The NES was my family's first console, it is basically the reason I became so invested in this medium. I spent days playing all the great and terrible games that were made for it. My NES is till hooked up to my television and since then I have amassed quite a large collection of games for it, good and bad.
Easily my favorite racing game for the NES, my buddy and I would spend full afternoons trying to make it through the different RC circuits. I thought the upgrading and weapons set this game apart, I was more of a fan of top down racers on the NES in general.
The custom tracks you could make in this game really appealed to my younger self, I would spend hours creating ridiculous tracks. I only wish games had save functions back then so I could go back and take a look at what I created.
Fight! This was my go to sports game, especially for a hockey game. The fighting mini game was fun, and the animation leading into the fight was pretty hilarious. They would hook in and just start firing shots at each others faces until the mini game loaded. They also had a tournament mode which was perfect for sleep over parties.
It was a top down shooter, nothing to special in terms of mechanics but boy did I love the music. There is a little section at the end of the first level that reminds me of the Dire Straits song Sultans of Swing, it's pretty great.
The other sports game that I spent a lot of time with was R.B.I. Baseball. Its pretty straight forward baseball that was solidly executed for its time.
Yo. It's Tetris.
I have probably beat this game with the good ending over 10 times cooperatively. I think this was the first cooperative game I ever played and maybe that's why I got so much from it, I loved completing levels with a friend. Also it was forgiving due to its password system, you could always beat it by coming back to where you left off.
When I was little I was terrified of Gauntlet, so much so that my father ended up trading his copy away. When I got a little older and rediscovered the game and thought it was one of the best cooperative games on the NES. Now I just find it funny that the graphics and audio from this game were able to spook me that much.
Mighty Bomb Jack was a favorite of mine, my sister and I would spend hours playing this game. It might not be looked back on by the gaming community in a positive light but I certainly have a special place in my heart for it.
Galaga is one of my favorite arcade games, and is still one of the NES games I regularly play to this day.
I must admit I have never completed The Legend of Zelda, I was too young and impatient to make it through most games in the NES era. However I probably started the adventure about 20 times as a kid, usually only making it through a couple of dungeons before I'd move on. I think most of my enjoyment came from wandering around the open world just fighting Moblins and Octorocs.
Super Mario Bros. 3 is arguably the best game on the NES. It was an amazing game then and still holds up very well to this day. I spent the majority of my time with this game at my neighbors house as I didn't own a copy back then. I have some of my favorite memories of early gaming with SMB 3.
