-franchises, in addition to the worst-selling video games, only for comparability. And enjoyable.
And that is it! Benefit from the record, and remember to tell us if something takes you abruptly…


Writer: Nintendo / Developer: Uncommon
Extremely, Donkey Kong’s best-selling recreation is certainly one of its oldest ones — which (spoilers) is a little bit of an anomaly on this record. The one Swap Donkey Kong recreation, a port of the Wii U’s Tropical Freeze, solely bought 2.93m copies, whereas the SNES DK Nation bought a whopping 9.30. Maybe it is DK’s roots within the arcade which can be accountable for his recognition peaking in 1994?


Writer: Nintendo / Developer: Paon
DK: King of Swing is a comparatively forgettable Recreation Boy Advance providing for followers of the large ape, though apparently it is fairly good. Taking up a extra light-hearted cartoony model, this GBA platformer had you controlling DK’s mitts with the shoulder buttons, each permitting you to seize and let go along with the left or proper hand. Evidently this break from DK’s norm wasn’t what individuals wished, because it solely bought 0.28m.


Writer: Nintendo / Developer: Clever Programs
Three Homes got here out in late 2019, and perhaps it is simply us, but it surely felt like everybody was taking part in it, and speaking about which one of many three protagonists that they had chosen, or which of the various dateable characters they have been wooing. Hearth Emblem has at all times been a bit area of interest, so its best-selling recreation solely simply squeaked previous 3 million (3.02m, to be exact-ish), however its cellular model, Hearth Emblem Heroes, has apparently made $656m in income, making it Nintendo’s most profitable non-Pokémon cellular title. Wow!
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Writer: Nintendo / Developer: Clever Programs
Technically, the worst-selling Hearth Emblems have been the Japan-only ones, however because the FE collection did not come to the West till 2003, we’re not counting something launched earlier than then. That makes Radiant Daybreak the worst-selling Hearth Emblem recreation, which got here out on the Wii in 2007. It is apparently very exhausting, and maybe that was the explanation not many individuals purchased it — or perhaps it simply got here too quickly after its Western debut for there to actually be a lot hype round it. Who is aware of!


Writer: Nintendo / Developer: HAL Laboratory
“Maintain on,” you say, “absolutely the best-selling Kirby recreation is the brand new one, Kirby and the Forgotten Land?” You might be in all probability proper, pal — however we do not have the full gross sales figures for it but. For now, the King of the Kirbies is the 1992 Recreation Boy recreation, Kirby’s Dream Land — a beloved debut for the pink puffball that spawned a candy-coloured empire, with 5.13m copies bought.


Writer: Nintendo / Developer: HAL Laboratory
The 3DS Kirby video games, like Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot, have been a few of Kirby’s best-sellers… however the multiplayer-focused Battle Royale confirmed that it is not the platform that sells Kirby video games, with a pitiful 0.33m copies bought. It did not assist that the sport was additionally fairly mediocre, repetitive, and maybe worst of all, it got here out in 2017, when individuals weren’t actually taking part in 3DS a lot any extra.


Writer: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo EAD
Why mess with a traditional? Particularly when that traditional bought 40.24m copies! Tremendous Mario Bros. has been massively profitable during the last 35+ years, and of course it has — it’s virtually completely liable for Nintendo’s existence as a worldwide online game firm, plus serving to the trade itself get better from the 1983 online game crash, and it is a cultural icon in each method doable, from the soundtrack to the instantly-recognisable World 1-1. It is also the second best-selling recreation on this whole record!


Writer: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
It is kinda humorous that the worst-selling Mario recreation is… a Luigi recreation. It is just a little bit unhappy that the brother in one other color cannot catch a break, however, properly, it’s kind of of an odd one. Launched as each a standalone recreation and as DLC for New Tremendous Mario Bros. U, Tremendous Luigi U is tougher, sooner, and extra inexperienced than the sport it sprung from. It solely bought 3.07m copies in consequence — though that is nonetheless greater than Hearth Emblem’s best-selling recreation!