RFGen's Top 20 games for NES

[Crabmaster2000]

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

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

[EZ Racer]

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."

[Crabmaster2000]

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.

[EZ Racer]

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."

[bickman2k]

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.

[MetalFRO]

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.

[Crabmaster2000]

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

[Disposed Hero]

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

[EZ Racer]

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

[Crabmaster2000]

@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.

[Crabmaster2000]

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

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.

[Disposed Hero]

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:

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."

[singlebanana]

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)   
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

[bickman2k]

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.

[Mr_Stubbes]

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