Any Tips on Good Nintendo Games?

[Pen]

'Hoy there everyone! I've been playing Nintendo games basically all my life, and I'll stick to that. I've been playing Pokémon, Super Mario, Kirby, Super Smash Bros, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Kid Icarus, Star Fox and Zelda of course. Now I want to get to know some other Nintendo franchises that I haven't yet played, the series I'm interested in are: Metroid, Fire Emblem, Earth Bound, F-Zero and maybe even Pikmin.

My question to you all is: Which game from each of these Nintendo series should I start with? Like, which Metroid game is good to start with? And which Fire Emblem game is good to start with? And so on... I'd really appreciate answers from those of you who have played these Nintendo games!

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: If you know of another Nintendo franchise that I didn't mention in the post, please tell!

 

[TheRizardon]

I haven't played F-Zero or Fire emblem but i have played the other two series. To start with earthbound i'd recommend Earthbound SNES and for metroid i'd recommend Metroid Fusion it's were i started and it really made me like the series.

 

[PhantomTriforce]

Some other good Nintendo franchises are Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts.

With Metroid, I don't really think the order matters, but here is the Metroid timeline, in case you want to play the games in order:

Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission - Metroid Prime - Metroid Prime Hunters - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Metroid II: Return of Samus - Super Metroid - Metroid Fusion

If there is anything I would play in order out of these games, it is the Metroid Prime Trilogy.

 

[ironknuckle1]

Aside from the already mentioned metroid games (i would recommend either Metroid Prime or Super metroid first) another really good nintendo series is the Mother Series (known as earthbound in America)

 

[Ventus]

For Fire Emblem, I highly recommend you pick up either Sacred Stones (FE8 - GBA) or Blazing Sword (literally called "Fire Emblem" in America, but I like to use its real name which is Rekka no Ken or in English, Blazing Sword...it is FE7 - GBA). FE8 will give you a much easier experience, but at the same time, it allows you to get a hang of the ropes. FE7 is far less forgiving; even if you play on Easy Mode (or whatever the mode is, I forget what its called haha...probably normal), the enemies will still wipe the floor with you, and bad characters are made far more apparent.

You could also pick up Shadow Dragon (FE11 - DS) or, if you have the money, I easily recommend you importing Shin Monshou no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu (FE12 - DS japanese only) since the NDS is NOT region locked [thank God]. FE12 while hard on Maniac mode, is like the single best FE experience imo next to FE8. Haven't played Kakusei/Awakening just yet so can't judge on that, but FE12 is just amazing.

 

[Reaca]

For Fire Emblem, I'd start with Sacred Stones or Blazing Sword, then move on to the other English ones, then go on to fan translated versions of the other ones.

 

[Kirino]

For Metroid, I reccomend starting with Metroid Prime for Gamecube(also included in Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii along with Metroid Prime 2 and 3) or Metroid Fusion for GBA.

As for Fire Emblem, either The Sacred Stones for GBA, or Path of Radiance for Gamecube.

I highly recommend both series. Both are excellent, and are some of the best games in their respective genre.

 

[Awesome]

Well there's also the Nintendo Wars series. It's similar to Fire Emblem except you can renew your resources. I'd suggest Advance Wars for the GBA.

And also Earthbound. I haven't personally played the series myself, but I've heard it's amazing. I'd check out the one for the SNES (forget the name...probably just Earthbound)

And also Goldensun. It's an RPG game. There's two for the GBA and a few on the DS. I'd start with the ones on GBA first.

Wario series is okay too. Not my favorite, but fun nonetheless.

Other Nintendo Franchises:

Custom Robo
Sin and Punishment
Super Smash Bros.

That's all I can think of at the moment

 

[A Link In Time]

With respect to Metroid I suggest you start with Fusion. It's a more linear installment but easily gets novice players into the swing of things. While it may start easy puzzles get painstakingly difficult after awhile. I'm three or so hours into the game with three of the eight zones under my belt and have no clue how to progress. As PhantomTriforce maintained, however, there is a timeline so follow it if you wish to follow the story chronologically.

I also agree with Vanitas that Fire Emblem 8 otherwise known as the Sacred Stones is a great starting zone for the franchise. The game features the same unrelenting unit system wherein if one of your forces perishes they are gone the entire story but the difficulty curve is much more forgiving especially with overpowered units like Ephraim and Erika on your side.

I suggest you start with the original Pikmin but since the series is very light on story it doesn't matter. The second game is a bit more polished and streamlined whereas its predecessor features a unique system wherein you must complete the adventure in a certain amount of time or else you fail. Your call.

 

[Pen]

Thank you everybody for the suggestions! The two most tempting series for me right now are Metroid and Fire Emblem. So I've decided to start with either Super Metroid or Metroid Prime of the Metroid series and Sacred Stones of Fire Emblem. Perhaps I'll even try out Earthbound for the SNES.

Thanks much! ^^