From a technical standpoint, Metal Storm is something of a tour de force. Amazingly enough, this game still holds up too. Take that, Zero Suit Samus in Super Smash Bros. Brawl developer Aicom had you beat to the punch nearly two decades ago. Things just get weirder from there, with household appliances eventually standing between you and whatever your adorable goal may be. That's where Nintendo stepped in and published the game itself for a spring 1994 release. So, if you just hack away with short, quick slashes each one will be pretty wimpy. After all, with the exception of Pit's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the last Kid Icarus game was released on Game Boy nearly two decades ago. Today, the game known as Tengen Tetris is a rare title to have in your collection, but it's a worthwhile play. If the Qix interrupts your line mid-stroke, you are destroyed. Awesome! We're on our way. You can collect power-ups by "juggling" bells on heart-shaped beams of pure love, thus altering their colors and endowing you with different abilities. Aside from its special place in history, however, Kung Fu is also a rewarding example of early "beat-'em-up" videogames in all of its 2D glory. (which also just so happens to be placed at the bottom of that hole in his yard). Shadowgate's unique spin on the point-and-click concept spawned several spiritual successors like Deja Vu and The Uninvited on the NES, as well as its own direct sequel years later on the Nintendo 64. Play The Guardian Legend online! But after the Wonder Boy series went in the direction of RPG-lite, I was happy to have Master Higgins keeping the flame alive on his trusty skateboard. You know that random guy named Captain Commando in the Marvel vs. Capcom fighting games? One of the unsung heroes of the action/RPG genre from the NES era, Crystalis was such an intriguing and unique adventure in its first release in 1990 that Nintendo itself actually went back, got the rights to it, and re-released it ten years later as a first-party Game Boy Color port. Once you beef up your defenses, you're free to start amassing a sprawling arsenal, making aiming your shots somewhat irrelevant. The music rocks, the night/day system inspired my brother's own work with Shantae, and like Zelda II it's truly unique among the series. The game simply used the convenient foundation of the sport to construct a deceptively deep, endlessly addictive gameplay design that's all about pattern recognition, fast reaction times and comically over-the-top cartoon personalities. Its action-platforming style was well-known by Mega Man 3's release, and with the addition of two important new characters, Rush and Protoman, and a new skill, sliding, Mega Man 3 is many fans' favorite in the franchise. But Bionic Commando's Rad Spencer gets by just fine with the help of his bionic appendage. At some point in the latter half of the 1980s, Konami's instantly-recognizable silver-framed package art became a surefire visual indicator of a top-notch NES experience. But when it's revealed that Wily is indeed behind Cossack's deeds, Mega Man is forced to trek through not one end castle, but two, a trend that is kept up in Mega Man 5 and 6 as well. You had sniper shooter levels, like those you might remember from The Adventures of Bayou Billy. And that's exactly the plot here Astyanax is a 16-year-old Greenview High student who just so happens to be named after the figure from Greek mythology and also just happens to be swept away to a distant magical land called Remlia where he's asked to, of course, save a kidnapped princess. Rygar's action/adventure gameplay elements have helped it attain a sort of "cult classic" status. Each world in SMB3 features a unique style, and Mario's quest takes him through desert, grasslands, above the clouds and below the sea there's so much to explore that we still make discoveries every time we dust off the cartridge today. The atypical confluence of high quality and low sales of Little Samson ultimately resulted in it being one of the most sought after cartridges for collectors today. I added level configs for 102 NES games in CaD Editor. Voodoo?) As someone who has gone through the effort of tracking down this neglected gem of a Game Pak, I can affirm that Little Samson can hold his own with the Belmonts, Mega Men and Master Higgins' of the era. It was sort of like Mega Man meets Strider, which I thought was spectacular for the time. Skateboarding continues to be a sport explored in new and unique ways in video gaming today, with EA recently revisiting the concept with Skate and Tony Hawk's series adding the new Ride peripheral, but Skate or Die got it all going. In fact, the first top-down game was a 2D shooter called Spacewar developed in 1962.. Life Force's moderate difficulty sets it apart from its peers in a genre generally geared towards the masochistic. ), Legendary Wings features standard shoot things/power up/shoot more things gameplay but it's the oddball setting that truly sets it apart from vertical space shooters. Grant, Sypha and Alucard all made their first appearances in Dracula's Curse, but you might not ever necessarily meet them all. You were fighting the clock, too, and if you ever ran out of torches then it was Game Over for you. Fighting enemy parties that never consisted of more than one enemy, the original was about narrow-minded preparedness. Although "licensed software" is a term that causes the blood of today's game reviewers to run cold, in the late 1980s, Disney and Capcom formed a union that inexplicably resulted in a steady series of excellent titles for the NES based on Disney trademarks. Gamers' apprehension quickly dissipated, though, when what resulted was an amazing game full of an inordinate amount of depth. Their next door neighbors' kids ended up being me and my siblings' friends as time passed, and they had a basement dedicated to NES gaming. And if racing in two dimensions isn't your cup of tea, grab your Power Glove, pop on a pair of 3D glasses, and experience Rad Racer in red and blue stereoscopic bliss. What an unsung classic this, and the Game Boy version, is. Add it to the list! You'll find a few other games that got thrust into the limelight the same way on this countdown, like VICE: Project Doom. You worked your opponent into submission, going for the pin, and victory gave you the chance to take on tougher challengers, but not before training your chosen warrior to be stronger with interstitial mini-games. Soaring around as Mario in raccoon form simply cannot be beat. The paths you choose to take during the game will bring you to stages and events you might otherwise miss entirely. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is the brutal conclusion to the Hotline Miami saga, set against a backdrop of escalating violence and retribution over spilled blood in the original game. One of the counter-examples to this argument is Mario Bros., an NES port that's not perfect when compared to the 1983 arcade original, but one that is about as close as can be expected, with smooth gameplay and crisp graphics that do the original proud. One of the major debates among NES aficionados is the sheer amount of ports that appear on the console, and how many of them are inherently sub-par to their arcade counterparts. When I lived in New Hampshire, there was a videostore that rented NES games well into the PSX era. Jackal's premise is that the resolution to all conflict lies in explosions lots and lots of explosions. Not content to just slash his foes to death, Niki had to slice and dice them with a whirlwind blade just to be that much more radical. Let me make sure I'm using the correct term. It should come as no surprise that the man behind the rock is Yoshihiro Sakaguchi, a composer that worked on the Mega Man series, also distinguished for its 8-bit anthems. Simon earned experience points for killing enemies and collecting money to buy new goods. Because of that, there was no rushing around; Dragon Warrior was for patient gamers only. It was integral if you wanted a high score. In it, our metal-clad protagonist, Kuros, sets out on a quest to save not one, but several distressed damsels (and we're not talking about some ugly dude in mushroom regalia). Apart from its fun gameplay and difficult boss battles, Kung Fu had inherent replay value simply because the game started over once you beat it with a higher difficulty level. Find these and other excellent NES titles in our online store. The NES had a handful of memorable wrestling sims, including Nintendo's own Pro Wrestling and WWF WrestleMania, the first wrestling game to ever license the use of real world performers, but from a gameplay standpoint, none of them ever trumped Tecmo World Wrestling. We won. However, Mario Bros. was eclipsed by Super Mario Bros. almost immediately upon release in the United States. Throughout the game's island world, which include tropical jungles, tepid swamps and cool caverns, our man Higgins happens upon various implements of stone-age destruction, like axes and, uh skateboards. In Little Samson you play as one of four different characters: a mouse, a robot, a dragon and a boring ol' human boy. Difficult but you get infinite continues and all enemies follow a pre-established pattern. I remember the one clue you had to solve by soaking an included piece of paper in water to reveal it the answer. Skate or Die brought gamers several different skateboarding events including downhill races, freestyle ramp competitions and a joust match fought in a drained swimming pool. The original Battletoads was definitely awesome, but I seemed to favor the design that paired up those TMNT-ripoff characters with the classic brawler characters. It was a darker game, with less glitzy Robot Masters. Death Race (1990 video game) Devilish (video game) Die Hard (video game) Dig Dug II. In the game, our pajama clad mascot navigates the often psychedelic Slumberland with the help of wild animals. Discovering each new level was a joy. I never was satisfied with the party I formed; so half way through the game, I'd start a new game with a completely different party. I doubt anybody would rank the title in their top 10s, but for a 20-plus-year-old action romp, it was as the title suggests pretty rad. It would be great to see Nintendo revive the Faxanadu concept someday. Completely unlike anything else at the time. Just to be extra cool, and to remind you you're still in the '80s. Could you get past the bee-throwing enemy on stage four without losing a life? After all, it is 2009, and there's been a lot of time for Tetris and Dr. Mario. Every Ice Hockey player discovered their own perfect combination of men, and then it was on to the ice. With little emphasis on the scaled-up world of the titular chipmunks, many of the things lying around the inflated settings could be picked up and used as projectiles on exploration. While not entirely innovative, Final Fantasy did make some interesting iterations on the RPG formula. - Levi Buchanan, IGN Wireless & Retro Editor. Natsume may be completely stuck in the rut of cranking out nothing but Harvest Moon sequels these days, but back on the NES the developer had some unique and inventive adventures like Abadox, Shadow of the Ninja and this game, Power Blade. Oh, wait wrong wrestling game. The North American sequel to everyone's favorite game does not disappoint. Everyone remembers the simple, but effective cinematic in which series hero Ryu Hayabusa stands atop a mountaintop and stares off into the distant landscape. Unfortunately, Google isn't proving useful in finding a good "top 10" or similar list of great top downs. Out of all of the great games on our list, Kickle Cubicle is one of the few titles I never got to experience until I was an adult. It was essentially a late generation Mega Man-esque science-fiction platform/actioner at its best. This game was much tighter in control and actually gave a better sense of accomplishment to the player. Many gamers of today's generation know Popo and Nana best for their recurring role in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. And besides, the game was officially backed by Fred Savage, the ultimate gaming Wizard. Yes, Super Mario Bros. 2 is a repurposing of a non-Mario Japanese Famicom game called Yume Kj: Doki Doki Panic, but why hold that against it? Not too bad for a couple of sweaty, shirtless Rambo clones. In a cool adventure gaming twist, you'll need to meet a certain booty (diamonds, not damsels) quota before being able to exit each area, but don't expect a sign reading "Here Be Treasure." Sure, Duck Hunt's gameplay was as simple as pointing-and-shooting, and one could easily cheat by standing an inch from the television. The most anticipated game on the NES, SMB3 had nothing short of a feature length film (The Wizard) plugging it before it hit store shelves. But man, the game delivered. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before a videogame followed the television show and toys. Top-down games have been enjoyed by gamers alike for almost as long as video games have existed. If you are wondering, that formula is one part Aliens, two parts First Blood, and perhaps a dash of Predator to keep things exotic. Few franchises in Nintendo's storied history are as famous as The Legend of Zelda. Meanwhile, the company worked rapidly behind the scenes to override Nintendo's infamous lockout device that kept unofficial cartridges from being played on its console. Although the game offers a fairly decent challenge, the experience of kicking serious alien ass can be had by less talented players, thanks to the legendary Konami Code, which, in its most famous implementation, gives you 30 lives to burn through as you please. Brawling brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee were once again playable in both single-player mode, but for the first time on the 8-bit Nintendo you and a friend could team up to punch, kick and hair-pull your foes to death simultaneously through an all-new set of side-scrolling beat-'em-up stages. For me, just making it to level 2 was a major accomplishment that I reveled in let alone, the brutality that I had to overcome in future levels (especially that darned Ice Cavern). Batman taught me the meaning of "envy;" I went to a neighbor's house and played it all day, mastering the diabolical wall jump platforming challenges, and I wanted the game for myself. The ridiculousness of the premise was only matched by the difficulty of the game's control scheme, and the superb 8-bit soundtrack that accompanied all the hungry, hungry action. To proceed to the next level, a treasure chest must be opened, but that chest is only unlocked when all heart icons on the screen are acquired. Dragon Warrior III continued to open up both the gamer's party and the enemy parties to more than one per side, creating for the first time in the series a real feeling of strategy. I grew up in a hockey town, so I didn't know a single person who owned a NES system that didn't have a copy of this awesome sports game. Firepower 2000 is notable for being one of the few shoot em' ups on the Super Nintendo that allows two-player action. You've got to remember the historical time period that the NES was released it was an age when the Cold War was still a very prominent problem in many American's minds, and game companies certainly didn't shy away from the free advertising that the fear-inspiring nightly news and morning papers were instilling in the purchasing public. Lode Runner's saga begins some time before the NES, and many people may correctly classify it as a seminal PC title. It wasn't until a decade or two later that I finally understood that a poor localization was responsible for the game's extreme weirdness. I could whip through Super Mario Bros. in 10 minutes without losing a life, but progressing Link toward his final battle was an epic undertaking and one filled with surprises and satisfying rewards throughout. Before even embarking on your quest you must choose your team of four characters. I said it then and I'll say it now. Baseball Stars is unequivocally the best baseball game, and overall sports simulation, the NES ever saw. Demon Sword is a ninja action game that plays out at a break-neck speed compared to some of its contemporaries (cough Kung-Fu cough). Why is Baseball Stars so important? This is a Rare sleeper and one of the most creative games those guys made. Little Nemo, an American comic strip, had received the anime treatment in Japan at the time and thus the game was created, but the license was no doubt long forgotten by American audiences when Nemo came stateside. Finally we rented it, played co-op, and dominated the game, even leaving the NES on overnight during the dreaded "Everyone looks like player 1 and 2" level. Navigating your way through the colorful set pieces proves a bit more harrowing than the colorful, kiddie graphics let on, making it the perfect title to impress girls with if you're nine, that is. I'm still working on getting this game to Virtual Console, though Sammy (now SEGA) has no idea they even own it. You could jump and dive for the ball, climb the wall to snag a possible home runand most of all, you could customize a half-dozen teams all the way down to the individual names. No sooner would an unprepared adventurer leave a town and cross a bridge into a new area than he would find himself smashed by an enemy much stronger than he. How could I forget the cutscenes? The ship rising out of the scrolling ocean, the . Developed by Konami and published by its subsidiary Ultra (a ghost publisher created only so that Konami could publish more games per year than Nintendo allowed), TMNT proved to be a fun, challenging game with crisp graphics and compelling gameplay. I was one of those poor saps that actually enjoyed a similar and ultimately less impressive game, Legend of Kage, so I took to this game immediately. The game also seemed to take forever to play which made me wonder at the time if it was one of the biggest games ever made. To this day, this is still the only game that's ever shipped with a coupon for five bucks off an order at Pizza Hut printed on the back of its instruction manual. Wow 15+ years later and I can still find fun in this game? Haha, the box art to this game was awful (just a guy that looks like Iceman from Top Gun with enormous sunglasses). In the original Dragon Warrior, the hero was on his own. If you can stomach the Princess in all her pinkness, her levitation ability will get you over the game's widest gaps. Because I was the kind of nerd that kept track of developer names, when I saw that the creator of Pitfall was behind Boy and His Blob, I was sold. VICE: Project Doom is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated third-party game designs to ever hit the NES, even after claiming a cover of Nintendo Power in 1991. Even though I was completely taken with the new 16-bit game systems by the time this came out, Dragon Warrior IV was still one of my most anticipated games at the time. Capcom considered the NES obsolete at this point and refused to publish the game in the United States. On horseback, must prevent 3 bandits from boarding the train. It's a familiar premise, but with a pretty unique protagonist and his weapon is what makes the gameplay a winner. Or you can just skip the work and enter the Konami Code to get fully powered up in a matter of seconds. It's also the teams and roster customization including the ability to create players, mess with their stats, and pay them a salary. Little did I know that Nintendo put the NES hardware in the arcade cabinet. But I will always look upon Zelda fondly for sucking me into a gaming universe that sprawled in every direction in a seemingly non-linear fashion. You can't do that! 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