10 Most Underrated NES Games of All-time

A discussion of the greatest NES games of all-time normally starts with icons like Mario, Zelda, Metroid and Mega Man. The discussion then turns towards classics like Contra, Double Dragon and Metal Gear. The RPG fans will add Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior while sports fans will toss Tecmo Bowl, Punch-Out and RBI Baseball into the mix. The library of NES games is so deep that even after 25 or so classic games there are still more NES games that are great. They are the most underrated NES games.

#10 Bionic Commando
Sure, most people that have played the NES has heard of Bionic Commando. Bionic Commando doesn't get the praise as the Zeldas and Marios of the world though and until recently did not have a remake on the new systems.

#9 Carmen Sandiego
The Carmen Sandiego series started on the PC but eventually everybody's favorite crimson clad criminal came to the NES in several different versions including the first time traveling detective game.

#8 Ice Hockey
Ice Hockey isn't on the level of Tecmo Bowl or RBI Baseball but it is the best hockey game the NES has to offer. Everybody remembers Ice Hockey and the option to choose from three types of players, the skinny and fast dude, fat but tough guy or the average player that was useless.

#7 Batman
From a very early stage video games had a horrible reputation for adapting both comic books and movies but the NES version of Batman still stands as one of the better adaptations of both.

#6 Baseball Stars
Baseball Stars doesn't have the MLB licensing or the nostalgia factor of RBI Baseball but it brought a lot of other additions. Baseball Stars allowed players to play a season, the game kept track of stats, players' names could be altered and the player could even play general manager and give a player a raise.

#5 Tiger Heli
I don't know about everybody else but Tiger Heli was a favorite in my household. Tiger Heli was your typical shooting game but the helicopter hasn't been used all that much in these types of game so it was a little different.

#4 Ducktales
It probably helps if you're a fan of the television series but even gamers that have never seen Ducktales enjoyed the NES game.

#3 Wizards and Warriors
Video games are all about letting the player play as something they can't normally be in real life and Wizards and Warriors was one of the first games that allowed users to be a knight and run around in full platemail chopping things up with your sword or axe.

#2 Crystalis
The Legend of Zelda is the king of action-adventure/RPG games but Crystalis is not far behind. Crystalis was also never the big hit that Zelda was but has gained a bigger cult following than any other NES game.

#1 Pirates!
Pirates! got more play on my NES than any other game. What is a better concept for a game than controlling a pirate, looking for buried treasure and attacking towns and looting their money?