The Maxi-Geek Nintendo Christmas Gift Guide

November 19, 2020 Luke Henderson

The holidays are fast approaching and that means that you will have to brave either the in person stores, or fight the frustration of an online checkout, in order to secure those important presents.

This year, we decided to throw our hat into the ring on the gift guide front, to suggest what we think are some of the best games, gear and goodies, available. This time we are talking about Nintendo, specifically the Switch as the 3DS has passed on from the world of gaming.

In order to be considered for the list, we looked at two crucial elements, was it a good game and did it provide great value for money. Scouring through hundreds of games, these are what we suggest, for that Nintendo fan in your life.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit

Mario Kart games are big sellers, have been since the original and I don’t see that stopping, but what they rarely do is change things up in a massive way, but that is not the case here. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is an all new game, that features a real world kart, that you control.

You can create tracks on the floor of your house, place down any obstacles you want and then race, there is almost no limit to what you can create. The only downside is that you need a fair amount of space in order to full enjoy this, but if you have it, this is a blast. There are two versions in stores, the only difference is if you get Mario or Luigi as your kart.

EB Games | JB HiFi | Amazon | The Gamesmen | Our Review

Paper Mario: The Origami King

The Paper Mario games have always been a bit of a niche experience, starting out as more traditional RPG’s they evolved over the years to try and make themselves more accessible to gamers. The Origami King manages to break a lot of the traditional restrictions the series put on itself, and still manage to deliver a wonderful time.

There are characters to meet, toads to save and a kingdom to unfold and over the course of the journey, you will have some very heartwarming moments and some side busting ones. While not a lot of replayability in terms of story, there are plenty of things to discover, which should keep most folks going for the gold.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

This is a game that no-one thought we would get, first up it is another entry in the Hyrule Warriors game, the first which is also on Switch, brought the characters from dozens of Zelda games together and told a new story. The second reason we never thought this might happen, the game is a prequel to Breath of the Wild.

Set 100 years before the events of the game that Switch owners should ensure they play, this will give players access to a story many have wanted and when you combine it with the musou genre, you can start to see the appeal. There are dozens of characters to play as, across maps that span Hyrule and some familiar faces to fight with and against.

Borderlands Legendary Collection

Borderlands is a series that has been going strong for a while now and until this year, Nintendo fans were never able to experience any of that, but that changed with the Legendary Collection. This collection managed to provide Borderlands, Borderlands 2 and Borderlands The Pre-Sequel and all of their DLC’s in one simple package.

Given that each game on its own can give you dozens, upon dozens of hours of gameplay, if you play solo, teaming up a friend means that you can simply while away the days, looting across Pandora and other locations. Just make sure you have a memory card for some data, as there is a bit to download.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars

There isn’t really much to say about Super Mario 3D All-Stars, it is a collection of three platformers from Mario past, that were all made in the 3D, thus the name. With Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, each of the games offers something very different from the others in the collection, but they are all wonderful Mario games.

As this is a bit of a celebration of Mario’s 35th year of existence, there is also a nice collection of soundtracks from the games to enjoy and as all the games have some incredible pieces of music, that is a very welcome thing indeed. The game was recently patched to allow for some controller upgrades, including support of the GameCube controller in Sunshine, which is very welcome.

Minecraft Dungeons

Minecraft Dungeons might seem like a bit of a weird game at first, it is Minecraft without the creation, but if you ignore that aspect, what you can get your hands on is a solid up to four player dungeon crawler, that is always changing. There is a story narrative to take you from stage to stage, but the ability to jump in and try to get the best loot is just as strong.

The game recently got the promised crossplay update, meaning that you can now play with anyone from any of the other consoles, growing your potential player base by an astronomical number. As long as you are willing to dive back in for one more run, the game will keep providing you with new things to see and do.

Burnout Paradise Remastered

Burnout is a series that needs to make a return, it has ventured into that with the fantastic Burnout Paradise Remastered and for now, that is good enough. The game comes with everything that was released for the game, including the Big Surf DLC, which adds an entirely new island to drive around.

There are hundreds of events to take part in, over 400 gates to smash through, a dozen super jumps to find and more, plus then you can take it online and race anyone from around the world and if that is not enough, every road has its own time trial and crash targets. Basically, there is a lot to do here and I didn’t even mention that soundtrack.

EB Games | JB HiFi | Amazon | Nintendo eShop | Our Review

The Outer Worlds

This might seem like a bit of a weird entry on the list, given how people give it a bad rap for its visuals and yes, it is not as pretty as the other console versions, its recent update has made it playable again. This is a game that is all about choice, you can run in guns blazing and try to survive, or you can instead change your position and use your words.

There is a massive story thread that will give you countless hours to enjoy, plus dozens of side missions, backed up by the most absurd characters across the outer worlds. Plus two expansions are coming, there is a lot to look forward to captain.

So there you go, just a few of the amazing games available on Switch, if you want more there is always the Bioshock Collection, any of the three Oddworld games that released this year, 51 Worldwide Classics and if they don’t already own it Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Looking on another platform, check out all our Gift Guides below