The Best (and worst) NES Games from 1990

[@JohnRiggs]

1989 NES Games (the other best year) kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2OWpKyefpWepqM

[@svenmnrt]

Love watching yout videos especially NES :) Can you tell me pls where I can get a CIB version of your latest game of your shop? =) Would highly appreciate it! Greetings from Germany! o7

[@nickparsons337]

I love Kickle Cubicle. It's my favorite puzzle game ever; with the Lolo games right behind it.

[@Hoodooter]

Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu, is a freaking great game. I had a buddy that was huge into martial arts flicks and the 1978 Drunken Master was on a very regular rotation at his house, so this game was a must purchase for him. Played it a ton on his old 13" color tv/vcr combo (if you remember that ancient tech).

[@SPac316]

This was Peak NES with this line up! Just a year or two till the SNES comes out and so many good games were released. Not all were winners but still have a good amount of greats.

[@heavysystemsinc.]

Also, I owned Dinowarz growing up. Why? It was a budget game on initial release and quickly made it's way to the clearance rack. My parents weren't loaded, so budget and clearance games were mostly what I got. Funny thing is, this includes stuff like Blaster Master, Super Dodge Ball, etc. Everyone else was running for Ninja Gaiden and Mario, I ended up having a pretty cool 'cult classic' collection just from the fact those games upon release just didn't sell well and thus ended up in my christmas stocking.

[@davealaya]

That game was the shit

[@HiNRGboy]

I also got DynoWarz and loved it lol and Super Dodge Ball is the best 2 player sports game on NES! I thought I was playing as Godzilla in DynoWarz ha! and it's way better than the official Godzilla game we got anyway

[@HiNRGboy]

@@MayorMcCheeseYouFuckers why would that be? I happen to love talking about all these games so I care🙃

[@dwightdixon8508]

Love your vids John. Very well presented, informative, entertaining and really helps me discover all the fantastic NES games I missed out on so I can put on my list to locate and play

[@bradnimbus4836]

Awesome video, man. Flo from Progressive's hotness was highly underrated!

[@wjr4700]

Man I have been WAITING for you to cover this year. Mainly for Crystalis 14:20 I Love that game. Still have the box and manual. Game was my childhood. Best music. I always wondered how you felt about it. Glad you love it too. Thanks for the video!

[@bencrook1555]

Keep'em coming I love your videos and series. Any chance you will be doing Arcade games for the later 80s covering Willow and Double Dragon, etc.. maybe even into the early 90s Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat

[@ikillomega]

Very cool year. 1990 was a big year for me. Mega Man III was the first in the series I got to play and now, all these decades later, and I'm still a die-hard Mega Man fanboy. The soundtrack to Mega Man III lives in my head, too.

[@davealaya]

Mega Man 3 was incredible

[@rapideye85]

Yeah...great on Game Boy, too

[@isd8894]

It's funny. In 1990, as a nine year old, I considered Little Nemo to be a "little kids' game," far too lame to waste my time on; consequently, I missed out on it completely. Now, in my 40s, it is on my all time top five. There is a lesson in there, somewhere, but I am too tired to learn it at the moment. 😂

[@giovannicalvo2576]

Do you remember Solstice? I think it came out in 1990 as well. I played it a lot back then and still find it very unique.

[@captain_misaki]

Thank you *so* much for talking about The Magic of Scheherazade, John. It was my first JRPG, and I loved the Hell out of it. *Totally* underrated.

[@jaynoyes8526]

And now I want to watch Twin Peaks again 😄

[@Trepie]

Snake's Revenge wasn't based on an MSX game unlike the first Metal Gear and supposedly when Hideo Kojima found out about it he decided to make the real Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for MSX

[@jessragan6714]

It was the NES version of Metal Gear Survive, then.

[@bpet122]

Your vids are so great and authentic. So many newer youtubers put together these type of lists and you can tell they spent maybe 5min playing each game on emulator just to say they played it. You on the other hand have personal anecdotes about each game, sometimes very in-depth stuff. I've never heard someone explain why the Max works great on DD2, but your explanation was concise and made sense (and I can vouch that's how I played it growing up, flying knees ruled the game.) Also, your comments on Snake's Revenge, by all accounts it is one of the better looking NES games but like you said there's just something missing there. I've actually beaten it once back in the day, but there's nothing to keep you coming back like the original. By contrast, the second Metal Gear on MSX2 does feel like an extension of the original, I found out years later when playing it on compilations. Anyway just wanted to say thanks and hope you keep putting out vids like this for a long time!

[@sierrakobold6896]

Snake rattle and roll was the first video game memory i ever had, helped of course from dad recording it on his new expensive camcorder back in late '91, my sisters are 6 and 8 years older than me so when I was born in '88 NES had been in the house for a couple years. We got SNES when I was 4 in early 1992 then I got my Genesis in xmas of '93, yeah I got a lot of video games, but I really appreciated them and cherished them very carefully even at a young age

[@jeremygreen2883]

Dragon Warrior was one of my most favorite NES games ever. I still revisit it at least once a year for a playthrough. 😊 Wow, 1990 was a great year for NES. You had some real bangers on this list. XEXYZ, Clash at Demonhead, and Double Dragon II... Wow! I have a bunch of these on physical carts, and love this era of NES.

[@spoonshiro]

Got Dynowarz as a Christmas present from my uncle. It was a pretty fun game! Spot is also a reskin of a game called "Ataxx" from the arcades.

[@upthecatters86]

John Riggs: Stops at red lights in GTA Also John Riggs: Watches Faces of Death and puts a hamster in the microwave lol

[@isd8894]

5:06 -- Yep, Batman for the NES is probably my favorite game ever, despite the fact that I've never had any interest in Batman as a movie/TV/comic book character. The game is legitimately that well done.

[@davidwest5506]

Great, great video as always sir. Thank you! Always enjoy your stuff.

[@robintst]

"Ghostbusters II ... I hope you rented it and not bought it." I... got it for Christmas that year. Luckily I also got Dig Dug 2 and I'm probably one of the few people out there that likes it better than the original Dig Dug.

[@nothingelse1520]

We had a sleepover when I was a kid and someone brought a 4 player adapter, we played 4 player Nightmare on Elm Street. Good times.

[@mymusic3354]

I think 1990 was a great year for NES games....So many great games! Speaking of Dragon Warrior 2, I finally beat that game all the way through late last year! The difficulty level at the end is brutal! It's been said it's the hardest NES game ever made because the last several dungeons and castle and trying to get from one dungeon to the next was insanely difficult, I'm glad I can finally say I beat it! 😁 Great video John, or should I call you Riggs....🤣😂🤣

[@toddburgess5056]

Another fantastic video from Mr. Riggs. I had forgotten that Final Fantasy was released in 1990, I've been playing the pixel remaster on the Nintendo switch and cannot get enough of it LOL

[@Dagasm]

As a kid I got a kick out of the narration and animation when eating in River City Ransom, hell I still do. Such a great game. 1990 was a fantastic year for the NES.

[@jessragan6714]

"While nobody was looking, Ryan hugged the teddy bear."

[@ZakkHung]

I think 1990 was the best year for the NES. Love so many of these games.

[@darktetsuya]

as I suspected, there were way too many bangers on this list to single any out! But I will say, Baseball Simulator 1.000 I did love the mechanic of having the powerup batting and pitching abilities, I wish someone would come up with a modern game that featured that kinda powerups system. NARC I was definitely impressed with since they squeezed a four-button control scheme onto a 2 button pad! SPOT I was actually kinda fond of, I think there's a similar game in arcades ATTAXX by Leland?

[@grey_wulf]

I love River City Ransom! My friends and I rented that game and had an absolute blast back in the day.

[@andrewmaiewski4743]

Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior II, and Snake Rattle and Roll. My three favorite games from that year.

[@michaelfitzsimmons8393]

I remember when TMNT 2 came out, there was a cheat code (a very complicated one) printed in Electronic Gaming Monthly for extra lives or something like that. I tried it and tried it and tried it again and just couldn't get it to work. Come to find out it was actually an April Fools prank based on the person's name who published it. Sure fooled me I'll say .🤣

[@mjdf122]

1990 another good year for the NES don’t worry John Riggs the SNES will come out next year in 1991 😂

[@SoulforSale]

Or you can just buy a Sega Genesis right now

[@jeremytheloner]

1990 was also my personal pinnacle year for video games. I was turning 16 that year and I had a job, so for the first time I had money to buy my own Nintendo games. And I bought a lot of the games in this video! TMNT: The Arcade Game was one of my personal favorites, solo or with a buddy. Same thing with SM3. I also remember that my brother got me Ninja Gaiden 2 for Christmas that year, Which I felt obligated to beat since I was the only one in my circle of friends that finished the first game. (Yes, I finished part 2 as well.) Thanks for bringing back some great memories! ❤ On a totally unrelated note, I had no idea that John was 6 feet, 5 inches tall. The man is literally the same size as Jack Reacher! Does that mean that Riggs can also open up a can of whup ass...?? I'm not about to find out! 😅

[@AliciaMercado-ce6pj]

and how old is he?

[@robertbussie9979]

Batman the Video Game is easily my favorite NES game. Amazing graphics and a wall jump that is actually easy to pull off.

[@Sarcophagus74]

River City was freaking awesome. I still love that game. The ability upgrades is what puts the game over the top!

[@CarboneCat]

Star Tropics was so fun! I had found memories when I first played it and that we had put water on the letter that came with the game so that we can input the secret word.

[@PhillipJackson-rl5ty]

I used think he didn't have pants on too... when I was a little Fart lol... I used to laugh so hard when I would rent it lol...

[@joesshows6793]

How BANGING is this line up???

[@alanfike]

Adventures in the Magic Kingdom came to mind in my high school field trip (symphonic band) to the Magic Kingdom when I lost my group for nearly an hour. Boy, I sure feel familiar with the layout of the Magic Kingdom now! It's kinda like a big key, with Main Street being the slide part and the attractions as the handle. Where I was we were so used to calling the sequel to Contra, "Contra 2" that when Super C came out we still called it Contra 2.

[@HiNRGboy]

Magic Of Scherezade and all the other Culture Brain games are so underrated and not very well known. I've enjoyed every single one of their titles. I'm a big fan of Kung Fu Heroes (Arcade & NES both) and the Little Ninja Bros series.

[@64-Bit-Gamer]

Your passion for the NES comes across! Good video, thank you.

[@MCastleberry1980]

NES really had a banger year before the SNES finally dropped. Looking back, 1990 felt like the big climax of everything. Once we got SMB3, it kind of felt like it was time to look to the future. I'd say 1990 and 1988 were probably the two best years

[@matthewbarrios1028]

Love this video but I am a little sad. As a kid my favorite game I had that my brother and I could play for hours on end was Trog. It came out in 1990 and I was really hoping you had it in your video. Would love to hear what you think of it. Nobody ever talks about Trog. Seems these days to be kind of a rare game as well. I hardly ever see it in stores. But it is a lot of fun.

[@HiNRGboy]

Trog is a lot of fun! I'd rather play that than most of the Pac-Man games.

[@matthewbarrios1028]

@HiNRGboy totally agree. It is in the Pac Man style but much more fun and engaging.

[@HiNRGboy]

@@matthewbarrios1028 yep, have you tried the Arcade game? it's even better

[@RedTabletTalk]

I was in first grade in 1990 where I encountered my first mean teacher who didn’t seem to like me. I always found myself getting in trouble and get paddlings by her.

[@brianhatcher2799]

I think I was in second grade in 1990 and we had a teacher that would shake out your desk in front of the whole class if it got too messy. That happened to me one time and all the kids were laughing at me and I was crying😂😂😂 Good times! I never got any paddlings though. I feel kind of left out. Haha. But the belt whoopings I got at home more than made up for it.😢

[@jonbull7363]

I loved Heavy Barrel! It was so satisfying to finally build the heavy barrel.

[@davidbermudez7704]

It took me a while had to rent the game so many times 😂😂😂

[@louisdellalucca8969]

LOVED The Clash at Demonhead!!! Also, I just got the Star Tropical Air Freshener and I LOVE it!!!!

[@ddelora1]

Me and you John are the true Super C fans i love that game

[@krisfrederick5001]

Somehow, we never played Castlevania as kids...but we had 8 Eyes instead, which is much more fun with a friend. Much later I noticed how similar they looked. You had to point out the Super Racoon in the room 🦝🍃

[@drg5352]

Same here. I still have never played a Castlevania game, but spent a lot of time trying to get through 8 Eyes. Can't recall if I've beat it though.

[@krisfrederick5001]

It's so satisfying, I was always the bird and my cousin was whatever his name. When you get to the end and have to place the jewels in the right places it's great@@drg5352

[@mercwithacat9938]

I have great memories playing maniac mansion. Best nes soundtrack.

[@Real_The_Goof]

Where i live, the Dollar General Choclate actually tastes better than Hersheys lol

[@heavysystemsinc.]

From my understanding, the same designer/director made both Rolling Thunder and Code Name: Viper. Viper was done as a commission from Capcom from my understanding as well. I might be fuzzy on whether he worked for Capcom directly or it was commissioned, but I think it was a case of making a game that Capcom simply published/funded. But yeah, it's not a rip off if you rip off yourself (i.e. the game's designer ripping himself off)

[@ggbetz]

Love Code Name Viper! Only learned about rolling thunder this year

[@jessragan6714]

Arc System Works (yes, THAT Arc System Works) made both NES Rolling Thunder and NES Codename Viper. (For what it's worth, I like Codename Viper a little bit better.)

[@Geostrophic]

I could have sworn you said that we learned about "cobbling" from Misery. 👞 lol. I read that book when I was 9 or 10. The hobbling descriptions were...a lot. Great video as always!

[@jimx117]

Duuuude 1990 was an absolute BANGER of a year for the NES.

[@mellowman1978]

I still own a lot of these games, and I completely forgot about them. Thanks for this video man. I loved that time in my life.

[@alfredocanas6802]

1990 was NES peak and it ruled supreme in the world of video games with a Iron Fist.

[@thetruth1862]

Faces of Death was crazy it gave me nightmares!

[@jasonriffe6536]

THANKS FOR SHARING AND EVERYTHING!! I AM 44 SO THIS IS SUCH GREAT GOING BACK IN TIME. I COLLECT GAMES BUT NOT A BUNCH ALSO LOOKING TO SELL SOME BUT NOT SURE HOW TO REALLY. I HAVE MANIC MANSION STILL WITH THE BOX!!

[@dadlife9842]

Great video! Just curious if you play any modern games and if so what are you playing?

[@kelly9094]

Another great video! Give us the SNES and Genesis games of 1994, please!

[@anactualmotherbear]

1990 truly was the best year for the NES. Not just for the games that came out, but several games kids missed out on we could finally play as the system and its library became affordable. That was the year me and my little brothers got the NES. I got Super Mario Bros 2 for Christmas 1990 and I played the hell out of it.

[@johnriddlebaugh7436]

I not only had the Dynowarz game, the poster from "Nintendo Power" was on my bedroom door for a couple of years.

[@javaly78]

How odd I just went to the Texas pinball festival this past weekend, and I saw that they had an arcade cabinet of Spot, thinking to myself they made a Spot arcade game?? And it was the same type of game as the NES.

[@robertdanker6193]

Great Video!! I am very nostalgic for Final fantasy 138 on the NES!!😂

[@xenos_n.]

Surprised how many of these games I have never heard of until watching this. There sure were a lot of NES games. I would like to give a shoutout to Magic If Sheherezade though, I loved that game as a kid. Definitely deserves more love.

[@BOXERCRAZYBROWNCLOWN]

Batman and Narc brings back a lot of memories !!!

[@TIDbitRETRO]

Castlevania III is easily the most badass of these releases. Sooooo good.

[@SaanMigwell]

I had dynowars. I had almost every nes game. We rented them from a little store called computer plus. They went out of business and never came to collect their games. I had at least 200 of them when they went under. When my mom found out we never returned those games, she tried to take them back, but it was too late.

[@Sinn0100]

There are a lot of good games here...what's funny is I got my Sega Genesis in 1989. Once I did, I was all about the 16-bit revolution (remember that Riggs/everyone). I remember pushing my Nes to the side and not really playing it anymore. However, I distinctly remember playing many of these games both at home and at friends' homes. I know for a fact that despite getting my Genesis, I still played Ninja Gaiden like it was going out of style. I played Nightmare on Elm Street with my best friend quite a bit (also Friday The 13th). I'm pretty sure I rented Little Nemo and loved it. I owned (somehow) MGS: Snakes Revenge, and I made it really far, but my Genesis was calling me, so I never finished it. As much as I remember playing, beating, and loving Super C....I don't know how I played it? I remember the music, all the levels, and 10 lives code, but how that happened is a Scooby-Doo mystery? Oh, and SMB3 was the best game I had ever played at the time. It wasn't topped until Sonic The Hedgehog came out in 1991.

[@MarkAltosaar]

I grew up owning Super C and not Contra so I'm sure it biases me, but giving Contra many a shot over the years, I still think Super C is better on every metric. I also just love the top-down base levels so much more than how they were handled in Contra. What I only recently discovered is how different the Super Contra arcade is and have been working through that. I feel some of the Super C hate is that it simplifies the original arcade version.

[@velarantube]

Never knew anyone hated SuperC... Wow!

[@captainz72100]

Dude you're looking really well. Glad to see!!!

[@raygunpyle]

Dynowarz from BanDai came out in 1990, and I don't hear about it talked much, but I had a school mate I would borrow this game from and I enjoyed it. Featuring robotic dinosaurs....two awesome things rolled together. The Nintendo Top Secret Passwords players guide had the passwords listed too.

[@bestudesu4833]

When you said Crystalis came out 34 years ago I felt that. Just watched Wayne's World the other day and realized that movie came out 32 years ago. Getting old sucks!

[@stephen9302]

Baseball Stars was the best NES baseball game

[@davidbermudez7704]

Let’s see if I can remember the games I had in the 90s 🤔 Section Z Castlevania 1 & 2 Gradius The Goonies 2 Ninja Gaiden 1 & 2 Super Mario Bros 2 Super Mario Bros 3 Mario Bros Duck Hunt Gyromite Ghosts & Goblins Sky Kid Double Dragon 1 & 2 The Legend of Zelda I guess that’s all!

[@philtasticcomicsandart]

Wow this video was a rush of so many memories- well done. 🎉. I’m not into emulation but may jump on it to see if I can finally finish destiny of an emperor.

[@nisus8]

There actually was a _Maniac Mansion_ TV series developed by George Lucas that aired back in the early '90s, and it was relatively faithful to the game overall, and boasted some amazing guest-stars (like film director David Cronenberg and actors Jose Ferrer and Martin Short).

[@archdawg5688]

Great video! Maybe the best year ever for the system...

[@shnast-tv2]

8 eyes is amazing. I remember I beat that game with my older sister who played the falcon most of the time. It's a great assist. surprised nobody copied this.

[@thewingedavenger1007]

There aren't very many Gauntlet games and there are very few clones, so it's great that the NES got not only Gauntlet (which is not a port of the arcade game but a whole new game) and Gauntlet II. Two masterpieces.

[@Trainy2]

Retronauts did a ranking of all the Contra games and they ranked Super C above the original for NES, so John is correct in his opinion that it is better.

[@UstraMage]

I had Dash Galaxy growing up...I would have loved to hear you talk about it

[@jessragan6714]

I'm so, so sorry. Did therapy help?

[@dr_unne]

Destiny of an Emperor! My absolute favorite NES rpg!

[@controlpadblues]

LOL *I had Dynowarz as a kid!* Interesting that this came out in '90, because in '91, my mom went to the Major Video rental store (which we had in Canada pre-Blockbuster) and they were selling off some of their NES games. She got it for $9... not the best game, but I owned it, and I played the heck out of it.

[@JohnRiggs]

then you win.

[@oasisbeyond]

clue we had all ending on movie network good times.

[@jeremiahthomas8140]

My step-brother had Metal Gear and I enjoyed beating it. So I of course bought Snake's Revenge. I have still never beat it. My best friend had Dynowarz, along with Abadox and Street Fighter 2010.

[@ConfusionDistortion]

I had Dynowarz back in 91/92. Played though it a couple times.

[@PixelsNcreatureS]

I use to play Clash At Demonhead a lot and I never knew what I was doing but somehow I beat it

[@patrickwdoyle]

8 eyes was released in 1989 in the US. I played it a bunch before selling my NED and buying a genesis in late 1989.

[@stevenkuhn3897]

Hey John I remember a nes game I love playing crash n boys street challenge and I have seen no body ever do review on that or the tick snes which it's a below f tier but crash underrated ty steve

[@forcedfeedbackclassicgamer5499]

So much greatness that year...

[@MotherKojiro]

OH NO HE SAID IT! BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES! lol I'll stand with your stance on Crystalis, and I'll step up and say that I'm one of the few who enjoyed Dick Tracy, too. Magic of Scheherazade, Boy and his Blob, StarTropics, and Mega Man 3 are my favorites here, but TONS of great games; I knew about Mario 3 and Final Fantasy (I remember when both of them came out), but I didn't realize just how many games came out this year!

[@WavesNGames]

From this list it seems that 1990 was the Pinnacle of NES games.

[@Chicomite]

I was never a big fan of River City Ransom, so I skipped River City Girls. Huuuuuge mistake, River City Girls is one of the best beat em ups ever made, it's what Scott Pilgrim wishes their game was(I liked Scott Pilgrim but man is it slow sometimes). They are similar but RCG feels lighting fast compared. Hot take, Famicom/NES Jackie Chan is more fun than the TurboGrafx version. Plus, the Famicom game has some of the greatest celebrity caricature box art ever, I love Famicom carts.

[@patrickdiggins85]

I too preferred Super C to Contra, Music was better in my opinion. Both are great but Super C just felt a little bit more impressive.

[@roguerifter9724]

I always prefer Super C to Contra. I didn't think doing so was odd though its now more bitter sweet because it was the last game dad and I played together. Wrath of the Black Manta was the last NES game I got until my parents got an NES again in the mid 2000s though I didn't get it until 93. Final Fantasy is my third favorite turn-based JRPG released on the NES in the US but the first of my top three I owned though I didn't get it until 92. Crystalis is my favorite NES action RPG. I would have pre-ordered the SNK 40 anniversary collection for it alone though the collection had many other games I liked. I had so much fun playing Chip and Dal Rescue Rangers when I was a kid though I preferred two player to playing it alone. I loved Gauntlet II. One of my dream game collections is a collection of every Gauntlet game. I liked Destiny of the Emperor a lot though I didn't play it until 93. Dragon Quest/Warrior II is IMO a massive improvement over the first game, and the first JRPG I owned but its my second least favorite game in the series. River City Ransom is one of my favorite two player co-op NES games. I loved North and South and played it with anyone I could talk into trying it. And we owned the entire Lolo trilogy because my parents both loved the first game We rented Dr. Mario and mom bought copy next time we were at Walmart.

[@jkarguth]

We had DynoWarz the box art fooled my older brother. He always enjoyed it, but I think that just helped push away buyers remorse.

[@JamesWilliams-fj8vf]

BATMAN for NES and ABADOX for NES were BOTH released in 1989.

[@THEKLEVER187]

Hush it …

[@Rob-uv8bu]

John can you put link for shop thanks

[@JohnRiggs]

in the description, as always.

[@androxilogin]

Double Dragon II was such an experience back then. I would light up every time we rented or borrowed it and my brother wanted a second player. I was soo terrible at the perspective leaps and conveyor belts that he'd get frustrated with my losing after we'd made it soo far. He finally got a copy for his birthday and we would finally get through it. Over and over again. A Boy and his Blob was also a personal favorite of mine. XEXYZ had such great music but when I was a kid, I died on the first level every single time. Final Fantasy was completely "meh" to me back then. I wasn't reading, games were my escape! Little secret here.. I HATED Zelda. Absolutely hated it. When I got Link's Awakening on GameBoy, I fell in love with it. Came back to NES to try to like it again, no-go. To this day, I still only like Link's Awakening and the Minish Cap. The rest could just not exist in my eyes. Snake, Rattle & Roll was AWESOME. Dick Tracy was a local rental in my town. My main memories with it was eating Cap'n Crunch and looking at the yellow on the label of the cart thinking that's what the game would taste like. Dream Master, another absolute favorite of mine. At the same time, I'm reminded of the Tales from the Darkside theme because I was in pre-school and so I would be home in the mornings. Tales from the Darkside came on every morning for whatever reason (I think it was on Sci-Fi channel; before it became SyFy- when they just became a channel). Absolutely loved Little Nemo.. Until that freakin' train level. Dr. Mario.. We had it but I never wanted to play it.