The Best NES Games

Ten gray cartridges worth blowing into.

Entries
10
Category
Games
Updated
  1. A brick wall made of colorful falling block shapes beside an onion-domed tower under a starry sky.

    10. Tetris

    Nintendo · 1989

    Nintendo's version won the rights fight, and Tengen's rival cartridge was pulled from stores. Decades later it's the basis for a world championship, and in 2023 a 13-year-old became the first person to beat it by crashing it. Blocks fall forever, until a teenager stops them.

  2. A walking cane bouncing on the surface of the moon, with a gold coin and a top hat in a crater.

    09. DuckTales

    Capcom · 1989

    Scrooge McDuck pogos on his cane through the Amazon, Transylvania and the Moon. It sold about 1.67 million copies, and Hiroshige Tonomura's Moon theme is still called the best piece of 8-bit music ever written. A licensed cartoon game that was actually good, which is rare.

  3. A jungle base wall with two rifles crossed in front and spent shells scattered in the mud.

    08. Contra

    Konami · 1988

    Two-player run-and-gun co-op that could kill you in one hit, which is why most kids entered the Konami Code at the title screen for 30 lives. Friendships survived. Some did not survive the spread gun being taken by the other player.

  4. A crumbling castle wall with a leather whip coiled on the floor and a roast chicken in a hole in the bricks.

    07. Castlevania

    Konami · 1986

    A whip, a stiff jump, knockback that throws you into pits, and a castle full of Universal monsters ending at Dracula. Health comes from pot roasts hidden inside the walls. The game respected you enough to hate you. The pot roast remains unexplained.

  5. A dark alien cavern with an orange power suit helmet on the floor and glowing jellyfish-like creatures in a glass tank.

    06. Metroid

    Nintendo · 1986

    A maze of an alien planet, no map, and a password system that let you type in JUSTIN BAILEY for a head start. Beat it fast enough and the bounty hunter takes off the armor to reveal she's a woman, a twist that landed on a lot of kids at once.

  6. A green warp pipe emerging from a brick floor with a floating question-mark block and a single coin.

    05. Super Mario Bros.

    Nintendo · 1985

    Bundled with the console, it sold over 40 million copies and taught a generation that pipes are for traveling. World 1-1 is still used as a lesson in teaching through design. Also the only plumbing job in history that ended with a princess and not an invoice.

  7. An empty boxing ring under arena lights with a pair of tiny green gloves in one corner and huge black gloves in the other.

    04. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

    Nintendo · 1987

    Little Mac is tiny because the NES couldn't draw a big see-through boxer like the arcade did. It sold over 2 million in North America by 1988. When the Tyson license expired, he was swapped for a generic Mr. Dream. The game stayed the same. Mr. Dream did not catch on.

  8. A blue robot helmet on a lab bench beside a stack of sheet music and a cold cup of coffee at midnight.

    03. Mega Man 2

    Capcom · 1988

    The first Mega Man sold poorly, so Capcom let the team make a sequel only on the side, and they built it in three to four months on their own time. It sold over 1.5 million copies and has the best soundtrack on the system. Unpaid overtime, perfected.

  9. A gold game cartridge lying at the mouth of a dark cave, with a wooden sword stuck in the ground beside it.

    02. The Legend of Zelda

    Nintendo · 1986

    A gold cartridge with a battery inside so you could save, dropped into an open world with an old man, a cave and no instructions. Beat it and a harder second quest unlocks. Parents across America learned that a game could take weeks and still not be finished.

  10. A theater stage curtain opening on a floating level of blocks, pipes and a raccoon tail hanging from a question block.

    01. Super Mario Bros. 3

    Nintendo · 1988

    Delayed in America by a chip shortage, Nintendo used the wait to premiere it in the finale of the 1989 movie The Wizard. It sold more than 17 million copies, with a raccoon suit, a frog suit and a boot. The best feature film ever made was a trailer.

Honorable mentions

  • A sword and a dark shuriken on a rooftop ledge at night, with a bird swooping overhead.

    Ninja Gaiden

    Tecmo · 1988

    Cinematic cutscenes between stages, a story about a ninja avenging his father, and birds that knock you into pits on every ledge. Its final boss sends you back to the start of the act when you lose. A beautiful game that wants you to die.

Dishonorable mentions

  • A Victorian cobblestone street with a top hat and cane lying by a lamp post and a church in the distance.

    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    Bandai · 1989

    Jekyll walks to his wedding while townsfolk harass him, filling an anger meter that turns him into Hyde in a demon world. The game punishes you for playing the action part. Game Informer gave it 0.5 out of 10. The Angry Video Game Nerd made it famous. Neither helped.

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