INTRO
Atari churned out bad games in the 1980s. In 1985 in the US and 1986 in Europe, Nintendo released the NES home console. It sold 60 million units globally and has 700 games. We wouldn’t have our favorite game series without the NES. If you don’t like the list, visit our site and rate your favorite NES games. The list changes. This NES list video will last forever, however you can alter others, like our Game Boy Color list. Not now though. Let’s examine this 8-bit home console.
MEGEMAN2
Sometimes it’s hard to get into the NES because of its hardware or because it’s a new system. Mega Man 2 learnt from its predecessor’s flaws and became a masterpiece. It’s fascinating to understand how enemies move and the controls are tight and responsive. Many of us became lifetime Mega Man fans because of this game’s music. Mega Man 2 is usually an excellent pick.
BUBBLY
Bubble Bobble was popular in 1986. It’s so popular it appeared in “San Junipero” from Black Mirror. The arcade game was adapted to the NES with the same platforming, cute dragons, and bubble-shooting co-op fun. Bubble Bobble for NES is easy to learn and play, but challenging to master. When attackers are jumping everywhere, it’s challenging to navigate between platforms and time your jumps. It was a wonderful arcade quarter-saver. Since you couldn’t put more quarters in your NES, the game had a password system. Bub and Bob made the transition from arcade to console nicely.
KIRBY’S ADVENTURE
In the early 1990s, Masahiro Sakurai created the pink puffball Kirby and his first full-color adventure for the NES. Kirby’s operation hasn’t changed much over time. You dash across levels by eating foes and using their skills. Cute boss fights and minigames break up the action, and the game is beautiful. Like the original Legend of Zelda, Kirby’s Adventure employs a battery backup to track your progress, so you won’t have to write down passwords or start over. Kirby isn’t about memorization or skill. Kirby’s Adventure is a pleasant, easy-to-play platformer after all these years.
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
Teenage mutant ninja turtles 3 was the best NES beat-em-up. The Manhattan Project is an arcade-quality game. Turtle 3 is NES-only. This game doesn’t contain Pizza Hut product placements like NES’s Turtles 2, although I’m not sure if those benefitted Pizza Hut. We’re not ordering pizza, but I adore it. The Manhattan Project resembles Turtles 2 Arcade. It came out late in the NES’s life, thus less people played it, but it’s one of the finest. Each turtle has a few attacks, but you can swap between them when you lose a life.
CHIP ‘N DALE
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers is one of the NES’s rare co-op games. You and a pal can play as Chip and Dale to find a missing cat. Interesting, huh? Platforming and box-throwing action make up for a weak tale. This is another difficult game to master, especially solo. Find another chipmunk detective to play with.
ATTACK
Punch Out is great if you don’t enjoy sports games. The show is enjoyable since it’s not too serious. Boxing is recognized for avoiding and blocking blows like Mike Tyson, but it’s more about rhythm and locating weak points. There’s no better feeling than when you figure out how to stop bald bowl or knock King Hippo’s shorts off. Punch Out is a game you may replay to master new skills or improve your timing. Little Mac and Doc Lewis will always make sure you have fun.
CASTLEVANIA
If a game’s main character has a whip, it’s automatically likened to Castlevania. Even by today’s standards, jumping and whipping at medusa heads, brick walls for chicken, or Dracula still feels fluid. In the 1980s, Konami added more monsters to a violent vampire’s plot. This inspired the Belmonts. If you keep playing and use checkpoints, you’ll learn opponent tendencies and where to uncover secret items. More Castlevania games? We’ll be damned if you don’t have fun killing Dracula, even if you play the first one.
DQ4
The Dragon Quest series, which began on the NES, wasn’t as successful in the US when it first came out. The fourth game, Dragon Warrior 4, has a big plot with many characters. Hiro’s alternative skin is Dragon Quest 4’s primary character. You’ll probably have more fun with the DS remake, but good luck finding either version at a fair price.
BATMAN GAME
Friday the 13th, Karate Kid, and cool world jaws are NDS movie-based games. Most of these games are awful, so don’t play them. Batman the video game. Beyond a few phrases and pixel art representations of the film, this game could have been anything if Batman wasn’t in it. Sunsoft, which made blaster master, made this compact action platformer. It has unique boss fights, levels, and music. Arkham wasn’t the first Batman game to surprise us, and it won’t be the last.
SNES
Super Mario Bros. put Mario, everyone’s favorite plumber who eats mushrooms, on the map. The simple gameplay of running and jumping on foes and collecting coins was fun, and the soundtrack by Koji Kondo and world design by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka enhanced the experience. Super Mario Brothers proved the formula is timeless. Super Mario World and other platformers make the original NES Super Mario Brothers look outdated, yet gaming wouldn’t be the same without it.
LIFEFORCE
Sometimes a game is so difficult you want to toss your console. I liked Life Force. This game is on the list, so I figured a lot of people like it. Life Force is a lot like Gradius. Tough bosses, stackable power-ups, and a fantastic soundtrack. Sometimes horizontal, sometimes vertical. Life does as it pleases. The landscape might be as dangerous as the adversaries because it can alter and halt you. The game features an addicting risk-reward mechanism. The game makes your pulse beat faster as you fire adversaries, traverse across a shifting scenery, and gather power-ups. If you like shmups and have time to master the patterns, you should try Lifeforce.
DUCKTAIES
During the GameCube and N64 eras, pop culture video game tie-ins sucked. On the NES, if you saw the Capcom logo on a cartoon game, you were in for a good time, and the original Ducktales is a home run. Ducktales has amazing soundtrack, crisp controls, and engaging gameplay.
LINK’S ADVENTURE
Legend of Zelda has changed since the 1980s and 1990s. Before the internet, kids and adults had to share advice, make handwritten notes, create maps, or call Nintendo Power Line for aid. Hyrule’s mystique made this a social occasion. What made it magical? Link, Zelda, and Ganon’s original plot can feel archaic compared to its siblings. You can still enjoy this game if you play with a friend, take a classic approach, trade advice, and avoid the internet. This series inspired many to start gaming. Who knows what kind of gamers we’d be otherwise?
CONTRA
Gunstar Heroes and Metal Slug were my favorite NES games, but Contra was the best. It was the first side-scrolling running gun, it started the Konami Code, and Terminator and Rambo fought xenomorphs together. From the cover, you might believe Contra for the NES is the best co-op game ever. Even with a Konami code, the game is old school hard, but with the spread shot, aliens have no chance.
MEGAMAN
Mega Man 2 was the best of the original Blue Bomber games, but Mega Man 3 improved on it. Proto Man or Rush, who’s Mega Man 2’s best robot dog? What’s better?
NARUTO
Ninjas are cool for everyone. Ninja Gaiden on the NES and its sequel, Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos, captures being a super-fast assassin in the 1990s. Quick power-ups and fights keep things exciting, and the metal music is still great to listen to. Ninja Gaiden’s cutscenes were ahead of their time, and while Cyber Shadow and The Messenger have improved on the model, Ninja Gaiden started it all.
TETRIS
Tetris on the NES is a terrific way to play the famous block-dropping puzzle game, even though it doesn’t feature a 99-player option or cool Nintendo sceneries and themes. Everything is clear. Change the game’s speed, difficulty, and music. Hirokazu Tanaka composed their music. He wrote music for Metroid Kid, Icarus, Super Mario Land, and Earthbound. Tetris made video game skeptics play for hours on end. It proved that everyone can enjoy video games. Tetris helped bring Dr. Mario, Puyo Puyo, and Panel Dupont to the West. Easy to learn, hard to master. My grandfather would play NES Classic games.
TWO GARGOYLES
Despite the Super Nintendo’s 1991 US and 1992 EU release, he solely plays NES games. He just plays NES. Another amazing game is Gargoyle’s Quest 2. It’s a sequel to the original Game Boy game and a forerunner to Demon’s Crest. You play as Firebrand, a ghosts and goblins demon. Your fighting style is like his. You’ll see opponents. You’ll die often, but the game is forgiving. Each level has a Final Fantasy-style overworld with NPCs and things to collect. Excellent use of color.
FINAL BATTLE
Final Fight was a hit in arcades and on the Super Nintendo, so Capcom didn’t want to leave it off the NES. Mighty Final Fight was a chibi variant of the original Final Fight. Great character sprites, a fantastic soundtrack, and smooth fighting. As Cody Guy or Hager, you can move swiftly around the screen and level up to unlock new attacks and get tougher. Mighty Final Fight was a late NES game, therefore few were created. It’s one of the priciest games here. Mighty Final Fight was a late NES game, therefore few were created. It’s one of the priciest games here.
DRACULA’S CURSE
Most people felt this vampire-hunting franchise was cursed after Castlevania 2, but the developers turned the curse back on Dracula. The game improves on everything previously. Some sprite work makes the images look 3D. Great music and fighting. This new adventure offers multiple paths, new people to meet, and multiple endings. After our first trip, we wanted this.
MARIO 3
Super Mario Bros. 3 included frog outfits, flying raccoons, and toad houses, and we adore it. The company’s key release sold out rapidly. Nintendo employed The Wizard to promote the game before the internet was popular. My childhood VHS of The Wizard. I got this from Walmart. I got it at Walmart. Super Mario Brothers 3 offered us Koopas, an overworld map, and other stuff. It’s still a great platform game. Super Mario Brothers 3 would be hard to pass up if it were our last Mario game. [Music] Here are your 21 favorite NES games. Tell us in the comments if your favorite NES games made the list. Vote for your favorite NES, Game Boy Color, and N64 games at nintendolife.com. Vote for your favorite games, and the results will effect future lists. If you liked this video and want to see more like it, subscribe and tell us what your favorite NES game is. Then set an alert to know when we release a new blog?
