The 35 Most Graphically Mind-Blowing NES Games
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2024
- Do you think that 8 bit games are primitive and outdated graphically? You are wrong!
The Nintendo Entertainment System is the most important console in the history of home gaming, but it is also fair to acknowledge that its technical limitations were many and that 8-bit may have been somewhat outdated for modern gamers.
However, with the Famicom / NES hardware remaining popular and active on the retail scene for over a decade, game developers had a lot of time to perfect their programming techniques and squeeze every last bit of power out of the iconic console.
This video explores in depth the Nintendo NES catalog in search of those games that still amaze us for their 16-bit-like graphics techniques, for their clever artistic design, or for the quality of their sound. Timeless games that made a pixel art for which time seems not to pass!
In this video you will find:
• A game curation showing the NES best graphics ever made
• A selection of moments that showcase the technical capabilities of the 8 bit (in all its splendor)
• Information related to each game such as release date, developer company, game genre and system it was released on.
• Official game box arts with a 3D presentation.
• Educative and/or critical comments on the importance of the video game and why you should play it
Intro and Outro Music
Aries Beats "Synthwave Dreams 2020" is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: free-songs.de/synthwave-2020/
0:00 Intro
00:18 Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
00:42 Batman: Return of the Joker
01:06 Summer Carnival '92: Recca
01:31Bucky O'Hare
01:55 Moon Crystal
02:19 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
02:44 Crisis Force
03:08 Nigel Mansell's World Championship
03:32 Cosmic Epsilon
03:56 Captain Tsubasa II: Super Striker
04:21 Journey to Silius
04:45 Metal Storm
05:09 Town & Country II: Thrilla's Surfari
05:34 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
05:58 Mighty Final Fight
06:22 Super Mario Bros. 3
06:47 Blaster Master
07:11 Gradius II
07:35 Mr. Gimmick
08:00 Shatterhand
08:24 Vice: Project Doom
08:48 Little Samson
09:12 Slalom
09:37 Mitsume Ga Tooru
10:01 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers 2
10:25 Kick Master
10:50 Crystalis
11:14 Gremlins 2: The New Batch
11:38 Sword Master
12:03 Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
12:27 Mega Man 6
12:51 Contra
13:16 Kid Dracula
13:40 Battletoads
14:04 Kirby's Adventure
14:29 Outro
⚠️ All gameplay recording, game curation and opinions included in this video, as well as editing is completely done by me
Bits & Beats creates videos about the history of video games. In this channel you'll find comparisons, retrospectives, technical analysis, but, mostly, game curations with the idea of having an important task of preserving video games, and make them relevant to society at large.
Curation isn't just about digging up neat games, but it's also about preservation, interpretation, and using one's knowledge to make it relevant to people. With my videos I want older gamers to look back and remember the influence of video games on their lives, and new gamers to understand the larger context of the series they're playing for the first time today.
I put significant time and creative effort into each one of my videos, including research, digging into archives, playing video games and recording hours of footage, selecting specific clips, writing reviews for each title, and making a very careful video editing in the way to transmit both educational and entertaining values to my audience. Every video takes a lot of hours to produce, because I strive to give my audience a consistent, high-quality content.
Fidelity and preservation of the video games is essential in Bits & Beats, so the recordings are made with the highest bitrate quality. It is done this way to preserve original game look and sound through modern footage, with no superfluous additions. I recommend you watch the video at 4K and 60 frames per second to get the best possible viewing experience.
I hope you enjoy my videos and find them useful!
#BITSANDBEATS #nesgames #bestgraphics - เกม
Although you will find some omissions, I hope you like the selection. I tried to make it as varied and balanced as possible. The NES catalog is spectacular! Enjoy
I loved this video! Just when I thought ive seen everything, I see hardware pushers for the NES that Ive never even heard of before! This was super fun to watch!
@@SparkyMK3 I have one about the best graphics on the Neo Geo, but I will definitely make more videos about it. I love that machine. Many thanks Nicholas!
Great video. Thank for showing me 3 games I've been missing out on. That usually doesn't happen. 👉🏆
you really should have highlighted the Famicom version of contra since it has multiple stages with animated backgrounds and story cutscenes
Not bad I was surprised to see cosmic epsilon but if you really want to get your mind blown and see what the nes/famicom can truly churn out and not have slowdown check out tetrastar. It's the same as epsilon as it's the same team behind it.
Most of the games on this list are from Konami, a reminder that it was once a respectful game company, not the cheap deceitful crap we have today.
Capcom should just do us all a favour and buy their IPs out of their hands, hell their entire library off the dusty shelves. I'm sure Konami wouldn't mind if deep pockets are involved.
Konami really had it in the time of winning eleven....sadly....they didnt make the right choice that time
Deceitful? Lmfao!!!! How have they “deceived you” oh hyperbolic one? We know what we’re getting from the now, crap. Not to mention that you can always wait for reviews which at the very least, come out the day of the release of them game. No one is deceiving you, you’re simply not smart.
@@MrZeroExe Deceitful because Konami used to be a sign of quality. Now they create trash under the same name.
@@MrZeroExe - Heard they wronged Hideo Kojima ..
I remember when 3D graphics first started to become common. Everybody thought polygons were the future and that 2D spritework was outdated. Makes it kind of funny that NES visuals has aged a lot better than those very early polygon visuals.
I hated the first gen of 3d games and how ugly they looked. At the time I thought it was big mistake to abandon 2d games.
Remember 3D World Runner?
Mmm I love Bubsy 3D
You mean you don't like Bubsy 3d?!
Not for nothing, the ps1 era has dated the worst IMHO
I love the way NES games look in general. Yes, I grew up in the 80's and 90's, so I might have a nostalgic bias, but there's a certain charm about NES graphics.
A lot of these games has charm and it wasn’t about zombies and gore
It was just plain fun
i completely agree and the music of the 8 bit era had some of the best game music.
I was born in 99 but I still love NES.
@@josephandreuccetti7270 Zombies and gore can be fun, too. Besides, "zombies and gore" was in Castlevania as well. I like to give credit where it's due.
@@nasapeepo721 the nes diffinitly has charm i was born in 83 its always nice to see people who were born later share the same love for the system even with all the current systems out there its always nice to akways come back to the 8 bit goodness:)
Agree with this one, especially with Kirby's Adventure and Battletoads. Those two are the winner for me.
Castlevania 3 is my personal favorite. A perfect combination between awesome graphic, awesome gameplay, and awesome music.
And replay value.
Castlevania 3 was the NES game I played the most. And it was one of the last games I bought even when it was on sale for $20. I was really happy with the Castlevania Aniversary Collection especially since the Japanese Famicom version of Castlevania 3 is even better.
Check out SOLSTICE to see the best graphics on the NES. Not the most technical game but the music also rocks
This is a nice list with many classic games on it. Batman: Return of the Joker on the NES surprisingly both looks and plays better than the Genesis version of the game. It's also nice to see Crystalis getting some attention, it's one of the best games on the NES in my opinion and it often gets overlooked.
For some more visually impressive NES/Famicom games, check out: Metal Slader Glory (this game required a much larger than usual Famicom cartridge to case the extra hardware required to display the graphics), The Immortal, Getsu Fuuma Den, Digital Devil Story Megami Tensei II, Sweet Home (the battle graphics are great), Xexyz, Nightshade, Gargoyle's Quest II, and Zen: Intergalactic Ninja.
Every time many of you recommend games I realize more and more how presumptuous or bombastic my video titles are (maybe I should change that even if I end up getting penalized on TH-cam SEO). Be that as it may, it's always a pleasure to learn from you guys and contrast video game choices.
Crystalis is an underrated gem! Faxanadu, too.
You can tell the makers of Little Sampson were so proud of those 360 degree spin animations. They work them into as many scenarios as they can.
one that always impressed me graphically was Battle of Olympus. It has such a massive color palette for an 8 bit game it also had a good number of enemies and varied landscapes.
Totally agree. One of the best for sure.
The team behind Castlevania 3's pixel art really made sure that the limitations of the pixel art would benefit a lot giving the game it's atmosphere. The sharp shading, the bright colors, the disturbing content, it almost reminds me of Caravaggio's pieces funnily enough.
METROID and KID ICARUS are some of the best looking NES games and they were FIRST. They use a different graphics technique but no extra chips
All this 8-bit music and imagery just makes me feel 11 years old again. If you're a bit younger it may be hard to understand but as primitive as this stuff looks today, if you were a kid back when this was the peak of home gaming, it was mesmerizing
Good to see Kick Master getting on the list! It's one of better looking NES games I've ever see and barely anybody talks about it.
I actually own it. Definitely good looking. A bit tough at times, but fun.
i am also a big fan of kickmaster an amazing game
@@richardmeyerii5622 i own it as well it goes for a pretty penny these days
Same. I used to play it.
@nemo pouncey LOL gameplay was top notch in nes days ; now it feels akward playing with thumbstick instead of D-Pad.
I used to program games in Assembly and I can appreciate these amazing visual more than average people. Some of the things that seem unnecessary was done just because it looks much more realistic. Such as splashes around the platform under waterfall. It's incredible!
you can tell the coders are flexing, like a sort of unwritten competition between developers that they all silently acknowledged.
The tiniest details usually make the biggest difference.
I wonder if their build script calculated the all the sizes (code, gfx, sfx, music) so that it'd make it easier to identify where they had to make changes during the development process ?
Crisis Force in particular blows me away. there's a proper sense of depth with the pixel art. amazing
Willow is omitted pretty regularly, but it’s probably the best looking NES title. I thought it was a SNES game when I first saw a play through, it’s that impressive.
I'm happy to see Captain Tsubasa on this list. One of the best looking games on the NES. Always blew me away how good the effects for the special shots looked.
and the brillianr soundtrack- my fav game on nes
I never got past those twin players. They were tough.
"Totally Rad" and "The Guardian Legend" might make this list for different reasons. "Double Dragon 2" is also a very nice looking game.
Totally Rad had some amazing graphical bosses.
Whenever I revisit Guardian Legend, there are certain stages that have so much happening on the screen that I'm just like, "How is the game speed not chugging?"
A NES game I find had amazing visual and presentation is Gargoyles Quest II. I played it recently and was so surprised with how good it looks
my visor detected a pure botasequies
It really is incredible how they were able to pull off these kinds of graphics on 8-bit hardware back in the day, especially with Revenge of the Joker, Metal Storm, Gradius II and Kirby’s Adventure.
4:21 journey to sirius was AWESOME. Awesome gameplay, awesome music, awesome graphics. It was definitely a 16 bits game.
If they hadn't lost the movie license for Terminator, it would have been the one movie based game that didn't suck!
Your misspelling makes me wander if it was meant to be Journey to Sirius and the Japanese developers got the l and r confused
Return of the joker is probably the most impressive Nes game ever made. It came out very late (like castlevania 3) and I can still remember to purchase both of them brand new for 19.99$ (actually CHF in Switzerland) the SNES was already there since 1 year and nobody cared about Nes games anymore...we sold out Nes to get the snes but purchased the Nes again new for 59$ to be able to play Castlevania 3 but Batman impressed me even more technically !
This video was so well done.Thanks for sharing!
Awesome!!! I always really loved the castlevania one ! Where Trevor is in meditation in front of the cross before the battle!!!!😎👍👍
Simply amazing. I had most of these gems back in the day. A truly nostalgic and inspiring time travel to the golden age of gaming. Thank you so much for this. 😃
yor foquin moma is may niu bitech
Good selection! I've also seen from a collection at a friend's house that Battletoads vs Double Dragon pushed even further at the time.
The Japanese version of Contra has animated trees in the opening level, probably should have shown that one.
Stained glass in Dracula's Curse is gorgeous to this day
One of the best TH-cam channels of all time so underrated I swear
1994 was one of the best years in gaming. I was given a brand new NES, and all of those newly came out games of 1990-1993 were available to me
You got a Nintendo system in 1994?? Man you joined in pretty late. By that time all of the kids had nearly forgotten about the NES and were caught up in the next-gen console craze!
Great video showcase, I just wish that you showed bosses in some of the games where you said the bosses look good.
Looks like a great channel that I'm glad I stumbled upon.
Liked, subscribed, commenting for the algorithm.
Awesome list ! glad you included the OG - Contra 🔥🔥🔥🔥⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️❤️.
Great video. Was so happy to see that Bucky O' Hare made your list! I went in, wondering if it'd be included or not. Such a beautifully animated and underrated game, as well as an underated cartoon too. I miss the '80s dang it! 🙂 Lol.
Thanks for the video. A lot of good games to get to. And I had completely forgotten of having played Mitsume Ga Tooru!
I love your content and also every detail of your edition style. I hope one day you have more subscribers, you're awesome.
Many thanks Emmanuel :))
Love the list of selection 100%!!Captain tsubasa is my fav NES game of all time and to see tht on the list makes me happy..Gonna try the others on this list on emulation..😊
Marvellous vid, out of all of these I had; Super Mario Bros 3, Blaster Master and Gremlins 2. I so wish I had gotten Castlevania 3 and Batman 2 back then. It was a mistake not to. Gimmick looks fun. Sunsoft, Rare and Konami did amazing stuff. You should do a follow up video.
What an awesome compilation you created, thanks!
Blaster master and Crystalis- 2 of my favorite games from the NES. Criminally underrated. Love the gameplay and control over the characters is so smooth.
I like how this video showed the Famicom version of "Castlevania 3 - Dracula's Curse"
(or "Akumajô Densetsu = "The Legend Of The Devil's Castle", as it is called in Japan");
the sound in that version really takes the whole game to another level.
Great list, but I miss Track n field II in it, that game has some nice graphics and was ahead of its time.
Graphically, Battletoads was impressive. Difficulty-wise, it was punishing.
So many levels that I had no idea existed until I saw them on TH-cam at 35 hahaha
Terrific video-lotta great nostalgia here!
I really like that you considered games from the entire Famicom library. Great video.
Both Moon Crystal and Comic Epsilon are games I've never heard of, but look totally up my alley.
Side note, I love how the music in Captain Tsubasa goes perfectly with the player's run cycle.
Metal Storm is such an underrated adventure title. Love these videos.
great video! "Werewolf: the last warrior" was amazing too!
3:41 Wow, I didn't know this game existed, it looks amazing, that intro was great!
Some of the best gfx here are seen in Batman and Crisis Force. The way they made it look like it has parallax scrolling is brilliant. Basically they created an animation a few frames long that makes it look like this huge moving clouds that are in 3D. Moon Crystal has really super nice animation, so smooth for an NES title. Not even SNES games had that level of animation most of the time.
I remember the last boss of Kirby being crazy when I was a little kid. It stuck out more than anything I had played.
This Is my kind of list!
I love it!!
Good list. I might add River City Ransom. Its graphics were simple but stylish.
Great list bro, thank you
Thankyou for giving my greatest memory back to me❤
So many cool games I never even knew about. And that's why the NES and retro gaming for that matter is so amazing!
Great video! Some nes games look like snes at times which is crazy.
Great selection 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I have always loved these videos. Hoping to see some sega cd love in the future! Never owned that particular one myself but I just love some of its library.
Makes you really see what it's like to have people who love their job with management who isn't pushing deadlines down their throats.
Do you plan on doing a video focused on the Neo Geo anytime soon? Im really, really loving these sprite focused videos youve been posting!
Most of my favorite game rentals of all time are on this list. I see games like Shatterhand, GI Joe, Vice Project Doom, Kick Master, Gremlins 2 wishing they were still available. I have over 100 NES games but missing these ones.
I have Castlevania 3, Super Mario Bros 3, Kirbys Adventure, Battletoads, Contra, which are still favorites of mine.
I like everything on this list except Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers, Kid Dracula, and Slalam
I also own all 3 of them. Wish I could trade them for some of the others.
Otherwise this is a great list.
I would have put Double Dragon II, Snake Rattle and Roll, and Punch Out over the 3 bad games on this list and would easily call them superior in every way possible.
I guess my disappointment in Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers is because I was 15 when it came out not a kiddie. No nostalgia here but I cringe at this game. I was disappointed it wasn't DuckTales which is the only series of Disney games I will play.
GI Joe games were really awesome! I doubt they will ever see the light of day again due to legal reasons. It would be a miracle if they were not to remain abandonware forever.
I wasn't a kid when Chip N Dale 1 came out on the NES, didn't like it back then, but you know what, they grew on me as I got older. I have both games in the series, as well as Kid Dracula, and Slalom, would not get rid of them for anything. I had that same feeling years later with Yoshi's Island that I did with Chip and Dale (and Duck Tales, a friend of mine had it and C&D), but wouldn't you know it, Yoshi's Island grew on me, and I got to feel like a kid again, even though Yoshi's Island basically came out when I was around 20 years old. Age should not deter you from liking a game, hell sometimes later in life you start to appreciate the games you didn't back then, unless it's something like Hydlide, which is terrible at any age, and one I am unfortunate enough to own a copy of, thanks to a friend giving me it, and Ghosts N Goblins when his bike, a backpack full of his games, plus my copy of Super C NES, all got stolen.
Blaster Master had a bit of a drop in frames there, but still looked good overall. Loved this vid. Your channel does great things and I have faved numerous vids you made. Keep up the great works! ^
Many thanks mate (today a new one of the NES ;))
Famicom is one of the most reputable consoles in history especially for what its hardware was able to do. In fact, it went far beyond what was expected and was much brighter than its 16-bit successor, which had its project flaws there. Sometimes it is unbelievable to see certain games that were held for Famicom and say that they ran in such a simple system, but at the same time so elaborate and efficient.
Ahh, man. I saw Shatterhand and I was thinking "Man, Vice: Project Doom better be on here."
You read my goddamn mind.
So proud to have owned (and beaten!) that game as a kid. A super-hidden gem.
Should caveat Castlevania 3 though: What you got is footage of the Japanese version (Akumajou Densetsu) that had extra sound capability the US version didn't have (which is still good, just not AS good) due to having a custom chip that added extra sound channels. It also had some pretty interesting differences (Grant plays totally differently, for example) if you're interested in looking it up!
Also, fun fact: Capcom didn't publish Megaman 6 in North America. Nintendo themselves did! I guess Capcom didn't feel that it would sell all that well...
Shatterhand is good, but I prefer Japanese Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain, because it has a better version of Area C and this theme is a pure gold and for me it has more sense (e.g. if you have the same symbols 2 times in a row you have a gun, not armor). Best game of my childhood. Generally there are some differences between Shatterhand and Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain and Natsume/Angel ihmo was best developer of 8 bit games.
That G.I. Joe game had some really high level pixel art! The red highlighted background cave walls looked like something out of a comic book! Great stuff here!
Amazing recopilation, but I really think you could have added "Tecmo Super Bowl" and "Double Dragon 2 or 3" (maybe the one with the Battletoads). Apart from that, great vid! 👍
Double dragon 3 , Batman , Faxanadu , Spiderman return of the sinister six are some of the best
8:00 also you could mention about Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain, which this is a japanese version and very similar, but there are some differences, especially Area C is a pure gold with that theme. If somebody can play that version, is worth try. Generally Natsume/Angel ihmo was best developer of 8 bit games.
Is the music/sound playing in the background during your message "all footages, game curation & ...." from a game?
I like your videos.. great work
No, is not from a game. Aries Beats "Synthwave Dreams 2020" Thanks!
Great list of games. I grabbed the roms for a couple of the famicom titles so I can experience them myself on my MiSTer.
kirby's adventure pushed the NES harder than anything else before or since. The game is a technical marvel and a masterclass in programming.
I did not expect to find so many "new" games. Great collection of games
It’s hard to beat SMB3. Amazing graphics and gameplay and controls. Not to mention replayability. Almost the perfect game.
You forgot to mention "Street Fighter 2010 the Final Fight" that game was so colorful for an NES game.
Agree, looks great for the time it was released.
Great list! If you ever make a follow-up video (as there are surely more of those games), have a look at Solar Jetman. It’s an often overlooked masterpiece.
If one needs any evidence of graphics from Solar Jetman, they need only rotate their character sprite. It's so simple, yet at the same time has a ridiculous amount of detail for giving the sprite three-dimensional depth for an NES game.
I remember a games magazine telling how Castlevania 3 would have exceptional graphics also on a technical level, but the aspect that hit me much more in the game was its awesome soundtrack.
The sound tracks were so good. Bangers...
Blaster Master!! One of my all time favs.
Lets talk about the music!!! Incredible video 👍👍
Great video awesome content new sub here thanks for sharing 😀
Que buena recopilación, algunos los conocía pero hubieron varios que no. Esta lista se va a mis favoritos :)
Gracias ;)
How I loved "Little Samson". It is an all time favorite
Never heard of moon crystal. It's amazing that after all these years I'm still finding out about new games
Excellent selection of games
Good selection mate. I consider Batman still the best looking NES game IMO.
I loved that game but man was it tough lol have you ever played gi Joe?
Batman is definitely a gem for NES, animation and gameplay are so smooth. Honestly, I’d change a lot of game titles in this list: Battle Toads & Double Dragon looks more superior and polished than first Battle Toads; Zen Intergalactic Ninja looks really good; and for the real masterpieces - Crash and The Boys game series from Technos Japan.
I support your comment 100%. I was looking for the first Sunsoft Batman on the list and I was going to write a comment claiming its deserved place. I'm glad to know that other people feel alike. Batman has one of the best 8 bit graphics ever, second to none. A very unique style in NES graphics that would be great to see in new indie games. Best
A system with a truly magical graphic style. It’s full of charm, character and clarity. When people have less, we create more.
Glad to see NG3:ASOD was on here. I loved TGL, LifeForce, DS:TNL, and W:TLW as well.
Thanks for making this; an interesting list to be sure. But a glaring omission - BIONIC COMMANDO. Insane gameplay, variation of backgrounds, and epic enemy animation.
Rad Racer - which is basically Outrun on the NES and especially the first stage but also night levels are mighty impressive for 8-bit!
When Square hired Nasir, Masafumi Miyamoto wanted to show off Nasir's 3D programming abilities (they also used this on 3D World Runner).
I'm shocked by there graphics because I spent my childhood playing low graphics quality games with very simple graphics like Donkey Kong.
NES is quite a beast.
People are missing the goodness that was a crt monitor. The games look pixelated here because there is no crt blur of the graphics. But on a crt they looked smooth and in some cases quite detailed because the artists designed the sprites to take advantage of that effect.
Yup that’s why CRTs are so sought after in the retro community.Some emulators try to simulate it but it’s never gonna look the same.
I'd love to see a hack of Kick Master with the main character replaced with either Chun-Li or Juri from Street Fighter, both of whom primarily use kicks as their attacks.
There's a few games I have never heard of. I assume Famicom for some of these? Great video!!!
Indeed, there's Famicom games too. Many thanks!
Solid list 👍🏻
Thanks so interesting for games ive never played.
Really good list of the games.
Great list. I love em all!
surprised too. I thought I already knew all the NES games 😍 apparently there are still many games with good graphics, with moving backgrounds too.
Here are my recommendations, I think the graphics are good 😀:
1. Zen Intergalactic Ninja
2. Power Blazer
3. Argus no Senshi
As much as I like Super Mario Bros. 3, it is outclassed in terms of game graphics by Kirby's Adventure, also developed in-house by Nintendo, in association with HAL Laboratory.
I do think Super Mario Bros 3 has good graphics, mainly in the character sprites. But I find the backgrounds are pretty plain compared to the other games on the list.
Love it. I subscribed.
Kirby's Adventure was one of the first games I ever completed as a kid, and the graphics were so good I largely remember it as an SNES game
Lo mejor para el final con Kirby adventure 😊👌
Antes de sugerirte Cosmic epsilon, también se me había ocurrido Nigel Mansells. Estos dos que acabo de mencionar son una probadita de lo que sería el mode 7 en la siguiente generación con la super Nintendo.
Ese del mono que patina me recuerda al que te ayuda a viajar por las áreas que ya pasastes en la trilogía de Donkey Kong para SNES.
Por cierto veo más grande la letra en la franja amarilla... La cambiaste? Si es así... Gracias.
Sabes muchísimo de videojuegos!
@@BitsBeats Gracias. Ha sido toda una vida rodeada de videojuegos.