50. Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (Tecmo, 1991)
The third and final Ninja Gaiden game definitely had a much different look and feel than its predecessors, with generally slower action (including several autoscrolling segments), more polished visuals and sounds and a more beginner-friendly design, with lower damage, less cheap hits and even level passwords. At least, that was true for the original Japanese version - in the US version the password system was eliminated, more enemies were added, damage from all sources was doubled, and for the first time in the series, you had limited continues - once you used up all five of them, the game was over and you had to start from scratch. This made it vastly harder than both its predecessors and its Japanese counterpart, and contributed to it being considered the black sheep of the series. But even the black sheep of the Ninja Gaiden trilogy is still a solid game; it's just not as good and addictive as the other two.
49. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (Konami, 1990)
Konami's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a pretty big hit in the arcades, capturing the energy and outlandish nature of the cartoon in the gameplay of a side scrolling beat-em-up. Porting it to home platforms was certainly no small task either, but Konami did an amazing job with the NES port; in fact, I still maintain that it's even better than the original arcade version. They replicated the animation and music of the arcade version on the hardware pretty well overall, and the gameplay is polished up quite a bit, with tighter hit detection and far fewer cheap hits. They even added in two new stages that weren't present in the arcade - a snow-themed level and one set in a martial arts dojo full of traps, and three new boss fights to cap it off and make it a more substantive experience.
48. Pirates! (Microprose/Rare, 1991)
Originally released in 1987 for various computer platforms, Sid Meier's Pirates was a pretty novel game for its time - a heavily randomized sandbox adventure where you choose a name, a nationality and a skill, and from there you were basically just set loose on the Caribbean to make a name for yourself. You could take on the role of a treasure hunter, a privateer, a pirate hunter, become a pirate yourself, or any combination of the above, taking part in sea battles, sword duels, city raids and treasure hunts to pursue your goals. Once you retired (whether by choice or old age) you're given a rank depending on how much gold, influence, rescued family and land you acquired over the course of your career; anywhere from becoming a lowly pauper to a king's advisor. The 1991 NES port was handled by Rare and published by Konami, and as usual they did a fantastic job - it looks and sounds great and plays smoothly while keeping everything that made the original a classic.
47. Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Shima IV (Now Production, 1994 in Japan)
Just about everyone knows about Adventure Island - a popular series of fast paced NES platformers by Now Production and published by Hudson Soft. Not quite as many people know it had a fourth entry on the Famicom; mostly because it came out very late in the system's life (the very last game released for it, in fact) and is now pretty hard to find. It definitely doesn't follow the same gameplay style as the first three games, though, being retooled into more of a Metroid-like format. You now have a proper health bar (expandable by finding heart containers) and numerous new items to clear paths and make traveling around easier - from a torchs that light up dark areas (but only if you can find a sconce on the wall to light up with it), a hammer that can smash rocks and a snowboard that lets you make large jumps over tricky snowy areas. You can also earn powerups by completing a handful of minigames, including ones that let you set a teleport point to quickly return to or just have a handy way to restore health on the fly.
46. Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team (Rare, 1993)
One of the earliest video game crossovers I remember seeing, and at the time, it was certainly one to celebrate. One of the best beat-em-up franchises of the era alongside the ultra-tough action masterpiece Battletoads? I was definitely on-board as a fan of both. While the gameplay is primarily based on Battletoads, it puts a much heavier emphasis on its beat-em-up elements this time around, ensuring the gameplay is fast-paced, hard-hitting and consistently fun. Not to say that there are a shortage of obstacle course setpieces, of course, as you get a toned-down version of the Turbo Tunnel, a top-down shooter segment that feels like a cross between Asteroids and Solar Jetman, and some rappelling segments too. Just a fun and solidly-crafted game in general with no shortage of challenge; it's just a shame it came out so late in the system's life.
45. Ducktales 2 (Capcom, 1993)
Capcom stuck with the NES for a surprisingly long time, continuing to make high quality titles as late as 1993. Ducktales 2 came out in 1993 when the 16-bit era was in full swing and was generally overlooked as a result; slightly ironic considering the original Ducktales was one of the platform's most popular games. Ducktales 2's core gameplay is familiar enough, though the visuals and music are definitely more polished and Scrooge gets some new tricks like hooking things with his cane to pull them around, as well as finding upgrades to do things like smash stronger blocks or bypassing certain obstacles. Money also has more of a use now since there's an in-game shop (don't get too crazy with it though, as you'll still need at least $10,000,000 in the bank to get the best ending). A logical sequel in every respect to one of the NES's best games. It's an expensive one today, but if you can track down a copy Ducktales 2 is well worth playing.
44. Uninvited (ICOM, 1991)
Another game in the legendary "ICOM Trilogy" for the NES, and it's a good one alright. A horror-themed point and click adventure game that has you exploring a haunted mansion in search of your sister, it was also notable for featuring some surprisingly gruesome sights for an NES game. The animation is minimal at best, but the well-written narrative, atmospheric music and tense, dark story kept you engrossed throughout. It all makes me glad the point-and-click adventure genre is finally getting the revival it deserves in more modern times - younger gamers really were missing out on something special.
43. Castlevania (Konami, 1987)
Perhaps the most well known Konami franchise for its sheer prevalence, and it all began with this gem. Well, technically it began on the MSX with "Vampire Killer", but this is the one everybody remembers, largely because it was so damn impressive for its time. Heavily detailed graphics, an excellent soundtrack, and gameplay that walked the fine line between being a ton of fun and very challenging - perfectly timed attacks and movement were the order of the day here. Particularly because your hero's weapon was somewhat unwieldy compared to most video game weapons and there was a short delay between pressing the button and landing a hit. Still, it was all worth it just to say you persevered through the challenge and beat up horror icons like the creature from the black lagoon, Frankenstein's monster, the mummy, and even the grim reaper himself. Oh, and Dracula, of course.
42. Adventure Island II/III (Now Production, 1991/1992)Adventure Island is one branch of the Wonder Boy series that spun off into its own series of games. While Adventure Island mostly stuck to platforming, Wonder Boy branched out into numerous other genres including side-scrolling shmups and action-RPG territory, and mostly appeared on Sega consoles and the Turbografx-16 while Adventure Island primarily appeared on Nintendo consoles. They're all quite good, but Adventure Island is a fun, fast-paced platformer series with colorful graphics and some creative gameplay elements. 2 introduced the ability to store and use powerups later on (a la Mario 3) and dinosaur buddies that can breathe fire, fly, tail whip and move faster underwater (not unlike Yoshi from Super Mario World). 3 didn't add a lot of new elements to the gameplay over 2, but it was still a lot of fun, so I'm certainly not complaining.
41. Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo, 1988)The first in a legendary NES trilogy, Ninja Gaiden quickly became as well-known for its high production budget and gripping storyline (a rarity at the time) as for its absurd difficulty - enemy patterns start off relatively manageable, but quickly become downright vicious, requiring spot-on execution with jumps, attacks and special weapons to even have a chance of seeing it through to the end. To say nothing of the final boss gauntlet, which also requires strict adherence to a pattern and punishes the player for death by sending them all the way back to the beginning of the stage. Still, those who could persevere found a game worthy of hanging with the best in the action genre even now, almost thirty years after its original release.
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The first in a legendary NES trilogy, Ninja Gaiden quickly became as well-known for its high production budget and gripping storyline (a rarity at the time) as for its absurd difficulty - enemy patterns start off relatively manageable, but quickly become downright vicious, requiring spot-on execution with jumps, attacks and special weapons to even have a chance of seeing it through to the end. To say nothing of the final boss gauntlet, which also requires strict adherence to a pattern and punishes the player for death by sending them all the way back to the beginning of the stage. Still, those who could persevere found a game worthy of hanging with the best in the action genre even now, almost thirty years after its original release.