Pros: Complete open world from the get-go, the sense of freedom and exploration is wonderful. Cool weapons, fun puzzles, lots of secrets, and it's more fun when you have friends playing along with ya.

Cons: a bit archaic, sometimes you feel like you need outside help to progress, but again, having friends or a social system is part of the game.

what it means to me: First played this game prior to OoT releasing, and it was magical, it prepared me for the brilliant world of the Legend of Zelda, and the games to come. Nothing up until Breath of the Wild matched the sense of discovery and exploration, other than small moments like Hyrule Field in OoT, and the Great Sea in Wind Waker. Truly an iconic game.

Pros: Two classic games in one, well playing versions of the arcade icons. Title screen music, a couple new animations, and DK Jr. itself plays better than the arcade original, imo.

Cons: Still missing the cement factory stage from the arcade, it's not 1:1 with the original in many small areas either, and a little odd to omit the third game in the DK arcade trilogy.

What it means to me: One of my first games ever. I recall vividly my dad buying it for us as kids at a Toys-R-Us, seeing it at one of those front booths, I knew this was gonna be a special one. And it was, playing as that little DK Jr. was the highlight for me, loved animals, loved the apes, and it made me curious for what adventures these gorillas would go on next.

Pros: Big adventure filled with 8 worlds. Tough platforming challenges, variety of level types, useful power-ups, and cool secrets. Incredibly fun to speedrun through too!

Cons: The platforming mechanics are a bit stiff, the timer is annoying (as it is in most Mario games), and not being able to scroll the camera back from where you came to the left, is a bit of a bummer... Otherwise, I got no real complaints, I can play this game again and again and again.

What it means to me: Most likely my very first video game, as it came packaged with the NES, though too young to understand and play it well at the time. But as I discovered more and more about it, the more I loved it, and then to finally conquer the adventure and defeat Bowser at the end, saving the princess, I felt a sense of accomplishment I'd never felt with any other game. This one is special, it pretty much changed the world.

Pros: Simple, intuitive, funny. There's not a whole lot, but what is there, has personality and charm, and it's hard not to enjoy yourself. I love the character designs, the music, and that there's even an additional clay disc shooting mode. Also, the zapper gun itself works great, a satisfying click of the trigger, it's pretty fun and makes you want to play more of the game just to feel like a dumbass... I mean... badass!

Cons: that... that LAUGH.... I... will never be able to forget the feeling of being mocked by my very own hunting companion, man's best friend, my frickin' DOG, for the first time... (also the game is a bit basic, but hey, not the worst thing)

What it means to me: This along with SMB was my first Video Game ever, and unlike SMB, I was actually able to play this one as a little kid! It's extremely intuitive and easy for anyone at any age to jump in and play. And I did! Early memories of laughing with my siblings trying to shoot all the ducks in fear of the dog laughing at us, and not wanting to experience that trauma! Great motivator, haha!

Pros: Great sense of isolation and trepidation as you explore corridors and caverns. The world feels pretty big and interconnected, with an immersive chilling alien atmosphere.

Cons: A bit clunky, hasn't aged the best in the way it plays.

What it means to me: First played this game within Metroid Prime on Gamecube, and it was a really cool step back in time, seeing the roots of the series and how faithful Prime was to the core of the franchise as a result. And I enjoyed it! Not a bad time, really.

Pros: Tons of gameplay variety, from sidescrolling platforming to dungeon crawling, and even a fun shooter segment. There's a decent amount of challenge here too, but was never too much for me to quit. The world of the game is pretty charming as well, with a fun sense of humor and hummable melodies.

Cons: The controls aren't great, would be nice if you could slide around while aiming upwards for instance. And some elements feel rather cheap, like falling into pits as the camera scrolls up, on stage one of all places. Of course, there's being turned into an eggplant, that's a chore, heh... And without save scrubbing, the game is a lot more... painful.

What it means to me: I don't know why I was compelled to play this game, perhaps it was because of Smash Melee, which discussions of characters like Pit joining, had me curious to try the titles. So I did! And I played through the game multiple times to get the best ending, and y'know, I think I enjoyed myself with this more than the original Metroid for NES, not bad at all!

Pros: The only official Donkey Kong II in existence (yeah, they skipped 2 in the arcades and went from 1 to JR. then directly to 3... weird). It's a fine playing Game & Watch too, takes the basics of the DK Jr. Game & Watch and adds two screens, with the bottom being a version of stage 3 from DK Jr., and the top being a version of stage 4 from DK Jr., which are both probably more involved and challenging than the DK Jr. G&W as a whole.

Cons: it being more involved, isn't always a good thing, and the screen can get cluttered and confusing rather quickly.

What it means to me: First played this game in Game & Watch Gallery 3, and I really dug it! I just really love the novelty of this being the only official Donkey Kong 2 in existence, haha! So much so, that I actually bought the original Game & Watch of it, and it of course plays best that way too! A nice gold foil clam-shell G&W, with cute art of DK and DK Jr., really nice! Of course, I'm a DK fanatic, so I gotta be real, it's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea. I like it a lot though!

Pros: Really fun action of dodging projectiles and shooting incoming bugs and critters, as well as DK's rump! It's a decent mix of vertical shooter and platformer, and in the arcade especially, it can be pretty exciting! Great presentation in the arcade version too, much higher quality than the NES counterpart.

Cons: A far more limiting experience than either previous DK arcade games. It's just not as fun as pure platforming. DK himself feels kind of like an afterthought in this compared to the prior two games.

What it means to me: Took me a long time to even find out this game existed at all, and when I did, I was perplexed by it! Didn't properly play it until adulthood, where I enjoyed it at a great arcade spot, and now I really do appreciate it.

Pros: Two really fun game modes, one where you're on a single screen arenas where you can be joined by a friend in co-op/competitive gameplay to try and take down each enemy, the other mode, Balloon Trip, is a single player challenging gauntlet of scrolling through fields of lightning sparks trying to collect every single balloon, while also avoiding a giant fish waiting for its chance to eat you below... It's all really fun! And I think it's aged pretty well too!

Cons: It's a rather small and simple arcadey style game, once you've got your fill, that'll be mostly it. The controls and physics, while well made, do take some getting used to, and you'll find yourself careening into obstacles quite a lot.

What it means to me: As someone with a lot of siblings, old NES games with simultaneous multiplayer got a lot of play time from us, and this one was some great fun. Had a lot of fun playing it in Animal Crossing on the Gamecube of all places, and it just added to the joy of that title, and the memories of that time.

Pros: Surprisingly very fun multiplayer falling block puzzle game. Very easy to learn, most can pick it up rather quickly and get competitive.

Cons: Why is this game called Yoshi? Like, that's it? Just "Yoshi"?? It's a fine simple game, but I feel that title deserved a bigger character focused experience, this hardly has anything to do with Yoshi, aside from the best block chains using the eggs, which, yeah, that's great, but that shouldn't be enough to earn the title of the character himself.

What it means to me: When I was a kid I was at first annoyed by the name, expecting an NES precursor of sorts to Yoshi's Island. Don't let that fool ya though, once I got into this game, I had a ton of fun playing it with my bro! In fact, it's probably my favorite puzzler on the NES.

Pros: Multiplayer co-op arcade beat-em up fun, with a handful of interesting stages to rummage through. Perfect TMNT game that encapsulated the hyper fad of the late 80s/early 90s. Radical music, bodacious graphics, and whoa dudes!! Free Pizza Hut personal pan pizza included with the game! Cowabunga! A very impressive arcade port for the NES! The new levels that weren't in the arcade version keep things fresh too (those tiger paintings that come to life, yo!! So cool!)

Cons: Only two players, not four... understandable given NES's limitations. Limited range of moves and attacks can leave the experience a bit, grindy and monotonous, but the new levels and bosses keep ya going.

What it means to me: This was the very first game I was ever hyped for, the first time I remember seeing an ad for a game, and then not being able to wait for it! This was my favorite NES game as a kid, playing with my brothers, and feeling immersed in the world of Turtle Power!!

Pros: What do you want to know, it's Tetris, if you don't know Tetris, you wouldn't be here, and if somehow you still don't know Tetris, go play it, get addicted, it's pretty much a perfect game.

Cons: Then why not the perfect review? Well, this is the NES version, it doesn't have the main Tetris theme, that'll knock ya a star, bud.

What it means to me: Played this game a bunch with friends, with family, it's an all time classic. Sometimes you just gotta play some Tetris, and whenever ya do, you feel good. Just how it is. (Also the NES version has an exclusive ending where all the most popular Nintendo stars at the time come together to play musical instruments, it's a lineup of characters I like to think would show up in an NES Smash Bros if one ever existed! Pretty neat!)

Pros: Four characters to choose from to play as! Fun boppy music! Interesting and fun pluck mechanic. And, best of all NO TIMER! You can diddle around as much as you want in these levels without the stress of impending doom by a clock.

Cons: The platforming gameplay of this game, just isn't as fun as traditional hop & bop Mario platformers. Also, the level design is kinda not great, to be honest... There's one stage with a series of jars/pipes, and only one of them has a key hidden inside it, so you're going down each jar/pipe to find the key, dealing with enemies over and over, until you find the right jar/pipe with the key... and there's no sense of design at all, just blind trial and error until you find the right pipe/jar with the key... a bit frustrating really, and there's bits of things like that throughout the game, that leads this one feeling a little less quality than other more mainstream Mario titles.

What it means to me: First played this on the All-Stars version for SNES, and it was pretty whimsical, and for a while, this was my favorite Mario game, really! Playing as Peach with her hover ability, and not having a timer, really helped ease myself into these types of games as a kid. A lot more accessible considering those elements, which, makes this game a lot better as a result.

Pros: Massive adventure, creative level design, tons of fun new power-ups, incredible music, a solid map, and really great graphics for its day. This is a contender for best NES game, objectively.

Cons: The levels are a bit short, not the worst thing, but a little on the short side. The way powerups run away from you after you hit a '?' block is a bit annoying, I'll be honest, glad they fixed that in later Mario games. Aaaaand, hmm, Mario's overalls are black, after they were blue in SMB2, that's a bit of a step backwards in my book, heh... Alright, that's hardly a slight. This game is mostly pluses, full of em.

What it means to me: Unfortunately, I missed the boat on this game when it came out, missed the entire hype wave. Didn't play it til All-Stars, and it was fine, but at a young age, I found it too difficult. And then really got into it, and finally completed the game after it received the GBA release, and that's when I truly appreciated it for the first time. Naw, yeah, this is a stellar title. It just doesn't mean as much to me as other games I grew up with, and was closer to.

Pros: Three games in one, that was kind of a big sell back in the day... I really like collecting the animals in the Noah's Ark game, legit, I enjoy that game, haha!

Cons: Messy design, bad collision, annoying enemies... It's a bible game, not licensed by Nintendo, the Seal of Quality ain't here, folks!

What it means to me: Aaaaand this is why it's on the list of my favorite games. Was raised in a Christian home, so these kinds of games were pushed on our family. Finding fun in Church stuff, was really tough, so getting an NES game of bible stories was a good way to get me on board. And me, someone who loved animals, loved the story of Noah, and always wanted to play out a game where I was Noah and gathered all of the animals for the ark, I got that game here with this! It's even a bit like Super Mario Bros. 2 where you can pick animals up and run around with them. But there's more, there's a stacking element to how many animals you can carry where you have to maintain balance or else they'll fall, there's the element of, well, hunting in a sense, how do you CATCH these animals, sometimes you needed to knock them out by throwing objects, sometimes you needed to trick them, or even use bait. It's kind of cool stuff really. Like really, the Noah's Ark game in this, I kinda dig it! Maybe a precursor to the Pokemon addiction I'd form later in life, gotta catch em all! haha!