What NES game should I play?

[supremespleen]

I've found my old ROM collection back form when I was a kid. I've got a whole bunch, and I'm not exactly sure where to start. What are some of the 'must play' NES games?

[Nutritious]

Bionic Commando

[Devyn]

Bionic Commando - No jump (don't need one), a long bionic arm that allows you to navigate and swing around as well as grab enemies. And you have all kinds of guns that can be used with the bionic arm. Cool stages, good music, and difficulty. And a very strange final boss.

Ninja Gaiden (all of them) - Awesome story, music, and true ninja-like game play. Arguably the first game to introduce movie-like cutscenes to enhance the feel and story of the game. The music is amazing on all three, although there seem to be plot holes on the third game. You will get your ass beat.

Blaster Master - Awesome adventure where a young country boy tries to find his toad, finds a power suit and power tank, and ends up battling evil aliens under the earth. Awesome gameplay, upgrades galore, and thank Jesus for save states because it is looooooong.

Little Nemo: The Dream Master - Cool gameplay, feeding monsters and take their powers, travel through diverse worlds, big badass weapon you can't use until the end, wicked good music (typical for NES games), and very challenging.

Dragon Warrior 1, 2 ,3 ,4 - Early-style turn based RPGs that are fun to play and will cause you to die numerous times. Cool atmosphere.

Battletoads, Battletoads and Double Dragon, Double Dragon 1 and 2 - All of these are great side-scrolling fighters/platforming games that demand your attention. Look out for awesome music, killer special moves (read some FAQs, you don't want to miss anything), and big bosses that will beat you without mercy.

Zelda 1 and 2 - No explanation needed. Yes, Zelda 2 is much different, but an awesome game, and they both deserve to be beaten by you.\

Megaman series - At least try the first three, and 4-6 are still quite good. Not only do these games require good reflexes, strategy is very important - choose the right stages and choose the right weapons. Music is grandiose, so much that it has spawned tributes like the Megas and the Protomen. Control is solid as well.

Metroid and Kid Icarus - Just fucking do it. I dare you.

If you like puzzle games, then go for Tetris, The Adventures of Lolo (1-3, they are all good and will fuck your brain)

Extended learning: After you grow some NES balls, you should try some more experimental games: try Snake Rattle and Roll, Street Fighter 2010 (actually quite good if you learn to actually play it), Cobra Triangle, Karnov, Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, and Panic Restaurant

Now, be prepared, and make sure you have a good controller to work with too.

[Kizyr]

River City Ransom.

I'm sure there are others that I can't think of at the moment. I'll take a look at the ROMs I got once I get home for more ideas...

EDIT:

Snake Rattle and Roll, Street Fighter 2010 (actually quite good if you learn to actually play it), Cobra Triangle, Karnov, Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, and Panic Restaurant

Street Fighter 2010 is great (I had the cartridge itself back in the NES days). It's incredibly difficult, but a really fun platform game once you get good at it.

Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle was a good puzzle-ish platform game, also.

If any of these are too hard, well... There's always abuse of save states.

Oh... Mike Tyson's Punch Out! There's another good one. KF

[Tricklozen]

If you're just going to play something, then Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! is it, otherwise, as already mentioned.

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

I enjoyed Mother.

[Devyn]

River City Ransom.

I'm sure there are others that I can't think of at the moment. I'll take a look at the ROMs I got once I get home for more ideas...

EDIT:

Street Fighter 2010 is great (I had the cartridge itself back in the NES days). It's incredibly difficult, but a really fun platform game once you get good at it.

Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle was a good puzzle-ish platform game, also.

If any of these are too hard, well... There's always abuse of save states.

Oh... Mike Tyson's Punch Out! There's another good one. KF

Oh yeah, Punch Out. I've never beaten Mike Tyson. As much as I enjoy punch out, I throw the controller down in frustration after an hour.

[supremespleen]

Hm. Any way I can get an NES controller to work with my computer?

[Devyn]

There is a way, I've even seen it done with PS2 controllers, but you'll have to look that up on your own. Just get a decent $20 controller. You can find them just about anywhere.

[Bigfoot]

Few off the top of my head:

Super Mario Bros. 3

Contra

Crystalis

Any of the TMNT games(yes, even the first )

Zelda

Metroid

[DeepChild]

+1 to Blaster Master, Kid Icarus, and Metroid. I also loved the original Metal Gear. Aside from the great gameplay, this game is worth experiencing if only to be shown how far localization has come in 20 years.

As far as making a NES controller work with your PC, Google seems to think that it is a rather complicated process involving soldering etc. However, there do seem to be SNES controller to USB adapters out there for sale.

[Adam_Slight]

Play "M.U.L.E" for like 2 minutes and then delete it.

[JJT]

battletoads is amazing.

if you like puzzle games, look no further than lolo3.

[jmr]

My favorites are Kirby's Adventure, Super Mario Bros. 3, and TMNT 3: The Manhattan Project.

I'd also recommend checking out DuckTales, Captain Skyhawk, Adventure Island II, and Thrilla's Surfari. I don't see them on many recommendation lists, but I think they're alright games.

[Brycepops]

I would recommend Dr. Chaos (how could I not? >:3), and...where's the Double Dragon love? ;-;

[Shining Mirage]

Journey to Silius

Bump n' Jump

Double Dragon 2 (Go pick on Mr. Violence)

Super C (Just because)

Rad Racer

Megaman 1-3

Zelda (Your own TAS, I guess...?)

Super Mario 2 & 3

Bionic Commando

...I'm all out of ideas, outside of that. Unless you feel brave enough to tackle Rolling Thunder...

[DukeNukem007]

Play the Japanese Castlevania 3 (Akumajou Densetsu.) Vastly better music (VRC6 chip,) slightly better graphics and gameplay.

Madara is a good Konami RPG that also has excellent VRC6 music, and is Japanese but has a translation hack (go to Aeon Genesis.) A little inconvenient in the gameplay department, though.

I want to see the Lagrange Point translation finished!

[Kizyr]

There is a way, I've even seen it done with PS2 controllers, but you'll have to look that up on your own. Just get a decent $20 controller. You can find them just about anywhere.

I believe RedOctane has a pretty inexpensive PS1/PS2 -> USB converter. I use that, plus a first-generation (no rumble or analog) PS1 controller always, and have found that to be the best controller in general.

The thing is, all the $20 controllers I've found designed specifically for PCs have crapped out quickly and been pretty poor quality. Those old PS1 controllers were designed to take decades of button-mashing, so they hold up much better. On top of that, you have plenty of shoulder-buttons to assign to extra emulator functions (like speeding up/slowing down/reversing the game, save/restore states, etc.). KF

[Beatdown]

I had once played this weird game as a child called Monster Party that felt like a really bad dream only I was beating the shit out of it with a baseball bat and turning into a flying nightmare dragon thing. Then there was Little Nemo: The Dream Master which was the total opposite because I was throwing candy at things and turning into bees and frogs and shit while riding giant toy trains.

Man, I played some trippy games as a kid.

[Penfold]

Gonna have to agree with any Mega Man game, along with Metroid, Punch Out!!, Super Mario 1-3, TMNT, Zelda,and Double Dragon...especially Mega Man 3, Metroid, and Punch-Out!!.

I also recommend 1942, 1943, Castlevania, and Ninja Gaiden. I know there are more, but those are the ones which come to mind right away.

[Devyn]

I had once played this weird game as a child called Monster Party that felt like a really bad dream only I was beating the shit out of it with a baseball bat and turning into a flying nightmare dragon thing. Then there was Little Nemo: The Dream Master which was the total opposite because I was throwing candy at things and turning into bees and frogs and shit while riding giant toy trains.

Man, I played some trippy games as a kid.

Monster Party is cool on its weirdness alone. The beginning, when everything changes in front of that giant tree, it's just freaky as hell. Don't forget about fighting kabobs, onion rings, punk rock guitarists, house cats, and upside-down naked people buried in the ground.

[Red Shadow]

if Earthbound 0 isnt in there i suggest you acquire it

[Penfold]

Then there was Little Nemo: The Dream Master which was the total opposite because I was throwing candy at things and turning into bees and frogs and shit while riding giant toy trains.

Oh man, I very vaguely remember the movie. Wow, that's nostalgic.

[Nick Hyral]

Few off the top of my head:

Super Mario Bros. 3

Contra

Crystalis

Any of the TMNT games(yes, even the first )

Zelda

Metroid

*shudders at the thought of the first TMNT* Sadistic much?

Yes.. YES!!! Mario 3.. I still pick that up every month or so and play.. not Allstar version.. Itchy4tasty NES goodness

I'm going with MegaDave.. goes without thought. Kid Icarus and Metroid. Big emphasis on Zelda 2. I also liked Yoshi I think that's what it was called.. stacking all the bloopers and such.. stuffing them in eggs when you can.

[Barnsalot]

No Final Fantasy yet?

But, I guess there are plenty of better versions out now that you wouldn't need to get into the NES one.