RF Generation Message Board

Welcome to 2020, and to really make it the year of the twenty, I thought it would be fun to build some top 20 lists for several of the systems the members of RFGen collect.

Each month, we'll be looking at a different system, and asking for users to submit their votes on what the best games for that system are.

While I understand the stigmata of "Top __" lists as clickbait, on a positive side they can be used as a way bring awareness to some great games that not everyone will be familiar with.

How to participate:

1. Make an ordered list of whatever games are your favorites for the system being covered that month.

-Make your list about what games you think are the best that system has to offer, NOT necessarily the most important. (For example, Super Mario Bros. is one of the most influential games in VG history, but not many would call it a better game than SMB3)

-Also, your list needs to be limited to games you have personally played. Don't include a game just because you've heard it's good, include a game because you know it's good.

-For a few of the games, try to include a few thoughts on why that particular game made your list. That way, those not as familiar with the game can see why it's one they should put on their radar.

2. Personal Message EZ Racer with your ordered list

Just put "Top 20 games for the (whatever system we're covering that month)" in the subject line. Throughout the month, I will be compiling the results, and release a full list based on votes sent in. I will be putting extra weight on games voted for the top of the lists, so please make sure that your games are listed in numeric order. The reasoning behind a private vote is so that each member's vote can be their own, not influenced by what they think others would want.

The voting cutoff each month will be the last day of the month at 11:59 EST.

January's List- Considering all the time put into the NES by RFGen members in 2019 for the NES challenge, it seemed like the perfect system to kick-off as the 1st Top 20 list.

The NES was the beginning to many classic series that are still popular today (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy to name a few). Speaking of series, there isn't a limit to 1 game per series, but keep in mind your list should about the best a system has to offer, so if you think one game in a series is much better than its predecessor, ask yourself if the predecessor is really one of the best on the system?

[img width=446 height=323]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/nes/images/5/5b/Nes-console.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090330165711[/img]

What do you think the best games are for the NES? Send in your thoughts, and keep an eye out for the month's results.

Participants for the NES list (*list received):

EZ Racer
Disposed Hero*
singlebanana*
Crabmaster2000*
douglie007
Mr_Stubbes
MetalFro*
bickman2K
lendelin*

Thanks to all who participated! Final results can be found here- http://www.rfgeneration.com/blogs/ez+racer/RFGen-Top-20-Games-for-the-NES-4100.php

Fun idea! I'll shoot you a list once I put it together.

Awesome!  This should be good.

List submitted. :D

Love this idea. I'll get to work!

Question: Should this list include Famicom titles? I for one would prefer to do a separate list for these down the road.

This will be fun!

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Good to see several excited for this!

As far as Famicom titles, I think it is better to leave those for another list down the road, as not everyone shares the same knowledge of Famicom and NES.

I want in on this as well. I’ll try and have my list in later today.

I've got 31 on my list so far... I dont think most will like my list, lot of favorites left off, mostly because I didn't own them when I first got the system, so I didnt play them.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Getting my list narrowed down. Gotta figure out some tough cuts then order them. So hard!

Oh man, I need to do this. I'm terrible at making ranked lists, but I'll have to come up with something. Though I never owned the NES as a kid, I have tons of experience, playing the games at friend's houses, and have since played a bunch more as an adult. Give me a few days to ruminate on this topic...

I'm kind of OCD about keeping a ton of different lists, so I actually started a personal ranked NES list early last year when we started the NES challenge. I'm currently revisiting some games that I haven't played in years and also trying to play through some other games that I think may deserve consideration. It'll probably be late in the month before I actually submit my list.

Got my list narrowed down to 20 finally. Cutting those last 6 titles was rough!! Now the completely scientific task of arranging the order!

I'm going to try to do this one, but I'm guessing it's going to be tough.

I went through my collection, and figured out which games were my top 20, relatively speaking, and included a couple that I don't have on cartridge yet, for various reasons.

List sent.

It was fun to do! Surprisingly it was pretty easy and fast. I just numbered the top 20 games I finished (altogether around 90 NES games) and made a lasting impression on me.

I'm curious what the results will be. :)  I encourage others to participate as well, the more participants the more reliable the result.

It has been really fun so far to see all the different opinions, and for those who have provided thoughts behind their ranking, thanks again. It'll add to the quality of the combined list at the end of the month.

A few interesting stats so far (out of 5 lists) -

66 different games have appeared on at least 1 list.
Zero games have been on all 5 lists.
All of the games voted at #20 have been on only 1 list.

Looking forward to seeing where some of the classics end up once the month is over.

I completely overlooked  the possibility to comment on the more unusual games in the submitted list. I'll certainly drop you another pm doing just that. This is where the list will be the most interesting. The classics and high quality games are well-known and will prevail, but the underrated games according to experienced gamers will be the salt in the soup.

The result so far doesn't surprise me at all. The NES has just such a diverse library with fantastic games in every genre so that the number of listed games spread out. More than ten years ago I participated in a list for the favorite NES games among authors of a fanzine. The result was that every author (around ten) named a different title as their favorite game.

I'm curious about the result. Very good idea, EZ Racer!

I think I've locked in my Top 20, now I'm just trying to add in my thoughts for some of my picks.

List submitted! I'm looking forward to seeing the results!

Only a week left to get lists submitted. Looking forward to seeing how a late push will affect where everything currently stands.

Yeah, really excited to see these results.

Sorry it's so late but I will drop my list off to you.

So everything is put together and the final list will dropping soon. Boy it was fun to put together, and I hope everyone enjoys the results.

But before it hits, I'd like to reveal some favorites that didn't make the cut. First, the games that got one vote between #16 and #20. Comments provided when possible by the voter:

-Received 1 20th place vote-

Skate or Die
Burgertime
Capcom's Gold Medal Challenge
Deadly Towers- "I have played this game for years and even though it is not a good game for many people, I will always love this game"
Arkanoid- "Crazy addictive, even without the special rotary controller. Just loads of fun to play."
Willow- "Not only the best movie-to-game adaptation in the NES library, a first-class game on its own. A well-balanced game of smart movie references, a rewarding levelling-up system, great usage of weapons and magic, pacing and an interesting and colorful world which comes to life. A great and underappreciated classic."
Ninja Gaiden- "Tough-as-nails, and precise-as-hell action game. One of the best soundtracks on the system and some cool story telling. Get's a little too rough right at the end, though."

-Received 1 19th place vote-

Felix the Cat
NES Open Tournament Golf
Godzilla: Monster of Monsters

-Received 1 18th place vote-

Super Spike V-Ball
Shadowgate
Gargoyle's Quest II
Solar Jetman- "One of the first sci-fi space games I got to play. I loved the mechanics to the ship; how when you pick up different items you feel the gravity pull you, and that makes think of different ways to get them to your lander."

-Received 1 17th place vote-

Spy vs. Spy
Marble Madness
Dig Dug II- "A different way to play Dig Dug. Nothing feels better than using the jackhammer and sinking most of the enemies in the water at the same time."
Wrath of the Black Manta- "This is a bit of a personal favorite, so it's on the list just because. I love this game's ultra cheesiness, and it's a solid game in its own right."

-Received 1 16th place vote-

Kickle Cubicle
Maniac Mansion
Pinball Quest- "I have always loved pinball games, but mixing RPG elements with pinball just sounded like a bad idea. I still can't believe it worked out."
Snow Bros.- "What you get when you drop your Bubble Bobble in the snow, but with less levels"
Abadox- "Another amazing shooter on the NES, and while not as well recognized as Life Force, is worth any fan's time because of its excellence."
R.C. Pro-Am II- "Takes everything right about the original, a classic in its own right, and adds elements of Super Off Road, another Tradewest racing game. The end result is fast and fun, and possibly the best racer on the NES."


A lot of great or nostalgic games, and that's just the beginning...

Wow, this is going to be an interesting list. That's a pretty diverse bunch of games ready.

Who the heck picked Deadly Towers? I would have assumed Duke.Togo, but it looks like he didn't participate. Hard to believe there are two crazies out there that found joy in that game. Dig Dug II, Arkanoid and Abadox are also big surprises to see. I have fairly low opinions of all of those.

Nice to see some solid games like: Willow, NES Open Tournament Golf, Super Spike V'Ball, Shadowgate, Gargoyle's Quest II, Marble Madness, Snow Bros, Kickle Cubicle and RC Pro Am II get some love.

Also cool to see Pinball Quest and Solar Jetman get some attention. Neat games for sure.

Now to chew the rest of you out for snubbing Ninja Gaiden!! That game is so freakin good it should be on everyone's list!

OH MAN, I cant believe I missed this.  Completely bummed.   Cant wait to see the list though.

Hopefully you'll join in on some of the other lists we do. February's is for Super Nintendo.

Dropping some more of the single votes...

-Received 1 15th place vote-

Bomberman II
Kid Icarus
Adventures of Lolo-"A puzzle game that lets you take your time to solve your way out of each room. Just the right amount of challenge to test you, but not break you. Also one of the catchiest main themes ever"
Shadow of the Ninja-"Natsume took the Ninja Gaiden formula, and made it palatable for those of us who don't have lightning reflexes."
Faxanadu-"The unusual graphics and the first-rate soundtrack make this game one of the best NES games with an unique atmosphere. The RPG has a very rewarding levelling-up system, the controls are good, and the game design is an invitation to explore an interesting world."

-Received 1 14th place vote-

Dragon Warrior II
Metal Gear
R.C. Pro-Am
Heavy Barrel-"One of the games that I always played with my brother or my dad. Co-op is really the way to play this game, and when you finish building the 'Heavy Barrel', just lay waste to everything!"

-Received 1 13th place vote-

S.C.A.T.-"One of the best shmups on the NES, and very unique. "Contra in space" should not be a pejorative, but a superlative."
Werewolf: The Last Warrior-"This game has one of my favorite 8-Bit era looping stage songs. Plus you get to play as A guy named Werewolf who can transform into a werewolf. What’s not to like about that?!... It’s the controls; while basic moving and jumping is fine, some of the more complex abilities require some practice to perfect. Understandingly, this can turn people off a decent game with a fairly interesting story. Also it came with a comic book.... so that’s got to be worth some kind of bonus points. Right?"

-Received 1 12th place vote-

Metal Storm
Dragon Warrior III
Mega Man 4
Ice Hockey
Mega Man 6-"Tried a few unique new ideas for the series that unfortunately didn't stick such as branching paths and Rush Adapters. Music isn't up to par with the series, but everything else is top notch."

-Received 1 11th place vote-

Rad Racer
Little Nemo: Dream Master-"A lighthearted adventure through a magical world. Fun exploration with the help of a pocket full of candy and a few animal buddies"

I realize I should have posted this yesterday, but nearly 100 games got at least 1 vote. I do believe it's important to give all the games people voted for some attention, especially the ones that have an explanation behind them. With so many (a good problem to have), it's better to release the info for the also-ran's in segments.

Enjoy! More to come tomorrow...

That's a great group of games there!

Are you saying deadly towers didn't make your list???😁

I like some bad games, but even I have my limits.

Had a really busy night last night, but more also-rans tonight:

-Received 1 10th place vote-

Adventure Island
Excitebike
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero-"...a licensed property that doesn't suck, and is actually a really good action platformer, with a variety of things to do, and large levels that impress."

Strider-"I feel like Strider may be the most surprising entry on my list. I first played this game sometime last year and was immediately captivated by its design. The best way I can describe Strider is like a lighter version of Metroid mixed with a more traditional 2D sidescroller. I really enjoyed this game’s approach to exploration and backtracking, as it never becomes too complicated and confusing like other adventure games on the system can be, and although the platforming controls can be a bit janky, I thought they were implemented well enough to keep the game fun to play. It may not be perfect, and it may not be for everybody, but I greatly enjoyed my time with it."

-Received 1 9th place vote-

Baseball Stars
Journey to Silius-"Moody and atmospheric sci-fi action shooter. Cool enemies, cool power ups, great tunes crazy boss fights"

-Received 1 8th place vote-

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Bionic Commando-"Capcom took the right approach with many NES games, based on arcade properties. Turn it into something more, and make a better game. This is the pinnacle of that philosophy."

-Received 1 7th place vote-

Ghosts n Goblins
Rygar

-Received 1 6th place vote-

Shatterhand-"Shatterhand is a game that I had never played until about a year prior to composing this list, but it quickly grew to be one of my all-time favorite games for the NES. The most unique thing about Shatterhand is the satellite robot that hovers above you and helps you attack enemies. By collecting combinations of three ‘alpha’ or ‘beta’ symbols, which can be changed by punching them before picking them up, you will be given a different satellite robot, and there are a total of eight different robots all with their own unique attack. It’s a really cool mechanic that allows you to always choose which power-up you want to use based on the situation or your personal preference instead of being stuck with whatever the game gives you. If you enjoy NES platformers such as Ninja Gaiden and Batman, definitely give Shatterhand a shot."

River City Ransom-"This game has it all for a beat-em up. It feels better to play over Double Dragon...AND (spoiler) has Double Dragon's main theme close to the end of the game. Fantastic open world game"

Battle of Olympus"The most underrated game in the NES library. The game design is fantastic. An entire world with secrets awaits to be explored, items have to be acquired to access new areas, the connections of the different areas are intricate and full of surprises and the levelling-up system is rewarding. I think the biggest disadvantage of the game is the jumping mechanic (very similar to Zelda II) which prevented the game to be more acknowledged. Once you get used to the jumping mechanic, the game becomes one of the best experiences I had on the NES. A password system at every safe point saves your game progress which makes it less frustrating than other NES adventure games."

(On a personal note, it's comments like these that show the importance giving some attention to every game that got a vote- EZR)

-Received 1 5th place vote-

Golf
Crystalis

-Received 2 lower rank votes (16th - 20th)-

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link-"This has always been a divisive title, but I am firmly in the Zelda II fan camp. While the game does get some criticism for its difficulty and cryptic nature, it’s really pretty much on par with other similar NES titles of the era. However, the core gameplay is always fun, and it actually spawned quite a few imitators at the time. If you throw out everything you know about Zelda and approach this game as something different (and keep a walkthrough handy!), you should have a good time with it."

Dragon Spirit: The New Legend"To be honest, I’m not really a shmup guy and have mostly only dabbled with some of these titles on the NES, so when I started Dragon Spirit as a random pick for the RFGen NES Challenge last year, I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the fantasy setting as opposed to the typical sci-fi setting, and actually having a health bar instead of one-hit deaths really made the game more accessible and less frustrating for a shmup noob like me. I’m not sure where Dragon Spirit falls in the grand scheme of quality shmup titles, but for me it was a highly enjoyable game that I will likely revisit in the future."

Really love that you did these extra showcases. Quite enjoying reading people's thoughts on some great games that don't always get a lot of attention.

Final list is set to drop soon, so here's the best of the rest...

-Received 2 top 20 votes (of which 1 top 10)-

Gyruss- "A great, addicting shoot-em up game, plain and simple."

The Guardian Legend- "A very rare example of a hybrid game during the NES and SNES-times which actually worked and delivers first-rate gameplay. The shmup-sections alternate with an overworld in which you can power-up your ship, but holds its own for exploration, interesting boss-fights and a great use of the items found."

Startropics- "For me, always on par with The Legend of Zelda. The variety of gameplay and the great story together with lots of surprises makes this one a true classic."

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse-

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- "Iconic and a real adventure full of TMNT lore (and also a bunch of other weird stuff). Dam isn't that hard, just swap your dang turtles!!"


-Received 2 top 15 votes (of which 1 top 10)-

Tetris- "Still the ultimate puzzle game after all these years"

Duck Hunt- "While there are other light gun game options, Duck Hunt always hits that nostalgia button for me. When I got my first NES this was one of my few games I had for the systems. I remember playing for hours with my family trying to see who could get the best score in both the classic duck hunt mode and the clay disk mode."

Vice: Project Doom- "Didn't get to try this out until a few years ago, and WOW did I miss out on a gem. Excellent action, a variety of level types, and perfectly balanced difficulty make this a very worthwhile play, even if the story isn't the easiest to follow."

Dragon Warrior IV- "Simply put, the best JRPG on the system. It shatters the expectations of what seemed possible at the time."

Little Samson- "Lots of Mega Man clones on the system that all fall short of the game they aspired to be. Little Samson shakes it up with 4 extremely different characters to swap between, a completely different setting and style, and branching paths to play through. Top quality homage to a Capcom classic."


-Received 1 2nd place vote-

Super C- "Just like with Mega Man 2 and 3, it was a tough call between Contra and Super C, but I ended up giving the edge to Super C. While there are aspects that I prefer about both games, I think the tie-breaker for me was the overhead levels in Super C which I prefer over the Base stages in Contra. Either way, these are both among the best on the system and are equally as good in my opinion."

Monster Party- "Classic Bandai. This game is super challenging, but I love playing it. While having classic horror elements and enemies, this game is very light hearted and silly, creating a fun and entertaining game. I wish this one was talked about more because I believe people are truly missing out."

I was talking with Crabby and decided to go ahead and do a quick (very quick) list of my top 20. Even though it didn't make the timeline for the official list, I wanted to throw mine out there for the conversation.

1. (Mike Tyson's) Punch-Out!!
2. Zelda II
3. Mega Man 2
4. Super Mario Bros 3
5. The Legend of Zelda
6. Contra
7. Wizards and Warriors
8. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
9. Jackal
10. Dr. Mario
11. Super Mario Bros 2
12. Super Mario Bros
13. Mega Man
14. RC Pro-Am
15. Goonies II
16. Excitebike
17. Rad Racer
18. TMNT II
19. Bubble Bobble
20. Tecmo Super Bowl

Certainly happy to answer any questions, but this whole process looks like it's going to make for a fun series and I'm super excited to see how the rest of these play out.

This list turned out so great! I loved reading through it, and seeing all the little synopses everyone wrote for the games. Fun to get those perspectives.

Wicked list Bickman! Here's what mine ended up like:

1 - Mega Man 3
2 - Super Mario Bros 3
3 - Super Mario Bros
4 - Gun*Nac
5 - Power Blade
6 - Mega Man 2
7 - Journey to Silius
8 - Duck Tales
9 - Little Samson
10 - Bubble Bobble
11 - Little Nemo The Dream Master
12 - Mega Man 6
13 - Tetris
14 - Batman
15 - The Adventures of Lolo
16 - Snow Bros
17 - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!/Punch-Out!!
18 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
19 - Kirby's Adventure
20 - Ninja Gaiden

My List:

1. Super Mario Bros. 3
2. Super C
3. Contra
4. Castlevania
5. The Legend of Zelda
6. Shatterhand
7. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
9. Vice: Project Doom
10. Strider
11. Final Fantasy
12. Mega Man 3
13. Mega Man 2
14. Power Blade
15. Double Dragon II: The Revenge
16. Batman
17. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
18. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
19. Dragon Spirit: The New Legend
20. Double Dragon

Honorable Mentions:
21. Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
22. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
23. Dragon Warrior
24. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
25. Heavy Barrel
26. Crystalis
27. Felix the Cat
28. Kabuki: Quantum Fighter
29. Journey to Silius
30. Jackal

@crabmaster- I am curious to know your thoughts on omitting Contra, since you're putting yourself out there.

I love both Contra and Super C. I grew up with Super C too. It was just one of those hard cuts I had to make since the cut off was 20. Both would likely be in my top 30.

This is a cool list. Action games all over the place!

Strider jumps out to me in that list. I just beat it pretty recently. The triangle jump was very frustrating and the back tracking got too tedious for me. The hit detection felt pretty janky through the whole game too.

Probably not much of a surprise that this was one of my quotes:

I'll show my hand as well. Bring on the criticism. Ha ha!

1. The Legend of Zelda
2. Contra
3. Mike Tyson's Punchout!
4. Tecmo Super Bowl
5. Mega Man 2
6. Metroid
7. Rygar
8. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
9. Baseball Stars
10. DuckTales
11. Super Mario Bros.  (Yes, there in fact is someone who thinks SMB is a better game than SMB3)  :o  ;D
12. Castlevania
13. Little Samson
14. Metal Gear
15. Kid Icarus
16. Kickle Cubicle
17. Gun*Nac
18. Power Blade
19. Felix the Cat
20. Dragon Spirit

Tecmo Super Bowl was essentially an honorable mention for my list. Such a classic game!

I kind of figured you had Castlevania II on your list as well. It's really not as bad as everyone says.

Here’s my list as well. To make this list a little more interesting I decided to only include one game per series and listing the title that I personally thought was the best.

1. The Legend of Zelda
2. Monster Party
3. Mega Man 2
4. Super Mario Bros. 3
5. Kirby’s Adventure
6. Blaster Master
7. Ghost n Goblins
8. Double Dragon
9. Tetris
10. Adventure Island
11. Rad Racer
12. Ice Hockey
13. Werewolf: The Last Warrior
14. RC Pro AM
15. Duck Hunt
16. Castlevania
17. StarTropics
18. SuperSpike V’Ball
19. Metroid
20. Burger Time

The original Tecmo Bowl was such an innovation in the way football games were made. Being able to choose plays was cool and you got to play with your favorites players because the names were in it. Also players had varying abilities based on their real life statistics. Super Tecmo Bowl took it a step further increasing the number of plays from 4 to 8 and it kept really detailed season statistics for each player, which my friends and I loved and competed against each other in different categories. Way ahead of it's time for sure.

Did we ever get the NES tally?

http://www.rfgeneration.com/news/nes/RFGen-Top-20-Games-for-the-NES-4100.php

Thanks, totally missed that.

***New Video Alert!!***

Disposed Hero and I are at it again, this time with the Top 20 videos.  Check out the countdown list in video form over at


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7bAOjR9sAA

Man, these look sooooo good. Great job Wempster!