Lurker > transience

looks like a pretty cookie cutter top 5! I hope the 5th is what I think it is

I was wondering when the procession of mega men would start

I see we have just a couple of them up there in the top 10, eh

I like across the sea, it might not be a top tier episode but it's really interesting

I'm looking forward to revisiting it

you guys should watch Lost. the lore and theorycrafting will occupy your mind for months.

my 16 year old and I are waiting for a school break to watch season 4. she's so excited to jump back in. the constant is coming

same, and I was playing games prior to 87. nobody thinks of contra as an arcade game these days anyway, that's one of the 10 nes games everyone knows and loves

I think most people would grant 1987 as the first 'real' video game year. 85 and 86 still feel like arcade ports with a few trail blazers thrown in, but once you get into 87 you're getting tons of what you think of as proper nes games.

nah I wouldn't even try - no point. plus, I haven't used a classic NES controller in a long time. I mostly just play on a keyboard unless I want to play something with more directional nuance like a mega man or something.

I've been following the classic tetris scene for like 10 years. it has some pretty wild history and has been taken over from within by like 13 year olds, because no person who grew up with a nes is going to bend their brain enough to play competitive tetris.

If you need a turbo controller for any game, it's this one. I can't really play this game for that long anymore as my wrists start to get old.

I would rather play track and field without a turbo controller than 1943. I'm pretty sure the nes max was invented for the sole purpose of being able to actually play 1943.

I googled 'worst birds in a video game' out of curiosity and the first result was some random dude's deviantart blog ranking the 5 best and worst birds, and wouldn't you know it Ninja Gaiden is #1 with no real competition

yeah, I played NG2's 2-3 level numerous times during my quick research before making my list and oh man is it blood boiling. NG2 feels like, I don't know, you have the tools if you know what's coming and preemptively deal with it. like, there can be a gunner dude standing on a platform one unit wide just walking back and forth and shooting you. if you have the fire wheel or something equivalent, it's no problem, but if you're not you're just kind of dead?, and if you dared to grab a powerup that happened to be the ninja star before you get to him then it's time to try again.

NG2 feels like a game you memorize, and when you have the right kit and know what's coming then you're OK. NG1 feels like you can play through it regularly for most of it, until you get the last couple of levels and it's just there to make you miserable

oh man, I found NG2 to be wayyyyyy more BS than 1. like every bird in that game is put in a spot to make you hate yourself! every single one. there's a certain appreciation you reach with the art of liking to dick you over, but also that game is whack. great game.

it's amazing how diving into the nuances of a straightforward game for something like a speed run can make you really love it, almost form a new relationship with the game. I can attest.

I was going to say, I am somewhat of an amateur nes historian and I've never heard of lagrange point! but if it's japan only I can sorta keep my nes cred card in my wallet

I played nes tennis for the first time when I was making my list and it was enough to get me to really consider it. if I had played that as a kid, it would be in the baseball tier of good enough nes sports games.

nice! wonder how many games will overlap with my list

I wanna check this out but the plucky squire has my attention right now

crystalis might blow you away in that it does not feel like it should be on the nes. in fact, its worst qualities is that it *is* on the nes (lack of buttons, not enough variety, etc).

ping me when you do give it a look, I'll be curious!

Lopen posted...

Oh wow half of those were kinda left field for me. Recall M.U.L.E. as pretty fun but top 10 fun I don't recall-- maybe I should play it again. Also never played Dragon Warrior 4 and thought it was SNES (also should play Guardian Legend and Crystalis)

oh man I'm surprised to hear that you haven't dabbled with TGL or Crystalis. they seem like they'd be up your alley - true NES games that have no modern counterpart and therefore stand up today.

notdave posted...

guardian legend is great, I need to replay it

I put it on last week to check it out and ended up spending the entire day playing through it! didn't mean to do that but sometimes a game grabs you. that game is hard, but fun to try to conquer.

LiquidOshawott posted...

I hated MULE when I was 4

maybe I should actually go back to it lol

mule is an acquired taste for sure and you need multiple people to put it anywhere near this high. I actually play it with my youngest and he loves it. such a cool little interactive board game, and one of the more influential games that a lot of the gaming public has never heard of.

and finally

10. dragon warrior 4
9. mike tyson's punch-out!!
8. m.u.l.e.
7. guardian legend
6. tetris
5. the legend of zelda
4. dragon warrior 3
3. crystalis
2. mega man 2
1. final fantasy

you are, yeah. from memory, I think it had the NFL license but not the NFLPA and some people didn't consent to being in it without being paid for it explicitly? you can look it up

it did, yeah, except for a few people they couldn't get like Jim Kelly so he's "QB Bills".

and I also play as the Bears and score a million points as Walter Payton!

better than mario 3

notdave posted...

any time i think i want to play contra, i just want to play contra 4

that game needs a re-release

I haven't played c4 since 2008 or so. I don't feel like it has the replay value of contra but man it is good when you dive in deep.

yeah it's a good question, most people have tecmo super bowl higher than tecmo bowl. makes sense too, a lot more features and the same base game.

but I dunno, I like tecmo bowl for its simplicity. tecmo bowl has 4 plays and is really straightforward. super bowl has 8 plays and random stuff like fumbles that I just don't like in my football games. super bowl's an objectively better game but I'm good just playing the original.

huh, I wonder what you're missing then, my top 10 isn't exactly obscure!

battle chess is great, I considered it

you could say that the one you're missing is chess adjacent, or board game adjacent, I guess

https://tcrf.net/images/b/b8/WariosWoodsNESTitle.png

check out that date! (I've only ever played the nes version, I assume they are largely the same)

such a sneaky good puzzle game!

20. double dragon 2
19. castlevania 3
18. ninja gaiden 2
17. ninja gaiden
16. tecmo bowl
15. wario's woods
14. dragon warrior
13. mega man 3
12. contra
11. bionic commando

1942 is way too basic for me! that sound design, oh my god. 1943 needs a turbo controller to even be playable but it's got a pretty fun mission structure.

haha this is the most japanese thing i've ever seen. am I supposed to fight the tornadoes? I had no problem clearing normal mode but I just missed the score threshold it randomly set for me. but also, i'm not sure if you can get other territories? I'm so confused

Milon gets a ton of hate but man I love how weird it is to find all of its secrets. I assume I like this game in the way that people like Dark Souls or something? that's a very silly comparison but the depth of what Milon offers is a lot different from other things on the NES. I never played Druaga but that game feels like it hates you a lot more than Milon. it's too bad everyone thinks it's awful because they put it on for 10 minutes or watched an AVGN video. that's a game you probably had to be there for.

SNES Rampart is where it's at. I didn't know there was another version of it on the NES?

I really like Kid Icarus but man that game can be punishing. you can play 5 minutes, miss one jump and have to do it all over again, and then repeat and it's a different thing that gets you. I got stuck on 1-2 a couple weeks ago and just couldn't seem to get through. it gets a lot easier after the first couple levels cause at least you have health to work with.

can't wait for the reaction to this set!

35. 1943
34. super dodge ball
33. super c
32. zelda 2
31. chip and dale's rescue rangers
30. rc pro am
29. track and field
28. super mario bros. 3
27. castlevania
26. milon's secret castle
25. rampart
24. super mario bros. 2
23. arkanoid
22. tecmo super bowl
21. kid icarus

I actually put Lemmings NES in front of my 11 year old a few weeks ago and he had a good time with it. a mouse is ideal obviously but it works. it might not if you get into the really high levels.

I actually beat DQ2 last week. the endgame is brutal for sure. I just love dragon quest.

y'know, I own Startropics 2 but I don't think I ever played it enough to come to a conclusion on it. is it really that much better? I never hear people talk about it

as a mario game, yeah. those games are kind of vanilla so to see a game subvert the formula so aggressively is a little wild.

...it's not a big gap between the two.

it's not that wacky - I love kaizo type games and Mario 1 is a lot of run and hold right. part of lost levels's appeal is that it's a mario game that just hates you in every way.

50. willow
49. mega man 4
48. super mario bros. 2: the lost levels
47. metroid
46. track and field 2
45. duck tales
44. teenage mutant ninja turtles 2: the arcade game
43. dr. mario
42. lemmings
41. life force
40. mega man 5
39. metal storm
38. final fantasy 3
37. dragon warrior 2
36. kung fu

I'm not a big 2d Mario guy - fine games, not that exciting. that probably won't be the last one that makes people react.

Startropics should be better than it is! that four way movement drives me crazy.

RaidenGarai posted...

Ive only seen Arcus play Arkistas Ring. One of the games I own but havent played yet, it looks like a lot of fun though. Is it kind of Gauntlet-ish?

nah, I wouldn't compare it to gauntlet even if the elements are there. Arkista's ring is more puzzle-y, where you move in just the 4 cardinal directions, find powerups and try to find the exit. it's pretty simple until the end where it gets real rough. fun though.

TheKnightOfNee posted...

Curious about Baseball Simulator 1.000 though. Was that one you put some time into when you were younger? Or is it actually a lot better than all those other NES baseball games? I never really played it

so, yes, but my main experience with this game is actually the superior snes version. baseball simulator lets you equip these weird powerups so that when you hit the ball, it bounces all crazy or the shadows jump around or your hit is a line drive that goes all the way to the wall and knocks people down. most people I think prefer the rbi baseball and baseball stars's of the world?, but I'll take this weirdo one that's still fun play (sup base wars).

this got more attention than I was expecting! here's the next set

75. arch rivals
74. lode runner
73. mega man 6
72. galaga
71. gradius
70. super spike v ball
69. super sprint
68. rad racer
67. blaster master
66. battletoads
65. chip and dale's rescue rangers 2
64. double dragon
63. batman
62. ninja gaiden 3
61. arkista's ring
60. karate champ
59. marble madness
58. spy hunter
57. startropics
56. mega man
55. strider
54. baseball simulator 1000
53. super mario bros.
52. shadowgate
51. pro wrestling

I've played very little of Bucky O'Hare! I only discovered that it existed a few years ago. I don't love how it controls?, but it's clearly competent and relatively well made. I don't have a lot to offer.

I mean, there are so many bad NES games and so much content made about that. I'll leave it to those guys. Gerstmann is providing a good service for identifying the worst of the worst though

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Mostly good picks so far, but Im pretty sure Space Mutants would be in my bottom 100 NES games

it's hard to argue here - that game is janky as all hell. but also, it's this weird open world type of game with simpsons lore busting out of it at a time when that super mattered. I'm oddly fascinated by it and there wasn't a lot like this on the NES. I don't disagree with anyone who says this game is garbage but it's interesting, and that's more than I can say about some of the bottom games here.

I don't know if I'd call Battletoads completely poorly designed. meanspirited and BS, sure, but more of an intentional BS than anything. at the very least, they did what they tried to do, for better or worse.