The best NES games of all time

Hey, the NES Classic has (somewhat quietly) gone back on the market, which has made the system decidedly less rare. Way to be, Nintendo!

For the uninitiated, the NES Classic is a retro re-imagining of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, wherein 30 of the original games for the system are pre-installed on a miniaturized version (including shorter cords!) for retro-game enthusiasts.

This thing was created and released in 2016, promptly sold out, and then no one could get one. Acknowledging the demand, Nintendo has now re-(re?)-released the system … and I’ve managed to acquire one to bathe myself in the nostalgia … making it the perfect time for me to list out what I consider to be the Top 40 NES games of all time.

Why 40? Because I couldn’t narrow it down to just 30. (And I STILL left off a ton of good games.)

In cobbling this list together, I discovered less than half of my favorites made it onto the NES Classic. That should inform your purchasing decision (as should whether you already own any/most of the games on the device). For whatever it’s worth, I’ve got no regrets on my end. I’m happy to have these games now.

If some (all?) of this sounds familiar to you, I did this same rankings thing with the Super NES last year (and also offered a mini-review of that system). So feel free to check that out to decide how intelligent/dumb I am and/or engage in some Super Nintendo nostalgia.

Yes, it’s fair to say I love both of these systems. They were a big part of my teenage years.

So without further delay, here are my Top 40 NES games of all time.

Honorable Mention: Bionic Commando, Blaster Master, Double Dragon, Final Fantasy, Gradius, Kabuki Quantum Fighter, Kid Icarus, Mario Brothers, Megaman, Metal Gear, River City Ransom, Rygar, StarTropics, Super C, Tiny Toon Adventures.

40. R.C. Pro-Am

Sporting a slick perspective, fun gameplay, and a great concept (racing remote control cars!), R.C. Pro-Am might be the best racer on the entire NES console (with one notable exception I get to later). The physics of the cars and their tendency to “slide” around the track, particularly around corners, is really satisfying to experience and makes for the game being more strategic than some of its competitors. There’s really not a lot more to say. This is just a really good game.

39. Adventure Island II

Similar to other titles like Little Nemo and Super Mario World, this game introduced the concept of being able to “ride” a friendly animal companion to boost your abilities and complete the game. I liked the first Adventure Island game, but it always felt a little incomplete to me, especially in the graphics and gameplay arenas. Adventure Island II added this dinosaur-riding dynamic and polished things up considerably, making this sequel a much-appreciated step forward. And hey, who doesn’t like riding dinosaurs around? It’s a time-tested truth.

38. Super Spike V’Ball

Developed in the same general style as another NES favorite, Dodgeball, this game — like many other NES games — really soared once you got into two-player mode. And it perfectly captured the sensation of nailing a monster spike that either doinked off your opponent’s body in some way or left them eating sand. Either way, it felt satisfying as heck. Super Spike V’Ball was one of those games that could fall apart on you if you tried to play it too long, but it was perfect for a weekend rental. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that.

37. Batman: The Video Game

Lots of folks swear by this game, and to be fair, I can understand why. The game design exceeds the licensing agreement — and not the other way around — which is always a rarity in games like this. That wall jump and the power upgrades are all satisfying experiences, while the graphics and sound presentation are on point. My only quibble would be how much of a departure it was from the movie or even the original source material, whereas I liked the Genesis version of the game better. But Batman: The Video Game is good, and it deserves to be here.

36. Tecmo Bowl

I’m not going to sugarcoat this: The sequel is better. There’s some debate about that among die-hards, but I am definitely in the Tecmo Super Bowl camp. That having been said, Tecmo Bowl — the O.G. — still rules. Bo Jackson is a god among men in this game, so playing as him is joyful in and of itself. But even taking Bo out of the equation, this game was wild arcade-like action, with the emphasis on two-player shootouts. An underrated touch in single-player mode: having a password system — so you could systematically defeat every team in the game — was key.

35. Kirby’s Adventure

For any subjective ranking of this type, timing is going to play a significant role in how most of these games are perceived, at least in a nostalgic sense. Some of the early games in the Nintendo’s life cycle came before I had jumped on board, so I didn’t experience them as a kid … so I have less attachment to them now. The same is true for late-life NES games, such as Kirby’s Adventure. It’s a satisfying play, and you can clearly see the polish and care that went into it. But I was already playing Street Fighter II when it was originally released, so there’s just no emotional investment here. Sorry, Kirby.

34. Marble Madness

It wasn’t a particularly important game, but Marble Madness was nonetheless a fun one. Essentially co-opting the concept behind those nifty wooden labyrinth games (remember these?), it was a simple idea — get the ball to the finish line — executed across crazier and crazier Rube Goldberg-like obstacles. The graphics and ball physics here were outstanding, and it was quite fun to race a friend. The only issue with this arcade port was trying to manipulate the game with the standard d-pad instead of the arcade’s track ball. It wasn’t easy and would basically make your thumbs bleed. But darn it, it was still fun.

33. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Ah, Nintendo’s first stab at reinventing one of its main mascots, Link. Leaning more heavily into the RPG elements of the first game and eschewing the overhead perspective for a side-scrolling adventure instead, this game is weird and difficult, but fun. My first memory of Zelda II was watching a friend play it at his house, and him refusing to relinquish the controller for the justifiable fear that I would immediately die (I mentioned the game was difficult, right?). I eventually convinced him otherwise … and promptly died. So yes, it’s weird AND difficult (the ensuing years/sequels have yet to convince me otherwise). You have been warned.

32. Dr. Mario

I’ve played Tetris in about every format you can think of — save either of the NES ports. That probably makes me weird, but I just can’t think of Tetris as being a Nintendo game, so it won’t be listed here. What will be listed is the puzzle game directly inspired by Tetris that gained a cult following of its own, Dr. Mario. Properly easy to access, hard to master, and impossible to stop playing, this for me is one of two definitive puzzle games of this system, and I’m thankful it was included on the NES Classic.

31. Megaman 4

There’s an everlasting debate among old-school gamers over whether Megaman 2 or Megaman 3 is the best game in the series. I offer my own take on that argument later in this article (teaser!), but there’s a secondary question that stems from that discussion that I think is almost as worthy a debate: Which game is third best? For me, it’s this one. The original Megaman is difficult and sloppy, while Megaman 5 and 6 just feel derivative. Megaman 4 introduced the mega-buster (the ability to charge your default shot), most of the bosses had yet to become comically strained (cough, Centaur Man?), and I enjoyed the overall package/polish.

30. TMNT III: The Manhattan Project

So you might have heard about these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They were a thing, and this game did a good job of taking what had previously been established on the NES and running with it. In all honesty, the licensed characters that all made cameos throughout the game were and remain one of the biggest draws of The Manhattan Project. But whether you’re a fan of the material or not, this is still solid, 2-player brawler action with good graphics and music, and it’s worth a spin.

29. Dragon Warrior

I’ve got a love/hate relationship with this game. I cannot in good conscience deny its importance to the RPG genre at large, nor its role as my own personal gateway drug into that huge world. I also have fond memories of this game for it being a free giveaway with my Nintendo Power subscription. But man, oh man, Dragon Warrior is notorious for “grinding,” that time-honored RPG tradition of having to fight a ton of ancillary battles with mediocre baddies so as to level up to a point that you can beat the bigger baddies. It’s horrifically bad here, to the point that I struggle to recommend the game. BUT, it’s an important title, and I still have good memories attached to it (and there are ways to cheat the time investment), so here it sits.

28. Metroid

Most observers who revisit this game in the wake of its sequels tend to get tunnel vision about what the first Metroid lacks rather than what it possesses. Yes, you’re dropped in without a map or any kind of direction, but those classic controls and the eerie atmosphere are instantly recognizable and a great hook. The critiques of this game have some merit, and I absolutely feel like Super Metroid is a vastly superior game … and yet this game has grabbed me right away and made me wonder why I hadn’t played it before. Why indeed.

27. Bubble Bobble

This is another game I have no real nostalgia for, so it had to earn this slot the hard way: by its actual merit. Bubble Bobble is a non-scrolling platformer in the tradition of Pac-Man or Donkey Kong, and features a little dinosaur-like creature trying to capture enemies in bubbles before popping said bubbles to clear the stage. It’s horribly addicting, and it’s about 3,000% more fun in two-player mode … meaning you WILL HAVE FUN WITH THIS GAME. It is a commandment, and you must follow it.

26. Little Nemo: The Dream Master

Drawing its story and characters from somewhat obscure source material (at least here in the States when it debuted), Capcom nonetheless worked its adaptation magic with Little Nemo: The Dream Master. The noteworthy play mechanics — in which Nemo would take the abilities of creatures he encountered during standard level play — is something that has gone on to be copied a gazillion times since (even the inspiration for Mario’s dinosaur mascot, Yoshi, may or may not have been conceived of first). So it was an innovative title, but also to be clear: it was gorgeous to look at, sounded brilliant (nice score!), and the controls were tight (throwing candy at enemies to defeat them = awesome).

25. Castlevania

This is the granddaddy that inspired an entire franchise, and it’s definitely still got the goods. Play through Castlevania for the first time (or the first time in awhile) and you’ll notice some fairly drab visuals and super basic gameplay. But these tight controls and Dracula-inspired themes were the building blocks that were so key in establishing this series as one of the best in existence. Yes, I like the immediate sequels even better for the innovations and polish they added, but this game remains rock solid.

24. BaseWars

If a game involved me beating the shit out my brother, I was totally here for it. And this game fit the bill. Sporting a weird futuristic motif wherein robots would play baseball, but instead of conceding outs to one another, attempt instead to beat one another to a pulp, BaseWars was like a hopped up version of Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots … except the robots are armed with weapons. And play baseball for some reason. Yeah, it didn’t make much sense, but I remain totally here for it.

23. Duck Hunt

This was such an iconic game for the original NES that it’s tough to not include it on that basis alone. The good news in this is that the game is a strong one, building off of what could have been a simple gimmick (the light gun) and putting in smart, effective game design. Developers are still building games to this day that take this basic concept and run with it, so it’s an influential game as well. My biggest critique of Duck Hunt (other than it usually seemed to lose my interest quickly) is just that stupid dog. Jerk face.

22. Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers

As a spiritual sequel to Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers tapped into that same Disney afternoon cartoon appeal and even added two-player to the mix, which made this game pretty much a must-play for a kid like me who had a brother to co-pilot with. The game was absurdly easy, which dings the replay factor quite a bit, so back in the day this was more of a rental than a must-buy. But even with that, it had big, creative worlds, cool music, and fun gameplay. So yes, it’s a winner.

21. Blades of Steel

Some of us were team “Ice Hockey” and others of us were team “Blades of Steel.” I was most definitely the latter, in no small part because the game included a special brawl mode, in which the victor then got to enjoy a power play. This actually added to the strategy of the game, and let’s be honest: there’s something appealing about a hockey game that celebrates fighting in this manner. (Other games had fighting too, but this had cut scene animations devoted to it.) Also, I need to mention the mini-game with a Gradius-like spaceship shooting stuff, which was just absurd to me as a kid. A game within a game? What is this sorcery? Blades of Steel being a love letter to fighting and “Inception” … of course it made my list.

20. WWF: WrestleMania Challenge

Every child of the 80s or 90s had at least one game that they constantly rented from the video store but never pulled the trigger on buying. This was that game for my brother and me. WrestleMania Challenge is a pretty straightforward wrestling game, with little in the way of frills or polish, but it was a true button masher (in the best way), and the licensing here made a big difference. Having access to favorite wrestlers like Macho Man and the Ultimate Warrior (and their special moves!) and then beating your brother’s head in with them was a truly satisfying experience. Yes, this is a nostalgia pick. Fight me.

19. Castlevania II: Simons’ Quest

This game is a beautiful mess, to the point that advancing the game is a real struggle due to poor design choices and a terrible effort at translation. But to that I say: get a guide or read a FAQ. Because if you can traverse the few incomprehensible hurdles laid out in front of you, the game is innovative as hell and actually not that awful in terms of challenge. The day-to-night dynamic, though somewhat obnoxious to deal with, is still a fascinating design choice to this day. And the open world, complete with exploration and RPG elements, was equally innovative. Simon’s Quest laid the ground work for future “Metroid-vania” style games … and it did it in 1988. That makes it an important game, and one I still enjoy playing.

18. Mike Tyson’s Punch-out!!

There’s no debating this is one of the Nintendo’s true classics, especially the version with Mike Tyson in it (the game has famously been re-branded due to an expired license). It’s never been my cup of tea exactly, and I’m not 100% sure why. Perhaps it’s as simple as timing: I didn’t get a Nintendo until well after this game’s release and never bothered to circle back. For whatever it’s worth, I do think if I play this game a little more and improve at it, it will appeal even more. As it is, I still recognize Punch-out!!! as an all-time great.

17. Metal Storm

This game played brilliantly, with a clever switching gravity dynamic that would flip your character from floor to ceiling and back again. It opened up new areas, dangers and techniques for passing areas, and it was genuinely novel at the time (Megaman, among others, would copy the feature in future games). But beyond the gimmick, Metal Storm still had excellent controls, sound and graphics, making it a quality game with or without the gravity flipping. (But clearly the gravity flipping was pretty darn cool.)

16. Ninja Gaiden II

It did everything that Ninja Gaiden did, and it did it better. So why does it not rank higher? Well, that’s more of a philosophical discussion than anything else. The original game was such a breath of fresh air — introducing cinematic elements, like its various cut scenes — that it earns bonus points for innovation that all the sequels could not. That having been said, if someone told me they thought Ninja Gaiden II was the best NES game ever, I wouldn’t argue with them. The presentation and game play are top notch.

15. Double Dragon II: The Revenge

Stepping back from it, Double Dragon as a series is pretty problematic thematically. Moreover, the sheer volume of ports and iterations of the game make it difficult to determine the true cream of the crop. Double Dragon II: The Revenge being two-player was enough of a change from the first NES port to elevate it over its predecessor considerably, while subsequent games didn’t have anything nearly so significant in terms of advancements. Don’t discount the social aspect of being able to play something two-player in this era; it was really half the fun. And breaking it down more plainly than even that: this game was balanced and creative and fun … with two players or not.

14. Super Mario Bros.

I mean, what can be said here that hasn’t been said already? My personal anecdote is a vague exposure to the game, mostly in arcades, until I finally was gifted the ultimate gift from my parents on my birthday with a Nintendo Entertainment System, complete with pack-in games Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. These two games were my only games for months, so this game was put through its proper paces and was (and remains) extremely meaningful to me. Sure, it has warts, but like most of the other classics like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and the like, it remains playable and fun to this day.

13. TMNT II: The Arcade Game

Every kid was obsessed with the ninja turtles. Cartoons, comics, toys, and of course, the quarter-sucker that was the arcade game. The original turtles Nintendo game was a radical departure from the coin-op, and it left many (myself included) pretty disappointed. So the folks at Komani listened, and their second NES offering was a port of the much more popular arcade game. The bad news? The Nintendo hardware couldn’t handle the big, bold graphical elements of the arcade, so this version suffered greatly from slowdown, flicker, and some pretty ugly visuals. The good news? TMNT II: The Arcade Game actually played slightly better than its arcade counterpart (no need for quarter suckage = no need to program the game cheaply). The end result is a mixed bag, but one that’s widely held in high esteem regardless.

12. Ninja Gaiden

Okay, so let’s be clear: these games are hard. Frustratingly hard. “Having to memorize every enemy attack pattern after many, many deaths” hard. But as mentioned above, the presentation matters a whole heck of a lot. The graphics (those cut scenes!) are great, the controls are tight, and the soundtrack is awesome. And as American Ninja Warrior has taught us all, becoming a ninja is absolutely peak male fantasy. Ninja Gaiden was American Ninja Warrior before American Ninja Warrior.

11. The Legend of Zelda

Here’s what it’s like playing this game: You get maimed. You start over and get a little bit further … and then you get maimed. You start over and get a little bit further than that … and then you get maimed. Layer on top of this that you have no earthly idea where you’re supposed to go within a giant open world. Sounds awful, right? Well oddly enough, it’s not. Those small increments of improvement are as addictive as crack cocaine, and if you manage a huge leap forward (like conquering a dungeon), the surge of endorphins will keep you going another several minutes/hours/days/forever. This is Zelda in its most distilled form, and why so many people insist to this day that The Legend of Zelda remains the best in the series.

10. Duck Tales

Capcom had a pretty badass track record in the 8-bit era, and some of its Disney-licensed titles still hold up to this day. Their most famous — and best — Disney title is Duck Tales, which played supremely satisfyingly and brought to life every kid’s weekday cartoon obsession. I guess you could ding this game for being short or easy, but to me that just made it more accessible (and if I’m being honest, I couldn’t always execute that jump attack consistently anyway … which made the game a bit tougher). It’s a very, very good game.

9. Contra

Get yourself a partner, put in the Konami Code, and you might still have trouble defeating this game. But it’s a blast of a play whether you win or lose, embodying the “run and gun” philosophy perfectly. This is a true classic that paved the way for a slew of games to come after. As stated, it’s a great co-op game, and Contra has great depth in its weapon system and determining whether to opt for a “power-up” or not … sometimes, you’re just better off keeping that spread gun, you know?

8. Excite Bike

When I was a kid, a local hotel/restaurant had this in a cabinet in its game room, and thusly I was pretty well obsessed with it throughout my youth. (I didn’t really get to play it, because Dad was stingy with the quarters.) Once I had the ability to play it at home, it lived up to my expectations and played like a dream. And the create-a-course was literally hours of fun too. It may not look like much, but Excite Bike has it where it counts. I’m super happy it made it onto the NES Classic.

7. Battletoads

You will get destroyed. But that’s not always a bad thing, and Battletoads is the perfect example of that. No doubt originally conceived as a shameless attempt to cash in on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles phenomenon, the developers decided to make a quality product, and Battletoads was born. The gameplay, sound and imagery are all great, and the fact you could clobber your friends was actually a plus, not a minus. Sure, some friendships/families were probably broken because of this, but so what? It was hilarious. And oh yeah, the challenge … when you can still have fun even when getting crushed by a game, you know you’ve stumbled onto something special.

6. Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

Something I’ve noticed about this list — especially as we get toward the top — is it seems to have a lot of sequels on it. The early days of the NES were really the wild west in some ways, with a bunch of folks just throwing stuff against the wall. Later on, refinement made good ideas into things that were great. I think that’s certainly the case with the Castlevania series, which started strong, then just got better and better until it peaked with Rondo of Blood/Symphony of the Night (with some notable missteps along the way). Castlevania III represents a shift away from a more open world back to a more traditional approach, though it left in diverting paths and added the concept of diverting character paths as well. Being able to switch between multiple characters, but having to choose which single one you wanted to take the majority of your adventure with was a pretty novel thing at the time. Add in the requisite improvements in music/graphics, and this becomes without a doubt the deepest and best 8-bit Castlevania offering out there.

5. Megaman 3

Having already been obsessed with Megaman 2, the release of this game was a momentous occasion for me at the time. And there’s a good argument to be made that this is the better game. It certainly upped the visuals and depth, while also tightening the controls and advancing the story in a cool way. I don’t think there’s a question that the series became somewhat stagnant after this game. But for me, Megaman 3 didn’t quite equal its predecessor in the following areas: weapon design, boss design, and music. But let’s be clear: this game is still awesome.

4. Super Mario Bros. 3

Considered by many to be the best Mario game in existence, and considered by many more to be the best game on the entire platform, I’m somewhat less bullish by comparison “merely” ranking it as my No. 4 game on the NES. I do love Mario 3, as its definitively an improvement on Mario 1 in every single way. The lackluster boss battles have been ramped up considerably, as have the power-ups, the controls, the overall scope, the graphics, the sound, and yes, well, everything. The quirky rare power-ups like the big boot and the hammer brothers suit were small touches that made a huge difference. If I have a critique, it’s how much it circles back to Mario 1 at the expense of Mario 2 … and we really haven’t done the world of Mario 2 (and its play mechanics) any justice since. But this game taken on its own merits is superb.

3. Super Mario Bros. 2

Is this the most underrated game of all time? People who downgrade this one are sucking exhaust fumes out of a hose or something. Mario 2 has everything you could want in a sequel. The soundtrack, visuals and gameplay are all a delight. It incorporated some of the best things about the first game and added a bunch of really cool new stuff (such as the ability to switch between four unique characters), made the game easier/more approachable, and everyone at the time freaking loved it. If you don’t like it now because you think it’s too weird or is based on a game that isn’t Mario, fine. You can quibble over placement, but I will fight you over this basic point: This game is brilliant. Period.

2. Megaman 2

If any one game convinced me that I HAD to have a Nintendo Entertainment System, it was probably Megaman 2. Oddly, I’d never actually owned this game until fairly recently on a Megaman collection disc for the PS2 … but that didn’t stop me from playing it over and over by borrowing/trading for it, playing it at friends’ houses, or renting it from the store. To this day I consider this the peak of the Megaman series, thanks to its balanced gameplay, weapons, bosses, its creative worlds and plot twist at the end, and of course its absolutely killer soundtrack (which in my view has a claim to the title of best score of all time).

1. Tecmo Super Bowl

My brother and I played the SHIT out of this game as kids, and honestly there can be no other choice for my No. 1. The good news here is it’s a pretty deserving choice, widely considered a hugely influential sports game to this day. It improves on the original game by including every position on the field (absurdly, this wasn’t the case before) AND every team, as well as licensed team logos/names, nifty new cut scenes, a proper full season mode, and the god-like figure that was QB Eagles (to pair with previous god-like figure Bo Jackson). People are still modding and playing Tecmo Super Bowl to this day, which is just something that doesn’t happen with most sports games. And did I mention QB Eagles? In summation, this game is fabulous, my favorite game on the system, and in contention for my favorite game ever.

Ready to get angry with me all over again? Check out my list of top Super NES games.