The best NES games

We ranked 216 NES / Famicom games that have at least 10 player ratings on IGDB. Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) comes out on top with an average of 89/100 from 1,739 players. Hidden gem: Disney's DuckTales 2 makes #14 with only 47 ratings. The list covers releases from 1983 to 2019.

1. 1
   Super Mario Bros. 3

   1988 · famicom, NES, Arcade
   891,739 ratings
2. 2
   Tetris

   1989 · NES
   86942 ratings
3. 3
   Super Mario Bros.

   1985 · famicom, NES, fds
   841,326 ratings
4. 4
   Mega Man 2

   1989 · NES, 3DS, Wii
   85390 ratings
5. 5
   The Legend of Zelda

   1986 · famicom, NES, fds
   81737 ratings
6. 6
   Disney's DuckTales

   1989 · famicom, NES, Wii
   84176 ratings
7. 7
   Castlevania

   1986 · NES, fds, Arcade
   79347 ratings
8. 8
   Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

   1987 · famicom, NES, Arcade
   83114 ratings
9. 9
   Mega Man 3

   1990 · famicom, NES, Arcade
   79203 ratings
10. 10
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game

    1990 · famicom, NES, Arcade
    80121 ratings
11. 11
    Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers

    1990 · famicom, NES, Arcade
    79141 ratings
12. 12
    Mega Man

    1987 · famicom, NES, 3DS
    76295 ratings
13. 13
    Battletoads / Double Dragon

    1993 · NES
    8175 ratings
14. 14
    Disney's DuckTales 2

    1993 · famicom, NES
    8447 ratings
15. 15
    Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom

    1991 · famicom, NES, Arcade
    8447 ratings
16. 16
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project

    1991 · famicom, NES
    7981 ratings
17. 17
    Mega Man 6

    1993 · famicom, NES, 3DS
    7996 ratings
18. 18
    StarTropics

    1990 · NES, Wii, WiiU
    8736 ratings
19. 19
    Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2

    1993 · famicom, NES
    8076 ratings
20. 20
    Mega Man 4

    1991 · famicom, NES, 3DS
    77135 ratings
21. 21
    Battle City

    1985 · famicom, NES, Arcade
    78105 ratings
22. 22
    Battletoads

    1991 · famicom, NES, Amiga CD32
    76152 ratings
23. 23
    Mega Man 5

    1992 · famicom, NES, 3DS
    77106 ratings
24. 24
    Disney's Darkwing Duck

    1992 · NES
    7967 ratings
25. 25
    EarthBound Beginnings

    2015 · NES, WiiU, Switch
    8155 ratings
26. 26
    Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos

    1990 · famicom, NES, Arcade
    8060 ratings
27. 27
    Dragon Warrior IV

    1990 · famicom, NES
    8824 ratings
28. 28
    Blaster Master

    1988 · famicom, NES, 3DS
    8237 ratings
29. 29
    Shadowgate

    1987 · famicom, NES, Atari-ST
    8330 ratings
30. 30
    Final Fantasy

    1987 · famicom, NES, 3DS
    73265 ratings
31. 31
    Adventures of Lolo

    1989 · NES, 3DS, Wii
    7843 ratings
32. 32
    Faxanadu

    1987 · famicom, NES, Wii
    8033 ratings
33. 33
    Elite

    1984 · NES, Acorn Archimedes, bbcmicro
    7938 ratings
34. 34
    Bomberman II

    1991 · famicom, NES
    8030 ratings
35. 35
    Shadow of the Ninja

    1990 · famicom, NES, 3DS
    8127 ratings
36. 36
    Tiny Toon Adventures

    1991 · famicom, NES
    7572 ratings
37. 37
    Dr. Mario

    1990 · famicom, NES, Arcade
    72208 ratings
38. 38
    Kunio-kun's Nekketsu Soccer League

    1993 · famicom
    8122 ratings
39. 39
    Journey to Silius

    1990 · famicom, NES
    7928 ratings
40. 40
    Felix the Cat

    1992 · NES
    7739 ratings
41. 41
    R.C. Pro-Am

    1988 · NES, Arcade, Genesis/MegaDrive
    7829 ratings
42. 42
    Duck Hunt

    1984 · famicom, NES, Arcade
    72243 ratings
43. 43
    Mighty Final Fight

    1993 · famicom, NES, 3DS
    7927 ratings
44. 44
    Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance

    1988 · famicom, NES, C64
    7925 ratings
45. 45
    Shanghai

    1986 · famicom, NES, Arcade
    8515 ratings
46. 46
    Fire Emblem Gaiden

    1992 · famicom, Wii, WiiU
    8019 ratings
47. 47
    Mr. Gimmick

    1992 · famicom, NES
    8017 ratings
48. 48
    Excitebike

    1984 · famicom, NES, Arcade
    71186 ratings
49. 49
    Dragon Warrior

    1986 · famicom, NES, MSX2
    7536 ratings
50. 50
    Tennis

    1984 · famicom, NES, fds
    7445 ratings

How this list is ranked: IGDB player ratings, weighted by how many people rated each game (a Bayesian average with a prior of 100 ratings), so a game with a handful of perfect scores doesn't outrank a classic rated by thousands. Only games with at least 10 ratings; editions and re-releases are folded into the original. Numbers shown are the raw average rating (0–100) and the rating count.

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