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First off, you'll need an emulator to play these. Here's a local copy of Nesticle version 0.43 (196k), or visit the Nesticle Homepage for a more recent version. You may also need dos4gw (140k) unzipped into the same directory as Nesticle. |
| Bionic Commando - Capcom | |
| This is one of my all-time favorite NES games. The first thing you'll notice is that you can't jump, but once you get the hang of swinging around on your bionic arm you'll have a great time. Compared to swinging around, regular jumping is downright boring. This is a game that could have changed platformers, but mysteriously didn't. No sequels were ever made for this game, though a slight revamp was produced for the Gameboy. There's a somewhat cool sequel for Gameboy Color, but it's not as good as the original. There's also an old arcade version which came out before the NES version, but it sucks. |
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Download Bionic Commando (146K) The Bionic Commando Manual | |
| Top Secret! (aka Bionic Commando Japanese) - Capcom | |
| This is the original japanese version of Bionic Commando. It's essentially the same, with a few changes. (Way more swaztikas, for example.) Some of the levels are changed slightly, and overall I'd say it's a little easier than the North American version. If nothing else, it's a good excuse to play through Bionic Commando again. |
| Download Top Secret! (148K) | |
| Castlevania - Konami | |
| As a little kid this was one of my favorite games, and I'm glad to see that it still holds up. Its many sequels all stick to its same basic formula, and the fact that the frachise is still popular after all these years is a testament to the fundamental quality of this game's design. The most radical departure to date has been Castlevania 64, the first "3D" installment, and boy did it suck. I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This game's pretty tough, so the emulator's save/load abilities are gonna come in handy. |
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Download Castlevania (65K) Read the Castlevania Manual | |
| Castlevania 3 : Dracula's Curse - Konami | |
 | I was relunctant to put this one up due to some fairly noticable problems in its emulation, but it's just so good that I had to include it. Basically it takes everything good about the first game and expands upon it. I haven't played very far through the emulated version yet, so there may be larger problems I'm unaware of, but it's worth fighting through the glitchy parts. Castlevania 2 was more of a quest game, and while it has its fans (my friend Matt thought it was great), I was never very taken with it. If you're interested in trying it out, it's available from most NES ROM sites. |
| Download Castlevania 3 (319K) The Castlevania 3 Manual The Castlevania Dungeon is a very thorough tribute to the Castlevania series. | |
| The Legend of Kage - Taito | |
 | This is not actually a good game, but I always found it fun, regardless of its crappy graphics. I mean, just look at how high Kage can jump! Me and my brother used to play this game all the time. Though really, it does suck. This game was also honored as one of the "20 Worst NES Games of All Time" at Seanbaby's NES Page. |
| Download The Legend of Kage (27K) | |
| Maniac Mansion - Jaleco / LucasArts | |
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I really love this game. It's easily the most fucked up game avaible on the NES, despite Nintendo's efforts to clean it up a little from the computer version. Make sure you get an early version, because later releases don't let you put Weird Ed's hampter in the microwave, and that's bullshit.
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Download Maniac Mansion (155K) The Maniac Mansion Manual | |
| Mega Man 3 - Capcom | |
 | One Mega Man game is pretty much as good as any other, but part 3 struck me as being a little better than the rest. Among other things, the music is really good. There are Mega Man games for almost every post-NES system out there, but I haven't played them. I reckon they're probably all more or less swell. |
| Download Mega Man 3 (218K) Read the Mega Man 3 manual | |
| Metroid - Nintendo | |
 | I didn't become a Metroid fan until the release of part 2 on the GameBoy, and to this day I have yet to play the original all the way through. Still, it's a Metroid game, and by definition good. The classic trick for this game is to enter the password :
JUSTIN BAILEY
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| Download Metroid (59K) Read the Metroid manual Check out The Metroid Database. | |
| Nuts and Milk - Hudson Soft | |
 | This game sucks, but it's titled "Nuts and Milk", and I think it deserves some credit for that. |
| Download Nuts and Milk (or don't) (14K) | |
| Punchout!! - Nintendo | |
 | This is more like Simon Says than boxing, but it still kicks ass. A couple of things to remember, in case you're like me and never read manuals right away : - If you hit an opponent just right, you get a star. This represents an uppercut, and you can use it by pressing Start. If you use them right, especially in the earlier fights, you can deck people in no time. You can only hold three stars, and if you get hit you lose them. - Tapping Select between rounds regains you some life, but you can only do it once per match. I'm looking for the non-Mike Tyson version, 'cause let's face it: Tyson's a little bitch. |
| Download Punchout!! (131K) Read the Punchout!! manual | |
| River City Ransom - Technos | |
 | This game is the best. If you haven't played it, then you have a duty to yourself to try it out. It might not look like much at first, but this game has got it all. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent playing it. Me and my friend Brad both had maxed out characters. Everyone who's given this game a chance loves it. No joke. It's fucking great. |
| Download River City Ransom (120K) Read the River City Ransom manual The Definitive Guide to River City Ransom | |
| Super Mario Brothers - Nintendo | |
 | I don't think anything has to be said about this game. When I was a little kid, before I owned any video game systems, this game totally overwhelmed me. I used to spend hours just thinking about playing it. If Mario64 had existed at the time, I would have become so immersed that I may never have escaped. This game shows its age pretty badly, but it's still great. And the music... on the escalator to heaven, this is what they'll play. |
| Download Super Mario Brothers (31K) Read the Super Mario Brothers manual | |
| Super Mario Brothers 2 - Nintendo | |
 | This was not originally intended as a Mario game, having a completely different name and cast in Japan. Nintendo knew a good game when they saw one and ported it over here as Mario 2, and while it shares very few play mechanics with its predecessor, it's a very strong game in its own right. My favorite character used to be the Princess, but then I switched to Luigi for his strung-out high jumping. The faster characters might be better, I don't know. And frankly, I don't want to know. |
| Download Super Mario Brothers 2 (76K) Read the Super Mario Brothers 2 manual | |
| Super Mario Brothers 3 - Nintendo | |
 | In some ways, I think this may have been the peak of Mario coolness. It retains the same basic mechanics of the first game but adds piles of cool new stuff, along with very impressive graphics, for its time. Playing on an emulator should add significantly to the experience due to the savegame feature, eliminating the need for mamoth day-long playing sessions in order to finish the game without teleport flutes. In the video game hall-of-fame this game would rank top 5, easy. |
| Download Super Mario Brothers 3 (223K) Read the Super Mario Brothers 3 manual Go wander around The Mushroom Kingdom. It's more than just mushrooms. | |
| Super Sprint - Tengen | |
 | Ah, Tengen, the kings of insubordination. This was another of their unlicensed wonders, and I don't think it'll keep anybody interested for more than ten minutes, but it's a fun ten minutes. There are a lot of other games in this style which add a bunch of new fangled attributes, such as weapons, jumps, scrolling... but this one's still my favorite. One time a friend and I played it for two hours straight before concluding that there's obviously no ending. He'd drive around the track backwards just to fuck up the computer controlled cars. Don't make the same mistake we did. Play for a few minutes and then turn it off. You'll be glad you did. |
| Download Super Sprint (88K) | |
| The Legend of Zelda - Nintendo | |
 | This game, like Super Mario Bros., shows its age pretty badly. It's still fun to play, but at this point it's more of a curiosity, to see where the Zelda series got its start. Fun fact : Both The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. series were designed by the same guy, Shigeru Miyamoto. No mere mortal is he. Zelda 2 is pretty suck. I'd skip it if I were you.
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| Download The Legend of Zelda (64K) Read the Zelda manual | |
