Top 111 NES Games, #90-81

90. GI Joe: The Atlantis Factor (KID, 1992)

The second game based on the GI Joe license, this time published by Capcom.  Appropriately, the game also changes format, going from a mostly-linear action title to one with a free-roaming stage selection similar to Bionic Commando - visiting different areas allows you to rescue Joes (both as playable characters and assisting you with extra ammo or other benefits), collect new weapons and find caches of powerups on your way to the end.  As in the previous game, each Joe has different stats and can collect upgrades, though this time you can also upgrade your melee attack - from basic punches to flying kicks to just straight damage boosts.  It's not the most iconic NES action title there is, but it's a solid one that's worth a play if you can find a copy.

89. 1943: the Battle of Midway (Capcom, 1988)

1942 was Capcom's second game and was very popular in the arcades, so it had no shortage of home ports and inspired a number of sequels.  While the NES port of '42 was very mediocre (thanks Micronics), Capcom themselves took the helm this time and released a very solid port of 1943.  One with a few new twists added to the gameplay - namely that your plane now has five stats for offensive power, defensive power, maximum energy and the variety and amount of time you get for special weapons.  You start with three points to spend and earn more by finding secrets as the game progresses.  Energy management is also a major factor in the gameplay; it steadily decreases as you fly, getting hit eats a chunk of your reserve and your special dodge/screen-clearing lightning attack takes a sizable portion; once it hits 0 your movement and shots become slower and one more hit will take you down.  It's also a fairly long game at 25 stages, though there is a password system to save your progress.  1943 may not be as elaborate as some other shmups on the platform, but it's a solid and well-made one that's worth playing.

88. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Sunsoft, 1990)

Based on the film of the same name, Gremlins 2: The New Batch was handled by Sunsoft, a company that had impeccably high standards in everything they did, even if it was a licensed tie-in.  Gremlins 2 is certainly no exception, basing its levels, enemies and bosses on the film with surprising faithfulness, large sprites and immaculate graphical detail that makes all of them instantly recognizable.  The music is equally good, lending much of the film's frantic and chaotic tone to the game, and the controls, while they take a bit to get used to, are finely polished, letting you platform, evade enemies and throw attacks with ease.  It's not an especially long experience and having level passwords and unlimited continues definitely doesn't make it one of the NES's most challenging games, but I can't complain when the end result is so fun.

87. Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (Now Production, 1990)

Everybody knows Jackie Chan - he's not only a very talented martial artist, but one of the greatest action stars and stuntmen in history with over 150 films to his name.  Naturally, there were also a ton of licensed properties surrounding him and even a handful of video games, and this was one of them.  It's not the most creative NES platformer there is - hop across platforms, battle enemies and giant bosses - but what it lacks in originality it certainly makes up for in polish and presentation, with large well-animated sprites, detailed backgrounds, smooth controls and hit detection and some surprisingly good music.  Throughout the game you'll also earn powerups in the form of various martial arts moves to perform, can collect orbs to power up a charged projectile attack, and get the opportunity to earn extra lives and powerups via secret bonus rounds in the form of platforming challenges or smashing statues.  It may not be one that immediately comes to mind when NES platformers are mentioned, but it's one that's well worth playing.

86. Jackal (Konami, 1988)

Konami had a reputation for making home ports of arcade games that managed to be just as good as the originals and, at times, even better.  Jackal was no exception, adding in boss battles, faster gameplay and tighter controls to round out a great action title. You play as a small unit of soldiers in a jeep and are out to rescue POWs, able to move and fire a machine gun (though only toward the top of the screen, so careful movement and positioning is mandatory) and lob grenades/fire bazooka rounds in eight directions - both to destroy enemies and to free POWs from prison buildings, which you can then evacuate at helipads for points.  Basically, a top-down shoot-em-up with the smooth movement and aiming of Contra; what's not to like?

85. Wai Wai World 2: SOS!! Parsley Jo (Konami, 1991 in Japan)

Konami was definitely one of the most prevalent and successful names in 8-bit gaming (just see the  sheer number of other games on this list they've produced), and it got to the point where they weren't just cashing in on licensed properties, but they were even making fun of their own IPs.  Wai Wai World was just that - a mashup of several Konami franchises all in one cartridge, revisiting levels, characters and mechanics of all of them.  Wai Wai World 2 is more in that vein; you go through scrolling shooter stages, platforming stages and even a racing level.  Throughout it all you can collect powerups to transform into a number of Konami heroes - from Simon Belmont to Upa to Goemon to Bill Rizer of Contra fame, each with a different set of abilities to utilize.  It may not be an especially deep experience, but it's a fun and charming action game, and that's what the NES platform (and Konami) really did best.

84. Joy Mech Fight (Nintendo, 1993 in Japan)

Street Fighter II, while not the first fighting game ever made, is definitely the one that kicked the genre into high gear, and it seemed like everybody wanted to make their own version to cash in; from big companies to obscure eastern Asian pirate groups, everyone wanted a slice of that pie.  Nintendo took their own crack at it on the NES - not exactly a practical system for it owing to strict memory and graphical limitations, but they found a way.  By giving all the characters disconnected limbs, they could keep the gameplay fast and the animation smooth.  It has a fairly long single-player campaign where you face off with progressively tougher waves of robots and make your way to the big boss at the end, but of course it also had a competitive two-player mode with eight playable robots with their own distinct special moves.

83. Akumajo Special: Boku Dracula-Kun (Konami, 1990 in Japan)

Konami spoofs themselves again with a game where you play as a kid version of Dracula out to defeat a challenger to his throne; namely, the demon Galamoth.  Rather than a dark gothic feel this game is bright, colorful and silly, with upbeat takes on Castlevania tracks and some creative twists on familiar enemies and locations from the series.  Dracula himself retains several of his distinct abilities, having an upgradable fireball attack and the ability to transform into a bat to maneuver through levels, and gains several more as well, like the ability to walk on ceilings or freeze enemies in ice.  Between each stage you also get a variety of minigames to earn extra lives and power-ups.  Just a fun, light-hearted parody of its parent franchise that pays homage to everything great about it.

82. Balloon Fight (Nintendo, 1986)

It's Joust mixed with Joust and a dash of Joust on top. Well, okay, it's not a complete copy of Williams' classic arcade game; the hit detection is a bit more specific this time, requiring you to actually contact an opponent's balloons to break them rather than simply be a few pixels above them when you collide. There are also hazards like lightning, spinning bumpers and giant fish trying to eat you to impede your progress. There's even a new gameplay mode, "Balloon Trip", where the object is to make it as far as you can before you hit an electrified bumper or get eaten by a fish. It's one of the better early NES games and among the first to feature two player simultaneous play as well. So derivative it may be, but it's also quite a lot of fun.

81. Final Fantasy (Square, 1990)

The origin of a legendary franchise, Final Fantasy was also a rarity among NES RPGs in that it sold quite well, moving about 700,000 copies in North America.  Modeled on games like Wizardry and Ultima,  the game allowed the player to create a custom team of four characters to undertake the journey with, which lent itself to plenty of strategy and replayability.  Of course it also benefitted from the hardware of the NES to present a colorful, relatively fast-paced game with an excellent soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu, who would become a legendary composer over the next several decades through his work with Square and Hironobu Sakaguchi.  It's also a notoriously buggy game, with a lot of stats, spells and weapon effects that don't do what they're supposed to (or anything at all), so it's not the best version of FF1 to play nowadays.  Still, it has a very important place in history and earns its spot on this list.

Previous - Next