T5W#221-Top 5 Favorite Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Games

With the release of the Sega Genesis Mini joining the ranks of the NES and SNES Mini and PS1 Classic consoles, we’re seeing a surprise resurgence in classic gaming from way before the 2000s.  These were the systems we grew up with and got us plenty prepared for the awesome era of gaming we live in today.  So for the month of November, I’m going back through the systems I used to play when I was growing up and even a couple of not so old systems too.  It’s going to be tough choosing 5 games from the decent sized libraries I had, but it’s doable.  Welcome to Top 5 Wednesday Retro Video Game Month.  Side note: for games to qualify, I have to have played them myself at one point or another…so some games many consider the greatest ever made (like every Zelda game and the occasional Mario game) wont be included unless I’ve played them.

Why don’t we start at the beginning?  Ah the beginning, when wee little Arschel was sitting in his Grandmothers house first learning the hobby that he’d still engage in today.  I had no idea just how far gaming would go post NES days but before then, the Nintendo Entertainment System offered a whole new world of wonder for me.  I haven’t thought about those days in a long time, so it put a smile on my face to put this first list together.  Here are my Top 5 Favorite Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Games.

#5-Ice Hockey

 Ok full disclosure: I’m not the biggest fan of sports.  That doesn’t stop me from enjoying the occasional sports game on a game system (this wont be the last one you see either).  Ice Hockey was basic but fast paced and a lot of fun.  The sound effects were neat and you also got to throwdown on the ice when things got really rough.  I cant remember how many games I won but I remember enjoying this basic but memorable first romp through digital sports gaming.

#4-Time Lord

No this isn’t a Doctor Who game.  In fact I wonder how many people have actually heard of or remember this one.  Time Lord focuses on the titular freedom fighter who must traverse the timeline to stop Aliens from mucking it up.  The far future, the Wild West, Medieval Times, this game took you all over the place in such a short amount of time and then some.  Plus, I love the soundtrack, especially the very beginning when you storm a facility to access a time machine, Terminator style.  It might not be the most remembered game on most NES lists but this was one of my first forays into scifi action adventure storytelling, it left a bit of an impact.

#3-Super Contra (aka Super C)

Oh God Contra.  Let me tell you there was no way for me to even begin to play this without and infinite life cheat code from a Game Genie.  But I got it and honestly, even without it, Contra (or Super C as I knew it) was a good intro to fun run and gun action fests.  Obviously modeled after the heyday of 80s action flicks, Contra is an incredibly basic game: if you see it, shoot it and try not to die and God help you if you do and you don’t have that Game Genie handy.

#2-Super Mario Bros

Not the very first game I ever played but definitely the first I played on the NES, Super Mario Bros was ahead of its time even after it came out ahead of its time in the mid 80s.  Simple and fun but challenging and rewarding, Mario and Luigi’s first adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom is the stuff legends are made of and it’s no wonder this game became the launch pad for one of the most successful video game franchises of all time.  The graphics, the levels, the music, the sound effects, this is Video Game History 101…so what could be better than this to take the #1 spot?  Only one game could.

#1-Super Mario Bros 3

As the NES neared its end, it went out with the biggest bang possible.  After we the Americans got the odd but likeable Super Mario Bros 2 (instead of Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels aka the Japanese Mario 2 cause it was difficult as hell), Super Mario Bros 3 took the game back to its roots and expanded beyond anything seen before on the system.  Bigger levels, new power ups, tougher bosses, if this was to be the grand finale of the original saga on the NES, Nintendo sent Mario out with all barrels blazing.  Of course, this wasn’t the end and the game itself was surpassed in all areas by the SNES launch title Super Mario World not long after.  Still, Mario 3 defines Mario for a lot of people even more than the original.  So yeah, I’ll let it have this top spot, no problem (GO TANOOKIE SUIT!!!!)