Nintendo

July 1987

Action/Adventure

1 Player

Video games reached a whole new level of depth with The Legend of Zelda.  As Link, you'll explore an enormous overworld wrought with dangers, then enter dungeons to solve challenging puzzles and slay vicious monsters.  There are all kinds of weapons to collect, and the enemies put up quite a fight, especially the bosses.  This is a must for fans of adventure games.

FAST FACT:  In 1987, Nintendo broke with tradition and manufactured The Legend of Zelda with a shiny gold cartridge, rather than the utilitarian grey cartridges used for other games.  Years later, The Legend of Zelda was re-released in a standard grey cartridge.

Capcom

July 1988

Shooter

1-2 Players

There's two ways to play this shooter... once you're finished blasting formations of ships and bombing gun installations, your winged hero can catch a gust of wind which takes them into a dangerous lair full of pulsating orbs and other biological nightmares.  It's a solid experience overall, but the overhead stages give the player more to do than the side-scrolling ones.

Bandai

January 1992

Sports

1-2 Players

Bandai brings together the best baseball players in history for a video game worthy of their exceptional talents.  Even without legends like Babe Ruth and Lou Gherig (beautifully rendered in the character select screen), the game offers plenty of reasons to play it... it's got large characters, fantastic fielding, and a tight feel missing from many of its competitors.

Sunsoft/Ocean

November 1992

Puzzle

1 Player

Happiness is a dumb rodent.  That's the lesson taught by Lemmings, the classic puzzle game that casts you as the single brain shared between a mob of mop-topped critters.  You assign special tasks- digging, climbing, and building- to each of the lemmings in the hopes of leading them to a doorway at the end of each level.  It's a whole lot of addictive fun!

FAST FACT:  DMA Productions (now Rockstar North), the programming team that had created Lemmings for Psygnosis, went on to design the smash hit Grand Theft Auto and its sequels.  I always knew those guys had a sadistic streak running through 'em...

Koei

November 1991

Strategy

1-2 Players

Koei continues its way too complicated series of strategic simulations with L'Empereur, an interactive chronicle of the life of courageous French commander Napolean Bonaparte.  If you love making anal retentive decisions for your troops before sending them into battle, you'll want to pull up a chair for this one.  Brew some strong coffee, too... you're gonna need it.

Ocean

April 1993

Action

1 Player

Play as police officers Riggs and Murtaugh in this weak adaptation of the popular buddy cop films.  You can either punch and kick your way through the blocky criminals in your path, or take them down with your handgun.  Either way, you're in for a really boring time, because the game just doesn't have the depth of a dedicated beat 'em up or shooter.

Konami

August 1988

Shooter

1-2 Players

It's not a direct sequel to Gradius, but Life Force is nevertheless a big improvement over its close cousin.  For instance, the graphics are less sterile, with creepy organic environments full of blood-soaked teeth and fleshy brains.  You can also play Life Force with a friend, and the vertically scrolling stages add welcome variety to the gameplay.

Virgin/Dark Technologies

June 1994

Action

1 Player

Virgin's last NES adaptation of a Disney film was surprisingly good, but this one isn't up to the standards of The Jungle Book.  The Lion King is a rough side-scrolling platformer with tiny characters and frustrating control.  You'll be spending as much time hitting your head on platforms in the garishly colored African savannah as you will leaping onto them.