The Best Nintendo Games

The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda kicked off a franchise that has been running since 1986. This game brought action-adventure to the home console in a way that really had not been done before.
With a 3/4 overhead view and utilizing many tools and weapons The Legend of Zelda set itself apart from adventure games of the time and springboarded itself into game history.
Something very unique about this game was it's 2nd Quest. After beating the game one time you could play it again with all the levels in completely different places, tougher enemies, and features not in the first run though, such as being able to walk through walls in dungeons.
It became one of Nintendo's flagship games to this day.

Ninja Gaiden

Ninja Gaiden lands in the "classically hard" category. This game is unforgiving and at times can seem unbeatable.
It follows Ryu Hayabusa who is trying to avenge his father's death. He finds out it goes a lot deeper than what he originally thought. The game approaches the story in Acts, as if you were watching a movie. It's got one of the more interesting storylines compared to the more unbelievable story of Ninja Gaiden 2.
The game rewards learned play as all the enemies appear exactly in the same place every time. It's almost a dance to learn to get through unscathed in some levels. Scaling walls also is a skill to be learned.
This is the game that started it all. There's a reason why it was brought back from obscurity as you'll tell when you play it.

Super Mario Brothers

While this wasn't the first plumber brother game it is definitely the most influential. The original game can be found in a mini-game on Super Mario Brothers 3.
At this moment you can search YouTube and other video websites and watch people compete with this game and play to beat it in record time. The game used a sub-level system(1-1, 1-2, etc.) that isn't used today but was utilized a fair amount in games of the time.
A straight forward side scrolling adventure game Mario is out to save the princess from the evil Bowser. A true classic that still gets played today despite how far we've come in video game technology.

Double Dragon

"Double Dragon is the story of Billy and Jimmy Lee, twin brothers who learned to fight the cold, tough streets of their city. Their expert knowledge of the martial arts, combined with their street-smarts, has made them both formidable fighting machines.
But now Billy is faced with his greatest challenge: his girlfriend, Marian, has been kidnapped by the Black Warriors, the savage street gang of the mysterious Shadow Boss! Using whatever weapons come to hand: knives, whips, bats, rocks, oil drums, even dynamite. Billy must pursue the gang through the slums, factories, and wooded outskirts of the city to reach the hideout for his final confrontation with the Shadow Boss... his brother Jimmy!"
--From the NES Double Dragon instruction manual.
The NES version of this arcade classic game added in a two player versus feature virtually unheard of at the time. You would play the same character versus the same character like Roper or Linda against each other.
This game also had a simple experienced based system that let you earn better attacks. Once you got 1000 points you gained a heart which represented a new move you could perform. This went to a max of 7 hearts where you gain a jump spin kick.
This game also featured a high level boss named Willy who used a machine gun that you fought after surviving a gauntlet of enemies. Jimmy Lee, the game's actual boss followed, after a marathon of fighting.
The theme song to Double Dragon is very recognizable and even shows up in another classic game River City Ransom. While the music does not try to distract from the game it is interesting and catchy enough to be worth noting as a soundtrack as a whole.

Mega Man

The classic tale about a little blue robot taking on a mad scientist and his robotic creations.
Mega Man spawned its own franchise that has been going to this day. The original game debut a unique ability to chose which level and boss you wanted to fight first and in which order. After beating one of the bosses you got to use their weapons as part of your arsenal.
Each robot had a weakness to another robot making it possible to find an optimal way through the game where you had the least trouble with the bosses. The first Mega Man game used a Point system that was dropped in later versions. It also only featured 6 boss characters to later games using 8.
Another unique feature of this game was when you thought you had finally made it Dr. Wily's door, the evil scientist you're trying to take down, the game makes you fight all of the original bosses again.
The many routes to reach the last levels and variety of bosses to fight give this game, and entire series, a high replay factor

Contra

Contra is about marines stopping an alien invasion in the Galuga archipelago that call themselves "Red Falcon".
The game boasted several types of guns and different approaches to levels that weren't really explored in action games. The Waterfall level scrolled upward and every other level or so you had a 3D type of level where you ran forward down a passage taking out rooms of enemies.
It allowed for two-player cooperative play bringing in interesting elements of teamwork to the game. Contrais also singularly responsible for the famous Konami code that is mentioned and surely used in some form to this day. In this game it would give both characters 30 lives, plenty to beat the game in one go.

Castlevania

Simon Belmont, vampire slayer, is off to kill Dracula. Doesn't get more simple than that.
Castlevania is a classic game for reasons that don't seem to be based on breaking new ground at first. This game was able to capture the imaginations of millions of gamers everywhere who even thought for a minute of being a vampire slayer.
It had unique enemies, cool bosses, and while fairly straight forward isn't a game you'll forget. The music to this first, original game has been redone and remixed time and time again in later games. While game music is another topic this game was able to create multiple memorable sounds people know to this day.

Metroid

Samus Aran is out to destroy Mother Brain.
Metroid set some new ground in how worlds could be created in a side scrolling game without definitive levels. It had two bosses, Ridley and Kraid, that resided in the game's two other areas, as levels were not purely defined in the game.
Metroid also let you gain energy packs to restore lost life and a gradually improving arsenal of firearms and abilities including missiles and an ice ray. The ability probably most well known to this game is rolling into a ball.
The game only really had one code where you could play as Samus Aran without her space suit on. This was alternatively possible if you beat the game in less than an hour.

Battletoads

Zitz, Pimple, and Rash are trying to take down that dominatrix looking babe and... was there a plot to this game?
If there was or wasn't it didn't really matter since the game was too fun to put down. This game also lands in the "classically hard" category due to its unforgiving nature and the sheer length of the game with few chances to keep playing.
Battletoads has an interesting two player mode where you could hit your friend. This created a new element to teamwork where you had to find a clear shot at an enemy and clobber him without killing your teammate, who somehow managed to find his way into your line of fire.
This game's most notable levels are probably the Turbo Tunnel of level 3 or the Snake pit of level 6.

Final Fantasy

Here we are, over ten years later, and this series never seems to be 'Final'.
The original game worked in a much simplistic state compared to the game franchise today. It still boasted over 250 different types of monsters and a plethora of weapons and armor as well as spells. Mid way through the game your characters were upgraded to better and more powerful versions as well.
The experience system in Final Fantasyis famous enough to be taken for granted nowadays, but then it was something new. Ever lovers of continuity and nostalgia characters from past games show up in new ones, including Cid and even this game's first boss, Garland, making another appearance in a later game.

Mike Tyson's Punch Out

A famous man once said, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man."
Mike Tyson is the man. You're Little Mac. Going through several circuits and working your way through the ranks you have to earn the right to fight Tyson.
I'd venture to say this game made boxing games interesting. The opponent's were memorable with names such as Soda Popinski, Don Flamingo, Glass Joe and Mr. Sandman. The game had a built-in password system at each circuit you completed and a high replay factor.
At the end, for the first minute of the first round, any uppercut that hit you from Iron Mike would send you to the ground. He was tough at first, but once his super uppercuts were gone was beatable.
This game also went through a name change due to Mike Tyson's court case at the time to Buster Douglas' Punch Out.

Some Games You May Have Forgotten

Or may not be aware of

Here are some more games that defined a golden age of console gaming. You may find some of these games innovated ideas and approaches that have never been done before or used since.

River City Ransom

This is a game that was well beyond its time and nothing quite like it has come out since.
Alex's and Ryan's girlfriends have been kidnapped and held hostage at River City High. They're taking it to the streets beating up street gangs on their way to work through the gang hierarchy to save their girlfriends from Simon, the mastermind of it all.
River City Ransom combined an RPG with a Fighting Game. In shops of River City you could stop at shops to buy some food to raise your character's stats. You could also gain unique skills such as Acro Circus, Stone Hands, and Grand Slam by reading books you bought from certain shops. This is probably the first game to have a password feature on a fighting game as well(and it was a complicated password).
It is a side scrolling game where you can go backwards and forwards anywhere in town open to you. On your way you run into gangs with interesting names such as The Frat Boys, The Mob, The Cowboys, and The Internationals. Whenever you beat one a comment bar would come on the bottom of the screen if they said something by their name. They would then drop a coin you could collect to level your character up by saving it to buy food and books in shops. All gangs had about 8 unique members and left a predetermined amount of money behind. Weapons scattered the town such as rocks, tires, crates, and lead pipes. The game's bosses even had interesting names like Rocko, Mojo, and Thor.
This is one type of game I, personally, would love to see redone, or perhaps tried to use and improve on the system the game had.

Blaster Master

A tale everyone is sure to know. Boy has pet frog. Pet frog escapes into a hole in the yard and mutates into 100 times it actual size and gets lost. Boy finds tank underground. Boy sets off to rescue frog.
While the plot is what we love about video game logic the game shines in it's approach to how it is structured, designed, and beaten.
Part of the game is a side scrolling adventure where you're in a tank that fires shots at enemies. You can exit this tank and fire a smaller, less powerful gun as a guy in a suit. The other part of this game uses the 3/4 overhead view where you explore passages and where the game's bosses reside. In both states you can get improved firepower. As a human walking through the rooms you have grenades and a gradually improving gun. Your vehicle would get improved abilities as well, including the ability to fly or hover for brief periods of time, ride up walls, and on ceilings.
Blaster Master was a side scrolling game that allowed you to go forward and backward as well, when most games let you only move to the right. This freedom was not without purpose however, as the level order was not linear. After beating level 3 to get to level 4 you had to go back to level 1. At this point your vehicle has the ability to hover and can now reach the entrance to level 4. There were two more entrances to other levels out of linear order. This did a great job of creating a "world" you could go anywhere in.
Blaster Masteris probably most famous for it's bosses. The giant crab bosses of the game, as pictured, while not extremely hard to beat are memorable. This game had a pause glitch that also only worked on these and other certain bosses. You could hit one with a grenade then pause the game as it got hit. The game would keep registering the hit if you timed it correctly. When you unpaused the boss would be dead.

Air Fortress

On the surface this game was a simple shoot 'em up then bomb and destroy game. What made this game unique was what happened after you destroyed the enemy base.
Air Fortress levels were designed in two parts. The first was you in your ship fighting your way to the base. The second was you actually inside the base looking for its core so you could destroy it. The game would have been forgettable and bland if that were all there was to it.
Air Fortress has a unique addition of having a time limit to escape the base before it exploded from you destroying it's core. You had to get in and get out. The game added in elements of differing gravity as well as you own shots shooting you backward. Some doors and entrances you went through also may not be opened on your way out as well.
Obviously, as you progressed toward level 8, the levels got larger and the time limit got shorter. Air Fortressgot your adrenaline going with the stress and excitement of escape.

The Best Nintendo Games Ever

The classic Nintendo had many innovative and classic games. These are the games you should own if you're a game collector and interested in the classic Nintendo Entertainment System.
I think it's important to know where we've come from. Video games are no exception. Each of these games brought something unique to an industry still in its infancy. I think game developers finding this page can take something out of it as well. That you're never done experimenting, finding out what works, and to dare to try something new.
This is an attempt to recognize those not afraid to break new ground in video games, as well as show why some game series are still alive today.
Important things for games to be, especially during this time, was fun, innovative, have a high replay factor, and be unique.
We'll start by knocking out a handful of classic games everybody should know.