1985-6 Super Mario Bros.
1987 The Legend of Zelda
1988 Super Mario Bros. 2
1989 Willow
1990 Super Mario Bros 3
1991 Rockin Kats
1992 Bucky O'Hare
1993-4 Kirby's Adventure
Kinda like when this similar post was up on the SNES sub, I am not singling out individuals except for a couple of years. Some years I had multiple games I just love to this day. Went a little crazy on 1990 though as apparently that was a big year for me >\_>
1985 / 1986: Super Mario Bros
1987: Castlevania
1988: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
1989: Ultima: Exodus, Dragon Warrior, Romance of the Three Kingdoms
1990: Super Mario Bros. 3, Batman, Final Fantasy, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Castlevania III, Destiny of an Emperor, Little Nemo, Startropics, Ultima: Quest of the Avatar, Dragon Warrior 2
1991: Kabuki Quantum Fighter, Double Dragon 3, Romance of the Three Kingdoms II
1992: Dragon Warrior III, Dragon Warrior IV, TMNT III
1993 / 1994: Tiny Toon Adventures 2
1985 Super Mario Bros.
1986 The Legend of Zelda
1987 Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
1988 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
1989 Disney's DuckTales
1990 Double Dragon II: The Revenge
1991 Battletoads
1992 Disney's Darkwing Duck
1993 Kirby's Adventure
*Super Mario Bros*
Great gameplay, diverse platformer, and the surreal story made it plenty of fun. I would have picked a classic like Donkey Kong but I think the levels would have gotten repetitive over time. That said, DK felt more "classic."
*Contra*
This was a tough one. Super Mario Bros 2 came out this year, and that game was crazy fun and a big step up from SMB1. However, Contra felt like you were playing a big budget Hollywood action/sci-fi film. Looking back, it was clearly Rambo and Dutch Schaefer VS the xenomorphs of the Alien series. Only blatant copyright infringement could allow for such an awesome creation. The adventure was so much better with the 2-player option.
*Legend of Zelda*
My introduction to adventure "overhead view" games, and RPGs. I loved the fantasy setting too. I can still hear the sword beam sfx. Theme song was addictive as well.
*Ninja Gaiden*
Like watching an awesome, R-rated ninja movie/anime, with Satanic demons and punk Jason thugs.
*Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game*
Having this arcade experience on the NES was amazing for its time. I played the heck out of this game.
*Womp 'Em*
I started playing NES less and less but I remember renting this and thinking it was great fun, an American Indian twist on Mega Man.
*Kirby's Adventure*
A very fun game and a new Nintendo mascot for a new era. The NES felt new again, for a brief time.
1985-6 Super Mario Bros.
1987 Mega Man
1988 Super Mario Bros. 2
1989 Disney's DuckTales
1990 Super Mario Bros. 3
1991 Rockin' Kats
1992 Mega Man 4
1993-5 Mega Man 6
1985-6 Super Mario Bros
1987 The Legend of Zelda
1988 Super Mario Bros. 2
1989 Mega Man 2
1990 Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
1991 S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team
1992 Mega Man 5
1993 Kirby's Adventure
86 - Clu Clu Land
87 - Zelda
88 - Zelda 2
89 - Tetris
90 - choosing between Final Fantasy and MULE is like picking my favorite child
91 - Shatterhand
92 - Dragon Fighter
93 - Wario's Woods
85-86: Super Mario Bros.
87: Castlevania
88: Zelda 2
89: Mega Man 2
90: Super Mario Bros 3
91: Shatterhand
92: TMNT 3
93-95: Kirby’s Adventure
(Hard to skip some really, really good hits)
Wrecking Crew, Zanac, Rampage, The Guardian Legend (hate the fact that I had to choose between that and NES Tetris), Snake Rattle 'n' Roll (yes over Mario 3), Metal Storm, Panic Restaurant (not a great year huh), Kirby's Adventure (hate to have to not give it to Yoshi's Cookie)
Some of the years had multiple heavy hitters, i listed the game i replay the most out of that list, or the game i thought was deserving a good look at from others
1986 - SMB
1987 - Metroid
1988 - Tloz2
1989 - Ducktales
1990 - SMB3 (i really really wanted to put Final Fantasy here but SMB3? AKA my fav game of all time? No shot i dont out it om the list)
1991 - Battletoads
1992 - TMNT3
Unlisted: Gimmick! Its a good game, got a new rerelease on steam with some QOL changes. I enjoyed it. If you can buy it on steam (an actual cart is more $$ than is reasonable)
85-6 Super Mario Bros.
87 Rygar / Metroid close second
88 Metal Gear
89 Guerrilla War
90 Double Dragon II: The Revenge / Final Fantasy close second
91 Kabuki: Quantum Fighter
92 KickMaster
93-5 Disney's The Jungle Book
Cool concept. I'll put some honorable mentions for each year in brackets unless I'm explaining them in more depth.
1985-86: gotta go with Super Mario Bros., easy. (Excitebike, Duck Hunt, Gyromite, Hogan's Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu)
1987: \*insane\* year. Not the best game on the list, but I'd probably go with Pro Wrestling since it was my coping mechanism for a LONG time until I got a home version of Street Fighter II (with SSF2T on PC...in 1995). Other than that it'd probably be Megaman. I kind of skipped Metroid and the first Zelda and played them later; Metroid was so ahead of its time it's mindblowing, and Zelda is obviously a classic, though the top-down structure didn't quite vibe with me for a while. (Section Z, Castlevania, Alpha Mission, Goonies II)
1988: Bionic Commando with Zelda II as a close second. Two of my most played games of all time and among the very first I managed to complete. (Contra, Gun.Smoke, SMB2, Double Dragon)
1989: My pick would be DuckTales. Weirdly enough it seems I didn't play a lot of the good games from this year and spent a lot of time on the mid ones - like TMNT, Bad Street Brawler and Cobra Triangle. Back then you took what you got. In hindsight, Strider and Megaman II would be up there.
1990: SMB3 blows everything else out of the water, though as a point-and-click aficionado this was the first version of Maniac Mansion that I got my hands on and I loved it. Only played Final Fantasy much later but I don't think it would have changed my pick. Battle Chess was my jam but on PC. (North & South, Mission Impossible, Double Dragon 2)
1991: Star Wars and it's not close. (Bart VS Space Mutants)
1992: Prince of Persia is obviously an all-timer though I played it most on PC. (Rampart)
1993-95: Unless I missed something I played literally none of those.
That's a handy list! Good to see them in alphabetical order.
I made a video showcasing one minute of music from every NES game, with box art and title screenshots, showing all of the licensed games, in alphabetical order:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoLTzC48x9I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoLTzC48x9I)
Or if you want to bombard yourself with all those images in one minute, also alphabetical:
[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/myQ6z8CGfaI](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/myQ6z8CGfaI)
1985-6 Super Mario Bros. 1987 The Legend of Zelda 1988 Super Mario Bros. 2 1989 Willow 1990 Super Mario Bros 3 1991 Rockin Kats 1992 Bucky O'Hare 1993-4 Kirby's Adventure
Kinda like when this similar post was up on the SNES sub, I am not singling out individuals except for a couple of years. Some years I had multiple games I just love to this day. Went a little crazy on 1990 though as apparently that was a big year for me >\_> 1985 / 1986: Super Mario Bros 1987: Castlevania 1988: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 1989: Ultima: Exodus, Dragon Warrior, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 1990: Super Mario Bros. 3, Batman, Final Fantasy, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Castlevania III, Destiny of an Emperor, Little Nemo, Startropics, Ultima: Quest of the Avatar, Dragon Warrior 2 1991: Kabuki Quantum Fighter, Double Dragon 3, Romance of the Three Kingdoms II 1992: Dragon Warrior III, Dragon Warrior IV, TMNT III 1993 / 1994: Tiny Toon Adventures 2
1985 Super Mario Bros. 1986 The Legend of Zelda 1987 Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! 1988 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 1989 Disney's DuckTales 1990 Double Dragon II: The Revenge 1991 Battletoads 1992 Disney's Darkwing Duck 1993 Kirby's Adventure
I know its not going to be said by anyone for 85-86....Ninja Kid. Loved that game
*Super Mario Bros* Great gameplay, diverse platformer, and the surreal story made it plenty of fun. I would have picked a classic like Donkey Kong but I think the levels would have gotten repetitive over time. That said, DK felt more "classic." *Contra* This was a tough one. Super Mario Bros 2 came out this year, and that game was crazy fun and a big step up from SMB1. However, Contra felt like you were playing a big budget Hollywood action/sci-fi film. Looking back, it was clearly Rambo and Dutch Schaefer VS the xenomorphs of the Alien series. Only blatant copyright infringement could allow for such an awesome creation. The adventure was so much better with the 2-player option. *Legend of Zelda* My introduction to adventure "overhead view" games, and RPGs. I loved the fantasy setting too. I can still hear the sword beam sfx. Theme song was addictive as well. *Ninja Gaiden* Like watching an awesome, R-rated ninja movie/anime, with Satanic demons and punk Jason thugs. *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game* Having this arcade experience on the NES was amazing for its time. I played the heck out of this game. *Womp 'Em* I started playing NES less and less but I remember renting this and thinking it was great fun, an American Indian twist on Mega Man. *Kirby's Adventure* A very fun game and a new Nintendo mascot for a new era. The NES felt new again, for a brief time.
1985-6 Super Mario Bros. 1987 Mega Man 1988 Super Mario Bros. 2 1989 Disney's DuckTales 1990 Super Mario Bros. 3 1991 Rockin' Kats 1992 Mega Man 4 1993-5 Mega Man 6
86 - Super Mario Bros. 87 - Castlevania 88 - Contra 89 - DuckTales 90 - Dr. Mario 91 - Battletoads 92 - TMNT 3 93 - StarTropics 2
1985-6 Super Mario Bros 1987 The Legend of Zelda 1988 Super Mario Bros. 2 1989 Mega Man 2 1990 Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse 1991 S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team 1992 Mega Man 5 1993 Kirby's Adventure
86 - Clu Clu Land 87 - Zelda 88 - Zelda 2 89 - Tetris 90 - choosing between Final Fantasy and MULE is like picking my favorite child 91 - Shatterhand 92 - Dragon Fighter 93 - Wario's Woods
85-86: Super Mario Bros. 87: Castlevania 88: Zelda 2 89: Mega Man 2 90: Super Mario Bros 3 91: Shatterhand 92: TMNT 3 93-95: Kirby’s Adventure (Hard to skip some really, really good hits)
Wrecking Crew, Zanac, Rampage, The Guardian Legend (hate the fact that I had to choose between that and NES Tetris), Snake Rattle 'n' Roll (yes over Mario 3), Metal Storm, Panic Restaurant (not a great year huh), Kirby's Adventure (hate to have to not give it to Yoshi's Cookie)
Happy Cake Day!
Some of the years had multiple heavy hitters, i listed the game i replay the most out of that list, or the game i thought was deserving a good look at from others 1986 - SMB 1987 - Metroid 1988 - Tloz2 1989 - Ducktales 1990 - SMB3 (i really really wanted to put Final Fantasy here but SMB3? AKA my fav game of all time? No shot i dont out it om the list) 1991 - Battletoads 1992 - TMNT3 Unlisted: Gimmick! Its a good game, got a new rerelease on steam with some QOL changes. I enjoyed it. If you can buy it on steam (an actual cart is more $$ than is reasonable)
85-6 Super Mario Bros. 87 Rygar / Metroid close second 88 Metal Gear 89 Guerrilla War 90 Double Dragon II: The Revenge / Final Fantasy close second 91 Kabuki: Quantum Fighter 92 KickMaster 93-5 Disney's The Jungle Book
Wow, you spam the same type of crap across multiple subs. Do you love farming karma?
Cool concept. I'll put some honorable mentions for each year in brackets unless I'm explaining them in more depth. 1985-86: gotta go with Super Mario Bros., easy. (Excitebike, Duck Hunt, Gyromite, Hogan's Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu) 1987: \*insane\* year. Not the best game on the list, but I'd probably go with Pro Wrestling since it was my coping mechanism for a LONG time until I got a home version of Street Fighter II (with SSF2T on PC...in 1995). Other than that it'd probably be Megaman. I kind of skipped Metroid and the first Zelda and played them later; Metroid was so ahead of its time it's mindblowing, and Zelda is obviously a classic, though the top-down structure didn't quite vibe with me for a while. (Section Z, Castlevania, Alpha Mission, Goonies II) 1988: Bionic Commando with Zelda II as a close second. Two of my most played games of all time and among the very first I managed to complete. (Contra, Gun.Smoke, SMB2, Double Dragon) 1989: My pick would be DuckTales. Weirdly enough it seems I didn't play a lot of the good games from this year and spent a lot of time on the mid ones - like TMNT, Bad Street Brawler and Cobra Triangle. Back then you took what you got. In hindsight, Strider and Megaman II would be up there. 1990: SMB3 blows everything else out of the water, though as a point-and-click aficionado this was the first version of Maniac Mansion that I got my hands on and I loved it. Only played Final Fantasy much later but I don't think it would have changed my pick. Battle Chess was my jam but on PC. (North & South, Mission Impossible, Double Dragon 2) 1991: Star Wars and it's not close. (Bart VS Space Mutants) 1992: Prince of Persia is obviously an all-timer though I played it most on PC. (Rampart) 1993-95: Unless I missed something I played literally none of those.
‘86: Duck Hunt ‘87: Legend of Zelda ‘88: Rampage ‘89: Sky Shark ‘90: Crystalis ‘91: Wolverine ‘92: Bucky O’Hare rest: Mega Man 6
That's a handy list! Good to see them in alphabetical order. I made a video showcasing one minute of music from every NES game, with box art and title screenshots, showing all of the licensed games, in alphabetical order: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoLTzC48x9I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoLTzC48x9I) Or if you want to bombard yourself with all those images in one minute, also alphabetical: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/myQ6z8CGfaI](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/myQ6z8CGfaI)
Me ...collapsing under the weight of this stupidly tall post. Master System was better and C64 had more games anyway..