Top 50 NES Games

50. Balloon Fight

It's a Joust clone. Joust is one of the all-time classic arcade games and this is a great rip-off of it. It has a two-player mode just like Joust where you ostensibly work together, but can, of course, hit the other player. It also has a "Balloon Trip" mode where the screen scrolls right to left as you attempt to evade obstacles. It is definitely fun for a few minutes of play, but is nothing you would play for hours.

49. Metal Gear

This game spawned the insanely popular Metal Gear Solid series, but many of the elements that would be in the later series are present here: Having to stealthily avoid guards, using the right items in inventory to get past obstacles, incredibly long and often non-sensical codec conversations. This is a fairly solid adventure game, though it is incredibly easy to get lost and have no idea where to go next. It also has some of the most comical Engrish of all time: "I feel asleep!"

48. Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers

Capcom did amazing things with their Disney license and this game was one of the gems. The characters are detailed and look like they did on the television show. The gameplay, though it consists mostly of picking up objects and throwing them, is amazingly fun. The game itself, being marketed toward the younger crowd, is quite easy and, even at the age of 11, it bothered me that they went with the cliche of the girl (Gadget) being kidnapped. Still, the best part of this game was the 2-player simultaneous play where you could even pick up the other player and "accidentally" throw them to their doom.

47. Tetris (Nintendo)

If I had the Tengen version of Tetris, that would be much higher in this list and this one wouldn't even be on here. Despite the lack of Russian backgrounds and a 2-player mode in the Nintendo version of Tetris, it's still Tetris - one of the most addicting puzzle games ever invented. The graphics are crisp and the music features the classic Russian tunes. It's a perfectly fine version of Tetris, but could have been so much more with just a little more work.

46. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game

What kid wasn't excited at the prospect of having one of the best arcade beat-'em-ups on their home console? It even had extra levels! Unfortunately, this game didn't quite live up to that. While, it was a fun beat-'em-up the first time you played, you pretty soon figure out that regular attacks don't work right and you just special attack every enemy. The bosses provide a little more variety, but most are beaten by well-timed jump kicks. Still, a fun way to spend an afternoon with a friend, if a little easy.

45. Top Gun

One of the earlier games for the system, this still stands up as one of the best flight simulators on the NES. It has nothing to do with the movie as far as I can tell, but is fun despite the lack of Scientologists. Before each mission, you customize your payload and then fight against enemy planes, ships, and ground vehicles. Why they made landing on the aircraft carrier and mid-air refueling so difficult, I have no idea, and dodging those heat-seeking missiles is a bitch. But it's good for those times when you want to fly through the air, kick some butt, and hum Danger Zone.

44. Gradius

Considered to be the greatest of the old-school shoot-em-ups (shmups), I can't say the game has aged incredibly well. The graphics are great, the sounds are not, and the action is frenetic. It pioneered the option system used in sequels and countless imitators. The main problem it (and many of its sequels) has, is that you basically have to beat the game on one life. If you die, you lose all the options you had including the speed-ups which means you can't even outrun enemies while trying to rebuild your arsenal! Of course, there's always the Konami code to get you going again after you die...

43. Dragon Warrior

Speaking of games that haven't aged well, I have to admit that this one is on here mostly for nostalgic purposes. The overworld graphics are primitive, though the enemy graphics are pretty nice. There isn't a lot of music variety, so you get really used to the overworld theme. And the game involves tons of wandering around, getting in random encounters, and winning enough to level up so that you can get to the next area and do the same thing. That said, this game was magical when I first got it. Every new enemy I encountered was like finding a new treasure. There were some interesting puzzles to solve, and there was such a sense of accomplishment when you finally did get to a new area. Nowadays, I would only play the Gameboy Color remake, but I beat this game at least 3 times when all I had was the NES version.

42. R.C. Pro Am

There's something about driving miniature cars that makes it much more fun than driving real cars would be. This game has tight controls, cute graphics, and fun power-ups (I loved missiles until I got good at the game when I realized bombs were where it's at!) Like many games developed by Rare, this one gets difficult fast, and I never could figure out whether it was better to upgrade my car and then grab the "NINTENDO" letters or go for the new cars as fast as possible. The lack of 2-player play is what really keeps this one low - that's half the fun of racing games. The sequel (which I have yet to find a copy of) utilized the 4-player adapter, so at least they learned from their mistakes.

41. Super Off Road

I'm not a huge fan of driving games, which is why these two are lower on the list, but I think this and Pro Am both got it right. An overhead view gives you a full perspective on the course and in Off Road's case, it allows for bumps and pits. The use of nitro for that needed burst during the race and the ability to upgrade your car with your winnings really made it fun (Tires, man! It's all about handling!) This game also made use of the 4-player adapter, though I think I only got more than 2 players playing it two or three times. Still, games that allow multiple players are great and if the damn gray car didn't cheat so much, this game would be much higher.

40. Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six

I have to say that the only reason this game is on the list is because I am a Spider-Man fan. The graphics aren't that hot, the play control is iffy, and Mysterio's level can be full of cheap deaths. What this game gets absolutely right are the characters. While Spider-Man himself is a little deformed, each of the sinister six is well done, especially with a nice splash graphic beforehand. I don't know, despite its flaws I get a good Spider-Man feel when playing this game and that's what puts it on the list.

39. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I'm one of about five people that would put this game above its sequel, but I just liked it better. Okay, so it is difficult as all get-out, and if I hadn't been 10 years old when I had this, I wouldn't have spent the time to beat it, but it does a lot of things right. Each of the turtles plays differently (though really only Leonardo and Donatello are worth using - I didn't mind this since they were my favorites), there are a variety of special weapons that you can pick up, and there's a great sense of exploration. Which building do I go into? Where I should I drive the turtle van to? The presentation is also top notch in this game - the music and cut scenes are great. You can really tell that a lot of effort was put into this game - too bad about the insane difficulty.

38. Faxanadu

Some people really love this game, putting it in their top 10 or 20. I think it is a fun action-RPG, but it just always felt a little "off" to me. I'm generally a big fan of whacking enemies, gaining experience, and improving my stats, but the play control in this seemed a bit stilted. Also, the fact that NPCs blink every other word they say is freaky. Still, I've replayed this game on quite a few occasions so it isn't all bad, and there's a good amount of exploration and customization (which magic to use, mostly). It is enjoyable, even if the story still makes no sense to me after all these years.

37. Shadowgate

The first point-and-click game released for the Nintendo, I dug this because I'm a fan of classic computer adventure games. The story is kind of generic (enter the castle Shadowgate and destroy the Warlock Lord), but there's a good atmosphere in the castle even if it is more empty than one would expect a Warlock Lord's castle to be. The graphics are sharp and don't involve any pixel hunting and the music enhances the mood. The puzzles can be kind of out there (why exactly are you supposed to use the wand on the snake and not anything else? I'm supposed to look at the sign twice?), but it's a solid adventure well-translated to the NES.

36. Metroid

Many will scream at me for putting this game so low, but I think there are two good (related) reasons: 1) I didn't have it growing up, so I was 23 the first time I got a chance to play it through, 2) It hasn't aged that well. Oh, it has a great atmosphere and wonderful music to make you believe you are on a planetoid surrounded by the vast emptiness of space. It controls well and has neat power-ups and an interesting (for the time) twist ending. What hasn't aged well about is that its vastness and exploratory elements are too much. Lots of areas look the same, so you are pretty much hosed without a map. I'm not opposed to games that require you to do some mapping (it was often par for the course in those days), but because the game isn't on any sort of grid system it is damn hard to map (Will this corridor connect with that one? Yes, but over there. Damn! I drew it too long). And there are some items more or less necessary to completing the game that are nigh impossible to discover. That coupled with the game's high difficulty makes it good, but not great in my book. Go play the Gameboy Advance remake, Metroid: Zero Mission for a better take on this (although the mapping plus telling you where to go make that one a bit too easy...)

35. Final Fantasy

I somewhat surprised myself that I didn't put this higher. Unlike the original Dragon Warrior, you have a party of four - and you can customize what they are! You also customize what spells your party has. I think the main thing keeping this game so low is that I played it after playing all of the Dragon Warriors. I was more or less done with having to walk in circles, fighting random encounters until I had enough experience/gold. If the game was either a) non-linear or b) had a good story, I could be more forgiving. As is, it's still a good RPG, just not my first choice of games to play.

34. Super C

This is a good run-and-gun game, but it's pretty much more of the same. It feels like an expansion to the original Contra rather than an outright sequel. The bosses are a little more original, and the biggest innovation might be that there is one point in the game where the spreader isn't the best weapon to have. The over-the-shoulder view base levels in the original weren't great, but they did break up the standard action a bit and this game got rid of them. Actually a very good game, it just stays down here due its lack of originality.

33. Batman

Great music, great atmosphere, great play control, insane difficultly. After the first level, it pretty much departs from the movie it is supposedly based on, but it still feels dark and brooding like a Batman game should. The graphics are crisp and the enemies varied, and you even have a choice of three bat-accesories to use instead of your standard punch. The wall-jump mechanics are very well done and definitely make this game one of the best platformers on the system. It is just a shame that the game is so hard. You get unlimited continues and you'll need them - I still haven't beaten the game.

32. Dragon Warrior II

In all fairness, Final Fantasy is probably a better RPG than this one. Both still require fighting a lot of random battles to level up enough to be able to fight in the next area. This game gives you a party of three to work with, though they are set in their ways (Fighter, Fighter/Magic User, and Magic User). Why I ranked this game higher than Final Fantasy is due to the following reasons which nostalgia may be enhancing: From the opening sequence to when you get the princess in your party, the story is well done. After that, the story pretty much falls off, but I remember being enchanted with the game until that point. Like most Dragon Warriors, once you get the ship, the world opens up and the game becomes very non-linear. You can explore wherever you want (though in some places, the monsters will be too tough for you). It helps that the game world itself is well realized, with each town having a distinct and fleshed-out personality. I also just thought the items and spells in the game were more interesting. Since the game hasn't aged so well, I would again recommend the Gameboy Color remake.

31. NES Play Action Football

I know, I know! Tecmo Bowl (or Tecmo Super Bowl) is the definitive NES football game. Neither of them made this list and this game did? Well, I never owned either game growing up, and I haven't really played Tecmo Super Bowl, but in my opinion, this game definitely beats out Tecmo Bowl. Okay, so Tecmo Bowl had both the NFL and NFLPA license, while this game only has the NFLPA license (and no Philadelphia!) But this game is much deeper of a football game than Tecmo Bowl and it is obvious that the early Maddens took a lot of ideas from here. There are playbooks of 24 offensive and 16 defensive plays to choose from and each team's playbook is different (if only slightly). You don't telegraph which player you are throwing the ball to. Screen passes, options, and handoffs work much better. There are touchbacks. Players tire and can be substituted (watching your quarterback's health is very important). The screen scrolls diagonally making the maximium amount of it available for viewing. There are dives and stiff-arms. You can play up to 4-players at once (granted 4-player football isn't that great an experience). Without a battery to save seasons or stats and with a fair amount of slowdown, I wouldn't play this every day, but if I want a good game of football on my NES, I pull this out.

30. Uninvited

This is the last of the ICOM point-and-click adventures released for the NES and this one definitely has more atmosphere than Shadowgate. I didn't find it quite as spooky as when I played the demo of it on an old Mac, but it was genuinely scary at times. And the characters inhabiting the haunted house (and the emptiness at times) made a bit more sense than the residents of castle Shadowgate. There are still some puzzles whose solutions don't make a lot of sense (I think I called the Nintendo hint line three times for this game) and including an item that slowly kills you when you pick it up (and isn't at all obvious about it) is just mean. A quirky, decent, adventure for the NES.

29. Double Dragon

While I have heard the sequel is superior, I haven't spent the time on it that I have on this one. Which is fine, because this is one of the best beat-'em-ups on the system. In this situation, not being an arcade perfect port helped this game. Having to learn your moves as the game went on was novel and the variety of what you could do to enemies was lots of fun. Like TMNT 2, there is generally a best way to kill each enemy (kick them just as they get into range), but the game is much more forgiving if you want to use other sorts of attacks. Even then, you found that there were other strategies to use for other enemies (generally the boss-like ones like Chintai or Abobo). The graphics are clear enough, the music is well done, and the difficulty is moderate. There's some platforming in the latter stages that can be rather unforgiving and some timing moves that can be just plain unfair (the blocks that come out of the wall in the fifth level). I still have yet to beat Willy, so the challenge at the end is quite tough. Oh, and did I mention the 2-player versus mode? This was tournament fighting years before Street Fighter II. This is a well-done game, just a bit repetitive and occasionally unfair.

28. Ninja Gaiden II

Again, I differ from most people by putting this game as the lowest of the trilogy. Don't get me wrong, you are still a kick-ass ninja, the graphics have been upgraded from the first title (flicker is all but eliminated), the already great music has improved a touch, and the story is the best of the series (the opening sequence is like my favoritest evar!). So why put it below the first and the third installments? For a nitpick, the cutscene image of Ryu is the worst of the series - he looks like a little kid. Mostly what annoys me is the play control. How Ryu jumps has completely changed and he hardly feels like he leaves the ground at all. In Ninja Gaiden III the jump height seems about the same, but it feels more like a jump. The new power-up are the ninja doubles and they are, generally, the lamest things ever. While two bosses are designed around having them be extremely helpful, during the levels, it's hard to make any use of them. Finally, although still a difficult game to complete, it is the easiest of the series. It's the only one I can always get through never having to continue (well, I would have to continue in the first if I didn't use the trick to get tons of lives). It's often placed on lists of the best platformers - and it is a great platformer with a cool story, but just not as great as the other Ninja Gaidens.

27. Baseball Simulator 1.000

For a game I got because of its gimmick, this surprisingly turns out to be a really good baseball game. Oh, if I'd put much time into Baseball Stars (or its sequel), that game would probably make the list instead of this one, but I still maintain that this game is overlooked. The game itself contains all the necessary baseball strategy elements. You control pitches well, being able to throw curves, fastballs, and change-ups. There's skill involved in fielding - your guys don't automatically run to where the ball is going so you need to get a sense of where the batter hit it, then watch its shadow, and hope your fielder changes to the "I got it" graphic before it lands. Players make errors, pitchers get tired and need to be replaced, and you can plug in pinch hitters. And that's just in individual games - you can play seasons (up to 165 games). The battery records statistics. You need to rotate your pitching staff just like real baseball. You can also make your own team. Oh, and there's this whole silly mode you can play where pitchers can pitch fireballs and batters can hit balls that will bouce all crazy when they hit the ground. The graphics are somewhat primitive, the music is repetitive and can get on your nerves, and simulating a game between two computer players takes forever, but this game is really a great baseball experience on the NES.

26. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

The red-headed step-child of the Zelda family, I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit. In 3rd grade, I got this game for my birthday, but the cool kid said his brother tried it and it sucked so I had to hide the fact that I had it. I was eventually found out, but everyone was so excited to actually see the game (I was the first to have it) that I was made to be the cool kid then. Amusing story aside, this is really a solid action/adventure game. Though link fights in side-scrolling levels now, he controls well. The graphics are bright and colorful and the music memorable, if a bit repetitive. The way you customize Link as you gain levels, choosing what stat to improve really worked for me. The game can be quite difficult, and like Faxanadu it feel "off" at times - like the game world isn't quite cohesive. But still, it's hard to beat a game where an attractive lady invites you into her house and then "restores your health." Even at 9 years old, I knew what that meant.

25. StarTropics

This game was billed as the next Zelda and while it doesn't quite live up to it, works pretty well. I find it a better action/adventure game than Zelda II because the world is more cohesive. The towns have personality, the places relate to each other, and the story is well done. It probably helps that it is divided into chapters. The main action takes place from a more-or-less overhead view (maybe 3/4), which becomes a little weird because you have to jump from platform to platform. Otherwise, the action is very reminiscent of the original Zelda and this is a good thing. There are also quite a few nice puzzles involving having to jump on the right platforms in the right order. It isn't incredibly special, but it's quite a bit of fun

24. Strider

What can I say? I like bad-ass ninjas with swords. Okay, so maybe Strider Hiryu is never called a ninja, but I sure thought he was. His sword slash is such a great animation too! Besides the coolness factor, a good amount of adventure elements are mixed into this action game. Having to discover all the disks to reveal the story was a good touch, as was having parts of certain levels inaccessible until you came back with a new item. Looking back on it, I'm not sure how much sense the story makes, but as a kid I loved it. The difficulty is moderate, so everyone should be able to beat the game if they try hard enough. It could be nostalgia, but I find this to be just a very well put-together game with a cool attitude.

23. Mega Man

I guess I'm a sucker for difficult games. Mega Man 2 is the only other NES Mega Man that I have put any time into, and while most consider it to be the better game, I preferred this one. The enemies may not be quite as colorful or as varied (Mega Man 2 probably deserves to make this list just for the bosses in Dr. Wiley's castle), but this game feels better. The robot bosses here make sense, while even by Mega Man 2 they were reaching for concepts and names (I can't even imagine what they were thinking by Mega Man 6). Also, figuring out the order to tackle them makes a good bit of sense too, unlike the others were you just have to guess. This game pioneered the Mega Man style of platforming and unlike its sequel, you have to work to beat it instead of breezing through it. A true pioneer and a great game.

22. Super Mario Bros.

There are 21 NES games I like better than this classic? Yes, well, being a pioneer can only get you still far. This game has aged amazingly and yet was definitely surpassed in its style by many other games (notably the third in the series). From here on, all the games are great, it's just a matter of which I'd rather play. The Super Mario All-Stars version on the SNES was an improvement, as was the Gameboy Color version. Everything else I would want to say about this game has already been said - except that I've never been able to pull off any of the cool tricks like getting to the minus world or getting unlimited lives on the steps at the end of 3-1.

21. Blaster Master

Like Strider, this game is largely here for its coolness factor. I mean, you were a kid that chased your pet frog down a hole in the ground, found a bad-ass suit and tank, and started kicking butt. What kid hasn't wanted to do that? The concept was unique for its time - with two modes of exploration, both in the tank and in the caves. I loved that you could hop into or out of your tank and be just a little guy on the overworld. There were all sorts of enemies to fight (admittedly, most were gray - what's up with that?), power-ups to grab outside. And then, when in the caves, you switched to an overhead perspective where you could power up your gun or lob grenades at guys. The bosses were big and colorful and when you beat them, you generally got a kick-ass new upgrade for your tank. And the music, have I mentioned the music? Great variety, so memorable, and so well done. Really, if this game had been a tad easier, maybe included a save or password feature, and had slightly tighter play control (mostly when indoors - sometimes you would accidnentally walk onto spikes) it would be right at the top.

20. Battletoads

Yes, this was one of the most overhyped NES games, and yes it is an attempt to rip off the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but it is a damn good game. The graphics are big and colorful, the music is varied and memorable. It is ostensibly a beat-'em-up and the play control for that part is great, but really maybe less than half the game is beat-'em-up. In the other half, you are riding a jetbike, climbing giant snakes, or escaping from a gear about to crush you. There is such incredible variety to this game and it is all done so well. Oh, and you can play it wirth a friend for even more fun. While many nominate this for most difficult NES game of all time, I don't find it that bad - it requires some memorization, but no more than many other games considered classics. What this game has is polish, fun, and attitude - lots of it.

19. Bubble Bobble

Bubblen and Bobblen, their girlfriends kidnapped, themselves turned to bubble-blowing dinosaurs, must battle through the cave of monsters to save them and turn themselves back to normal. With a concept like that, how could you go wrong? Sure the graphics were a little primitive looking even when this game came out, but it's a near-perfect port of the arcade classic - it even has 20 added levels. And the play's the thing - the play! The concept of trapping monsters in bubbles and popping them is so simple, and works so well. With wind currents and bubbles moving and getting trapped, and enemies located in nooks and crannies, and having to ride your own bubbles, this game was just incredibly designed. And then there's the mind-boggling number of items and power-ups. From the simple fruit that gives you points, to the types of candy, the one that clears the board of monsters, the umbrellas that let you skip levels, there is so much variety. And, of course, playing with 2-players is the best experience. You work together to kill the baddies, but there's no such thing as co-operation when the big diamond falls! I do believe that some levels are patently unfair (the one with the space invaders on the platform that you have to get up to, grr!) but this game was designed with so much fun that you just take your unlimited continues and go with it.

18. Ice Hockey

Sometimes simplicity is best. Ice Hockey is, by no means, a deep hockey game, but it has everything you need. You can pass or shoot (or fake passing or shooting), check other players, get in fights, and block shots. All of that is done extremely well - it takes skill to master each of these, but once you do, you have a feel for how its done. What really makes the game is the customization. For each of your non-goalies (four, instead of hockey's five) you can choose whether you want them to be fat (slow, fast shots, hard to check), skinny (fast, slow shots, easy to check) or medium. Everyone has their favorite combination (three fats and a skinny!) and there is no "right" answer. Meanwhile, the sound effects and music are pretty impressive for an early release. While achieving enough skill to beat the computer, even on the highest speed, doesn't take long, two-player matches are where it's at. Two humans, duking it out mano-a-mano. No poor play control or cheap AI to blame, just the skill of the two combatants determining the outcome.

17. Deja Vu

By far the best of the ICOM point-and-click adventures ported to the NES, this game has everything needed in a good adventure game. The story is well done, the atmosphere is well set, the graphics don't necessitate any pixel hunting, and the puzzles all pretty much make sense. Really, the 20s-era detective setting works best for a game like this. Since the game is a detective story, the story itself stays front-and-center all game. Everything was well thought out, from the settings, which are well chosen, and the story elements that explain gameplay conceits (you are wanted by the police so little human interaction, you have amnesia so you need to learn important addresses to go to). Like all ICOM games, the music is top-notch, staying true to the style of the story. I enjoy all the point-and-click adventures for the NES, but this one is by far the coolest.

16. Solar Jetman

This is one of the most unique and most overlooked games for the NES. You pilot a shuttlepod (or jet-pod) that must explore the planet, collecting enough fuel for your mothership so that it can blast off and make it to the next planet. Along the way, you collect other items (though you have pretty much all you absolutely need by the second planet) and fight off aliens protecting those items. What makes the game so interesting is the physics - the gravity of the planet is constantly pulling you toward it, so you need to thrust upwards to counteract this - all while still appropriately heading left, right, or wherever. It is reminiscent of the arcade game Lunar Lander and actually based off an earlier Rare game, Lunar Jetman. The provides quite a challenge when navigating narrow corridors and towing heavy items back to the ship. Plus there's a great dynamic of when to use shields or not and when to use afterburners or not. The story is almost non-existant, but there is a good sense of humor to the game (especially what you find in the treasure chests), and the last level becomes a shoot-'em-up. By the end of the game, some of the planets can start to feel the same, but the concept is so fun that this game is definitely worth playing.

15. A Boy and His Blob

Speaking of unique concepts, how about a game where a young boy has befriended a blob and can make the blob turn into a variety of devices by feeding him different jellybeans? Yeah, that's exactly what happens in this game created by Pitfall's David Crane and it totally rocks. Apparently, there is some story about how an evil tyrant has taken over Blobolonia and the good Blob comes to Earth searching for help. So what do you do? Explore the subway, sewers and below-ground caverns searching for treasure. This treasure is spent at the vitamin shop to get vitamins to use against the evil inhabitants of Blobolonia. Then you blast off for Blobolonia and have to contend with killer cherries and popcorn on your way to defeating the evil king. Yes, it's weird, but it works so well. Many parts of the game are like a puzzle where you have to figure out what blob shapes will be most useful to you - hole then trampoline? ladder then hummingbird? bridge then umbrella? Getting used to the boy's controls can be annoying and the graphics are relatively primitive, but the gameplay is so fun it more than makes up for that. Every time I think of this game, I hear the great music and see myself feeding the blob all sorts of jellybeans and exploring caverns. I am totally pumped that a sequel of this game is coming out for the Nintendo DS.

14. Kid Icarus

Released concurrently with Metroid, these "silver box" games were meant to be unique because of their gameplay innovations (both horizontal scrolling areas and vertical scrolling areas) and their password feature to return to the game later. As I said below, I think this game has aged a lot better than the original Metroid. There isn't the same sense of an open world - you are generally just scrolling up or right, but that works out fine because this game is really a suped-up platformer at heart. In the end-of-world labyrinths, you do find yourself in a maze of rooms, but at least you can purchase a pencil and a torch (precursor's to Zelda's map and compass) to help you find your way instead of having to pull out the graph paper. The adventure aspect added to this platformer is that you collect money (hearts) which you can spend in shops to buy more health, a feather to save you from falling, and other goodies. The doors in the overworld aren't always shops either - sometimes they are treasure rooms where you can collect hearts and hammers, sometimes they test your skill so you can pick up a special weapons, and sometimes they are just full of monsters. The little centurions you free in the labyrinths that help you with the final boss are a nice touch as is the last level being a shoot-'em-up (too bad Medusa is so easy to defeat). The graphics are on par with Metroid, the music is great, and the challenge is tough, but not impossible. All that makes this the best Nintendo game that never got remembered by history (though it did have a kick-ass Gameboy sequel).

13. 1943

When making this list, some games surprised me by how far up on the list they made it. Ice Hockey was one and this is another. When I think about it though, it makes perfect sense. It the best shoot-'em-up on the NES that I have played. It scrolls vertically, which is always nice. The controls are crisp and you don't need to worry about any stupid speed power-ups. Speaking of which, there are a nice variety of special weapons. The game is challenging, though not impossible. The music is well-done and memorable and the graphics are fairly detailed. Really, this is just a damn fun game. They even upgraded it from the arcade game by allowing customization of your plane (each boss you defeat gives you another point to upgrade an aspect of your plane). I couldn't ask for much more from a shoot-'em-up, except perhaps a little more variety in later stages (or perhaps an ending). On a side note, I've always thought it fascinating that the Japanese would make a game about a war they lost where the player supposedly destroys Japanese planes and ships.

12. Dragon Warrior III

This game is when the Dragon Warrior series became great. While the story itself is a little thin (at least until the very end) and quite cliche, the game world is incredibly well developed. Each town has its own unique personality and definitely feels different. In addition, just about all the dungeons/towers/shrines/etc. that you explore feel like they have a purpose. Then, when you think you're done with the game, something happens and you finally see how this game is connected to the first two in the series. This is the first Dragon Warrior where you get to customize your party, and it becomes a treat to see how you can do with a varied group - and then improve them by having them change classes midway through the game. Each different character class has its own strengths and weaknesses and the weapons and spells they can use are very well fleshed out and make a lot of sense. I find this game so much fun to play through that I would play through it again, even if you couldn't change the composition of your party. While the Gameboy Color remake is an improvement, this game just comes together so well that it is hard to resist in any incarnation.

11. Super Mario Bros. 2

Like Zelda, the second in the series is often regarded as the red-headed step-child. I, on the other hand, think this game is so amazingly fun that I don't care that it strays from the first (and indeed was originally a non-mario game when it came out in Japan). So you don't squash enemies by jumping on them.... so what? Now you can take them for rides, pick them up, and throw them at each other for more fun. What this game has is personality - each enemy is graphically detailed, well animated, and oozes character - especially the bosses. Each character you can pick to play with controls and feels different. Each level is unque, bursting with things to do, places to go, and new techniques to try. The music is wonderful and I hum it to this day. Playing this game feels almost like being in a well-animated cartoon. This is certainly one of the top platformers on the NES, though surpassed by...

10. Super Mario Bros. 3

This game is, quite possibly, the pinnacle of 2D platforming, not even surpassed in the 16 bit generation. Super Mario World may have had better graphics, but it still wasn't as innovative as this game. Like its predecessor, Super Mario Bros. 3 has amazingly bright, detailed, and well-animated graphics and memorable music. The level design in unparalled. With over 64 different levels, each is unique and most are very well done. From the green hills of world one, to the water of world 3 to the giants of world 4, the skies of world 5, the plants of world 7, and the military-lava of world 8, there is so much variety. The play control is so tight, whether running, jumping, swimming, or flying. The variety of power-ups is also not to be missed. Sure, most of the time you'll just be spitting fireballs or sporting a raccoon tail, but when you grab the frog suit, the hammer brothers suit, the tanooki suit, or kuribo's shoe (available only in world 5-3), you'll be amazed at what the designers provided for. If I were more a fan of gameplay alone, this game would likely be at the top of my list. Honestly, weariness may be the only factor keeping it down. Regardless, if you have never played this game before, you are missing out on one of the ultimate video game experiences.

9. Ninja Gaiden III

Why does this game rank above the god that is Super Mario Bros. 3? Well, think about it, would you rather be an avenging ninja or a chubby plumber? Ryu Hayabusa has much more character (and is certainly cooler) than Mario, and he gets to show that in the cinema scenes between levels. Granted, this game has the weakest story of the trilogy (indeed, this game might make more sense if it took place between the first and second games), but you can't deny that Ryu is bad-ass in the cinemas. He looks good again, not like the kid in the second game. What this game has going for it is the tightest play control of the series. Gone are the glitches of the first game and the wimpy movement of the second game. Everything you do here is precise and measured out - if you get hit by an enemy or fall to your death, that is wholly your fault. The ninja magics you can use are perfected here - each taking an appropriate amount of energy and each generally useful in the right situation (being able to re-use the invincible fire wheel is a great touch!) The special weapon in this game is also the best - your sword becomes bigger, longer, and kick-ass like in Strider. It is a simple power-up, but one that is always useful unlike the shadow doubles of the second game and not broken like the jump and slash of the first. The stunning music of the series also returns and it is arguable about whether this game or the second in the series has the best music ever in a NES game. This is, possibly, the hardest of the three because, for whatever reason, you only get 5 continues instead of unlimited ones. But I still love replaying this one to this day.

8. Castlevania

Personality. That's what can really make a game character. The Ninja Gaiden games rank so highly because Ryu Hayabusa has such personality. Simon Belmont, despite not having cinema scenes to flesh him out, also has that. He's a bad-ass medieval guy that takes on Dracula and all sorts of other horrors with a whip. Ever since Indiana Jones, the whip has been an extremely cool weapon and Simon Belmont uses it with style. His enemies also have personality. Whether the simple bats, the lagoon creatures that jump out of the water, or the deadly knights, each enemy has its own style and really comes to life (or unlife). The graphics are detailed and appropriately colorful - those colors being the dark tones due to this game's setting. This really helps the game to come to life, especially for the bosses where Medusa, or Frankenstein's Monster, or Death all attack you in their unique way. The music still haunts me to this day - from the introduction, to the various levels. The Castlevania games probably have the most covered music by 8-bit cover bands (Only the Mega Man games can compete). This game is hard. You have unlimited continues, and you will need all of them. The play control is a bit stiff - but then it can't be easy to whip gracefully or move around while in the air. Despite that, this game oozes personality and that is why I love it. It is hard to believe that it is one of the earlier releases.

7. Contra

There were probably run-and-gun games before Contra (Commando comes to mind), but Contra made the genre. Who would have thought it could be so enjoyable to be a guy who runs around shooting aliens? Obviously Konami did and so they packed this game with so much fun that it stands up today as one of the best. Great graphics, great sound, great music, and great gameplay all combine to make this an amazing experience. The individual enemies tend to be pretty mindless, but that's the point - you cram so many of them on screen at once to get the challenge. The bosses are huge and detailed making you really feel like you are fighting large machinery or an alien monster. The game also mixes it up by adding the behind-the-shoulder base levels in between the standard horizontal and vertical scrolling ones. What really makes this game is the 2-player experience. There's nothing quite like blowing up aliens with a friend and then racing him to see who can get the spreader. Although this game introduced the Konami code, it really isn't necessary. After enough experience, you can beat the game without it, making the difficulty level just about perfect in my opinion. Contra did so much and contributed so much to video games. Don't take my opinion for it - when my female friend who, otherwise, only likes to play Tetris raves to me about what a great game Contra is, I know it did something right.

6. Bionic Commando

Can you imagine the meeting when the game designer said to his boss, "How about we create a platformer where the character can't jump?" They'd think he was crazy, right? Until he described the concept of the bionic arm. Give the main character an army that can fly out at 45 degree angles and grab onto the platforms. The character can swing on it or use it to pull himself up to other platforms. Maybe even use it to repel enemies and bullets. Sounds like a great idea, right? Sure, but it has to be implemented just right. Capcom managed to do that. With, perhaps, the most unique play control experience of any platformer, it is also the most well done. I love swinging like Tarzan, making that last ditch grab before I fall to my doom, or climbing up behind the enemy and shooting him in the back. Great graphics and music are generally a hallmark of games at this end of the list and Bionic Commando is no exception. I would put some of the stage music in my playlist if I could find them in mp3 format. What makes this game even cooler is the story. Capcom gave it an adventure aspect by having you wire-tap and radio for help in various rooms and also having neutral areas where you just talk to people. The game does feature some pretty bad Engrish, but the basic gyst of the story is that a neo-nazi group (in the US version they were just called "the BADDs") is attempting to revive hitler and take over the world - always a great concept for a video game. Nintendo's censors must have been asleep at the switch for this game as it features swearing ("damn") and a pretty graphic exploding head. Top all that off by the ability to choose the right gun, accesory, and radio for the mission and you've got an incredibly well-designed game.

5. Mike Tyson's Punch Out

Another concept meeting: "We have this great arcade game that simulates boxing from behind the shoulder of the main character. The player's boxer is wire-frame so you can see through him and see what the other boxer is doing. We'd like to translate this to the NES, but there's no way it could handle transparency like that." "I know, let's make the player's boxer a midget!" With that in mind, Nintendo brought us Punch Out. The opponents you face are huge and detailed - obviously packing many sprites into each one to give him a unique personality. Meanwhile, your character is, at best, 3/4 the height of them and has to jump every time he wants to deliver a jab or an uppercut. Speaking of the opponents, this is possibly the most stereotyped game ever. There's the wimpy Frenchman, the vodka-drunk Russian (oh, sure, they made him be drinking soda in the NES version), the mystic Indian, and the shallow, body-building Californian. The game play is honestly, more like a rhythm game a la PaRappa the Rapper than an actual boxing simulation, but that makes it worth it. Boxers telegraph their punches like nobody's business and you have to learn that opening his mouth mean to jab him, or flashing the jewel means to dodge. Because your opponents are so detailed and cartoony, it makes discovering all their foibles and the right way to defeat them so charming. This is another game where they kept it simple and just concentrated on fun. Oh, and the version without the ear-biting rapist wouldn't have rated quite as high on this list.

4. Ninja Gaiden

I have got to be the biggest Ninja Gaiden fanboy ever. Honestly, I'm such a fanboy of this and Dragon Warrior that, when I decided I was getting a current generation system, it was between a PS2 and an X-Box because the PS2 could play the Playstation Dragon Warrior 7 and the X-Box had the new Ninja Gaiden game. Why do I love this game so much? I think I covered below that Ryu Hayabusa has to be the coolest, most bad-ass character ever. He's a ninja out for revenge! The in-game graphics were great and featured detailed backgrounds, great details like the explosion when you kill an enemy, and bosses that oozed personality. The character had a sword for eviscerating enemies and could also pick up various ninja magic techniques to help out (including the broken jump-and-slash). The play control was solid, if not amazing. The wall jumps were a great touch. Sometimes there would be flicker or slow-down and Ryu might feel a little sticky. The difficulty in general could be too much. What made this game was the cinematic story that unfolded between levels. Starting off with your father being killed by a mysterious person in a duel and you finding his last letter and ending with the confrontation with the Jaquio, this was one of the first games to do cut scenes and certainly the first NES game to have a solid, well-written story. I used to (heck, I still do) recite each of the lines as the characters were saying them, giving them each a unique accent (Ryu, naturally, was done in my natural voice). The graphics in these "cinema scenes", as they were called in the instruction book, were examples of the finest the NES could do (I'm looking at you - scene on the cliff after level 4-1). The music was also amazing, some of the best I'd heard on the NES. I love this game. A lot of that is nostalgia and I realized that which is why it didn't make it higher, but this game truly rocks and I never hesitate to play it over again.

3. The Legend of Zelda

This game is so good, even my parents realized that. When they got me a NES, they were going to get me one game to go with it. They called me up and asked me, "If you could have one Nintendo game, what would it be?" I had recently played Kung Fu at a friend's house and mentioned that. They replied, "Are you sure you wouldn't rather have Zelda?" I paused - of course they were right! While the Atari 2600's Adventure may have been the first video game of this type, Zelda completely defined the console adventure game. From the myriad of items you could pick up and use, to the different dungeons and secrets, to the music that everyone remembers, to the shops and old men speaking Engrish, this game had it all. The game world was huge, there were 9 large dungeons, there were countless different enemies, each with a different way of going about things. And then, when you had finally collected everything, beat every dungeon, and rescued the princess, you got to do it again - except the dungeons were different and in different places! (There are rumors that the game was initially planned to be different every time you played it - with randomly generated dungeons in random places, but they couldn't get that working in time for release.) So much has been written about this game, that I can't say any more without being too repetitive. All I will add is that this game will stand the test of time alongside Pac-Man and Tetris.

2. Maniac Mansion

This would be the third surprise for how high up on the list a game made it. In my head, I knew I liked Maniac Mansion. It had a great story, great characters, and fun puzzles. It wasn't until I was ranking everything that I realized just how much I loved it. More or less, the determining factor in where a game fell was in what my desire was to play it right now was. If I were stuck on a desert island, would I rather play Faxanadu or Double Dragon? Metroid or Mega Man? Well it turns out that I would rather play this game than Zelda? Why? One obvious reason is the replayability. You choose two of six kids to accompany Dave on his quest to rescue his girlfriend. The pair you pick will determine which puzzles you can solve and what ending you will get for the game. Yes, despite being one of the first point-and-click adventure games ever, this game had multiple endings. The game also features a lot of what does it for me: personality. Each character, though a stereotype (Bernard the nerd, Razor the punk rocker, Jeff the stoner) had a unique personality that came through when they talked or did things. And the "enemies", the members of the Edison family, they had personality out the wazoo. From the brainwashed Dr. Fred, to the rebellious son Ed, to the worried wife Edna, to the green tentacle, they each had their own wants and desires. The story was very well written and the pathos and the humor came through despite Nintendo's censoring. The gameplay itself was remarkable. The graphics were big and colorful, so there wasn't much pixel-hunting required (at least they got rid of the stupid "What is" command from the computer version). The verb-noun system made a lot of sense so you weren't stuck on puzzles because you couldn't figure out the right commands. The puzzles themselves made sense (well, as much sense as they can in a game with living tentacles). They often involved things in different rooms or areas making the house feel interconnected just like it should. The music is also outstanding, such that I look forward to the Edison ringtone I have that plays every time my friend calls me. LucasArts (or LucasFilm games as they still were at the time) made some of the best adventure games and this NES version is nigh on perfect.

1. Dragon Warrior IV

I have already mentioned that I'm a Dragon Warrior fanboy, but the question is why? Why do I love the series so much? Well, the first game introduced console role-playing to me. It was my first chance to fight monsters, level up, buy new things, improve my character, and explore. The second game introduced multiple characters to build up and an elaborate game world that felt very fleshed out. The third game introduced customization of the party, an improved story, a streamlined battle system, and an even more elaborate world. What did Dragon Warrior IV add to the mix? How about a great story - the first time that story has taken such a front seat in any of the series. It had the most developed characters of any game, each with their own motivations and reasons for adventuring. Despite this, it still had a wide open non-linear world once you got your ship, so you could explore as much as you wanted before getting back to the story. It introduced the full casinos, which are a great side game and have changed little since then. It introduced small medals - a side quest of collecting that could get you great items. It introduced computer AI so that you didn't always have to micro-manage your party (sadly, it took until the next iteration before you could turn it fully off for important things such as, say, boss battles). The graphics and music are also the best of any of the NES iterations. I really enjoyed the characters in this game. Though Ragnar is a bit of a bore, rebellious Alena was great, as were the vengance-seeking sisters of Monbaraba, and especially Taloon the merchant - he could sit in the shop and sell weapons all day. In the morning, his wife would give him his lunch! I really felt for Alena when her castle vanished. I felt proud when Taloon managed to buy his own shop. I was broken when Nara and Mara didn't succeed in the mission of revenge. I was delighted when I found out Healie had achieved his dream of being human. I nearly cried at the fate of the citizens of Aktemto. Beyond the story, the puzzle and exploration aspects of the story are great. The cave of betrayal was extremely well done. The moving statue tower was such a neat touch. The barriers to the final castle were also well done. While the basic battle system hasn't changed much since Dragon Warrior 3 (or even 2), the spells and techniques of each character are very refined and Taloon's actions in battle are hilarious. By far the best RPG on the NES, I am going as far as to say this is the best game on the NES. Though the Final Fantasy games have moved to focus almost exclusively on story with a little focus on battles, and almost none on exploration, the Dragon Warrior franchise has always maintained the sense that there could be something new or interesting just lurking over the next bridge. This is my favorite game in the entire series and the acme of what the NES can achieve.

Possible Future Updates

Short version: I am now posting at Moon Karma Zero instead of here