Here's a fun fact that fell under the radar on a rather busy day - the NES turned 30 in Europe on 1st September. It celebrated the equivalent North American anniversary nearly a year ago, but the system took a while to arrive in Europe and, actually, struggled to gain much of a foothold - initially at least - in territories like the UK. From that perspective the SNES fared better in the region.
It's a neat landmark, in any case, and the Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System / NES Classic Edition also got highlighted in the European and North American Nintendo Direct broadcasts. There was a neat trailer in the EU show:
As the anniversary has passed and it's Friday, we thought we'd let you vote on some of your favourite NES games. 30 is a good number with the Anniversary, and also happens to be the number of games on the Mini NES. We're passing the buck, in other words - don't tell us what games are missing from the list, tell Nintendo...
In any case, we hope it's a bit of fun picking just three games from a list of 30. Tough choices ahead.
As always debate your votes in the comments, and we are still planning to do some pretty articles showing the results of this vote and the recent SNES poll. Later today we'll also be posting polls gauging your views on this week's Nintendo Direct, ahead of some editorial content on that very topic over the weekend.
Comments 103
I've never played StarTropics, so I'll have to go with Mario 3, Mega Man 2, and Kirby's Adventure. All are on a completely higher level compared to most other NES games.
Legend of Zelda, Kirby's Adventure and Mario 3. Is too bad no Little Nemo or Blaster Master. Oh well, they are on my laptop!
Metroid, Mega Man 2, The Legend of Zelda. It hurt me to leave old Punch-Out and Excitebike in the dust, though, among others.
Castlevania Mario 3 Punch-Out
They are all classics ...hard to just pick three favourites.
It should have been "pick 5". Three is just too small a selection for so many great classic games.
1. Metroid
2. Castlevania
3. Galaga
Super Mario Bros 3, Punch-Out and Legend of Zelda.
SMB3
Balloon Fighter
Dr. Mario
Based solely on which games I usually like to play over & over again.
It's really hard to pick just three, but...
1) Ballon Fight
2) Ninja Gaiden
3) Mega Man II
Dr. Mario, Metroid and Super Mario Bros. 3. There are many games I haven't played, though.
I said balloon fight, Bubble Bobble, and Kirby. It might change once I've played some of the games that I've never gotten to play before, which is a lot of them.
Ridiculous that Castlevania and Metroid get so few votes: those games were stellar at the time and especially Metroid introduced some mechanics and story lines that are still good today.
The ones I played the most were Final Fantasy, Double Dragon II, and Tecmo Bowl.....although it was the far superior Tecmo Super Bowl. I have a great wish list for mini SNES if it shows.....none of which will be on it
Super Mario Bros 3, Legend of Zelda and Dr. Mario took up a majority of my childhood playtime on the NES
Bubble Bobble, Kirby's Adventure and Super Mario Bros. got my votes. I chose Mario as the third one but Zelda and Dr. Mario are on the same level for me.
Metroid
Ninja Gaiden
Punch-Out!!
Hard to pick just three from the 30. (Since SMB3 and both Zelda games are my favorite video games of all time, I'm not going to vote for them)
@Vix Not hard if you've only played three, hence I have no choice but to vote for Bubble Bobble, Kirby's Adventure, and Super Mario Bros., as they're the only three I've played (not played much of any of those though either).
NES didn't exist where I came from, and the urge to explore that generation isn't huge for me, especially as I've got 10 times too many more modern games to play.
The only ones I've committed myself to playing through are the Super Mario Bros. games.
It's a pity Radracer isn't included. That was the 3rd NES game I bought. I remember thinking 'there are hills in it'. Ya had to be there.. 🙂
Too much votes for Metroid in my opinion. When I bought and played it on 3DS a few years ago (my first contact with the series should be the first game, I thought), it turned out to be absolutely annoying. All that backtracking, all the same-looking rooms, so much respawning creatures and their unfair behavior. I was born in 1980 and play since the end of that decade but Metroid is one of my disappointments.
And now I read the review for Axiom Verge and I think that would disappoint me, too. Even if Nintendolife gave it a 10/10. That old Metroid affected me too much, I guess.
I went for Mario 3, Kirby's Adventure and Super C. I wish I could have included Megaman 2, Castlevania and the first two Mario games as well!
Despite it being a little annoying that you can't add new games to the NES Mini, they really did an excellent job of ensuring pretty much all the best games on the system are represented. Really the only games I can think of that would have been nice to have are TMNT 2 and the original Contra.
Metroid!!!
SMB3, Legend of Zelda and Megaman 2 was awesome as a kid but all the games on the Mini are iconic for one reason or another.
Bubble Bobble was one of two NES games that my mother really got into. More to the point, it gives me warm memories of my grandmother's house. Sigh
1) Bubble Bobble
2) Castlevania
3) Super Mario Bros. 3
@Captain_Gonru That is actually the very reason that I did include it. I played it to bits in the arcades and I was so happy back then when I could also play it at home, so it's a well deserved mention for me, if only for the sentiment of youth...
@Shiryu wow, I'm glad to see others pick Balloon Fight. Thought I was going to be alone on that one
@gcunit
I recommend Zelda and play with only the stuff that came in the box. You can look it up online, instruction manual and map. It's a solid, challenging game that stands on its own in the series. Working with the controls for combat is odd at first as it is a bit limiting but it gets fun.
Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, Donkey Kong Jr. SMB2 and SMB3 are fantastic games and hugely nostalgic for me as much as just being classics. Donkey Kong Jr holds a special place in my heart for reasons unknown, I just always liked it, much better than the original Donkey Kong too. I almost picked Punch Out but that game frustrates me because it gets too damn hard later on.
SMB3
Bubble bubble
Punch out
Bubble and Bobble !
Kirby's Adventure, Final Fantasy and SMB3 for me.
Super mario bros.2 usa
Punch out!
Megaman 2
@ThanosReXXX Early yet in the poll, but I'm disappointed to see Castlevania numbers so far, too.
You Galaga story is mine for Super Mario Bros.
I discovered Super Mario Bros. in the arcade at a college (where my dad worked). Arcades at colleges had the best players and I watched people do amazing things. It was like nothing I'd seen before.
When I saw the game being played on an actual NES and it looked identical to the arcade (didn't know the levels were easier in the home version until much later) that I just had to get the NES and made a deal to stain the fence to earn the money to get it.
So satisfying to bring that home and play it over and over and over.
One of my first additional games was Ice Climber and I loved how original it felt, but it was so hard! And the jumping was so dramatic and unforgiving. lol. Still have a special place in my heart for it and would love some sort of a reboot, but not in my top 3: @Tsurii @IceClimbers
Metroid and Castlevania and Zelda got my votes though.
Adventure of Link (very underappreciated)
Mario Bros 3
Mega Man 2
Honorable mention:Metroid.
@Joshflowers I can pretty much play it for hours straight and be ever entertained. That's the definition of a good game.
Mario 3 and Zelda are winning? SHOCKER. I mean who had even heard of these games before these announced the Mini NES? My bet is no one but the hardcoriest hardcore fans of all time.
@sketchturner
Adventure of Link would have sit better with me if it didn't have the nasty extra life things that don't replenish. One time use extra guys in a game like that... cruel. I was scarred for life.
Really, though, I agree with you in part. I really liked the combat and how well they transitioned the temple/dungeon to side view.
Difficulty level is a little insane for this guy to return to. Maybe if I managed my little link idol extra life things better.
I'm no stranger apparently, Kirby's Adventure, Super Mario Bros, and Super Mario Bros 3 for me.
Gotta be Mega Man 2, Mario Bros. 3 and Super C for me!
In all honesty I always felt Castlevania didn't hit its stride until number IV. Although it's difficult, a lot of design elements just seem really uneven and botched in this respect. It's a shame as there's so much to like about it in terms of visuals, soundtrack and in the level design (well the parts of levels without stairs).
@Tisteg80 The original Metroid is a game that hasn't aged as well for most. Super Metroid remains well-balanced, but people don't bother to make paper maps anymore or enjoy a game that pushes your limits so much. The realization that it was going to go on and on ("Wait, this goes deeper? No level divisions?) and you could actually get really lost but there were treasures hidden behind deviously hidden secret entrances with all sorts of new types of rules about how to advance and the action shooting and threat of devastating death. One of my favorite video game discoveries.
Back then, though, I was used to playing games on computers without instructions and discovering how to play them and what the core of the game was a big part of the fun.
Now, I don't have time for that unless it's a shorter indie game and of course sensibilities have changed and games have changed with them. I wouldn't write off the entire metroidvania genre because of Metroid!
Tecmo Bowl (although that definitely ranks behind stuff like Blades of Steel, NES Open, and other games that could plausibly have ended up here) and Pac-Man. The port plays a little weird at first, but it's grown on me after having it on the VC.
Most of the other games I feel no need to ever play again, as they're so embedded in the collective consciousness now that I'm bored of them by association.
@Churchy Hah. Yes the stairs were annoying! And the Grim Reaper. The first time I beat the Grim Reaper, I did not turn the NES off until I finished the game. I also liked IV, but I think after that they turned a bit less charming and more serious and grim. I liked the sort of monster movie mash-up feel of the earlier games.
Legend of Zelda
Mega Man 2
Super Mario Bros 3
is my holy Trinity on the NES
Probably Kirby's Adventure and Super Mario Bros. 2, but if I'm going to perfectly honest, I've never been much of a fan of the NES. I always preferred the SNES
Zelda 2, Mario 3 and Kirby are my favorites. It's also not surprising to see Mario Bros. sitting at 0%. I've been saying from the beginning it was redundant when SMB3 is already on there, and they should have given us something else like Mega Man 3, Contra, or Castlevania 3.
@Shiryu it is very addictive. At one point I was trying to beat the high score at Twin Galaxies. Then I reevaluated my life haha
Call me odd but I went with Zelda 2, Castlevaina 2, and Metroid!
I could've picked any of them really but I went for:
Kid Icarus
Ghosts n Goblins
Super Mario Bros. 2
Duck Hunt is the biggest miss for this collection. So glad it's on VC.
With the NES being before my time, I find the games to be incredibly hard. I've never beat an NES game before, and consider them to be harder than the souls series. (T_T )
But I did vote for Metroid, Kirby, and Mario 2.
old school gamers are hardcore.
Super Mario bros 3, double dragon 2, and startropics. Startropics has to be the best nes game ever that is also the most underrated.
Super Mario Bros. 3, Mega Man 2, and Kirby's Adventure.
I have a historical debt with Star Tropics. Someday.
I'm afraid my picks were rather boring but my favorites none the less.
Mario 3
Kirby
Zelda 1
Voted Mario 3, Simon's Quest and Zelda II.
That's a lot of legendary games.
It hurts to not include some of these (particularly Punch Out), but...
1) Super Mario Bros. 3 (arguably the king of 2D Mario games)
2) Mega Man 2
3) Castlevania
@Spoony_Tech @aaronsullivan @ThanosReXXX
As an old gamer I really have no interest in any of these, though I do have Galaga up and running in my Atari 7800, but I still prefer Xevious.
So tell me, why does almost no one in the comments say LoZ but it's near the top in the poll? That would be my pick, and FF, b/c they are the first adventure games. All the others are too hard, though I'll try them all out if we can get this for Christmas, Santa don't shop on eBay.
Super Mario Bros. 3! It will always be one of my favorite games! SMB3 and Duck Hunt/Super Mario Bros. were what introduced me into gaming when I was really young.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Sure, Mario and the gangs like vegetable so much.
Giant Turnip.... I wanna throw that toward to enemies because i want to punish them in the name of the Moon... Um, i mean Turnip. XD
Looks like I went with the most popular ones (at the time of writing), Mega Man 2, Super Mario Bros 3 and Zelda. Great memories and guaranteed to make me part with money time and time again (thanks Nintendo...)
Hard choosing only 3, but I went with Zelda 2, SMB2 and SMB3.
@LegendOfPokemon Those were my exact 3 picks. Good choices!
My votes: Super Mario Bros. 3, Metroid, and The Legend of Zelda. Picking only three is cruel....
@rjejr Zelda is a great game but so are the other 3 I picked. I would prefer to put Dragon Warrior in as my top 3 pick but it wasn't there. As for Final Fantasy, to me it was by far the worst entry in the series. It's one of my least favorite rpgs. I put almost every other rpg over it. From that point on though I was a fan for life!
Super Mario Bros 3. Double Dragon 2 and Mega Man 2.
@Spoony_Tech Playing FF 1 thru 6 after 7 and a slew of other JRPG , notably Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross - 1-6 really weren't doing it for me, but I'd replay FF just b/c it's the first, same for Zelda. But otherwise I see all 30 as Ntinedo surely intended, 30 placeholders for Zelda Wild.
Must buy for my kids...
You know, for the kids...
To teach them history... for the kids.
Legend of Zelda, SMB3, MegaMan 2
1. Castlevania!
2. Mega Man 2!
3. Kirby's Adventure!
And honorable mention to SMB1.
I'm just super excited for this in general, I can't really say I have any particular favorites. The NES had a gold mine of great games, but I never was really super super fond of the NES just because most of the games were just so arcadey, where it didn't really hold much interest unless you were playing multiplayer. But its still a great console, the SNES is the console I grew up with. Along with the N64
I need more than 3!
Kirby, Mario 3, and Mega Man 2, obviously.
But If I needed to choose a top 10, then the other 7 would be Mario 2, Zelda 1-2, Gradius, Startropics, Castlevania, and Final Fantasy.
Super Mario 3, Mega Man 2 and Super C for me. A lot of my NES favorites didn't make the cut for the NES Classic.
Kirby's Adventure is the best game on this compilation. Only NES game I would consider better is Castlevania 3 but sadly it's not here.
A great console, thanks Nintendo!!!!!
Didn't the PAL NES have some weird licensing thing where it was released in most EU countries by Mattel (causing the PAL region lock to be split in two regions: PAL-A and PAL-B)?
Shame on anyone who didn't have SMB3 as one of their 3 😊
I have too many to just choose a paltry 3.
Super Mario Bros. Trilogy
Mega Man 2
Both Zeldas
Kid Icarus
Kirby's Adventure
Castlevania 2
Dr. Mario
Metroid
Punch Out
StarTropics
Super Mario Bros 3
Megaman 2
Donkey Kong
Haven't played a lot of NES games, long before my time. But Contra, Kid Icarus and Mario Bros. are my favourites from what I've played.
@rjejr "So tell me, why does almost no one in the comments say LoZ but it's near the top in the poll?"
That could be because not everybody voting feels the need to comment, or it's the NLife crew and their EG buddies voting and not commenting...
Picking 3, it's Mario 3, Mega Man 2 and the Kirbs. Zelda 1 would be in there if I picked 5. Tecmo Bowl didn't hit its stride until the SNES, now that's a game I would love for VC.
Look at how wide spread the votes are. That's because with Nintendo's Entertainment System, you're playing with Power!
Now that's rad.
Final Fantasy, Mario 3, and Zelda 1. I feel bad leaving out Mega Man 2 and Kirby's Adventure, though.
I guess with 3% vote there are more fans of zelda 2 than I thought, I love that game and probably am still more likely to go back to it than the original zelda not sure why just like it a little bit better . Also voted for Final Fantasy & Castlevania 2 i'm all about those off kilter sequels, and kneeling down at random walls waiting for tornadoes.
Anyone else give some love to Kid Icarus?
What a great little machine this looks to be!
Hoping it gets a new audience interested in those amazing classics.
It's got to be SMB3, Castlevania and Mega Man 2.
@Captain_Gonru Pac-Man was awful indeed bit I'm not so sure if it was worse then ET. I'm also not willing to find out either lol.
I found Super Mario 3 NES version to be a hard game and IMP it's harder than Mario World. I voted for Super Mario it was one of the first games I ever saw on the NES and Duck Hunt.
I think I own everyone of these on VC. I think Final Fantasy is my favorite, only because a can beat the legend of zelda with my eyes closed. I have seriously played out most of these games already.
I cannot stand Double Dragon 2. It is the worst game ever. It belongs in a land fill.
I cannot stand Star Tropics. The controls are horrible and it is overrated.
Ice Climber, DK, and DKJ are worthless. Age has not been kind.
I wish they would come out with a Hidden Gems NES Mini.
Battle of Olympus
Faxanadu
Crystalis
Blaster Master
Karnov
Batman (Sunsoft)
LOLO 1
LOLO 2
LOLO 3
Wizard and Warrior 1
Wizard and Warrior 2
Wizard and Warrior 3
Ultima: Exodus
Ultima: Quest of the Avatar
Pro-Wrestling
Rygar
Chip N Dales
Willow
Skate or Die
Fire and Ice
Track and Field
Maniac Mansion
Legacy of the Wizard
Clash at Demonhead
Goonies 2
Stinger
The Guardian Legend
Bomberman
Faria
RC Pro Am
LOL Ice Climber
Seriously, that game is... not good at all.
@JJtheTexan
I disagree, I like "Ice Climber" personally. I honestly would love a remake/sequel. Like "Pac-Man Arrangement."
Also, I wish I read that part that you could vote for 3 games instead of one...
"In any case, we hope it's a bit of fun picking just three games from a list of 30. Tough choices ahead."
Not really, as I've never owned a NES, so I haven't played many of those games. I think I've only played around 10 of them. Furthermore, my favourite games on that list are already well cemented in my mind.
3) Kirby's Adventure.
2) Final Fantasy.
1) Balloon Fight.
I'm a huge Kirby fan, I love turn based RPGs, and Balloon Fight is easily one of my favourite video games of all time simply because of how much fun and addictive I find it.
This is too hard!! SMB3 is my sure choice. But any of Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, MegaMan 2, Kirby and SMB could be the other two. Looking forward to both play and let my kids experience the mini NES
@River3636 Nice list! Crystalis is one that seems to always be off people's radar but was a great game.
@rjejr So, is Nintendo going to wait to announce NX so long that it can't include promotional materials in the box with the Mini NES? That would be a shame, in my opinion.
I think you need to find of way of displaying the poll results in order. It's really hard to see what's going on the way it is.
1. Zelda II The Adventures of Link
2. Castlevania II Simon's Quest
3. Double Dragon II
@Beau_Skunk eh, it has its fans! The jump physics / controls frustrate me.
@JJtheTexan
They take some getting used too. Much like how some didn't like "Zelda 2," because they couldn't get the hang of the simple Punch-out/Urban Champion-style of blocking & attacking. Once you get the hang of it, the games become much easier.
I also like how "Ice Climber" allows you to chose any of the 32 levels (beaten 'em all) so you can always continue from the last level you were on, or try a new one. Not many early NES games had that opinion.
@aaronsullivan ooh, good question. I like good questions, makes me think.
I'm going to say no NX material in the NES Mini whether NX is revealed or not, but that's just my gut, not my brain.
It's been 3 years since I bought my Wii U and 4 years since we bought three 3DS, has there been any recent cross-over promotional materials in those 2?
I will say this, Ntinedo went out of it's way to hide Wii U at the Play Ntinedo tour, it's not even in the little activity booklet they gave out, they went out of their way to have only 3DS games in it, even though some of those franchises are on Wii U - DKC Returns, Yoshi Island, Zelda OoT, AC NL, Kirby Roboton. So, there won't be any mention of Wii U in the NES Mini. (I knew I had a point in there somewhere.)
Apologies in advance, this vid isn't very good, I didn't make it, GoOgle found it, but it shows the book. Most interesting part, centerfold at 1:20. 3DS games and New 3DS XL and 2DS. Headlines on the page:
GREAT GAMES ON THE GO
GAME ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
Add those to the the cover new motto:
THERE'S NO PLAY LIKE IT
And even if there is a seprate NX Home console, it will be les promoted than the obvious to come 3DS follow up handheld.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V62F_Pq2iHs
But I still don't think any mention of NX in the NES Mini box. Nintendo is probably afraid that would confuse people as the NES Mini is self contained, they dont' want people to think it plays NX games.
@rjejr
My thought is that if they are going for big numbers with Mini NES there would be thousands of flyers spoiling the announcement sitting in storage warehouses even now maybe.
It's just there's no internet connection or anything. I guess my thought is it's a nice crowd for conversion. Nintendo will just have to find other ways to reach them.
Call the NX XNES or something ... well that sounds stupid now that I read it and given that XBox exists. It's late but maybe you get my gist.
This gives me a chance to play LoZ2. Never played it before.
Its been on the Virtual Console for nearly the past ten years so its not like you didn't have the opportunity or it was too expensive.
@aaronsullivan Crystalis is so good an under appreciated. I think it's because it is not overexposed. I do love and cherish most of the games on the Nes mini, but they're too overdone.
@aaronsullivan "given that XBox exists"
I've considered the "X" in the name a lot. Also taking into account Windows 10/X. I think MS's next console will be XboxX, b/c after Xbox, Xbox360 and Xbox One they can't really name it anything else. Xbox Four? Only if it's a holographic golf simulator.
My best guess is N stands for Ntinedo, which does get back to your NES naming convention, those new red Nintnedo signs hanging up in Target started me down that path. The X probably stood for cross platform back when all of this IOS systems as brothers stuff started. Of course, I also thought the U in Wii U stood for Ubisoft, what with Zombi U and "exclusive" Rayman game. But that didn't turn out too well.
So "N" is easy, Nintendo - nobody called it "Nintendo Wii", just "Wii Sports", which is why Wii conquered the world while Nintendo faded from memory. X is hard. It's probably cross-platofrm, but they can't use it in the name due to Xbox. And unfortunately my other idea ran into a similar roadblock. "There's no PLAY like it" and "PLAY Nintendo" are popular right now, but Sony kind of owns play in 5 generations of Playstation (counting PS Portable). So "Nintendo PLAY" isn't going to work. "Nintendo Anywhere" is bad even from the people who brought us "Wii U". And if it's Nintendo Home and Nintendo Away I'm asking for royalties.
Which of course brings us back to square 1, is it 1 console we have to name, 2, 3. Home and handheld or hybrid. I can easily see "Nintendo Console Home" and "Nintendo Console Away", "Console" being a placeholder, it it's either 2 devices or 1 being sold bundled 2 ways. Wii U had "Deluxe" bundle, 3DS has XL and 2DS, Nintendo isn't afraid of multiple names.
Sure wish we knew what it was so we could get on with our lives. Or at least discuss it w/o going over all the different possibilities, I'd rather discuss games and price, what's right whats wrong. So my life will still be wasted, but more focused in doing so.
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