Adventures in the Magic Kingdom

This is the first and only console video game based on a theme park ever made! Welcome to the Magic Kingdom, where all your Disney dreams come true. Mickey needs your help collecting keys so he can open Cinderella castle and start the parade. The game consists of 5 stages that you can play in any order: Haunted Mansion, Pirate Cove, Race Track, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. Each stage, of course, is based on a different attraction at the Magic Kingdom. Most of the stages are actually pretty hard! I couldn't beat the game without cheating. Nevertheless, this is overall a pretty cool game. And it can be nostalgic if you're a fan of the Magic Kingdom.

Adventure Island

A simple yet fun platformer starring a jungle man (?) who throws hatchets and rides a skateboard.

Adventure Island 2

Part 2 is a massive improvement with better graphics and an assortment of dinosaur companions whom the jungle man can ride. Overall the game is fairly solid. I recommend it. Adventure Island gained two more NES sequels: Adventure Island 3 and 4. However, I don't recommend them. The series went downhill after part 2.

Batman

Batman is such an amazing game! The graphics and animation is so awesome. The play control is really good. It's a typical platform game except for the simple fact that Batman has the coolest arsenal of weapons! The difficulty is rather high as well, so it's quite challenging.
*Easy hack: If Batman is too hard for you, then download the Easy Hack. It's a version of the game made to be much easier. Stages have been modified to be easier, bosses are easier, and power-ups give you more power.

Battletoads

RARE got its foot in the door with this great title! Battletoads pushes the Nintendo to its limit with graphics and animation that we've never seen before. On that same token, they also presented us with difficulty we've never experience before! >_< While Battletoads is an absolutely amazing game, it's impossible to play through it without cheating. Nevertheless, Battletoads is a favorite of many the classic gamer and deserves its place here.

Bionic Commando

Bionic Commando offers a different yet entertaining style of gameplay. Your character cannot jump. Instead you maneuver around with a grabbling hook. The game begins by throwing you on a map. You have the freedom to enter whichever stage you like. The catch is that later stages require certain items in order for you to proceed, so despite this freedom you still need to start at the beginning anyway. The challenge is good and the soundtrack is great. This is an overall great classic!

Chip N Dale's Rescue Rangers

Chip N Dale's Rescue Rangers was released during the height of the cartoon show's popularity. Enemies are drawn with the drawing style of the cartoon. It's full of cameo appearances of our favorite characters. The game's fun factor is very high! Unlike Duck Tales (the other Disney-cartoon-based game by Capcom), Rescue Rangers has a simultaneous 2 player feature, which makes the game even more fun to play. It was one of the few games that I could beat back in the day.

Contra

Contra is probably the second most popular NES game ever, and it is a most favorite of many. Contra is so hardcore that it defines 'side-scrolling shooter'. You'll hear people describe games as "Well such and such game is like Contra, but..." The game is very entertaining. It's not too easy and not too hard, it's perfect. There's a nice assortment of special weapons you pick up along the way. The stages provide a nice variety of eye candy, fun challenges and awesome bosses. And with the famous Konami code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A) you're granted 99 lives, making the game a piece of cake. Contra is highly recommended.

Double Dragon

The best street fighting game series the NES has to offer! It's what made street fighting games popular.

Double Dragon 2

Better everything than the first.

Double Dragon 3

Even better than part 2!

Dragon Spirit

Dragon Spirit... >_< ...this game... asd;lfjase;flskdjse ...IT RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!1!11 IT KICKS SO MUCH ASS!!!!!! (dies) This game made me shit so many bricks back in the day. The weapon system, or 'fire system' rather, rules. The soundtrack rules. The graphics rule. The dragon is my bitch. I mean, this game makes me speechless. It just rules,okay? Play it. Now. And btw, Dragon Spirit is actually part of a series. The TurboGrafx16 was blessed with two titles:a port of the arcade version of Dragon Spirit (which has much better graphics than this NES version) and its unofficial sequel, Dragon Sabre (I've covered both of them in the TG16 section).

Duck Tales

Considering the popularity I've experienced back in the day and fandom I witness today, Duck Tales is probably one of the top 5 best NES games ever made. Its characteristics are similar to Chip N Dale's Rescue Rangers. It was also released during the height of the cartoon show's popularity. Flocks of kids rushed to the stores to get (or rent) their copy. The game itself is very well made. I'd expect no less from Capcom. The atmosphere is full of cartoony eye candy. Enemies are drawn with the drawing style of the cartoon. Several of the stages are based on certain cartoon episodes. And of course, the game wouldn't be complete without cameo appearances of our favorite Duck Tales characters. I remember that I loved this game so much that I rented it about three times. I also had the opportunity to play it several other occasions when my brother's friends brought over their copy. Back then it was challenging for me, and it felt much longer. Now I can beat it within like 20 minutes.

Guardian Legend

This is one of those masterpiece games that never made it big. It was released here in the US, but it seemed no one knew about it. It was until NES emulation became popular that people were discovering this game and appreciating its greatness. The game has two modes: an overhead view action/adventure mode and horizontal spaceship shooter mode. Basically, your job is to infiltrate Naju, a planet-like object which aliens sent hurtling towards Earth, and it's full of aliens you need to defeat. The graphics and music are excellent. Overall it's a very entertaining game.

G.I. Joe

My brother loved this game so much back in the day. My love for it wasn't too devoted since the game got hella hard for me towards the middle. Now when I play it again after so many years, it SO easy. :p Anyway, I think G.I. Joe is an excellent game. Each mission has a cool little intro, a side-scrolling stage, a maze-like stage where you have to find all the proper spots to place bombs, two boss fights and a short ending. You have the option to choose two other characters, which you can switch amongst anytime during gameplay. Each character has their strengths and weaknesses. If you're wondering why an 'nsf archive' link isn't here, its because one is not available for this game.

Little Nemo: The Dream Master

Screw Mario Bros. 3! I think Little Nemo is THE best NES game eva made!! =D It's incredibly cool. The goal of each stage is to gather a certain amount of keys so that you can unlock the door at the end. Scattered throughout stages are creatures that you can befriend once you toss them 3 pieces of candy. Each creature grants Nemo more health and special abilities. Like the frog gives Nemo the ability to jump high and knock out enemies with its belly. The lizard gives Nemo the ability to walk up walls. The bee gives Nemo the ability of temporary flight and a needle attack. So like, play this game now!

Mega Man

The game that started it all for the mega-hit Mega man series! Join Mega Man as he battles against Wily's robots and gains their unique weapons upon defeat. This game wasn't necessarily a hit. I'm pretty sure the reason why is because of the high difficulty. I mean, wow, when I captured these screen shots I had to use save state cheating like there was no tomorrow! It was Mega Man 2 that turned everyone into Mega Man fanatics.

Mega Man 2

Mega Man 2 is the mega-hit title that got Mega Man incredibly popular. It's a much better improvement from Mega Man 1. Wow, just everything about this game is awesome. The graphics are great (for Nintendo's standards), the music is catchy, the stages are fun, the enemy weapons are fun to use and the challenge is well balanced. You gain three special 'weapons' that aid you in crossing pits and reaching unjumpable heights. Plus there's an interesting strategy: each enemy robot is weak against a particular enemy weapon. For example, Bubble Man's weapon is lethal when used against Heat Man.

Mega Man 3

Living up to the greatness of Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3 is an equally great hit. It carries everything we loved from Mega Man 2. The special 'weapons' from part 2 have evolved into Rush, a loyal transforming robot hound.

Mega Man 4

Part 4 is a great sequel, and marks the height of Mega Man's true glory. From here it starts going down hill.

Mega Man 5

The only major difference between Mega Man 4 and Mega Man 5 is the challenge. Capcom decided to make Mega Man easier! Heck, in some stages I made it to the boss with ease just by running and dodging enemies (like playing early stages in Sonic the Hedgehog).

Mega Man 6

Same direction as part 5, just different robots. Seriously, the game is terribly easy. Heck, I reached the Centaur robot by playing the gamepad with just my mouth (I required a hand on the mouse for capturing the screen shots). And when -I- can reach a boss with my mouth, then there's something wrong with the difficulty!

Metroid

The famous space adventure with Samus! To be honest, I'm not really a huge fan of the original Metroid; I added it here for the sake of completion. I'm more in love with Metroid 2 on Gameboy and Super Metroid on SNES.

Ninja Gaiden

To the classic gamer, NInja Gaiden is "the" ninja game that started it all for ninja games. It provided enthralling gameplay by giving you the ability to cling onto walls and pick up awesome special weapons. But the best feature of Ninja Gaiden are the beautiful cut scenes between stages. It could be said that Ninja Gaiden was a cinematic game (for what NIntendo was capable of).

Ninja Gaiden 2

This was a true sequel; with better graphics, bigger enemies, more weapons, better story, more impressive cut scenes. And our ninja can now climb up and down walls when he latches onto them. The coolest new feature are the shadow clones; a phantom follows your character and attacks when he does. My only complaint is that it looks like the game's engine is the same as the original.

Ninja Gaiden 3

Now we're talking! They picked it up a notch with this one. Not only does our ninja have the usual assortment of cool special weapons, but he can now upgrade his sword to slash stronger and a longer distance. The graphics are superb! Ninja Gaiden 3 pushed the Nintendo to its limit.

Power Blade

Power Blade is a fun platformer, with a guy who looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger from Total Recall. He has a nifty boomerang weapon that upgrades upon picking up items that enemies drop. Hidden in every stage is a power suit; with it you can shoot sexy waves of energy that swiftly kill enemies. The stage select makes Power Blade feel very Mega Man-ish. The game would be more entertaining if there were more than freakin five enemies. Nevertheless, Power Blade is a worthy classic that I have fond memories with.

Power Blade 2

A nice improvement! Adding variety to gameplay are new power suits! There's the regular power suit from Power Blade 1 that can now cling on ceilings, a flight suit for flying and a water suit for swimming. Adding to the storyline development are short cut scenes with very nice illustrations (for what NES is capable of). Adding to challenge are various stage dynamics; like rising lava, falling spike ceilings, water, elevators, and more. And there's actually more than five enemies! Haha. Overall, it's a worthy sequel. I recommend it.

Silver Surfer

SILVER SURFER KICKS SO MUCH ASS!!!!!!! OMG THIS GAME RULES!!!! >_< Actually, it's mostly childhood memories that are fueling my enthusiasm right now. Attempting to hold that aside (forces a real opinion)... Silver Surfer is a typical shooter with few weapon upgrades. It's made up of 8 fun-filled stages through space, battling against various foes from Marvel's Silver Surfer comics. The soundtrack is AWESOME. Seriously, this game has the best NES music I have ever heard. It would be so awesome is Silver Surfer would make an appearance in one of the X-Men movies.

Spy Hunter

This is such a strangely addicting game. It was popular when it first came out! My brothers especially love playing this game. Spy Hunter is basically an overhead car game. You have the ability to shoot at the cars in front of you and knock them off the road. Along the way you can drive into special trucks which give you special weapons. These weapons consist of oil slicks, smoke screens, and surface to air missiles. Later into the game you switch from your car to a boat. What's cool about Spy Hunter is that you begin with unlimited lives! There's a timer in the lower right; when it runs out you no longer have unlimited lives.

Super Mario Bros.

The game that started it all! I owned the NES and this game when it first came out, so I experienced its glory from the very beginning.

Super Mario Bros. 2

A worthy sequel! Super Mario Bros. 2 is a masterpiece of a game. It's so entertaining. I was shocked when I learned that this isn't really a Mario game. Quoted from Wikipedia:
"Unlike the majority of other Mario titles, SMB2 was not developed from an independent point, but rather it is a redesign of the Japanese Family Computer Disk System game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. Nintendo's original sequel to Super Mario Bros. was released in Japan as Super Mario Bros. 2 in 1986, however because of that game's perceived difficulty and its close similarities to the original game, Nintendo decided not to release it in the West at that time. The redesigned Western version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in Japan in 1992 under the title Super Mario USA, and in 1993 the original Japanese version was released to the rest of the world as "Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels" (part of the Super Mario All-Stars collection for the SNES)."

Super Mario Bros. 3

I'm sure others would agree with me when I say Super Mario Bros 3 is -the- most popular NES game. I swear, everyone I knew who had a NES had a copy of Super Mario Bros. 3. For many, the existence of this game was first known through the motion picture known as The Wizard. Ah, The Wizard, it brings back many nostalgic memories. I wasn't aware until reading articles such as this that the movie was just a 90-minute Nintendo commercial. Fred Savage looks so Jewish in it. Anyway, yeah Super Mario Bros 3 is a great game. All the abilities and items Mario can gain and the many secrets it had made Super Mario Bros. 3 so entertaining and full of replay value. It's probably -the- largest and most impressive NES game, too; not many NES R0Ms go over 200 KB. I don't have to recommend this game, because anyone who's into classic gaming has already played it. :)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game! Play your favorite ninja turtle and defeat Shredder and his foot clan.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game

Nintendo made a good move with this one. The Ninja Turtles arcade game was incredibly popular. They ported it over to NES to satisfy everyone's yearning to play it at home.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project

As expected of a sequel, this one has better graphics and gameplay than part 2.

The Legend of Zelda

The game that started it all for Link!

Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link

The daring Zelda sequel that went a totally different direction by having an RPG-ish overworld map, random battles, and 2D gameplay.