The Wii U and PS4 are here and the Xbox One is just around the corner, but while a new console launch is all very exciting, it’s the games that are important. Console launches are notoriously light on great games, but over the years there have been a few stand-out titles that have ensured the success of their respective systems. Here are 10 of those games.
Scroll through the gallery below to view the top 10 best console launch games of all time.
Top 10 Best Console Launch Games of All Time
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10. Tekken Tag Tournament
Cited by many as the best Tekken game ever, Tekken Tag Tournament released alongside the PlayStation 2 and became a good reason for fighting game fans to pick up the new console at launch. That, and it's oddly engrossing bowling mini-game.
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9. F-Zero
Nintendo majorly hyped the Super Nintendo's Mode 7 "3D" graphics prior to the console's release, and while we now recognise Mode 7 as being an illusion of 3D rather than actual 3D, F-Zero did a good job of convincing us otherwise during the SNES's launch. In 1990 this legitimately looked like the future, and despite it curiously lacking a multiplayer mode, it was still fun enough to ensure that it stayed on rotation in the SNES's cartridge slot alongside Super Mario World.
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8. Soul Calibur
The Dreamcast may have signalled Sega's departure from console development, but the few who stuck by it know that it housed some classic games, particularly in the fighting genre. Soul Calibur was a sign of things to come for a system that would one day be home to the likes of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Dead or Alive 2 and Power Stone 2, and is still regarded as one of the best fighting games ever.
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7. SSX
While SSX Tricky may be the game that everyone remembers from the snowboarding series' heyday on the PS2, the original SSX was a great game in its own right, and was considered by many to be the greatest title in the PS2's mighty launch line-up.
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6. Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II
One of the greatest Star Wars games of all time (and considering how many there are, that's a high accolade) Rogue Leader almost made up for the fact that Nintendo released the console without a Mario game. Almost.
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5. Wii Sports
While not exactly the best game on this list, there's no denying Wii Sports' impact on the success of the Wii. It perfectly demonstrated how the new motion-control technology worked, and for many years it remained the first game you'd play when your friends or family visited. The Wii would not have been the success that it was if not for Wii Sports, and is the very definition of a system seller.
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4. Halo: Combat Evolved
The Xbox was a big, ugly thing with big, ugly controllers, but despite its unattractive appearance it still managed to win over a strong audience at launch solely due to the quality of Halo: Combat Evolved. Suddenly LAN battles became the new split-screen, which eventually led to the advent of online multiplayer, and the rest is history.
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3. Super Mario 64
Seeing Mario in 3D for the first time was enough to make Nintendo fans rush out and buy the Nintendo 64 on its release day, which must've come as a relief for Nintendo seeing as how Super Mario 64 was only one of two launch games for the console.
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2. Super Mario World
Arguably the best side-scrolling Mario game of all time, Super Mario World had some of the best-looking visuals in the entirety of the SNES's expansive library of games, which is no small feat considering that it was a launch title.
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1. Super Mario Bros.
Yes, Mario ranks in third, second and first on this list, but with good reason: Nintendo has given us some of the best console launch line-ups in history, and Super Mario Bros. was the game that started this trend. SMB made the NES a must-have gift for children the world over, and catapulted Nintendo to the top of the gaming industry.
