I think sometimes we get way too wrapped up in the hardware…what’s next, what’s better…forgetting sometimes that games are why we do this. This series will be fun!
@@Omar-Asim The thrill of the hunt. But yes, I'm notoriously known in my friend circle to do everything known to man for video games EXCEPT actually play the damn things, lol. But that's part of the fun, right? Collecting all the ROMs, making it look great in a frontend, showing it off to the friends, but then it's onto the next latest/greatest emulator, adding the last metadata that couldn't be automatically scraped, etc and so forth
Definitely I’ve actually stopped buying modern hardware. I’m content with what we had before I’m actually playing my nes snes 64 and OG Xbox most at the moment and I’m often going back to gameboy games
I personally have nes tg16 and gameboy games in my Zelda G&W and have a blast, because the screen works well, sturdy, and super slim (definitely a project console but cool points goes through the roof)
One thing I really like about this video, is the stories about your history with these games, and your memories with your siblings, and the parts you recall.
It seems actually personalised and not something gleaned and regurgitated from the web. I like this. People are quick to forget that video games are subjective, just like art. Some people's idea of good games can and should vary from person to person.
The first Double Dragon game was not co-op on NES. It was actually the biggest criticism of the game at the time. The only two-player simultaneous mode was the battle mode, which was way ahead of its time but not a substitute for co-op.
I like lists like this that aren't just reiterating the same popular titles. It's also fun hearing your childhood memories that made these games your favorites. Kinda reminds me of the channel "My Retro Life".
I was literally just thinking the other day how I want a lot of the emulation / retro handheld TH-camrs to talk about their favorite games on each platform. As someone who grew up starting with later consoles and limited access to them and now loves video game history, it’s really cool to see what people’s favorite games and memories they have with them are. Definitely makes me want to play them; please continue the series!
Ninja Gaiden 1-2, SMB 2-3, Mike Tyson's punch out, Zanac, Zelda 1-2, Life Force, Adventures of Bayou Billy, Slalom, Battle of Olympus, Willow, Goonies 2, Tetris. Off the top of my head. I might have changed a couple if I thought about it longer.
And I was right as soon as you started. Blaster Master! I literally still have the Nintendo Power Poster plastered at my folks home 😂. Also Contra, Castlevania, Mega Man as very worthy options as well
This was a nice trip down memory lane. I forgot about Wizards and Warriors and yeah it was ridiculously hard. In no particular order: 1. Mike Tysons Punch-Out 2. RC Pro-Am 3. Pro Wrestling 4. Super Mario 2 and 3 equally 5. Ninja Gaiden 6. Dragon Warrior 7. Super Tecmo Bowl 8. The Legend of Zelda 9. Double Dragon 2 10. Ring King 11. Contra 12. Mega Man 2 13. Kings of The Beach 14. Final Fantasy 15. Baseball Stars
Russ, you need to keep doing videos like these. I love how your love for these games naturally unfold in your dialogue. I do love the hardware vids, but I would love a series on this channel dedicated to the retro games themselves. Seriously phenomenal job, my man. My list would definitely include Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Warrior, and my number 1 game on the NES would be Duck Tales. The music and mechanics in that game really pushed. the NES to another level
Omg I played this all the time. I remember one time I managed to get Blob to eat the Ketchup jelly bean that permanently turned him into a wall and being so sad
I'm really happy to see that being the age I am, the praise of gaming history is coming into its own. I love and appreciate it all. What a time to be alive.
I loved this!! I’m your age, and it’s so cool to hear someone recommend NES games that aren’t the typical top 10. I’ve always appreciated personal favorite recommendations over the objectively “best” games, so this was a lot of fun. A lot of these were games I remember seeing at friends houses but never really playing and wasn’t familiar with. I’ll definitely be playing through a few of these now that I know a bit more about them. Baster Master and Shadow of the Ninja look amazing!
Mario 2 was my favorite as well. Love the music when you go inside the door to the cave. I love tmnt 2, Mike.Tyson Punch Out, Megaman 2 and for Castlevania....Super Castlevania.4 is my all time favorite and that games soundtrack still BANGS!!
Duuude no way! I JUST went through the NES catalog a couple days ago myself! I was assembling my own curated playlist for NES, either games I have fond memories of (like Blaster Master, Little Nemo) or games I missed that and want to try to find (Dragon Warrior, Castlevania). Love this idea for a series
That's what I did the other day with castlevania. I got all the way up to dracula before the power went out in my neighborhood. I'm going to have to revisit this one and beat it for sure.
From 1992 to 2013 I was either in the Army overseas or deployed or working as a GS or as a contractor overseas and didn't really have time for games. Plus I traveled around so much back then that most of the time I was living out of a duffel bag or suitcase between "go here, do this" jobs. I use my retro handhelds to catch up on what I missed. I did have a Sega CD as a young private but that was stolen from me in Germany by a corrupt NCO who broke into our stored-in-the-attic household goods when we were deployed to Bosnia back in '95. Man, I loved the Sega CD. Had original copies of Snatcher, Sonic, Night Trap, etc. All gone, stolen by that complete and utter b@st@rd and sold in pawnshops/shops across Hesse. But I can play them all on my RGB30 or Pocket 3+ Metal. That NCO went AWOL and fled, and was later "dropped-from-rolls" as a deserter but a group of us were able to track him down in the Netherlands and drag him back and hand him over to the MPs for prosecution. But that's a tale for another time...
Very excited for this. I love that these videos are starting to take off in this hobby; I, and I imagine so many, love the idea of retrogaming, but often have massive blindspots for different systems, don't know where to begin
Russ, you’re absolutely one of my favorite TH-camrs at the moment, not just because of your in-depth and thoughtful reviews, but for these videos too (including the Q&A) where we get to go down memory lane with you. I’m definitely down for more of these kinds of videos.
Yeah that was so disappointing. It had the one on one fighting game mode thing, but that wasn’t the same. I loved the 2 player co-op in the arcade and on pretty much every other port. Fun game though!
Little Nemo was one of my favorite movies as a kid, I loved the NES game but it was so hard to figure out when I was young. As I got older I got super excited to find a DVD copy of the movie at a highway convenience stop of all places. I still have it and I've watched it with my own kid. The making of the movie is really interesting as it's somewhat an anime produced for the American market.
I still love Gunnac. It's a phenomenal shmup (shoot em up). Very technical game with its power system, challenging but not impossible, looks great, and has a great sound track.
It’s interesting to see that the most detail oriented, passionate hardware reviewer on the scene has almost the same video game biases and preferences as I do. Mario 2 over Mario 3 is a controversial choice, and I’d have replaced Shadow of the Ninja (which I’ve never heard of, but sounds like Ninja Gaiden X Castlevania) with Bubble Bobble. You even reminded me of Robin Hood, which was, as you said, a great rental. I feel like this video fleshed you out in more 3D as a gamer, for me. I’d be really curious to see your top lists on other consoles. For nostalgia and comparison, SNES first. But now that I know how to assess our relative preferences better, I’d be really interested in your recommendations for consoles that were less popular, and thus caused me to miss some “hidden gems”.
The stories how you played these games really took me back. There’s something so special about those games you could only play at a friends house, or rent and play with brothers. I love the games that are special to people just because those are the ones we happened to have at home.
Great list, here's some of mine in no particular order: Gun Nac Felix the Cat Double Dribble Excitebike Mike Tyson's Punch-Out Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode Super Mario Bros 3 Metroid R.C. Pro-Am Little League Baseball: Championship Series California Games Skate-or-Die Castlevania 3 The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle The Legend of Zelda Marble Madness Megaman 2 Little Samson A Boy and His Blob Caveman Games Bubble Bobble Battletoads & Double Dragon
Such a great video, you did great job capturing the feeling of playing games as a kid, got me full of nostalgia! Would love to see you do more of these with other systems
I remember getting super Mario brothers 2 for my birthday. We had Pizza Hut for dinner and I was able to stay up late playing the game (even after I switched it off briefly to watch Doogie Howser MD, haha). I still rank it as one of the happiest moments of my life for some reason (despite accomplishing much in my life). Happiness as a kid always beats happiness as an adult!
The NES was my first console and it came with a 42 games cartridge, probably pirated games. My favorites were Balloon Fight, Super Spy Hunter, Blades of Steel and Contra
Have a very similar list: 15. Little Nemo 14. Batman 13. Probotector 2 (yes, I'm a PALiantologist 😅) 12. The Legend of Zelda 11. Turtles - The Arcade Game 10. Double Dragon ][ 9. Mega Man 3 8. Duck Tales 7. Kirby's Adventure 6. Snake Rattle 'n Roll 5. Little Samson 4. Mega Man 2 3. Bucky O'Hare 2. Castlevania III 1. Super Mario Bros. 3
I was also 9 when the first Batman movie came out. Great video. It brought back memories of maddening difficulty, cheat codes, asking friends at school how far they got in a game, borrowing a friend's Game Genie to beat a game, reading game mags in Walgreens, and staying up late at my friend's house playing Contra.
I’m the same age and this speaks to my heart. So glad to see Tecmo Super Bowl on this list! Some games I loved that weren’t on here and often get skipped: Gunsmoke -With an NES Advantage and turbo to the max, so much fun Jackal - Jeeps, grenades, and missiles while saving POWs…what’s not to love Tetris - The music in this game is stuck in my head to this day Golf - first time playing golf and I loved it Excitebike - it had a course editor!
Good list, and a lot of overlap with mine! - Batman - Battletoads - Bionic Commando - Blaster Master - Castlevania 2 - Contra - Gauntlet - Gradius 1+2 - Mega Man 1+2 - Metroid - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out - Ninja Gaiden - River City Ransom - Stinger - Super Mario 2+3 - Zelda 2
Wait wait wait… I’ve seen many videos from you, Russ, that showed Dr. Mario on multiple devices. How is that puzzle gaming masterpiece not on this list?!?! 😅
Dragon Warrior was also my first RPG, I love everything about that game except the convoluted controls. There is a rom hack that makes it so that you can automatically walk up and down stairs just by walking on the icon that helps tremendously. I thought I was the only person who liked Shadowgate on NES, I love the soundtrack especially. I played it too many times to count but could never finish it, I'll probably have to play it again one day.
Thanks for recognizing tecmo Super Bowl. It doesn’t get nearly as much love as it deserves. You highlighted the facts well, and your identification of replayability speaks to why this should be acknowledged as a top tier game
I can't wait to see more from this series. I love your hardware reviews. They've helped me make a few purchases for my personal use cases. So it's fun to see what games you might be using all of your own devices for. Whether I learn about new games or not, whether I like the same games or not, I just really like seeing what people love.
Love your perspective and the invitation to meander down memory lane … what a different world gaming once was! As a fellow 80s and 90s kid, I remember the schoolyard serving as the precursor to Internet forums, the video store expanding our play experiences one weekend at a time, and the long lost juxtaposition of impossible to beat and 30 minute romps, often in the same game, separated by cheat codes. And the reminiscing on co-op play with siblings really brings it home-that’s one of the top reasons that I emulate today. Holidays and family gatherings still hold that communal gaming goodness when I bring along a laptop or Steam Deck to plug into the big screen. Great stuff, as always, Russ, looking forward to your further explorations on the topic! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
Wow I totally forgot about Shadowgate. I remember playing that game before. My personal list of good NES games to play in no particular order are: Super Mario Bros 3 and 2 Dragon Warrior 2-4 Castlevania 3 Adventures of Lolo 1-3 Final Fantasy Megaman 2 Crystalis Punch Out TMNT II Arcade (the MAME version is much better) Lifeforce / Gradius Rivercity Ransom Destiny of an Emperor Double Dragon series - MAME is better Faxanadu - not too bad Ghosts 'n Goblins Ninja Gaiden 1-3 Legend of Zelda Metroid Duck Tale StarTropics Super Dodge Ball Contra and Super C Battletoad
Great video! I love the idea of this series and I hope you continue with other classic systems like the Genesis, SNES, and GameBoy! I was also an '80s kid that grew up with many of these games either by friends or family. I have very fond memories of Life Force, Mega Man 2, Super Mario Bros 2, Little Nemo, Castlevania and Contra as well! Some of my absolute favorites were Kirby's Adventure, Bubble Bobble, Mega Man 3, DuckTales, Adventure Island II, Adventures of Lolo, Shatterhand, and Super Mario Bros 3. The great thing about NES games now is that there are so many awesome rom hacks for many of these games that breathe new life into them and provide a new spin on an old classic!
Definitely down for more of these types for videos. Between my cousin and I as kids, we had well over 50 NES games, yet you listed at least 5 that I’ve never played or even heard of.
I gotta say this is content I love to hear about. We all know the "showcasable" games for handhelds but it's cool seeing every so often what you're interested in playing leaking into the videos
I really hope you do more of these, I love hearing about your history with gaming. A lot of us born in the 80s can reminisce, I would love to see your sega favorites. I’m a bit younger than you, so I know some of my memorial gaming moments you would have been in college, or serving for our country, but that’s alright.
Love this video because it reminded me of the era of owning games that were so hard that even after years we wouldn't beat them. We had Ironsword and never beat that. Another in that category is James Bond Jr.
What a legendary console and amazing memories for those of us who were kids at the time. Countless hours spent going through these amazing (and some not so amazing) games with my brothers and cousins. Aside from the obvious big hitters, here are a few titles that I hold dear; Solar Jetman, Snake Rattle & Roll, Chip n' Dale, Marble Madness and Duck Tales
This is such a fun list! I have a Miyoo Mini Plus and a buddy of mine recently got the Anbernic 35XX Plus and we were able to play NES Contra together over Netplay! It was such a hoot.
This is going to be amazing seeing your videos about games too! Very excited. Couple of nitpicks... 1) Double Dragon NES didn't have 2 player 🤨 2) Contra impossible on three lives? 😎 Love your videos and channel. Happy Holidays Russ!
More of these, this was fun and I learned about some cool games I hadn't heard of before :) The storytelling about your family/friends playing the games was a blast too.
Love this kind of video, and it goes so nicely with the hardware reviews and emulation guides. I know my favorite games from the old school systems, but there's always something new and weird to discover, since, like you mentioned, these were before the internet and it was actually super hard to discover games beyond going to someone's house that had some weird game, or randomly renting a game based off its cover.
Always love videos like this and it's cool to hear your stories about them, bring on the ones for other consoles! One slightly more obscure series I'd recommend for folks checking out the NES is StarTropics, 2 games that were kind of Zelda mixed with a JRPG. The first one even had a moment where you had to dip a letter that came in the game box into water to reveal a secret code to advance, which was wild.
For anybody into Metroidvania games, Blaster Master absolutely qualifies. I actually got it when I got my NES, Christmas 1988, when it was brand-new. I don’t know what prompted my parents to choose it, but I’m glad they did.
Not in any particular order, I just needed to keep track haha I’ll avoid attaching a memory or story to each game but one about the system: I was born 1991 so when I was able to play games the SNES and N64 were more current but my dad still had the NES out playing Duck Hunt and Zelda. He gave me his NES and SNES when he and my mother divorced and I still put lots of hours into it. Unfortunately when I was around 12 I saw an ad for the new GameBoy advanced SP. I gathered up my NES and sold it on eBay. Biggest regret of my life, especially since my dad is no longer here. But everytime I hear that click and the Zelda music start I feel home again :) Great video, I loved hearing the reflections instead of a cold read of some facts 1-Legend of Zelda 2-Punch Out 3-Mario Bros 3 4-Duck Tales 5-Duck Hunt 6-Mega Man 2 7-Donkey Kong 8-Mario Bros 9-Kung-Fu 10-DigDug
My first Dragon Warrior was the GBC two pack. It had so many QOL improvements that when I went to play the NES version just to experience it, the tedium almost made me quite so many times. Fun little game though. It’s great to see how the series all began.
Great idea for a series! I was really looking for games that people liked, not necessarily the best games on a console. I do think NES is a little too dated to be the console to look out for to play, feels more of a nostalgia console. I would love if you did a similar video on the GBA and the PSP! 🩷
Great video and great idea with this new series. Not only talking about hardware all the time, but more about the games, as well. Man, I love Chip 'n Dale 1 + 2 by CAPCOM on the NES. I've played it a thousand times and still play it. Just an awesome game!
I kept seeing the thumbnail for this video and didn't realize it was yours, so I've been ignoring it! Glad I finally clicked, and I'm looking forward to seeing the series continue!
Love this. I've turned acquiring, setting up, and tweaking emulation handhelds into a game in itself so that I kind of forgot to just play the games. And that's why I love my RG35XX, because I just spend time GAMING on it.
Solid list. I love these "personal favorite titles" lists rather than those "objectively" best of lists as these are the ones where you find games that people actually found fun during their lifetimes, and not those you enjoy coz someone else told you was good. So to share my list of 15 personal favorites on the NES in no particular order: Battle City Super C Tetris Excite Bike Gradius 2 Gun Smoke Mike Tyson's Punch Out Solomon's Key Super Mario 3 TMNT 1 (yes, part one) Top Gun 2 Super Mario 3 Batman 1 Wrestlemania (the one considered now as one of the worst WWF game on the NES. LOL. Had too much fun with this growing up with my cousins) Balloon Fight Some fun were had with these when I was young.
From back when I played the NES, I remember these three games in a very special way: Batman (in the video), Choujin Sentai Jetman, and Monster in my Pocket. Jetman was a fairly uncomplicated Japanese TV series tie-in, and I never watched the TV series. But it was interesting because it had two modes: straightforward but well-executed action platformer, and a fight between two mecha. The sprites were truly gigantic for the NES. This game is still special for me. Looking forward for a similar video on Genesis games!
Since getting into handheld emulation hardware, the coolest NES game I discovered from using one has been Arkista’s Ring. It’s a little like a single player Gauntlet or board-based Zelda. Lots of cool items, cool music, and real fun! Thanks to the RG351m and Russ for getting me into finding gems like this in the first place.
Watching this reminded me that I had the Power Glove at one stage for the NES. It was a bit shoddy looking back at it, but I was the most popular kid in my neighbourhood for awhile! Punch Out was probably the most fun with the glove.
Great video, made me recall a lot of the nostalgia I had with my friend and games like excitebike, RC Pro am, etc. also I loved Robin Hood when I was younger and I was starting to think I was the only one!
Please do more of this. Loved the video. I’d like to see your top SNES and PlayStation games. I grew up with the NES and here is my top ten: Mario 3 TMNT 2 Double Dragon 2 Castlevania 3 River City Ransom Dr. Mario Mario 2 Kirby Baseball Tecmo Dodgeball
Loved this list! Definitely titles I've never even heard of or even thought to try. I'd love to see more of this - along with your other videos, of course!
My brothers and I loved _Batman_ as well. I remember thinking of it in the same context as _Strider,_ which was another favorite of ours. _Blaster Master_ was great, except for the lack of a good save feature, and was the first metroidvania-like game we played. We loved all three _Castlevania_ games and had all sorts of fun figuring _Simon's Quest_ out. We started with that one, though, and it was unique and interesting to us. It was the first _Castlevania_ game to have strong RPG elements, perhaps to an even greater extent than _Symphony of the Night_ and later games. You could level up, talk to and interact with many NPCs, and you needed to collect certain items before you could go to other places. The great thing about _Castlevania III_ was the forked paths and alternate characters. When we played _Double Dragon_ we purposely evened out the points so that we could work together better. _Dragon Warrior_ was one of our first RPGs, so we loved that as well. I remember playing _Life Force_ and we all thought it was good, but one of my brothers really liked it a lot. We also started with _Mega Man 2,_ though we went back and played the original and the third as well. It was a favorite series of ours. We played _Punch Out_ some, but it was never really a favorite of mine. We must have been some sort of masochists because we liked the first _TMNT_ game. Of course, we loved the second one. _Super Mario Bros. 2_ seemed oddly different to the first game to us, and we didn't play it a ton. We weren't really fans of football games like _Tecmo Super Bowl._ _Little Nemo, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Shadow of the Ninja, Shadowgate,_ and _Wizards and Warriors_ weren't games that we knew well at the time. I did find out about _Shadowgate_ later, but it seemed like a step back after playing _Theron's Quest_ and _Eye of the Beholder,_ so I never got into it.
I love how unique this list is, like most peoples game collections back in the day, nobody knew what were the must own titles so everyone had some unique games. I hope you continue this series for other systems.
Wow! Incredible picks. I had some clue about most, but not one clue about that Mac port! Russ, keep doing these! This will train us all that it’s not the shell we play the game on, but the game itself.
I'm really excited for this series. Even though I'm the right age to have grown up with these games, the first home console my family bought was actually the PS2 when I was in my late teens. Before that, we were a PC (and GameBoy) gaming household only. So now that I'm getting into these retro handhelds, I'm trying to figure out what I should play on them to make up for lost time.
Great video. Especially the parts where you talk about recommended handhelds based on the system. Look forward to seeing for other systems in the future. Another great series approach would be to go over different handhelds based on lifestyle. Like someone looking for something to play around the house vs someone looking to play from business travel, etc.
Great video, Russ! Please do make more of such "my favourite games on console X"! And my personal favourite NES game would probably be Battle City. It never came out in the West, only Japan, but we had it on the pirate cartridges that were sold everywhere in the post-Soviet countries together with the pirate Taiwanese and Chinese Famicom clones. It was a lot of fun!
So...did anyone notice that there are 17 games on this list?
So which 2 games will you have to jettison?
She had sixteen points to make
Five were heads, the other ten were snakes
@@guywhoisnotbob Didn't come into this video expecting Rishloo but here we are
@@Maginist it's always a good time for Rishloo
Yeah as I watched I began thinking this seems more than 15, but hey whose counting 😂
Wow, talking about actual games now! I'm going to love this series.
Wait.. you're not supposed to play the games, you just sort it and scrape every box art then buy another device.
@@Micchi-this is the way
😂😂😂😂
@@Micchi-facts no printer
I think sometimes we get way too wrapped up in the hardware…what’s next, what’s better…forgetting sometimes that games are why we do this. This series will be fun!
Or get wrapped up in the software...endlessly hoarding ROMs, trying to make the perfect looking frontend etc.
@@Omar-AsimPart of the fun tho
@@Omar-Asim The thrill of the hunt. But yes, I'm notoriously known in my friend circle to do everything known to man for video games EXCEPT actually play the damn things, lol. But that's part of the fun, right? Collecting all the ROMs, making it look great in a frontend, showing it off to the friends, but then it's onto the next latest/greatest emulator, adding the last metadata that couldn't be automatically scraped, etc and so forth
Definitely I’ve actually stopped buying modern hardware. I’m content with what we had before I’m actually playing my nes snes 64 and OG Xbox most at the moment and I’m often going back to gameboy games
I personally have nes tg16 and gameboy games in my Zelda G&W and have a blast, because the screen works well, sturdy, and super slim (definitely a project console but cool points goes through the roof)
One thing I really like about this video, is the stories about your history with these games, and your memories with your siblings, and the parts you recall.
It seems actually personalised and not something gleaned and regurgitated from the web. I like this. People are quick to forget that video games are subjective, just like art. Some people's idea of good games can and should vary from person to person.
I’m also enjoying it’s a list like I would make where it’s about my favorites that I actually played as a kid versus a list of the “best” NES games.
The first Double Dragon game was not co-op on NES. It was actually the biggest criticism of the game at the time. The only two-player simultaneous mode was the battle mode, which was way ahead of its time but not a substitute for co-op.
Yeah he's confusing the 2 games, or maybe the arcade.
I like lists like this that aren't just reiterating the same popular titles. It's also fun hearing your childhood memories that made these games your favorites. Kinda reminds me of the channel "My Retro Life".
This is a great idea Russ. Reminds me of games I need to go back and replay. Can't wait to see all the future shows in the series.
I was literally just thinking the other day how I want a lot of the emulation / retro handheld TH-camrs to talk about their favorite games on each platform. As someone who grew up starting with later consoles and limited access to them and now loves video game history, it’s really cool to see what people’s favorite games and memories they have with them are. Definitely makes me want to play them; please continue the series!
Ninja Gaiden 1-2, SMB 2-3, Mike Tyson's punch out, Zanac, Zelda 1-2, Life Force, Adventures of Bayou Billy, Slalom, Battle of Olympus, Willow, Goonies 2, Tetris. Off the top of my head. I might have changed a couple if I thought about it longer.
And I was right as soon as you started. Blaster Master! I literally still have the Nintendo Power Poster plastered
at my folks home 😂.
Also Contra, Castlevania, Mega Man as very worthy options as well
This was a nice trip down memory lane. I forgot about Wizards and Warriors and yeah it was ridiculously hard.
In no particular order:
1. Mike Tysons Punch-Out
2. RC Pro-Am
3. Pro Wrestling
4. Super Mario 2 and 3 equally
5. Ninja Gaiden
6. Dragon Warrior
7. Super Tecmo Bowl
8. The Legend of Zelda
9. Double Dragon 2
10. Ring King
11. Contra
12. Mega Man 2
13. Kings of The Beach
14. Final Fantasy
15. Baseball Stars
Great idea for the new series,its always interesting to me what people prefer to play.
Happy to see "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" getting some love. I played this game all the time as a kid. I've beaten it twice.
Great video, and series concept! I love the discussion about the most relevant devices for the system
Russ, you need to keep doing videos like these. I love how your love for these games naturally unfold in your dialogue. I do love the hardware vids, but I would love a series on this channel dedicated to the retro games themselves. Seriously phenomenal job, my man. My list would definitely include Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Warrior, and my number 1 game on the NES would be Duck Tales. The music and mechanics in that game really pushed. the NES to another level
Yes! I have actually been getting a bit of review-fatigue. It is nice to get ideas or opinions on some good gems to try out.
A Boy And His Blob would be an obscure game on my list. I feel like nobody owned or played it, but lots of memories with this one.
Omg I played this all the time. I remember one time I managed to get Blob to eat the Ketchup jelly bean that permanently turned him into a wall and being so sad
I'm really happy to see that being the age I am, the praise of gaming history is coming into its own. I love and appreciate it all. What a time to be alive.
I loved this!! I’m your age, and it’s so cool to hear someone recommend NES games that aren’t the typical top 10. I’ve always appreciated personal favorite recommendations over the objectively “best” games, so this was a lot of fun.
A lot of these were games I remember seeing at friends houses but never really playing and wasn’t familiar with. I’ll definitely be playing through a few of these now that I know a bit more about them.
Baster Master and Shadow of the Ninja look amazing!
Great list. Dragon Warrior 4 is my favorite in the series.
Mario 2 was my favorite as well. Love the music when you go inside the door to the cave. I love tmnt 2, Mike.Tyson Punch Out, Megaman 2 and for Castlevania....Super Castlevania.4 is my all time favorite and that games soundtrack still BANGS!!
Noticed you playing with Retro Achievements. Can't praise that site enough. It makes going back to old games really fun.
Amazing new series, can't wait to see the videos for each console
Duuude no way! I JUST went through the NES catalog a couple days ago myself! I was assembling my own curated playlist for NES, either games I have fond memories of (like Blaster Master, Little Nemo) or games I missed that and want to try to find (Dragon Warrior, Castlevania). Love this idea for a series
That's what I did the other day with castlevania. I got all the way up to dracula before the power went out in my neighborhood. I'm going to have to revisit this one and beat it for sure.
From 1992 to 2013 I was either in the Army overseas or deployed or working as a GS or as a contractor overseas and didn't really have time for games. Plus I traveled around so much back then that most of the time I was living out of a duffel bag or suitcase between "go here, do this" jobs.
I use my retro handhelds to catch up on what I missed. I did have a Sega CD as a young private but that was stolen from me in Germany by a corrupt NCO who broke into our stored-in-the-attic household goods when we were deployed to Bosnia back in '95.
Man, I loved the Sega CD. Had original copies of Snatcher, Sonic, Night Trap, etc.
All gone, stolen by that complete and utter b@st@rd and sold in pawnshops/shops across Hesse.
But I can play them all on my RGB30 or Pocket 3+ Metal.
That NCO went AWOL and fled, and was later "dropped-from-rolls" as a deserter but a group of us were able to track him down in the Netherlands and drag him back and hand him over to the MPs for prosecution. But that's a tale for another time...
Very excited for this. I love that these videos are starting to take off in this hobby; I, and I imagine so many, love the idea of retrogaming, but often have massive blindspots for different systems, don't know where to begin
Top 5 I’d add to the list: Zelda, Kirby, River City Random (all of which you mentioned), plus Excite Bike and Bionic Commando.
Russ, you’re absolutely one of my
favorite TH-camrs at the moment, not just because of your in-depth and thoughtful reviews, but for these videos too (including the Q&A) where we get to go down memory lane with you.
I’m definitely down for more of these kinds of videos.
I’m so glad TMNT made it to this list of your favourites! I enjoyed playing it when it first released as well!
Spectacular list. One correction however, Double Dragon 1 on the NES was only one player. I know, because that was my first NES game.
Yeah that was so disappointing. It had the one on one fighting game mode thing, but that wasn’t the same. I loved the 2 player co-op in the arcade and on pretty much every other port. Fun game though!
Little Nemo was one of my favorite movies as a kid, I loved the NES game but it was so hard to figure out when I was young. As I got older I got super excited to find a DVD copy of the movie at a highway convenience stop of all places. I still have it and I've watched it with my own kid. The making of the movie is really interesting as it's somewhat an anime produced for the American market.
I still love Gunnac. It's a phenomenal shmup (shoot em up). Very technical game with its power system, challenging but not impossible, looks great, and has a great sound track.
I didn't beat Expert with ricochets to this day 😢
It is also pretty expensive these days
It’s interesting to see that the most detail oriented, passionate hardware reviewer on the scene has almost the same video game biases and preferences as I do. Mario 2 over Mario 3 is a controversial choice, and I’d have replaced Shadow of the Ninja (which I’ve never heard of, but sounds like Ninja Gaiden X Castlevania) with Bubble Bobble. You even reminded me of Robin Hood, which was, as you said, a great rental.
I feel like this video fleshed you out in more 3D as a gamer, for me. I’d be really curious to see your top lists on other consoles. For nostalgia and comparison, SNES first. But now that I know how to assess our relative preferences better, I’d be really interested in your recommendations for consoles that were less popular, and thus caused me to miss some “hidden gems”.
The stories how you played these games really took me back. There’s something so special about those games you could only play at a friends house, or rent and play with brothers.
I love the games that are special to people just because those are the ones we happened to have at home.
Great list, here's some of mine in no particular order:
Gun Nac
Felix the Cat
Double Dribble
Excitebike
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode
Super Mario Bros 3
Metroid
R.C. Pro-Am
Little League Baseball: Championship Series
California Games
Skate-or-Die
Castlevania 3
The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
The Legend of Zelda
Marble Madness
Megaman 2
Little Samson
A Boy and His Blob
Caveman Games
Bubble Bobble
Battletoads & Double Dragon
"Now, we all love buying and setting up gaming handhelds, but did you know you can play games on them too? It's true!"
I was today years old…
I *really* enjoyed this video. It's so refreshing and wholesome to hear about your memories of these games, with beautiful captures
This is not the list I wanted, this is the list I needed. Going to have a Russ marathon and play these on the steam deck while on holiday time off.
Such a great video, you did great job capturing the feeling of playing games as a kid, got me full of nostalgia! Would love to see you do more of these with other systems
Oh man great idea Russ! Would love to see more like this.
I remember getting super Mario brothers 2 for my birthday. We had Pizza Hut for dinner and I was able to stay up late playing the game (even after I switched it off briefly to watch Doogie Howser MD, haha). I still rank it as one of the happiest moments of my life for some reason (despite accomplishing much in my life).
Happiness as a kid always beats happiness as an adult!
Enjoyed this clip (as well as your other content)!
The NES was my first console and it came with a 42 games cartridge, probably pirated games. My favorites were Balloon Fight, Super Spy Hunter, Blades of Steel and Contra
Have a very similar list:
15. Little Nemo
14. Batman
13. Probotector 2 (yes, I'm a PALiantologist 😅)
12. The Legend of Zelda
11. Turtles - The Arcade Game
10. Double Dragon ][
9. Mega Man 3
8. Duck Tales
7. Kirby's Adventure
6. Snake Rattle 'n Roll
5. Little Samson
4. Mega Man 2
3. Bucky O'Hare
2. Castlevania III
1. Super Mario Bros. 3
I was also 9 when the first Batman movie came out.
Great video. It brought back memories of maddening difficulty, cheat codes, asking friends at school how far they got in a game, borrowing a friend's Game Genie to beat a game, reading game mags in Walgreens, and staying up late at my friend's house playing Contra.
Its really fun to see you share your favorites looking forward to more videos on other systems like this. Happy Holidays!
Fun to listen to your experience of gaming with your brothers. Very nostalgic for me as my family did the same. What a cool era we grew up in.
You single handedly gave me a new hobby and love for retro gaming and retro gaming handhelds. Thank you
I’m the same age and this speaks to my heart. So glad to see Tecmo Super Bowl on this list!
Some games I loved that weren’t on here and often get skipped:
Gunsmoke -With an NES Advantage and turbo to the max, so much fun
Jackal - Jeeps, grenades, and missiles while saving POWs…what’s not to love
Tetris - The music in this game is stuck in my head to this day
Golf - first time playing golf and I loved it
Excitebike - it had a course editor!
Good list, and a lot of overlap with mine!
- Batman
- Battletoads
- Bionic Commando
- Blaster Master
- Castlevania 2
- Contra
- Gauntlet
- Gradius 1+2
- Mega Man 1+2
- Metroid
- Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
- Ninja Gaiden
- River City Ransom
- Stinger
- Super Mario 2+3
- Zelda 2
Wait wait wait… I’ve seen many videos from you, Russ, that showed Dr. Mario on multiple devices. How is that puzzle gaming masterpiece not on this list?!?! 😅
Dragon Warrior was also my first RPG, I love everything about that game except the convoluted controls. There is a rom hack that makes it so that you can automatically walk up and down stairs just by walking on the icon that helps tremendously.
I thought I was the only person who liked Shadowgate on NES, I love the soundtrack especially. I played it too many times to count but could never finish it, I'll probably have to play it again one day.
Thanks for recognizing tecmo Super Bowl. It doesn’t get nearly as much love as it deserves. You highlighted the facts well, and your identification of replayability speaks to why this should be acknowledged as a top tier game
I can't wait to see more from this series. I love your hardware reviews. They've helped me make a few purchases for my personal use cases. So it's fun to see what games you might be using all of your own devices for. Whether I learn about new games or not, whether I like the same games or not, I just really like seeing what people love.
Love your perspective and the invitation to meander down memory lane … what a different world gaming once was! As a fellow 80s and 90s kid, I remember the schoolyard serving as the precursor to Internet forums, the video store expanding our play experiences one weekend at a time, and the long lost juxtaposition of impossible to beat and 30 minute romps, often in the same game, separated by cheat codes. And the reminiscing on co-op play with siblings really brings it home-that’s one of the top reasons that I emulate today. Holidays and family gatherings still hold that communal gaming goodness when I bring along a laptop or Steam Deck to plug into the big screen. Great stuff, as always, Russ, looking forward to your further explorations on the topic! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
Dude...Wizards and Warriors was a game my brother and I played all the time. I loved it so much. I didn't think anyone else knew about it.
This is really helpful. I never played too many NES games and now don’t know where to start. Appreciate your help.
Wow I totally forgot about Shadowgate. I remember playing that game before.
My personal list of good NES games to play in no particular order are:
Super Mario Bros 3 and 2
Dragon Warrior 2-4
Castlevania 3
Adventures of Lolo 1-3
Final Fantasy
Megaman 2
Crystalis
Punch Out
TMNT II Arcade (the MAME version is much better)
Lifeforce / Gradius
Rivercity Ransom
Destiny of an Emperor
Double Dragon series - MAME is better
Faxanadu - not too bad
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Ninja Gaiden 1-3
Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Duck Tale
StarTropics
Super Dodge Ball
Contra and Super C
Battletoad
This is a fun idea for a series! A couple games I really enjoy that don't often make lists are Legacy of the Wizard and The Guardian Legend.
Great video! I love the idea of this series and I hope you continue with other classic systems like the Genesis, SNES, and GameBoy! I was also an '80s kid that grew up with many of these games either by friends or family. I have very fond memories of Life Force, Mega Man 2, Super Mario Bros 2, Little Nemo, Castlevania and Contra as well!
Some of my absolute favorites were Kirby's Adventure, Bubble Bobble, Mega Man 3, DuckTales, Adventure Island II, Adventures of Lolo, Shatterhand, and Super Mario Bros 3.
The great thing about NES games now is that there are so many awesome rom hacks for many of these games that breathe new life into them and provide a new spin on an old classic!
Definitely down for more of these types for videos. Between my cousin and I as kids, we had well over 50 NES games, yet you listed at least 5 that I’ve never played or even heard of.
hell yeah, blaster master might be my fav nes game
I gotta say this is content I love to hear about. We all know the "showcasable" games for handhelds but it's cool seeing every so often what you're interested in playing leaking into the videos
I really hope you do more of these, I love hearing about your history with gaming. A lot of us born in the 80s can reminisce, I would love to see your sega favorites. I’m a bit younger than you, so I know some of my memorial gaming moments you would have been in college, or serving for our country, but that’s alright.
Love this video because it reminded me of the era of owning games that were so hard that even after years we wouldn't beat them. We had Ironsword and never beat that. Another in that category is James Bond Jr.
Here's my list:
1. DuckTales
2. Rescue Rangers
3. Guerilla Wars
4. Goonies
5. Punch Out!!
6. Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (Disney)
7. Ninja Gaiden 1-3
8. Mission Impossible
9. Super WrestleMania
10. G.I. Joe
11. MegaMan 3 & 4
12. Nemo the Dream Master
13. Don Doko Don
14. Bart vs Space Mutants
15. Dick Tracy
What a legendary console and amazing memories for those of us who were kids at the time. Countless hours spent going through these amazing (and some not so amazing) games with my brothers and cousins.
Aside from the obvious big hitters, here are a few titles that I hold dear; Solar Jetman, Snake Rattle & Roll, Chip n' Dale, Marble Madness and Duck Tales
Gonna absolutely love this series man!
This is such a fun list! I have a Miyoo Mini Plus and a buddy of mine recently got the Anbernic 35XX Plus and we were able to play NES Contra together over Netplay! It was such a hoot.
This is going to be amazing seeing your videos about games too! Very excited. Couple of nitpicks...
1) Double Dragon NES didn't have 2 player 🤨
2) Contra impossible on three lives? 😎
Love your videos and channel. Happy Holidays Russ!
Maybe he's thinking of the Genesis version
More of these, this was fun and I learned about some cool games I hadn't heard of before :) The storytelling about your family/friends playing the games was a blast too.
Love this kind of video, and it goes so nicely with the hardware reviews and emulation guides. I know my favorite games from the old school systems, but there's always something new and weird to discover, since, like you mentioned, these were before the internet and it was actually super hard to discover games beyond going to someone's house that had some weird game, or randomly renting a game based off its cover.
The first double dragon didn’t have 2 player co-op, it was just single player. It had a vs mode, but not a co-op mode.
Always love videos like this and it's cool to hear your stories about them, bring on the ones for other consoles! One slightly more obscure series I'd recommend for folks checking out the NES is StarTropics, 2 games that were kind of Zelda mixed with a JRPG. The first one even had a moment where you had to dip a letter that came in the game box into water to reveal a secret code to advance, which was wild.
For anybody into Metroidvania games, Blaster Master absolutely qualifies. I actually got it when I got my NES, Christmas 1988, when it was brand-new. I don’t know what prompted my parents to choose it, but I’m glad they did.
Not in any particular order, I just needed to keep track haha
I’ll avoid attaching a memory or story to each game but one about the system: I was born 1991 so when I was able to play games the SNES and N64 were more current but my dad still had the NES out playing Duck Hunt and Zelda. He gave me his NES and SNES when he and my mother divorced and I still put lots of hours into it. Unfortunately when I was around 12 I saw an ad for the new GameBoy advanced SP. I gathered up my NES and sold it on eBay. Biggest regret of my life, especially since my dad is no longer here. But everytime I hear that click and the Zelda music start I feel home again :) Great video, I loved hearing the reflections instead of a cold read of some facts
1-Legend of Zelda
2-Punch Out
3-Mario Bros 3
4-Duck Tales
5-Duck Hunt
6-Mega Man 2
7-Donkey Kong
8-Mario Bros
9-Kung-Fu
10-DigDug
A video I didn't know I wanted. Nice. Merry Christmas, Russ
My first Dragon Warrior was the GBC two pack. It had so many QOL improvements that when I went to play the NES version just to experience it, the tedium almost made me quite so many times. Fun little game though. It’s great to see how the series all began.
Double dragon and contra brings back a lot of childhood memories. Looking forward to your GBA and GC games
Great idea for a series! I was really looking for games that people liked, not necessarily the best games on a console. I do think NES is a little too dated to be the console to look out for to play, feels more of a nostalgia console.
I would love if you did a similar video on the GBA and the PSP! 🩷
Great video and great idea with this new series. Not only talking about hardware all the time, but more about the games, as well.
Man, I love Chip 'n Dale 1 + 2 by CAPCOM on the NES. I've played it a thousand times and still play it. Just an awesome game!
I kept seeing the thumbnail for this video and didn't realize it was yours, so I've been ignoring it! Glad I finally clicked, and I'm looking forward to seeing the series continue!
Love this. I've turned acquiring, setting up, and tweaking emulation handhelds into a game in itself so that I kind of forgot to just play the games. And that's why I love my RG35XX, because I just spend time GAMING on it.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves! Yes! I absolutely loved the variety and challenge that was in that game. I played through that game so many times!
Solid list. I love these "personal favorite titles" lists rather than those "objectively" best of lists as these are the ones where you find games that people actually found fun during their lifetimes, and not those you enjoy coz someone else told you was good.
So to share my list of 15 personal favorites on the NES in no particular order:
Battle City
Super C
Tetris
Excite Bike
Gradius 2
Gun Smoke
Mike Tyson's Punch Out
Solomon's Key
Super Mario 3
TMNT 1 (yes, part one)
Top Gun 2
Super Mario 3
Batman 1
Wrestlemania (the one considered now as one of the worst WWF game on the NES. LOL. Had too much fun with this growing up with my cousins)
Balloon Fight
Some fun were had with these when I was young.
Please create more videos for this series! Amazing, this is just what I missed from you
From back when I played the NES, I remember these three games in a very special way: Batman (in the video), Choujin Sentai Jetman, and Monster in my Pocket. Jetman was a fairly uncomplicated Japanese TV series tie-in, and I never watched the TV series. But it was interesting because it had two modes: straightforward but well-executed action platformer, and a fight between two mecha. The sprites were truly gigantic for the NES. This game is still special for me.
Looking forward for a similar video on Genesis games!
Since getting into handheld emulation hardware, the coolest NES game I discovered from using one has been Arkista’s Ring. It’s a little like a single player Gauntlet or board-based Zelda. Lots of cool items, cool music, and real fun!
Thanks to the RG351m and Russ for getting me into finding gems like this in the first place.
Great choices. Mario 2, Punchout, tecmo Superbowl, Little Nemo and Contra all sit on my most loved NES games list.
Watching this reminded me that I had the Power Glove at one stage for the NES. It was a bit shoddy looking back at it, but I was the most popular kid in my neighbourhood for awhile! Punch Out was probably the most fun with the glove.
Great video, made me recall a lot of the nostalgia I had with my friend and games like excitebike, RC Pro am, etc.
also I loved Robin Hood when I was younger and I was starting to think I was the only one!
wizard and warriors!! My dad randomly bought this game, it holds a special place in my heart lol Great video.
Please do more of this. Loved the video. I’d like to see your top SNES and PlayStation games. I grew up with the NES and here is my top ten:
Mario 3
TMNT 2
Double Dragon 2
Castlevania 3
River City Ransom
Dr. Mario
Mario 2
Kirby
Baseball
Tecmo Dodgeball
Loved this list! Definitely titles I've never even heard of or even thought to try. I'd love to see more of this - along with your other videos, of course!
My brothers and I loved _Batman_ as well. I remember thinking of it in the same context as _Strider,_ which was another favorite of ours.
_Blaster Master_ was great, except for the lack of a good save feature, and was the first metroidvania-like game we played.
We loved all three _Castlevania_ games and had all sorts of fun figuring _Simon's Quest_ out. We started with that one, though, and it was unique and interesting to us. It was the first _Castlevania_ game to have strong RPG elements, perhaps to an even greater extent than _Symphony of the Night_ and later games. You could level up, talk to and interact with many NPCs, and you needed to collect certain items before you could go to other places. The great thing about _Castlevania III_ was the forked paths and alternate characters.
When we played _Double Dragon_ we purposely evened out the points so that we could work together better.
_Dragon Warrior_ was one of our first RPGs, so we loved that as well.
I remember playing _Life Force_ and we all thought it was good, but one of my brothers really liked it a lot.
We also started with _Mega Man 2,_ though we went back and played the original and the third as well. It was a favorite series of ours.
We played _Punch Out_ some, but it was never really a favorite of mine.
We must have been some sort of masochists because we liked the first _TMNT_ game. Of course, we loved the second one.
_Super Mario Bros. 2_ seemed oddly different to the first game to us, and we didn't play it a ton.
We weren't really fans of football games like _Tecmo Super Bowl._
_Little Nemo, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Shadow of the Ninja, Shadowgate,_ and _Wizards and Warriors_ weren't games that we knew well at the time. I did find out about _Shadowgate_ later, but it seemed like a step back after playing _Theron's Quest_ and _Eye of the Beholder,_ so I never got into it.
looking forward to future episodes of this!!
I love how unique this list is, like most peoples game collections back in the day, nobody knew what were the must own titles so everyone had some unique games. I hope you continue this series for other systems.
Wow! Incredible picks. I had some clue about most, but not one clue about that Mac port! Russ, keep doing these! This will train us all that it’s not the shell we play the game on, but the game itself.
I'm really excited for this series. Even though I'm the right age to have grown up with these games, the first home console my family bought was actually the PS2 when I was in my late teens. Before that, we were a PC (and GameBoy) gaming household only. So now that I'm getting into these retro handhelds, I'm trying to figure out what I should play on them to make up for lost time.
Great video. Especially the parts where you talk about recommended handhelds based on the system. Look forward to seeing for other systems in the future. Another great series approach would be to go over different handhelds based on lifestyle. Like someone looking for something to play around the house vs someone looking to play from business travel, etc.
Great video, Russ! Please do make more of such "my favourite games on console X"! And my personal favourite NES game would probably be Battle City. It never came out in the West, only Japan, but we had it on the pirate cartridges that were sold everywhere in the post-Soviet countries together with the pirate Taiwanese and Chinese Famicom clones. It was a lot of fun!