Tecmo Bowl
Original Release Date: 02/89
Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
System: NES
Seriously, do I have to explain why playing Tecmo Bowl on the Wii will be a blast? Singletary, Taylor, Payton, dude, this is football. Madden might get the hype, but Tecmo Bowl is the truth. No other sports game has captured my imagination or fired my competitive spirit the way Tecmo Bowl did and does. So, here’s another question: Would you play any old Madden when you don’t have to? Me, neither.
Mighty Final Fight
Original Release Date: 6/11/93
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
System: NES
If River City Ransom and Final Fight had a cute little NES baby, Mighty Final Fight is what it would look like. A super deformed take on my favorite genre, the side scrolling beat’em up, MFF is a great little diversion. Sure, I might have bought it at the time so that I could finally play as Guy at home, but now I have come to realize that the two button control and big head/ little body art style make MFF the best beat’em up of the 8 and 16 bit eras, only eclipsed by Three Dirty Dwarves and Guardian Heroes on the Saturn.
Yoshi’s Cookie
Release Date: 11/21/92
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Bullet Proof Software
System: NES
In a world full of falling piece puzzle games, Yoshi’s Cookie is a different animal. Starting with a small block of differently shaped cookies, the player has to manipulate them by column and row in order to match them up and make the cookies disappear before new cookies come in from the top and side. Unique, simple, and fun, Yoshi’s Cookie was an overlooked classic when it was originally released. Don’t overlook Yoshi’s Cookie again.
The Adventures of Lolo
Original Release Date: 04/89
Developer: HAL Labs
Publisher: Nintendo
System: NES
Admit it, you have wasted hours upon hours on this relatively simple adventure, trying to advance through its treacherous stages. I know it’s not the cool thing to say, but I always liked Lolo more than Zelda. The little blue puffball might not be as “cosplayable”, but the beeping soundtrack and devilishly clever stages made me desperate to traverse Lolo’s depths… er, heights. Anyway, While everyone else is throwing LoZ’s boomerang and burning bushes, I’ll be looking for that last heart with my boy Lolo.
Little Nemo: The Dream Master
Original Release Date: 09/90
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
System: NES
Capcom’s best Little Nemo game was this NES gem, although the arcade game did look better. A classic platformer on the classic platformer system, Little Nemo might not seem like the kind of game someone would be in a rush to play again, but there was something beautiful and pure about Little Nemo for the NES, something that is sadly lacking in most games. The music and graphics were good for their time, but it was most definitely the gameplay that made Little Nemo one of my favorite platformers of all time. By tossing sweet, sweet candy to certain critters, most notably the swank frog, you could make them fall asleep so that you could take control of them. This simple mechanic has been a platform staple ever since, most notably in the equally swank Kirby games.