The 2025 holiday season is almost upon us, and with it comes deciding what to get for that special Nintendo gamer. Nintendo fans have a lot to be merry about this year, thanks to the launch of the Switch 2 and a small handful of must-play exclusives.
Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza were solid introductions to Nintendo’s new hardware, but there are plenty of other great games available for the Switch 2, either as newly-released native titles or older Switch 1 games that can be played through backward compatibility.
These three games in particular would make for excellent gaming stocking stuffers this holiday season for anyone with a Nintendo console, be they timely new releases that have been anticipated for a long time or older games that are being revisited at just the right time.
Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2
As its name suggests, next year’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will base its plot on the classic 2007 Nintendo Wii platformer, making this holiday season the perfect opportunity to dive into Super Mario Galaxy either for the first time or all over again.
As luck would have it, Nintendo recently re-released this seminal entry in the Super Mario Bros. franchise on the Switch, either in a combo pack with its equally stunning 2010 follow-up or as a separate purchase in the eShop. Super Mario Galaxy sees Mario venture beyond the Mushroom Kingdom into outer space on another adventure to thwart Bowser and save Princess Peach. Thanks to its innovative level design and impressive use of the Nintendo Wii’s motion controls, Super Mario Galaxy is seen as one of the best Mario games of all time.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 built on the formula that made the first game such a smash hit by adding Yoshi, who will also appear in the upcoming The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Both games have been enhanced for the Nintendo Switch, sporting enhanced graphics, an in-game music player, and amiibo support. If you or someone you know wants to experience the original Super Mario Galaxy before the movie hits theaters next spring, there might be no time like the present.
Donkey Kong Bananza
Nintendo’s resident great ape made a smashing debut on the recently released Switch 2 earlier this summer with Donkey Kong Bananza, a novel open-world platformer that took players on an underground adventure filled with fun characters and colorful worlds.
The ability to smash these worlds however the player sees fit is the core gameplay mechanic of Donkey Kong Bananza, as DK can use his mighty fists to break almost any surface he comes across – be it a rock wall or the ground beneath his feet. This makes for an entertaining sandbox for players to crash and bash their way through, and grants them the freedom to explore any way they want.
Players can also unlock powerful new animal forms that let Donkey Kong and Pauline run with the speed of a zebra or fly like an ostrich. This leads to plenty of gameplay variety as players scramble to collect all of Donkey Kong Bananza‘s Banandium Gems, and the game’s story of friendship and self-discovery is just cozy enough for the holiday season.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Fans have waited almost two decades for another Metroid Prime game, and now it’s almost here. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond went through a long and tumultuous development cycle that saw the project change hands from Bandai Namco Studios to Retro Studios, and the results will finally launch on both Nintendo Switch systems on December 4, 2025.
From the trailers and footage shown so far, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond takes legendary bounty hunter Samus Aran to the derelict planet Viewros, where she faces a multitude of threats, such as rival bounty hunter Sylux from the Metroid Prime Hunters spin-off.
All the first-person shooting and puzzle-solving action from the previous Metroid Prime games is present and accounted for in Beyond, as well as some new psychic powers that will let Samus interact with her environment like never before. There is also the Vi-0-La, a motorcycle Samus can ride across the open desert landscapes of Viewros. Everything shown from Metroid Prime 4: Beyond looks promising so far, and it is set to release just in time for the holidays.
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