Tag: Nintendo

Super Mario Bros. 3 — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 21)

We’re back!

After knocking out an even 20 to begin this feature, I took a short break, but with the full intent of returning to writing about some of the very greatest retro video games that I believe everyone should experience.

This was partly because there’s a looooooooong list of games I think earn that particular designation. There’s a whole lot to play, and I have a whole lot of thoughts to share.

But also, more immediately, I have a number of games that earned a 10/10 that we haven’t even discussed yet.

I don’t think you can produce a list like this and leave off 10/10 games, right?

Which brings us to No. 21 on the list. And for full disclosure, unlike my Top 20, from here on I won’t attempt to avoid returning to the same series or characters. If you’ve been following along (or even playing along), by now you’ve experienced a pretty wide range of games, 20-ish different series, characters and so on (I say “-ish” because let’s be honest, there’s some crossover in Mario Kart).

Variety is the spice of life as they say.

That said, it’s alright to go back to something that works really well.

And Super Mario Bros. 3 works really, patently, definitively, absurdly well.

Super Mario Bros. 3 at a glance:

Genre: Side-scrolling platformer
Released: 1990
Platform: NES
Electronic Gaming Monthly’s 2nd best console game of all-time
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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.

Continue reading The best NES games of all time