It's one small step for Ninja Gaiden, and one giant leap for ninjakind in this sequel to the immensely popular action game by Tecmo.  Ninja Gaiden II takes the solid (if frustrating) gameplay of the original and adds improved graphics and a very handy shadow ninja power-up.  Best of all, you no longer have to awkwardly hop up walls... simply climbing them is enough.

The last Ninja Gaiden on the NES puts its best foot forward audiovisually... the cinema scenes are more detailed, and there are voice effects whenever Ryu swings his sword or uses magic.  However, the gameplay has taken a step back, with a slower pace and less intelligent level design.  Saddling the player with a limited number of continues was a lousy idea as well.

As an unusually cheerful ninja, you'll exorcise demons and rescue lost souls from a series of Japanese buildings.  When one building is purged of its evil influence, it's sealed away, allowing you to proceed to the next.  Ninja Kid is one of the earliest action games on the system, and it shows... both the graphics and gameplay are pretty bland.

This cartridge was created solely for a Nintendo-sponsored competition and was never officially released to the public.  As you might imagine, this makes the game extremely rare.  In it, you'll play abbreviated versions of three popular Nintendo games, Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris.  When time is up or you've reached the goals in all three titles, the game ends.

FAST FACT:  Nintendo World Championships was designed exclusively for a series of contests sponsored by Nintendo, and wasn't distributed to the public.  However, the best players in the competition each went home with a copy of the game, while the grand prize winner received an especially rare copy in a gold cartridge.

This intricately complex strategy game might be just the ticket for gamers who want more from their Nintendo experience than stomping on turtles.  Nobunaga's ambition is to take over Japan, but there are a dozen other rulers with the same lofty goal.  You'll send troops to conquer their kingdoms, taking care to bring along enough supplies for each battle.

Nobunaga is back, and he's still looking to conquer Japan.  He'll use any means at his disposal to achieve this goal, from sending out assassins to kill his hated enemies to using diplomacy to gain the trust of warlords in neighboring provinces.  Improved graphics and an easier to use interface makes Nobunaga's Ambition II a better game than the first.

This land is your land... but this land is their land, too!  You'll have to win it for either the North or the Confederate states in this unique title that replaces most of the strategic nuance of a Koei simulation with action-packed mini-games.  You'll take control of an entire army in overhead scenes, then send a single soldier into side-scrolling enemy strongholds.

FAST FACT:  French developers Infogrames weren't especially well known outside Europe in the 1990's, but that all changed when they acquired one of the biggest names in the video game industry.  Now known as Atari (yes, THAT Atari), the company distributes video games worldwide.