LogFAQs > #982270130

5) Mega Man 3

If they had just given this one like, one more month - even a couple more weeks of dev time, considering how fast things went back then - this game might have been perfect. It just needs endgame levels that don't feel quite so rushed, it needs to run better and not have so much slowdown when there's multiple enemies on screen, and a few other small polish touches here and there - having an actual intro cutscene instead of just a title screen, not having Protoman's theme at the end cut out before it's done, etc. If it JUST did those little things... damn. Even in spite of this game being rushed (no pun intended), it's like... damn near perfect. The most exhilarating boss fights on the NES. Some of the coolest music and environments. The slide is an amazing addition to the series formula. It's great.

4) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

There's a lot of misunderstood games on the NES but this is the most misunderstood of all. And I used to be one of them! I picked this game up when I was 7 and was disappointed that it wasn't like the other Zeldas (I'd played all the others up to Link's Awakening up to that point). And I was getting my ass kicked by the first Iron Knuckle. But I gave it a few months, sat on it, and came back to it later and wow, something clicked in a big way. I got obsessed with this game. It has some of the most satisfying and flowing combat on the NES (especially once you get the vaunted downstab, the one idea everyone agrees was good out of this game) and the RPG mechanics do add an interesting flavor to the Zelda formula. Most of all I just like this game's feeling of danger - when you get into the really deep places in this game, it feels like you've traveled a far way to get there and you're not sure if you'll be able to get through it alive. I play this game mostly as a randomized game nowadays and I don't think I'll ever tire of it. Zelda II's an amazing game that really deserves more respect.

3) The Legend of Zelda

Buuuuut it's not as good as Zelda 1. People do have complaints about this game that are kinda legit - figuring out bomb spots on the overworld is blind luck for instance and the fact that half of them just take your rupees is demoralizing (though you don't need to do them to beat the game). But like, man, there's just something about this game that scratches an itch that no other Zelda game does. I love the way that combat is actually challenging in this game, you just go into a room and see five darknuts and it's just like, okay, this is the exact situation and I gotta actually play well and use my resources well to win. And unlike modern Zelda games, at least for me, the dungeons really feel big and complicated and maze-like and satisfying to explore. I love that getting items in this game actually feels like a huge power upgrade, not just something you have to collect to advance (aside from the items that explicitly are like that, like the Raft). I love the instruction manual and all its esoteric hints that help you in the game (shoutouts to Tunic). I love that they added a second quest that remixes all the dungeons and is super hard. They didn't need to add that, but they did! There's just so much going on here. Zelda 1's a fucking masterpiece and I'll die on this hill.

2) Mega Man 2

I really need Europeans to understand that there was a brief window of time, in 1989, where this game was THE MOST popular video game. Basically between when it came out and when Super Mario Bros 3 was released, this was #1, and for good reason. I have yet to come across any game in the NES's library that has this game's style, its flair, its panache. It is simply so much more polished than anything else that had come out then. It's on another level. This is probably the singular most important game of my childhood; I was just two years old when my mom would play it for me every night because I loved it so much. Other kids had Disney movies but I had Mega Man 2. I beat this game when I was 5 because I could replicate what she was doing to beat it and it was the first game I ever beat. I think there are other Mega Man games that get some of the technical aspects better, and have some less frustrating elements (Quick lasers, Boobeam trap), but none of them match how much this one *means* to me. And none of the match the soundtrack either, which is one of the canonical gaming soundtracks for a reason. None of them are able to match just how good, overall, Mega Man 2 is. Mega Man 2 taught me both to love video games and to love music at the same time.

1) Super Mario Bros. 3

It's a boring answer, but for me, it's the right answer. MM2 and Zelda 1 are basically 1b and 1c, but I can't deny SMB3 the throne. No NES game has aged as well as this, period. If I had one chance to convince a gen alpha kid of the worthiness of the NES, this would be my one shot. Maybe it won't work, but it's got the best chance. Mario is a storied franchise, but every Mario game since this one has been chasing this one's greatness, in my opinion. Everything about it is perfect. I wouldn't change a single thing about the way Mario controls. I wouldn't change a single thing about the way the levels are designed, with all their secrets. I wouldn't change a thing about this game's flawless presentation. It's just *perfect.* The fact that this came out in Japan in 1988 is insane. It should've been impossible for this game to be this good. Man I fucking love the NES.