When we put together this list, we didn't restrict it to 2015 releases - it probably would have been a very boring list otherwise. And it's hard to imagine the year in news without a couple of games in particular, so what started out as a 15 game list ended up rolling nearly 40 deep.

But in the end, the following games didn't end up making the cut. Here they are, in alphabetical order.

• Affordable Space Adventures: Indie title notable for using all of the GamePad functions and for being a prime example of a premium indie game avoiding sales for a long time.
• Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival: A sad representation of Nintendo's November that tanked pretty much everywhere and left thousands of Amiibo rotting on store shelves.
• Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer: Served as the introduction to amiibo cards, which touched off a second wave of the amiibo craze. Series 1 might still be sold out in Japan.
• Bayonetta 2: Platinum's action title picked up a lot of great critical acclaim in 2015, but the big story came at the end of the year when she won the Super Smash Bros fan ballot.
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Moon: In a year where spiritual successors ruled crowdfunding, the port of Igarashi's return to the genre he helped define held the Kickstarter record (until E3).
• Codename S.T.E.A.M: The first new property from Intelligent Systems in a while became solid after a speed patch, but the damage was done in the market.
• Devil's Third: Infamous use of the "superembargo" later made famous by Fallout 4 nearly got this website in legal trouble, then it turns out the game was what the French call "le crap". The fans demanded NoA release it in lieu of a 3rd party, so they printed less copies than Shovel Knight got.
• Dragon Quest XI: It exists and is coming to the 3DS, but did Square inadvertently reveal the first title for the NX in the process?
• Earthbound Beginnings: Famously referred to as "Nintendo's biggest E3 announcement", the World Championships pregame announcement finally released in the west after 25 years.
• Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water: Nintendo finally released a Fatal Frame game in North America after acquiring the property from Tecmo Koei, but limited releases and concerns about content dogged the horror title.
• Genei Ibunroku #FE: The game with the name as Japanese as possible finally emerged from the shadows in 2015, bringing a completely unbelievable style and an interesting choice of genre. Oh, and it comes out in Japan this week.
• Hyrule Warriors: Although it did release its final DLC pack this year, it's going to get a major addition next year with the content of Hyrule Warriors Legends - and a piece of concept art ended up becoming a full fledged character.
• The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes: Nintendo did this game no favors by tying statements about female characters in Zelda to the game, and the early beta had some serious issues. Despite all that, the game came out all right.
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD: For the first time ever, a Western studio is working on a Zelda game for a Nintendo platform. Data miners found a whole bunch of things on the eShop including this game, and now it's got its own exclusive Amiibo.
• Mario Kart 8: We knew the 2nd DLC pack was coming this year, but nobody saw the 200cc mode coming.
• Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate: The main game that took advantage of the New 3DS at its Western launch, it sold over a million copies in the West.
• Picross 3D 2: The collective cry of joy that lept from the Nintendo World Report staff when this was announced would only be matched by announcement of its localization. Hopefully soon.
• Pokkén Tournament: The Pokémon fighting game got its home version at about the biggest show it could get short of E3.
• Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow: Will probably be the first Virtual Console game on 3DS in a year, nobody saw the re-release coming with wireless trading and battling.
• Pokémon Shuffle: The first move of Pokémon into free to start on the 3DS - though without the spending caps of its successors - would later make the jump to mobile itself.
• Shovel Knight: Released the Plauge of Shadows expansion that radically changed the game, and got an amiibo. Yes, an indie game gets an amiibo.
• Skylanders SuperChargers: Became the first toys-to-life game to support a combination of its own figure and amiibo.
• Star Fox Zero: First it was a tease, then it was the holiday lineup with the help of Platinum, but its delay left a gaping hole at the end of the year
• Super Mario Maker: Was the grand final at the Nintendo World Championship, which set the tone for its levels. After some concern over its unlock system, it's begun to receive a full firehose of content.
• Xenoblade Chronicles X Nintendo’s most ambitious game since, well, the original arrives with a slight bit of controversy and really high reviews.
• Yo-Kai Watch: Nintendo’s attempt to create another Pokémon sold like chocolate covered crack in Japan and not so much in the United States, but is it a slow burn here?
• Yooka-Laylee: The reuniting of former Rare developers fluent in the 3D platformer broke Kickstarter land speed records on its way to the Wii U next year (maybe?)
• Yoshi's Woolly World: We'll never know why the game was delayed in North America after already being delayed for half a year everywhere else, but Good Feel climbed back to the top of the yarnball.
• Zero Time Dilemma: Following comments from the developer that the game would never happen, it had the longest viral marketing campaign in Nintendo history, and it paid off perfectly.