Is the "Nintendo Bump" Real?

A Bump in the Road

Recently I was watching an episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, when Colin Moriarty remarked about how, in his opinion, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is helped by the “Nintendo Bump”. The idea of the Nintendo Bump is that games score higher simply because they are made by Nintendo, and if they were made by another developer, the score would be lower. This notion is completely untrue in my eyes, and to prove that, you need only look at Nintendo’s Metacritic scores for last generation.

Earning a 69 on Metacritic
Star Fox Zero was universally
panned for poor controls
and repetitive design 

When looking at the Metacritic scores for Nintendo’s first party efforts on the Wii U, all games released by the big N from November 2012 through 2017, the scores seem very fair. When Nintendo released a mediocre game, it received a mediocre score. For example, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash was one of the two Nintendo games to score between 51-60 on Metacritic. The game was universally panned for having a lack of content and originality, and thus it received an average score. Moving up the scale, six Nintendo games scored between 61-70. This bracket includes games such as Star Fox Zero and Mario Party 10. Again, these games received middling scores because of the game’s faults, and did not get a pass because Nintendo was attached to them. They both received criticism for various reasons: from Star Fox’s controls to Mario Party’s lack of depth and strategy. However, Nintendo also had some great successes.

SSB4 is a fantastic
fighting game

On the other end of the spectrum, only three Wii U games have received a Metacritic average of 91 or higher; Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Mario 3D World, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. All of those games are fantastic, and deserve their score completely. They all represent a refinement of their formulas, and are top examples of their respective genres. While these games represent the best the Wii U has to offer, many fan favorites have fallen below the peak scores.

Splatoon is a ton of fun,
but rightfully criticized for
a lack of launch content

Many great games that represent the best their franchise has to offer dipped below an average of 91. Fan favorites such as Mario Kart 8, Pikmin 3, and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze landed between 81-90. Similarly, many new and innovative experiences such as Captain Toad, Super Mario Maker, and Splatoon fell into this bracket. All those games in the 80s are considered amazing games and are must play titles for the system. At the end of the day though, it is the expectation of reviewers to check their nostalgia at the door and review a game based on its merits alone, not its merits plus the merits of previous Nintendo games, and I feel they do a great job of giving balanced scores.

Like Nintendo, Sony's first
party has three games with a
Metacritic score above 91

If games like Mario Kart 8, arguably the most refined entry in the series, cannot achieve a score above 91, a Nintendo Bump cannot exist. In the last four years, only three Wii U titles from Nintendo have scored in that bracket. This is right in line with Sony’s exclusives; there are three of them that have scored above a 91: Journey, The Last of Us Remastered and Uncharted 4.The fact of the matter is, Nintendo earns their scores just like everyone else, and when their game is not worthy of high praise they do not receive it. If a game is short on content, they are docked points. If the game lack a soul, they lose points. If it is missing features it scores lower. But when they release games of the highest caliber, it is disingenuous to discount them simply based on Nintendo’s heritage. It is mentalities like the “Nintendo Bump” that has pushed Nintendo out of the mainstream gaming culture. If we do not treat Nintendo the same as we treat Sony or Microsoft we cannot expect them to change and operate their business the same way that the other two console makers do. Celebrate their great games, criticize their poor ones, but do it truthfully.