Is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild the greatest launch game of all time?

No, at the time, I couldn't believe what I was seeing with Mario 64

I dont know as it didn't launch with my wiiu, the console it was designed for. I'd say its one of the best games of all time though.. But only because I haven't got annoyed with the weapon breakage yet.

I can't really answer until I play the new Zelda, but I've never had my mind blown by a video game the way that Mario 64 did.

I do think that Nintendo should probably take note and launch every console with a Zelda title from here on, though.

In terms of Nintendo, Mario 64 was the best launch title on the basis that it showed the graphical leap from 2D to 3D more than any other title before it.

That said, the most successful launch title is Wii Sports.

So Zelda should be reserved for console launches from here on out?

As for impact I would say that goes easily to Super Mario 64. As for what I like? BOTW crushes it 100%

Best launch game ever for me cause this is my #1 game of all time.

I hate to discredit opinions by bringing up age, but the lack of original SMB mentions in this topic is criminal lol.

You could take a lot of these statements, swap out SMB with the game they listed, and it would make much more sense.

I get that a lot of this is opinion based and that the criteria isn't exactly clear, but damn. SMB was Yuuuuge!

@ConanTheStoner: I didn't add SMB to the topic because my understanding is it wasn't an NES launch title. People may just be going by the list on the OP

I'm also old as dirt, and I never really thought SMB was all that great. Mario did not really hit me as amazing till 3.

@charizard1605:

Holy shit. I just looked around real quick. Should probably look a bit more, now I'm very interested, but I'm not seeing anything concrete. The fact that one of the biggest game releases of all time has a vague release date is troubling lol. Lots of places have it listed as a launch title. One place I saw has it listed as being nearly a month out.

I guess it's just odd to me, I never knew anyone with a NES who didn't have a copy of that game lol.

Now I must know.

Yeah, that's fair. Again, I think it's the criteria that makes this topic confusing to me.

Like I was discussing with Pedro on the first page. We could look at this in terms of:

- Which launch title moved a ton of units.

- Which launch title had a far reaching impact.

- Which launch title defined a platform.

- Which launch title you believe is simply the greatest game of the bunch.

But when I see all these "impact" posts, it's tough to ignore SMB.

Yeah I for sure understand that, but impact minus fun = poop. (once again that is just me I really did not like SMB all that much.)

Sure it's all subjective anyways. I'd agree that Mario didn't become fanfuckingtastic until SMB3 haha. I still love playing that game.

Though coming out of the Atari 2600, the original SMB was like a dream game to me. I thought it was amazing. It didn't stack up to the great experiences I could find at the arcades, but for a home console game I was blown away. I think it was the only NES game I owned for nearly a year and I just never got tired of it. Of course I was an impressionable and easily entertained child.

But if we're measuring its entertainment value against other great release titles, then hell no, it's not even close for me.

It's close, but not the best. That crown still goes to Mario 64 because it was such a show piece of what 3d games were to become. It showed off how powerful the N64 was for the time. It was also the best example of a semi-open world design on ANY platform at the time. I also think it is a tie with Soul Calibur on Dreamcast. That game was sooo boss. It was a stunner and was better than the arcade cabinet.

Greatest launch game - quite possibly yes.

However a far cry from greatest launch lineup due to how lacking the rest of the launch was

@ConanTheStoner: Yeah, I was always under the impression that it was a launch title, but I've run into information recently that says it was not. The discrepancy bothers me lol, especially because I am interested in the history of this medium. But as it stands right now, I'm not sure if SMB was technically a launch title (though functionally, of course, it was).

@charizard1605: No, a console should hopefully last long enough to get more than 1 Zelda game. They should definitely try to have one ready for each launch, though. Just look at the launches of the Wii and the Switch.

Right, but Zelda games now take 6 years to develop, which is... insane. I highly doubt the Switch will last in this incarnation for six more years, to be frank.

For me, Tekken Tag 1 was one of the best launch games. Mario 64 is great and all, but I still play Tag 1 from time to time.

Listen I love Mario 64 as much as the next gamer, but it's not on the same level as BotW.

It's influence can still be felt in gaming today, but as a game it's simply not as good as BotW.

Super Mario World on the other hand...that's a lot closer. Too close to call for me.

Personally yeah. The only one that comes close is SM64 imo.

Well now that I think about it... SM64 did blow me away as a little kid. It's really close so I don't know.

You should really look at Nintendo's past launches. I really don't see a problem with just Zelda as the flagship launch title.

Can't say for sure at this point. SMW and 64 had a massive impact on gaming, 64 especially. We'll have to wait and see how many games take notes from BotW.

Not sure why you listed Halo, that was an embarrassment. A half-assed game with the most repetitive level design in history.

Anwyay, I'd still give the nod to SM64 over BOTW. SMW too.