• Top 10 Nintendo Games

  

  Written by Zeromage 20 Comments
  Last Updated:: August 30, 2008

  The NES represents retro gaming even more than the Atari, mostly because it had more quality games that would be imprinted in the gamer’s imagination for years. These retro games are some of the most enjoyable games every to be released for the platform system. The amount of great for the NES was staggering, but we wanted to make the tough choices and limit it to a top 10. These games we find undeniably great, meaning that even if you wanted to see a different entry on this list, you couldn’t disagree with the games we have on them now. With a list like this, difficult omissions will always be made. The ordering was very difficult for this list. Sit back, pour a glass of wine and enjoy the memories of 8-bit glory.

  10. Blades of Steel

  Blades of Steel is one of the greatest sports games of all time. This was the first sports game though where you could fight a player making him have to sit on the bench if knocked down. The game was quick and smooth. The controlling was smooth and the halftime mini game was ingenious. Playing tournament style was not easy chore. The teams became increasingly difficult and the amount of shot that would be taken on your goalie would multiply exponentially from game to game. In many ways, this is a perfect hockey game. There are no glitches or any “throw your controller at the TV” moments. Just simple hardcore hockey. Video game hockey IS Blades of Steel.

  9. Castlevania

  Castlevania introduced what was to become one of the most successful video games series of all time. Right from the start, the mood was set and Simon Belmont was in for the fight of his life as he faced demons as nefarious as Dr. Wiley in an Alien suit. Like all great games, the player could use a variety of weapons from crossbows, to axes, to points, and knives (always the worst of the auxiliary weapons though). The music was perfect, and the bosses were haunting. Having to face the grim reaper and the duel mummies made you tense for hours to come. Fighting Dracula himself proved to be a difficult challenge but was easy once you knew the power of the cross bow when fighting the dark count. Castlevania is one of the better side-scrollers of all time. There are no weaknesses to this game.

  8. Contra

  Everyone knows Contra, and not just for the code which was the only way that this game could be defeated. Everyone knows Contra for being one of the greatest 2 player co-op games of all time. One person would take the top of the level while the other would take the bottom. The weapons you could use were numerous and exciting. The bosses showed off 8-bit graphics that were inspiring and aesthetically pleasing at the same time. The levels were variegated, switching from a simple side-scroller to a more 3^D level to a waterfall level where you had to climb up a waterfall. This game excelled in all levels and proved to be one of the best war fighting games of all time. It will be remembered beyond its claim to have the most memorable code of all time.

  7. Punch-Out!

  Little Mac has to be the most known character in video game sports history. Going through the collection of fighters from different countries made for one of the most entertaining moments on the NES. Fighting someone from Russia, Japan, Spain, Hawaii, and Istanbul could only be found on Punchout. Watching your opponent’s entrance dance to the middle of the ring made you fall over in laughter, especially Super Macho Man and Don Flamenco. Everyone would get to Mike Tyson, but everyone would lose to him. Only with emulator save states could you beat this monster. Saving after every uppercut he gave was necessary for defeating this game. Punchout was an undeniable boxing game and the most memorable one ever released.

  6. Mario Brothers

  The first game to ever be made for Nintendo, was there ever a first level more memorable that the first level of Super Mario Brothers? People who don’t play video games still know to duck at the pipes in the first level for the chance to collect gold coins in a subterranean room. People who don’t play video games still know to jump as high as possible at the end of the level to try to score the most points by reaching the flag at its highest level. People who don’t play video games can somehow whistle the first level music on command like they were referencing their favorite band. You get the picture. Has there ever been a more memorable game than Mario 1?

  5. Rygar

  Rygar may be the oddball choice on this list, but that’s not the reason we included it. This game excelled on all levels. The background graphics were stunning. The music was enchanting. The game was massive with Rygar having to visit lands far away from each other. Rygar’s weapon made a cool noise. Destroying enemies with this yo-yoesque weapon was even more fun. The game’s difficult level was certainly known to everyone who played it. But if you took the time to actually learn the game, you were in for a storyline and gameplay on par with the best adventure games of all time. It was the little things in this game also that made is great, like climbing up massive pillars to see a big bearded wise man giving your life back, and you trying to hit but inevitably losing a life by falling below him. Rygar is the epitome of an adventure game.

  4. Mega Man 2

  Mega Man 1 introduced Mega Man to the video game market. It was Mega Man 2 though that won a legacy for itself that is challenged by few other series today. Mega Man 2 was filled with the type of bosses you wanted to hang out with in your own time, like Air man and Metal Man. The music in this game was extraordinary. Flash Man’s stage jumped with the type of dance beat only known to a Ibizian DJ. Wiley’s final castle was ambitiously engineered with creative bosses at every turn showing off graphics way beyond other 8 bit games of its generation. Mega Man was one of the more fun protagonists to ever control. Being able to use a bosses weapon after they were beat was ingenious. The levels, music, and bosses were all stuck in the game players memory after playing this game. This is the best Mega Man of the series.

  3. Metroid

  The scope of this game was enormous. The map was huge. The enemies were various in all levels. The bosses were memorable beyond a doubt. Who could forget Kraid and Riddley? They wouldn’t be forgotten. They would see their re-entrance in the SNES and Gamecube formats. Samus Aran traversed Zebes trying to knock out these interstellar demons so she could raise the statues to face the true battle in Mother brain who oddly didn’t move but had space orbs protecting her that were extremely annoying. The music was adventurous, the controlling was flawless and the weapons that Samus was able to use throughout was beyond nuanced for its day. Using the freeze ray was one of the best moments in Nintendo history. Metroid is a no-brainer. Its one of the greatest games of all time.

  2. Mario Brothers 3

  The true Mario fan remembers when Mario 3 was released. That yellow cover with Mario flying in his Raccoon suit. The amount of excitement that came over you when your mom brought home this game was on par with actually being able to beat it (if you were good enough). While Mario 1 may have been the most memorable game of all time, it was Mario 3 that was the best Mario game of all time. You had more freedom in this game than just traversing a side scrolling screen. You have bonus levels where you could play cards and play a jackpot game matching parts of a mushroom and star together. The levels were contained within bigger levels that embodied all the elements. In this game, you played in an ice world, a giant level, a water level, a desert level, a sky level, ect. Level 8 of this game was one of the more difficult moments in Mario history. Anyone who has played this game knows how great it was. We still play it today without using the whistles just so we can play the level 3 water level and not get eaten up by Boss Bass.

  1. Zelda 1

  Zelda 1 is the best game for the NES and one of the greatest games of all time (Ironically, the only game we could think of better than Zelda 1 is Zelda “Link to the Past” for the SNES). The bird’s eye view map leads to a 3D style gaming experiencing never seen before. This was the adventure game of all adventure games. Walking across all of Hyrule entering insidious dungeons with dungeon masters with magical wands and 3 heads made for the ultimate mythological adventure game. Link could improve his armor and swords throughout the game. He could even gamble in the far east of the game where a computer emulator would really come in handy. You could rack up infinite money in no time with these cheating methods. There were secrets everywhere in this game. You can burn a bush and it would lead you to coins, secret potion dealers, and hearts to increase your energy. Zelda 1 is the ultimate adventure game. It never loses its re-playability factor.

20 Comments

1. #1 francis says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 4:01 am

   old-wizard forever! is double dribble #11?
2. #2 Pingfa says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 4:37 am

   Just a quick note: The title of this article is somewhat misleading, as one might think that these are all games made by Nintendo. Top 10 NES Games would be more appropriate.

   Moving on, it’s a pretty good list – albeit predictable. Although, Punch Out over Contra raises a brow.
   Personally, I’m the only person I know, and ever known, to not like Castlevania. So, I’ll just have to assume either everyone has a fetish about castles or vampires or I have an extremely rare disease that I’ll label ‘Castlevaniaphobia’

   On a side note, I don’t really play NES games anymore as most of the collection of worthwhile games have had vastly superior remakes (in my opinion), so there isn’t much of an incentive to replay the inferior titles.
   That being said, I’m a Master System man. Golden Axe Warrior for Master System is a direct clone of Zelda, but widely regarded as superior.
3. #3 MountainMaverick says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 3:07 pm

   Good list, but Contra should be higher.
4. #4 Phil says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 4:05 pm

   Are you guys starting to run out of list ideas?
5. #5 Belialxyn says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 7:07 pm

   I think that was fairly accurate, but I personally prefer Zelda 2 The adventure of link more than the first one. I wouldn’t mine seeing a top 100, nothing brings more nostalgia than NES games. Good stuff.
6. #6 dwarf_toss says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 8:39 pm

   @belialynx: That’s because you have shitty taste in games, heh. Zelda 2 sucked moose testicle. Hard.

   Also, no, we really don’t need another top 100 list of anything.
7. #7 im not sayin says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 10:12 pm

   ok yall boys need 2 straighten up yalls minds these games sound stupid and thier image makes it that much worse. An idea would be animal games or things people have ummm i don’t know HEARD OF. This website is crazy that might explain why u only have 7 comments well at least since i’ve visited. But dont worry you could get better at making a website buuuuuttttt… by looking at this one… NOT IN A MILLION YEARS! lol (This message i have left is not to be mean just to knock some since into your brain.
8. #8 avi says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 10:11 pm

   i actually agree zelda 2 was better than the 1st and mario 2 was better than mario 1.
9. #9 Avi says:
   March 16th, 2010 at 3:35 pm

   what about Kid Icarus, Final fantasy or Tetris?
10. #10 Avi says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 3:36 pm

    o and Contra should b 1st.
11. #11 Avi says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    where is Kid Icarus, Ninja Gaiden, Final fantasy, Tetris or even Ice Climbers?
12. #12 Marcus says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 3:39 pm

    Am I in dreamland or does noone other than me believe Tecmo Super Bowl is the greatest game ever
13. #13 Delta says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 5:24 pm

    I know of people who have found memories of the Techmo football games, but I think you’re the only one who thinks it’s the greatest game ever, Marcus.
14. #14 nick says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    awesome list. I’ve never played rygar
15. #15 miketheratguy says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 4:46 am

    I personally have a soft spot for Maniac Mansion, Startropics, and Dragon Warrior III, but overall pretty hard to argue with most of this list.

    Except everyone knows that Castlevania III is the best game in the NES series.
16. #16 jimmy says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 9:50 am

    I have to agree with some of the others. Kid Icarus, Rygar, Dragon Warrior were some of my favorites. Of course, i hardly get to play them anymore. Who would want to when FIFA 10 for the PS3 is so addicting.