Metroid, one of the big three

[retroking1981]

Mario 1985, Zelda 1986 and Metorid 1986 all on NES

They were the FIRST big 3 and are still being made. Things like PokeMon and Kirby came much later. Donkey Kong was more of an arcade hit and wasn't a huge deal on consoles until it was rebooted in 1994.