Tecmo

Tecmo

1988

SIMS

Sega, Tec Toy

1992

First game unveiled on the list and already we're abusing the two-games-in-one-slot cheat code. Though both games share the same title, they were not made by the same developer. The gameplay may be similar (jump, slash, and up+attack for secondary weapons), but the levels, enemies, bosses, and music are totally different. On the other hand, each one demonstrates the brutal difficulty made notorious by the genre—get used to deadfalls and spikes combined with supremely irritating flying enemies. All in all, it's a supremely appropriate was to kick off this top 10!

Let's start with the original Tecmo outing on the NES. From the first seconds of playing, the crisp gameplay and very challenge are obvious, but Ninja Gaiden's place in history much more firmly grounded in an element that is usually an afterthought in platformers: cut-scenes. More than that, though, it's how the cut-scenes really tell a story as you progress through the levels. All you have to do is defeat the first boss to have an extremely memorable encounter with "just a girl," which guarantees you won't write this one off as just another platformer. Rounding out the solid graphics and great gameplay is a wonderfully percussive soundtrack.

About three years later, "Sega" (actually SIMS) reprogrammed (i.e. designed an entirely new game) Ninja Gaiden, keeping the same sword-swinging, shuriken-throwing hero. The graphics are gorgeous, showing off the Master System's superior color capabilities. Doesn't the first stage remind you a little bit of Ninja Scroll's fights in the woods? What a shame that this title only saw the light of day in the European market. The gameplay is a little deeper, heavily incorporating the ability to grab onto platforms and swing up or down from them, but it feels a little looser than the NES. While the music is good, it also fails to quite match that of the NES. Nevertheless, any fan of Ninja Gaiden owes it to themselves to track down this relatively unknown title.

Sega

Sega, Tec Toy

1986

eBay

Since Sega wanted to battle Nintendo for console dominance, they required their own goofy, platforming hero to compete with the Super Mario Bros., who already had one year's head start. After all, the 80s and at least early 90s were absolutely dominated by 2D titles, where a protagonist performed incredibly precise leaps en route to victory. How would Sega copy or outdo Mario, that was the question...

To Sega's credit, Alex Kidd represents a very different breed. Sporting monkey-like features and giant hands, he cannot hop-and-bop his way to victory. Instead, he's gifted with giant hands that can punch/break virtually anything; a bad landing on an enemy results in Alex's spirit instantly ascending to the heavens. Rather than collect coins (and ultimately 1ups), he gathers bags of cash, which he can spend at shops. Some of the more intriguing shop items includes vehicles, like a motorcycle that smashes through bricks and enemies, or a "peticopter" that is flown by pumping pedals (i.e. the attack button). Instead of dropping Bowser into a pit of lava, Alex Kidd bests henchmen in a best-of-three game of jan-ken-pon (rock, paper, scissors).

Silly, yes, but don't dismiss this title. Not only is it graphically more impressive that Super Mario's first outing, but the gameplay is at least as deep. This monkey-like boy stars in one of the best platformers of the era. Sadly, none of the sequels would measure up to this exceptional inception. Nevertheless, this is a fine example (and sad reminder, given present day) of how Sega was once one of the greatest and most creative video game developers on the planet. Most impressive of all, Alex Kidd had his way long before Sega proved that Nintendo was merely mortal during the height of the 16-bit console wars. How far the nearly-as-mighty-as-Nintendo have fallen.

Konami

Konami

1991

Long before Smash Brothers, Konami helped pioneer the developer mash-up, only in the platformer genre rather than the fighting one. Just by looking at the full title, which includes "Esuouesu!! Paseri Jou" (literally SOS! Parsley Castle), you know right away that, as with the Parodius series, Konami isn't taking itself too seriously.

During levels, you can transform the main robot protagonist into three diffierent characters, including Goemon, Simon Belmont III, Getsu Fuma, Upa, and Bill Rizer. Each character has his or her own unique attack, strengths and weaknesses, from baby Upa's abilities to rattle enemies into clouds that serve as platforms to Bill's famously chunky machine gun shots. You'll even find some guest appearances by Vic Viper and Twinbee.

As you'd expect, the graphics and sound and gameplay are all up to Konami's high standards, but there are also some unique touches you don't see very often. There's two-player co-op, so twice as many Konami heroes can be running around the screen at once. Some levels play out like shoot 'em up stages. There are even branching paths (à la Castlevania III) after certain stages. It may be hard to track down this Japan-only release, but it is well worth the effort.

Capcom

Capcom

1988

Let's start with the obvious: this is a platformer in which you can't jump! This self-imposed development constraint makes Bionic Commando easily stand out from the bazillions of other NES platformers. Better still, firing your bionic arm to latch onto structures, swing, then doing it again in mid-air in Indiana Jonesesque whip swinging fashion proves to be way more fun than stringing a series of jumps together.

But we're just getting started about how great the gameplay is. Choosing a destination on the map screen for your helicopter allows you to vary the order in which stages unfold, transcending the linearity that plagues most other platformers. There are even enemy trucks that move and try to intercept you on the map. Another great aspect is the ability to communicate with allied forces to get instructions and also advice on how to proceed. But sometimes the enemy will detect you tapping into their lines and send an attack squad after you.

Still not convinced how awesome this game is? Well, the musical score by Junko Tamiya is fantastic, capturing the intensity and military setting very nicely. There's also a infamous ending cut-scene that slipped past Nintendo's censors. I won't spoil the surprise, but you can check it out here. As if all that isn't enough, this game is actually far superior to the original arcade title it was based on. Now how many games from the era can say that?

Capcom

Capcom

1988

One of the most helpful rules of thumb today for avoiding crap games is: don't buy ones based on licenses because the vast majority of them totally suck. Times were different back in 8-bit era, though, and here's a fine example of how to make a great game based on an existing intellectual property. Similar to the previous entry in this list, Duck Tales immediately stands out for a gameplay innovation; Scrooge can bounce on his cane like a pogo stick. Not only is this a handy way to take out enemies, but a carefully timed bounce at the enemy's expense acts like a springboard, sending Scrooge to even greater heights (and hard to reach treasures).

While the game is a little short in length, the gorgeous and unique levels make it easy to forgive Capcom. The stages cover everything from the Amazon to Transylvania to even the Moon. By the way, the Moon features one of the best tracks to ever grace the NES. Warning, I'm now going to ruin your memory of this song by providing a link to the Brentalfloss parody with lyrics.

The themes from the cartoon work so well in this game, you'd almost think the cartoon was inspired by the game, not the other way around. Scrooge is famous for his greed, so naturally you take him around the world in search of the greatest, most exotic treasures. Why do you want to explore every stage and open every treasure chest? Diamonds and gems! Scrooge wants as many as possible. Launchpad even shows up in most levels, offering Scrooge a trip back to Duckburg if he wants to bail on the current stage. If only licensed games today were crafted so painstakingly.

Sunsoft

Sunsoft

1991

Every Top 10 should include an obscure title that will rock your world when you try it for the first time. Gimmick not only fits the bill but threatens to go all the way to the top. The only things holding it back are its brutal difficulty, which spoils some of the fun, and gameplay that is merely great, rather than exceptional. With those two—admittedly lame—criticisms out of the way, let's move on to the good stuff.

For all the wonders you've already seen from Sunsoft (like Blaster Master, Batman, the list goes on), Gimmick! goes even further thanks to a special add-on chip that provides an extra punch for the graphics and sound. This has to be the most colorful and vivid platformer to ever appear on the console. The rich soundtrack can compete with many early 16-bit titles, and it's complemented with a wide array of crisp sound effects.

Your main weapon is a star that you charge above your head, and once thrown it bounces ahead of you, following some general laws of physics. You can also ride on the star like a platform, a technique that is essential if you want to find the secret treasures in each stage and unlock the best ending. As you can imagine, though, getting onto the star saddle is a tricky proposition, one of the elments that makes for such a large challenge, overall. As you move through the six levels, you'll be astounded by the creativity and how often a wonderful detail appears only once, making it all the more special. To delve further into this hidden gem, I highly recommend you check out the annotated playthough by Frank Cifaldi. It remains one of the best playthroughs I've seen for any game, so stop fooling around and watch part one!

HAL Laboratory

Nintendo

1993

Although this is Kirby's first appearance in color—he actually got his start on the Game Boy—and there have been many entries in this franchise since then, Kirby's Adventure remains not only the defining title for the pink puffball, but one could easily argue that it still hasn't been topped. Sure, it is a little bit easy to play through, but exploring the rich worlds while stealing enemy powers incredibly fun and satisfying.

Looking purely at gameplay mechanics, is there a deeper platformer out there? Kirby can fly, break blocks by exhaling, inhale enemies, capture their powers, and even dump a captured power (released as a bouncing star) that can even be inhaled again if you desire. Scattered throughout the worlds you'll also find mini-games, museums, and arenas, where you'll be given opportunities to gain extra lives, gain new powers, and fight mini-bosses.

Technically, you're also dealing with a powerhouse, from sound effects and bright pastely colors to parallax scrolling and psuedo-3D effects. Not surprisingly, Kirby's Adventure is also one of the largest NES games ever developed, clocking in at six megabits.

Most important of all, Kirby is demonstrative of the high level of innovation that you used to see on a much more frequent basis during the 8- and 16-bit ages.

Konami

Konami

1989

In many ways this takes the best elements of the previous two Castlevanias on the NES. You'll find brilliant level design like in the original, non-linear game progression (you can choose different paths between some stages) as a nod to the open levels of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and a phenomenal musical score that rivals them both. The music is especially awesome in the Japanese version, which uses a special microprocessor chip known as the VRC6. You can listen to the differences—with and without the VRC6—in the NES Stage 1s feature.

Castlevania III also showcases some great new gameplay innovations. Depending on the route you take through levels you can recruit three different adventuring companions, from a pirate or wizard to even the vampire known as Alucard (who would later star in the seminal Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). Each character has their own unique skills, like Grant's ability to scale walls, but unfortunately you can only have one companion at a time, so but accepting the services of a second recruit you must say goodbye to the first one. In addition to the replay value offered by these other playable characters, your choices throughout the game also determine which of multiple game endings you receive.

Naturally, Konami also pushed the technical limits of the hardware, and you'll see everything from an amazing number of rich colors on screen at once (such as with the stained glass windows early on) to the rotating gears and swinging pendulums of the clock tower. This masterpiece of graphics, game design, and sound packs in an incredible amount of replay value. Although many great Castlevania titles have been released since 1989, this one still stands out as one of the best.

#2 — Mega Man 2 (aka Rockman 2)

Capcom

Capcom

1988

Elegance. It's very challenging to summarize this game's greatness with one word, but that's my best shot at being succinct with this one. It's not the most graphically impressive platformer. It doesn't offer the deepest gameplay for the genre. You may even argue that there are games with better musical scores—although that would be a foolishly difficult position for an argument. What Mega Man 2 does, is offer an incredibly tight and well-crafted adventure.

There's a reason why when Capcom relaunched the franchise with Mega Man 9 they turned to Mega Man's second outing as a template. It's the essence of what makes the blue bomber great without unnecessary frills. There's nothing wrong with sticking to a simple set of mechanics if you excel at making the most of them. Jump. Shoot. Change weapons. Shoot more. That's the simple recipe for brilliance, yet what's so important is that nearly every element of game design supports it.

Having one of the best start-to-finish musical scores every created doesn't hurt either—Thank you Takashi Tateishi! But that's obvious. Look at how each level depicts some initial challenges and then steadily builds them higher, so you don't need any of those all-too-common lengthy tutorials that's more an more common with each video game generation. Check out the iconic, yet cute, yet original enemies you're furiously firing at. Look at the detail put into creating the atmosphere of each robot boss's world. Who could ever forget the first time they encountered Mecha-Dragon and had to pick a treacherous path along platforms as the screen auto-scrolled?

This is a feat of game design that defined the franchise and platformers, in general, making it all the more amusing that Keiji Inafune worked on this sequel as a "rogue effort" during his spare time. Thank you, Keiji!

Nintendo

Nintendo

1988

By Paul DeMarte

“Get the star Jimmy! Get the star!” These are the immortal words of Jenny Lewis’s character, Haley, from The Wizard. And for over 20 years these words have probably echoed through every Super Mario fan’s head. If you saw this film back then, it was because you loved Nintendo and couldn't get enough Mario. Though the quality of the film may be debatable (even though I like to watch, chuckle and reminisce), the message continues to ring true.

All the early Mario games are timeless classics, but SMB3 broke even more gameplay barriers than its predecessors. There are amazing colors, enhanced graphics, new music, optional paths to take (warp whistles), fun mini games (Toad’s cute little house), and new powers (the iconic raccoon tail that helps Mario take flight).

The game might have some familiar themes—the princess has been captured! AGAIN! Someone really needs to loJack her!—but the expansion into a much larger Mario universe starts here. Players now attempt to defeat the Koopalings, ride pirate ships, travel varied terrain, explore mid-level castles, navigate a giant world, and encounter many a new enemy. It takes some serious skills to succeed, yet players want to become better because of how much fun it is.

SMB3 has definitely earned its place as the all-time classic platformed. Yes, you can become a frog, a raccoon, wear the amazing and rare Tanooki suit, fly up and down the land, shoot the classic fireball, and even hop around in a big green shoe, but the true brilliance is the replay value. That's why Nintendo has repackaged this game in Super Mario All-Stars (SNES), Super Mario Advance 4 (Game Boy Advance), Wii’s Virtual Console, and yet again on Super Mario All-Stars (Wii) to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros.

Fans will no doubt continue to pay for even more re-releases and play this game for years to come. You can easily play through just a few levels in a sitting, or you can grab a warp whistle for speed-running shenanigans. Whatever your choice is, you’re in for one of the finest gaming experiences ever created.

Sunsoft

Sunsoft

1989

If the criteria for your ranking on this list were coverage on this site, then Batman would jump to #1 without any contest. It already has a full review, and it was examined even more closely in The Sunsoft Seven pt. 3, which includes full coverage (and samples) of the phenomenal soundtrack.

To focus on new ground, then, let's consider what sets it apart in from other members of this top 10. It's not the only license-based title here, but it does show a unique example of how to effectively stay true to the themes of the source material while also inovating with stage design, bosses, and even the story. The design freedom (rather than strict adherance to the movie) exercised here helps make this such a great game.

Finally, you have to appreciate the atmosphere; Tim Burton would be proud. Castlevania III may be the obvious title here that features gothic envirnments and vampires, but is it the darkest game in this list? No way. Look at the dark tones of Batman, the brutal enemies, and the obstacles that threaten to literally grind you up as you ascend the final clock tower level. Not only is this an excellent platformer, its dark ambiance provides a fine lesson in artistic composition

Sega

Sega, Tec Toy

1988

By Paul DeMarte

Ninjas! Do you really need more? Ninjas are everywhere! Well, there are a ton of villains shooting at you and throwing boomerang swords—all while hostages need saving, but in the end: there are ninjas!

Shinobi is one of my ultimate jams! There’s a lot of side-scrolling jumping and dodging to be had, and this is the original game that started the epic series.

In 1988, Sega provided a fairly decent port for the Master System, based on the classic 1987 arcade game. Unfortunately, there are some changes in the conversion that keep it from being a serious contender as an at-home great. While graphics not up to the arcade standard can be overlooked, you can't be as rosy-lensed with the occasionally choppy gameplay. The controls are a bit clunkier, all the action is a bit slower, you throw far fewer shurikens at time, and some content had to be cut entirely.

These all might seem to be detrimental changes, but for a port in 1988, this was as close to a complete transfer as you might have seen. The game is still insanely fun! Jumping around, slashing enemies up close, powering up and fending off ninjas is still a fond favorite! Shinobi contains a memorable soundtrack, creative bonus levels and serious precision timing during gameplay. Oh, and by the way: there are ninjas!

NES

Konami

Fireball

1990

SMS

Sega

Sword

1990

FDS

Nintendo

Hop 'n bop

1986

FDS

Konami

Various Weapons

1987

SMS

Sega

Fists

1991

NES

Nintendo

Hop 'n bop

1985

NES

Sunsoft

Various Weapons

1991

NES

Sivak Games

Various Weapons

2010

FDS

Konami

Rattle

1988

NES

Capcom

Gun

1988

NES

Imagineering

Jelly Beans

1989

SMS

Probe Entertainment

Various Weapons

1993

FDS

Taito

Bubbles

1987

NES

Taito

Bubbles

1987

SMS

Taito

Bubbles

1991

NES

Taito

Bubbles

1993

SMS

Sega

Hop 'n bop

1990

FDS

Konami

Whip

1986

NES

Konami

Whip

1986

SMS

Core Design

Club

1993

NES

K2

Various Weapons

1991

SMS

Virgin Games

Soda Cans

1993

SMS

Probe Entertainment

Bubble Gun

1994

NES

KID

Various Weapons

1991

NES

Capcom

Fireball

1992

SMS

Sega

Various Weapons

1990

FDS

Konami

Kicking

1988

NES

Konami

Kicking

1986

NES

Konami

Yo-yo

1987

SMS

Tiertex, U.S. Gold

None!

1990

NES

Hudson Soft

Fists

1990

SMS

Tiertex

Hop 'n bop

1991

SMS

Virgin Games

Bananas

1994

FDS

Nintendo

Hop 'n bop

1988

SMS

Syrox Development

Hop 'n bop

1994

NES

Capcom

Various Animals

1990

NES

Takeru

Various Weapons

1992

SMS

SIMS

Various Weapons

1992

NES

Capcom

Various Weapons

1987

NES

Capcom

Various Weapons

1990

NES

Irem

Machine Gun

1991

NES

Tecmo

Sword

1990

SMS

Graftgold

Nose Pebbles

1993

NES

Taito

Boomerangs

1991

SMS

The Kremlin

Sword

1992

SMS

Vic Tokai

Fists

1989

SMS

Taito

Sword

1988

NES

Natsume

Sword

1990

NES

Natsume

Fists

1991

NES

Rare

Tongue

1989

SMS

Ancient

Hop 'n bop

1991

SMS

Aspect/Sega

Hop 'n bop

1992

NES

Namco

Axe

1989

FDS

Nintendo

Hop 'n bop

1986

NES

Nintendo

Hop 'n bop

1985

FDS

Nintendo

Hop 'n bop

1986

NES

Nintendo

Turnips

1988

SMS

Sega

Whirlwind

1992

FDS

Nintendo

Turnips

1987

NES

Konami

Kicking

1991