For many the NES was the first introduction to home video games. The NES had the longest life of any home console system. Even today people still love to play the NES and you can still find companies that make brand new NES systems online. The NES saved home consoles and video games in general after the video game crash. Since the NES is so important to video game history what are the top 10 NES games?
10. Battletoads
Lets face it this was one hard game. Some consider it the hardest on the NES. This is one of those games that you had to use the game genie to beat. Playing with a second player actually made this game harder as you would get hit by them. Even with the game genie this game was still tough. The graphics were some of the best on the NES as well helping to get Battletoads on this list.
9. Batman
Batman was by far the best movie to game made for the NES. While movie games are often lame Batman would have been a great game in its own right. Batman featured multiple weapons which were great. The ability to wall jump added to the gameplay. Batman also had a great soundtrack.
8. Final Fantasy
Lets face it Final Fantasy changed RPG’s forever. Were there other RPG games before Final Fantasy I really don’t know but none had the impact that Final Fantasy did. This is one of the top video game RPG franchises of all time and literally saved it developer from going under. It had a well developed story including twists and had great replay ability partially thanks to being able to pick characters.
7. Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden was surprisingly a good transfer from the arcade. Ninja Gaiden was another one of those really tough games and the entire franchise would continue the tradition of being tough games.
6. Tetris
Tetris was the most popular puzzle game ever. While its greatest strength was on the Game Boy where it popularized the system the NES version was still important. Many clones of the game have been made and it was the father of the puzzle genre which has become extremely popular on sites like Facebook.
5.Contra
One of the best parts of Contra was the guns, there were many fun guns by far the favorite was the spreader. Contra was not the first game to feature the Konami code but was the most famous, many people referring to it as the Contra code though it is on other Konami games and was used before Contra. The Konami code made this game possible to beat.
4. Mega Man 3
Mega Man was always a very popular franchise. Powerups made the game good. Mega Man 3 was made at the height of the NES power and so has the best sound, and graphics of any of the Mega Man games.
3.Metroid
Metroid will be remembered for its huge size. Thankfully we had passwords for this large game. Tons of powerups made it interesting. The ending was a shocker to everybody.
2. Legend of Zelda
Zelda was so huge it was the first game to have a battery pack to save games. This game changed the NES forever with its huge scope. Zelda would go on to become one of Nintendo’s most popular franchises. Who can forget beating the overworld only to find out there was a second and harder underworld?
1.Super Mario Brothers 3.
This is the one game that no one will argue belongs on the list, and few would even argue that it belongs at the number 1 spot. This game was so huge a regular commercial would not do instead a whole movie was made as one giant commercial for it. Anyone one who was a kid in the 90’s will recall going to see The Wizard just to see the first glimpse of Mario 3. Mario 3 was the pinnacle of the NES ability offering the best sound and graphics that the NES would ever be able to produce. As a game it was great with varied stages, crazy power ups, lots of secrets, and so much more. I recall when this firs came out how hard it was to find it in stores because it was sold out for months.
While some may disagree with parts of this list it is hard to deny that most of these games at least belong on this list. While these may not be your favorite NES games they are certainly some of the best games on the NES.
