Because it came out on the NES after the SNES had already arrived, you may have missed out even if you were around and gaming on Nintendo systems 17 years ago, but Kirby's Adventure is one that can't be missed. But in reality, the games were different enough, and Ice Climber so much better to me when I finally played it, that I felt silly for ever thinking that. Nintendo had a fairly diverse lineup of sports titles introduced for the NES early on in the system's life cycle, including 8-bit interpretations of soccer, tennis, volleyball and even downhill slalom skiing. Their next door neighbors' kids ended up being me and my siblings' friends as time passed, and they had a basement dedicated to NES gaming. Shotgun, Mario. I found it hilarious that Nintendo had to shrink down Little Mac to a third the size of his replicate the arcade version's over-the-shoulder effect on the NES hardware, but even with the compromise, the game was better on the NES! While friends moved on to Super NES, I made do with Kirby. If you have 120 lives, killing yourself was fun. Fast forward another 15 years or so and I spend my nights playing Call of Duty 4 while he frequents games like BlazBlue. No suggested jump to results; In this user All GitHub All GitHub Eventually, you must learn to apply your gravity-defying skills to puzzles, while at the very same time applying your blasters to the faces of many, many enemy robots. And so the Battletoads – Rash, Pimple, and Zits – were born (kids love acne, right?). Good luck finding a copy now that doesn't have a warped parchment…. And it's the insanely crisp gameplay. Yes, please! Tecmo's long dead and more recently revived series Ninja Gaiden got its start on the NES in 1989 with what's considered one of the best, most difficult action platformers ever. The NES Willow game is better than George Lucas' movie. - Colin Moriarty, IGN Guides Associate Editor. Released in 1988, it pioneered something very important for the racing genre. This was his debut – hiding inside a jetpack-equipped flying spacesuit and advancing against the forces of auto-scrolling space invaders out in the darkest reaches of the galaxy. After a few minutes with Metal Storm you'll pity Mario for being such a ground bound chump. The care gameplay is right on, the visuals aren't bad at all, and it stinks of Mega Man inspired robot blasting. The nameless Boy and his pet Blob would overcome obstacles, defeat enemies and progress through the game by way of using special Jellybeans that would allow the Blob to become different objects and perform different feats. An item-based menu allowed you to equip gems, whips and special weapons. Capcom seemed to remove Mega Man's classic foil, Dr. Wily, in lieu of a new creator of evil robots, Dr. Cossack. The entire game can be played with a wingman, but make sure whoever it is can appreciate a heaping dollop of cuteness, served Japanese-style (with extra "cute" on the side). I lived in Maine when Mega Man 5 came out, which was an SNES-dominated era in my life. Not content to just slash his foes to death, Niki had to slice and dice them with a whirlwind blade just to be that much more radical. Two guys with a knife and a suicide complex decide to invade Russia. To make things interesting, at one point in your quest, your original classes undergo a change, making it advantageous to lug around a useless Thief just so you'll end up with a badass Ninja. As expected, Spy Hunter still stood out as one of the NES's greatest driving games even though it had aged a bit. Simon Belmont, the whip-wielding Vampire Hunter, controlled uniquely. It was unique, novel and also pretty confusing. Not one, not two, but three games in one. Discovering each new level was a joy. And if you somehow run out of those, you can always steal one from your unsuspecting partner. But while the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were starring in lame TV and movie spin-offs on the NES, Rare actually spent time crafting Battletoads into a surprisingly arcade-like beat-'em-up. Owned - There is one known instance of this machine owned by an active member Sammy collector.It is an original dedicated … It was integral if you wanted a high score. Then, Skate or Die 2 came along and trumped its predecessor in many ways, offering a full storyline adventure in addition to the standalone skating events as well as adding in the "Double Trouble" half pipe, a massive structure that spanned two full game screens and let you pull off highly stylish (for the time) vert skating tricks. A balanced team, for instance, may include two Fighters, a Black Mage to deal damage and a White Mage to heal. Super C, like Contra, is a nearly perfect cooperative experience, and is best enjoyed with a buddy to high five as the iconic level finish tune plays. Speed boosting strips placed directly on the track also made their first appearance in this design, which was so well received that it went on to inspire several sequels as well as influence the creation of Nintendo's own hybrid combat/racing series, Mario Kart. Zombie Nation pushes the NES graphical capabilities more than any other shooter on the system, with lots of moving enemies, building destruction and a steady stream of pixilated chaos. Armed only with a brick-zapping raygun, your only defense in Lode Runner is the ability to bury your opponents alive, thus freeing them of an enticing pile of gold. This game allowed two players to face off against one another in the squared circle, move freely around the ring, throw a variety of punches and even get into grapples, all things you wouldn't find in Little Mac's game. While maintaining breakneck speed, your suave, Bond-inspired spymobile is beset on all sides by reckless limousines, bullet-proof coups and even a helicopter dead set on chipping your pristine paint job. I grew up in a hockey town, so I didn't know a single person who owned a NES system that didn't have a copy of this awesome sports game. It appears Dr. Wily is behind the madness yet again. Enix had added a ton of new features to the game, and the build up to going out and getting it was up there with getting Final Fantasy II for my SNES. Mega Man's unique approach is what initially made it so interesting to gamers. Oh Little Samson, we hardly knew ye! But one has to travel back to the fall of 1985 to find the origin of these two arctic explorers, who first appeared in one of the launch titles on the NES, Ice Climber. GamePayne - NES Game Rarity List - All Aspects of retro & new videos games, with cheats, history, news, and info on all video games. Census data currently includes 150,244 machines (6,474 unique titles).. I was too ADD / illiterate as a kid to ever get that Zelda was the princess in the first game. Thankfully, unlike Nintendo's release of Tetris, Dr. Mario reveled in its two-player glory, and Nintendo's new hit proved not only to be a favorite among puzzle fans, but a game consumed by multi-player purists as well. And talk about difficult – if you were unlucky enough to lose all of your lives in the game's final stages (which gamers did over and over and over again), you'd have quite the trek in front of you to get back to where you were to try all over again. That isn't illegal, right? Shop at GameStop online and in store today. Excitebike was one of the 18 launch titles for the NES here in America, and distanced itself from the pack by offering truly addictive motocross gameplay. Though the company's probably best known for its stint as a Nintendo second-party developer in the SNES and N64 eras when it produced the Donkey Kong Country series, Killer Instinct, Banjo-Kazooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day, there was an earlier age when Rare was making the kinds of games that made Nintendo take notice to begin with, with games like Cobra Triangle. The atypical confluence of high quality and low sales of Little Samson ultimately resulted in it being one of the most sought after cartridges for collectors today. Yeah, it can do that too. The arcade version hooked me first, but the NES edition kept my addiction going. I happily rediscovered Stinger despite its unfortunate title and packaging (A space ship with boxing gloves? A game no one bought, but everyone had. It's all a bit confusing, but with little perseverance and a lot of hitting walls with your hammer you'll discover a unique hybrid adventure game worthy of the Goonies license. It's these adventure game elements that make River City Ransom the thinking man's beat-em-up. When the eight stage select-bound stages were defeated, players entered a more linear part of the game, where both Protoman's and Dr. Wily's multi-stage castles had to be completed for the gamer to see any light at the end of the tunnel. And guess what? And woe is the gamer who forgot to hold down the Reset button when turning off his NES. Still, dying needlessly was satisfying. Those that picked up Jackal merely due to its similarity in appearance to games like Contra and Castlevania were not disappointed. Maybe most surprising of all, though, is that the NES was also the first place Americans ever met Solid Snake. You know that random guy named Captain Commando in the Marvel vs. Capcom fighting games? The original Mega Man is perhaps best-known, however, for its staggering difficulty level. And rely on it they did, making The Legend of Zelda one of the NES' most famous games, part of a franchise that thrives to this day. When one stage is cleared, Scrooge can pick from any of the remaining stages to undertake his next quest. Natsume may be completely stuck in the rut of cranking out nothing but Harvest Moon sequels these days, but back on the NES the developer had some unique and inventive adventures like Abadox, Shadow of the Ninja and this game, Power Blade. It may strike some as strange that one of the NES's very greatest platformers dispenses with jumping – that essential component of Mario's repertoire – entirely. Mickey Mousecapade was the first of these, and although it was published by Capcom in the US, it was developed by Hudson and has a different, more primitive feel than the great Disney platformers that succeeded it. Super Mario Bros. 3 (EU) 42687 downs / Rating 71% The 125 stages are chock-full of weapon power-ups and other useful items, and each mission is very stra Perhaps the most interesting tidbit of all about Duck Hunt, however, was the stand-alone product's incredibly small size. Wizards & Warriors is about probing every corner with your trusty blade for treasure chest, precious gems and the like. Now you can see why I'm so messed up…. As usual, the game introduced eight new Robot Masters to defeat in any order the gamer desired, inheriting defeated boss' weapons to use on other less-fortunate foes. While two Lolo games preceded the 1991 release of the series' third iteration in the States, the game known by fans as Lolo 3 is most fans' favorite. But Section Z separated itself from the likes of Gradius and Life Force with a non-linear path to forward progress ¬– after each side-scrolling section you successfully survived, you'd be presented with two different teleporters. terns are played on your projection television. Unlike other popular cooperative games like Contra, crowding the screen with blue and green bubbles was just as enjoyable with an experienced player as it was with a total novice – I believe we called them "posers" back in those pre-n00b times. There is an art to snagging territory, and players eventually must learn how to manipulate the irrepressible Qix itself. Simon's Quest took you away from the all-too-familiar atmosphere of Dracula's castle and instead set you loose in an Eastern European locale full of mysterious villages, haunted mansions and, ultimately, the remnants of the castle Simon Belmont destroyed in the original. So when I saw the commercials for the system air with footage from Super Mario Bros, I couldn't believe that it looked identical. But rest assured that like the original, Ninja Gaiden II's difficulty level is nothing to scoff at. Now if I could only figure out what that tank game with huge bosses was…. Most Wanted - The Top 100 popular games without full Guides on GameFAQs. The game's protagonist, Master Higgins, a yachting playboy with a knack for taming giant lizards, sets out on his adventure with little more than a ball cap and a grass skirt. Mega Man is one of the few franchises on the NES that made it to four games. The first Double Dragon for the NES was a capable and compelling coin-op conversion, but this sequel was superior to that original in many ways, primarily because it kept a core feature of the franchise, co-op play, intact on the home system. It is possibly the most awesome car ever made aside from the "Metal Attacker" in Blaster Master. But when Sunsoft had the license stripped at the last minute, it made due with what it had, and with limited editing, Journey to Silius was released. Fester's Quest was an amazing game that was both deep in its delivery and excruciatingly difficult in its execution. Batman taught me the meaning of "envy;" I went to a neighbor's house and played it all day, mastering the diabolical wall jump platforming challenges, and I wanted the game for myself. Evidence of this is all over the place, from the enemies to some of the music. The fourth game in the franchise had little to offer fans that was different, other than a new cast of interesting Robot Masters, a new character (Eddie) and a new ability for Mega Man to exploit (charging your arm cannon). Although I initially displayed the poster of IronSword's cover art that shipped with the game on my wall, Fabio's polished pectorals quickly became a discomforting presence in my bedroom. Things just get weirder from there, with household appliances eventually standing between you and whatever your adorable goal may be. Final Fantasy also offered new ways to navigate its sprawling overworld. Rescue Rangers also ratcheted the difficulty down quite a bit, making it a good experience to share with a less-skilled partner. When I visit my mom today, that sticker is still there, reminding me of a time when I couldn't play every game I wanted to. After all, with the exception of Pit's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the last Kid Icarus game was released on Game Boy nearly two decades ago. Ice Climber's biggest claim to fame for its time, however, was the ability for two players to play the game simultaneously. If you've played and enjoyed ExciteTruck or ExciteBots: Trick Racing on your Wii, this is the original you have to thank for them. The following is the list of games developed and/or published by Shin Nihon Kikaku/SNK/SNK Playmore SNK Arcade. Having more in common with Metroid or The Legend of Zelda than NES era brawlers, Rygar must find equipment upgrades – a grappling hook, pulley, crossbow etc. was a knock-out even without his celebrity status. Rygar's action/adventure gameplay elements have helped it attain a sort of "cult classic" status. I couldn't stand the cartoon (I was a DuckTales sort of guy), but to my surprise the game was an addictive platforming masterpiece. Just to be extra cool, and to remind you you're still in the '80s. While the first game was an arcade platformer directly inspired by the movie, The Goonies II did its own thing. Thankfully, Sunsoft didn't throw this game into the dumpster after losing the Terminator license, because Journey to Silius is one of those seldom-played but everyone-should-play-it NES gems. I guess some things never change, eh Ikari Warriors? If you missed their heyday in the '80s and '90s, Micro Machines were essentially the same thing as those other toy car brands – they were just smaller; about half the size of the others, in fact – making them really, really tiny. In fact, all the negative feelings around this one almost kept it off the list, but when it comes down to it Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of the greats, and a dang good title. And I get to hit him with a whip? Get the best of Sporcle when you Go Orange.This ad-free experience offers more features, more stats, and more fun while also helping to support Sporcle. How could I forget the cutscenes? The inspirational forerunner to just about every worthwhile baseball title of the past twenty years, SNK's Baseball Stars is one of those rare games that still stands up today. Perhaps the one NES classic most on the minds of gamers in 2009 thanks to the recent release of its incredible Wii sequel/remake, Punch-Out!! You'll soon realize how much better off you are without a rookie to keep track of. Old-school arcade gamers have found and will continue to find a lot to love in any iteration of Mario Bros., but new gamers beware! Before long your middling grenades are replaced by sleek missiles capable of taking out even the largest of enemy tanks. Feeding the Blob flavored jellybeans from apple to vanilla caused the Blob to transform into everything from a car jack to an umbrella. And believe us, the tanks get larger. Nonetheless, the game remains an iconic entry in the NES catalog due to its simple race-or-die gameplay. And while all Robot Masters since Mega Man 2 have been designed by the Japanese, Mega Man 6 totes a few created by North Americans. Journey to Silius wasn't experienced by many gamers in its time, but it has more than earned its place on our Top 100 for its smooth gameplay alone. Contra deftly captures the spirit of the testosterone-fueled '80s summer blockbusters, with obvious nods to the Alien and Rambo series. GitHub is where sammy-nes builds software. Because I was the kind of nerd that kept track of developer names, when I saw that the creator of Pitfall was behind Boy and His Blob, I was sold. Gamers' apprehension quickly dissipated, though, when what resulted was an amazing game full of an inordinate amount of depth. I had a password that started players at (or near) the final town, but with all the ultimate weapons and armor still unequipped. If you're stuck, quit crying and grab a guide, since you apparently can't hack it. Do you need anything else? Thank god. Something about Adventures of Link scared me–maybe the dark backgrounds in the forest stages, or the increased detail in the enemy designs. Although it is fun to pummel some of Double Dragon's most notorious thugs, Battletoads fan will probably be the most satisfied with this cartoonish, goofy beat 'em up. Why would you buy Mario Bros. when you can buy Super Mario Bros.? In this way, Castlevania III was like the original game on a considerable amount of steroids, with plenty of replay value to boot. In a sort of desperate-sounding effort to distinguish itself from other puzzle games that may happen to feature falling colored blocks, Klax's title screen boldly proclaims that "It is the nineties, and there is time for Klax." It had two player support – so even when my feeble, under-developed child hands couldn't hack it my bro could step up and dominate – and the addition of not only top view but also side scrolling portions sent my infant-like brain into convulsions. But the Balloon Adaptor and Wire Adaptor didn't elude me for long, as useless as they were. Whether or not the game was a blast to play is how we decided the order of our beloved NES carts - so don't be surprised if you see an important or influential title below something we loved to play over and over and over again. But not all licensed titles are bad. Another of Rare's excellent pre-second-party efforts on the NES, Snake Rattle 'n' Roll was an isometric action/adventure with a curious goal, and more curious controls. Get Started Thankfully, Rad Racer turned out to be a great racing game that was my second-favorite racer of the generation, right after OutRun on the Master System. The versus play is simple and even repetitive, but it holds up today. You have to deal with enemies galore and traps aplenty; the game even gave the player the option to kill his or her character off by pressing the Select button if they found themselves trapped or unable to proceed, a true testament to Lolo 3's deep and difficult gameplay built on a deceivingly-childlike facade. 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