Ninja Turtles!
It had to be the best game ever!!
Gah! More like best migrane-inducing game ever!
GODDAMN MECHA TURTLE! I HATE YOU SO MUCH! GRRR! :mad:
Crystal Caverns
Princess Tomato
Most of my favorites have been mentioned, but I’m surprised no one brought up Chip ‘N’ Dale. Best co-op game ever.
The second Ninja Turtles game, which played like the arcade game, was so much more fun than the overly-hard original.
Ah, yes. The good old NES. I still play the NES. In fact, lately I’ve been playing NES games more than any other video games.
In no particular order…
Life Force - Fast-paced and great fun. And the boss music rocks. This is one of the first games that hooked me. I used to think it was impossible (in the 80’s :P), but now I see that it is beatable. I still haven’t beaten it without using the Konami code, though.
Gradius II (Gofer No Yabou) - Similar to Life Force, but even better. The levels are better designed, for one. The boss music isn’t quite as cool, though, even though it follows a nifty seven-beat rhythm.
Ninja Gaiden II - The dark atmosphere of this game has had a spell on me for about 10 years. It has a great “in too deep” feeling that grows as you progress through the game. Also, importantly, this game is extremely fast-paced and exciting.
Metroid - I’m sure you’re not surprised to see this here; Metroid was one of the most popular games ever to grace the NES. People rave about the music to Metroid, but I’ve always found it rather unremarkable. (The exception is the theme in Kraid’s lair, which is very memorable and gets stuck in my head all the time.) The final battle with the Mother Brain is still the most intense video game fight I’ve ever experienced. I also like the emphasis on exploration and finding secrets. This was the first video game that hooked me. I was quite obsessed with Samus Aran even before I learned Samus was a woman!
Marble Madness - Not much to say. Just a cool game. I beat it only recently. That last race is a doozy!
Super Mario Brothers 3 - Good gameplay, very extensive, and great variety and attention to detail. A masterpiece of an NES game.
NES games–I must have owned a billion of these. Funny how, to a 10-year old, they’re ALL cool–even though by today’s standards, I wouldn’t have touched half of them. Lesse, I loved:
Super Mario 2
Super Mario 3
Kid Icarus
Metroid
Castlevania 3
Anything Mega Man
Ninja Turles I and II
RC Pro-Am
Rad Racer
Tyson’s Punch-Out
Defender of the Crown (I never finished the damn thing)
Anybody else have fond memories of the perpetually blinking power button? Or exhausting your lungs as you blew into your system for imaginary dust? 
You are all forgetting the classic Friday the 13th game. Why don’t they make games after horror movies any more? It seems like the process has reversed.
Oh and don’t forget Excitebike and Bubble Bobble.
Heh. And the screen that alternates between solid plain blue and green. I wonder who was the first person to blow into the NES or onto the connectors of a cartridge.
Bwah ha ha, we blew into NES games like they were harmonicas, hoping to “clean” them! Especially rental games, which always took several attempts to clear up the blinking blue/green screen.
Crystallis
Kirby’s Adventure
Megaman 2-5 (1 and 6 weren’t very good)
Metroid
In no particular order.
The one I still play now, emulated, since my razzin’ frazzin’ NES’s power supply got wonky…
Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, aka Godzilla 2.
The original NES Godzilla game was a nifty idea, but pretty much a standard side scroller, where you took the big G and Mothra through either 8 or 10 planetary battlefields*, against damn near all the kaiju featured in the flicks.
But the second one put you in control of the Japanese Defense Force, against Godzilla, Rodan, and the whole bloody crew, including those goofy flying saucers.
It’s a turn based strategy game, where you have to head off the kaiju in (I think) 10 different missions, with varying firepower available to you, depending on the mission.
I haven’t run across too many folks who’ve played it, but it’s so damned addicting.
*[sub]It was the planets of the solar system, with the final battle on Planet X, but I disremember if you started on Earth or Mercury.[/sub]
This far into the thread, and no one has mentioned River City Ransom?
Greatest. Game. Ever.
Most innovative fighting game I’ve ever played. Great cartoonish graphics and plenty of humor.
There was an atrocious sequel made for the Super Famicon, but it can’t dampen my enthusiasm for the original.
Faxandu
I’m going to second some of the votes for:
Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Contra, Tetris, Life Force, and Mega Man 3 (best of the series in my opinion).
Other noteworthy games: Legacy of the Wizard, Solstice (if you have the patience), Wizardry (if you enjoy silly RPGs), Sword Master, Metalstorm, McKids, Power Blade, and Zanac.
Amusingly horrible games: Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu, Cheetahmen 2, Time Lord, Taboo: The Sixth Sense.
Oh, and I though Wizards and Warriors was bad too.
I had Fire and Ice on Amiga, but I always thought it was kinda crap.
Snake, Rattle, and Roll was the best game ever.
(Drunk) RBI Baseball with my roommate (who has one of the second-gen NES’s and about 900 games) is a close second.
Hard to argue with Battletoads, too.
I loved them all, even the bad unplayable ones, for I am a geek-child of the 80’s and all bowed before my gnarly NES skills.
Even Fred Savage.
The Guardian Legend.Kicks serious ass.
Yes! River City Ransom is a great game. I like anything I can throw in and whup my brother at. That includes RCR, Ice Hockey, Blades of Steel, Bases Loaded II (never f’ing works and I’ve never found a working rom on the web), Tennis, etc.
Tecmo Bowl.
Greatest. Football. Game. Ever.