Breath of the Wild Tops Rolling Stone’s Best Nintendo Switch Games of All Time

Posted on March 06 2025 by Julia Wilson

Rolling Stone recently published their 20 Best Nintendo Switch Games of All Time list, and the rankings are topped by Breath of the Wild.

The publication describes The Legend of Zelda‘s first Switch outing with this glowing accolade:

“It just so happens that this particular video game isn’t just the best on the Nintendo Switch, but arguably, the greatest ever made.”

They expand further on what makes Breath of the Wild such an outstanding game:

“The successes of Breath of the Wild aren’t steeped in complex lore or epic battles; it’s more about the little things. Each query is a personal puzzle to solve — how to survive a frigid snow cap or chase down a sky bound dragon from the ground — on top of many literal puzzles. But its greatest strength isn’t in telling a cinematic narrative or adhering to people’s preconceptions of how a fantasy game should be, it’s firmly being firmly what it should be: a video game.”

Given that Breath of the Wild also took the top spot in Rolling Stone’s Greatest Video Games of All Time list, this position isn’t unexpected. However, it is good to see that Tears of the Kingdom took sixth position, ahead of the behemoths Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Mario Kart 8.

The list’s Top 10 are as follows:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
Metroid Dread (2021)
Super Mario Odyssey (2017)
Tetris 99 (2019)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)
Splatoon 3 (2022)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (2022)

Although, interestingly, when Rolling Stone offered a definitive ranking of the Legend of Zelda games in 2024, that list was topped by Tears of the Kingdom, with Breath of the Wild in second place and The Wind Waker in third place.

What do you think? Should there have been more Zelda games in the top 20? And do you agree that Breath of the Wild is a worthy winner? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Rolling Stone