I Ranked Every ACTIVISION game on NES

Activision were KINGS in the days of Atari 2600 but did they carry that same crown to the Nintendo? Here's a look at every game from Activision for NES and where I rank them.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▼▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
BINGE-WATCH WORTHY
LET'S RANK Games by Publisher • John Riggs Ranking
Underrated Games / Hidden Gems • Underrated Games
Open Cart Surgery • Open Cart Surgery
SUPPORT on PATREON: / johnblueriggs
FACEBOOK: / riggstalgic
TWITTER: / johnblueriggs
INSTAGRAM: / johnblueriggs
TWITCH: / johnblueriggs
DISCORD: / discord
OPEN CART SURGERY TOOLS: goo.gl/eXn6WV
Lepow Gaming Monitor: amzn.to/32CDLat
SHIPPING ADDRESS:
John Riggs, 4010 Summitview Ave, Yakima, WA 98908
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▼▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

[@joesshows6793]

Predator is one of the best Arnold movies ever

[@ninjamaster3453]

If you haven't watched it and want a good commentary KZbin red-letter media, for their review.

[@retrorystergaming577]

Its the best movie ever unfortunately the NES game was really disappointing

[@leefischer5814]

@@retrorystergaming577 there wasn't really any movie based games that weren't disappointing. Or cartoon based games that weren't made by Capcom either😂

[@retrorystergaming577]

@@leefischer5814 very true.

[@RC-ve8dl]

Predator is one of the best action movies ever.

[@dogmd7]

Actually, the boxing level where you run around as Larry was based on the short "Punch Drunks", where the stooges realize Curly fights like a professional boxer when he hears the song "Pop Goes the Weasel", which is the song Larry plays around Curly so he can beat the champion Killer Kilduff. Larry is trying to run back and forth to get the song played so Curly can beat the champion in both the short and the minigame. It's one of the best episodes of the Stooges and I highly recommend it to anybody young or old!

[@JasonMontell2501]

How the hell have you never seen Predator?!?!?!?!

[@adeckerbuck]

Too busy playing every single damn nes game

[@JonGee420]

He has that cloaking thing. He is easy to miss

[@matthewlane518]

Best movie Arnold ever did! T2 a close second

[@Joetenka]

Even I didn't. Cuz I got no chance to? I deserve To be Jailed?

[@JasonMontell2501]

@@Joetenka jailed? TF you talking about ?

[@TheRmm1976]

Riggs I can't believe you never watched Predator. That's an 'S' action film for sure!

[@jonathanmarois9009]

SSS+++

[@matthewlane518]

Yes very good!

[@WilliamAikin]

Die hard is not a chrismass game. It's a GD Activision game

[@chrischilders8536]

Yeah, I’ve been enjoying these videos, but now I don’t know if I can trust him anymore.

[@patsfan4life]

I hope by now he has…… it’s an absolute classic. “I ain’t got time to bleed”

[@kranibal]

Dont want this "Rank every..." series to ever end.

[@KindaCool]

My best buddy growing up dropped a large chunk of his Christmas cash on Super Pitfall solely based on the box art and our trust in the Activision name from the Atari 2600 days. Needless to say, we trusted in the Activision name no more after that...

[@JTSuter]

John, your NES review videos are among the best. You score them pretty much on point, and you keep it simple and not overproduced. I also like how you organize the reviews by company. I recently subscribed and I’m looking forward to more!

[@JohnRiggs]

No need to stretch out a random game into an 8 minute video if I don't need to. Thanks for hanging out!

[@thekushjedi]

Really Hope you get to go through list like these for SNES and N64 one day!

[@matttalbott9217]

He started SNES so I think theyre coming

[@carlcouture1023]

Yeah, Activision basically rebranded some time around 1985 and decided to stop creating games and just operated as a publisher from that point on. Super Pitfall was made by Micronics, the same studio that gave us the NES ports of 1942 and Athena. That should really say it all.

[@Crying_Onion]

To be honest, Micronics developed a huge amount of games and not all of them are bad 👾, but people know them for Super Pitfall, Athena, etc

[@leefischer5814]

Thanks for ranking that 3 Stooges game where you did. I have a lot of fond memories from it and something that also reminds me of my Grandfather every time I pop it in as we always watched the Stooges together up till he died. Love this series as well as the Open Cart Surgery and keep up the awesome job 😁👍

[@JohnRiggs]

I love it.

[@jodymcdougle8810]

Merry Christmas, John! Jody & the kids

[@Spllyn]

Arcon had a really,soothing color pallet. Give Riggs a sub, hes that dad who actually took the time to make a KZbin channel. Gotta show your respect for that crew.

[@CaptFwiffo]

Happy Holidays to you and your family John. Would love for you to start ranking 2600 games from different developers. Activision games on the 2600 are a must!!

[@tomwaters5090]

Most Atari games would be an f by today's standards because they suck. Unfortunately the Atari 2600 did not age quite as gracefully as the wonderful NES.

[@jeremybullock6018]

Best Christmas present ! A new Riggs ranking video !

[@joshmiller887]

John Riggs with another gift! Another list! Thank you my friend. Merry Christmas!

[@IcyBird420]

Oh snap! Christmas delights! Merry Christmas Riggs family!

[@SaxcatGamingCorner]

Larry plays “Pop goes the weasel” to make Curley go crazy and able to win boxing matches.

[@ThatJohnKillion1970]

Easily one of their best shorts.

[@leefischer5814]

@@ThatJohnKillion1970 am I the only one thinking "Ranking 3 Stooges shorts" by year or by stooge or by movie. That would be hard but interesting.

[@kouheicoppola2157]

I believe the short is called 'Punch Drunks"

[@SaxcatGamingCorner]

@@kouheicoppola2157 it was.

[@leefischer5814]

@Chris Laurel and Hardy definitely would have gotten a bigger push being that they had a huge budget and filmed in Spanish and French( not dubbed) and one of Stan Laurel's parents was English.

[@hankmesker]

I love your videos mate. Merry Christmas to all from Ottawa 🇨🇦

[@Slotmassacre]

Die hard is so underrated. You can beat it a few different ways and has multiple endings. I mean you get to jump off the roof!!

[@Thomas44000]

You can play the movie out like you want. - Call the police, or dont . - Keep the detenator, or lose it. - Save the police car, or dont. - and more 😃

[@chriscalvert4609]

Merry Christmas, John!

[@Matt-Rat]

Merry Christmas, Righteous John Riggs! Glad you mentioned NEW GhostBusters 2. If I review it one day, I will tell everyone to play it!

[@scottlinux]

For me I'm sad that Activision didn't keep their top-tier game status when NES came around. Activision made the best Atari 2600 games by far. Great video,

[@friendlyjunco6836]

Die hard was the first Among Us game

[@IanNewYashaTheFinalAct]

Harry Ellis was hella suss

[@friendlyjunco6836]

@@IanNewYashaTheFinalAct imposter

[@super10nano1]

Merry Christmas John, enjoyed this video as always.

[@shawnschaller]

Love it! Give Rad Gravity another try someday with a walkthrough, advance a little farther, because you eventually get weapons and (IMO, of course) it's actually a pretty decent little action-adventure!

[@jodymcdougle8810]

Were you able to finish Die Hard?

[@JohnRiggs]

It's on a list of games I still wanna play through soon (along Power Blade 2, Cliffhanger and a few others)

[@retrorystergaming577]

I finished it!! Multiple endings in that game too. I really enjoyed die hard on the NES. I don't understand the hate it gets

[@Slotmassacre]

It plays out differently depending on things you do or don’t do through the game. One of the best and true to story movie games of all time.

[@retrorystergaming577]

@@Slotmassacre yep and it's played in a kinda open world sandbox. Very innovative game for the NES they made the game feel like the movie die hard rather than just some cheap platformer

[@rebootpc]

How have you never seen Predator? "Get to the choppa!" You're missing out on one of the quintessential 80s action movies.

[@glennotaro2836]

Watching at lunch at work and almost spit my coffee out when you talked about the payback from playing Larry. My mom always hated when I would land on the oysters as she hated that sound

[@mikecash1221]

Merry Christmas. Great video!. . Also, Larry Fine had to play "pop goes the Weasel" for Curly to deliver the harsh whooping on his opponents.

[@alexv2845]

This video is an amazing Christmas present.

[@timferrari6442]

Thank you for uploading on Christmas! Merry christmas to you and the family!!!!

[@jamesgruesome9780]

Archon rules. Had it on Atari back inthe day. There’s so much more to it than I thought back then. The diff colored spaces and such

[@alexseekingtheKingdom]

8:38 haha

[@3to5andglassy]

58 year old gamer here and yes I enjoyed Deadly Towers. Love your channel! I bought my NES games in the late 80's and early 90's from Captron USA. They were located in several malls in So Cal. Sort of a Sun Glass Hut setup. I've never heard anyone mention them in any videos. Are you familiar with them?

[@retrorystergaming577]

Hero on the Atari was fantastic!!! I remember getting it for my birthday!!

[@HighFuel90]

Galaxy 5000 is a lot deeper than you think. There's hidden warps, alternative endings, multiple ships, different weapons, I could go on. I think its a better game than the other games you mentioned. (I played through all of then)

[@joshuajacobson2102]

"You are just going for a walk, and every once in a while you got to stab a fool."

[@Jace-qp8ej]

3:13 if Johnriggs never mentioned the watch time thing the world would explode

[@tygrus3495]

Sword Master is a beautiful game. The Japanese version has a tripple jump, and with that small addition it changes significantly the battle system. This would be an authentic hidden gem, specially the Japanese version.

[@pieluvr7362]

Merry Christmas did Grinch get those games or did i miss it

[@watson3047z]

You gotta see the original Predator movie. Classic lines and great music.

[@c0mmenter1]

I can only speak for myself but I liked your stealth joke 👍🏽

[@MasterRoshi8974]

Merry Christmas Mr. Riggs. I love your channel a gift that keeps on giving.

[@randomgamer-st1ie]

No need to do Activision Atari 2600 games, they'd all be rated S or A.

[@gjergjaurelius9798]

Man, activision humble beginnings... look what they become now!

[@TheLastLineLive]

There'd probably be a couple B's in there but their Atari stuff was almost straight up gold.

[@mrp4242]

There’s some B’s to be sure (and I think even a couple Cs), but by and large many S/A, with Pitfall, Pitfall II, Kaboom, Megamania, Keystone Kapers, and River Raid...so good for the time

[@dpgreene]

Of those I own Sky Jinks is pretty mediocre. B would be a fair rating.

[@randomgamer-st1ie]

@@dpgreene Space Shuttle was pretty boring

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

I wish I could post my expression when you said that you've never seen Predator. It's Arnold's best film, just ahead of Terminator 2, and a quote gold mine.

[@traviswall1982]

HO! HO! HO! Now I have a controller! Happy trails Hans, er Riggs (I hear ya Riggs (Jeez, a lot of Christmas action movie references....))

[@ultramaximusreviews]

I loved the Ghostbusters game on the PC - we played it at my cousin's house every time we visited. That 3 Stooges intro is great.

[@FormalTreehouse]

If you keep playing Sword Master, you'll get your wish. Levels 4 (The Courtyard) and 6 (The Dungeon) feature tons of platforming. Unusual jumping mechanic, too; you have to step off a ledge and THEN jump to clear some of the gaps.

[@BIGNICK620]

Yesssss! I love the ranking videos. What a great Christmas present. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

[@peir77]

I love Super Pitfall. Playing it as a kid, just the weirdness of it fascinated me. It was cryptic and glitchy and the looping soundtrack and bizarre enemies.. just added to the uncanny-ness. You could never play it the same way twice and just when it couldn't get any stranger, you sometimes uncovered a "dark world", where the music and enemies become downright creepy. And because it was just 8-bit, made the whole thing even more unsettling. Maybe that's what made it special to me and fun to play.

[@JoshAmes1980]

Same here. I rented numerous times and spent so much time trying to figure it all out, but never could.

[@Liquidcadmus]

bruh.. you never saw Predator??!! what the hell! it's a classic masterpiece of action/horror/Sci-Fi all in one. A staple of pure unhinged manliness from the 80's! They don't come any better or more epic than Predator. You should watch it before this year ends, you will not regret it. by the way happy festivus

[@jdenoe69]

Activision champion of the Atari 2600, relegated to a dumping ground of Japanese and domestic shovelware on the NES.

[@Invidente7]

They did super pitfall real bad. They shoulda just ported pitfall 2 as an early NES game.

[@retrorystergaming577]

Haha come on I loved Die Hard!!!!!!!!!!! Open World game on the NES

[@TheLastLineLive]

@@retrorystergaming577 Die Hard was okay, it had a lot of cool ideas, surprised John didn't mention the glass breaking and whatnot. But the gameplay is kind of rough around the edges too, but I suppose it's worth it if you can get around that.

[@jcdoors1978]

“Hero” was the bomb back in the day

[@retrorystergaming577]

@@jcdoors1978 the best on Atari I think

[@jeffm5056]

I loved the Thunderbirds show and movies. It was like someone making a show with their toys. Only played the NES game once, though.

[@Bryan-lu4du]

I really appreciated the light hearted joking in this episode. Excellent

[@jugghead82]

Rad Gravity is less messed up than Cyberpunk 😂 and I've seen The Predator once or twice back in the day Awesome Stuff. Great Vid as Always

[@BaronMorte]

Man Riggs, If you like sci-fi action flicks, you sure are missing out with Predator. Classic 80's stuff. Love your vids btw.

[@andrewlivingston1590]

Whatever video you’re working on right now, John, put it on hold and watch “Predator”. Like, this instant.

[@mattmtdc]

Thank you for all your videos and congratulations on passing 100K subs!

[@Wyldfyre.84]

That sound during the Three Stooges oyster eating game terrified me as a child.

[@brianjl7477]

Man, dogging on not just Thunderbirds the game but the show too - John, it's a classic. I actually played the game before I ever saw the show, but I really liked both. NES Thunderbirds is a decent shooter, but it's hard and you have to lose to restart with more power - werid mechanic. Gotta love that Thunderbirds theme though!

[@LSOK38]

Right on! Thunderbirds was Gerry Anderson's best show ! John you really need to apologize to all of your fans who are also Thunderbird fans!!!!!!

[@Kai0nTheMoon]

Thunderbirds have always creeped me the f'k out. I think watching the "Team America: World Police" movie years later helped to end the phobia.

[@patrickhein6986]

Ghostbusters 2 for the Game Boy is so much better and a lot of Fun. I´m so glad that I picked up that Version back then instead of the NES Version :-)

[@bencox5994]

Dude, this series is freaking awesome. Very comforting!

[@northofnashira2575]

Merry Christmas to the Riggs family!!!

[@JohnRiggs]

Same to you and more of it.

[@jesselaidlaw395]

Been watching all your rankings!!! Nice job!

[@GenerationGapGaming]

I've still not recovered from the disappointment that is Super Pitfall. I still like flying with the balloon though 😂. Happy holidays to you and the family John!

[@notoriousc-ny3206]

Your friend Pete has great taste in games lol pitfall and deadly towers are also 2 of my favorite nes games

[@ilikeitalot2923]

That blows my mind you've never seen Predator . That's definitely in top 5 arnold movies at least.

[@JohnRiggs]

My dad was never into the macho films like this, commando... even Top Gun so I never saw those. Muppets Take Manhattan, however...

[@ilikeitalot2923]

@@JohnRiggs You definitely should see it, it's a classic. It even has probably the most famous arnold quote in it.

[@nerdgiant4101]

Hey John! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

[@MrKzynix]

I used to play Ghostbusters on the c64 in the 80's. Great game (back then). Thanks for the memories!!!! And a verry meery christmas to you John!

[@RobotMonkeytron]

Archon - I agree with the C for single player, but it's a a solid A with a friend once you both learn it! And give Predator a watch, it's a good movie! Finally, I hate Super Pitfall, the idea that a mod has made it good blows my mind, and I'll totally be checking it out! Happy New Year, dude!

[@theunfungamer7263]

I would've lost it if you had put Super Pitfall higher than an F so thank you for not letting me down! Also, Thundercats tv show creeped me out as a kid.

[@totemlordreviews7242]

You got a 'like' from me when you made the Stealth AF joke!

[@JohnRiggs]

dad jokes FTW

[@MrShowstopper96]

The highlight of this video is the skullett reveal.....absolutely epic!!!

[@JohnRiggs]

Need to go full Rurouni-era top knot

[@MrShowstopper96]

@@JohnRiggs yes!!!!

[@ThePictic]

You're right about Thunderbirds being creepy AF. In elementary a kid had a thunderbird birthday party and it was a nightmaren

[@ProudGrip]

Keep em coming Riggs! Love the let's rank vids!!! Watched em all and love comparing my grades per game with yours. Like your style and if I was anywhere near you I'd insist we geek out on nes on the ol' couch. Keep up the good work my dude!

[@Tim85-y2q]

I cracked up at "light blinky".

[@bigandyt-man3010]

You haven't seen Predator?! Oh that's an Arnold classic, definitely have to see it!

[@jeffdavis6657]

You need to. "Get to the CHOPPA!" and watch this.

[@ShinobiShowdown]

I met David Crane and the other 3 founders of Activision last year at Freeplay they are all cool guys.

[@notoriousc-ny3206]

Lol Pete and I have the same taste, super pitfall and deadly towers were two of my absolute favorite games growing up, along with legacy of the wizard

[@JohnRiggs]

He's a TurboGrafx collector now. Check him out on instagram.com/super_grafx/

[@magmatt813]

I just started watching your channel and enjoy these videos. I love me some old school nes and snes. 👍

[@laskillen]

Hey Riggs, big fan. Regarding The Three Stooge, Larry needs to get his violin fixed so he can play Pop Goes the Weasel for Curly because hearing that song drives him into a berserker-like frenzy. 😉

[@themrnails]

Grats on the 100k!!! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

[@arkanoidaddict2125]

Sword master is one of childhood games, that one is so much fun

[@kcarter5823]

"Get to tha Choppa!" -- yes you must see Predator. The Action gods demand it! LOL

[@landeny65]

Ultimate Air Combat was Desert Strike for kids who’s parents wouldn’t get them an SNES. Like me lol

[@Windsail7]

I totally forgot about Archon. Definitely one of the best games for Commodore 64. Hidden gem for NES .

[@r91playsind]

Contra, Super C and Mighty Final Fight deserve to be S!!!!!!

[@JohnRiggs]

For you, for sure! I don't hold them as high of a regard.

[@r91playsind]

@@JohnRiggs give mighty final fight a fair shot. Remember pressing punch (then releasing the button immediately) then forward does something special after reaching level 4. Cody is the best character. Punch (release) + forward (release) + up = uppercut after level 4 with cody

[@O.G.Rex.]

Quality NES video like always JohnRiggs!

[@Vanoxe]

Predator is one of the top 10 films of all time!!! A must watch/own my friend!

[@markplotkin1166]

Like that Ghostbusters game had it in my commodore 64

[@safetinspector2]

Violin game in 3 Stooges: Curly goes berserk and is unbeatable if Larry plays “pop goes the weasel” on the violin. This is from one of the classic shorts

[@chrisrichards2350]

Merry Christmas!!

[@JasonMontell2501]

Merry Christmas john

[@tskmaster3837]

13:41 I saw it coming and I don't know why. The oyster round was the one I was best at because once you got into the higher, higher rounds, there was only one or two crackers you had to get before the oyster did and they tended to be in the same spots. And be honest, you only hear the "Getoutofhere!" if you blow. And since you get paid by the bowl, ker and ching.

[@bigandyt-man3010]

Merry Christmas Mr Riggs! Hope you and the family had a great holiday, and thank you for all the great videos, really helps get thru the tough times.

[@Greentunic84]

Ha I remember that Archon game from and old Nintendo tips and tricks VHS tape i had. The "Game Pros" in the video had the coolest jackets and mullets.

[@Disastatron]

John, Milons Secret Castle, Faxanadu, Krion Conquest. Awesome NES games!

[@Ecwfan]

Glad someone liked Three Stooges. I too have this game and the best part is the Cracker Eating deal which can get you over the $5000 you need to win the game quick off. If you have a steady patience and quick timing you can keep going and going before it snaps Curly's hand. I do like the game a lot.

[@Sucker_MC]

Hey man, didn't you play some right wing for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 90s? Strong flow game, bro. Pretty soon, you and MJR will be ready to start a hair band.