It's hard to ignore Zelda.
Rampage I actually have on Master System, must've played it over 30 times in as many years.
I've spend awful amount of hours on Breakout clones (including making levels for one). I've finished some version of Arkanoid too.

But my vote goes to Dragon Quest as a major ancestor of JRPGs, a genre very dear to me.
And I think the first game is better than FF1; in fact the Nes DQs are generally better than Nes FFs.

I voted Zelda even though I did play Dragon Quest before it - the others I did play but didnt finish them unlike Zelda or DQ.


DQ was short and simple but too basic.

Zelda was basic too but the gameplay was more enjoyable (even though it was annoying at times like how vague it was on where to go).

But then again...all NES games that were not linear were like that lol.

Cultural Impact: Metroid. The Legend of Zelda may have sold more copies and created a new template that informed this game (by a matter of months), but by applying that template to the 2D platforming landscape, Metroid created a new genre, typically known as the "Metroidvania", appropriately. Perhaps more groundbreaking really though was the simple fact that also you play as a female action hero, which was quite frankly unheard of at the time and is a privilege that's near and dear to my heart. And one who was not simply a carbon copy of a pre-existing male character with a bow added or something, but an original, human(oid) character in her own right. (Although it was a gimmick really. The English-language instruction manual describes Samus using male pronouns, thus deliberately misleading the player.) What won't they think of next? I also just liked the game's attitude, like the stylized way a number of the developers are named in the credits and stuff. Clearly they thought this game was cool.

Metroid also happens to be the game that made a gamer out of me. My dad got an NES in 1986 when I was four years old. It was mostly for his own enjoyment, but he did try to interest me in it from time to time, giving me some play time with Super Mario Bros. and Ghosts n' Goblins, both of which interested me only for a matter of minutes for both difficulty (especially in the case of Ghosts n' Goblins) and lack of choices. Although I found the idea of controlling characters on the television screen fascinating conceptually, my brain was fairly quickly underwhelmed by the low-tech application that turned out to be possible. I instinctively expected video games to be like videos -- like movies or TV shows -- but involving me. I guess you might say that's an expectation that hasn't changed too much over the years. By contrast, the first time he showed me Metroid late the next year, I played for hours and had to be pulled away from it to get ready for bed. The freedom of movement and the secrets I discovered made a tremendous difference in sparking a persistent sense of curiosity. And that was the beginning for me. Metroid made me think and that made me want to play. Although for lack of modern quality-of-life enhancements that I've been spoiled by and come to expect over the years and decades (proper save feature, in-game map, etc.), I rarely play the NES original anymore, nevertheless because of this foundational experience I'll always have a soft spot for the Metroid franchise.

My Favorite Game:  In spite of what I just laid out, the original Metroid is actually no longer my favorite game even from 1986 at this point. No, that title for some time now has gone to the rather amusing, text-based pulp fiction comedy about sexual exploration that is Leather Goddesses of Phobos; another Steve Meretzky game. Meretzky complained that he'd intended A Mind Forever Voyaging (see my mention in the 1985 thread) to be controversial, that he was disappointed that it hadn't been, and that he wanted to make a game that would generate a stir, and thus...this. Opening with a South Park-grade content warning, the game delves into sexual themes with a combination of light heart and female-friendliness that remains uncommon today. Deliberately tacky, it came packaged with s small scratch-and-sniff card which bore seven numbered areas (at certain points in the game, the player would be instructed to scratch a certain number and then whiff the resulting odor), a 3D comic book with 3D glasses, and a double-sided map of the catacombs. Its writing is absurd, hilarious, and just frankly it's a masterpiece and also an excellent parody of gaming conventions of the time. It sold reasonably well by contemporaneous metrics and has become regarded as a cult classic and deservedly so. Definitely my favorite game from 1986 to revisit today.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World isn't the best game on this list if I'm being objective, but it holds a special place in my memories. It's the first game I 'owned' and played, for my first console (SMS II). Brutally difficult. Almost impossible really in that original form, but I didn't realise that at the time. But very addictive, filled with a wide range of varied locations and activities, tough platforming, and catchy music.

It must have been amazing to see tech develop at the time, only four years between Pole Position and Outrun.

Also, the best game of the list is Metroid, but my favourite is Bubble Bobble.

This is the first time I've heard of a game including a scratch and sniff card. After looking it up, Wikipedia lists a handful games that utilised scratch and sniff, even including one I owned (Gran Turismo 2, with the disc itself being the 'card'), but I had no idea you could scratch and sniff it :S

This is impossible to choose one for goty.

Arkanoid was an instant classic which is still everywhere and can now be played in VR
Pong meets Arkanoid in C-Smash, which is now a VR title:


It's another classic I doodled into a game at work. From 2003 we were working with dedicated hardware for TomTom Navigator.
These standalone devices:

I've got the old dev kit ones still sitting on my shelves, the ones on the right were the early versions. These had tilt sensors in them which were popularized by the Wii. The sensors work by measuring the direction of gravity to deduce which way the device is tilted. They were in there to measure the movements of the car for the purpose of dead reckoning. When the GPS signal is lost, the movements of the car created the path, detecting turns.

It wasn't all that accurate and after 30 seconds it became unreliable at best, yet good enough to keep the thing alive through tunnels. (But no good for parking garages). That sparked me to experiment with with the motions sensors and make some little games for the device, a table maze, arkanoid/breakout game and a procedural flyer (steering a ship up and down through a generated tunnel, sidescroller) The games were easter eggs, accessible from the about screen by pressing 3 of the corners of the screen in sequence.

It worked beautifully, if only we had patented tilt controls back then in 2004!!! When the Wii and PS3 came out it was: 'Wait a minute' we did that 2 years ago lol.


Bubble Bobble: another evergreen title like Tetris, likely sparked by the success of Tetris.

Outrun: Indeed a smash hit, it was the focal point of any arcade I went to, later replaced by Turbo Outrun. I played that so much I could easily finish the whole thing on 1 dollar. Pretty good value for an arcade cabinet. Outrun was great on PC as well, played it to death. It was no doubt the inspiration for Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge on the Amiga 500

That was our favorite when I went over to a friend to play in split-screen. We played that so much, as well as the sequel.


Might and Magic created a long series which I joined from the 4th one. Another colleague and friend and work played it as well and we were always comparing notes at work. It was the water cooler subject for months after a new version came out. And currently I'm playing TotK might and magic style, clearing the land of all evil (suppressing blood moons). Might and Magic didn't respawn anything so you could clean up the land! You could get so OP with spells that you could clear an entire zones with one spell at the end.


Castlevania I never played that much, but wow what a game. Another evergreen as Switch and Steam got another Castlevania collection just 2 years ago.
https://www.nintendo.com/en-ca/store/products/castlevania-advance-collection-switch/


Dragon Quest, the other final fantasy as I call it. Reminds me I still have DQ8 sitting in my backlog lol.


The Legend of Zelda, nothing needs to be said there, still robbing me of all my spare time!


Metroid is just as much a title that will stick around forever. I need to make time to play Metroid Dread, not enough hours in the day!

1986 birthed so many evergreen titles, it rivals 1998 for best year in gaming.
I have to give the nod to Zelda as that has turned into the biggest system seller of all.

Welcome to the future of immersive gaming experiences. VR, eat your heart out!

With its 3D comic book included, Leather Goddesses of Phobos also led the way in "3D computer gaming". Groundbreaking.

Now this is an impressive year. I'm going to Zelda, since like Mario I still play the original Zelda game every once in a while. Even though I really enjoy most Metroid games, for some reason I could never get into the first game. I certainly can't deny the importance of Metroid though. I think Castlevania was the first game I ever played, I remember going to a rich relatives house and they were playing it on the NES that Christmas and let me try it out. Dragon Quest was such an important game, a little too grindy for my liking but a fantastic game. Arkanoid, Rampgage, and Outrun were all great games that I enjoyed,

Another great year.
Voted Zelda, in retrospect though, but game I probably played the most from that year is Defender of the Crown, strategy game for Amiga.