50. Zoda's Revenge: Startropics II (Nintendo, 1994)
One of the very last games officially released for the NES, and it was quite a good one. A followup to Startropics - a game curiously programmed by a Japanese development team but only ever released in the west - Startropics 2 featured tighter controls, crisper graphics and a new plot involving Mike travelling through time searching for the seven magical Tetrads. Oh yes, Nintendo had the Tetris license at the time and they wouldn't let anyone forget it. Another welcome change was the general softening of the difficulty curve - while still very challenging, cheap shots that took off a third of your health bar were now a thing of the past, and making contact with the bosses wasn't an instant death sentence - you simply lost a large chunk of your health. Just a touch more of the problem-solving aspect and solid narrative of the original and this may very well have surpassed it!
49. Mega Man 6 (Capcom, 1993)
Considered one of the weaker entries on the platform by a lot of fans, Mega Man 6 certainly showed signs of being rushed. It came out late in the system's life and Nintendo, in the role of producing this title, was clearly banking on it being a send-off game for the soon-to-be-retired NES; the level quality and challenge definitely suffered as a result. However, it did also have some unique quirks to set it apart. Instead of calling in Rush, you now morph with him into two forms - Rush Power (which can smash through walls and deal damage with short-ranged punches) and Rush Jet (serving as a jetpack that allows flight for short distances). It also had some great music as per series norm, proving that if nothing else, Capcom was striving to make it memorable if not one of the best. It's a ton of fun to play in spite of its faults, and hey, classic Mega Man at his weakest is still better than most game franchises at their best.
48. Moon Crystal (Hect, 1992 in Japan)
A rare and expensive title from a relatively unknown developer, but that doesn't mean it's not a good game. Moon Crystal might just have the most impressive presentation of any game on the platform, with some really good music tracks, large and fluidly-animated character sprites, cutscenes between stages reminiscent of Ninja Gaiden, and even some impressive effects like parallax backgrounds and multi-plane scrolling. Moon Crystal feels a bit like Prince of Persia gameplay-wise, with the player able to grab onto ledges and pull themselves up and a somewhat more methodical approach to action and platforming - your smooth animation comes at the cost of having a substantial delay in things like ducking, turning and jumping, so planning and executing moves to avoid obstacles, dodge enemy attacks and land hits is a challenge in itself. You do get some help in the form of powerups that increase your attack range, boost your health bar for the rest of the stage or enable double-jumping, though, which does help prevent things from getting too frustrating.
47. 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.
46. 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.
45. 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.
44. 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.
43. 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.
42. Ducktales 2 (Capcom, 1993)
Capcom stuck with the NES for a surprisingly long time, continuing to make high quality titles for nearly its entire lifespan. 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.
41. 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.
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