The Top 50 Best NES Games of all Time Ever! From Good NES Games to the Top NES games

Picture of a boy just ridiculously happy to be playing his ol' Nintendo / NES

Back in ancient days of yore before the Nintendo Switch and Wii came along to bring joy to our meaningless lives, the company of that very same name was busy casting aside its Japanese playing card game roots to save the video game market from its near doom with a cool little video game system they called the Famicom (a combination of Family Computer), or Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in the US.

The NES gaming system, along with a little game called The Super Mario Bros, was a smash hit, and as we all know completely revitalized the gaming industry (leading the way for a market which would eventually outsell the movie and music industries combined) and made Mario cool and more popular than Mickey Mouse, and rightly so...

Over the course of my long and illustrious life, I have somehow had the free time (i.e. mostly when I was a child) to play many many games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System (you know, the NES). This is my own personal ranking of them, and as I have not played every Nintendo NES game of all time (unfortunately), it will most likely look very different from yours.

Don't get upset! Opinions will differ, and nostalgia forever affects our view of certain cherished childhood video games.

On this list, you'll see the greatest classic Nintendo games ever from every genre imaginable, from the best NES RPGs to shooters. 2 player beat em ups, and weird (but fun) multiplayer puzzle games. From the most popular NES games, to the unknown and underrated hidden top NES games, this list has all the cool NES games from the original Nintendo system!

Without further ado, the list:

The Top 50 best NES Games


(50-41)

50. Whomp 'Em

A Nintendo NES Whomp Em screenshot of our spear holding protagonist, ready to slay monsters and save... something

Hey look it's a Mega Man rip off starring a spirited Native American boy who goes around killing boss creatures and taking their powers! Not the greatest NES game, but the list has to start somewhere.

49. Dr. Mario

Dr Mario screenshot where the good Dr sends down shiny happy pills to keep kids off hard street drugs and free from viral vileness

The game that encouraged children everywhere to start pill popping! Just grab all of the multicolored pills from your parents' medicine cabinet and line em up to kill the viruses inside you! It's ok, Dr. Mario would never lead you astray...

48. California Games

California Games screenshot of a nice gentleman kicking around his footbag

Ok, so playing something called “footbag” sounds very wrong and dirty and definitely not something that should be played by kids. But relax, it's just California Game's weird wording for hacky sack! There are other games too, but their names are more normal and therefore too boring to list.

47. Burger Time

Burger Time screenshot of our intrepid chef salting enemies and smashing them under the weight of so many delicious cheese burgers

I found this game to be excellent practice for my later career in fast food. Right down to the shaking salt into the eyes of the customers which I always perceived as “enemies.”

46. Pro Wrestling

Pro Wrestling screenshot of Starman about to put the hurt on his opponent in the deadly wraslin' ring

You all know you loved this one... Remember the ridiculously overpowered karate chop guy? Or Starman with his crazy flip kicking? Classic.

45. Donkey Kong

Donky Kong screenshot where Jumpman, aka Mario, is jumping over barrels and such to save the princess from a giant gorilla friend

Hey Mario/ “Jumpman” had to get his start somewhere. And I guess the monkey was cool too. This is the game that put Miyamoto the Magnificent on the map as a brilliant game designer. The hammer is still one of the coolest power ups of its time (and feared by many a Super Smash Bros. Player).

44. Track and Field

Track And Field screenshot of the hurdles of hurdle jumping

So my friend had the “exercise pad” (or whatever it was called) peripheral thingie where you were supposed to stand on it and get exercise while you played a video game (think an early early Wii Fit). But it was much more effective to just hit it with your hands as fast as possible (think cheating at Whack a Mole at the arcades). Why would you ever want to go to a real track or field

43. Duck Hunt

Duck Hunt screenshot of the malicious malards to murder

So the clay pigeons were the best part of this game. Ok, no, everyone remembers the annoying snickering dog that you can't kill (and you should never kill a dog anyway psycho!). Or how about holding the light gun against the screen so you were sure to hit your target? My childhood was awesome...

42. Skate or Die

Skate or Die screenshot where the character has chosen the skate option

The Half-pipe was where it was at in this game. Tony Hawk Pro Skater should owe this game maker royalties. And I suppose if I was presented with the ultimatum, “Skate or die!” in real life I would choose to skate, though sometimes in real life you can skate and die (always wear a helmet kids).

41. Smash TV

Smash TV screenshot of the this top view Contra like shooting game

It was a bit like an overhead Contra, only with no Konami code. Still fun though! Play this game enough and you'll be ready for the near future where reality TV becomes even more violent (Jerry Springer with guns?)!

And the good NES games make way for some of the greatest Nintendo games ever as this cool NES games list continues!

Next 10 greatest NES games ever (40-31)

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