Top 10 NES Games

I first played the NES in Macys during the Christmas season of 1985. I was supposed to get it that Christmas too, but the game list was small and I wasn't sure it would be a hit. One year later (Christmas 1986) I chose the Atari 7800 instead for reasons unknown (probably because it was cheaper and I was already an Atarian). While I had fun with it, I knew it was a mistake, as I began hearing more and more about the NES. So I returned it, and on January 8, 1987, 14 year old me bought the NES in K-Mart. I loved it! I could play Super Mario Bros. for hours at a time, as it was like nothing I ever played at home before. Ever since then, I have loved and adored my NES, and thank it for all the wonderful memories it has given me. It wasn't easy breaking this list down to 10 games, but here it is as best and fair as I can put it.

10: Baseball Stars (SNK/1989) This is clearly the best baseball game I ever played on my NES. From naming your own team and players (and saving it, too!) to great graphics, it's all here. What fun!

9: Metal Gear (Ultra/1988) This is a Rambo-type game where you must infiltrate a few buildings, shoot just about anything that moves, and take orders from your commander via a transceiver. Real cool, but a little easy.

8: Castlevania II (Konami/1988) You have been cursed and the only way to be cured is to find pieces of the deceased Count's body and put it back together. Eww! This time it's a password game, you talk to towns-people, and get many different weapons.

7: Mega Man (Capcom/1987) Great "fun-type" game. You're a good android who must defeat comical robots created by the evil Dr. Wily. After you beat each robot boss, you take their weapons!

6: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (Nintendo/1987) This is a game so great I actually got up extra early (as a freshman in high school) just so I could play before school. While the NES didn't have the hardware to make the player transparent like the arcade game (instead, it made you a 17 year old midget named Little Mac), words cannot describe how much fun I had with this game. Afterall, who could forget such comical characters such as Bald Bull, Super Macho Man, and (my personal favorite) King Hippo?

5: Castlevania (Konami/1987) Great game in which you must hunt down and destroy legendary monsters like Medusa, The Grim Reaper, and most of all, Count Dracula. This game has perhaps the hardest last boss in video game history (Dracula and his ghost).

4: The Goonies II (Konami/1987) I love the movie and I love the game, which is the sequel to the original Goonies that never made it to the US (Konami, you've been bad!). I think it's highly under-rated, and don't understand why it's not loved and adored by all. This password/adventure game is awesome.

3: Rygar (Tecmo/1987) This game isn't even remotely like the 1986 Tecmo arcade game, but that's just fine, since in my opinion it's far better (except in graphics). You're a warrior with an effective weapon that looks like a punching balloon. Slightly too easy, but this adventure game is a masterpiece. Awesome music too.

2: Metroid (Nintendo/1987) How much more awesome can you get? You must single-handedly destroy all the weird space creatures and save the universe. All you're wearing is a spacesuit, and you get great weapons (perhaps the best in video game history). Beat the game real quick and it'll reveal your true identity. I just wish you could have saved the game instead of writing down the long password, but even that gave me many memories with my friends.

1: The Legend Of Zelda (Nintendo/1987) Superb game which made Nintendo a major force in the video gaming industry. This is an overhead action/RPG (though not a true RPG) game where you fight with a sword (and other weapons) outdoors and in creepy labyrinths. It was also the first NES game to sell 1 million + copies. Simply magnificent.

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