The 25 best Switch games of 2017

Nintendo's opening Switch gambit expanded Zelda's famed action RPG mechanics out into a breathtakingly vibrant and cohesive open world. The result is arguably the finest game in this prestigious series.

After Zelda, Nintendo pulled off a stunning Switch one-two with a game that fully followed up on the promise of Mario 64 two decades earlier. The finest 3D platformer ever? You betcha.

Splatoon 2 provides the Switch with its very own multiplayer team-based shooter, but with a deliciously colourful twist. Throw in a brilliant single player campaign and local co-op, and you have another winner from Nintendo.

Sure, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is basically a re-release, but it's a re-release of one of the finest arcade racers ever made. For local multiplayer kicks, it's as good as it gets on Switch.

Who thought that it was a good idea dragging Mario and co. into an XCOM-like turn-based strategy game with Ubisoft's grating Rabbids? Whoever it was deserves a medal - Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was the unexpected triumph of the year.

Nintendo launched a brand new franchise on us in 2017, and ARMS was as fun as it was unexpected. It's a one-on-one beat-'em-up done the Nintendo way - which means wacky characters, tonnes of colour, and a deceptively involved combat system.

The Binding of Isaac has found is way onto every platform under the sun, but it's never felt more at home than it does here on Switch. A quite brilliant roguelike shooter with a memorably grim sense of humour.

Golf games and JRPGs are two very different things that go really well together like peanut butter and jam. Golf Story has charm by the bucketload, and while its gentle golf mechanics are a little crude, it's never less than brilliant fun.

The hit farming simulator RPG mades its way over from PC to Switch with predictably awesome results. Being able to play this gently absorbing pixel-art masterpiece on the go makes it the best version yet, in our opinion.

Switch owners were hardly lacking for online multiplayer kicks in their first year of ownership, but Rocket League's arrival was welcome nonetheless. It's a brilliant fusion of racing and football, complete with a dauntingly extended sweep of a learning curve.

It's not one of the more famous roguelike platformers of recent years (where's our Switch Spelunky?), but GoNNER nonetheless turned out to be a highly playable example with a particularly distinctive hand-scrawled art style.

The last big Switch release of 2017 didn't quite match the earlier efforts, but Xenoblade Chronicles 2 remains a compellingly rich JRPG.

Now this is how retro remakes should be done. Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a complete reimagining of classic Master System platformer Wonder Boy 3. Its beautiful new hand drawn graphics really help such a forward-thinking game shine.

It's not a Switch original, but Death Squared's whole premise - a quirky co-operative puzzler with simple graphics and a sharp sense of humour - seems custom made for Nintendo's console.

A fine remake of Sunsoft's Blaster Master for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Blaster Master Zero flips between side-on and top down shooting action to great effect.

SteamWorld Dig 2 is a resource-collecting platformer with a Metroidvania slant - which is the kind of thing that's always going to win favour with us. It's a particularly good example, too.

You know the deal with Minecraft by now - it's a survival game that lets you build whatever you want from the in-game resources you scavenge. This Switch version provides a fully featured version that you can take with you on the go. What's not to love?

Tumbleseed is a true original, a roguelike shooter with an unusual balance bar movement mechanic. If that sounds like a tricky combination, you're right. This game is extremely hard, but making any sort of progress is immensely satisfying.

Closer to Micro Machines than Mario Kart, Mantis Burn Racing is a feature-packed top-down arcade racer with a brilliantly slidey controls and a nice spread of modes for both solitary and multiple players.

We continue to wait in vain for an F-Zero remake, but in Fast RMX we have a surprisingly strong fill-in. This is a slick anti-grav racer with an impressive sensation of speed and strong visuals.

Zelda sold the Switch as a serious proposition at launch, but it was Snipperclips that sold each of the console's unique features. This charming game is full of local co-op physics puzzles for two or more players to solve together.

It isn't the best Switch port of the year, thanks to a few chugging performance issues, but Rime remains a thoroughly enchanting adventure set on a beautiful mysterious island.

It's a late entry to the list, but Enter The Gungeon is one of the finest indie roguelike shooters of recent years - and if we've learned anything in 2017 it's that the Switch likes indie roguelikes very much.

I Am Setsuna is a classically styled JRPG with the soul of an early Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger, including an involving Active Turn-Based battle system. It looks and sounds lovely too.

Doom deserves to be on this list simply for existing. How on Earth did Bethesda squeeze one of the finest FPS games of recent times onto the little Switch? We don't know, but it remains a remarkably playable - if somewhat compromised - action game.