Top 10 NES Games

[LeStryfe79]

Top 10 NES games:

Blaster Master
Castlevania
Contra
Final Fantasy
Legend of Zelda
Mega Man 2
Metroid
River City Ransom
Super Mario Bros. 3
Tecmo Super Bowl

This is the kind of list you make while drunk on the toilet...

 

[Falksi]

Could never get on with the NES, probably because pretty much all of those received upgraded versions for the SNES and I played them first.

 

[Gregz]

Metroid
Legend of Zelda
Castlevania
Ultima III: Exodus
Dragon Warrior
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Tecmo Bowl
Kid Icarus

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

1. NARC
2. Mr. Gimmick
3. Big Nose Freaks Out
4, Super Mario Bros 3
5. Fantastic Adventure of Dizzy
6. Balloon Fight
7. Dragon Ball Z 2: Gekishin Freeza
8. Final Fantasy 3
9. TMNT Tournament Fighter
10. Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2

 

[Shitty Kitty]

1. Castlevania III
2. The Adventure of Link
3. The Legend of Zelda
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
5. TMNT 2
6. Tetris
7. Dragon Warrior III
8. Super Mario Bros. 3
9. Mega Man 3
10. Strider

 

[LeStryfe79]

Metroid
Legend of Zelda
Castlevania
Ultima III: Exodus
Dragon Warrior
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Tecmo Bowl
Kid Icarus

I found a glitch in Exodus where you could get every item in the game by repeatedly hitting the power button.

 

[Reality]

Super Dodge Ball - This is absurd fun - SP has a "recruit captain of previous team" aspect to it, and some of the later recruits can use power moves that bend physics, and the over-the-top ness of playing dodgeball to the death is really fun. The main 2P versus mode does suffer from some serious sprite flickering, but the bonus Bean Ball mode is fairly functional in 2P and worth a couple weekends of fun I almost always get rounds in with my brother to do it while waiting for my $40 dollar switch games to download, I never played this before 2018

Contra - Classic Contra - A game where you never have to stop is a good thing. curving in midair is also justified for one of the only times in the genre by the frenetic pace of enemies in some of the levels and it just feels good.

Super Mario Bros 3 - I used to like SMW > Mario 3 but I think after replaying both enough I appreciate that SMB 3's levels are all a fixed length instead of the serious hodgepodge in SMW and it is catchier in the music department. Also adding the ability to gain height after stomping on an enemy (not present in NES/GB SMB 1 only their collected SNES etc all-star versions) by itself makes the game feel tons better and is probbably the single best Nintendo innovation in their history tbh, the new powerups are almost an afterthought.

Adventures of Lolo 2 - very nice puzzle game that doesn't overstay it's welcome. Only thing is I feel the occasional "block an enemies respawn position" to force it into it's secret 2nd spawn position to later use it as a bridge/wall is a bit cheap.

Micro machines - Most people will say that Genesis version is best, but tbh some of the Dirt tracks on genesis are very hard for me to process so the worse colors on NES works better for me because I can always tell where the track is supposed to go. Kitchen Table / Billiard Table are the more memorable stages in both games of course.

Tecmo Bowl - One of very few games I've ever played with my Parents or the midlife guys back in my first post-college job at the General Electric plant I don't think it's as addictive as NBA Jam, but it's still a lot of fun in 2P and okay in singleplayer for small doses, 50-50ing the computer with passes and duking them for a 30 yard run doesn't need much extra to be entertaining.

Dragon Quest 3 - DQ 3 is innovative and primitive at the same time - The Job system and basic full party creation are good. On the other hand people used to SNES Square Enix might not like the almost but not quite mandatory level grinding(compared with FF 5 FF 6 or Chrono Trigger which barely care) and how boss pattern AI can still potentially AoE every turn ... I've mentioned before that after years of playing JRPGs I've started to prefer "crudeness" of this kind, even though it does diminish the job system's scope for creativty when 1/4 of your party MUST be a healbot. and that later boss fights are "simple" damage races of doing enough damage before the healer's MP runs out.

Solstice - Is it as good as head over heels? No of course not - but with that single thing aside it is the quintessental isometric puzzle-platformer

Ninja Gaiden 2 - Both are good games but 2 is a better game for a simple reason. Less birds.

Castlevania 1 - Classic vania as it should be tbh - I will always put 1,3,Super over the Igavanias - For NES I slightly like 1 > 3 because 3's "weapon level" thing introduces a "Gradius element" to Castlevania and basically punishes you twice for dying. The meatier amount of stages still makes it a great game, but the original is something you can do in full before going to bed or waiting for something else to download, which I like about it.

 

[ghostdog]

Super Mario Bros 3 (one of my favorite games ever. I still play it when I get the chance)
Deja Vu (A fantastic adventure game, Unique style)
Faxanadu (Platoform-RPG. Incredible music/atmosphere. I just love this one)
Metroid (This game scared me back in the day)
Ninja Gaiden III (I Played the japan version, best of all imo)
Castlevania (I've played this one so much I can still finish it, due to muscle memory. Even if it can be really brutal)
Dragon Warrior III (Biggest, most adventurous rpg in NES probably)
Dragon Warrior IV (Chapter-based, 4 different characters/stories, ahead of its time)
Super Contra (it's fucking great. Excellent, varied levels. I can beat this one in one go too)
Batman (A surprisingly awesome platform. Batman uses many different weapons. One of the best batman games actually)
Uninvited (Another great --and tough-- adventure game by Mindscape)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (One of the best beat-em ups ever. Great for 2 player game)
Crystalis (Action adventure rpg!)

 

[eXalted]

Kirby's Adventure
No NES game is prettier than this one.

 

[Shitty Kitty]

If the thread had been Top 15 or Top 20, Super Dodge Ball, Faxanadu, RCR, the Ninja Gaiden games and some of the other Mega Man games would have made it in my list. Possibly some others too, it's been a while.

 

[Stormcrowfleet]

BATTLE CITY

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

URBAN CHAMPION

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

BATTLE CITY

I've spend more time in level editor than in actual game. Great geam.

Kirby's Adventure
No NES game is prettier than this one.

Dizzy looks almost like SNES title... and has better artstyle than DOS/Amiga/Genesis versions.

Also Mr. Gimmick is at least as good looking as Kirby:

 

[eXalted]

Also Mr. Gimmick is at least as good looking as Kirby:

Didn't know about this one. Looks good.

 

[LeStryfe79]

4 somewhat hidden gems

Conquest of the Crystal Palace
Destiny of the Emperor 2
Guardian Legend
Nightshade

For some reason ports of PC RPGs were mostly great on Nes. Ultima 5 stunk but most of the others are good. I'm currently playing Bards Tale 2, despite a lack of an English patch.

 

[Shitty Kitty]

Guardian Legend was pretty good but I only got to play it for like, a day tops

 

[Jason Liang]

You know, I've been thinking about this topic a lot recently as well. The NES was really the king of platformers and action adventure games.

Single Player
The Legend of Zelda
Crystalis
Star Tropics
Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Zelda 2 The Adventures of Link
Metal Storm
River City Ransom

Multiplayer
Jackal
Tecmo Super Bowl
Gauntlet 2
Super C
Contra
Bubble Bobble
Micro Machines
Dr. Mario
Shadow of the Ninja
Life Force

PC Ports-
Wizardry 1
Pool of Radiance
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Maniac Mansion
Might and Magic 1
Sid Meier's Pirates
M.U.L.E.
Deja Vu
Nobunaga's Ambition
The Immortal

Worth Mentioning -
Faxanadu
Battle for Olympus
Swords and Serpents
Metal Gear
Castlevania
Castlevania 3
Destiny of the Emperor
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Blaster Master
The Guardian Legend
Punch-out!
GI Joe
Castlevania
Castlevania 3
Duck Hunt
Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Bros 2
Super Mario Bros 3
City Connection
Bomberman
Top Gun
P.O.W. Prisoners of War
Monster Party
Magician
Batman Return of the Joker
Yo! Noid
Mission Impossible

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

Not a lot of people mention this badass game:

Honorable mention to Jackal.

 

[Poseidon00]

BAD DUDES. If you haven't played BAD DUDES you aren't a BAD DUDE

 

[Shitty Kitty]

You know, I've been thinking about this topic a lot recently as well. The NES was really the king of platformers and action adventure games.

Single Player
The Legend of Zelda
Crystalis
Star Tropics
Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Zelda 2 The Adventures of Link
Metal Storm
River City Ransom

Multiplayer
Jackal
Tecmo Super Bowl
Gauntlet 2
Super C
Contra
Bubble Bobble
Micro Machines
Dr. Mario
Shadow of the Ninja
Life Force

PC Ports-
Wizardry 1
Pool of Radiance
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Maniac Mansion
Might and Magic 1
Sid Meier's Pirates
M.U.L.E.
Deja Vu
Nobunaga's Ambition
The Immortal

Worth Mentioning -
Faxanadu
Battle for Olympus
Swords and Serpents
Metal Gear
Castlevania
Castlevania 3
Destiny of the Emperor
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Blaster Master
The Guardian Legend
Punch-out!
GI Joe
Castlevania
Castlevania 3
Duck Hunt
Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Bros 2
Super Mario Bros 3
City Connection
Bomberman
Top Gun
P.O.W. Prisoners of War
Monster Party
Magician
Batman Return of the Joker
Yo! Noid
Mission Impossible

RCR probably deserves to be in both SP and MP columns, and Life Force was pretty fun even in SP

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Probably the best console ever made, the Super Nintendo was pure decline.

The Legend of Zelda
Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
Metroid
Wizardry
Captain Tsubasa II: Super Striker
Die Hard
Tetris
Legacy of the Wizard
Gyruss
Super Mario Bros 3

Ten games already? Ah, fuck it.

1943
Battle City
Legend of Kage
Adventure Island 2 and 3
Solstice
Megaman
Gradius 2
Magic Jewelry
Lizard (an actual NES game released two years ago, and it's pretty damn good)
Slilver fucking Surfer

 

[Gastrick]

Alright, here are my top 10 favorite games for nes that I've played atleast halfway through.

Super Mario Bros 3
Zelda II
Ninja Gaiden
Castlevania
Dragon Quest 2
Battletoads
Wizardry 2
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Kirby
Metal Storm

Haven't played Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest III to half way so I couldn't add them.
Edit:

URBAN CHAMPION

I forgot about this game until you mentioned it, I can't believe I forgot such a Nintendo-online-supported masterpiece.

 

[Machocruz]

NES had some cool box art. I really appreciate it now when most everything today is a single character render or just text.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Super Mario Bros 3 (one of my favorite games ever. I still play it when I get the chance)
Deja Vu (A fantastic adventure game, Unique style)
Faxanadu (Platoform-RPG. Incredible music/atmosphere. I just love this one)
Metroid (This game scared me back in the day)
Ninja Gaiden III (I Played the japan version, best of all imo)
Castlevania (I've played this one so much I can still finish it, due to muscle memory. Even if it can be really brutal)
Dragon Warrior III (Biggest, most adventurous rpg in NES probably)
Dragon Warrior IV (Chapter-based, 4 different characters/stories, ahead of its time)
Super Contra (it's fucking great. Excellent, varied levels. I can beat this one in one go too)
Batman (A surprisingly awesome platform. Batman uses many different weapons. One of the best batman games actually)
Uninvited (Another great --and tough-- adventure game by Mindscape)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (One of the best beat-em ups ever. Great for 2 player game)
Crystalis (Action adventure rpg!)

It's curious that you've mentioned both Deja Vu and Uninvited, but not Shadowgate, which is my favourite of the ICOM adventures (Mindscape was just the publisher). Any particular reason?

NES had some cool box art. I really appreciate it now when most everything today is a single character render or just text.

Yeah, it seems that box art has declined constantly as videogames have progressed technically. There must be some kind of demonstrable inverse law.

Atari 2600 boxarts were also really fucking cool.

 

[Ol' Willy]

1. Battletoads, best coop ever
2. Micro Machines, SEGA version is better, but this will do for NES
3. Maniac Mansion
4. MiG-29: Soviet Fighter, oh yeah
5. Prince Of Persia
6. Narc, because VIOLENCE
7. Big Nose Freaks Out, funny stuff
8. Fantastic Dizzy
9. Mule
10. Mad Max