Gamers new to this unique genre could easily access the game, but gamers who were veterans of the genre could find enjoyment in the game as well, collecting items in order to reach each subsequent stage. Released in 1988, it pioneered something very important for the racing genre. You could jump and dive for the ball, climb the wall to snag a possible home runand most of all, you could customize a half-dozen teams all the way down to the individual names. Tyson's name recognition was never needed, though. It's a good thing, too, since this was the last Dragon Warrior game to appear in the United States for nearly a decade. You can collect power-ups by "juggling" bells on heart-shaped beams of pure love, thus altering their colors and endowing you with different abilities. I remember getting this game like it was yesterday. I couldn't stand the cartoon (I was a DuckTales sort of guy), but to my surprise the game was an addictive platforming masterpiece. 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. Alternating both horizontal and vertical scrolling levels with cool 3D-imitating third-person view stages, Contra was designed with short attention spans in mind. Admittedly, the exhilaration of burning past the beach-going VW beetles in your red Ferrari 328 (the F1 was significantly less radical) is indeed worthy of such high self praise. Now if I could only figure out what that tank game with huge bosses was. Some of Ring King's lasting popularity is for reasons a bit more dubious, though, in that it's one of the most laughed-at games on the 8-bit Nintendo because of some unintentionally suggestive visuals. Just be careful writing down those passwords! And Christmas of 1990 was when I finally got my hands on the game I would be obsessed with until this day. In Kid Icarus, gamers take the role of Pit. Brawling brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee were once again playable in both single-player mode, but for the first time on the 8-bit Nintendo you and a friend could team up to punch, kick and hair-pull your foes to death simultaneously through an all-new set of side-scrolling beat-'em-up stages. The only game that ended up rivaling this excellent design was Konami's Blades of Steel, but the two were different enough to own and enjoy both (which is why you'll find Blades on this countdown). Oddly, I remember the original Mario Bros. as the first game I ever played on a big screen TV. Ignoring Nintendo's claim to the Tetris name in the US a year later, Tengen released its own version of the world's most famous puzzle game on an unlocked, unofficial cartridge. Cruising the skies unhampered by the copious random battles of surface travel is truly exhilarating. River City Ransom's excellent amalgamation of action, adventure, beat-em-up and RPG game elements has won it many vocal supporters, yet it seems destined to remain in the shadow of big name brawlers like Double Dragon. A puzzler in the same style as HAL Laboratory's famous Adventures of Lolo series, Kickle Cubicle put players in the role of a character aptly named Kickle, who is on a quest to liberate his kingdom from the grasp of an icy evil. I'm a lifelong Samus Aran groupie. Gargoyle's Quest II was the sequel to the Game Boy original Gargoyle's Quest, a game that was itself a spin-off of Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins starring that series' infamous flying red demon as its hero. Shooter, Action & Adventure . And that's saying nothing of its amazing action-platforming gameplay, which was oft-replicated and never exceeded. Metal Gear created the stealth genre, paving the way for Metal Gear Solid to later revolutionize and refine it. Willow begins simply, buts grows in strength and power as he explores dungeons, gains new items and learns powerful magic spells. Dozens of Castlevania games have come and gone over the last two decades, but the series started for American gamers on the NES. Joes. You made your choice, and advanced to a different next level depending on your selection. By the time Mega Man 5 was released, many imagined this would be the Blue Bomber's last foray in the 8-bit world. But it belongs on our NES list as well, for the port of Lode Runner was pixel-perfect and provided something that only Excitebike had done prior: a level editor. For all of these reasons and more, NES was recently named the best console of all time. The pseudo-3D levels that broke up the side-scrolling action in Contra are replaced with vertical-scrolling levels, but the graphical style, gameplay and even the guns all remain identical to the original. And besides, the game was officially backed by Fred Savage, the ultimate gaming Wizard. Our own Mark Bozon has been working diligently to bring this title back to life, perhaps by way of the Virtual Console. Known as Dragon Quest in Japan, Dragon Warrior was one of the NES's early smash hits that didn't come from Nintendo itself, even though it was released nearly three years after it saw the light of day on its native Japanese Famicom. The versus play is simple and even repetitive, but it holds up today. I played this game for the first time on a vacation to Wisconsin (that was back when most kids had three NES games total, and liked it), and dug the game so much I had to own it. Rad Racer doesn't disguise its arcade origins; in fact, it unabashedly rips off SEGA's arcade contemporary, Out Run. Finally we rented it, played co-op, and dominated the game, even leaving the NES on overnight during the dreaded "Everyone looks like player 1 and 2" level. Although you control Mickey, Minnie accompanies you throughout the Mousecapade, which plays out as sort of a puzzle-solving platformer. Who ever thought I could be addicted to such a simple, repetitive game? I bought my own cart off of eBay and experienced the wonders of this influential grinding J-RPG without the help of my peers. It's not only the hardest in the franchise, but one of the hardest NES games period. Apart from its fun gameplay and difficult boss battles, Kung Fu had inherent replay value simply because the game started over once you beat it with a higher difficulty level. The game I consider the best of all-time is a flawless experience. When colors are matched you guessed it they disappear. Cue Fester's Quest, a 1989 offering from Sunsoft that put gamers in the role of Uncle Fester, a character from the 1960s sitcom The Addams Family. Get ready to relive the days when shooting down enemy forces and dodging oncoming fire while sipping a can of Surge was all we needed for a quick adrenaline rush. But when something isn't broken, you shouldn't attempt to fix it, and Capcom released what was in essence the same experience from the three earlier titles in the series. edited 2y. Doctor Hauzer. That's awesome! The late, great Little Samson saw extremely weak sales in the US and so it usually comes up short in the Fond Memories department. Another home port that differs from the arcade, this one has a cheat code that makes Astyanax invincible (except from pits). When I got the box in my hand, however, it was Castlevania III. 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. Atari 2600 titles like ET set the stage for what is still known today as a group of games best avoided. Batman didn't try to do anything unique, but rather took a cue from a few already-established NES staples to make Batman a fun, worthwhile experience. Featuring a half-and-half game design that blends two distinct types of gameplay into one excellent whole, The Guardian Legend is one of the most influential games in the history of the gaming industry. 2. While many of you are still waiting for Neeso Games awesome looking Arcade platformer of 'Super Delivery Boy', which is due for release towards the end of this year. Our Fondest Memories Officially titled The Dark Sword of Chaos, the gameplay remained true to the original, with one notable addition: While Ryu always could (and in many cases had to) grapple to walls to get around, Ryu could now scale up and down walls easily. It's these adventure game elements that make River City Ransom the thinking man's beat-em-up. Because of that, there was no rushing around; Dragon Warrior was for patient gamers only. A stagnant, square-shaped screen presented the player's blobbish character with a puzzle. That isn't illegal, right? shipped in two forms on the NES, one featuring Mike Tyson as the final boss and the other with him removed. Others called Nintendo's own hotline for help or consulted a magazine. Jackal - A NES top down shooter coming to the Amiga via Neeso Games gets a new demo While many of you are still waiting for Neeso Games awesome looking Arcade platformer of 'Super Delivery Boy', which is due for . Before Final Fantasy, there was Dragon Warrior. You have to go back and read that title again, a couple of times, and imagine it being spoken by a scratchy, synthesized 8-bit voice clip. Following the success of DuckTales, the iconic Disney chipmunks Chip 'n Dale received an action-packed, after school cartoon series in the late '80s. 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. As the name of the game suggests, the idea of Ice Climber is to climb, climb, climb. Constantly being outsmarted by the likes of The Adventures of Lolo, Kickle Cubicle proved to be an entertaining, action-packed alternative that was a little friendlier to all of us puzzle-stupid gamers. While the first game was an arcade platformer directly inspired by the movie, The Goonies II did its own thing. You play an M-308 Gunner mech, which features awesome (Magnetic? It's effectively a full Battletoads follow up with our boys Billy and Jimmy Lee along for the ride. Buy Buy Buy. The Cobra Triangle gunship was a versatile vessel, and the power-ups it could obtain were what made this one a blast to play. Developed on the same engine as Kid Icarus, and released around the same time, Metroid toned down the action-platforming found in Icarus and focused on exploration. Gamers take the role of Scrooge McDuck, who goes through various stages to collect wealth, defeating enemies with his pogo stick attack. Completely unlike anything else at the time. - Matt Casamassina, IGN Nintendo Editor-in-Chief. I can remember looking at the Rad Racer flap at Toys R Us (remember the old system of flaps and slips?) This game was macho, manly destructive fun with its simultaneous two-player action, but also ended up playing an important historic role in the industry it put SNK on the map. Nevertheless, I spent many hours with this awesome sequel in the game, the cover model was substituted with a protagonist tastefully clad to the nines in iron plating. "Games are too easy now." 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! In the realm of 8-bit graphics and extremely limited storage space, Nintendo RPGs (and other RPGs of the time) had a difficult time telling expansive, immersive stories. Something about Adventures of Link scared memaybe the dark backgrounds in the forest stages, or the increased detail in the enemy designs. It's like someone took the Gradius series' Vic Viper and transformed it from a spaceship into a jet ski. I remember playing this a lot with my dad when I was younger. The key to not being obliterated is, of course, power-ups. Carry on about how this game just isn't as good as the arcades (I do), but the truth is NES had some killer shooters, and this was one that I went back to over and over again. Bubble Bobble actually encourages you to bring a friend along on your journey only with the cooperation of two talented players can you access the game's extra stages and alternate ending. Initially, this appeared to make the game much easier, but in fact, Ninja Gaiden II's difficulty could easily be considered on par with the original, if not for different reasons. Using your own bubbles to bounce your way up to out of reach platforms takes some serious platforming skills. Game developer Compile Game publisher Brderbund Software, Inc. Game published 1988 Game perspective Top-down Game theme Sci-Fi / Futuristic 5 votes Share on Facebook chasersgaming. After ripping open all of my other presents, all I cared about was Mega Man 3. Two guys with a knife and a suicide complex decide to invade Russia. Simon Belmont, the whip-wielding Vampire Hunter, controlled uniquely. The Game Pak is truly worth tracking down for its multiplayer selection, including a wacky cooperative mode. Mega Man is one of the few franchises on the NES that made it to four games. TMNT II: The Arcade Game for the NES was an incredibly impressive 8-bit conversion of one of the most popular coin-op cabinets ever created the original side-scrolling Turtles brawler from the early '90s arcade scene. Thank god. Getting him to grow a body was the goal of each stage, and that was accomplished by consuming the dot/pellet/balls of semi-sentient foodstuff known as Nibbley Pibbleys. An item-based menu allowed you to equip gems, whips and special weapons. Created by Sunsoft, which was at the top of its game in the late 1980s with classic release after classic release, Journey to Silius was originally supposed to be a licensed Terminator game. It's no Blades of Steel (hell EA's NHL09 isn't Blades of Steel), but growing up in Minnesota and playing on a hockey team ensured that this one was in the NES as much as Super Mario 3. And if that five dollar coupon on the manual wasn't enough, Pizza Hut ads even made it into the game itself one of the earliest examples of that kind of advertising in gaming history. Each character has its own powers and limitations, for instance the mouse makes up for its measly health meter with its ability to cling to ceilings and walls. 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. As I played it for the first time in two decades, I recalled many afternoons spent with the cutesy Twinbee fighters. 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. It's a shame the character known as Kickle has died with history, as well. Platforming with zombies and mummies? Add it to the list! Each can be one of six diverse character classes, which dictates their role on the frontlines. Around the corner from my house growing up was a rare sight these days a mom and pop video store. By the time Mega Man 6 hit the NES, the console was virtually dead. The heroes of Ikari Warriors, Ralf and Clark, even went on to cameo in several of those later games, you can play as them in several King of Fighters sequels, as well as the most recent Metal Slug installments. If the name "Willow" isn't immediately familiar to you, we suppose you can be forgiven but you really should get to know it. And so the Battletoads Rash, Pimple, and Zits were born (kids love acne, right?). I was so bored with Tetris. I think Tetris is the better game, but Klax is very creative and the NES version was surprisingly well developed and accurate to the original. Top Down Shooter Engine. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a smash phenomenon in the late 1980s. 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