The 100 Best Original Nintendo Games

The most nostalgic list you'll come across— these are the best original nintendo games.

best old school nintendo games lead
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best old school nintendo games lead

This feature was originally published on September 8, 2017.

The original Nintendo Entertainment System saved the video game industry from the brink of death. After the Video Game Crash of 1983, total revenue in the industry had gone from 3.2 billion dollars in 1983, down to a measly 100 million dollars in 1985. People had begun to believe that video games would never recover, and would soon become a brief blurb in the history books. Then, the japanese guardian angel arrived … the NES.

The NES did something that no other console before it could, it delivered on its promises. Consumers had lost their trust in the industry, for years games had been marketed using visuals that completely misrepresented the actual (highly underwhelming) graphics of the games. Additionally, the games of the time simply weren’t fun, and seemed to be being made purely for profit. Nintendo was different. They valued quality game design over everything else. The current President and CEO of Nintendo of America summed up their stance perfectly, “If it's not fun, why bother”.

Over 750 games were released for the NES under the seal of Nintendo of America. We decided to approach this feature by first asking ourselves the following question: if we could only save 100 games from the Nintendo Entertainment System for posterity, what would they be?

The following list of 100 original Nintendo games for the Nintendo Entertainment System is aimed to accomplish that task. If you were to decide that you had to enshrine this pivotal era in video game history for your private collection, putting together the classic collection of games on this list would make sure you didn't miss out on any of the most unique, or defining, or popular titles for the NES.

This is a list of games to play if you want street cred in the retro game library at the Penny Arcade Expo. This is your list of gaming assignments if you want to be considered “classically trained.”

Intro

100. Top Gun

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99. Base Wars

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98. Ice Climber

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97. Pirates!

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96. Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers

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95. Mega Man 6

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94. Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode

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93. North & South

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92. Pro Wrestling

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91. Duck Hunt

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90. Spy Hunter

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89. Arkanoid

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88. The Goonies II

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87. Mega Man 5

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86. Ice Hockey

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85. Kung Fu

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84. Rush 'N Attack

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83. Little Samson

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82. Hogan's Alley

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81. Excitebike

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80. 1943: The Battle of Midway

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79. Super Dodgeball

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78. Ring King

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77. Track & Field

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76. Ikari Warriors

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75. Prince of Persia

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74. Metal Storm

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73. Stinger

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72. Batman

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71. Tecmo Bowl

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70. Bomberman

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69. Marble Madness

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68. Double Dribble

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67. Jackal

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66. Cobra Triangle

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65. Life Force

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64. Micro Machines

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63. RBI Baseball

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62. Legendary Wings

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61. Double Dragon II: The Revenge

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60. Adventure Island II

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59. A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia

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58. Willow

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57. Duck Tales

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56. Wizards & Warriors

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55. Bomberman II

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54. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

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53. Shadowgate

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52. The Guardian Legend

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51. Adventures of Lolo 2

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50. StarTropics

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49. Maniac Mansion

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48. Little Nemo: The Dream Master

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47. Snake Rattle N' Roll

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46. Rad Racer

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45. Blades of Steel

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44. Faxanadu

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43. Ghosts 'N Goblins

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42. Journey to Silius

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41. Section Z

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40. IronSword: Wizards & Warriors II

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39. Super C

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38. Dragon Warrior IV

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37. Mega Man 4

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36. Rygar

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35. Dr. Mario

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34. Blaster Master

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33. Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos

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32. Gradius

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31. Dragon Warrior

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30. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game

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29. R.C. Pro-Am

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28. River City Ransom

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27. Battletoads

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26. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

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25. Mega Man

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24. Baseball Stars

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23. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

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22. Crystalis

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21. Dragon Warrior III

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20. Mega Man 3

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19. Metal Gear

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18. Castlevania

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17. Bubble Bobble

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16. Kirby's Adventure

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15. Kid Icarus

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14. Tecmo Super Bowl

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13. Super Mario Bros. 2

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12. Tetris – The Soviet Mind Game (Tengen)

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11. Contra

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10. Ninja Gaiden

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9. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!!

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8. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

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7. Bionic Commando

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6. Metroid

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5. Super Mario Bros.

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4. Final Fantasy

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3. Mega Man 2

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2. Super Mario Brothers 3

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1. The Legend of Zelda

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