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1) Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Collaborator: Squaresoft
System: SNES
Before Square’s infamous defection from Nintendo to Sony, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was the final (for the time) instance that the two companies would work together. What a swan song it was, as Mario RPG demonstrated just how perfect a fit the genre was for Nintendo’s plumber. People often compare Mario RPG to Chrono Trigger (in terms of quality) with good reason, as it’s one of the best RPGs ever made. A big part of the credit goes to its battle system, which incorporated timing-based elements that made fights more than just about mindlessly tapping commands on menu screens. Mario RPG was also rife with cameo appearances, including ones by Link and Samus. The story was also fittingly grand coming from the studio behind Final Fantasy, yet felt right at home within the trappings of the Mushroom Kingdom. Throw in a spellbinding score, one of the best supporting casts ever, and the shocking twist of Bowser as a (gasp!) good guy, and this is the pinnacle of Nintendo collaborations… for now.
Any collaborations we left out? Thoughts on some upcoming collaborations like Smash Bros. and Shin Megami X Fire Emblem? Let us know below!
Interesting choices, and mostly great games. But Other M will never stop filling me with rage.
I eagerly wait to spend my eShop money on a Wii U version of Mario RPG. I was tempted with that Club Nintendo reward last month, but ultimately didn’t want to buy a classic controller.
Great list. I enjoyed Minish Cap immensely and thought it was quite charming. However I felt the Oracle games were more challenging, which makes them the superior collaboration in my opinion. I was glad you mentioned them in your write-up.
Also, While it doesn’t fit your criteria for making this list since Silicon Knights was a second party developer at the time, I would give an honorable mention to “Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes” for Gamecube. While the bulk of the collaboration was between Silicon Knights and Konami, Nintendo was sure to emphasize Miyamoto’s overseeing of its development. The game turned out great and was an unexpected surprise-addition to Gamecube’s awesome (and underrated) library.
I was within millimeters of plugging in MGS, but it was in too much of a gray area to me as I was writing. In retrospect, I probably should have thrown it on the list. It’s one of my all time favorite games! So good.
Eternal Darkness as well, for that matter. That game led me to buy Twin Snakes, which in turn got me into what is now one of my favorite game series.
Silicon Knights was truly in their golden age when they were close with Nintendo, same as Rare. Damn it Nintendo, you better not ever loosen your ties with Retro! :^)
Glad to see the Silicon Knights games being mentioned in the comments. I understand why they weren’t on the list, but think they are fantastic games – clearly the best games that studio ever made by a large margin. Also some of my personal favorite games on GameCube.