Overview
- Known As
- NES
- Company
- Nintendo
- Launched
- 18th Oct 1985
- Type
- Console
- Wikipedia
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainme...
Latest Reviews of NES Games
Review Devil World - A North American Debut For Nintendo's Curious Pac-Man 'Clone'
Heaven a good time
This review was originally published in November 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library — and its official debut in North America nearly 40 years after its Japanese launch on Famicom. As far as obscure releases within the NES library go, Devil World is...
Review The Mysterious Murasame Castle - The Legend Of Zelda's Action-Focused Sibling
The mystery is why this took so long to be released outside Japan
This review was originally published in June 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library. Although not originally released outside Japan, chances are that longtime Nintendo fans in the West have noticed nostalgic...
Review EarthBound Beginnings - A Charming Curio That Mother Fans Will Cherish
Everybody's gotta start somewhere
This review originally went live in 2015, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of EarthBound Beginnings in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library. If you were an early adopter of EarthBound fanaticism in the West, you likely caught wind of a previous title made for the Famicom. Translated...
Review Blazing Rangers (NES) - A New NES Game In 2021? Youbetcha, And It's A Good 'Un
Toasty!
Gaming is not short of NES-like experiences these days; titles filled with 8-bit-style blocky pixels, beepy music, and some controllable character for you to take from the left side of the screen to the right. These games tend to chase the past from a comfortable distance, the harsh technical restrictions of almost 40 years ago something to...
Mini Review Fire 'N Ice (NES) - A Fine Puzzler That's Worthy Of Rediscovery On Switch
I've got the (Solomon's) key, I've got the secret
Sokoban, initially released in 1982 for Japanese home computers, is the first “block-pushing” puzzle game that challenged players to move around boxes to accomplish some kind of goal. Of the numerous similar games it inspired, one of the most popular was Tecmo’s Solomon’s Key, released for...
Review Flying Warriors (Wii U eShop / NES)
"I won’t stop at this"
Culture Brain USA's NES title, Flying Warriors, draws its inspiration from the previous North American release in the Hiryū no Ken series which debuted in 1988, Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll. Starring a Shorinji Kempo warrior named Rick Stalker, the story basically mirrors the tale of the original NES entry, with the...
Popular NES Games
Latest NES News
Feature Box Art Brawl - Duel: Dragon Quest II (NES)
The quest continues
Strap in, because it's time for another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, we put the GameCube curio Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest into the ring, with a 1v1 match-up between North America and Japan. While the latter put up a pretty good fight, it was NA that walked away with 63% of the vote and the win. This week, as the...
Anniversary Castlevania Changed The Shape Of Gaming 40 Years Ago
What is a man?!
Gaming franchises really don't get much more iconic than Castlevania. First launched as Akumajō Dracula for the humble NES on 26th September 1986, the series has now turned 40 years old. And despite a few ups and downs (it really felt like it was dead and buried for a while there, huh?), it seems Konami is once again determined to...
News Nintendo Store Adds Some New Exclusives For Switch Online Members (North America)
A Zelda metal desktop display and Virtual Boy glasses case
The Nintendo Store has been updated this week in North America with some new "exclusives". These can be purchased with Platinum Points and are available to Switch Online members. First up, we have a desktop metal display of Zelda's original NES release. It's priced at 1,000 Platinum Points...
Guide Every Nintendo Switch Online NES Game Ranked
Magic 8-bit
Updated with Ninja Gaiden III, R.C. Pro-AM II, and Ikari Warriors from the September 2026 update. Enjoy! The collection of NES games available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers continues to grow, with the number of 'Nintendo Classics' from the original Nin
News Nintendo Expands Switch Online's NES Library With Three More Titles
Japan's Famicom library also got an update
Switch Online's NES Classics library has today added three more titles as part of the September 2026 games update. This latest batch of titles includes Tecmo's 1991 platformer Ninja Gaiden III, Rare's 1992 racing game R.C. Pro-AM II and the 1986 SNK run and gun, Ikari Warriors. Here is the official...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Metroid 40th Anniversary Special
The mainline entries do battle
Hello everyone, and welcome to a very special edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we get cracking, let's see how things went down last time. We looked at Donkey Kong Jungle Beat for the GameCube, throwing North America, Europe, and Japan into the ring to do battle. Admittedly, all of the designs were a little similar to...
News Nintendo Legend Takashi Tezuka Is Retiring From His Role In June
Update: He will continue on as a Production Producer
[Fri 8th May, 2026 08:16 BST]: Nintendo has announced that legendary developer Takashi Tezuka will be retiring from his role as Executive Officer. Tezuka-san is one of the most significant figures in Nintendo history, having served as a designer on the original Super Mario Bros., director on...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Yoshi (NES)
Eggcelent choice
Mlem. Howdy partners! Hop on board your nearest dinosaur, because it's time to set off on another edition of Box Art Brawl. Last time, we went virtual, as we took a look at Galactic Pinball for the Virtual Boy. There were just two options to choose between, and it wasn't even close. North America walked away with a staggering 71%...
News Yoshi NES & Game Boy Soundtracks Join Nintendo Music This Week
It's Yoshi time!
After a special Star Fox release last week, Nintendo Music is now celebrating Yoshi with the soundtracks from his NES and Game Boy puzzle titles. The Game Freak-developed title originally debuted in Japan in 1991, and followed with local releases in 1992. The composer of the soundtrack is Junichi Masuda, known for composing...
News Dragon Quest And Three Other Titles Inducted Into Video Game Hall Of Fame
Congratulations!
Every year The Strong National Museum of Play located in New York inducts new games into its Video Game Hall of Fame, and the inductees of 2026 have now been officially revealed. This year, there were a total of four games added to the ever-expanding list. This includes the mobile hit Angry Birds, the sports game FIFA International...
Talking Point Is Legend Of Zelda's Link Left Or Right-Handed? Let's Look At The Evidence
Rightward Sword or A Left to the Past?
The Zelda series has a passionate and devoted fanbase. Over the years, timelines have been debated, settled, shaken up, or outright ignored. Storylines have been contested, shredded apart, put on a pedestal. But nothing, not even recovering the Triforce, is more important than making sure Link is holding his...
News Nintendo Skips Over Some Heavy-Hitters In Its Super Mario 40th Anniversary Ad
Where is my Sunshine, my only Sunshine..? ♫
Nintendo has uploaded a new ad as part of its ongoing celebrations for Super Mario's 40 anniversary. Titled 'It's You, Mario', it highlights some of the plumber's iconic games, starting with the Famicom and Super Mario Bros. and ending with the Switch 2 and Super Mario Galaxy. It's a nice little look at...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Duel - Mendel Palace
Getting Game Freaky
We hope you're ready for another clash of covers, because it's time for this week's Box Art Brawl! Last time, thanks to a certain Super Mario Galaxy Movie appearance, we took a look at Star Fox: Assault for the GameCube. While the grey Japanese cover put up a good fight, it was the European and North American design that...
News Nintendo Expands Switch Online's NES Library With Three More Games
Play them right now
Nintendo has today added three more games to its Switch Online 'Nintendo Classics' subscription service. The latest releases are for the NES library and include Namco's Pac-Man from 1988, the 1989 puzzle title Mendel Palace (developed by the Pokémon team Game Freak and published by Namco in Japan), and Namco's 1984 action...
Feature Our Top Ten Favourite Easter Eggs In The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Spoilers a-plenty, obviously
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has a lot of easter eggs. Too many, in our opinion. In fact, we'd go so far as to say that the whole film is essentially propped up by constant hits of nostalgic dopamine. But that's not to say that the easter eggs themselves are bad – far from it. So, here we're going to go through ten of...
Anniversary The Legend Of Zelda Turns 40 Today - How Did You First Play It?
And we've never looked back
We all pulled a 'Wait, Mario is how old??' last year as the prized plumber and the NES celebrated their 40th anniversaries, and what do you know, we're about to do it all over again for little old Link. Yes, The Legend of Zelda is 40 years old today (in Japan, at least). On 21st February 1986, Nintendo introduced the...
News Limited Run Games Is Bringing NES 'Jaws' To Switch Later This Week
Update: Digital release is out on Friday
[Thu 11th Dec, 2025 12:00 GMT]: Limited Run Games has announced a very exciting enhanced version of 1987's NES "classic", Jaws - and they've got their signature offering of flashy physical editions ready to devour and everything. These new physical editions of the game come complete with the 8-bit original,...
News Industry Veteran Hideki Konno Has Apparently Left Nintendo After Four Decades
Thanks for everything, Konno-san
Following the news of Kensuke Tanabe's retirement earlier this week, it's now being reported game designer, director, producer, and Nintendo veteran Hideki Konno has also called time on his career at the Japanese firm. According to an update on his Facebook page, Konno seemingly left the company in July 2025, but...
ICYMI You Need To Check Out The Video Game History Foundation's "Untold Story Of The NES"
"15 years in the making!"
Hopefully, many of you are enjoying an end-of-year break over the holidays, but even if you're back at the coalface before the new year arrives, we recommend making time to check out this fascinating new overview documentary of the NES' US launch from Frank Cifaldi and the folks over at the Video Game History Foundation...
Poll Box Art Brawl - Ice Climber
'Tis the season
Ho, ho, ho, everyone! Welcome to a particularly festive edition of Box Art Brawl! Last week saw two covers for Mega Man 6 going head-to-head, and it was a little closer than we expected. The yellow Japanese variant (this writer's favourite) just clinched it, however, taking 54% of the vote and leaving the North American design with...
Related Hardware
List of hardware items (add-ons?)
Where To Buy
List of places to buy this system
About
The Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES, for short) is arguably one of the most popular consoles ever created. Released in Japan as the Famicom ('Family Computer'), Nintendo's 8-bit machine was re-styled for the West and went on to sell millions thanks to its stellar range of first class software.
First home to some of Nintendo's most respected franchises - including Super Mario, Metroid and Zelda - the NES was a triumph of gameplay over graphics. By the time the console was released in the US it was already outdated when compared to rival machines like Sega's Master System and NEC's PC Engine (TG-16), yet Nintendo's intimate knowledge of quality gaming helped it to effortlessly see off all challengers. As the '90s dawned the machine started to lose ground to the next generation of newer 16-bit consoles, but games like Super Mario Bros. 3 sold by the bucketloads and proved that the console still had something to offer in the face of technically superior rivals.
The 'toaster' design of the NES has since gone on to be one of the truly iconic images in the history of videogames and through the Virtual Console the legacy of this wonderful machine lives on.