For all of us that owned that Legendary console :)  I owned around 30 games,many of which are still considered to be classics,But it's not because I was a selective gamer back then...I was a child after all.The answer is that many,many games were Top Quality,and probably formed the base for the later generations titles.   Do any games come to your mind? I dont know about you ,But i still play Mega Man 2,Faxanadu and Super Mario bros from time to time... :)

the very first game on the nes i ever played and owned was teenage mutant ninja turtles... yes super mario bros was bundled with the machine.. thanks to nintendo we got a free awesomely fun game lol

When my NES decides to work i usually play zelda and Super Mario Bros 1 and 3.

Oh, the sheer amount of win that was on the NES. I remember Faxanadu well, then there were (not so) classics that I still play to this day, like The Guardian Legend, Legacy of the Wizard, and the Dragon Warrior series. And drifting toward the Famicom left me with more Fire Emblem, Mother, and the multiple endings of Salamander. Ah, such wonderful days... even before I get to the classics...

I probably owned less than 10 games and most of them sucked because I bought games based on box art. But, with those few games, I was able to get my hands on pretty much ANYTHING I wanted to play. Classic franchises that still live, today are (third party only):

Final Fantasy
Metal Gear
Castlevania
Bionic Commando
Mega Man

Other beloved franchises are: 8-Eyes, Contra, Adventure Island, Blaster Master, Abadox, The Adventures of Bayou Billy, LoLo, Battletoads, Double Dragon, you get the idea. I could go on and on.

Sadly, the thought of playing some of these games now (especially on the Virtual Console) scares the shit out of me! I don't have the skills anymore. Still, at the time, I was in video game heaven.

Well of course Zelda and Mario
Also Burger Time, Sky shark, Bump and Jump, Bad Dudes, TMNT, A Boy and His Blob, Mega Man, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Kirby, Double Dragon, Dragon Warrior, etc etc

Really this list could keep going for a long time. Between me and my step brother we had over 100games. Many fun times we had. =)

I have the same problem as well.It doesnt Always decide to work :P So I downloaded the games on emulators and now the originals are on their cases on a shelf of .Im proud of that collection :)

yeah i could do that if i really wanted to but the fact is i really dont care anymore. I stopped really playing my NES almost 10 years ago i only occasionally bring it out anymore

For me when I think of playing the NES, Double Dragon, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Castlevania, SMB 3, and Kirby come to mind.. man those were good times.

There also was an Adventure game called Shadowgate....I never finished that game