The Weirdest Games In Nintendo’s Popular Franchises

If you’ve been a Nintendo fan for decades, then you know that the majority of their releases are extremely safe games, especially in their main franchises where the titles are generally made for everyone. However, one in a while, they will come out with an entry that seems completely out of place, which, of course, are the ones you might enjoy playing the most. So, if today’s article, we’re going to look at the weirdest games in Nintendo’s most popular franchises.

Hotel Mario

The first franchise that deserves our special attention is Mario’s, where the company’s mascot debuted alongside the NES in 1985. Really, there is no doubt what the weirdest game is, as this honor has to go to Hotel Mario that was released for Philips CD-i of all systems in 1994. Bizarrely, Philips gained the right to create games for certain Nintendo characters because of the failed venture between the two companies and Sony. The fact that Philips failed to use the IP wisely resulted in an embarrassing game focus on closing every door of a hotel that you’re in while avoiding enemies along the way. That was a completely boring experience. What’s more, they didn’t put enough effort in the game design, which detracted considerably from the game’s worth. Plus, poor voice acting generally produced a creepy effect on gamers and really seemed out of place, especially given the fact that Mario characters are normally not into talking.

Freshly Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland

Next up is the game you might be surprised to see among the weirdest titles ever created by Nintendo. Though The Legend of Zelda truly is a great and laudable franchise, it hasn’t been immune to occasional failures. And those that played Freshly Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland (well, the title itself is quite strange.) Surprisingly, this title was released for the Nintendo DS which is known for its status of one of the best selling consoles of all time. Back in the late 2000s, they thought it was a good idea to put together a cartoon-like adventure game, whose main objective was feeding Rupees into a huge tower and seeing the main character transform into a fairy-like figure.

Undoubtedly, the game was fun, exciting, and spiced with humor, which helped it receive mostly positive reviews. Even though it’s a unique experience with an interesting art style and different types of gameplay mechanics, the mechanic of having to barter with virtually every single character you encounter can get very repetitive after a while. And the combat is extremely dull, which doesn’t help the game’s case. There are definitely great elements that can be found in Hyrule Kingdom’s weird underbelly, many fans found this title, well, a bit eccentric. Or, maybe, it’s an acquired taste.

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Metroid Prime: Federation Force

The next franchise in the company’s history is Metroid with its Federation Force installment. But why does this title win as the weirdest? All has to do with it not featuring the main character of pretty much every game of the popular series – Samus. This installment focuses on the Federation Marines and gives us a strange perspective on a universe we’re not sure we wanted. On top of this, the game was essentially made as a cooperative multiplayer experience where you and your friends explore different levels and destroy enemies. This was just overall an odd choice for Nintendo to create a Metroid title with Samus nowhere to be found and totally disappoint die-hard fans of the series.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beats

The next franchise we’re going to be looking at is Donkey Kong that made its debut in the early 1980s, but its home console debut was actually on the SNES in 1994. Although we were tempted to put the rhythm-based title Donkey Konga in the weirdest game spot as it’s very out of place in this series, we’d actually have to give this honor to the related title called Donkey Kong Jungle Beats for the GameCube, which wants you to use bongo drums as the controller, but this time in a 2D platforming setting. This was definitely a strange experience that most reviewers actually admitted was pretty fun. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long as the game features only four main bosses and a very limited amount of friends and foes to be found. Nowadays, this game wouldn’t be met with the same amount of praise and would probably be seen as gimmicky.

The games mentioned on today’s list are, to our mind, the weirdest tiles Nintendo have ever created. But please note that the weirdest in no way means the worst or unworthy of your attention. All of these games have become classics that still spires game developers and evoke a bitter sweet sense of nostalgia in players. So, don’t hesitate to reunite with your favorite Nintendo characters and revisit good old retro games!