I'd call 1986-1992 the main NES years (although it was around as late as 1995/96 I believe), so it's mostly an 80's topic.

To this day, it's my favorite gaming system - we got it in 1986 or '87 (I was 5, I think) and for the next several years, I'd subscribe to Nintendo Power and was pretty into the new games. My dad and I played 'em together often too.

By 1994 or so, I was 12 and didn't quite have the time to pay attention/learn new games coming out, so for about 5 years, I just played the newer stuff at friends' houses, etc but never bought any of them myself.

I guess that time off really took me out of the loop 'cause here in 2005 it's still my mainly known system - hey, it's dated and the games are simplistic, but they're still fun to me after all this time.

If I had to pick 5 "Desert Island" games (without repeating any series), maybe:

Legend of Zelda 1
Super Mario 3
Metroid
Dragon Warrior 1
Castlevania 1

So, what are your favorite games, or thoughts on the system in general? :)

I was an SMS (Sega Master System) kid, so I found love for most of the nes games through emulation.  :(
I still love my SMS though.  Some great games for that thing.

But anyway, here are my nes faves:

The Mario series
Punchout
Dirty Harry
Kirby's Adventure
Die Hard
TMNT series
Final Fantasy

These are arcade games but they can be found on nes:
Defender
Pac-man
Galaxian
Galaga

I bought an NES in '86 or '87 with my paper route money. (I was 15 or 16.) You might be too young to remember this, but in the early 80's the Atari 2600 was the standard. However, by the mid 80's it had become quite dated, and while several manufacturers tried to market next-generation consoles (Colecovision, Intellivision, and the Atari 5200, to name a few) none of them really took off. The NES was the first home video-game console to really take off after the video game market crashed in about '83 or '84. And while today it seems "dated and simplistic," when it first came out it blew people away, especially after years of playing the old Atari games.
   The controllers on the NES were a godsend. Anyone here who is over 30 can tell you that those old Atari joysticks were murder on your wrists, and I myself could usually handle about 30-45 minutes before my wrists would go numb. And while the D-pad took a little getting used to at first, once you adjusted you could play for hours at a time. (While video game controllers may have become more complex over time, their basic design stems from the original NES controllers.)
   
 My favorite games:

- The original Super Mario Brothers
- Excitebike
- Contra
- R.C. Pro Am
- Mike Tyson's Punch Out

Super Mario Bros.
Supe Mario Bros. 2
Contra
Rampage
Mike Tyson's Punchout
Legend of Zelda
Duck Hunt
Metroid
Castlevania

I bought an NES in '86 or '87 with my paper route money. (I was 15 or 16.) You might be too young to remember this, but in the early 80's the Atari 2600 was the standard. However, by the mid 80's it had become quite dated, and while several manufacturers tried to market next-generation consoles (Colecovision, Intellivision, and the Atari 5200, to name a few) none of them really took off. The NES was the first home video-game console to really take off after the video game market crashed in about '83 or '84. And while today it seems "dated and simplistic," when it first came out it blew people away, especially after years of playing the old Atari games.

As far as "personal" memories of Atari, not much, but I'm pretty familiar with them since I love just about everything 80's. (In fact, despite my better memory towards the end of the decade, I actually prefer the culture of, 1982 over 1989.)

I heard alot about those joysticks - I can imagine since it was just a stick, no buttons or controllers. I know they had machines in next to every place in the 80's too - even 7-11's (as Marty himself joked in BTTF Part 3! LOL).

I heard alot about those joysticks - I can imagine since it was just a stick, no buttons or controllers. I know they had machines in next to every place in the 80's too - even 7-11's (as Marty himself joked in BTTF Part 3! LOL).
Not to nitpick or anything, but they did have one button:

http://www.thosewerethedays.de/items/hardware/vcs/Atari_CX_40_Standard_Joystick_Controller.jpg

There was also a space game called "Section Z" (I had to look it up, it's been forever) for NES that I remember playing for hours on end. It seemed quite advanced for the NES, and I can't remember whether I solved it or not. Anyone else remember this?

The Legend of Zelda
Super Mario Bros 2 & 3
R.C. Pro-Am
Mike Tyson's Punch Out
Blades of Steel
Tecmo Bowl
TMNT 2 (The Arcade Game)
Contra (up, up,down,down,left right, left right, B,A, Start !!!)
Mega Man
Metroid

Zelda (I bought the system just so I can play that game-my sister introduced it to me)
Dr. Mario
Dragon Warrier
Star Tropics (even though I got very frustrated with it)




Cat

My parents' basement is turning into a museum for obsolete video game consoles.  ;D

My parents' basement is turning into a museum for obsolete video game consoles.  ;D


Over the past 5 years or so, I have been scarfing up old NES games. I can usually find them for a dollar or less.




Cat

I have been collecting also. I have 3 Atari 2600 consoles + 1 of the Sear's 2600 version, 1 NES, 2 Sega Master Systems, and 1 Sega Genesis. I have games and controllers for all of them and still play them from time to time.

The Atari 2600 console had been around almost 10 years(first release November 1977) by the time Nintendo decided to release it in the U.S. It(the NES) had been available in one form or another in Japan even before the Atari was available. Atari bungled by a: selling out to corporate greed, b: not updating the sytem, c: not making the console and game cartridges more affordable, d: lack of advertising. By the time they(Atari) figured this out the writing was already on the wall. The 2600 was good for a 4-bit system, later a crude 8-bit was developed within the games. The 5200 was more of an early home computer system to compete with Commodore. And don't forget the Atari ST, which may have made the difference if released sooner.

  Oooops, I'm rambling........Later

I liked:

Super Mario Bros.
Zelda
The Goonies    :D

Star tropics
Star tropics II: zoda's revenge ( still to this day cannot beat...how pathetic lol)
Dr. Mario
a boy and his blob ( actually had a handmade map....and chart for what each jelly bean did)
bayou billy (had to use the game genie on this one)
Kirby
Duck hunt (cheated and held the gun to the tv)
Master Blaster
teenage mutant ninja turtles
Who am i kidding I loved them all except adams family.

Anyone remember the olympics games and the pad....my thumbs got sore on those running.

Best NES games ...

DOUBLE DRAGON II: THE REVENGE
http://w-create.com/~bisqwit/nesvideos/ddg2.png

MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT
http://w-create.com/~bisqwit/nesvideos/mtpo.png

RC PRO-AM
http://koti.mbnet.fi/ktalo/kapseli/pelit/2001--3/rcproam/rcproam.png

SHADOWGATE
http://w-create.com/~bisqwit/nesvideos/shgate.png

HOOK
http://www.games4nintendo.com/nes/thumbs/hook.jpg

THE GOONIES II
http://www.sickoclan.com/files/55/goonies2.jpg

RESCUE: THE EMBASSY MISSION
http://www.tomshardware.se/diverse/20050426/images/nint09.jpg

ROLLERGAMES
http://megason.vgfreak.com/images/screens/rollergames.png

There was also a space game called "Section Z" (I had to look it up, it's been forever) for NES that I remember playing for hours on end. It seemed quite advanced for the NES, and I can't remember whether I solved it or not. Anyone else remember this?


You can actually get it new on the PS2 in Capcom's Greatest Hit's Game which I bought about 6 months ago.
Games included:

1942
1943
1943 Kai
Gunsmoke
Section Z
Bionic Commando
Exed Exes
Final Fight
Forgotten Worlds
Ghost and Goblins
Ghost and Ghouls
Super Ghost and Ghouls
Legendary Wings
Mercs
Pirate Ship Higemaru
Trojan
Vulgus
Son Son
Street Fighter 2
Street Fighter 2 Champion edit
Street Fighter 2 Hyper

..all in one game!

Some of my favorite:

Final Fantasy
Zelda 2
Silent Service
Super Mario Bros 1,2,3
Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles
Metriod
Conflict

All the Super Mario games, Duck Hunt, Legend of Zelda series, Castlevania series were my faves. Also one of my cousins owned the Family Computer, which is the Japanese version of the NES.
Not to nitpick or anything, but they did have one button:

http://www.thosewerethedays.de/items/hardware/vcs/Atari_CX_40_Standard_Joystick_Controller.jpg


Speaking of which, there was also a joystick with the button on top of the stick from the Atari I used to own.

I'd call 1986-1992 the main NES years (although it was around as late as 1995/96 I believe), so it's mostly an 80's topic.

To this day, it's my favorite gaming system - we got it in 1986 or '87 (I was 5, I think) and for the next several years, I'd subscribe to Nintendo Power and was pretty into the new games. My dad and I played 'em together often too.

By 1994 or so, I was 12 and didn't quite have the time to pay attention/learn new games coming out, so for about 5 years, I just played the newer stuff at friends' houses, etc but never bought any of them myself.

I guess that time off really took me out of the loop 'cause here in 2005 it's still my mainly known system - hey, it's dated and the games are simplistic, but they're still fun to me after all this time.

If I had to pick 5 "Desert Island" games (without repeating any series), maybe:

Legend of Zelda 1
Super Mario 3
Metroid
Dragon Warrior 1
Castlevania 1

So, what are your favorite games, or thoughts on the system in general? :)



Yeah, 1986-1992 are about right. I would put the NES absolute peak at 1987-1990 after 1990 the buzz around 16-bit games got bigger and bigger and sort of overshadowed the NES a bit. I was a little late to the NES party and didnt get one until the '90s but still a great system. My 5 would be:

Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt
Super Mario Bros. 3
The Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Dr. Mario

I played those games on SNES. Unfortunately I never myself owned a NES, only getting a SNES in 1995 (about its peak). The first cartridge I bought was 'Super Mario Allstars' a 7-in one pak of all the classic mario games like SMB 1, 2, 3 SM World, the Lost World.etc

I never owned an NES, but I played a few times when I was real young at my one cousins place.

I played the NES ROMs, and was surprised by how inferior the video quality of the Super Mario Brother games were to the enhanced SNES versions.

I played the NES ROMs, and was surprised by how inferior the video quality of the Super Mario Brother games were to the enhanced SNES versions.


Yeah NES looks much worse than SNES. SNES is quite a bit more powerful, even though it's so weak compared to today's standards.

Yeah NES looks much worse than SNES. SNES is quite a bit more powerful, even though it's so weak compared to today's standards.


I remember playing an Atari at my sister's friends house when I was a kid. It was a really old model - I don't think it even had colour!

I played those games on SNES. Unfortunately I never myself owned a NES, only getting a SNES in 1995 (about its peak). The first cartridge I bought was 'Super Mario Allstars' a 7-in one pak of all the classic mario games like SMB 1, 2, 3 SM World, the Lost World.etc



I got a SNES for Christmas in 1992 and I got an NES in 1994 but the NES was the first system I ever played(at a cousins house a few months before I got my SNES)

I got a SNES for Christmas in 1992 and I got an NES in 1994 but the NES was the first system I ever played(at a cousins house a few months before I got my SNES)


I think the first time I played on a SNES was about 1992 at the house of a family friend - think it was Super Mario World. I was totally entranced!

I have been collecting also. I have 3 Atari 2600 consoles + 1 of the Sear's 2600 version, 1 NES, 2 Sega Master Systems, and 1 Sega Genesis. I have games and controllers for all of them and still play them from time to time.

The Atari 2600 console had been around almost 10 years(first release November 1977) by the time Nintendo decided to release it in the U.S. It(the NES) had been available in one form or another in Japan even before the Atari was available. Atari bungled by a: selling out to corporate greed, b: not updating the sytem, c: not making the console and game cartridges more affordable, d: lack of advertising. By the time they(Atari) figured this out the writing was already on the wall. The 2600 was good for a 4-bit system, later a crude 8-bit was developed within the games. The 5200 was more of an early home computer system to compete with Commodore. And don't forget the Atari ST, which may have made the difference if released sooner.

  Oooops, I'm rambling........Later
That is a great post. Described the Atari situation perfectly. They made HUGE mistakes throughout the company's history. Like you said, not updating the system was a major blunder. I bet the people involved back then go to their graves regreting that decision. Another massive Atari blunder, although never mentioned, is their console they came out with in the early 90's. It was way more advanced than the other consoles on the market, but they did not promote it at all and the cost for it was outrageous. Most gamers dont even remember it.

I think the first time I played on a SNES was about 1992 at the house of a family friend - think it was Super Mario World. I was totally entranced!



Yeah me too. Super Mario World came packed with the system and was the first game I played on my SNES and it had about the same effect on me it was amazing how much of an improvement it was over the only other previous game I'd played(Super Mario Bros.)