Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. By the time this article is put up, this will be the 98th Playing With Power article. That means that we’ve looked at well over 90 games for the NES. And with that many games played, you find out which ones you really like, and which ones you personally feel were complete trash. So I figured I’d give a list of my top 10 favorite and least favorite games on the NES. This list if based on games I own and have played. So I can’t put something like Action 52, or Where’s Waldo, since they aren’t titles I currently own, so I haven’t had the full chance to see how bad they truly can be.
#10 Least Favorite: Mickey Mousecapade
I start the worst list with a game I don’t think is totally bad, just really flawed in its intended design. Mickey Mousecapade was the first major Disney title on the NES, and despite the Capcom box, it was developed by Hudson Soft. Which would probably explain it feeling like a flawed platformer. The reason mainly being that Minnie is a burden to take with you, as she can get stuck in spots, fall in holes, or easily lost. While the music is okay, and the levels decent, it’s Minnie that you’ll really hate this game for. If Hudson was smarter, they would have made this a co-op game, so that Minnie would feel easier to use. But in the end, it just makes this Mousecapade, one annoying adventure.
#10 Favorite: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
So it doesn’t have four player controls, and is an 8-bit port of the arcade hit. Those really don’t matter much when you consider that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game is still a faithful enough port of the quarter munching classic. Tons of great levels, plenty of classic bosses from the Turtles series. Two new levels that weren’t in the original game, and some radical music. It’s one of the best beat-em-ups on the NES. And while I’ll admit that TMNT III: The Manhattan Project was bigger, more challenging, and had some great upgrades to the gameplay, I still like this one a lot more. It’s classic TMNT fun, and it’s a game I can play any time and enjoy.
#9 Least Favorite: The Simpsons: Bart Vs. The Space Mutants.
Bart Vs The Space Mutants is a mess of a game, and easily the worst of the Simpsons games on the NES. What kills the game is the annoying fetch quests that feel more like a chore to do than anything remotely resembling fun. Not to mention atrocious controls and one of the worst jumps in any NES game. After Konami knocked it out of the park with The Simpsons Arcade Game, it was just sad to see Acclaim get their grubby mitts on this franchise, and dump crappy game after crappy game. But their first outing may honestly be one of the worst. Ay carumba!
#9 Favorite: Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers
When it was Capcom fully behind the wheel of the Disney license, that was when we got some true classics. And one of the best examples is the Co-Op classic “Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers”. This game had perfect controls, fun levels, an excellent soundtrack, and the ability to play co-op as both Chip and Dale, while also featuring cameos from the other rangers like Monterrey Jack, Zipper Fly, and Gadget Hackwrench. The game is definitely easy, and quick to beat, but that doesn’t hinder what is an otherwise enjoyable title.
#8 Least Favorite: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
You’d be surprised, but I actually don’t think the first Home Alone game is that bad. It’s nothing special, but for trying to handle a strange license, Bethesda does its best. Too bad the next game would be made by the same people behind Bart Vs. The Space Mutants. Which means bad controls, awful jump mechanics, and confusing goals. Seriously, how anyone could get how to get through stage one without any hints is beyond me. The first game at least felt like there was a lot on the line as you had to survive 20 minutes, dropping traps and hiding from Marv and Harry. This one is just a bland platformer. In the end, this is one I don’t feel like ever going back to.
#8 Favorite: Batman: The Video Game
While Home Alone 2 is a movie game done wrong, Batman: The Video Game is a licensed game done right. Sure it doesn’t follow the movie perfectly (Even down to things like the ending. I don’t recall Batman throwing The Joker off the cathedral like that), but what it does do right is perfect controls, an awesome wall jumping mechanic fun weapons to use, great level design, amazing music, and perfect challenge. The game is hard, but not impossible. You will find your way to the end with practice. Though Joker will take some time to beat. I can come back to this one any time, and still love it. It’s a perfect licensed movie game.
#7 Least Favorite: The Adventures of Bayou Billy
The first game I gave a thumbs down to, and still one of the most frustrating games on the NES. Bayou Billy was a cool concept with three different gameplay variations, but unfortunately they’re all stifled with awful hit detection, and annoying difficulty. The music is okay enough, but there are far better beat-em-up, zapper, and driving games on the console. This triple threat is not a very good threat at all. It’s best to leave Billy in the bayou and play something more fun.
#7 Favorite: M.C Kids
Clearly this will be the choice that won’t pop up in other favorite lists, but I can’t help it. I love this game. Great levels to explore, solid controls, and great platforming, lots of cards to find to complete the game, and most importantly, the ability to walk upside down, which as a kid I always found to be awesome. Those who call it just some piece of McMind control, or those calling it a Mario 3 clone are really missing out on a solid platformer, and one of my favorite NES games ever.
#6 Least Favorite: Double Dragon III
The Double Dragon series began to start its descent with this game. From characters with one life, to cheap difficulty, to some terrible hit detection. Maybe it’s just my own lack of skill in these games, but I can’t even finish level one because of some of the really cheap A.I tactics. It just feels like a sour experience after two far superior titles, and one of my least favorite titles on the console.
#6 Favorite: Ducktales
The crown jewel of the Capcom/Disney games, Ducktales is pitch perfect. Great controls, fun levels to explore, an amazing soundtrack with some of the most celebrated tracks of all time (The Moon), and just a feeling that it sticks close enough to the Ducktales license, and doesn’t stray. It’s so beloved, that the game is getting a HD remake in the very near future, which looks to be just as fun as the original. Ducktales is a great show, and just as great a game.
#5 Least Favorite: WWF Wrestlemania
Hulkamania may have ran wild in the 80’s and 90’s, but for the most part, the WWF games were not very fun. Case in point this awful attempt by Rare and Acclaim that had barely any wrestling moves, annoying A.I, and awful controls. The saving grace is decent renditions of the wrestlers, and some excellent 8-bit versions of their theme music. Though again, why “Girls in Cars” for Ted Dibiase? The later WWF games would start to improve, but the first outing on NES is a train wreck.
#5 Favorite: Kirby’s Adventure
One of the last NES games I owned during the original console run, Kirby’s Adventure still holds up as one of the best platformers on the NES. It was the game that debuted Kirby’s ability to copy abilities from the foes he eats. Add in great level design, peppy music, several mini games, lots of awesome enemies, and some of the best uses of the limited NES palette, and what you get is a magical game. This in my opinion is the last truly perfect NES game.
#4 Least Favorite: Beetlejuice
The ghost with the most deserved a far better game than this. With annoying hit detection, poor level design, that pain in the butt top down design, and the annoying flaw that if the floor vanishes even by an inch or two, Beetlejuice can die from it. There is a decent platformer in this that could have come out, but in the end, it’s a chore of a game to get through, and one of the worst games I’ve ever played.
#4 Favorite: Mega Man 2
I know I’ve in the past said that Mega Man 3 is my favorite on the console, but lately I’ve had a bit of a change of heart. The more I play of Mega Man 2, the more I really get why the game is so beloved. Everything about the game is perfectly handled. The levels all look great, the music is amazing (though I still find Wily Stage 1 to be overrated), some of the best abilities in the franchise, and the most memorable crew of Robot Masters. It’s the Mega Man game that made the blue bomber a household name, and is one I can play again and again.
#3 Least Favorite: The Adventures of Gilligan’s Island
If you thought Minnie in Mickey Mousecapade was bad, she’s got nothing on Gilligan. He will get lost way too easily, as his A.I is some of the worst in any NES game. Add boring gameplay, annoying fetch quests, enemies you can’t kill, and forgettable music, and you have one of the worst licensed games on the NES. though again, I have no idea what Bandai was thinking, and who would have really wanted a game based on Gilligan’s Island. But those who did get it ended up with an awful title, and one of my least favorite games ever.
#3 Favorite: Super Mario Bros 2
the first Playing With Power article looked at this highly controversial title, and it’s still one of my favorite NES games. Even with all of the stuff about Doki Doki Panic, and the real Mario 2, I still prefer this game because of how different it is, and the fact that the music, level design, and gameplay are all tons of fun. It also introduced plenty of characters who still live in the Mario universe. And the more I hear, the more I learn that this was apparently planned at one point to be the true Mario 2, and not Super Mario Bros Hard Mode, like Japan would end up getting. It may be the black sheep to some, but it’s a favorite of mine.
#2 Least Favorite: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Video Game Adventure
I love the Bill and Ted movies, and was foolish to buy this game as a kid, completely unaware of the terrible game I was about to experience. Again, it’s annoying fetch quests, only with awful controls, annoying challenge, and confusing goals. Even if you know the spots where the historical items show up, you still will have to look for the randomly placed historical dude, while avoiding being jailed with your extremely limited supply of items. It’s also just really boring to pick up and play, making it a game I just can’t bring myself to even attempt to beat. It’s one of my least favorite games, based on one of my favorite movie franchises.
#2 Favorite: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Yeah, I chose Zelda II over the far more beloved original. In my opinion, I think Zelda II is far more fun than the original. I think it has a lot more to do with my love of platformers, and the fact that this gave you cool abilities to use, an RPG system to handle. Tons of dungeons and places to explore, and a lot of challenge. Granted, I too dislike the fact that you start at the beginning of the game if you get game over. But that aside, I can forgive the game, as it’s still one of the few Zelda games I enjoy from start to finish.
#1 Least Favorite: Back to the Future Parts II and III
Bought on the same day as Bill and Ted, this game is easily one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had with a video game. The game felt nothing like the films, as it set itself in a strange Mario-Type platformer. You had to find keys to open doors, and find historical items, which you had to place in the right spot, or risk losing the item, and having to find it again. And you had to find a ton of them, in three times periods, with tons of areas to explore. And all of this without any way to save your progress. This is a mess of a fetch quest game that just isn’t fun. Which is a shame, I like the Back to the Future films. But LJN just never knew how to handle them right. And this was the worst of the bunch, and easily my least favorite NES game of all time.
Now that leaves me to my #1 favorite NES game. But I can’t really do the game justice with just a paragraph of information. You see, in all of the reviews I’ve done, I haven’t talked about this game yet. So to do it justice, I will review my favorite game next week, and give it a most deserving review. Some can guess already what one I’m talking about, and if you have guessed it, you won’t be disappointed.