NES Games almost every 80s kid played

I’ve written a lot about the best NES games, the hardest NES games, the most quintessential NES games… Nintendo’s NES was—and still is—my favorite gaming console. So I write about it often! But since starting my eBay store, and more recently the Ghetto Gamer shop, I’ve noticed certain games that pop up again and again. 

These are typically cheap games and surprisingly few are the long-lasting legacy games you probably think of right away. Honestly I was kind of surprised by how often these games get bought and sold on eBay. They’re the games that are almost impossible to keep in stock, even though they are bulk commons. Kinda blew my mind, actually.

So in strictly arbitrary order, here are the top NES games that almost every 80s kid played. And if you think I’m wrong, there’s a comment section down there. I’m dying to hear what games you think I’m missing, and what games helped shape your childhood.

Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt

Let’s start with the obvious. If you owned an NES, you almost certainly had this combo cart. Early adopters might have ended up with the Super Mario Bros. single, and/or the Duck Hunt single if they purchased the Zapper separately.

It’s hard to overstate the ubiquity of this game. Even today you see this game at mall kiosks where salesmen try to unload bootleg Game Entertainment Systems. It’s iconic. I’d wager it’s even more ingrained in our collective pop-culture consciousness than that Warhol soup can painting. You know the one. You don’t? Well then I rest my case!

…actually, just all the Super Mario games

After careful consideration, I’ve decided to upgrade #1 to include SMB 3 and 2. Honestly, the second one (Doki Doki Panic!!) is the least popular but still pretty darn ubiquitous in its day. It’s the first video game I ever played all the way through and man, that ending blew my little 7-year-old mind.

Tetris

This game was hugely popular. It had broad appeal for all ages. Even adults. Even my mom! …which makes sense. There’s no kids’ movie tie-in, no licensed cartoon characters. No characters at all, in fact. The graphics were simple shapes with 90-degree angles which allowed for some simple but clean-looking graphics. I remember being impressed with the highlights on the Tetriminos, and how they literally made the blocks shine. I had similar feelings about the Flash Man stage in Mega Man 2.

If you ask me, Tetris is—pixel for pixel—one of the greatest games of all time. Possibly the perfect video game. It’s easy to learn, with a difficulty ramp gentle enough to give even n00bs a sense of accomplishment. Then the option to adjust difficulty or game modes, or even choose the song. Tetris is still the GOAT in my book.

Mega Man 2

Oh, and speaking of Mega Man 2, this game was everywhere back in the day!

Gamers debate over which NES Mega Man title is the “best” (it’s 3), but the numbers don’t lie and MM2 is far and away the most popular Mega Man of all time.

Between the clean graphics, satisfying action and dope soundtrack, Mega Man 2 deserves the love it still enjoys. I can seriously play this forever and never get tired of it. And what’s more, it was incredibly popular in its time and most NES gamers will have played this absolute banger.

Bayou Billy

Despite its popularity, Bayou Billy has plenty of detractors. Lots of hate. I’ve posted about this game on Twitter (now called “X” by a few) and invariably hear responses akin to “throw that in the garbage” or “kill it with fire.”

Not sure why all the hate, really. It’s a pretty decent game that straddles the line between genres better than most multi-genre games. I suppose the Billy-hate stems from the fact that this game is harder than rocks and probably traumatized a whole generation.

Regardless, Bayou Billy seems to be constantly coming into the shop and constantly going right back out, impossible to keep in stock. It seems every bit as ubiquitous as Mario or Zelda among retro collectors. Crazy.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Speaking of difficult games…

There are so few pop-cultural phenomena like TMNT. And while the franchise itself has shown incredible longevity, having been re-imagined time and again, the original NES game still remains a one-of-a-kind entry.

But yeah. This game is really tough. You probably remember the dam level. That was the stage that separated the boys from the true ninja. Even if you limped all four of your turtles to the next stage, they were likely beat to hell. If it’s been a while, you’ll be pleased to know the dam level isn’t actually that hard. It just seemed that way when you were a kid. The subsequent levels, however… even with almost 30 years of practice, I still can’t beat this game.

The other two games in the TMNT NES trilogy were just arcade-style brawlers and, while they were good in their own right, I personally remain deeply offended they never released a true side-scrolling sequel to the first one.

This game came at a time when Nintendo and TMNT were both at peak popularity and if you were there, you almost certainly played this piece of history.

Skate or Die

I thought this game was legit. I was wrong.

That’s my opinion, but I don’t think I’m alone. This one sells out every time I get it in stock. I wonder if the adults buying these have the same fond memories as me. I played this at my cousin’s house (he had everything) and the downhill race segments were pretty fun. But the whole rest of the game felt impossible to figure out and even harder to win at.

Even if you could figure out how to play the various games, the button presses often felt more like luck than skill. I probably would have done better with the instruction manual, but… who has time for that? It’s Skate or DIE, not Skate or take your time perusing the manual. This is urgent dammit!

The sequel, Skate or Die 2, featured a halfpipe stunt game that plays just like a rudimentary Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Before THPS, this was fun as hell. Better by far than anything in Skate or Die. And yet, the first game is the one that seems to have the biggest footprint in nostalgic gamers. It definitely does embody that gnarly 80s vibe in a charming way. And the downhill races are fun. So considering how cheap Skate or Die is, I guess it makes sense to grab a copy.

Contra

There are quite a few great 2-player games on the NES. And quite a few of those are cooperative rather than PVP. Contra is among the very best of the NES co-op games.

If you played Contra like normal, even with a friend, it was very unforgiving. Although it’s a run & gun action game, Konami treated it a bit like a shoot-em-up with frequent weapon powerups and those notorious single-hit deaths. And you don’t get that many lives, you know. The only way to reliably beat Contra is with that classic Konami cheat code. You know the one.

In some ways, The Code is as much a part of pop culture as the game itself. It seemed like all my friends knew the “secret” code and each of them thought they were the only one. Hah, memories!

Besides The Code and the co-op, Contra is a really solid action game. Definitely tough, but really fun and satisfying to play. Unlike most of this list, Contra has actually increased in value over the last years and is a bit too steep for most of my customers. But it’s still a lot of fun and with the couch co-op, it’s definitely worth the price.

Ducktales

I know what you’re thinking. A-woo-ooh, right?

Haha no, I’m not using magic to read your mind. It’s a short story, anyway. Actually, the Ducktales (DuckTales?) theme song is permanently branded onto the brains of so very, very many millennials that you can hardly resist completing the lyric.

And while it wasn’t as popular as the cartoon, the game was definitely a big hit for Capcom and widespread among gamer households for the duration of the NES era. Not only was this game based on a beloved Disney franchise, but it’s an excellent game in its own right.

Hey, remember earlier when I said Mario 2 was the first game I ever beat? Well as I write this post, I’m starting to wonder if it was actually DuckTales on easy mode. Doesn’t matter anyway. The takeaway there is that unlike so many soul-crushingly difficult games, Ducktales actually made itself approachable for gamers of all ages. Combine that with the crisp graphics, responsive controls and a familiar soundtrack and you’ve got a recipe for an iconic NES game that almost every 80s kid played.

A-woo-ooh indeed.

Double Dragon 2: The Revenge

I remember seeing Double Dragon in gamer magazines back in the day. I thought it looked pretty interesting. The character sprites had balls for fists which was weird but also triggered a desire to punch other character sprites in their sprite faces. Unfortunately, DD never seemed to be available at my local (semi-rural) rental stores. So I never played it.

So I was pretty jazzed when Double Dragon 2: The Revenge started showing up. I rented it and played it with my sister, finishing it over a weekend.

Technically, DD2 is an arcade port. But the NES version is so different it might as well be a whole new game.

Honestly, that’s probably for the best. A lot of the early releases for the NES were direct arcade ports (such as they could manage). These were cool and all, but they were designed to soak up as many quarters as possible. Frequent deaths in arcade games are expected, but by the time DD2 came out, NES developers were focusing on console-friendly slow-burn experiences like Zelda, Metroid.

Double Dragon 2 is still very arcadey but (in my opinion) utilizes NES hardware so well that it conveys a sort of epic, adventure feeling that impressed me as a kid. I remember fighting my way through predictable back alleys only to end up in an undersea base. Discovering that progression for the first time really impressed me. It kinda still does!

A Bunch More

There are probably a ton more games that made their way through most NES-owning households. Games like Contra, Baseball, Mega Man 2 and Simon’s Quest were also extremely common. So feel free to let me know what I missed. And if any of these have unlocked a core memory for you, we usually have them in stock. It must be your lucky day!

Thanks for reading!