The top 158 NES Games Ever According to SnS - Part 1
by Sliders n' Socks

Welp, it looks like it's just about that time again. LIST MANIA! The internet loves them, so you've got absolutely no excuse for not paying attention to this one!

We did this back during SNES Week a year ago, so it only makes sense to give everyone's favorite little grey shoebox its due as well. What we did over at the Sliders 'n Socks forums is have as many users as possible create lists of up to 25 of their favorite NES games and say a little bit about each. Rhete then took those lists, threw them into a sooper-dooper list-creating machine and this is the result.

Did your favorites make our list? Did they place where you think they should have? The only way to find out is to read along this week and find out!

#158 - Antarctic Adventure Chosen by: Soundwave Soundwave - Fuck your list, there is only one game that matters: ANTARCTIC FUCKING ADVENTURE

#157 - Taboo: The Sixth Sense Chosen by: Roger Roger - I know it's not even a game technically, but it was fun trying to decipher the Tarot cards.

#156 - Felix The Cat Chosen by: BionicCommando83 BionicCommando83 - In some ways nothing special, being a mostly straight up platformer, albeit a somewhat easier one. In other ways it was pretty innovative, allowing for varying levels of power ups, variety in the levels- be it navigating pyramids, flying a plane, swimming in a boat or sub, or even flying through space in a shooter level. A light, varied treat, this game deserves recognition.

#155 - Dragon Spirit: The New Legend Chosen by: Carmichael Micaalus Carmichael Micaalus - You're a dragon. You blow shit up. What's not to like? Actually, it wasn't as fun as that, but it was still a neat game. I remember I beat it as the gold dragon (essentially easy mode), but never with the blue. I do remember you get power ups which give you more heads to shoot more fire and stuff at the enemies, heh.

#154 - Adventure Island II Chosen by: Spyda K Spyda K - Adventure Island is about a fat guy in a hula skirt who throws axes and rides a skateboard. In Adventure Island II, he does all this AND rides around on dinosaurs.

#153 - P.O.W. Chosen by: Genuine Fiber Genuine Fiber - Sorta forgettable SNK beat 'em up in the vein of Double Dragon, but it holds a special place in my heart for being the first game I played on my very own NES. It's not bad per say, just very boiler plate. Also the animation is pretty terrible, knock someone down and they immediately go prone and then float in arc like you were using them in a horseshoe toss.

#152 - Wall Street Kid Chosen by: Roger Roger - Most kids probably thought this game was boring as hell. I rather liked watching the stocks and crunching numbers to obtain a good lifestyle.

#151 - Track & Field Chosen by: Serafita Serafita - The definition of button mashing.

#150 - World Class Track Meet Chosen by: Spyda K Spyda K - Better known as the track and field game that came with the Power Pad. This game did the unthinkable: it made me exercise while playing a video game. I didn't even feel like I was exercising. I just felt like I was playing a game, then got really hot and out of breath. If it weren't for this game, I don't think we would have ever seen the home version of Dance Dance Revolution with the plastic mat. EVERYONE remembered back to the Power Pad and this game when they first saw that thing.

#149 - The Adventures of Dino Riki Chosen by: Rhete Rhete - Hudson sure likes games about cavemen don't they? This was a cutesy shoot em up that I had a lot of fun with back in the day.

#148 - A Boy and His Blob Chosen by: decoy octopus decoy octopus - A game until recently I could not beat. It had a damn near impossible parts and most of it required slow but sure repetitive playthroughs so you'd know where to go and where to make holes in the cave so you'd fall and not die. And fuck all of the underwater area. And after all the bullshit in the undergroud you have to go to blobonia with the vitablaster and hope for the best. If you could beat this without glitching it god bless you because you're a better man or woman than me.

#147 - Journey to Silius Chosen by: Polly Polly - HOLY FUCK WHY ARE YOU SO HARD? Oh, you're a Sunsoft game. Gotcha. The controls always felt a little too stiff to me, seeimgly being what made the game a lot more difficult than it had to be, but that didn't stop me from dumping hours and hours of my childhood into seeing it through until the end. Also, probably the second or third best soundtrack on the NES, and it even had a special audio chip in the cart for a bass synthesizer. It also gets props for using in-game sprites and art for its box art. Even more interesting? It was originally supposed to be a Terminator game.

#146 - Super Spike V'Ball Chosen by: Pitchfork Pitchfork - One of the two sports games on any platform that I actually like. Fucking U.S. Navy. Fucking Soviets.

#145 - Uninvited Chosen by: Genuine Fiber Genuine Fiber - Borrowed from pc adventure games in that you navigated by buttons that said MOVE, TAKE, OPEN, etc. Also in that going in the wrong door or touching the wrong thing meant instant death. One particularly nasty instance where if you picked up a ruby, it cursed you and you died a couple of turns later. Except the game never tells you what killed you. Took me a couple of deaths and some trial and error to figure out what was going on.

#144 - Ironsword - Wizards & Warriors II Chosen by: Carmichael Micaalus Carmichael Micaalus - I dunno, this game had some fun elements (no pun intended). The hidden areas, the bosses, the animal guys you had to help find some item or another... I remember the badger dude (or bear or whatever it was) would actually knock you back if you hadn't found his tankard when you went to him, heh. I liked how the barkeep would toss you out if you had no cash, too.

#143 - Rescue: The Embassy Mission Chosen by: wolf99x wolf99x - Before Rainbow Six there was this game. No real planning involved just a lot of spotlight dodging and learning how the hell to rappel properly before busting in and going John McClane on a bunch of terrorists.

#142 - Monster In My Pocket Chosen by: FreezingInferno FreezingInferno - Excellent action/platformer with a cool gimmick, even if the game is a bit short and easy.

#141 - Mendel Palace Chosen by: BionicCommando83 BionicCommando83 - An obscure choice, but this game is a small little gem. The gameplay involves literally pulling the rug out from under enemies to knock them into walls. Panels allow you to find items, power ups, freeze time, or accidentally spawn more enemies. There are a variety of enemies and puzzles that blend smoothly into the game's action. Best yet, it's two player and can be tackled with a friend.

#140 - Double Dragon Chosen by: Spyda K Spyda K - One of the most solid beat-em-ups on the NES. River City Ransom might be better, but I've never played it to find out, so Double Dragon wins by default. Double Dragon II narrowly misses the crown due to awkward controls (B to attack left, A to attack right, Both buttons to jump, double-both to spin kick) and excessive platforming towards the end, hampered by said controls. These kinds of games did swimmingly in the arcade scene, due to the mechanic of "Insert Coin to Continue" but lost a lot of their juice on home consoles. It's just not the same when you have a set number of continues.

#139 - Elevator Action Chosen by: Serafita Serafita - Traumatised by elevators, thinking gunmen would be hiding behind each other until I started carrying a gun mysel--oh wait, that didn't happen.

#138 - Adventures in the Magic Kingdom Chosen by: decoy octopus decoy octopus - An odd little game which pretty much boils down to a collection of mini-games ranging from a bump and jump rip off to horrible platformers. Hard and unfair in parts, it falls after you grind pete's race for enough stars to have full lives and health.

#137 - Monster Party Chosen by: Pitchfork Pitchfork - Mark smacks stuff around in Monster World with his bat (batter, whatever), munches pills, and is treated to some of the most inane one-liners on the NES. I still get a kick out of the bats in level 3 that unfold to umbrellas.

#136 - Joust Chosen by: Serafita Serafita - You're a knight. Riding an OSTRICH. HOLY FUCK WHY DID THE KNIGHTS OF OLD NOT DO THAT. Would have been so much cooler than horses.

#135 - Anticipation Chosen by: decoy octopus decoy octopus - Made by Rare before they went collect everything crazy and made shit, a neat little board game that basically boils down to pictonary. Some good music and some ludicrous puzzles no one will get on the hardest difficulty. Four players too that would share one controller.

#134 - Solar Jetman Chosen by: Carmichael Micaalus Carmichael Micaalus - You fly around in a space ship, looking for parts to make cooler space ships. And one of the planets had reversed gravity! It was awesome! Okay, it was kind of a pain, but it was still neat. I'd actually be kind of interested in a remake of it, really.

#133 - Silent Service Chosen by: wolf99x wolf99x - Does a pretty good job of delivering the tension of a submarine trying to evade destroyers as it goes after enemy convoys. I remember sweating as depth charges were dropped, hoping I wouldn't get hit by them.

#132 - Solstice Chosen by: Pitchfork Pitchfork - Listen. This is what insomnia sounds like. You shouldn't pick up Solstice unless you are prepared to handle listening to this from twelve to five am on a nightly basis, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

#131 - The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle Chosen by: decoy octopus decoy octopus - My mother's favorite game of all time and in better times we played it till she beat the last level. The controls are a bit slidey at times but not really worth the scorn heaped upon it by the nipicky nerd.

#130 - Kickle Cubicle Chosen by: Rhete Rhete - I played this a lot at a friends house. I think. I don't even remember what it was all about honestly!

#129 - Battletoads Chosen by: Spyda K Spyda K - This was one of the most fun games I've ever played as a child. It's just a shame that it only lasted for 2.5 levels. Oh sure, there were levels after that, but since you had to complete the infamous Turbo Tunnels to get to them, they might as well have never existed. This game was pretty much the textbook example of making a game too hard. And with limited continues? Fuck it! Apparently, Battletoads also contained a game-breaking bug where in Level 11 (There were THAT many levels?), the second player is unable to move, and the first player must carry on by himself. I wouldn't be surprised if not one person knew about this before emulators with save states came around.

#128 - Ghosts n' Goblins Chosen by: FreezingInferno FreezingInferno - Fairly solid platformer with a challenging difficulty cu-- FSSHH FUCK YOU FIREBRAND

#127 - Gyruss Chosen by: BionicCommando83 BionicCommando83 - A shooter taking a barrel rim perspective, firing towards the center of the screen as you race through the solar system as sublight speed, this game is the unsung Konami/Ultra shooter for the system. Smooth controls, a unique presentation, excellent music you'll come Bach for (pun intended), and stages that require superior reflexes and skills to master makes this the best shooter for the system.

#126 - Gremlins 2 - The New Batch Chosen by: FreezingInferno FreezingInferno - One of the best games based on a movie ever made. Thank you so much Sunsoft.