The Nintendo Power Awards, once called the Nester Awards (after the cartoon character featured in early issues of Nintendo Power), are the magazine's annual ceremony of recognition for the previous calendar year's games. The awards are nominated by the staff members, and the awards are voted on by the readers via Nintendo.com. The results, which appear in a following issue, reflect both the winners based on readers' votes and which candidates the writers felt should have won. As of 2006, there have been eighteen annual awards featured in what is usually the March issue of the following year, the first awards having taken place in 1989, honoring games released in 1988. The magazine was known for creative awards such as "best mullet" (won by Aqua Man) but these have largely disappeared and have been replaced by more generic awards. The 2009 awards were determined by separate votes of staff and readers leading to two possible winners for each award.
These are the Game of the Year winners from 1988–2011:
- 1988: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)
- 1989: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
- 1990: Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
- 1991: Super Mario World (SNES)
- 1992: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (SNES)
- 1993: Mortal Kombat (SNES)
- 1994: Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
- 1995: Chrono Trigger (SNES)
- 1996: Super Mario 64 (N64)
- 1997: GoldenEye 007 (N64)
- 1998: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
- 1999: Donkey Kong 64 (N64)
- 2000: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
- 2001: Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
- 2002: Metroid Prime (GCN)
- 2003: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)
- 2004: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GCN)
- 2005: Resident Evil 4 (GCN)
- 2006: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN/Wii)
- 2007: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
- 2008: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
- 2009: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
- 2010: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
- 2011: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
In issue 252, Nintendo Power, in addition to their games of the year awards, included a top ten list for the best games of the first decade of the 21st century. They are as follows:
- 1. Super Mario Galaxy
- 2. Resident Evil 4
- 3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- 4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- 5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- 6. Metroid Prime
- 7. Elite Beat Agents
- 8. Metroid: Zero Mission
- 9. Mario Kart Wii
- 10. The World Ends with You
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