10 Shortest Non-Arcade NES Games!

[@erneststackhouse1133]

Archon is so much fun on the NES!! Going to have to play it tonight! i may have to play Spot the game just to learn how to play Reversi. i know i learned how to play Backgammon through video games! & your number one pick Taboo is one of the games that survived in one piece for many years & i still have everything to go with it. i still bust it out doing some math to reflect the 80s timeline for my daughters friends that come over. Do one or two readings then that's it...goes back into my collection. Very fast indeed. Always enjoy watching NES Videos!

[@ddg-dojodestroyergaming3682]

Wow, imagine Cobra Commander rescuing hostages… 😂

[@Fortefyre]

It's basically that lmfao.

[@pharmcat8484]

You’re the real MVP for bringing back AlbinoBlackSheep.

[@Fortefyre]

Such a great site lol.

[@tyvulpintaur2732]

Top Gun, just four stages. Good luck landing on the carrier, though....

[@Fortefyre]

I actually land on the carrier every time lol.

[@DirkHill-k1h]

@@Fortefyre I thought I was the only person on the planet that knows how to land it lol.

[@DarkAngelBluejay]

Honestly super shocked Marble Madness wasn't on either of your lists. That game "CAN" be beaten in under 10 minutes with no skips at all.

[@Fortefyre]

Yeah, yeah :P

[@DniAngelOrphan]

I liked the 7th guest on pc back in the day.

[@Fortefyre]

It definitely isn't for me haha.

[@DniAngelOrphan]

@Fortefyre however I AM curious to see how it holds up after all this time has passed. I had no idea it was ported to so many consoles. Grat video and thanks for bringing back the memories.

[@jacobrigo5794]

​@michaelbrown2705 I have it on android and also on steam. Fun to go back and play once in awhile. They made a 7th guest VR for Playstation VR recently too.

[@joeboo8626]

Rescue is an incredible game. We rented it back in 91 and had a blast. If you can get it for cheap, I highly recommend it.

[@Fortefyre]

The animation is great too!

[@pharmcat8484]

I spy a stabmaster

[@tuathanbashieres3262]

I grew up in the NES era and still haven't heard of some of these games. I remember getting games and slowly whittling down the time it took to beat them like Duck Tales in about an hour, Kid Kool in about 2, Thundercade in 45 minutes, but Jesus i would have crushed my controler after spending my money on a game and it only last 20-40 minutes at most 😂

[@Kryxx07]

Yeah, buying games in the NES era was filled with anxiety. As a kid with no money, you had to be savvy. I would have been heartbroken if I spent $50 on a game I was done with after 30 minutes. Luckily, I never bought a stinker. Thank you Nintendo Power and game rental stores.

[@Fortefyre]

I did that with Batman Beyond on the N64, broke my heart lol

[@xerxestelevision6666]

Dude, I love your professionalism/casualness. Always a pleasure. Archon rules! Stuntman rules! Edit skate or die is not a functional game, it’s not you!

[@Fortefyre]

Well that's a relief haha.

[@m.3.3.w]

12:07 - *Oh, Taboo: The Sixth Sense on NES-the game that asks, “What if your fortune teller was a moody 8-bit calculator with abandonment issues?” This digital tarot nightmare is less of a "game" and more of a mandatory waiting period before your existential dread can be neatly summarized in neon text. Imagine shuffling a deck for an eternity while a pixelated soundtrack drones on like an off-brand Enya trapped in a Casio keyboard.* *The highlight reel? You don’t actually play it. No quests, no choices-just vibes, disappointment, and the distant sound of your mom asking why you spent money on this. You type in your question, the game stretches, yawns, and then-after a long, awkward silence-tells you something cryptic like “Your cat might betray you in 2032.” Thanks, Taboo, truly enlightening.* (Love you of course, Fortefyre. 😉✨)

[@Fortefyre]

"pixelated soundtrack drones on like an off-brand enya" is something I wish I would have come up with, that's 100% within my way of speaking LOL

[@m.3.3.w]

@@Fortefyre I love speaking your language. No but seriously keep it up! I'll keep that snark fresh and hot.

[@johnsimpson4868]

The guardian legend is AWESOME!

[@Fortefyre]

100%!

[@buckit7837]

I got skate or die for a birthday and it defaults you on goofy foot controls which are like airplane controls but you can change it to regular foot controls so down is down and up is up

[@Fortefyre]

Interesting. I didn't think about that.

[@nicholasmiller10]

Thanks for the list. I play Jaws frequently and if you know what your doing it can be beaten in 15-20 minutes. I also play Friday the 13th regularly (great game if you understand it) but i can beat it within 45 minutes. I think thay is my favorite thing about the NES era. Many games were short but took time to master. Even today i still find new games for NES i never played and start adding them to my playlist. As an adult now having a NES marathon weekend where you beat as many games as possible these games are lots of fun.

[@Fortefyre]

Yeah once you mastered them, it was day and night haha.

[@denisfolcik1373]

Im trying to remember an NES game I played as a kid. I believe you were at basically Disney World, and there were a few different stages, all with different games. You of course had to start over if you failed even one. Tried looking on the emulator system I have, but have no idea about the title. Spent so much time playing as kid that I want to try again now.

[@Fortefyre]

That's Adventures in the Magic Kingdom.

[@ZuzNewsReviews]

Apparently Diddlenut and Nipple had parents who didn't love them... Congrats on reaching your 8K goal! That means it's gonna be your year!

[@Fortefyre]

Thank you! I hope so!

[@mikeburkhart8336]

Why does the store owner in Skate or Die have a look on his face like he's about to attack you with a knife!?! 😮

[@Fortefyre]

To be fair, it was based on Rodney Dangerfield, maybe he was afraid you wouldn't give him no respect lmfao.

[@andrewhunt1328]

He was gonna if you were just gonna buy just another damn wheel! 😂

[@pleasantfuryrecords]

That dude has lived in my nightmares for 30 years

[@newmula5045]

Skate or Die bro

[@shanecoffey8314]

Dude has to deal with skate punks all day long. Reason enough.

[@agentchris1482]

Interesting list! Also happy new year to you and yours!

[@Fortefyre]

Happy New Years to you as well!

[@KasumiRINA]

All wrestlers special moves were included in WWF Superstars and WWF Wrestlefest on arcade... With just two buttons, yes... But that's by Technos, the king of 8-bit games.

[@JohnnyDouchbag-nr5yf]

Yeah and on WCW u could do all there finishers and it was released in 89 or 90

[@Fortefyre]

I wish Technos would have had the WWF license, it would have been so much better.

[@bayzul7405]

3:26 LJN is like vietnam flashback hearing from AVGN days

[@Fortefyre]

HAHA

[@JamesJLaRue]

I appreciate this list, at my age I only have maybe 30 minutes here or there to play games, and it's usually NES or Megadrive. Didn't even know these games existed.

[@Fortefyre]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@rayphoenix7296]

I think one of the shortest games on the NES is the Batman game that is based on the 1989 movie. If you are good at that game, you can beat it in about 20 minutes. The game only has five levels and each level has 3 or 4 segments but those segments can be very short if you are skilled at the game. I play through that game a lot and beat it feeling like it could have had more.

[@Fortefyre]

Indeed, but that WOULD require you to be perfect at it. This video is aimed for native players.

[@mr.milehi9883]

DRUG! It is a really fun game that is really easy to be. Probably beat that 10 minutes or so. It really is a lot of fun though. Probably aren't enough of these short non-arcade games for another episode but try that out. It's really fun. Happy New Year to you, amanda, Aria, and your other children. Sal

[@Fortefyre]

Thank you! Happy new years to you as well!

[@michaelbarley7399]

Of these games, I remember Wheel of Fortune, Skate or Die, and Snoopy's Sports Spectacular. I don't know if I ever figured out how the mechanic of Skate or Die worked, but playing it with friends to try and get the top score was memorable. The one game I didn't see on the list was Marble Madness. I played that to death as a kid, both on the NES and Gameboy. I still like breaking it out from time to time. As a timed game, it's short whether you are good at it or not.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

it was an arcade game first

[@Fortefyre]

I'm so bad at it lol.

[@Kryxx07]

My best friend growing up had Skate or Die. Never liked it. He did make up for it by having the epic Dragon Warrior 3, though.

[@Fortefyre]

Oh nice!

[@mirrorebutuoykcuf]

Wow, two games that represent the worst and best of the NES library. 😅

[@andyauthor2007]

Nice name on Ski or Die, LOL. Back in the day, a friend of mine wanted to buy Rescue the Embassy Mission based on the graphics depicted in an ad in a video game magazine. I reminded him of what happened the last time he bought a game based on an ad in a video game magazine (The Adventures of Bayou Billy is what happened.) We rented the game instead and couldn't figure out what to do because the copy we rented didn't have a manual with it. We never got very far. And I agree with you on the 7th Guest. The puzzles in that game make no sense. The same friend, his older brother, and I sat there for hours trying to figure out the puzzles. The one I remember that pissed me off the most was the chess puzzle.

[@Fortefyre]

LOL. I figured it would scream that the subpar gameplay was mine lol. The 7th Guest is such a slog, and I still have the 11th hour to work through. Something tells me it's not going to be any better.

[@fredfuchs3573]

Taboo had a game genie code in the original book😂

[@Fortefyre]

LMAO

[@jeeziss]

Interesting quip about Skate or Die and who it was made for. Personally the desire to skateboard was there but I just didn't "get" it and never got the hang of riding it even though I owned one. I just couldn't build up speed by kicking myself, always needed to find a hill to go down. I couldn't understand how someone would just skateboard through a city like Bart Simpson. So Skate or Die was there to satisfy the desire to skateboard when my real skateboarding skills couldn't do that.

[@Fortefyre]

I was the same way with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater :P

[@Halbared]

King of he Ring, wow, didn't even know his had come out. As a WWF fan I had Wrestlemania, steel cage challenge and the one with the Warrior (which was the best WWF one).

[@Fortefyre]

Sounds like the Wrestlemania one lol.

[@JustinEvitable80]

I wouldn't call Jeopardy a short game. One I would consider is Silent Service.

[@Fortefyre]

I've actually only ever played Silent Service on pc. Is it as simple on the NES?

[@kriscynical]

Classic Concentration is a fantastic gameshow NES game. You don't need to know trivia from the time period, either, because it's matching prize tiles to reveal a rebus puzzle underneath (the kind that uses pictures of things to form words). The first person to guess the phrase the rebus puzzle depicts wins the round. It's something even a kid could play back then and it's STILL fun. I actually wish they'd revive it for modern TV the way they did for Press Your Luck.

[@Fortefyre]

Win Lose or Draw really isn't that bad either!

[@spicytrashpanda]

Won't lie I kinda want to go back and play Skate Or Die. I still have no idea how the high jump mechanica work but I'm open to figuring it out since it was one of the 4 cartridges I had as a kid. Crap I'm old

[@michaelbarley7399]

Thanks for saying it for the rest of us 😂

[@spicytrashpanda]

@@michaelbarley7399 saying what? That I'm old as ass or that I actually have fond memories of SoD? High jump made no sense (I never had a manual to read and the Internet was a decade away) and the AI in joust was brutal to 6 year old me but damn it, the game was fun.

[@michaelbarley7399]

@@spicytrashpanda indeed. Saying the game was fun, saying it was hard to figure out and saying that we're old. All true lol

[@Fortefyre]

Truer words lol.

[@kromanaut]

Great video. But I'm confused by your comment about Archon, that you low key wanna check it out. Isn't that what you did before making this video? Or was that someone else's footage?

[@Fortefyre]

I did record the footage with an emulator. But I haven't really dug deep into the mechanics of it. The CPU slapped me around lol.

[@michaelsegal3558]

I actually have “The Great Waldo Search” for the SNES

[@Fortefyre]

Nice!

[@michaelsegal3558]

@@Fortefyreyeah

[@---zc4qt]

The NES "WWF STEEL CAGE" was HORRRRRRRRRRIBLE!!!!!!! If you fall down even one time- it is almost impossible to get back up. "Kong Fu" was also a fairly short game....... with only 5 levels.

[@uclatrunks1318]

Marble Madness on the NES could be beaten in 10-15 minutes.

[@Fortefyre]

I agree! But Marble Madness was an arcade game :)

[@gamingtheologian8515]

I would prefer the list to be story games. Sports and gameshows don't seem to fit that. I think it should be games where you have a start and have to reach the end.

[@Fortefyre]

That's a good point, thankfully there are 3rd episodes in this sub-series lmfao.

[@legendodinson7082]

I actually played and finished Fester's Quest the other evening. I was kinda surprised it only took little over two hours, but that was also with a couple breaks. No walkthrough. The game is pretty straight forward. Luckily only had to continue a couple times, and it was early on, so didn't have to go through the whole sewer system a ton of times.

[@burtblando8806]

Fester's Quest has a bad reputation, but if you play with a turbo controller, it's like a budget Blaster Master.

[@Fortefyre]

It's a great game!

[@barr26]

Great video! I'm working on a challenge project where I need to beat 50 NES games. Super fun, but kicking my *SS. I might just have to try a couple of these so I can make some progress!

[@Fortefyre]

You can do it!

[@barr26]

@@Fortefyre Thank you, sir!

[@BrianGeers]

I remember Archon (and an Archon 2) releasing previously for the Commodore 64 some years before the NES version came out.

[@Fortefyre]

Nice!

[@waywardpony]

Taboo always looked cool. I played it and thought there was more... but there isn't XD

[@Fortefyre]

Haha it was a pretty narrow scope for a game.

[@DongCorleone]

I wanted WWF King of the Ring sooooo bad and thank god my parents never got it for me. There may be a video in there, games you bugged the shit out of your parents, grandparents and anyone who was responsible for getting you presents for, and now thank god they never followed through. I am sure you have some good personal stories on that subject. Great video as usual Sir. Happy Holidays P.S. I got Rescue the Embassy Mission after watching a couple hidden gem videos. Haven't gotten around to playing ir, but thanks for letting me know it is actually dog shit!........just kidding😆😆😆😆 I am sure you just read that in your usual angry loud voice. Cheers sir

[@Fortefyre]

;) It's not a BAD game, it's just very short lol.

[@kiamau3358]

Archon was one of my favourite games to play!

[@Fortefyre]

That's awesome!

[@VonSpyder]

I love Archon; that game is an absolute blast. I am rather surprised ANTICIPATION didnt make this list. Pretty short "pictionary" style game.

[@Fortefyre]

Anticipation reminded me more of Trivial Pursuit lol. In some ways I think it's a blatant ripoff haha.

[@willh1655]

Skate or die is fantastic

[@Fortefyre]

I'm not a huge fan lol.

[@buckit7837]

Spot is kinda dumb but one of my favorites and I think it works with the multiy tap and it’s a fun game night for family time

[@Fortefyre]

I have these SUPER vague memories of it as a kid, I think my dad might have had it, to be fair he was a huge fan of 7-up, and also the ONLY fan of 7-up I've met in my life.

[@MiTBender]

Happy new year 🎉

[@Fortefyre]

You too!!

[@Mr.WhatzitTooya]

Still patiently waiting for top 10 best snes sports games

[@Fortefyre]

I tell you what, I'm going to move it to the top. There's just tons of Sports games I've been working through.

[@Mr.WhatzitTooya]

@Fortefyre noice

[@xenxander]

5:19 'boot throwing' with Snoopy... yeah just use your imagination with that image.... 10:50 the microscope puzzle can almost not be beaten on modern computes because the game processes possible moves based on computer cycles so it judges the best move almost every time. I ALMOST won.. once.. but I didn't and had to skip the puzzle by doing the thing three times that auto finishes the last puzzle you looked at.. besides that puzzle I believe is optional...

[@Fortefyre]

I loathe 7th guest. So much lol

[@michaelsegal3558]

Also for skateboarding games there is the skateboarding portion of California Games

[@Fortefyre]

There was a rollerblading one too if I recall. It's been a while.

[@michaelsegal3558]

@@Fortefyreyeah

[@Halbared]

Archon never came out on the Nes here, I was looking forward to it too. Club Nintendo did say it would run n they changed their mind.

[@Fortefyre]

Oh no! That happened quite often too!

[@alanfike]

0:01 I've never heard of Bruce Lee getting a game for NES. What is this?

[@Fortefyre]

"The Dragon", it's an unlicensed game from Sachen, it takes the sprites from Mortal Kombat lol.

[@Riz2336]

SK8 or die was kind of cool and nostalgic definitely not the greatest game. The Rad Racer games are pretty short if you can play them well

[@Fortefyre]

Yeah, and there are games that if I played perfectly I could beat in a sitting, Puss n Boots is one that comes to mind, potentially Felix the cat as well.

[@herbjacobs3839]

I used to play archon at my buddy Nathan's house

[@Fortefyre]

Nice!

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Super Mario Bros. 1 can be argued for if you utilize the warp zones or are really good at speed running.

[@Fortefyre]

I should make a video about the fastest speedrun games lol. Mario would definitely be there.

[@pharmcat8484]

How hard is Skate or Die? I nailed a handplant once when the game is new and I remember it to this day.

[@Fortefyre]

I tried reading the manual lol. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

[@DirkHill-k1h]

The Karate Kid was pretty short as long as you wasn't bad. I can beat it in about 10 minutes. Only 4 stages.

[@Fortefyre]

I agree! BUT that's if you REALLY know where the nonsense will come out from lol

[@danfrancis8397]

Marble madness?

[@michaelbarley7399]

That would get my vote as well. I still love it. It's just a fun time waster.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

@@michaelbarley7399 track ball arcade game

[@Fortefyre]

Marble Madness is an arcade game :)

[@SoulforSale]

Taboo is my favorite NES title Its not a game.

[@Fortefyre]

It was advertised as a party game lol.

[@SoulforSale]

@Fortefyre the music is epic

[@Godzilla1982]

Im surprised that diarrhea of a game Caveman Games wasnt included here.

[@Fortefyre]

It's on another video I have pending, in the worst category :P

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Jaws for the NES isn't all that lengthy.

[@Fortefyre]

It almost made the list, I wanted some variety though so Archon made it lol.

[@lazyp666]

"Non arcade games" thumbnail shows an arcade game

[@Fortefyre]

I just grab a game off the shelf. It's not that deep :P

[@Aevilbeast]

@3:41 I'm gonna have to strongly disagree about the special moves not being possible because the two-button controller. In fact, I would go so far as to say that's while that may be a somewhat of a factor, there are much bigger factors for not doing them, like the various technical limitations of the NES, space on the cart, and unfortunately (and probably the biggest factor) would be that with it being a licensed game and all, the more likely that the smallest amount of time/effort/money as possible would have been invested into it as possible, probably just enough to create a semi-decent 'working" game. They probably didn't have or simply weren't willing to invest any more resources to making it better or more complex experience. Honestly were probably more worried about getting the sprites to actually look some-what like their real-life counterparts. But there are other NES wrestling games that do feature special or signature moves for each wrestler. Probably the most well-known example of this is "Pro Wrestling" for the NES it actually has special or signature moves for each character. Heck, it even has top rope moves, jumping from the inside of the ring to the outside, fighting on the outside, and even an actual working ref that follows you around (Supposedly it's the first time that was implemented in a wrestling game ) Not the best game by any means, but still a ton of fun and IMO surprisingly way ahead of it's time. But when you realize it was actually created by Masato Masuda, the same guy who would later go on to co-found Human and create the legendary Fire Pro series, it starts to make a whole lot more sense and you could see even back that he had vision what he wanted a wrestling game to be like and despite the limitations of the NES was still able to at least partly bring that vision idea to life.

[@Fortefyre]

This is a great take, thank you for sharing it with me and educating me.

[@matthewdunn1263]

cybernoid? that was super short! like 15 mins maybe?

[@Fortefyre]

I think so, I'd have to check.

[@dalesides1490]

The Legend of Zelda. It's fairly easy and short. If you know all the secrets.

[@Fortefyre]

Yeah but under 40 minutes natively :P

[@dalesides1490]

@@Fortefyre That is true

[@Davy_Jones_98]

Lode Runner ftw

[@Fortefyre]

Such a great puzzle game!

[@paultaylor4614]

Didnt play jaws or karate kid or marble madness huh

[@Fortefyre]

Marble Madness was in the arcades, but I could see an argument for Jaws!

[@Iron-Van]

whoop whoop I was the 200th like. Did I win? great content as always sir

[@Fortefyre]

You win a crisp hi-five lmao

[@youngpup2028]

I don’t know how to say how upset I was when I got taboo as a birthday present. Worst game ever.

[@Fortefyre]

Oh no!

[@dannyocean7090]

@youngpup2028 don't feel bad. My birthday I wanted *Streets of Rage 3* for Genesis and got *Tommy LaSorda Baseball* instead... 😢

[@Fortefyre]

OH NO lol

[@JordoSez]

Good video

[@Fortefyre]

Thank you!

[@zombie3833]

This list would be better without board games/game show and sports. Shortest storyline games. Jaws can be beat in 5min if you can get the final attack

[@Fortefyre]

Natively playing it, Jaws isn't inherently short. I can beat Friday the 13th in 20 minutes or less, most people it will take an hour or more.

[@pharmcat8484]

You named you contestant Sarah? How do you know my wife? 😅

[@Fortefyre]

LMAO

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

3:46 Think about what you just said. Then go play Tecmo Wrestling. Remember Fire Pro made it to PC Engine. Hell, Killer Instinct exists on Gameboy. LJN were just hot garbage.

[@Fortefyre]

I mean LJN didn't design games they set the budget lol.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

@Fortefyre And deadlines. I mean, it's pretty clear they saw video games as basically just 8-bit action figures/w playsets. Once you look at things that way, you can see why they wouldn't be looking to hire the next Miyamoto. Especially since pop culture still moved pretty fast back then. There was no such thing as video on demand to keep a property evergreen. The closest thing was syndication, but once you looked past 60's nostalgia, they had no idea what licence would still be appealing by the time their game reached store shelves. Just look at Konami's desperate attempts to replicate their success with Turtles. Bucky O'Hare? Cowboys of MooMasa?

[@michaelsegal3558]

Who’s Amanda?

[@Fortefyre]

My wife :)

[@michaelsegal3558]

@@FortefyreI see I would LOVE to find a girl who’s also into video games especially retro video games

[@kimmolaine8069]

A list of 10 Shitty Games.

[@Fortefyre]

Can confirm

[@mattjustofficial]

Nipples lmao

[@Fortefyre]

;)

[@duhmez]

Taboo is literally the WORST NES game pak that exists. U gotta be real dumb to like this one anyone that does if there are any. U hujust tytpe any random thing, dont even bother, just like 1 letter, it doesnm tmater, then its random table prints some random ytext to screen. There is even a game portion. Just a random string of text generator. It makes me MAD that this exists.

[@Fortefyre]

Haha me too!

[@JohnnyFromVirginia]

So sport games, game shows and board/book/table top games that are all shit.

[@Fortefyre]

Correct lol.

[@zombie3833]

What a shit list. You sir, have wasyed all of our time

[@Fortefyre]

👉 🚪