Robbie's List of Five NES Games
As you can probably tell from the pussy-footing title, this isn't exactly a strong, critically-vetted nor deep list. I went through a few titles. "Best NES games" felt wrong, but so did "Games I had the most memory of". Lots of these are not, in-fact, games from my childhood. Well, three out of five are, but that's not the point. This is a knee-jerk, subjective list I will probably disagree with in a week, but that's just the way I am. So here is a list, that means nothing, of five NES games.
In ascending order.
Yes.
5. Super Mario Bros.
This is the only Mario game on this list.
Yes, I know, you loved Super Mario Bros 3, and it changed your life and gave you endless orgasms, but Super Mario Bros. 1 wins by sheer memories. Maybe it's that it shared a cart with Duck Hunt, another favourite which isn't on this list. Maybe it's that I never owned SMB3 and was jealous of those who did. I recently got SMB3, and my first reaction was "Super Mario World is way fucking better!", but sober second-thought has made me realise that Super Mario Bros 3 IS a great game. But only in context. Super Mario Advance 2 for the win! But anyway...
Super Mario Bros. is an amazing game. It practically created the platform game as we know it today, but, as a child playing it, I found it full of mystery. Hell, how often can one say one of the most strictly linear games is full of mystery. The bricks that look like all the others, but contain stars. The bricks that contain lots of coins. The bricks that are invisible and contain one-ups (oh, one-up on World 1-1...how I always collect you, and how I totally waste you). The warp zones. The fact I sucked at it. MYSTERIES!
In the end, Super Mario Bros. ended video gaming for me the moment it began. Because I was terrible at it and I lacked the patience to get good at it. It and Legend of Zelda (another game not on this list) possibly did more to simultaneously turn me on AND off from gaming. Confusing? Well, so is the World 4-4/7-4/8-4 mazes.
4. Iron Tank
"The Date: June 5, 1944. The United Forces are preparing for their final assault on the Normany Coast. The Mission: Establish a beachhead, break through the front lines, and infiltrate and destroy the enemy headquarters.
To spearhead the invasion, they have chosen Paul, from Command Unit 88 - a secret unit known as 'Iron Snake.' An experienced combat vetran with special forces training, Paul has been called a Man of Iron.
But to succeed in his mission, Paul will need the full firepower of the United Forces' mightiest fighting juggernaut: the Iron Tank!"
For a NES manual story, that's understated. Also: WHAT THE FUCK? They explain all the power up effects in the manual. Well...damn. All this time I've been working out what different shots do and what combinations to do when on my own power.
Anyway, Iron Tank. You drive around in a tank shooting stuff. OR RUNNING OVER NAZIS! But you also need to control where you point the gun with the NES controller. And choose from either four different types of ammo, which you can combine into, like, sixteen different shot types, or pick the enemy's secret ammo, which is labelled with a "?" so you KNOW it's weird! OR YOU COULD RUN OVER NAZIS!
In the end, this is an under-appreciated game (I define "under-appreciated" in that I barely hear anyone but me mention it when discussing the NES) from SNK that still holds up these days. Oh, and the soundtrack is fantastic. AND SO IS RUNNING OVER NAZIS!
3. Blades of Steel
*TING!*
BLADES...OF STEEL!
MAKES THE PASS!
So anyway, I hate hockey. Well, perhaps not hate. Don't like, nor enjoy it. Whenever I watch it, I don't get it. I'm not a fan of most sports, but I can get enjoyment out of watching Baseball or Soccer, or even stuff like Curling. Hockey...yeah no. Give me the beer and leave me alone. But Blades of Steel, from my admittedly very brief experiences with it, might just be my favourite sports game of all time. And I'm not sure why.
Every retrospective of it mentions the fighting. I must admit it IS entertaining when the game zooms down to fighting perspective and turns into a game where you need to fight to keep your player in the game (winner stays on, loser goes off until an annoying cell-phone like whistle goes off), but that's not why the game is so excellent. The game is excellent, because it manages to distill all one needs to know about the sport down to the NES controller. A d-pad and two buttons is all one needs. Hell, you only use one of the buttons when on defense.
But let's not forget the small touches. The electronic vocalizations now come off as cheesy, but charming, when they're not grating. But other things, such as the little animations (including ads for other Konami games, or a polar bear making a shot on goal or...well...nothing else) and the black and white photo of the winning team celebrating just warms my cockles.
2. Top Gun: The Second Mission
Yeah, I know that the Angry Video Game Nerd tore into it (well, mostly Top Gun 1), but Top Gun the Second Mission, despite it's difficulty (even going back now) was important for one very important reason. It introduced me to player versus player gameplay.
Picking 2P versus sent you and your closest enemy into a world of sweaty-controllered agony as you tried to out-fly each other and win bragging rights. This game introduced me the CONCEPT of bragging rights. This was all complicated by the fact that no one I played with had any idea of how to fire the missiles (for those still lost: double-press B while locked on). Good times.
The rest of the game, as mentioned is hard as hell. I almost beat 1P vs Game, the duel mode with the AI, but, replaying, I realise I did this by blasting the enemy to hell within two seconds of the duel starting, and then landing properly. Whoop-dee-do. So it's a hard game. What do you expect when the cover looks like this?
1. Contra
Contra is the quintessential video game.
It's a shmup. A shmup is a shoot 'em up, usually, but not ALWAYS, set in a space-shape or airplane, where you fly around, shooting multiple enemies, most of which die in one shot, except for bosses, and you often die in one shot. Pick up powerups.
Add-in being a dude with a gun who kills things (reminiscent to first-person-shooters, another very popular video game mode), who is killing aliens to save the world in a flimsy plot. Then add in a two player co-op mode. Then add NINTENDO HARDNESS that requies a cheat code (used to be something that was solely from the video game medium...then came the Matrix....) that's often consided to be "THE Cheat Code" of gaming.
Then add one of the best soundtracks of the eight-bit era. And controls that are still among the best. And all of this from one of the best video game companies around (Konami...they made three of the five games on this very list). It STILL stands out as a very playable video game. Deserves to be considered among the best.
***
So that's the list. Opinions? Voice them! Suggestions? I'm in an NES game-buying mood, and would love to try new things. If you're into a position to lend me games, even better, but NES games usually don't involve breaking the bank (oh, Tengen Tetris looks so good...but alas I have Nintendo Tetris, which almost ended up on this list as well....). Complaints? Shove them up your Energy Zone.
In ascending order.
Yes.
5. Super Mario Bros.
Click to viewThis is the only Mario game on this list.
Yes, I know, you loved Super Mario Bros 3, and it changed your life and gave you endless orgasms, but Super Mario Bros. 1 wins by sheer memories. Maybe it's that it shared a cart with Duck Hunt, another favourite which isn't on this list. Maybe it's that I never owned SMB3 and was jealous of those who did. I recently got SMB3, and my first reaction was "Super Mario World is way fucking better!", but sober second-thought has made me realise that Super Mario Bros 3 IS a great game. But only in context. Super Mario Advance 2 for the win! But anyway...
Super Mario Bros. is an amazing game. It practically created the platform game as we know it today, but, as a child playing it, I found it full of mystery. Hell, how often can one say one of the most strictly linear games is full of mystery. The bricks that look like all the others, but contain stars. The bricks that contain lots of coins. The bricks that are invisible and contain one-ups (oh, one-up on World 1-1...how I always collect you, and how I totally waste you). The warp zones. The fact I sucked at it. MYSTERIES!
In the end, Super Mario Bros. ended video gaming for me the moment it began. Because I was terrible at it and I lacked the patience to get good at it. It and Legend of Zelda (another game not on this list) possibly did more to simultaneously turn me on AND off from gaming. Confusing? Well, so is the World 4-4/7-4/8-4 mazes.
4. Iron Tank
"The Date: June 5, 1944. The United Forces are preparing for their final assault on the Normany Coast. The Mission: Establish a beachhead, break through the front lines, and infiltrate and destroy the enemy headquarters.
To spearhead the invasion, they have chosen Paul, from Command Unit 88 - a secret unit known as 'Iron Snake.' An experienced combat vetran with special forces training, Paul has been called a Man of Iron.
But to succeed in his mission, Paul will need the full firepower of the United Forces' mightiest fighting juggernaut: the Iron Tank!"
For a NES manual story, that's understated. Also: WHAT THE FUCK? They explain all the power up effects in the manual. Well...damn. All this time I've been working out what different shots do and what combinations to do when on my own power.
Anyway, Iron Tank. You drive around in a tank shooting stuff. OR RUNNING OVER NAZIS! But you also need to control where you point the gun with the NES controller. And choose from either four different types of ammo, which you can combine into, like, sixteen different shot types, or pick the enemy's secret ammo, which is labelled with a "?" so you KNOW it's weird! OR YOU COULD RUN OVER NAZIS!
In the end, this is an under-appreciated game (I define "under-appreciated" in that I barely hear anyone but me mention it when discussing the NES) from SNK that still holds up these days. Oh, and the soundtrack is fantastic. AND SO IS RUNNING OVER NAZIS!
3. Blades of Steel
*TING!*
BLADES...OF STEEL!
MAKES THE PASS!
So anyway, I hate hockey. Well, perhaps not hate. Don't like, nor enjoy it. Whenever I watch it, I don't get it. I'm not a fan of most sports, but I can get enjoyment out of watching Baseball or Soccer, or even stuff like Curling. Hockey...yeah no. Give me the beer and leave me alone. But Blades of Steel, from my admittedly very brief experiences with it, might just be my favourite sports game of all time. And I'm not sure why.
Every retrospective of it mentions the fighting. I must admit it IS entertaining when the game zooms down to fighting perspective and turns into a game where you need to fight to keep your player in the game (winner stays on, loser goes off until an annoying cell-phone like whistle goes off), but that's not why the game is so excellent. The game is excellent, because it manages to distill all one needs to know about the sport down to the NES controller. A d-pad and two buttons is all one needs. Hell, you only use one of the buttons when on defense.
But let's not forget the small touches. The electronic vocalizations now come off as cheesy, but charming, when they're not grating. But other things, such as the little animations (including ads for other Konami games, or a polar bear making a shot on goal or...well...nothing else) and the black and white photo of the winning team celebrating just warms my cockles.
2. Top Gun: The Second Mission
Yeah, I know that the Angry Video Game Nerd tore into it (well, mostly Top Gun 1), but Top Gun the Second Mission, despite it's difficulty (even going back now) was important for one very important reason. It introduced me to player versus player gameplay.
Picking 2P versus sent you and your closest enemy into a world of sweaty-controllered agony as you tried to out-fly each other and win bragging rights. This game introduced me the CONCEPT of bragging rights. This was all complicated by the fact that no one I played with had any idea of how to fire the missiles (for those still lost: double-press B while locked on). Good times.
The rest of the game, as mentioned is hard as hell. I almost beat 1P vs Game, the duel mode with the AI, but, replaying, I realise I did this by blasting the enemy to hell within two seconds of the duel starting, and then landing properly. Whoop-dee-do. So it's a hard game. What do you expect when the cover looks like this?
1. Contra
Contra is the quintessential video game.
It's a shmup. A shmup is a shoot 'em up, usually, but not ALWAYS, set in a space-shape or airplane, where you fly around, shooting multiple enemies, most of which die in one shot, except for bosses, and you often die in one shot. Pick up powerups.
Add-in being a dude with a gun who kills things (reminiscent to first-person-shooters, another very popular video game mode), who is killing aliens to save the world in a flimsy plot. Then add in a two player co-op mode. Then add NINTENDO HARDNESS that requies a cheat code (used to be something that was solely from the video game medium...then came the Matrix....) that's often consided to be "THE Cheat Code" of gaming.
Then add one of the best soundtracks of the eight-bit era. And controls that are still among the best. And all of this from one of the best video game companies around (Konami...they made three of the five games on this very list). It STILL stands out as a very playable video game. Deserves to be considered among the best.
***
So that's the list. Opinions? Voice them! Suggestions? I'm in an NES game-buying mood, and would love to try new things. If you're into a position to lend me games, even better, but NES games usually don't involve breaking the bank (oh, Tengen Tetris looks so good...but alas I have Nintendo Tetris, which almost ended up on this list as well....). Complaints? Shove them up your Energy Zone.