Your favorite super nintendo games

[pook99]

I know this is kind of a trite topic but all over the internet everyone posts their top 10 lists of all time and it just seems impossible for me to do. Like many people on here I have beaten hundreds of games, likely over 1000 games, across every gaming generation and console, saying x game is my 4th favorite game seems impossible to figure out, like where would you even start?

In an attempt to answer this question for myself, I have decided the best way is to narrow down my top 10 for every system, once I get those lists complete I could look at all of them together and make a top 20 favorite games of all times list to finally answer the question for myself that every person on the internet seems to be able to easily do.

For this thread I will pick a system, list my top 10 for that system, and a little about my rationale for picking them, anyone is free to post their top 10's for the system in question at any time. I will periodically change the title of the thread to reflect what system is currently under discussion, I left it blank for now, but we are going to begin with the nes

The reason I am starting with the nes is simple, it is the first relevant system in my life, sure I played a ton of atari as a kid but the fact is (dont hate me for saying this Bone) Atari games have a zero % chance of making it to my overall top 20 list so I'm just going to pretend that gen doesnt exist and start at the beginning of modern gaming, here are my rules

1. One game per franchise, per list, this rule could be broken if games in the same franchise are dramatically different, so feasibly new super mario bros could be on the same list as mario galaxy but mega man 2 and 3 could not be on the same list\

2. the criteria I am using is first, how often I go back and replay them, if it is a system I dont replay much, then I will default to nostalgia goggles vs actual replayability

3. Until my final top 20 the games will be listed in alphabetical order, for now I cant rate them in order of quality

4. Feel free to follow any rules you want when you make your thread

So now that I'm done babbling about the thread, lets start off with the NES:

This was tough, I have probably played more nes games than any other console(xbox 360 may be more but I havent counted yet). Not counting rom hacks I have beaten 176 games on this system, narrowing it down to 10 was insanely hard but here is what I came up with in alphabetical order

1. batman
2. battletoads
3. castlevania 3
4. contra
5. double dragon
6. life force
7. Mega Man 5
8. Mike Tysons Punch out
9. Ninja Gaiden
10. Super Mario 3

These were some tough choices to make.

Batman was my #10 slot and it was tied with several other games such as darkwing duck, powerblade 2, and little samson among others, I decided to go with batman because it is a game that I always go back to and is just very unique with platforming unlike anything out there.

Battletoads is just an amazing game, challenging, fun, unique, innovative, the difficulty can be offputting but it is just fantastic

it was really hard to pick between cv 1 and 3, they both are great, with great soundtracks, graphics, bosses, level design, but even though I am more familiar with the orginal, 3 is just a superior game in just about every way and had to get the nod

Double dragon was super tough, it was very close between 1 and 3, I know popular opinion says 2 is king but 2 is actually my least favorite in the trilogy. I adore 3 but the OG double dragon offers a very unique experience with a great move set, one of the best soundtracks in gaming history, and level design that is so much more than just walk to the right and punch things, which is what most beat em ups are. Truly a masterpiece

Contra and life force were no brainers, one is my favorite 8 bit run n gun, one is my favorite shmup of all time, both have the same 30 life code, both had to be on this list

Mega Man 5 is a controversial pick, but as I annually replay every mega man game I just always really enjoy 5 more each time I play, it definitely is the easiest game in the series but I just have tons of fun with it. It just eeked out 2 for me

Punch out is what it is, expect a punch out game on every list where there could be one and expect wii punch out to be in my overall top 5 when I finally get around to making my list, it may even wind up as number one

I love Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2, but 2 tends to trend towards annoying gimmicks more than solid level design so the original gets the nod here

Mario 3 seems like a no brainer but I love Mario 2 so much it was a really tough choice. I replay both games frequently, they are both unique, they both emotionally mean a ton to me, but ultimately I have to acknowledge that 3 is the superior game.

Feel free to post your top 10 NES games and talk a little about them

[o.pwuaioc]

You're killing me with that C ranking. What website is that?

[BoneSnapDeez]

The only thing "C" about Contra is the first letter in its title.

[pook99]

@presidentleever: some interesting picks there. Ducktales 2 has been on to play list for years and I just never get around to it but I am definitely a fan of the original.

TMNT 3 is an underrated game, it was a victim of its release (I may be wrong but I think it was actually released after turtles in time) but it is one of the best beat em ups on the nes and much better than its predecessor.

[pook99]

Next up, my top 10 master system games...except I can only find 5.

I have beaten 11 master system games in my life, played a bunch more and absolutely hated them, of the 11 games I did beat I hated most of them too but finished them for one reason or another. There have been only 5 master system games that I kind of enjoyed so by default they make up my top 5 master system games.

1. Master of Darkness
2. Ninja Gaiden
3. Kung fu kid
4. rastan saga
5. deep duck trouble

It should go without saying that I detest the master system, I genuinely feel it is the worst console ever created, and physically feel pain when people even put it in the same league as the NES (barring the obvious fact they were out at the same time and are both 8 bit)

But I know many people here love this system so feel free to take this opportunity to gush over it, talk about your favorite games, and tell me how wrong I am to call it a complete dumpster fire of a system.

[Sload Soap]

In no real order mine would be:

Sonic The Hedgehog - It's basically Sonic The Hedgehog Land, a slower and shrunk down but no less fun counterpart to it's MD brother.

Phantasy Star - In the trivium of classic 8-bit JRPGs, well Final Fantasy III is the best for me, but Phantasy Star is damn good and those spooky dungeons still look cool.

Enduro Racer - Always like bigging this game up. Just a simple but engrossing isometric racer, nothing more.

Outrun - These days seen as superfluous but actually a very impressive conversion when compared to it's actual contemporaries on home computers.

Asterix - Great platformer that plays super smooth, has some decent puzzle elements and really uses the SMS colour palette well.

Land of Illusion - Another great platformer with some inventive touches that stop it from being just Castle of Illusion repeated (not that that would be a bad thing).

Wonderboy 3: Dragons Trap - The best SMS game really. For my money it handles 2D open world exploration better than Castlevania 2 or Metroid and has the monster abilities to keep gameplay constantly evolving. Also looks and sounds great.

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World - Has the zip of an Alex Kidd game attached to the smart level design and enemy placement of Shinobi. It's an unsurprisingly great combo.

Ninja Gaiden - Quite different from its NES cousin, this game is neither as hard or fast but retains the tight control and swordplay while adding in better graphics and a touch of fairness.

Shinobi - Only played this one earlier this year but it jumped up a lot in my esteem. I loved the pace of the game and the satisfaction from clearing levels taking few hits and finding all the child hostages. It's that great loop where playing meticulously is actually rewarded properly.

Shout outs to R-Type, Sonic Chaos, The Ninja, Operation Wolf and Rescue Mission.

[Gunstar Green]

Choplifter: I don't know if there's any other arcade ports of Sega's arcade version out there but I really loved that game and this is a great port of it. It's not perfect and missing some content but it's still really fun.

Sonic the Hedgehog: A really solid platformer that has a different feel from the Genesis games but not a worse one. I've heard people say they prefer this to the original 16-bit Sonic and I can see that. It's charming and fun.

Ninja Gaiden: This is what you get when you take Ninja Gaiden for the NES and make the challenge reasonable. I don't love it as much as the NES game, mainly because the music isn't as killer, but it's a really fun ninja game that won't have you breaking controllers.

Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap: Not much I can say about this one that hasn't been said a thousand times. It's a lot of people's number one game for the console and it might be mine. It's such a fun and original adventure with unique gimmicks. Love for this game has translated into the also excellent modern remake.

Golvellius: A quirky adventure game that's fun to play with a good sense of humor about it. This is an undervalued little gem. A lot of people will point to Golden Axe Warrior for your Zelda-like experience for obvious reasons but I'd suggest giving this one a shot.

Micky Mouse: Land of Illusion: My favorite platformer on the console. It takes what worked in Castle of Illusion and makes it even better.

Fantazy Zone II: A huge improvement over what I felt was sort of a lackluster port of the original game. I love Fantasy Zone and this is a really great entry in the series.

R-Type: Speaking of ports this is a really impressive one. The graphics may be a little compromised but it still looks great and most importantly it plays great.

Rastan: Another downgraded arcade port, but they did a good job of reworking it for the console. It's still hard as hell, but it's a manageable and rewarding challenge. I have a soft spot for it.

Kenseiden: A cool samurai action platformer with RPG elements. Like Golvellius I feel like this one gets overlooked a lot.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I think you are all too kind to Fantasy Zone II. The remake is one of the greatest shmups of all time. The original, however, really isn’t that great, IMO. Anyway, and on topic, here are my favorite SMS games:

1. Wonder Boy III
2. Phantasy Star
3. Fantasy Zone
4. Ninja Gaiden
5. R-Type
6. Wonder Boy
7. Double Dragon

[pook99]

Interesting lists, lots of similarities between them.

Wonder boy 3 is a legit good game, its not on my list because I played it on tg16 so it will be on my top 10 when we get there.

@prfnsnl_gamr: I've never played any fantasy zone games, I read your reviews on them and have been interested for a while, maybe I will check out the first one on master system and see if I can add a new game I like onto my extremely short list.

@gunstar: golvellius is a game I have always wanted to play, it does like like something I might enjoy so, thats the game that is half overworld half side scrolling right?

@president leever: I never even heard of powerstrike before and just read your article about it, looks pretty solid

@sload: would you believe I never played the original shinobi? I've played all the genesis ones and the ps2 game but never played the original, it kind of looks like rolling thunder with a ninja and I am a big fan of rolling thunder

definitely enjoyed seeing peoples lists, I give a lot of hate to the master system and I will definitely be checking some of these games out at some point to see if I can actually get to 10 master system games that I like.

[BoneSnapDeez]

This console lives and dies by Phantasy Star. I'd have a hard time making a genuine 2-10 list. Ys would be #2, I guess, but that's still better experienced elsewhere.