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Classic GI

My Favorite NES Games That No One Ever Talks About

by Dan Ryckert on Oct 21, 2010 at 10:27 AM

There's a reason people bring up the NES all the time when they talk about gaming history. It was the birthplace of many concepts and franchises that we still see in gaming today - Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Mega Man...they all shined on Nintendo's classic 8-bit console. However, many of us who grew up with the Nintendo Entertainment System knew that it wasn't all AAA franchises. We'd grab random games from the wall at the video store or receive them as gifts for Christmas, having never heard of them.

Without a huge gaming journalism field to tell us what's good or bad (and obviously no internet to check other gamer's opinions), we simply played what we had. It didn't matter if the game was crap, we'd play it for 100 hours just because it was there. Here are my favorite obscure titles that (good or bad) I played the hell out of in my childhood.

NOTE: We had a code push today. If you can't see the YouTube videos for each entry, reload the page and they should appear.

Cabal

This shooter was originally an arcade title that was controlled via a trackball similar to Arkanoid's. I'd imagine that would be a better way to experience the game, as the NES controls were a bit cumbersome. However, it featured some awesome (and massive) bosses at the end of each area. My favorite aspect of the game by far is the little happy jig (complete with jingle) your character does after murdering dozens of people. Check it out at the 40 second mark above.

Kid Niki: Radical Ninja

It may have an awesome title, but Kid Niki: Radical Ninja also featured some of the most useless enemies ever seen in a video game. The blue mime-looking dudes do nothing but sprint straight at you, and they occasionally get caught in endless loops (check out the guy from 0:35-0:40 in the video above). The pink guys just stand there doing some weird, harmless jumping jack thing, and the birds just float stationary in the air. Their relative lameness is kind of made up for by how sweet the first boss is. Check out Death Breath at the 1:30 mark.

Anticipation

Ok, I know the box art makes Anticipation look like the lamest game ever, but it's actually sweet. First of all, your character choices are a trumpet, a teddy bear, an ice cream cone, and a pair of high heels. It's a board game, but I'd love to play a Contra-style shooter with that character lineup. Realistically, it's just Pictionary on the NES. Except you don't draw anything, you just watch an A.I.-controlled pencil connect dots. Once you know that the final drawing is, you get the pleasure of typing in your answer letter-by-letter with an NES controller. If you're one letter off, you fail. Looking back, this is one of those games that probably sucked despite the fact that I played it all the time.

Amagon

Amagon puts you in the shoes of "the most decorated marine" as he crosses a dangerous island to get to a waiting rescue boat. Problem is, Amagon is a wimp. You're this little barefoot caveman-looking dude, and when you run out of ammo you have to resort to beating enemies with the butt of your gun. What made this game sweet was transforming into Megagon. With one powerup, you go from this pitiful nerd to a muscle-bound giant that uppercuts snakes and has a hilarious strut. Check out the transformation at the 2:09 mark.

BaseWars

A very large chunk of my sports knowledge comes from my childhood video games. I can name about two players on every NBA team from the era thanks to NBA Jam, I know Bo Jackson is awesome thanks to his Tecmo Bowl prowess, and thanks to BaseWars, I know I want a robot baseball league. You had baseball players with motorcycle wheels and tank treads for legs, and your pitcher had a Mega Man-esque arm cannon that could shoot multiple pitches at once. Also, you could get into sweet fights like the one seen at the 2:01 mark.

Totally Rad

With a title like Totally Rad, there's no questioning what decade this game came from. As the opening cutscene lets us know, the master magician Zebediah finds "gnarly potential" in your character Jake and wants to teach him his "totally rad magic." Despite telling Jake he'll teach him magic, the obviously-a-pedophile Zebediah just watches him run and makes comments about his legs. After that slightly unnerving opening, you're running through sidescrolling levels shooting lasers at a bunch of dudes that look like Master Chief. And then you grow wings and fight flying pigs for some reason. Looking at it now, I have no idea what the hell is going on. Back in 1991, however, I thought this was awesome.

World Cup Soccer

I have always felt that soccer was an incredibly lame sport that Americans hate for a reason. However stupid the actual sport may be, at least it spawned one super-sweet video game. On the surface, it's just a standard soccer game starring players that look like they were ripped straight from River City Ransom. What made this game awesome was the selection of super kicks. Check out the highlight video above and watch physics-defying, laser sound effect-having, super speed kicks make goalie's eyes go hilariously crooked.

RoboWarrior

This is one of those games that I sank dozens of hours into, and I don't think I ever got anywhere substantial. You play as some astronaut dude who carries around a ****ton of bombs, and you have to burrow through what appears to be massive amounts of shrubbery. I remember a lot of accidentally bombing myself, as well as getting stuck in cave levels without a candle and being terrified. If anyone has ever actually figured out how to beat this game, let me know in the comments. I'd be impressed.

Xexyz

Another title where I had no idea what the hell was going on. You play as some spaceman with a beak that has to talk to fairies, fight angry statues, navigate your home planet filled with Easter Island statues, and collect confusing items in an effort to do...something.

Fester's Quest

Alright, so remember Uncle Fester from The Addams Family? Well, according to the opening scene, he's chilling in a lawn chair wearing a party hat and sunglasses (at night) when a UFO shows up. The next scene has you wandering the streets in a cloak while you use a trumpet to shoot raspberries. Some of these raspberries have money in them, and frogs want to kill you. Why did none of this crap seem weird to me when I was ten?

Kickle Cubicle

I haven't played this one in probably 15-plus years, but I have a feeling that it may have aged better than any other on this list. Watching video of it now, I still think the clever action/puzzle gameplay would be a lot of fun. Also, there's a bearded, bespectacled corn cob with a cane that talks to you.

Abadox

For an NES space shooter, this one was oddly disturbing. You start out skimming the surface of a gigantic alien organism, but later levels have you navigating his internal organs destroying the beast from the inside out. At the end, you blast through his rectum before the beast implodes on himself. I'm serious.