Most Addictive NES Games

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Most Addictive NES Games

Punch-Out!!

Although Electronic Arts' Fight Night games sport more realistic graphics and deeper boxing mechanics, we still enjoy going a few rounds with Punch-Out!! Nintendo's addictive punch-fest casts us as an unknown runt, Little Mac, as he squares off against some of the most dangerous hombres to ever put on the gloves. Glass Joe is a pushover, but the guys after him (King Hippo, Great Tiger, Super Macho Man) give us issues. Of course, the biggest challenge comes from Mike Tyson (Mr. Dream in the following edition), who unceremoniously pounds us into a bloody paste. That's OK. We always get up.

Excitebike

Most games with vehicles, from Grand Theft Auto IV to Project Gotham Racing 4, include motorcycles, and while they allow us to perform all types of extreme stunts, we still come back to Excitebike. Simple and addictive, we enjoy speeding along its tracks and cutting off our opponents. In addition, the handy level editor lets us release our creative juices. Too bad Nintendo hasn't resurrected the series since Excitebike 64 popped wheelies on the Nintendo 64.

Duck Hunt

We own plenty of shooters, including Time Crisis 4, The House of the Dead III and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, but we still can't get enough of Duck Hunt. Armed with our gray or orange Zappers, we quickly blast those birds from the sky, the goal to not only shoot them all in a row, but to also avoid watching our annoying, 2-D dog laugh at us. One day, that giggling canine will get his

Super Mario Bros.

Beating Super Mario Bros. was a monumental achievement, at least during the '80s. Now we can kick Bowser's butt in less than 30 minutes, but that doesn't mean we've given up on this timeless classic. Despite Mario moving on to more epic adventures, his first romp through the Mushroom Kingdom is still a great way to pass the time, even if you know where all the hidden mushrooms and warp zones are. All it takes is a few notes of that familiar music to make us smile and squash that first goomba.

 

Double Dragon and Double Dragon 2: The Revenge

Hitting women is wrong, so you can imagine our reaction to Double Dragon's intro, where a thug walks up to the game's babe, Marian, and punches her in the gut. Fueled with rage, we immediately set out on a mission to clean up the streets with our fists, pounding those insensitive punks into oblivion. Double Dragon 2 surpassed the original, with new moves like the hurricane kick and a stellar soundtrack. The original is now available on the Wii's Virtual Console.

Tecmo Bowl

NES never had Madden, so instead we played one of the greatest football games in history, Tecmo Bowl. Featuring addictive, 2-D gameplay, Tecmo Bowl let us battle a friend on the gridiron, throwing long passes for touchdowns or breaking tackles en route to the end zone. Sure, it has less than 10 plays to select from, but you don't need snazzy features when a game plays this good. Its spirited DS follow up, Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff, can't come soon enough.

Ice Hockey and Blades of Steel

It was impossible to separate these two classics. Nintendo's Ice Hockey is simple and tons of fun, as you customize your team with skinny, medium-sized and fat guys, then hit the ice and play against the computer or a friend. Blades of Steel, however, was one of the first NES games to feature voices. Sure, they weren't advanced ("FIGHT!, "FACEOFF!"), but they were super cool back in the day.

Baseball Stars

NES has some great baseball games, such as R.B.I. Baseball and Bases Loaded, but none of them beat Baseball Stars. SNK's homage to America's pastime features fictitious teams with cool names, like Ninja BlackSox and the Ghastly Monsters, as well as the ability to upgrade players. Past that, it plays super fast, letting you complete nine-inning games in no time.

Super Mario Bros. 3

Mario and Luigi's third adventure always makes us smile, and not just because it reminds us of days gone by. We're always in the mood to explore Grass Land, Sky Land and Big Island while stomping enemies, collecting coins and transforming the brothers into raccoons and frogs. Warp whistles transport us to magical lands, Princess Peach sends us gifts and Toad's minigames always result in us acquiring a bonus item. Now factor in those challenging airships, a climactic battle with Bowser and catchy music, and Super Mario Bros. 3 is an irresistible guilty pleasure that every gamer needs to experience.

Tetris

Tetris is everywhere, including PC, Xbox 360 and iPhone. It's also on the NES, and although we played the Game Boy version more, its console counterpart consumed us for months. We couldn't stop, not with our friends' high scores to beat. Besides, those blocks won't rotate themselves.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II The Arcade Game

Konami blew our minds when it ported its hit Ninja Turtles arcade game to the NES. It lacked the same quality graphics, but that didn't matter, because it retained the excellent weapons-based battles that let us beat up foot soldiers and eventually Shredder. Oddly enough, we still fight over who gets to play as Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael. As for snagging that health-boosting pizza, don't even think about it.

Contra

Action games continue to look more realistic, but most of them lack Contra's addictive pull. Konami's frenetic blast fest is still great, as Bill and Lance battle the evil Red Falcon across varied terrain. The game's multiple enemies, including a towering fortress and a host of slimy looking aliens, still rip us to shreds. When things get rough, however, we bust out the helpful Konami Code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B and A) for 30 lives!

What are your most addictive NES games? Let us know in this article's comments section.

Chris Buffa

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