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First off, the fact that you put Faxanadu on this list is AWESOME. I played the hell out of that game as a kid and finally beating it was a crowning achievement of my childhood. Secondly, that first statement made me feel pretty old... In all seriousness though, a few games that I could add that aged quite well would include: - Shatterhand - The Guardian Legend - River City Ransom - Adventure Island 3 - StarTropics - The Magic of Scheherazade There are many others that come to mind, but a lot of them are ones that others have probably mentioned several times already. I tried to go for the less commonly talked about titles that I loved as a kid.
Not only did he mention Faxanadu, but you almost never hear about Crystallis. Also Dragon Spirit, is a very fun, exceedingly difficult top scrolling shooter, was hoping would be mentioned. Finally glad you mentioned The Guardian Legend, its one of my all time favorites and the blue optimom still makes me cuss.
My pick for the NES game that's aged best would be Blaster Master. It looks and plays like an innovative current day indie game imho. It's awesome and the music slaps.
@@jammiebooker6489 level 4? I've always loved level 7 myself. It also ties in nicely with the novel, as the tune is fast-beat but yet has a sad tone behind it, like you're rushing to the end of a long journey but you've been through so much.
No BLASTER MASTER!? Now that's criminal. That game was absolutely phenomenal at the time, and while it had some challenge, it wasn't borderline impossible. It still holds up to this day with nice spritework, great environments, and the soundtrack ranks among the best of the system.
I’m actually a bigger fan of Dragon Warrior 3 than I am of 4 but 4 is still pretty awesome. All of the NES Dragon Warrior games are worth checking out. And Tecmo Super Bowl is a must if you’re into sports games at all.
I still like TMNT 3: The Manhattan Project more than TMNT 2: TAG. It had more vibrant settings and more detailed pixel work, while somehow it seemed to have less screen flicker. TMNT 2 is mostly various gray backdrops.
Here is my shame. I could beat Crystalis, Final Fantasy, both Zelda’s, Mega Man 2 and 3, and Ultima 4 on the NES. But I thought Kirby was just too hard.
Same here pharmacat. I beat battletoads and ghosts and goblins no sweat but never actually could beat double dragon 1 despite getting to the final level dozens of times.
Chip & Dale 2, Mr. Gimmick, Zen Intergalactic Ninja, Mighty Final Fight, Power Blade 2 and Little Samson are also completely amazing looking games that also play fantastically!
I love Crystalis so much, I remember spending a summer where both my friend and I spent the days playing this together, we each had a copy, and would haul a tv across the street to play side by side and try different things. Fax very much.
I must be playing it wrong. I have a good time with it until I get the 3rd sword. Then it seems like I have to switch them and their accessory every time a different colored enemy comes on screen. I pushed through when I was younger, now if I pick it up I stop about halfway through
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Faxanadu looks crazy! That castle and the other backgrounds in the game just blew my mind. Also, thanks for the info on DW5. I will be definitely checking it out with being a ff12 fan. Cheers!
Fax very much. 🤣 I still play every game on this list - some serious bangers here. Dragon Warrior IV in particular holds up - it's not just "good for an 8-bit RPG", it's just good, period.
All the Dragon Warrior games on the NES were good. I think the series really took off with DW2. The sequels after that got better and better. Even still, don't underestimate DW2 and DW3. In DW3, you can build up your companions and switch professions. And if you haven’t already, start a new game in DW2 and watch through the beginning sequence. 😮
Fully agree that these games aged beautifully! Although the best NES/Famicom Dragon Quest/Warrior was part III. Even in its day people would talk about how it was good, but part III was better. Crystalis doesn't get the love it deserves. So thank you. Great game, but got buried trying to compete with Final Fantasy. Who would have thought the makers of Kings Knight would have a game that could outsell Crystalis. Crystalis had the ads, commercials, and coverage in magazines, but Final Fantasy came out of left field and would go on to...well...owning the field. Faxanadu was a super popular US game. It just came out competing against Dragon Warrior, which was much easier to find in stores vs Faxanadu. Then to kick it while it was down, if you were still looking for stores that had it, by the time you found a copy, it was Xmas and Willow was being advertised everywhere and Battle of Olympus was about to come out. It chose a bad time to release. Speaking of Battle of Olympus. THIS is probably a top tier "aged beautifully" game. If you haven't played it, I only wish I was you so I could relive its mastery for the first time again. If you have played it. Go back to it. It's still as good today as it was when it came out.
Finally someone who gives some love to Castlevania 3 over the 1st one. Number 3 was my intro to the franchise. Funny story: I wanted Dragon's Lair and when my mom took me to get it I grabbed Castlevania 3 thinking it was Dragon's Lair, but then ended up really liking Castlevania 3.
NES is one of the consoles that span across two generation and had massive graphical leap starting from simple looking Kong games to almost 16 bit quality games like Batman 🦇 and Project Vice.
Solar Jetman, RC Pro Am, Dropzone, Solomon's Key, NES Open Golf and Boulderdash are still good looking and good playing games. There's Battletoads as well of course.
I recently became aware of Vice Project Doom and it quickly became a favorite on the console for me. Very fun to play and a good balance of challenge and enjoyability. Can't believe I'd never heard of it before and glad to see it's getting more attention these days.
Fax very much. Also, loved the list. It's hard to boil a system this good down to ten games. No matter what you choose you end up having to leave out some amazing games.
Loved TMNT2 TAG, and nearly 4 decades later it was cool that a buddy of mine did a little voice work on Shredder's Revenge! Great vid! I think I'll have to track down and give DW4 a legit try in 2025. Fax very much!
9:04 Including Kirby's Adventure just earned you a thumbs up good sir. It is SHOCKING how they managed to get an NES game looking that good and that was the prime of the Super Nintendo/Genesis era. Honestly I would rate it as the best NES game ever made.
I had a crazy experience with Contra. As a kid, I could never get anywhere in that game without the 30 lives code. In about 2007 or 2008, I fired up my old NES and put in Contra, having not played the game in years. I messed up putting in the 30 lives code and the game started without it. I figured, eh, let me try it. I beat the game without the 30 lives code and without continuing. I just got the spreader gun on the first board and was unstoppable. I'm not even good at video games. I doubt I could di it again.
One NES (more specifically, Famicom) game that I think is still incredibly fun and charming to this day is Gimmick. It's such an injustice that the game is widely unkown; it could have been as popular as Kirby.
Fax very much. Faxanadu was one of those games that I playes so much of that no one else had even heard of. Also, DW4 is my favorite DW game, but 3 is also incredible.
3:48 The Konami Code is B, A, Start, not A, B, Start. And if you're playing 2-player Contra, it's B, A, Select, Start to get 30 lives for both players.
I thought Faxanadu was relatively popular among NES games. I recall it being up there with Metroid and Castlevania, and ahead of games like Kid Icarus. But it was in a franchise whose popularity didn't make it far out of the 1980s (Dragon Slayer/Xanadu), unlike Metroid and Castlevania which have had a lot of sequels beyond. Younger people may not know it, but NES era gamers probably do.
Contra Legacy of War is the one with 3d glasses. It may not be for everyone, but I'd give a shoutout to games like Shadowgate, Deja Vu, and Maniac Mansion. They tend to be more narrative than action packed, though still, a good time if that's your type of game. Fax very much.
I was lucky enough to pick up 3 copies of Dragon Warrior 4 from my local mom and pop rental store for a mere $5 each (they were getting rid of NES for newer systems). I took them to Gamestop (back before they REALLY sucked) and with the $80 worth of credit they gave me for two copies (I kept the 3rd) I picked up a bunch of NES games I didn't have. Never been that lucky since. DW4 was an amazing game. I spent hours playing that thing and I loved it.
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out: It took me reflexes that I don't think I have anymore to beat that game. Tyson is so brutal with his game ending one punch knock-outs. Castlevania 3: This has to be my most favorite game. It's amazing how much graphics and sounds that was able to be crammed in this NES cartridge. It was the longest NES game I've ever played. TMNT: I prefer the Sega Genesis version.
Fax very much! Not just for this vid but the others I have watched. Good to hear another brit even when you get the tongue twisters in your videos hah. Faxanadu really gave me Zelda 2 vibes with the side scrolling.
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Konami code ends BA, not AB. Also, start isn't part of the code - it just starts the game. Like, if you want 2 players, hit select first before starting.
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First off, the fact that you put Faxanadu on this list is AWESOME. I played the hell out of that game as a kid and finally beating it was a crowning achievement of my childhood.
Secondly, that first statement made me feel pretty old...
In all seriousness though, a few games that I could add that aged quite well would include:
- Shatterhand
- The Guardian Legend
- River City Ransom
- Adventure Island 3
- StarTropics
- The Magic of Scheherazade
There are many others that come to mind, but a lot of them are ones that others have probably mentioned several times already. I tried to go for the less commonly talked about titles that I loved as a kid.
FUCK YES FAXANADU! that song will be stuck in my head until the day i die
Not only did he mention Faxanadu, but you almost never hear about Crystallis. Also Dragon Spirit, is a very fun, exceedingly difficult top scrolling shooter, was hoping would be mentioned. Finally glad you mentioned The Guardian Legend, its one of my all time favorites and the blue optimom still makes me cuss.
My pick for the NES game that's aged best would be Blaster Master. It looks and plays like an innovative current day indie game imho. It's awesome and the music slaps.
Came here to recommend Blaster Master too....love that music, especially level 4 😂
Came to say blaster master and the guardian legend. Both soundtracks are peak NES.
There are new old school blaster masters on consoles today
Love that game.
@@jammiebooker6489 level 4? I've always loved level 7 myself. It also ties in nicely with the novel, as the tune is fast-beat but yet has a sad tone behind it, like you're rushing to the end of a long journey but you've been through so much.
No BLASTER MASTER!? Now that's criminal. That game was absolutely phenomenal at the time, and while it had some challenge, it wasn't borderline impossible. It still holds up to this day with nice spritework, great environments, and the soundtrack ranks among the best of the system.
I’m actually a bigger fan of Dragon Warrior 3 than I am of 4 but 4 is still pretty awesome. All of the NES Dragon Warrior games are worth checking out. And Tecmo Super Bowl is a must if you’re into sports games at all.
Agreed & agreed! I don't even like sports games but I love Tecmo Super Bowl!
Strongly agree, 3 had a much more involving story than 4. I think 5 is the best of them, if only it had come to the US back in the NES era.
I still like TMNT 3: The Manhattan Project more than TMNT 2: TAG.
It had more vibrant settings and more detailed pixel work, while somehow it seemed to have less screen flicker. TMNT 2 is mostly various gray backdrops.
1000% agree. Manhattan project was more interesting as well, not being based on an arcade game
Here is my shame. I could beat Crystalis, Final Fantasy, both Zelda’s, Mega Man 2 and 3, and Ultima 4 on the NES. But I thought Kirby was just too hard.
🙃
Kirby's adventure truly is one of the hardest games ever made something like sekiro is far easier than it by miles
Same here pharmacat. I beat battletoads and ghosts and goblins no sweat but never actually could beat double dragon 1 despite getting to the final level dozens of times.
Ive never beat a nes, snes, Sega genesis game in my life
@@overused6632 you are missing out dude
Chip & Dale 2, Mr. Gimmick, Zen Intergalactic Ninja, Mighty Final Fight, Power Blade 2 and Little Samson are also completely amazing looking games that also play fantastically!
There's no "Mr.", it's just 'Gimmick'; that's the original Famicom title.
Little Samson is that shit. Found it around ten years ago emulated. Also so ninja game where you jump through trees.
I loved Double Dragon. Especially the arcade version, but the NES version was great when I ran out of quarters.
My rule for TMNT 2 was if I died at or before Rocksteady I had to start over. After a while I could get past him without taking a hit.
I love Crystalis so much, I remember spending a summer where both my friend and I spent the days playing this together, we each had a copy, and would haul a tv across the street to play side by side and try different things.
Fax very much.
Crystalis is the best NES game and I will die on this hill.
It took me 20yrs to accept it but I accepted it a decade ago and it's felt right since.
I must be playing it wrong. I have a good time with it until I get the 3rd sword. Then it seems like I have to switch them and their accessory every time a different colored enemy comes on screen. I pushed through when I was younger, now if I pick it up I stop about halfway through
Contra's sound and graphics are still good...
Fax very much! I would argue that Dragon Warrior/Quest 3 was the first really good one, but I otherwise agree with the list.
"The first truly good Dragon Quest game"... Are we really going to ignore the DQ3 slander here?
I was hoping Crystalis was on the list. Absolutely amazing game.
The Contra game with 3D glasses was Contra: legacy of War on the PS1 and Sega Saturn.
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Faxanadu looks crazy! That castle and the other backgrounds in the game just blew my mind. Also, thanks for the info on DW5. I will be definitely checking it out with being a ff12 fan. Cheers!
Fax very much Vulture! NES games always hold a sweet place in my heart.
Fax very much. 🤣
I still play every game on this list - some serious bangers here. Dragon Warrior IV in particular holds up - it's not just "good for an 8-bit RPG", it's just good, period.
I would add to this list Star Tropics, Zoda's Revenge, Clash Demon Head, The Goonies, Blaster Master and and Solomon's Key. 👍
All the Dragon Warrior games on the NES were good. I think the series really took off with DW2. The sequels after that got better and better. Even still, don't underestimate DW2 and DW3. In DW3, you can build up your companions and switch professions. And if you haven’t already, start a new game in DW2 and watch through the beginning sequence. 😮
I consider solving Crystalis bitd without any guide one of my greatest gaming achievements
Fax very much, CV! Glad to see there are some people out here that know and appreciate these older games like I do.
Contra Legacy of War came with the 3D glasses.
Fax very much.
How about Willow? That game looked great for an NES title!
Contra Legacy of War came with the glasses.
Fully agree that these games aged beautifully!
Although the best NES/Famicom Dragon Quest/Warrior was part III. Even in its day people would talk about how it was good, but part III was better.
Crystalis doesn't get the love it deserves. So thank you. Great game, but got buried trying to compete with Final Fantasy. Who would have thought the makers of Kings Knight would have a game that could outsell Crystalis. Crystalis had the ads, commercials, and coverage in magazines, but Final Fantasy came out of left field and would go on to...well...owning the field.
Faxanadu was a super popular US game. It just came out competing against Dragon Warrior, which was much easier to find in stores vs Faxanadu. Then to kick it while it was down, if you were still looking for stores that had it, by the time you found a copy, it was Xmas and Willow was being advertised everywhere and Battle of Olympus was about to come out. It chose a bad time to release.
Speaking of Battle of Olympus. THIS is probably a top tier "aged beautifully" game. If you haven't played it, I only wish I was you so I could relive its mastery for the first time again. If you have played it. Go back to it. It's still as good today as it was when it came out.
I thought the Konami code ended with B A start?
That's because it does
Select start for 2p 😉
Finally someone who gives some love to Castlevania 3 over the 1st one. Number 3 was my intro to the franchise. Funny story: I wanted Dragon's Lair and when my mom took me to get it I grabbed Castlevania 3 thinking it was Dragon's Lair, but then ended up really liking Castlevania 3.
That's the best mistake you could have made.
Even if you could manage to beat Dragon's Lair, it has zero replayability compared to Castlevania.
I remember slaving over Crystalis for goirs as a kid trying level up just to not bring enough magic rings to the tower! Fax very much!
Fax very much! Great list. I remember having to order DWIV from a magazine because the local stores did not have it.
Faxanadu is one of my FAVORITE NES games! Boy is it hard, though.
It's brutal lol
Easier than the Castlevania games, Metroid, and Zelda 2, IMO.
Also one of my favourite NES games.
NES is one of the consoles that span across two generation and had massive graphical leap starting from simple looking Kong games to almost 16 bit quality games like Batman 🦇 and Project Vice.
Vice: Project Doom looks like a Castlevania game where you play as Bill Paxton.
fax very much! loved revisiting those memories. Fax again for your work!
I'm glad that you mentioned that about the Faxanadu soundtrack... I have always said that!
Fax very much! Today I'm thankful that I bought my copy of Vice: PD for 10 bucks in 2012
Fax very much! You've got a new subscriber here. Great list, with a nice mixture of lesser-known and well-known titles.
fax very much. That TMNT game unlocked a core memory for me lol
Solar Jetman, RC Pro Am, Dropzone, Solomon's Key, NES Open Golf and Boulderdash are still good looking and good playing games. There's Battletoads as well of course.
Fax very much! I remember finding Dragon Warrior IV in the clearance bin of Toys R US back in the '90s. I was blown away by it.
Clearance? Damn. My friend had to special order both DQ III and IV to get them and they cost over $100 CAD each.
@zalafinari Yeah, I paid $9 for it. Best $9 that my teen-age self spent!
I recently became aware of Vice Project Doom and it quickly became a favorite on the console for me. Very fun to play and a good balance of challenge and enjoyability. Can't believe I'd never heard of it before and glad to see it's getting more attention these days.
Fax very much! Contra Legacy of War came with 3d glasses I think.
Simon's Quest was just better. It's the solid part of the castlevania.
Fax very much! Some of my all time favorites covered here!
Fax very much.
Also, loved the list. It's hard to boil a system this good down to ten games. No matter what you choose you end up having to leave out some amazing games.
The konami code is up up doen down left right left right B A start not A B
Loved TMNT2 TAG, and nearly 4 decades later it was cool that a buddy of mine did a little voice work on Shredder's Revenge!
Great vid! I think I'll have to track down and give DW4 a legit try in 2025. Fax very much!
Fax very much! Great video, with some bangers I'm gonna have to try!
Fax very much. Good list. I wouldn't quite call Castlevania III a metroidvania, but it is a great nonlinear action platformer.
Contra: Legacy of War came with the 3D Glasses
Fax very much!
I like how this time it actually says "Fax very much!" on the screen, so we don't have another "I made it, Mark!"
Didn't expect TMNT 2. It was one of the most fun games I played during the NES era.
Fax very much, the pleasure was all mine
Fax Very Much
I've played almost all of these, and they're still quite fun today. The only one I wasn't familiar with was the first one.
OMG, I have been looking for Faxanadu for 30 years. Thank you!
9:04 Including Kirby's Adventure just earned you a thumbs up good sir. It is SHOCKING how they managed to get an NES game looking that good and that was the prime of the Super Nintendo/Genesis era. Honestly I would rate it as the best NES game ever made.
Fax very much! Also great list. All solid choices. Love that they weren't just all the same ten a lot of people would listed.
Contra Legacy of War came with 3D glasses.
Cool list. Need to finally play some of these!
Awesome videos, the nes was a real milestone
Contra game with 3D glasses was Contra Legacy of War
I would say NES Action Platformers Shoot Em Ups Beat Em Ups Run and Guns RPGs and Fighting games have all aged gracefully
I had a crazy experience with Contra. As a kid, I could never get anywhere in that game without the 30 lives code. In about 2007 or 2008, I fired up my old NES and put in Contra, having not played the game in years. I messed up putting in the 30 lives code and the game started without it. I figured, eh, let me try it. I beat the game without the 30 lives code and without continuing. I just got the spreader gun on the first board and was unstoppable. I'm not even good at video games. I doubt I could di it again.
Played most of these. Watched a play through of Faxanadu this year and I gotta say, I have no idea how I beat that game as a kid haha
Fax very much! Love the videos as always!
Fax very much! I'd forgotten about Faxanadu!!
Man, Faxanadu looks incredible for its time
fax very much! i've played alot of these and "found" some new ones to try!
Fax very much! I am going to try out these games on my emulator.
Fax very much!
Oh, and the answer is "Contra: Legacy of War" on the PS1
One NES (more specifically, Famicom) game that I think is still incredibly fun and charming to this day is Gimmick.
It's such an injustice that the game is widely unkown; it could have been as popular as Kirby.
Fax very much for this list, all legit bangers, especially Punch-Out and MM2. Still playing those games all the time almost 40 years later.
Awesome video. I teally loked how you had some popular games with a few lesser known games on the list, too.
Fax very much. I've always wanted to play Crystalis but never have.
Fax very much. Great video with an awesome selection of games.
Fax very much. Faxanadu was one of those games that I playes so much of that no one else had even heard of.
Also, DW4 is my favorite DW game, but 3 is also incredible.
Great list! Definitely a few on Nintendo Switch Online that I've never played, and now I need to check 'em out.
3:48 The Konami Code is B, A, Start, not A, B, Start. And if you're playing 2-player Contra, it's B, A, Select, Start to get 30 lives for both players.
Well created content. I am surprised what was possible in the NES.
Fax very much 😁 New viewer here and took it took me right back to a great time. Thanks for that ❤
I thought Faxanadu was relatively popular among NES games.
I recall it being up there with Metroid and Castlevania, and ahead of games like Kid Icarus. But it was in a franchise whose popularity didn't make it far out of the 1980s (Dragon Slayer/Xanadu), unlike Metroid and Castlevania which have had a lot of sequels beyond. Younger people may not know it, but NES era gamers probably do.
Props for correctly pronouncing Crystalis. I had been saying it wrong for 30 years.
Well apparently I got Faxanadu wrong so it balances out
Fax-ana-du 😊
Fax very much!
Great list! I had, and adored, every game on here ❤️
This was a fun collection of NES games. In a future video, you may want to put in one of the Ninja Gaiden games. Those were superb, but frustrating.
They got easier
Contra Legacy of War is the one with 3d glasses. It may not be for everyone, but I'd give a shoutout to games like Shadowgate, Deja Vu, and Maniac Mansion. They tend to be more narrative than action packed, though still, a good time if that's your type of game.
Fax very much.
Simon’s Quest was better than Dracula’s Curse. Someone had to say it.
I am glad there is no final fantasy music on the intro
Little nemo is by far one of my favorites always fun and oddly calming as frustrating all at once.
Fax very much! Loved seeing Dragon Warrior on there!
I was lucky enough to pick up 3 copies of Dragon Warrior 4 from my local mom and pop rental store for a mere $5 each (they were getting rid of NES for newer systems). I took them to Gamestop (back before they REALLY sucked) and with the $80 worth of credit they gave me for two copies (I kept the 3rd) I picked up a bunch of NES games I didn't have. Never been that lucky since.
DW4 was an amazing game. I spent hours playing that thing and I loved it.
Nice Video. Very good selection. Thank you. 👍
Fax very much! Great video, looking forward to more content.
Faxanadu is a fantastic game. Played it when i was young. I'm 42 now
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out:
It took me reflexes that I don't think I have anymore to beat that game. Tyson is so brutal with his game ending one punch knock-outs.
Castlevania 3:
This has to be my most favorite game. It's amazing how much graphics and sounds that was able to be crammed in this NES cartridge. It was the longest NES game I've ever played.
TMNT: I prefer the Sega Genesis version.
Fax very much! Not just for this vid but the others I have watched. Good to hear another brit even when you get the tongue twisters in your videos hah. Faxanadu really gave me Zelda 2 vibes with the side scrolling.
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Fax very much! great rundown of games I need to play.
Konami code ends BA, not AB. Also, start isn't part of the code - it just starts the game. Like, if you want 2 players, hit select first before starting.
Fax very much! Really looking forward to trying out Crystalis and Faxanadu while imagining an apocalyptic bird with a fax machine for a head 😂
Dragon Quest III is the quintessential 8-bit jrpg. If you say DQ4 is the first truly good Dq game, you are clueless.
What about DQ2?
@Iohannis42 I like DQ2, but 3 is definitely the one where they nail the formula.