Let's-a-go! With the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie this week, we took a look back at the best films and TV to come straight from Nintendoin the past. Nintendo's output is a real strange one. More than content to rest on their laurels (repeating the same winning formula of proven titles for literal decades), their branching out to film and television has been a stalled and rare one.
Whereas, say, the Resident Evil or Final Fantasy franchises crank out a legitimate film every few years, the Nintendo brand just... doesn't (aside from the odd Pokémon movie), all while operating with a Draconian sense of ownership when faced with fans using their characters in creations of their own designs. A shame, as there are so many good fan films out there, already (shout out to "A Fox In Space" and "MegaSteakMan" on YouTube), and fans creating for fans is only going to mean more stories in a place where its company refuses to release anything. If The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a huge success, then that could all change, and me might have Nintendo cinematic universe. Now if only we could get proper Star Fox and Metroid anime series...
10 Donkey Kong Country (1997-2000)
An intriguing spectacle at the time, and now only painful to watch, Donkey Kong Country genuinely looks worse than the actual N64 games that were coming out at the time starring the gorilla himself. None of the voices seem to match up to what you'd expect the characters to sound like, and with 1990s lingo peppered throughout, Donkey Kong Country is a strange time capsule of the past. With a paper thin plot that is repeated every episode about a magic coconut, lots of songs, and a seemingly endless amount of slapstick, at least it does expand on the DK world in its own way, but is definitely one for superfans and them alone.
9 Pixels (2015)
Similarly to our #5 spot, this isn't a movie by Nintendo directly but does feature one of their most famous faces in a particular tie-wearing gorilla. Far better than it has any right to be, there is a throwback sense of fun to Pixels and arcade gaming with a sense of a steady hand from veteran director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire). And watching Adam Sandler battle Pac-Man and DK provides more than enough of your WTF moments.
8 Super Mario Super Show! (1989)
A mix between cartoon segments and live action, a lot of this show begs the question, "Why does this exist?" The cartoon portions of the show would feature all the game favorites, while Mario and Luigi had American accents, and the human parts would follow more of a sitcom setup between the two brothers.
The cartoon itself was fine and enjoyable enough, if never pushing the envelope but at least giving life to a world formerly only seen in games, including Peach, Toad and Bowser. Every Friday would also include a Legend of Zelda cartoon segment.
7 Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Is this movie a fever dream? A side effect of too many late nights illuminated by a screen accompanied by Lucozade and Cheetos? Super Mario Bros. stars Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) and John Leguizamo (Romeo + Juliet) as the plumber brothers, alongside Dennis Hopper bizarrely as Bowser. Creative liberties, or a complete misunderstanding of the original source material? You decide.
In the now infamous clip, the late Bob Hoskins reveals that he didn't even know Mario was based on a video game when he signed on:
6 Wreck-It Ralph Movies (2012, 2018)
Although not directly created via Nintendo, seeing Bowser in a self-help group alongside Zangief from Street Fighter questioning their decisions to be bad guys is such a neat touch. Wreck-It Ralph and its sequel slide in to the same 'best version of X without actually being related to it' like Galaxy Quest did for Star Trek. Bowser's inclusion represents just the love and attention to detail that this film has for video games in general, and despite a pretty weak third act it's all pretty fun.
5 Detective Pikachu (2019)
A fun take on what felt like an exhausted superhero and crappy video game adaptions landscape in Hollywood at the time, Detective Pikachu sees a boy discover that this particular Pikachu can talk and is voiced by Ryan Reynolds.
Looking absolutely stunning and believably capturing a world where Pokémon and humans live together, Detective Pikachu can't hold its one-note gimmick together in its final act, but is a fun ride nevertheless.
4 The King of Kong (2007)
In this wonderfully nerdy documentary, the focus is on the lives of arcade enthusiasts vying to be the world record-holder for the Donkey Kong high score. Showing that these numbers are these people's lives, and how they physically train for this competition, puts any actual gorilla and his barrels in the backdrop in comparison. Plus, Billy Mitchell (pictured) makes a fantastic villain. Just like spending hours away in an actual arcade, The King of Kong doc is wonderfully loud, bright and addictive.
3 Kirby: Right Back At Ya! (2001-2003)
Kirby's (and Smash Bros.) creator Masahiro Sakurai said that he wanted Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, to have the same ideals as the game, in that kids and adults could enjoy it equally. The show's attention to detail is wonderful, with sound effects straight out of the game and voices feeling distinct and belonging to their characters.
Lush to look at, colorful and adorable (and at a whopping 100 episodes in total!) this is under-the-blanket viewing that will eat up hours at a time. Rather like Kirby himself, however, there is very little edge at all to this series, certainly catering to a younger demographic, with the pratfalls of anime tropes that can grate (annoying child characters/irritating villain sidekicks...).
2 F-Zero: GP Legend (2004)
Now we're talking! F-Zero fans are often left in the pits when it comes to anything new (the last proper F-Zero game was released way back in 2004). As such, this anime series about a team of cops who participate in the F-Zero grand prix races whilst getting in to scraps against the evil Black Shadow is delightful. Captain Falcon himself is presented as this mysterious legendary figure that only adds to his cool mystique.
The series is super Japanese through and through, and very much of that part of the world which anime fans should only jam with. At only 51 episodes, this could be started and finished in less than a week. Do it. It's great.
1 Pokémon (1997-2023)
The long-running TV show followed Ash on his adventures through the world of Pokémon, and the gang's all here, with Red, Professor Oak, and Brock all made to be regulars. Team Rocket antagonize throughout and countless feature length films have been borne from the series. Colorful, varied, and as vast as the Pokémon themselves, this is Nintendo content at its most mainstream and accessible.
Ash and Pikachu's adventure finally came to an end after 25 seasons. With multiple movies and over 1,200 episodes viewed the world over, Pokémon's place in history is well assured.
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