Growing up Nintendo was a very big part of my childhood. I remember going to buy the system in 1986, I want to say. We took a vacation to Ohio, I know who the hell takes a vacation in Ohio, and my mom took part in a reverse lottery. If you have the numbers they call out you lose. Luck went our way and we won the lotto. I helped pick the numbers so my mom let me get Nintendo with my big winnings, $100.00. Big money back then! Just think that is all it cost to get a pretty sweet gaming system back then.
It came with two games, Duck Hunt and the legendary Super Mario Brothers, two controllers and the classic gun. It was called the action set!
Here is my list of the top ten Nintendo games of my time.
10. Double Dragon (1987)
This is the story of two kung-fu loving brothers as they beat ass and take names. I was never very good at this game. My friends were so I was forced to play and get my ass beat down by the green abobos and the rest of the baddies. Great game and a real good time while playing it with friends. Don't check out the feature film with the guy from Party of Five. Dreadful...
9. Blaster Master (1988)
This game was a few years ahead of it's time. It was a run and gun game with very hard levels and some great 8 bit music. It is about a guy named Jason, great name by the way, who looses his frog down a hole in the ground. So he goes in and finds a world with mutants and a bitchn' car. With the car Jason heads out to find his frog and destroy the mutants. A must play for anyone who loves games. Jason has a unhealthy relationship with that frog...
8. Mega Man 2 (1988)
Any game that features a robot fighting other robots is always a good time in my book. This game is light years ahead of the first Mega Man. The is simple defeat the robot levels and then fight the evil Dr. Wily. Many weekends were taken up with this game. One problem why does he let Dr. Wily live at the end of the game, you think it could all be over with...
7. Castlevania (1986)
This is one hard Nintendo game. I never finished it and don't remember anyone doing it. Nintendo didn't play around back then with the difficulty levels. They were always on hard. In the game you control Simon Belmont, a vampire hunter from a long line of vampire hunters. You set out to fight Dracula the worst vampire of them all. Great game play and again it should be noted it had outstanding music. On a side note I love Simon Belmont in Captain N: The Game Master, just saying...
6. Metroid (1986)
Metroid is one of those classic games that everyone knows. It has a very hard game play and the levels look great and different. It was one of the first games with a code system in place to continue play. The game stars Samus Aran who is out to destroy Mother Brain and save the universe. This game brought back great memories of staying up late and trying to beat it. If you were lucky enough to beat the game you find out that Aran was a girl, what a mind fuck in a world where every video game hero was a guy...
5. Bionic Commando (1988)
I've been saying how old Nintendo games were real hard, well here is a game where you can't jump. Who would make a game where the hero can't jump or run. All you have is a robotic arm that grabs stuff. This game was light years ahead of it's time. I just downloaded a version on my XBOX 360, great game too. I was pretty good at this one. Any game where the bad guy is a resurrected Hitler is always a good time in my book. The end when his head blows up is still one of the greatest endings in video game history...
4. Metal Gear (1987)
This game was played in my house for years. I beat the game with help from the phone hot line, this was before online gaming. The game was all about sneaking around trying not to get caught and even sometimes not kill anyone. Another hard Nintendo game that was ahead of its time. This is one great game with great sequels with each one harder and harder. The hero Solid Snake was based on the character from Escape from New York...
3. Dragon Warrior (1986)
The word obsessed can't described the way I feel about this game. My friends hated that I played this game all the time. This was another game that I used the game hot line on the phone. It is a simple story of a princess taken and a prince going to save her from the evil wizard. Doesn't get any batter than that in my book. This was the second greatest role playing game on Nintendo...
2. The Legend of Zelda (1986)
This is the best role playing game of all time. Don't give me that Final Fantasy crap. That game would be nothing if it weren't for the little gold box. This game has it all the princess in trouble and a hero that is a elf. It came in a fucking gold box just to tell other games that their time is up. Link is one of the greatest video game heroes of all time. The best part about this game is that after you beat it you can play it again and it is 10x harder than the first time...
1. Super Mario Brothers (1985)
Super Mario Brothers is the game that everyone my age has played more than any other game. I played it so long one night that it burned onto my TV screen. This game was played by everyone in my house for years. This game got me playing games. If it weren't for Mario gaming would be dead. Q-Bert is cool and all but it can't hold a candle to Mario. All other platforms tried to recreate Mario... Sonic I'm looking at you. No one could copy Mario. The music and levels were amazing and incredibly hard to complete. I beat this game once in my life time and never again. That is why the Brothers is number 1.
That is my list for the best NES games of all time. I left a few off that maybe should have been on the list. Punch Out comes to mind as does Tecmo Bowl. Hope you like the list and please give me your favorites.
Till next time...
