Splatoon Raiders has become the best user-reviewed Nintendo game of all time, dethroning The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.

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Released last week, Splatoon Raiders is the first spin-off game from Nintendo’s believed paint spraying Splatoon series. 

“Kit yourself out with mechanical gadgets, arm yourself with a host of different weapons, and splat waves of foes in Splatoon Raiders, a single-player focused game exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2,” reads the official description. “After crash landing on the mysterious Spirhalite Islands, the Mechanic (that’s you!) must collab with a trio of swashbuckling musicians by the name of Deep Cut to get back home, solve the mystery of the islands and, most importantly, recover as much loot as possible.”

Splatoon Raiders has a “generally favourable” critic score of 8.1 out of 10 on review aggregate site Metacritic, which puts it as the 65th best-reviewed title of 2026 so far. However the reviews from players are much more positive. Based on 800 user reviews, Splatoon Raiders has a “universal acclaim” score of 9.3 out of 10, making it the best user-reviewed Nintendo exclusive game of all time. 

The best user-reviewed Nintendo games on Metacritic:

1. Splatoon Raiders (9.3)
2. The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (9.2)
3. Pokemon SoulSilver and HeartGold (9.1)
4. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (9/1)
5. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers Of Sky (9.0)
6. Super Mario Galaxy (9.0)
7. Metroid Prime Trilogy (9.0)
8. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (9.0)
9. Super Mario 64 (9.0)
10. Metroid Prime (9.0)

“Absolutely incredible. I could play this game for hours on end because of how addictive it is and the heavy post game made sure that you had something to do after the final boss. This game combined everything you loved about Splatoon into an awesome single player game with loads of fun. One of the greatest titles Nintendo has put out in the last decade,” reads one glowing review. “This game has so much content, the Splatoon team never disappoints. For me, this is the best Switch 2 exclusive for the moment,” says another. 

Last week. Nintendo boss Shigeru Miyamoto defended the company’s decision to remake classic games Star Fox 64 and The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time. “Young people today don’t have the opportunity to play games from 10 years ago, so remaking them to be more playable and releasing them again is a good way to meet the demand. Letting people know the original games also leads to future developments.”

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