retrorussell Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 Hey all, I'm going to be doing a series of YouTube videos on what I feel are the top 20 games for the NES. Since there are SO damn many great games for the system it is brutally hard to narrow it down to a top 20. I just kind of wanted to get a feel for what you fine people thought. I will have a nice long extra video before I get to #1 about some great honorable mentions. The ones I currently feel will definitely be on my top 20 list: LEGEND OF ZELDA ZELDA II- ADVENTURE OF LINK KID ICARUS MEGA MAN 2 MEGA MAN 3 SUPER MARIO BROS. SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 SUPER MARIO BROS. 3 CASTLEVANIA CASTLEVANIA 3- DRACULA'S CURSE MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT!! METROID THE GUARDIAN LEGEND TECMO SUPER BOWL KIRBY'S ADVENTURE BLASTER MASTER WIZARDS & WARRIORS RIVER CITY RANSOM That's my 20, but I haven't established a specific order yet. Any you think really should have been on the top 20? Ones that don't belong? There were several games that I feel are so close to being in the top 20 that just barely missed the cut.. What would be YOUR top 20? Thanks for the feedback in advance! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Razzie.P Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 4 hours ago, retrorussell said: Any you think really should have been on the top 20? Ones that don't belong? There were several games that I feel are so close to being in the top 20 that just barely missed the cut.. What would be YOUR top 20? Thanks for the feedback in advance! Since it's a list of games that "you feel are top 20," there are no wrong answers there. ? For feedback, though -- Wizards and Warriors and Zelda 2 seems to be lukewarm to most people. I love them (Especially Zelda 2), but they're not usually considered great. Getting a list down to 20 is brutally hard, as you mentioned. But seems like Contra and Ninja Gaiden should always be in a list like that. Maybe a bit of Dragon Warrior (3?) and/or Final Fantasy. I'll see if I can put one together later for kicks, if time permits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubufubu Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 (edited) I'll list you 20 of my favorite NES games but I refuse to rank them. Too difficult and, ultimately, I find it to be pointless. Bad Dudes Castlevania Commando Dragon Spirit: The New Legend Ghosts 'n Goblins Gradius Kid Niki: Radical Ninja Legendary Wings Mega Man Mega Man II Metroid Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! Ninja Gaiden Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Goonies II The Legend of Zelda Zanac Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Edited May 19, 2021 by bubufubu 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorussell Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 3 hours ago, Razzie.P said: Since it's a list of games that "you feel are top 20," there are no wrong answers there. ? For feedback, though -- Wizards and Warriors and Zelda 2 seems to be lukewarm to most people. I love them (Especially Zelda 2), but they're not usually considered great. Getting a list down to 20 is brutally hard, as you mentioned. But seems like Contra and Ninja Gaiden should always be in a list like that. Maybe a bit of Dragon Warrior (3?) and/or Final Fantasy. I'll see if I can put one together later for kicks, if time permits. The list of alternates for Wizards & Warriors and Zelda 2 (if I knocked them off the list) would be: DRAGON WARRIOR (haven't played any of the sequels) DUCK TALES BIONIC COMMANDO LIFE FORCE STAR TROPICS BUBBLE BOBBLE TETRIS GYRUSS TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II- THE ARCADE GAME BATTLETOADS DOUBLE DRAGON II GOONIES II MENDEL PALACE Oh man.. that last one was definitely a blast. Weird game but oh, so much fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorussell Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 56 minutes ago, bubufubu said: I'll list you 20 of my favorite NES games but I refuse to rank them. Too difficult and, ultimately, I find it to be pointless. Bad Dudes Castlevania Commando Dragon Spirit: The New Legend Ghosts 'n Goblins Gradius Kid Niki: Radical Ninja Legendary Wings Mega Man Mega Man II Metroid Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! Ninja Gaiden Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Goonies II The Legend of Zelda Zanac Zelda II: The Adventure of Link I like that you listed Kid Niki.. I felt it was a good port, and it removed the annoying scream from the arcade bosses when you killed them. Plus, trying to find all the hidden bonus rooms was kind of fun (and if you found the floating ghost-thing it would let you take one hit without dying). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbd39 Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 I have a definitive top 5 but after that I'm not so sure. Tetris Marble Madness Ninja Gaiden (you can include the other two as well) Batman Contra Other games that I really like: SMB Jackal Double Dragon Double Dragon 2 Castlevania Mike Tyson's Punch-Out Kabuki Quantum Fighter Battletoads Adventure Island Palamedes Trojan POW: Prisoners of War Bayou Billy Kung Fu RollerGames 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremiahjt Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) The last time I did this in 2015, my list looked like this: 1. Dragon Warrior 2. Super Mario Bros. 3. Dragon Warrior II 4. Super Mario Bros. 3 5. Dragon Warrior III 6. Mega Man 7. Dragon Warrior IV 8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 9. Super Mario Bros. 2 10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game I made sure that no games from the same series were next to each other. Now I think my list would look like this: 1. Dragon Warrior (this will always be my favorite NES game) 2. Super Mario Bros. 3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (just beat this game today for the first time in over 25 years so it is making a huge (and probably short-lived) jump) 4. Dragon Warrior II 5. Super Mario Bros. 3 6. Mega Man 7. Dragon Warrior III 8. Ninja Gaiden 9. Castlevania 10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 11. Dragon Warrior IV 12. Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom 13. Mega Man 2 14. Super Mario Bros. 2 15. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest 16. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 17. Mega Man 3 18. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse 19. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! 20. Astyanax Wizards & Warriors, Metroid, RoboCop, The Legend of Zelda, Tiger-Heli, Arkanoid, Cabal, Contra, Super C, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Final Fantasy, Mega Man 4-6, Duck Hunt, and Tecmo Super Bowl all could have snuck into the bottom spots. Edited May 23, 2021 by jeremiahjt changed order 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Wow a top 20, very tricky. Even at my worst point when I had to lose most of my collection over 15 years ago I had this bottom shelf of what I utterly refused to part with, top lists. I could never get that NES I think under 30 or 40 so this should be fun. Currently and for an extended time I've topped out at 58 games. I have a HTML list I keep, but pasted it to notepad to try and shuffle it, and this is what I've come up with and even now I'm not like solid on it. I quickly knocked it down to 34 but then had to make cuts. I used to have Dragon Warrior 1 and 4, 4 was sacrificed for the NeoGeo in a cash+trade deal and oddly never replaced it and probably would just get it on DS anyway, DW1 I have on the GBC so I don't need it anymore. **Also, this is not in order of top #1 game either** - Balloon Fight - Blaster Master - Bomberman II - Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse - Contra - Duck Tales - Final Fantasy - Gargoyle's Quest II - Gradius - Kirby's Adventure - (The) Legend of Zelda - Mega Man II - Mighty Final Fight - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - River City Ransom - Super Dodgeball - Super Mario Bros. - Super Mario Bros. 2 - Super Mario Bros. 3 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorussell Posted May 24, 2021 Author Share Posted May 24, 2021 Those who liked River City Ransom (and everybody really should) should check out some related NES/FC games with Alex/Kunio; Crash 'N The Boys, Technos Samurai (I LOVE this one!), a hockey game, a soccer game, a baseball game, and others; I believe all involve physically beating the crap out of your opponents (yay!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 I just seen this thread so it will take me a couple days to think of my top 20. Will be tough to try to list them in order... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Yes the other Kunio games did have a mix of sports and beat downs. We didn't get most of them back then though. - River City Ransom was the only non sports, at least then, it's almost like some mixed mma street ass kicking game now. Super Dodgeball NES World Cup (soccer) Crash and the Boys That was it. We almost got the ice hockey one though. The package just did come out though on Switch as a digital grab if anyone is interested, not sure if they translated the JP only Famicom games but hopefully so as the RCR spinoffs like that Samurai one would be a bit tricky in town. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorussell Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 Well, I have a list started, with the first video coming out soon. #20: LIFE FORCE #19: BLASTER MASTER #18: KID ICARUS #17: RIVER CITY RANSOM #16: THE GOONIES II #15: THE GUARDIAN LEGEND #14: SUPER MARIO BROS. #13: TECMO SUPER BOWL #12: CASTLEVANIA III: DRACULA'S CURSE #11: ZELDA II: THE ADVENTURE OF LINK #10: CASTLEVANIA #9: MEGA MAN 3 #8: CONTRA After that-- boy, the remaining games I plan to put on my list are all stellar! It's gonna take me a while to figure out an order. I'm thinking Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Metroid, Zelda, Mega Man 2, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Ninja Gaiden somewhere among the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Sargon Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 This is incredibly difficult, and I will almost certainly leave games off that should be on the list, but here's my initial attempt: 1. Tecmo Super Bowl 2. Dragon Warrior IV 3. Punch-Out 4. RBI Baseball 5. Super Mario Bros 6. Legend of Zelda 7. Bubble Bobble 8. Super Mario Bros 3 9. Mega Man 2 10. Baseball Simulator 1.000 11. Zelda II 12. Final Fantasy 13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - The Arcade Game 14. Metal Gear 15. Castlevania II - Simon's Quest 16. Willow 17. Base Wars 18. Star Tropics 19. Dragon Warrior II 20. RC Pro-Am 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 I keep 20 games: Metal Gear is not pictured because I'm playing it. The unlabeled cart is a 'super joy 76 in 1' with a famicon converter. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremiahjt Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 On 6/1/2021 at 10:02 PM, toiletunes said: I keep 20 games: Metal Gear is not pictured because I'm playing it. The unlabeled cart is a 'super joy 76 in 1' with a famicon converter. What is underneath Win, Lose, or Draw? By the way, Win, Lose, or Draw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 7 hours ago, jeremiahjt said: What is underneath Win, Lose, or Draw? By the way, Win, Lose, or Draw? Videomation, I have a thing for drawing games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremiahjt Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 7 hours ago, toiletunes said: Videomation, I have a thing for drawing games. And my second question. Win, Lose, or Draw? I had that one as a kid and I played it plenty, but it is not one I have played as an adult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 50 minutes ago, jeremiahjt said: And my second question. Win, Lose, or Draw? I had that one as a kid and I played it plenty, but it is not one I have played as an adult. Same answer, it has a free form practice mode, and I doodle with that. I picked up Pictionary last weekend on the off chance it might have a drawing function, but I haven't tested it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted June 5, 2021 Share Posted June 5, 2021 I am not ranking them. This is from my (almost) lifetime of the NES, so games I played as a kid and not an adult are also listed. And there are only 10 because I can't think of 20. SMB SMB2 SMB3 Tetris (Nintendo) Jeopardy Jr. Pipe Dream Pin-Bot Yoshi Tetris 2 TMNT 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorussell Posted June 6, 2021 Author Share Posted June 6, 2021 5 hours ago, atari2600land said: I am not ranking them. This is from my (almost) lifetime of the NES, so games I played as a kid and not an adult are also listed. And there are only 10 because I can't think of 20. SMB SMB2 SMB3 Tetris (Nintendo) Jeopardy Jr. Pipe Dream Pin-Bot Yoshi Tetris 2 TMNT 2 The Jeopardy games are really well done on the NES! Although, even with the thousands of questions, they would eventually repeat and if you played enough you could memorize many of them. And if the computer screwed up (on the easier settings) you could see some letters of the correct answer, along with characters like *+=*&%, etc., to help you out. I would piss off other players because I would ring in IMMEDIATELY and I was quite likely to remember the answer (you had tons of time to put in your response). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Not a ranked list, just an alphabetical one: Air Fortress Blaster Master Bubble Bobble Contra Destiny of an Emperor Double Dragon Dr. Mario Final Fantasy Jackal Legend of Zelda Marble Madness Mega Man Metroid Mike Tyson's Punch-Out Monster Party Romance of the Three Kingdoms Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 2 Tetris Xexyz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Kai Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 1. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse 2. Castlevania 3. R.C. Pro-Am 4. Journey To Silius 5. Micro Machines 6. Marble Madness 7. Ikari Warriors 8. Heavy Barrel 9. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! 10. Pro Wrestling 11. Super Mario 3 12. Ring King 13. Tecmo Super Bowl 14. G.I. Joe 15. Vindicators 16. Super Dodge Ball 17. Donkey Kong Classics 18. Rad Racer II 19. Silk Worm 20. Tetris 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profholt82 Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 Contra Tecmo Superbowl Ninja Gaiden River City Ransom Power Blade Maniac Mansion Mighty Final Fight Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shatterhand RC Pro-Am Nightmare on Elm Street Karate Kid Little League Baseball North and South Battletoads Mike Tyson's Punch-Out Castlevania Double Dragon II Guerrilla War Captain Skyhawk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Vontor Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 (edited) Startropics 2 Mega Man V Clash at Demonhead Trojan Burai Fighter Twin Eagle Revenge Joe brothers Shadow of the ninja Vice Project Doom Shatterhand Dynatron city defenders Rush n attack Heavy Barrel Narc Rygar Castlevania xexyz Astyanax Castlevania 3 Dracula Isolated Warrior Many hidden gems. Edited September 13, 2021 by James Vontor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 (edited) On 5/19/2021 at 10:20 AM, Razzie.P said: For feedback, though -- Wizards and Warriors and Zelda 2 seems to be lukewarm to most people. I love them (Especially Zelda 2), but they're not usually considered great. Wizards & Warriors is one of my mom's favorite NES games of all time and I remember watching my mom & dad play it together a lot growing up back in the day! I haven't even played my NES games in forever and don't even know how i'd ever narrow it down to just 20 games... I'd have to go through and replay them all to see if my opinion has changed on any of them before even attempting to ever rank them. Edited April 2, 2022 by Pink 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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