The Best Family Computer Games of All Time

Ahhh... Family Computer. Also known as NES or Famicom to some. I grew up playing games on it. At the time I thought the graphics were out of this world. And it was! Well at least compared to Atari and my PC with CGA 4-color graphics.

So now without further ado I present you with a list of the Best Family Computer Games of All Time. (Note: I reserve the right to be biased, it makes life more interesting.)

10. Battle City
Control your tanks, get additional ammo, protect your base while at the same time trying to take over the enemy's base. Lots of fun! Too bad I sucked at this game. I let my brother do all the work while I play 'defense'.

9. Tag Team Wrestling
Never have I seen such limited gameplay garner so much fun. You control either the 'Ricky Fighters' (good guys) or 'Strong & Bad' (bad guys). And you have only two moves. One is to punch your opponent to stun him, and the second is to select one of the wrestling moves to execute while the opposing wrestler is incapacitated. "Fear my sassori move. Ricky Fighters rule!!"

8. Double Dribble
I drooled the first time I saw this in Computer Haven, Virra Mall. Such realistic graphics for a basketball game. You can dunk, shoot three pointers, play 5-on-5 whole court. Well not really since only three men, all of them who look alike, go up and down the floor at any one time. But still this was the most awesome basketball game I've ever seen at the time.

7. Mike Tyson's Punch Out
I remember the sheer ecstacy I felt after finally beating Mike Tyson. Actually the toughest opponent here was Super Macho Man because of his twisting tornado punch. I had to utilize the 'vibrating finger' technique to get up before the count of ten. Go Little Mac!

6. Super Mario Bros.
The first game we owned and a classic. Mario can jump over little guys. Eat the mushroom, grow big. Jump over platforms, swim and avoid fish, rescue the princess, my hero, hurraah!! Sorry Mario, the Princess is in another castle.

5. Contra
Once you learn the up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-select-start move to get the thirty lives, you're all set! Well not really since I end up losing all my thirty lives and I have to steal some of my brother's lives in co-op mode to get to the ending. Get the power! Try the spread weapon, the lazer, the machine gun. Do that amazing tumbling jump. Fun.

4. Rygar (aka Brave Soldier)
Ah, this was the most pleasurable game to finish. It's essentially a mini hack and slash RPG where you build up your strength. You also need to use the grappling hooks to get to the other worlds. This game was in japanese so it took lots of experimentation with the controls to discover how to use the grappling hook. And it has the cute ending with the bird flying and the land saved.

3. Kinnikuman Wrestling
Oh man, this is one of my favorite games! You control little cartoon wrestling characters. We even had names for each one. My brother got the high-flyers while I got the cowboy and his friend Popo (aka Kid Muscle, but I call him Popo). You can get the power and beat up the opponent with your special move! My favorite part is when I'm strong enough to push my brother's wrestlers to the electric ropes to finish them off, hehehe.

2. Tecmo Wrestling
This-is-a-classic-game. Probably one of the best wrestling games of all time. It has a wide variety of wrestling moves, ranging from simple to the finishing maneuvres. I gave each of my stable of wrestlers' nicknames such as Mr. Perfect, Pancho El Rancho, and Mr. Spin. My brother had his own stable of guys, and this was one of the few games where I can actually beat him. Of course later on my skills and thumb speed slowed down and I became... worthless.

And finally, the best Family Computer game of all time is...

1. Excitebike
Cue the music. Ohh yeah! Control your little biker. Race around the track. Avoid the obstacles. Try to outrace your opponents. This game was so realistic. The physics modelling was ahead of its time. And you can even design your own track! Ahhhhh... it doesn't get any better than this.