Top Ten Underappreciated Games of the NES by Second Opinion Games

[@punchabunchabuttons]

Bionic Commando should be here. Its a great game on the Nes. But the fact that you dont jump turns off people right away. If you give the game a chance you learn that there is a reason for the jump limitation and it has an awesome play style. Definitely a classic.

[@factchecker2719]

I disagree. The reason Bionic Commando should NOT be here is because it was never really UNDERAPPRECIATED. I seem to remember back then that it was appreciated quite a lot! And yes, it is definitely a classic, and most NES gamers will tell you so.

[@bredincaptivity4692]

Yeah, I don't think that a game that got two remakes recently can be considered underappreciated.

[@mrburns366]

@@joesshows6793 and what's funny is, as much as I loved it as a kid, the NES port of Double Dragon is kinda shit

[@davidjenkinson4029]

I feel like Bionic Commando gets appreciated.

[@NESADDICT]

Totally agree, even after reading the comments. I rarely hear people talk about it.

[@AncientElectronics]

Thee trees do move in the Japanese version of Contra. IIRC the game used a special chip to help with effects but for some reason they weren't allowed to use the chip in the US market so certain effects were cut.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

0blivi0n100 the USA Nintendo can’t read it to cut production costs

[@AncientElectronics]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 it can, the special chip is in the cart not the NES itself. The JP version of Contra runs fine in a US NES as does the ROM on a flash cart that supports the mapper.

[@Classixish]

I like to think Faxanadu is also an underappreciated gem. I'll confess the NPC chat leaves a lot to be desired, but i found it had a delightful mix of exploration, combat, and just overall was a fun RPG game to play. edit: almost forgot - despite being chiptunes, the Music, is very very memorable too. Still love the second area (Tower of mists)

[@NickRyderSGC]

Faxandu was like my 3rd NES game - I couldn't find Legend of Zelda anywhere and the box art and the demo they had of it at Toys R Us that I played made it look pretty intriguing so we picked it up and man that was like one of my favorite games right after Metroid and Super Mario Bros. It's also one of the few NES games from my childhood that I still have my original cartridge for - I even ended up finding a second one in a box of 'garbage' games that I hung onto - game still worked just fine - in case I met someone that wanted to borrow mine - Faxandu also sorta was fun to play listening to the Ghostbusters 2 Soundtrack - I used to always have a tape player with me in the late 80s/early 90s and I liked to play video games late after my parents went to bed so I'd turn off the volume on the TV and listen to music while I played - some of the songs really suited the game - at least to me.

[@SeekerLancer]

Faxanadu is like a better version of Adventure of Link, just with a kind of ugly color palette.

[@ClarkPotter]

Absolutely agreed.

[@factchecker2719]

I wouldn't necessarily say that Faxanadu was a BETTER version of Zelda II - Adventure of Link (which was really more of an adventure game with some RPG elements), but Faxanadu does have more of an RPG feel to it--which is why you may like it better. In any case, both Zelda II and Faxanadu were pretty well liked, and therefore NOT underappreciated.

[@procow2274]

Classixish all of this!

[@CSanykdotCom]

Re: the SMB glitch, I think what's going on is this: When you get hit by Bowser at the exact same frame as you touch the axe, the game triggers the level end and "forgets" to shrink Mario because that code routine is not executed. When you touch a super mushroom, the code routine for making Mario into Super Mario works by setting his status to "super" but it toggles the sprites used for drawing Mario. Normally this works out because Mario is always small when he touches a super mushroom, but when the NES is confused because it is treating Mario as small but still drawing him as Super Mario, it switches *back* to the small sprites. When Mario touches a Fire Flower, it doesn't change sprites -- it's just doing a palette swap. When the animation plays for Mario throwing a fireball, the NES displays the only graphic that exists on the ROM for that, the sprite of Super Mario, being drawn with the Fiery Mario palette. Then it switches back to using the previous sprite it had been using to draw Mario, in this case the small mario sprite, but drawn using the palette used for drawing Fiery Mario.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

This is some cool stuff!!!!! :) Thanks

[@xc3n]

haha came here to mention the palette swap ;) cool explanation

[@agonleed3841]

@ADEBISI ADEBISI I rmemebr that

[@jimx117]

I used to trigger this glitch every now and then, it was HILARIOUS to 5 year-old me. And that is indeed how that happens and what it does. OP GLITCHES

[@eagix]

Chris, I came here to explain the palette swap and there you are doing it for me you brilliant fellow :)

[@Ralfusmaximus]

Crystalis is the best! The music is sooooo good.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

For years it was my favorite game of all times. I love it even though I didn't beat it until May 27 1996. A big day for me.

[@svartedauden3566]

one of my favorite NES games too!

[@taotechnique]

Crystalis will always have a place in my heart. It was, and still is an epic game. No other came close to the in depth complexity during the NES days. I never finished it though. It was tough. Even tougher than the patiance/skill needed to beat Zelda 2 Adventure of Link. Maybe its time to give Crystalis another try. Its sunday and i have no responsibilities today.

[@phyrr2]

The music really added so much more to an already awesome game. Goes to show the genius that can be done with such a limited instrument set.

[@Goldnfoxx]

Definitely Crystalis on NES, and then Soul Blazer or Lufia 2 on SNES are the best games I bring up a lot that for some reason few people I know ever played. Crystalis, in particular, just ran so smoothly. I bought the game again about ten years ago or so only to get it home and find the battery backup totally dead. Ever tried playing that game in one sitting? Yeah...

[@NerveFlux]

I knew a few kids who owned Captain Skyhawk. Beating that first stage earned you some serious neighborhood credit back then lol. Eventually 3 of us beat that whole game after taking turns.

[@digimon916]

The Guardian Legend?

[@stevenschiro1838]

Yes! Such a good game, so much to it

[@SigmaElement]

Cult classic. So good. Not enough people talks about that one....

[@bredincaptivity4692]

My favorite on the system.

[@dark14life]

Xexyz and Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors II also came to mind after seeing this list. But yes, The Guardian Legend is awesome! I spent so many hours trying to beat it and finally did after some weeks of work. The soundtrack is also one of the best that I ever heard on the NES.

[@jackytreehornsghost]

Sky Hawk, GI Joe and Crystalis were some of my favourite games as a kid. Well.. Captain SkyHawk was too tough for me, but I have a lot of memories watching my friend's older brother play through it.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Justin Kline their is some cool glitches in the game to

[@tylerkeller8869]

God I miss the 80's & 90's.

[@Nuisance_Bear]

Astyanax was the first NES game I played that WASN'T Mario/Duck Hunt. Until then it didn't even occur to me that games could be gritty and serious.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Jonathan Unger Yea it was cheap even then 😀

[@paulpjr3224]

Crystalis was a great game and one of my favorites. There is some others I can think of like Kid Niki, Legendary Wings, Yo! Noid, Karnov and Journey to Silius. They were solid games.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

I think some of those is in my fan favorite Video :)

[@BurnEdOutOne]

Just speculation, but I think the fireflower small mario sprite might be used for the 'getting hit' animation, because you lose both the fireflower and turn small, so it might be a transition sprite between those two states? Dunno. More investigation needed. :P

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

BurnEdOutOne 🤔

[@ericneault8190]

It's a little late, but small fire mario isn't a different Sprite - it's the same sprite as when mario is actually small. The nes doesnt store color data with the sprites, instead the sprites have "potential colors." Each sprite can have 3 colors so let's say the "potential colors" are A, B, and C. Normal mario uses the standard color palette that fills the "potential colors" with the normal colors we expect mario to look like. When mario gets the fire powerup the game doesn't switch anything about the way Mario's sprite looks, it just switches to a different color palette that makes mario look like fire mario. The glitch just tricks the game into thinking that mario should look small, but the game also thinks mario can shoot fire, so it switches to the color palette for when mario has the fire powerup. The reason he gets big when he shoots the fireballs is because the sprites for the animation are only drawn for big mario, so the game thinking mario can shoot fireballs just plays that animation not realizing it's wrong. The dev's must have not thought that you would ever be able to do this, or didnt fix it because it would require extra processing power that the nes didnt really have.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

This is the best break down I have seen of this phonoma

[@gnarlymcgnarlson6952]

Cobra triangle and snake rattle and roll are some really great games that went unnoticed by most.

[@OwenMorganTelltale]

you have a good voice for this. I think if you improve your editing and you never, never, never quit, you could be one of the biggest channels out there. keep going past the point where everybody else would quit and you keep going past that. that's the trick to it. can't wait to see more from you

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Thanks man, I just finished my top ten chainsaws video and I think its great but no one is watching it just gets me sad but I plain on going at least for 5 more years :)

[@zennvirus7980]

Way back in the 90s, that Super Mario Bros bug happened to me once, but I was to young to understand what had happened, or repeat it again. Glad to know someone managed to find out the bug and now I can tell my old neighbors I wasn't joking.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Zenn virus 😀

[@tylerkeller8869]

Also, Wizards & Warriors. Definitely a highly, HIGHLY, underrated game. I still can't get that music out of my head, 20 yrs later.

[@Tolbat]

Absolutely loved Captain Skyhawk.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

I wish I remember how to do the glitches I found when I was a kid. There is a lot of them and they are cool

[@Tolbat]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 If you remember we will tune in :D

[@cozmicmojo2181]

I don't know why no one appreciates the sequel to G.I.Joe the Atlantis factor. Its a phenomenal game. I never see anyone review it.

[@michaelknight8459]

I find Atlantis factor harder and it has branching paths you can take. I prefer real American hero I like the fact you start out with 3 g I Joe's from the beginning and it's not as difficult but still a good challenge both good nes games

[@cheeseburger12]

Both games were awesome.

[@willywatch10]

Homie I spoke up for years on Crystalis, telling people that liked Zelda to try it, still got it at home. In regards to Felix what about Rockin Kat's?

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Brad Wilson crystalis is one of my favorite games

[@dolst]

The SMB glitch was in Nintendo Power back in the day. Surf Wisely.

[@thekenner]

The boss battles in Iron Tank are the epitome of 8-bit greatness.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Those last tanks are huge!!!!!

[@prepare2qualify111]

Fun fact: Wario's Woods was the last licensed NES game.

[@THEGREATMAX]

That and Star Tropics 2: Zoda's Revenge

[@smoke-78-]

Last U.S. release. I believe the lion king was the last official nes title. pal only.

[@milolink6993]

I got that glitch just by passing bowser and getting hit by his flame as the ax dropped the bridge. I had the fireflower and lost the height but kept the fire power while being small the next stage.

[@tanteiotakuful]

Karnarv, loved that game. No one even herd of it.

[@ShawnJonesHellion]

Karnov*. I had the tiger handheld too

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Karnarv was so one to put on this list but forgot 😦

[@wetmetalthong]

I was in a band that was briefly named Karnov. We ended up changing it because no one had heard of the game.

[@Jerakk30]

You should have also had Rygar on that list.

[@urnotme21]

Agree-great game that's never talked about. I still catch myself whistling the music every now and then.

[@factchecker2719]

Astyanax is one of my favorite side-scrolling action/adventure games for the NES. It has pretty nice graphics for a title on an "8-bit" gaming system, great play-control, really fun boss battles, a nice story too with a little bit of a plot twist at the end (lol), and even some RPG elements like being able to use 1 of 3 weapons (effects the way you attack physically and use magic), and being able to use a few magic spells, although the game levels were pretty straightforward and linear. Still a great game overall.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Fact Checker and even for less than five dollars people still take a pass on it

[@factchecker2719]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 LOL... The game is pretty short though. I think you can play through it normally (not even speed-running) in around a half-hour or so.

[@rodneydean5175]

Vice: Project Doom needs more love.

[@Onionman77]

Yes Astyanax, so glad you did that one. Just had such an effect on me as a kid. Such a world to get sucked into and imagine yourself saving that world. It was an NES game and had so many cutscenes! I'll stop fanboying, it was very good, thanks.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

This is one of my first top tens so sorry if it is a little crude :) I see your liking the channel :)

[@Onionman77]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 Yes I am really liking your channel! You still need to get me some contact info though!

[@uglesovs483]

I think kabuki quantum fighter is pretty good and nobody really seems to talk about it

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

ill check it out :)

[@uglesovs483]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 cool but its not like a masterpiece

[@Peter_1986]

+Second Opinion Games You definitely need to check out the game "KickMaster", that game is criminally unknown. It's basically an action-platformer with RPG elements, where you gain Experience Points (which naturally increases your Level, HP and MP) and learn new attacks and spells, and some of the spells are hidden in secret areas. Fantastic game, I can safely say that it is one of the best action-platformers on the whole system.

[@agonleed3841]

@@Peter_1986 kabukimfighter and kickmastwr really banked on weird themes. It was good..but nowhere near the best, you can tell it was made SPECIFICALLY so people could try to get hooked and talk about it for years. Not made to actually last through the years. I like it, but it's just that

[@Peter_1986]

+Agon Leed The reasons why I rank "KickMaster" very highly are because it is well-designed in general - the graphics are crisp and clear, the music is fantastic, the controls are intuitive and the replay value is quite high since the game has a second loop on a higher difficulty, and also a second final boss. I also really like how you can do lots of different physical and magical attacks, and I enjoyed the HP/MP system since I have always found it very satisfying to gain Levels and become stronger. Either way, another game that is extremely unknown relative to how good it is would be "Summer Carnival '92: Recca" for the Famicom. That game is basically a furiously intense scrolling shooter with a very unique style - it has wavy psychedelic backgrounds and a convincing rave soundtrack, which makes some parts almost feel like a rave party or something. It's also extremely hard - it's one of those games were beating stage 1 is an achievement.

[@richk3325]

Tiger Heli, Rolling thunder, Xevious, Iron Tank, Metal Gear, Metroid, Friday the 13th, Ninja Gaiden, Gyrus, 1943 or 2 , Mario bros 1 2 and 3,etc. I prolly had 40 games when's I gave my Nes collection away last year with consol and extra controllers... Good times...

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

I keep all my games . It might be sad but their a part of me.

[@richk3325]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 oh it does feel like part of me died letting it go. I have a lot of PlayStation 2,3, and 4 to catch up on...Don't know if I'll ever catch up.I'll be alright...

[@huhdidwhat]

Gi Joe looks like a cross between Contra & Lifeforce wish i would have known about this little gem back then and thank you for memories Main👈

[@edswangren6479]

I doubt Mario's outfits are separate sprites. More likely it's a color palette swap, so it makes sense that small mario would have the same colors if the game thought he should be in fire mode.

[@k9builder]

I'm surprised that Karnov isn't on this list.

[@Broke_Guy_78]

Yeah I played Karnov years back it was a great game. I recently modded my NES classic so I have it again....

[@tylerkeller8869]

Ugh!! I loooooooved Karnov! And the way his own entering a level via lightening sounded like "Twice Surviv-ing" to me. Listen to it again, you'll get it. Anyways, with the exception of Ghosts & Goblins, no other game did I love as much as I hated.

[@Bart848]

I still have karnov great game

[@SocalYouthHockeyVids]

I think the small fire mario sprite exists as a transition from fire mario to small mario.

[@stalkerstomper3304]

Battle of Olympus... OMG was it awesome

[@MattBrzozowski]

Battle of Olympus is one of the best games ever

[@TheErusPrime]

I've never even heard anyone mention this game before. One of my favorites. Just played it again.

[@SojuNinja]

The haunting melody at the opening screen brings back memories.

[@Martin-jk2ng]

Yes! That game was amazing.

[@mrthorwahl]

Yeah, its easly the best game on the NES. It's one of the best games i've ever played period.

[@rauladdams5709]

Hey Hey, really enjoyed this. I now know what my next couple purchases will be. Sincerely appreciate you taking the time to put this together.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

New videos every week. Best job ever :)

[@macadameane]

Metal Storm was a late game in the life of the NES, and even though it is short, it is so original. If you play the second quest, the difficulty gets ridiculous!

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Nice

[@MattGreerMusic]

tiny fireball mario was encountered pretty often in the arcade version.

[@redroversk]

That GI Joe game is always out of my price range, like over the last 15 years

[@whispersignal1]

I lucked out back in 2000ish and got G.I. Joe, and the sequal the Atlantis Factor for like $5

[@Automat1cJack]

Get a flash cart.

[@ExaltedDuck]

I think it never got huge because GI Joe was getting less popular when it came out (probably largely due ho video games being so popular at the time and marginalizing physical toys, ironically). By any objective measure, it's an excellent NES game. I remember trying out the sequel and finding it to be nowhere near as enjoyable.

[@WarlockX4]

Have to say I knew about that glitch way back since 1988. My brother in law would do it all the time as Luigi. He called the trick "The Gumby" for some reason. Maybe because Luigi was green.

[@BlaineEvans]

Fire-powered Mario isn't a sprite swap, but just a pallet swap. That's why the game is able to render small Mario in his fire power suit even though it was never intended. It doesn't mean that Miyamoto & co. put something in the game that they never used. It's just a few bits being changed to render white and red instead of red and brown, and under normal conditions, those bits would never be in that state if you weren't already big.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Star colors :)

[@jongirod7369]

I always was partial to Werewolf: The Last Warrior. Super hard, but the gameplay was absolutely fantastic. Definitely the most underrated game on the NES of all time for me. Good list though, but with 700+ games to chose from, a top 10 is almost impossible for anyone to ever agree on.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Yes I really see that. thanks :)

[@Automat1cJack]

Werewolf is almost awesome, but it has a handful of really terrible design desicions that make it a giant headache.

[@dreamweaver5803]

Chackie Chan? I believe his name starts with a J

[@treyb57]

I noticed that RIGHT AWAY!!! lol CHACKIE CHAN lol My first thought, and reaction was ..."CHACK? - ie? Whaaat? :D then I thought of how Jackie Chan would react to it lol Shameful!

[@dramos0805]

lol

[@kind2311]

dude has some kind of speech impediment, or just does his voice overs in one take with no proofing or editing. @ 5:16 he starts saying "advrenture"

[@addicted2p0rn]

Lol he called Chip N Dale "Chip N Dale's" which is a male strip club franchise.

[@kodytiffany5686]

Astynax is a game I got for my 6th or 7th Birthday and I love it still (long after not having an NES); its boss battles were hard as hellI powered through the game and Still think of that purple and blue swamp level as a nightmare of an enemy gauntlet where if you can clear it with out damage your crazy because some enemies land mine you... Crystalis I played so much growing up that I could probably act as a players guide until the ocean (80% of that part at least). Both of which need to have part 7's already but never got sequels.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Have you ever herd of Vice project doom? I just got it and the review is coming but what a great game :)

[@shaddialbawab5360]

Agreed. If you see Felix the Cat in a bargain bin, DO NOT PASS IT UP.

[@HippieMumboJumbo]

yeah... same with Stadium Events, Little Sampson and Bonk's Adventure. They're all in bargain bins...

[@Palmy6999]

You're welcome for me passing it up!

[@SonBrimmer]

Over Horizon is another one that goes under the radar, but it's awesome. It's "Nintendo hard", but it's unlimited continues, and it never kills you with cheap unavoidable shots. It just as fun as it is difficult.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Son Brimmer I remember liking it😀

[@Bodyhammer99999]

SNK games were always quality

[@asadavis9532]

And it has some games that were mentioned on here 😍

[@mrburns366]

3:08 actually, the trees DID move in the Japanese version of Contra on Famicom. No idea why they changed that but...

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Yes but it had to have a extra chip o the card to do it :)

[@mrburns366]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 ah, different mapper i guess? I'm glad they changed it. I thought it was distracting

[@asadavis9532]

This is the best “hidden gems” style video on KZbin for the system

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Thanks I'm off to too many games this weekend so hopefully I can get the word out ☺️

[@willdoseago]

Captain Skyhawk, so good. First game I beat as a kid.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

That's a hard first beat.

[@alexriskbreaker7209]

Yes. All of them. Many Capcom and Konami games were also little known. Game critics were never a great help. Better to give many games the chance than let somebody else to decide for you

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Alex Riskbreaker Yes I try not to be to serious. My channel it more about getting people to try something different 😀

[@itiswho2]

Loved Iron Tank. The bosses, the music and the enemy variety, oh man!

[@pureblood369]

I knew about Minnie fire when it was just a Nintendo out back in the 90s

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

No one seems to talk about it what up with that :)

[@DjAether8]

Yeah I'd pull off that trick once in a while back in the 80s. But it is true, dont see anyone on youtube at least, talk about it.

[@NeoAF10]

Well, It seems you haven't seen Games Done Quick

[@gonzalorosario1278]

They don't make a small sprite red, the switch pallets colors. With the big Mario too. Cause of that you can see the red small one but don´t shot fire

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Good point , spot on ;)

[@gonzalorosario1278]

thanks for reading the comments! I like your video! In the NES was common for memory limitation switch palets to save space, in Mario the same sprites of the Clouds were used for the shrubbery, changing white to green. and in other games use the same enemy sprite changing colors, using red for the harder ones.

[@NESADDICT]

Great list! I want Felix the Cat bad!

[@Assassin-9]

I remember when I was a kid, Nintendo Power magazine had that tip for Mario Bros for level 2-1, called "little man fire power".

[@stalkerstomper3304]

Destiny of an Emperor was the BOMB

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

I will try them both :) Thanks

[@stalkerstomper3304]

Second Opinion Games Really? Wow... awesome! Thanks!

[@nordy259]

100% agree Destiny of a Emperor is one of the best jrpg games of all time

[@IrisvielVonEinzbern]

interesting list, a game i knew for the NES that i feel was underappreciated is Legacy of the Wizard and it rarely gets talked about, if at all when bringing up great games for the system.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

I have lots more lists to I even have a cool Chainsaw video soon ;)

[@Automat1cJack]

Legacy of the Wizard might be the hardest NES game to figure out without the manual.

[@EdsRetroGeekOut]

Nice list!

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Ed's Retro Geek Out Thanks 🙏

[@MarshalArnold]

Great set of games! Funny thing, when we were making Console Nerds in '09 we hit on a lot of your list, ah memories! Also, I hadn't seen that spitfire Mario glitch, awesome work on that!

[@khakldfhwd]

Willow was an amazing Legend of Zelda like game that I’m not sure is that known

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

for some reason I cant get into willow but I wish I could. :(

[@khakldfhwd]

Second Opinion Games + my suggestion would be to power through to after the first boss (the skeleton boss). After which you know if you like the game or not (make sure you get the heal mace!!! (talk to someone in the dew village BEFORE you fight the first boss)).

[@SatoshiMatrix1]

11:42 "Why did they even make a sprite for him?" They didn't. Sprites in NES games carry no pallet data at all on their own. The PPU can assign sprites one of four sprite pallets on the fly. Fire Mario and Super Mario are the same metasprite, merely the pallet is different. Likewise with small Mario and small fire Mario. They're the same sprite. Only the pallet is different. This is because the NES has even for its time, a pritifal amount of VRAM at just 2 KB. It's far easier to recolor sprites than generate new ones.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Thanks for the knowledge 😃🙏

[@SatoshiMatrix1]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 Have you ever played the NES Megaman games? When Megaman optains a new power, his blue and cyan suit changes color to reflect the new power he obtained. The game is still using the same set of sprites but just assigning new pallets to them. Or think Metroid when you press Select to switch from the beam to missiles. Or think of beat 'em ups like TMNT 2 where as you deal damage to bosses they change color to indicate damage. Or think any game where the minor enemies change colors depending on where you find them. SMB2 has red, green and gray Birdo in addition to the usual pink one, depending on where you are in the game. What is happening in all these examples is the same sprite data being maniuplated with new pallet data. NES sprites can consist of three colors and the NES has four pallet slots. That means that at any one time, there are can be four sprites on screen with completely independant colors. The same is true of backgrounds. NES background tiles can be four colors and the NES has four background pallet slots at once, with the only weird exception that one of each of the four background pallets must share one common color, which most devs would assign to be black. That means there can be 4 sets of 3 sprite colors and 1 set of 4 background colors plus 3 more sets of 3 background colors for a grand total of up to 25 colors on screen at once. This I hope doesn't ever deminish your apprication for the NES. Actually I find it makes me appriciate it all the more.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

More. The way the developers use the system to make their art is amazing 😃

[@SatoshiMatrix1]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 the NES is a very limited platform in numerous ways. For example, the NES can display 64 sprites on screen at a time. that sounds like a lot until you realize that the NES considers a sprite to be just an 8x8 pixel object. Even small Mario is a 16x16 pixel object, meaning that the small Mario sprite is actually four sprites acting together as one, and big Mario is 24 x 16 making it six sprites acting as one. The NES only has enough vram to access 256 8x8 sprites in total for all animations ever needed in a game. This is where the MMCs (memory mapper chips) came in to play. Although the NES could only access a limited amount of sprites at a time, that doesn’t mean that it always had to be limited to only those sprites. Through a process called bank switching new data could be exchanged in an old data exchanged out. This is how virtually all NES games made after 1987 work. This is how super Mario brothers 3 for example has such elaborate worlds that are different from each other. The NES was very limited, but saw a constant expansion through the memory mappers. It really is a fascinating concept.

[@galloe8933]

In my time, I've had or have come accross people who owned the games on your list, from Felix the Cat to a Beta version of Crystalis, but I've never seen a copy of Adventure island 3. Dude with the Beta of Crystalis even has a copy of little Samson, but has also never owned a copy of Adventure island 3. For the record a beta NES game comes in a cart with a flashable Eprom and no real label but a cheap sticker with some Sharpy letters written on it. All the same with all of that, never have I seen a copy of Adventure island 3. Good list though, however, I feel that Adventure island 3 is underappreciated becuase no one knows about it.

[@anactualmotherbear]

Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu was really good. I first saw it a long time ago at a friend's house and searched high and low for it, at first thinking it might have been a Master System game because of the very large colorful sprites. Later when I discovered it was a NES game I was pretty impressed.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Rosemary Marie The turbo grafx had a good version of it

[@enzowarren9832]

Summer Carnival ‘92 RECCA is the most underappreciated NES game imo

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Cool :)

[@bigedwerd]

They didn't make a sprite for small fire Mario. It's just a palette swap, but it looks like there is a sprite for shooting the fireball which is why it sometimes goes large.

[@AndyTrampke]

I wouldn't leave any nes game in a $1 bin.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

True that. my best friend told someone else to buy it when it was just a dollar.

[@AndyTrampke]

Second Opinion Games You used to be able to find retro games in thrift shops but it's been years since my last good find.

[@MalcomJuliaMorgan]

they made that mario sprite because it's one of the colors you flash when you get the star.

[@clanbutler]

The Magic of scheherazade I think is under rated

[@enutrofdude]

It was unique and excellent, very underrated indeed.

[@Automat1cJack]

Definitely, but that game is confusing as fuck and the level is capped per world.

[@TobiAnimados]

Nice recommendations!

[@oaooaoipip2238]

Chuckie Chan?

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

IDK it sounds racist.

[@tatvela6915]

This list was actually really good. Most of these titles I really didn't know anything about. Thanks.

[@gimcrack555]

Three games I really like and play all the way through are; Rolling Thunder, Blaster Master and [Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team]

[@Automat1cJack]

You beat all 4 stories of Rolling Thunder?

[@gimcrack555]

@@Automat1cJack 10 levels - 5 areas for each story

[@thetoytable299]

What about the power pad? or Indy Heat those would be my favorite under liked games.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

That's cool

[@dramos0805]

That was cool thank you especially the ending with the spitfire bit!! Still secrets revealed after all of these decades paased

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Thanks!!!!

[@MattBrzozowski]

Clash at Demonhead is a sorely underrated gem

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

sadly I cant get into it.

[@wildo2ne]

super mario it is a rare trick we used to call inverting it is very hard to pull off

[@lXFeniXl]

Dragon warrior was great too, you can nearly become a dragon any time you want and when you finish the game it gives you a secret code to make it more hard

[@checkerknights4]

Does the Mario glitch work in the Wii All Stars port?

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

checkerknights4 No I tried ☹️

[@wulver810]

Still have my original Astyanax, I also played Iron Tank a lot at one of my friends house, never played the others though. I remember small fario, forgot how it was done but that and level skip were the only tricks I remember seeing growing up. Sweet vid!

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Thanks I have so many more top tens in the works this Wednesday is my masterpiece ;)

[@brianm6117]

Love me some Captain Skyhawk. I remember my friend bringing it over to my house to play when he was staying over for the weekend and we played the shit out of it. He had never beaten it before, but he beat it that weekend while at my house. Beating it must have made it wear off the desire for the game because after that he offered to sell it to me for like $5. That was about 27 years ago, and I still have the game to this day.

[@NickRyderSGC]

I LOVE Captain Skyhawk - I think I rented it and then went out and bought it and an NES joystick controller for it - which made it MUCH easier to control, since you could use your other hand to control the select and start buttons easier.

[@danieliler886]

That..was a rough script...felt like it was half ad-libbed, and when a section didn't go well it wasn't redone and edited, but just had a well that's good enough don't worry about it feel

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Honesty is good dude. I can barely read and expect that so I don't do scrips. I just talk about games like I would talk to a friend. It also helps me put out a new video every week. This was one of my earlier videos and I learned a lot from this. Keep in mind when I made it I had 25 subs :)

[@blobcity3591]

This is how a top 10 list is done. Subbed

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Thanks lots more Top Tens to come.

[@megapepe76]

Astyanax and Crystalis are two of my favorite games of all time! Loved your list!

[@SeekerLancer]

Captain Skyhawk was my jam as a kid. GI Joe was popular with me and my friends at least. Too bad it's so hard to get your hands on these days. The easier to find sequel was... not quite as good. Small Fire Mario is just a palette glitch. Sprites don't have "colors" the game's programming assigns colors from the currently available palette to the sprite and the glitch causes it to report the incorrect colors because it thinks your sprite is big.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

their was also some cool glitches in Captain Skyhawk to.

[@richk3325]

If the internet and E-bay existed earlier, I would of bought Ikari Warriors ...I looked and looked everywhere and gave up thinking it wasn't on NES... Just found out they did make it... Bummer...

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

lol.

[@hallowmaxberry74]

That Felix the cat game has a lot of missing sections is it a bad nes or a bad game cart or did it run like this from the get go I played it in the 80$ but don’t remember

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Easy but fun :)

[@HE360]

How about: Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Street Fighter 2010, Maniac Mansion, Battle of Olympis, Guerrillas Wars, and the Rocketeer. These are some more good games that many people never heard of and they go unappreciated.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Thanks i think i should do a part 2 on this one 😊

[@alanfike]

Crazy SMB trick at the end there! I grew up in the '80s with the 99 lives trick but never even heard of that. If someone told me, I'd think they were full of it. I have an underappreciated game that I still today consider to be my favorite game for the NES, and I never even owned it, we rented it just before moving on to the Genesis and didn't play it again until downloading the ROM. That game is: Super Dodge Ball. Ever play it? I'm actually much more into action/adventure than sports, but you've got to find the ROM of this if you haven't played it. The designers set up their own sport of dodge ball (with offensive and defensive positions), and as Team USA you tour the world, with the final team being.. The Soviet Union. And just by looking at them, you'll realize that the league that sets up this international Dodge Ball sport has really got to update their policy on performance enhancers, because every player on the Soviet team is juiced to the max. You can actually get the arcade NeoGeo version on the Playstation store for PS4, maybe PS3 as well but I don't know. This version is harder than I remember the NES version being, and the NES version was already pretty challenging. Fun fact: If you going to play Super Dodge Ball, the second team you face is Great Britain, where the game music when playing these guys borrows melodies (and changes them just enough to avoid litigation, but you still somewhat hear it -- I've been composing music most of my life and have a college level understanding of music theory, so this isn't an arbitrary observation) from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in the intro, then the verse of "Get Back", and then the middle 8 of "Hard Day's Night" when it goes, "When I'm home / everything seems to be alright / When I'm home / Feeling you holding me tight" and then back to the verse of "Get Back". Again, it's different enough to avoid copyright infringement, but you hear it if you listen to it. You might be able to tell that I've played this game A LOT! -- Actually I just found a KZbin video that plays this very theme: kzbin.info/www/bejne/npbUg6ScppyXj7M

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

SDB is awesome check out Super V ball, also.

[@kassie3320]

No mention of either golgo 13 game?

[@geroldgrimel4811]

The Mario trick was first mentioned in the Nintendo News Letter in 1987. The small Mario fireflower sprite is just the product of a palette swap rather than an unused character model.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Ok ☺️

[@thewoodentechnician3529]

all the fire flower does is change the color of Mario. that is what makes it so you can have a small fire flower Mario. Saves ROM size by not having a different sprite.

[@ExaltedDuck]

My bet on the mario glitch is that they didn't make a small fire mario sprite OR a big fire mario sprite, but rather just swapped the pallette when the power up was active. Palette swapping and cycling were frequently used to reduce rom storage requirements.

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Something like that 😃

[@jayblack7495]

Astynax! Great catch. I thought I was biased back in the day...

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

:)

[@sumbodyshero]

What about Bowsette?

[@darrylbilbao3216]

Good compilation of games!! Thank you, Sir!

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

Thanks 🙏

[@darrylbilbao3216]

@@SecondOpinionGames1 Nah man... I know what it takes to do all the editing and recording and script writing... It's a bitch. Good on you and keep it coming! I think my biggest thing was your selection of games. I watch AVGN, or used to, and a bunch of other retro-game reviewers. You really compiled a nice selection. Kick ass and stay safe!! :)

[@jameswarner5878]

We found Astyanax about 15 years ago. In the beginning there is a pretty good cut scene that we repeat to this day.

[@Automat1cJack]

"Hi, my name is unpronounceable and unreadable because my parents are assholes. Can I please wear mini-skirt armor and tire out my arm after each attack?"

[@ryanmad8179]

I have to say I love ur comintary so much it made my night listening to u was sort of therapudic.

[@Gabelogan2015]

No Guardian Legend or Master Blaster?

[@SecondOpinionGames1]

George Villarreal check my fan favorites video🤔