(Last updated July 15, 2026. Originally published Sept. 18, 2018.)
The ranking of my top NES games has traditionally been one of the more popular posts on this blog, so I thought I’d invest some time and expand it from 40 games to a full 100.
I do this out of love for the game(s). The original Nintendo Entertainment System deserves that level of love, to be honest. I’ve played a ton of games on this system, and these are games that merit a look from modern gamers. Bonus: many of the games are short enough to allow for almost any gamer to engage with them without much issue.
These, by and large, are not 200-hour commitments.
But also, this is a list of 100 good games.
Are they really the 100 best NES games of all time?
I mean, to me, sure.
I wanted to bold that part – this is one person’s ranking of 100 Nintendo games. Don’t take any of this too personally. If your favorite game didn’t make the ranking, I may still have some affection for it. This library, after all, is deeper than many people might think. And that’s even if you remove all Famicon games from consideration, as I did.
(Sorry, that means no “Earthbound Beginnings,” “Super Mario Lost Levels,” and so forth – just North American releases.)
This all was meant to be fun and to help expose younger gamers to some true bangers, originally inspired by my acquisition of an NES Classic (and yes, I still love that little guy, nearly ten years later).
Retro gaming is good, in all its forms.
You’ll see for each game a big number with a previous ranking listed – pretty self-explanatory that. The games are color-coded, with the pink/purple denoting new additions, the green being games that have been a part of the ranking for a bit, and the blue being games on the rise.
If any of that seems familiar, it’s purely by accident.
Anyhow, if you enjoy my best NES games ranking, feel free to check out some of my other rankings, including my “Retro Gaming Essentials,” where I wax poetic on some of my all-time favorites.
And here are some more video game rankings for specific systems:
Super NES | Genesis Mini | Turbografx-16 Mini
So without further delay, here are the Top 100 NES games of all time.
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