5 NES Games That Have Actually Aged Beautifully

Published Sep 6, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT

Chris is a Gaming Editor at ScreenRant. He has been a professional writer since 2009, and has written for top TV, comics, movie, and video game outlets like Engadget, Polygon, Destructoid, and more. He brings with him an expertise in every game genre, no matter how niche or mainstream.

You may know him as the former Managing/Reviews Editor of Destructoid, where he published hundreds of game reviews across every genre, including MMOs, sports games, and Metroidvanias.

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The Nintendo Entertainment System is one of the most iconic consoles of all time. It's not just one of the top-selling systems; it hosted an entire generation of classics, and birthed franchises that are still around today. While Nintendo was responsible for many of its hits, third parties helped build that legacy, including Capcom.

Smaller studios made a name for themselves during the NES era, and scores of NES games have withstood the test of time. Some are just as easy to get into today as they were in the '80s and '90s, and several offer unique experiences that have never truly been replicated.

StarTropics

StarTropics was released in 1990 for the NES, and it remains one of Nintendo's biggest swings to this day. Although it did get a sequel in Zoda's Revenge (1994), the series is mostly dormant now, which is a huge shame. From the same director as Punch-Out comes a sprawling RPG that tasks players with rescuing their uncle. Playing out similarly to Zelda 2, you'll explore dungeons and an overworld with hero Mike Jones, taking on enemies while solving puzzles.

The main reason StarTropics is so unique is the real-life letter the original NES edition packed in. The idea is that at some point in the game, you're instructed to put the real letter in water, which provides you with a password. This caused some kerfuffles back in the day because people got the game used, but the gimmick persists as a fun factoid 36 years later.

Thankfully, the game has been fully ported to modern systems with the letter Easter egg preserved digitally. If any of this sounds interesting to you, you can check out StarTropics on the Switch. As a breezy five-to-six-hour game, it won't even take up much time, either.

Tetris

Tetris will persist as long as cockroaches. Where humanity goes, a device that's capable of Tetris will always be available. Plenty has been said about Alexey Pajitnov's masterpiece for nearly four decades, but one of the most iconic releases the NES ever had was Tetris, period.

Arriving roughly at the same time as the Game Boy edition of the game, Nintendo ruled the roost with their versions of Tetris, which could now be played at home and on the go. The idea of lining up shapes to get points remains the same throughout both editions, so other than high scores, you could play both versions in tandem and enjoy the rush through a monochromatic or color-based format.

It's hard to imagine an era where Tetris was some completely new and novel thing, but Nintendo contributed significantly to its popularity. Many people are now lifelong Tetris fans because they picked up the original game on the NES and the Game Boy.

To put it in perspective, Tetris sold a whopping 35 million units on the Game Boy and eight million on the NES, for a combined total of 43 million on just two retro systems.

Kirby's Adventure

Kirby's Adventure came out of nowhere, relatively late in the NES' lifecycle. Like Tetris before it, there was already a celebrated Kirby game on the Game Boy with Kirby's Dream Land, but Kirby's Adventure significantly expanded the puffball's universe and cast of characters. Plus, the color scheme really made Kirby and his friends pop and come alive.

HAL Laboratory made it so accessible, which was a key ingredient in Kirby's success, since literally anyone could pick it up and play a platformer for the first time. Many people who enjoyed Kirby's first few adventures still play the series, and Kirby's ethos hasn't changed much since its original inception.

If you play the original Kirby's Adventure today, it'll still feel just as fresh as it did in 1993. Bonus points if you still have a 3DS available and can play the enhanced 3D port. If that's not an option, it's readily available on the Nintendo Classics line on Switch.

Bubble Bobble

Bubble Bobble has the honor of being one of the first mainstream co-op games on the NES, and although it's not as prevalent today as some other franchises on this list, Taito does trot it out every so often. The little dinosaurs (who are actually humans put under a magical spell) really popped on the box art, as did the positive word of mouth.

It was a tough game to complete in one sitting, but with persistence and co-op strategy, you could beat it. It's one of the quintessential "NES games" for a reason, and even though it was initially released as an arcade game, it feels right at home on the NES. With simple "jump and shoot" mechanics, you could boot up Bubble Bobble today and acclimate to it in around 30 seconds.

Over time, the Bubble Bobble series saw sporadic success. Taito was a busy company, pumping out tons of arcade games and home ports, but Bubble Bobble eventually made its way off its initial set of systems and onto platforms like the Sega Saturn. It also hosted several spinoffs and subseries, like Parasol Stars.

Through co-op romps like Snow Bros., the NES era reminded fans that competitive modes weren't the only literal games in town. Tons of people (myself included) loved playing co-op games with people, and Bubble Bobble was ahead of its time in that regard. If you play it today with a friend, it's hard not to smile, especially when that incredible soundtrack kicks in.

Super Mario Bros 3.

Having lived through it, Super Mario Bros. 3 was an absolute whirlwind of a game when it came out. Originally unveiled through the 1989 feature film The Wizard (starring Fred Savage, who aims to help his brother become a video game champion), the initial hype for Super Mario Bros. 3 couldn't be contained.

While Mario 2 had its fans and is still celebrated as part of the franchise to this day, Nintendo enthusiasts were clamoring for another traditional Mario that was made from the ground up, and they got it (and then some) with Mario 3.

Often hailed as one of the best platformers to date, period, Mario 3 saw instant success and created mythological expectations among schoolyard chatter. Everything from secrets to Warp Whistles was discussed, and the tight controls helped make it clear this game would be talked about for decades.

It got another lease on life with the Super Mario All-Stars collection on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), which reimagined the original NES visuals while maintaining the same classic framework. This is still one of Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka's crowning achievements, which is saying something given their star-studded career.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is so huge that there are players who have never seen every stage, preferring instead to warp to the end and take on Bowser directly. It's about as short or as long as you want, making it the perfect platformer to return to again and again, even as more modern Mario games move into the 3D realm.

You could boot up Super Mario Bros. 3 on a Nintendo Switch 2 today and still have the same rush everyone did back in 1988 on the NES. If you're so inclined, it's easier than ever, as the game is on multiple compilations and on the Nintendo Classics line on Switch.