on Google Preferred Source Google News Link copied to clipboard By Jason Venter Published Sep 12, 2026, 3:00 AM EDT Polygon Lists No saggy middles
Sign in to your Polygon.com account Add Us Add on Google Preferred Source Google News Summary Generate a summary of this story Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap On October 18, 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System launched in North America with a limited selection of games like Super Mario Bros. and Excitebike . Within a few years, it had a library of hundreds of titles, proving that rumors of the video game industry’s death throughout the early ‘80s were greatly exaggerated. Today, many of those early games feel like antiques. They’re not nearly as memorable as they once were, with so many generations of newer software to choose from. But there are some that still deserve your attention, even now. Here are 10 NES games that are still worth playing from start to finish.
Ninja warriors clashed in a contemporary city, and players immediately knew they wanted to spend more time with agile hero Ryu Hayabusa. The cost was steep. Ninja Gaiden is one of the most challenging games of the era, at least out of the ones a person might still care to play today. Bosses hit hard and fast. Even birds have what it takes to knock an unwitting ninja from the tenuous safety a small ledge provides. The game inspired two sequels, which proved similarly compelling. Tecmo also brought the series back with a revival starting on the original Xbox, and 2005’s Ninja Gaiden Black is widely considered peak gaming. But there’s still no better place to start than with the first game in the original series.
The Castlevania series is worth experiencing from start to finish, even before you get to critical darlings like Symphony of the Night . Each game is compelling in its own right, but Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse nailed the most details all at once during those all-important early days of the franchise. It did so by providing a variety of characters and routes through its gothic environments. Even today, players enjoy taking not one but multiple runs through its challenging stages, testing new strategies and weapon combinations as they enjoy exhilarating battles against the forces of darkness.
Image: Nintendo via Polygon Publisher: Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda released first on the Famicom Disk System in Japan in 1986. In 1987, it came to the NES in North America. If you play it wrong, completing the first installment in the beloved series feels like tending to a monotonous laundry list. Players bomb every rock wall and burn every tree, one screen after another. But NPCs wait in hidden caves, happy to impart helpful tips to guide Link to the richest rewards and the most treacherous challenges. Players can tackle dungeons in nearly any order, ignoring their numbering. Those labyrinths contain gear to help topple Ganon and save Hyrule not once, but twice.
A weekly cheat sheet to what you’ll eventually love to play. No buying, no commitment — just saving for later.
Image: Jeremy Parish/Polygon Publisher: Enix
There’s an argument to be made for celebrating each game in the legendary Dragon Warrior series (now known everywhere by the series’ Japanese moniker, Dragon Quest) on a list like this one. But Dragon Warrior 4 arguably does the mo…