The RETRO Top 300 NES Homebrews, Vol. 2
The RETRO Top 300 NES Homebrews, Vol. 2
27 years after the last licensed release for the Nintendo Entertainment System, NES games still come out regularly. This listing curates and ranks 581 NES "homebrews."
{RETRO subscribers can access the first edition of the Top 300 NES homebrew rankings here. Full subscribers to the site gain access to all of RETRO, including popular, national polling–driven Big Data articles like The Definitive Top 100 Worst NES Games, The Definitive Top 100 Hardest NES Games, The Definitive Top 100 Best Video Game Consoles, The Definitive Top 100 Best NES Games Never Released in America, The Consensus Top 100 NES Games, The Consensus Top 100 Underrated NES Games, and The Top 100 Unreleased NES Games.}
Introduction
RETRO subscribers can find the Introduction, Methodology, and Eligibility sections of the ranking below here.
Changes in This Edition of the Ranking
Besides scores of new NES homebrews and consequential changes in the rankings of previously ranked games, new additions to this second edition of the ranking include the following:
A new Multiplayer section, which covers games designed to be played by two or more players. Games that permit two-player co-op play but can just as easily be played by a single player are not included in this category.
A new Zapper section, into which games specifically designed for the NES Zapper have been put, whether or not they support multiplayer play.
A new Special Thanks section, which acknowledges those devs and studios that have offered the critical input and information necessary to making this expansive and long-term rankings project work.
The expansion of the ranking from 250 to 300, in keeping with the influx of new games and (as importantly) new genre categories.
The inclusion of developer and/or distributor information (as available) for all Honorable Mention homebrew games.
The alteration of existing links to improve their utility to readers, including the updating of dev and studio citations pursuant to rights-holders’ requests.
The division of the Music / Art section into separate Music and Art sections.
The division of the Card / Party section into separate Card and Party sections. Games in the Party section are designed to be played by larger groups—four or more people—in a social gathering that is not exclusively a gaming session.
The introduction of new symbols (see below) to reflect changes in the ranking over time.
New Symbols
In the ranking below, homebrews new to the RETRO Top 300 are marked with a “🔹”. Games with a change in rank due to a re-evaluation—or the first play-through of the full version of a game, if it was previously ranked as a demo—are marked with a “🔸”.
The notation “DCU” following a game’s title means “developer currently unknown.”
Some Other RETRO Rankings
As ever, you can find RETRO’s ranking of localized NES titles here, and its ranking of unreleased NES games from the 1980s and 1990s here. The Consensus Top 100 NES Games are here, while the Consensus Top 100 Underrated NES Games list is here.
Total Homebrew Library
This archive now lists 581 playable NES homebrews, making it the largest archive of its kind on the internet.
Review Copies
Studios or developers looking to send review copies to RETRO can arrange to do so here. The curator of the RETRO ranking owns a retroUSB AVS, and can receive new NES games as CIB, cartridge-only, digital ROM, or any combination of these forms.
If you have a link to your NES homebrew game that you’d prefer RETRO use over the one that’s been used below, use the contact form linked to above to request a change.
Table of Contents
Games are ranked (🔰) by genre, with honorable mentions (🔘) following each ranking.
Use “Ctrl+F” and the italicized phrases below to find the following ranking sections:
Action-Adventure Games (52 games)
Action-Adventure Rankings
Adventure Games (23 games)
Adventure Game Rankings
Arcade Games (52 games)
Arcade Game Rankings
Art Games (3 games)
Art Game Rankings
Card Games (3 games)
Card Game Rankings
Fighting / Brawler Games (19 games)
Fighting / Brawler Rankings
Music Games (10 games)
Music Game Rankings
Party Games (7 games)
Party Game Rankings
Platformer Games (32 games)
Platformer Rankings
Puzzle Games (30 games)
Puzzle Game Rankings
Role-Playing Games (17 games)
RPG Rankings
Shooter / Run n’ Gun Games (29 games)
Shooter / Run n’ Gun Rankings
Sports / Racing Games (13 games)
Sports / Racing Game Rankings
Strategy Games (6 games)
Strategy Game Rankings
Zapper Games (4 games)
Zapper Game Rankings
Multiplayer Games (29 games)
Multiplayer Rankings
Special Citations (1 game)
Kubo 3
The Overall Top 10 (13 games)
Reviews and Gameplay Videos
Additional Information
Some Other Reviewed Games
Games To Be Reviewed
The RETRO Homebrew Watchlist
Action-Adventure Rankings
🔰 #1 | Dungeons & Doomknights, Artix (^)🔸
🔰 #2 | Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure, SBP (^)
🔰 #3 | Little Medusa, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #4 | Alwa’s Awakening, Elden Pixels (^)
🔰 #5 | L’Abbaye des Morts, Parisoft (^)
🔰 #6 | Nix: The Paradox Relic, Huddleston (^)
🔰 #7 | Jim Power: Lost Dimension, Piko (^)
🔰 #8 | Trophy, Gradual Games (^)
🔰 #9 | Battle Kid 2, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #10 | Super Bat Puncher, Morphcat (^)
🔰 #11 | Wolfling, Lazy Cow (^)
🔰 #12 | Orebody, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #13 | Space Raft, Raftronaut (^)
🔰 #14 | Eyra, Second Dimension (^)🔸
🔰 #15 | Cheril’s Nightmares, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #16 | Mark of the Beast, Red Moon (^)
🔰 #17 | Battle Kid, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #18 | Saturdayman, Sunday Pistols (^)🔹
🔰 #19 | Indivisible, Kasumi (^)°°
🔰 #20 | Spacegulls, Morphcat (^)
🔰 #21 | Nin Nin, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #22 | Cheril the Writer, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #23 | Glider, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #24 | Cheril the Goddess, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #25 | Yun, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #26 | Center of the Alien, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #27 | Streemerz, Faux Games (^)
🔰 #28 | The Banketh, RetroNES Games (^)
🔰 #29 | Nova the Squirrel, Nova Squirrel (^)
🔰 #30 | Vigilante Ninja II, Fraker (^)
🔰 #31 | The Tower of Turmoil, CutterCross (^)
🔰 #32 | Bootèe, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #33 | Adventures of Panzer, Pixelcraft (^)
🔰 #34 | Jet-Paco, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #35 | Machine Cave, Aeromangus (^)
🔰 #36 | Rainbow Brite, Pixelheart (^)
🔰 #37 | Almika: Star Rider, Mouse Spirit (^)🔹
🔰 #38 | Silver Island, Digit 2600 (^)🔹
🔰 #39 | Lala the Magical, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #40 | Che-Man, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #41 | Ralph 4, Pubby (^)
🔰 #42 | Espitene, Mojon Twins (^)°
🔰 #43 | Filthy Kitchen, Dust Mop (^)
🔰 #44 | Nomolos, Gradual Games (^)
🔰 #45 | Sir Abadol, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #46 | Mad Wizard, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #47 | The Wizard, RetroAge (^)°°°
🔰 #48 | Ploid, Nape Games (^)🔹
🔰 #49 | Wo Xiang Niao Niao, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #50 | Micro Knight IV, Siudym (^)
🔰 #51 | Claudia Adventure, Voltopt (^)🔹
🔰 #52 | Pinky, Axbakk Games (^)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
🔘 Adventures of Eldorin, Outlaw Bits (^)
🔘 Banana Nana DX, Riecke & Bétoux (^)
🔘 Bogen, Foerg & Harrell (^)🔹
🔘 Dummy Duck 7, Caudel (^)🔹
🔘 Love Story, Livak (^)
🔘 Micro Knight: Revenge of the Foul Skulls, Siudym (^)
🔘 Nezumi, Pereira (^)🔹
🔘 Project Kunoichi, GX ‘79 (^)🔹
🔘 Purple Cape Man, Fraker (^)
🔘 Raz Adventure, Axbakk (^)🔹
🔘 Rick Starfield, Nietfeld (^)🔹
🔘 Veggie Invaders, Dustmop (^)
🔘 Waddles the Duck, CPP (^)
° Not to be confused with Espitenen & Mr. Pimponen, an excellent 2019 game by The Mojon Twins that is ranked in the RETRO Top 300’s Platformer section, below.
°° This game is an unlicensed demake of a game by Lab Zero Games and 505 Games.
°°° This game’s final boss hasn’t yet been coded, leaving the work without an ending.
Adventure Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | MOMOC, Goaterby (^)🔹
🔰 #2 | Böbl, Morphcat (^)
🔰 #3 | The Magnilo Case, Dalyen (^)
🔰 #4 | Lizard, Rainwarrior (^)
🔰 #5 | Cave Driller, Mazin (^)🔹
🔰 #6 | Blob Quest, Livak (^)
🔰 #7 | NEScape!, KHAN (^)
🔰 #8 | Turtle Rescue DX, Turtle Rescue (^)🔹
🔰 #9 | Squirrel Chaser, Hammond (^)
🔰 #10 | What Remains, Iodine Dynamics (^)
🔰 #11 | Temple Dilemma, Chacon (^)🔹
🔰 #12 | Harry Dwarf, Convoy Avenger (^)🔸
🔰 #13 | Dead Tomb, Limited Run Games (^)
🔰 #14 | Zdey the Game, Art’cade (^)🔹
🔰 #15 | Mega Ari, Little Limit (^)
🔰 #16 | Star Evil, Pubby (^)
🔰 #17 | Cowlitz Gamers’ Adventure, Kur (^)
🔰 #18 | Sparkle Panda Rainbow Hunter, FutuRETROistic (^)🔹
🔰 #19 | Haunted House, Stacy (^)🔹
🔰 #20 | Depths, Parker (^)
🔰 #21 | Wampus DX, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #22 | Sack of Flour, Heart of Gold, CMU (^)
🔰 #23 | Larry & the Long Look for a Luscious Lover, KHAN Games (^)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
🔘 Office Hero, Francoeur (^)🔹
🔘 The Prying Eye, CutterCross (^)🔹
🔘 Shadow: An Adventure in Monochrome, Red Herring (^)🔸
Arcade Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Sparky, R2D2 (^)🔹
🔰 #2 | Assimilate, Nessylum Games (^)
🔰 #3 | XenoCreeps, Ehlers (^)🔹
🔰 #4 | Fire and Rescue, Skyboy Games (^)
🔰 #5 | Kira Kira Star Night DX, RIKI (^)
🔰 #6 | Yeah Yeah Beebis II, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #7 | Super Painter, Retrosouls (^)
🔰 #8 | Zooming Secretary, Shiru (^)
🔰 #9 | Blazing Rangers, Karu_gamo (^)
🔰 #10 | Cue, R2D2 (^)🔹
🔰 #11 | Paws N’ Play, Darthlother (^)🔹
🔰 #12 | Get ’em Gary, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #13 | Wart Worm Wingding, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #14 | Super NeSnake 2, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #15 | Eskimo Bob, SBP (^)
🔰 #16 | Jammin’ Honey, Fraker (^)
🔰 #17 | Neo Heiankyo Alien, Columbus Cir. (^)
🔰 #18 | Plummet Challenge, Fista Games (^)
🔰 #19 | The Cell, R2D2 (^)🔹
🔰 #20 | Spacewalk 3030, Cramer (^)🔹
🔰 #21 | Perfect Pair, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #22 | Beer Slinger, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #23 | Rooms, Manjiro (^)
🔰 #24 | Mooooo!, Toscani (^)🔹
🔰 #25 | Get It!, Gravel Studios (^)
🔰 #26 | Virus Cleaner, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #27 | Blow Em’ Out, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #28 | Lawn Mower, Shiru (^)🔸
🔰 #29 | Fox Hunt, Tolerant X (^)🔹
🔰 #30 | Carpet Shark, Fista Games (^)
🔰 #31 | Split Second, Hyatt (^)
🔰 #32 | Robo-Ninja Climb, Bite the Chili (^)
🔰 #33 | Ball n’ Flag, Barasc (^)
🔰 #34 | Driar, Adolfsson & Eriksson (^)
🔰 #35 | Germ Squashers, 8bit Evolution (^)🔸
🔰 #36 | Tortoises, FG Software (^)🔸
🔰 #37 | Crap Job, Oniric (^)🔹
🔰 #38 | Tesla vs. Edison, RadTek (^)
🔰 #39 | Bovinium Quest, Grey Badge (^)🔹
🔰 #40 | Intergalactic, Lembcke (^)
🔰 #41 | Pixel Poops: No. 2, Techmaster (^)🔹
🔰 #42 | Ninja I & II, Elisondo (^)🔸
🔰 #43 | Diablobetes, Addolorato / Pewko (^)🔹
🔰 #44 | Lost Souls, Red Moon (^)🔹
🔰 #45 | Box Boy, Tew (^)
🔰 #46 | Just Another Maze Game, Siudym (^)
🔰 #47 | Forehead Block Guy, Hoffman (^)
🔰 #48 | Flappy Jack, Fraker (^)
🔰 #49 | CoOperating System, Mihoshi (^)🔹
🔰 #50 | Gruniożerca, Kur & Brzukała (^)
🔰 #51 | Brick Breaker, Correa (^)°
🔰 #52 | Crypto, Mercan & Yeni (^)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
🔘 Angry Birds, DCU (^)°°
🔘 Chu Chu Rocket, Dwedit (^)°°
🔘 Escapeway, Nice Code (^)
🔘 Pindable Crystal Ball, Nice Code (^)
🔘 Spring World, Nice Code (^)
🔘 Ultimate Frogger Champion, KHAN Games (^)
° Also known as Mini Brix Battle.
°° This game is an unlicensed demake of a popular game for another platform.
Art Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | CrossPaint, CutterCross (^)
🔰 #2 | Mess Maker, INUT (^)🔹
🔰 #3 | Turtle Paint, Sherman (^)
Card Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Donsol, Rek & Devine (^)
🔰 #2 | Euchre, Fraker (^)
🔰 #3 | Concentration Room, Yerrick (^)
° Tailgate Party is a bean bag–throwing party game that uses the NES Power Pad.
Fighting / Brawler Rankings
🔰 #1 | Haunted (‘86), Retrotainment (^)
🔰 #2 | Almost Hero, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #3 | Jay & Silent Bob: Mall Brawl, SBP (^)
🔰 #4 | Haunted (‘85), Retrotainment (^)
🔰 #5 | Justice Duel, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #6 | Leggite Luta Livre, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #7 | Alfonzo Melee, SBP (^)
🔰 #8 | Super Homebrew War, Bite the Chili (^)
🔰 #9 | Fight of the Phoenix, Lother (^)🔹
🔰 #10 | City Trouble, Walter (^)
🔰 #11 | Dimension Shift, Mugi (^)🔹
🔰 #12 | Ashen House, CrazyGroupTrio (^)🔹
🔰 #13 | Super Tilt Bro., Gadrat (^)
🔰 #14 | Light Shields, Zutano (^)
🔰 #15 | K.Y.F.F., Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #16 | Karate Kick, Moffitt (^)
🔰 #17 | Breakfast of Champions, Francoeur (^)🔹
🔰 #18 | Chumlee’s Adventure, GSPawn (^)
🔰 #19 | Bushido Bomb, Sleeping Burrito (^)
Music Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | D-Pad Hero II, Hansen & Pedersen (^)
🔰 #2 | D-Pad Hero, Hansen & Pedersen (^)
🔰 #3 | 8-Bit Music Power Final, RIKI (^)
🔰 #4 | 8-Bit Music Power, RIKI (^)
🔰 #5 | 8-Bit Rhythm Land, Columbus Cir. (^)
🔰 #6 | Hyperbeatz, Mystical Wheelbarrow (^)
🔰 #7 | Hot Dance 2020, Adrian Makes (^)
🔰 #8 | Moon8, Rainwarrior (^)
🔰 #9 | Utaco, Zurashu (^)°
🔰 #10 | Creeping It Real, Mega Cat (^)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
🔘 A Winner Is You, Elisondo (^)
🔘 Raddio, Scardua (^)
🔘 RNDM Nes Album, Mega Ran (^)
🔘 Teletime, Mariano (^)
🔘 Turquoise Palace, Morphcat (^)
° A karaoke game requiring use of a FamiCom Microphone in the second NES port.
Party Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Billionaire Banshee, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #2 | Leak or Die, Fleity (^)
🔰 #3 | Tailgate Party, Orab Games (^)
🔰 #4 | Expedition, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #5 | MilioNESy, Denine (^)
🔰 #6 | Quadralords, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #7 | Spacey McRacey, Bite the Chili (^)
Platformer Rankings
🔰 #1 | Micro Mages, Morphcat (^)
🔰 #2 | Flea!, Lowtek Games (^)
🔰 #3 | Nebs ’n Debs, Dullahan Software (^)
🔰 #4 | Project Blue, Phillips/FrankenGraphics (^)
🔰 #5 | Basse Def Adventures, Broke Studio (^)
🔰 #6 | Cowlitz’s 2nd Adventure, Kur/M-Tee (^)
🔰 #7 | Twin Dragons, Broke Studio (^)
🔰 #8 | Demon Burst, Crowno (^)
🔰 #9 | Wolf Spirit, Salgueiro (^)
🔰 #10 | Rollie, Optovania (^)
🔰 #11 | Espitenen & Mr. Pimponen, Mojon Twins (^)°
🔰 #12 | Slow Mole, Rosenlund (^)
🔰 #13 | Shera & the 40 Thieves, CGT (^)
🔰 #14 | Doodle World, Peters (^)
🔰 #15 | Nim & Nom, Krill (^)
🔰 #16 | Battery Chad, Formula Fanboy (^)
🔰 #17 | Nalleland, Nallebeorn (^)
🔰 #18 | Super Uwol, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #19 | Nessy! The NES Robot, DTG (^)
🔰 #20 | Mineshaft, Nioreh (^)
🔰 #21 | Inversion, Kur / Red Moon (^)
🔰 #22 | Underground Adventure, Coop (^)
🔰 #23 | Pogo Cats, Yggi (^)
🔰 #24 | Platycat, Logana (^)🔹
🔰 #25 | Study Hall, KHAN (^)
🔰 #26 | Duckstroma, AB Ultra Narwhal (^)🔹
🔰 #27 | Shadow of the Lemming, Siudym (^)🔹
🔰 #28 | Frog, Boston Breams (^)
🔰 #29 | Blobert, Mystical Wheelbarrow (^)
🔰 #30 | I Wanna Flip the Sky, Livak (^)
🔰 #31 | Chicken of the Farm, Link / Mitch (^)
🔰 #32 | Falling, Tragic Muffin (^)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
🔘 8-Bit Xmas 2015: 12 Seconds, retroUSB (^)
🔘 8-Bit Xmas 2019: Study Hall 2, retroUSB (^)
🔘 Bowels of the Beast, TBizzle (^)🔹
🔘 Dragon Leap, Vac (^)
🔘 Grave Adventure, Plude (^)🔹
🔘 Kid Funky, Kool Doob (^)
🔘 Marble Run, Haarahiltunen (^)
🔘 Mega Mountain, Adrian Makes Games (^)
🔘 Christmasland, CalGames (^)
🔘 Forest Adventure, Nice Code (^)
🔘 Santa’s Magical Christmas Sleigh, RetroPlayer (^)🔹
° Not to be confused with Espitene, a 2018 Mojon Twins game ranked in Adventure.
Puzzle Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Witch n’ Wiz, Hughson (^)
🔰 #2 | Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, LowTek (^)
🔰 #3 | Gruniożerca 3, Kur / M-Tee (^)
🔰 #4 | Lucky Penguin, Kur / Macbee (^)
🔰 #5 | Roniu’s Tale, Kunjee Studio (^)
🔰 #6 | Gruniożerca 2, Kur / M-Tee (^)
🔰 #7 | Alter Ego, Shiru (^)
🔰 #8 | Multidude, Retrosouls (^)
🔰 #9 | AO, Nemesys (^)
🔰 #10 | Babel Blox, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #11 | Blockage, The Doc (^)
🔰 #12 | Upsad Down, Fadest (^)
🔰 #13 | Lan Master, Shiru (^)
🔰 #14 | Rock Paper Scissors, Wry Games (^)
🔰 #15 | The Incident, KHAN (^)
🔰 #16 | GemVenture, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #17 | Bare Metal, Scardua / M-Tee (^)
🔰 #18 | Dushlan, McQuillan (^)
🔰 #19 | From Below, Hughson (^)
🔰 #20 | Mystic Pillars, Sivak Games (^)
🔰 #21 | Hack*Match, Zachtronics (^)
🔰 #22 | Family Picross, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #23 | Soko Banana, Flip for Fate (^)
🔰 #24 | Block Dude, Mitch 3A (^)
🔰 #25 | Draiocht, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #26 | Magic Floor, Korth (^)
🔰 #27 | Dizzy Sheep Disaster, CPP (^)
🔰 #28 | Critical Match, Lembcke (^)
🔰 #29 | PCB Artist, Molloy (^)
🔰 #30 | Laser, Sav (^)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
🔘 8-Bit Xmas 2020: Dr. Covio, retroUSB (^)
🔘 Bomb Sweeper, SnowBro (^)
🔘 Sokoban, Holmberg (^)
🔘 Squirrel Domino, Hoffman (^)
RPG Rankings
🔰 #1 | Light From Within, Atarath (^)
🔰 #2 | Weed N’ Stiff, CalGames (^)🔹
🔰 #3 | The Legends of Owlia, Gradual (^)
🔰 #4 | We Are Hejickle, Pubby (^)
🔰 #5 | Mystic Origins, New 8-Bit Heroes (^)
🔰 #6 | Candelabra: Estoscerro, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #7 | Just a Game, Jacotomo (^)🔹
🔰 #8 | 1000 Stars, Vufka (^)
🔰 #9 | Paws of the West, Pigeonaut (^)
🔰 #10 | Quest Forge, Ludosity (^)🔸
🔰 #11 | Anguna: Scourge of the Goblin King, Bite the Chili (^)
🔰 #12 | Time Survivor, Tinsley (^)
🔰 #13 | Black Box Challenge, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #14 | Swords and Runes, Sole Goose (^)
🔰 #15 | Eternal Prelude, Rustocrat (^)🔹
🔰 #16 | The Paths of Bridewell, ZKIP (^)
🔰 #17 | Inherent Smile, Calima (^)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
🔘 An Elf’s Tale, Bardsley (^)🔹
🔘 Page Turner, Ferret Hall (^)🔹
🔘 Shadow Animus, Chronicler of Legends (^)🔹
🔘 Shokan Doro, Gonzalez (^)🔹
🔘 TheWit.nes, Dustmop (^)
🔘 To the Ends of the Earth, RinRem01 (^)🔹
Shooter / Run n’ Gun Rankings
🔰 #1 | Astro Ninja Man, Columbus Cir. (^)
🔰 #2 | Star Keeper, 87 Arts (^)
🔰 #3 | Blade Buster, High Level Challenge (^)
🔰 #4 | Haradius Zero, Neodolphino (^)
🔰 #5 | Aspect Star N, Nicole Express (^)
🔰 #6 | Super PakPak, AOH Games (^)
🔰 #7 | NeMULEsis, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #8 | Sinking Feeling, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #9 | Star Versus, Dust Mop (^)
🔰 #10 | Copper Jacket, Monsoon Studios (^)
🔰 #11 | The Rise of Amondus, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #12 | Sgt. Helmet, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #13 | Mermay’s Den, Mihoshi (^)🔹
🔰 #14 | Gold Guardian Gun Girl, GoodTune (^)
🔰 #15 | Touhou Rououmu, Kyoske (^)
🔰 #16 | Ghoul Grind, WoogWorx (^)
🔰 #17 | Bat Lizard Bonanza, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #18 | Spook-o’-Tron, Sole Goose (^)
🔰 #19 | Thwaite, Yerrick (^)
🔰 #20 | Gaplus, M2 / Bandai Namco (^)
🔰 #21 | DABG, Hoffman (^)
🔰 #22 | The Drunk Time Traveler’s Fiancée, Gonzalez (^)🔹
🔰 #23 | Spirit Impel, Passe Gaming (^)
🔰 #24 | Chrono Knight, Artix (^)
🔰 #25 | CYO, Nemesys (^)
🔰 #26 | Lunar Limit, Pubby (^)
🔰 #27 | T*Gun, Vac / Too Many Games (^)
🔰 #28 | Saturn Smash, FG Software (^)
🔰 #29 | Sweethearts, Zhamul (^)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
🔘 2600 A.D., CrazyGroupTrio (^)🔹
🔘 Bandana, R2D2 (^)🔹
🔘 Bloodfall, Ludos (^)
🔘 Galaxxon III, Rost & Co. (^)
🔘 Godzilla: King of Monsters, Vectrex (^)°
🔘 GunTnerR, Langel (^)🔹
🔘 Improbability Fighter, Scardua (^)
🔘 Jupiter Scope 2, Nin-Kuuku (^)
🔘 Klepsydra, Drexegar (^)🔹
🔘 Scramble, KHAN Games (^)
🔘 Solar Wars, Covell (^)
🔘 Spacy Shooty, Fraker (^)
🔘 Wraith, Livak (^)
° Not to be confused with the licensed NES game, Godzilla: Monster of Monsters.
Sports / Racing Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Beyond the Pins, KHAN (^)°
🔰 #2 | Log Jammers, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #3 | Creepy Brawlers, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #4 | Galf, Spoony Bard (^)
🔰 #5 | Amazon’s Running Diet, Ancient (^)
🔰 #6 | Project D.A.R.T., CutterCross (^)
🔰 #7 | F-FF, Pubby (^)
🔰 #8 | Mr. Splash, Project F (^)
🔰 #9 | 8-Bit Xmas: Exciteduck, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #10 | RC2 Rally, Good_Tune (^)
🔰 #11 | Rumblefest ‘89, Jurassic Sunset (^)🔹
🔰 #12 | NESert Golfing, Rainwarrior (^)
🔰 #13 | 8-Bit Xmas 2018: Xmas Skiing, retroUSB (^)
° Offers a substantial Adventure game component as well as a bowling game.
Strategy Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Armed for Battle, 1010 HOWE (^)
🔰 #2 | Tower Defense 1990, Lloyd (^)
🔰 #3 | RHDE: Furniture Fight, Yerrick (^)
🔰 #4 | Galactic Ascension, Gerard (^)
🔰 #5 | Plants vs. Zombies, Nice Code (^)°
🔰 #6 | Guardian 5, Maaskant (^)
° This game is an unlicensed demake of a popular game for another platform.
Zapper Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Super Russian Roulette, Reitano (^)
🔰 #2 | Falling Tiles, Fraker (^)
🔰 #3 | Russian Roulette, Quest Games (^)🔹
🔰 #4 | Music Toy: Axe, Yerrick (^)🔹
HONORABLE MENTIONS
🔘 Russian Roulette, Yerrick (^)🔹
Multiplayer Rankings
🔰 MP1 | Nim & Nom, Krill (^)
🔰 MP2 | Super PakPak, AOH Games (^)
🔰 MP3 | Star Versus, Dust Mop (^)
🔰 MP4 | Log Jammers, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 MP5 | Justice Duel, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 MP6 | Super Homebrew War, Bite the Chili (^)
🔰 MP7 | Billionaire Banshee, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 MP8 | RHDE: Furniture Fight, Yerrick (^)
🔰 MP9 | Alfonzo Melee, SBP (^)
🔰 MP10 | Leak or Die, Fleity (^)
🔰 MP11 | Super Tilt Bro., Gadrat (^)
🔰 MP12 | Tesla vs. Edison, RadTek (^)
🔰 MP13 | Germ Squashers, 8bit Evolution (^)
🔰 MP14 | 8-Bit Xmas: Exciteduck, retroUSB (^)
🔰 MP15 | Project D.A.R.T., CutterCross (^)
🔰 MP16 | Galactic Ascension, Gerard (^)
🔰 MP17 | Tailgate Party, Orab Games (^)
🔰 MP18 | Mr. Splash, Project F (^)
🔰 MP19 | Sweethearts, Zhamul (^)
🔰 MP20 | Light Shields, Zutano (^)
🔰 MP21 | K.Y.F.F., Sly Dog (^)
🔰 MP22 | Expedition, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 MP23 | Hack*Match, Zachtronics (^)
🔰 MP24 | MilioNESy, Denine (^)
🔰 MP25 | Ninja I & II, Elisondo (^)
🔰 MP26 | Quadralords, retroUSB (^)
🔰 MP27 | Spacey McRacey, Bite the Chili (^)
🔰 MP28 | Solar Wars, Covell (^)
🔰 MP29 | Bushido Bomb, Sleeping Burrito (^)
🔰 SC | Kubo 3, Seiji / SJ Games (^)
To conceive of, design, and code an aftermarket NES game approximately thirty years after the last licensed NES cart was published is a tremendous feat—an act of bravery, ingenuity, and determination.
To do this at the age of eight is nothing short of an act of heroism. RETRO would like to issue a special citation to Seiji, who developed the extremely promising game Kubo 3 and did so many, many years before the average person even begins to understand all that producing a video game requires. Seiji and Kubo 3 are an inspiration to everyone.
If you’d like to learn more about Seiji and Kubo 3, RETRO recommends this primer:
Reviews and Gameplay Videos
🔰 #1 | Witch n’ Wiz
Review: Reminiscent of a combination of several cult-classic—but still underrated—NES puzzle games like Fire n’ Ice, Puzznic, Adventures of Lolo, and Boulder Dash, what sets Witch n’ Wiz apart is its brief-but-emotional backstory, its consistently fine graphics and block-erasure level design, and a caliber of perfection in difficulty scaling that was never really achieved by the games we now call “Nintendo Hard.” While Witch n’ Wiz can be quite hard, never before have I played a video game that seems to set the amount of time, energy, and brainpower necessary to beat each screen at exactly the right level. At the very moment you feel like a level is too difficult to best, you do; at the very moment you fear perhaps the game is unfair, you realize it isn’t; and the result of this is a sense of ecstatic accomplishment that many otherwise wonderful original NES titles missed out on producing because they’d calibrated their learning curve and difficulty spikes improperly. Over dozens of levels, Witch n’ Wiz remains fresh, engaging, and a joy to puzzle through—a testament to developer Matt Hughson’s genius. Each set of sublevels offers an idiosyncratic gameplay mechanic that’s newly in play, and as you progress through each set Hughson continually finds clever new ways to deploy the mechanic. Meanwhile, the story sequence that leads off the game—and for that matter, the exciting and tense boss battle that closes it—lend emotional stakes to the game that subsist throughout its runtime. Overall, this game is just so impossibly tightly made that it feels like an instant NES classic; there are no flaws or hiccups one can identify, just a purely joyous game-playing experience that’s truly unforgettable.
🔰 #2 | Tapeworm Disco Puzzle
Review: Sometimes a game just hits every note perfectly. Alistair Low from LowTek Games has created a marvelous, ever-expanding world with his games Flea! and Tapeworm Disco Puzzle. By taking generally avoided and disfavored organisms one would never think of as protagonists and placing them in colorful, vibrant, whimsical environments that are aesthetically cohesive as well as imaginatively diverse, Low is creating a novel world that bears visiting over and over. In Flea!—quite cleverly, an “endless jumper” rather than “endless runner”—the gameplayer must navigate the idiosyncrasies of the primary sprite they control as well as the idiosyncrasies of the environment, which include dangerous needles, a straw subway, and all sorts of icky microbiology. As Henry the Hyperactive Flea, you find yourself in a platformer where timing rather than jumping is the focus, as jumping is constant and uncontrollable. While the graphics of this game and its same-world peer Tapeworm Disco Puzzle are deliberately pixelated and deformed in a way one can’t miss, the chromatic tones and general atmosphere of the works seem just as they should be—as if there couldn’t possibly have been a better alternative. As a gamer I think it comes down to feeling like these two games and the characters in them are truly loved by their creator; there’s a sense of warmth, humor, and resignation to danger in this world (this last particularly appropriate for organisms so easily vanquished by their environment or manmade forces) that just feels right because it feels innately earned. It helps that the controls are tight, the difficulty scaling masterful, the storytelling touch light but also profoundly generative and subtly humorous, and the layout of each screen clearly the result of genius-level game-development instincts. This applies with perhaps even greater force to Tapeworm Disco Puzzle than Flea!, as the former game has a story and characters that build off their predecessor and offer a sense of sonic style—as one might expect, given the name of the game and the profession of its protagonist (who literally lives in a cassette tape)—that makes even the toughest levels, for instance the ones in which a suddenly hypnotized protagonist moves ceaselessly (as is de rigueur in Flea!) eminently bearable. In Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, the titular tapeworm can only move a limited number of spaces outside his cassette at once, which is a challenge given how much he needs to do away from home; fortunately, you have wormholes and other clever gameplay mechanics available to extend your reach and allow you to offer aid to your friends, who are being attacked one by one by a mysterious unseen villain. This is one of those games in which every enemy, obstacle, screen, and mechanic is organically “of the world” of fleas and ticks, tapeworms, and other creepy-crawlies—but in a delightfully whimsical way rather than one played for cheap shock value. In the best art, each element speaks to every other element, and this is richly the case with Tapeworm Disco Puzzle and Flea!, which are unquestionably stunning works of digital art.
🔰 #3 | Astro Ninja Man
Review: Some games simply have an unmistakable, inimitable, idiosyncratic style—and Astro Ninja Man is just such a game. Some of this flows from the title’s conceit, which commingles the ancient and the futuristic in a way that perfectly contextualizes its over-the-top combination of pseudo-militaristic monologuing (every boss battle is preceded by a threat made against the player), ethereal beauty, techno music, and the sort of adorable cartoonizing of the game’s protagonist that can only happen when narrative cohesion and mimetic reality have already been thrown out the window. Many space shooters allow you to gain allies as power-ups, but in Astro Ninja Man it’s a straight-up doubling—then tripling and quadrupling—of the titular ninja-astronaut, which seems as much an aesthetic decision as a gameplay one. But it works. What also works is the outrageous color scheme, inscrutable bosses, oddly “floaty” projectiles (which at times seem more beautiful than dangerous), and a forgiving “hit box” that doesn’t count your allies against you, meaning you only take damage if the protagonist himself is hit. Playing Astro Ninja Man is an intense and unforgettable experience not just because the game’s conceit and sonic/color palettes are fresh, but because enemy movements and patterns are engaging, the difficulty scales properly, and the whole packages feels as much like an experience as a contest of dexterity. Every retro gamer must play this game.
🔰 #4 | Böbl
Review: Not to wax poetic here, but I think there’s something profound about selecting one of the most fragile phenomena on Earth—a bubble—as the protagonist in an NES adventure. We’re all familiar with “one-hit kill” titles that are set up this way merely to appeal to the subset of retro gamers who are masochists (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but it’s refreshing to see a game put a frame around why its primary character is particularly vulnerable. It helps, of course, when a game looks beautiful, is difficult but also oddly calming, and perpetually surprises the player with novel obstacles, power-ups, and environments. While there’s certainly a bit of a learning curve here in terms of controlling the titular bubble and its power-up functions, the game never feels unfair, and indeed somehow provokes a sort of emotional investment that’s a hallmark of the very best Adventure games. One finds in this game the earnest joy of exploration and discovery; beneath the deceptively simple package of Böbl is a game with an intriguing physics engine, great controls, and an extremely inviting set of environments. This game gains your emotional investment and your time in every way that a video game can and should. Highly recommended.
🔰 #5 | Micro Mages
Review: It seems like every retro gamer in the world absolutely adores Micro Mages—and it’s not very hard to see why. Yes, the sprites are tiny (even micro), but of course that’s part of the charm of this Platformer: it’s not just the vertical autoscrolling, which sees you frantically using Ninja Gaiden- (or Streemerz-) like wall-jumping to kill enemies, open chests, and hit checkpoints as quickly as possible; and it’s not just the excellent music and charming back-story; it’s that it’s simply remarkable that any game can look this good—with protagonists and enemies that move so fluidly—at this scale. Every space in this game is fully realized and wholly believable, which is made possible not just by all of the above features but the incredibly tight controls and the great score. Add in multiple difficulty modes, a multiplayer option, and a password system, and you have a game—like all of the Top 10 games in this list, in fact—that without question would have been ranked in the Top 100 of original NES games. It is not too much to say that Micro Mages is an addictive, action-filled gaming experience that will forever—and I mean forever—be regarded as a truly essential NES homebrew experience.
🔰 #6 | Star Keeper
Review: It’s a genuine shame that so few people will ever get to play this game, and if RETRO had a magic wand it would will 87 Arts and the game’s unknown developer—his name doesn’t appear in the credits—to agree to distribute this work of art via one of the many fine 8-bit-game publishers listed in this article. Playing Star Keeper is like stepping into a dream; while a few of the game’s visual setpieces (e.g., its clouds) may immediately put on in mind of Nintendo’s Super Mario games, even when Star Keeper echos that legendary series it does so by honoring its very finest qualities: a diverse rogues’ gallery with enemies that can only be described as adorable; truly effervescent environments; and a dreamlike ambiance that remains soothing even at moments the game’s difficulty seems to briefly ramp up. The simple premise here, of a boy with a house that’s also a spaceship, is memorable enough that the overall gaming experience feels like an “It’s a Small World” ferry ride through childhood wonders. So many 8-bit shooters take themselves too seriously; Star Keeper follows in the grand tradition of Sqoon, Gun-Nac, and Parodius by not falling into this trap and giving players something to do (collect stars) while jet-packing around and firing at enemies. All in all, this is a singular and sublime gaming experience that hopefully—one day—many more gamers will be able to enjoy.
🔰 #7 | Haunted: Halloween ‘86
Review: This may well be the quintessential NES homebrew. Its writing and graphics never feel other than homespun, but always in a way that is engaging, and often with subtle complexities that belie the charmingly organic nature of the work. Before more is said about the game, however, can we first address its core concept? Halloween is a holiday that surely deserves hundreds of video games devoted to it, and while it does have many, few more perfectly capture the sense of gloom and adventure surrounding All Hallows Eve than Haunted: Halloween ‘86. The drab color palette in the game is perfectly suited to its context, even as it is often surprisingly expressive; level designs so beautifully interact with with the many different background environments the game’s two protagonists fight their way through that the player never feels anything but wholly located in this richly realized world. Adversaries and obstacles are spooky, icky, and unnerving in exactly the right measure, and for an 8-bit beat ‘em up the two playable characters—who you can switch between at will, and will often need to—get an admirable number of special moves throughout the course of the game. Most of all, however, Haunted: Halloween ‘86 is to be celebrated for its inventive boss battles, its unique health-point system (you gauge the status of your playable character by how closely their skin tone matches that of the zombie that every successful hit gets closer and closer to turning you into), and its pitch-perfect atmosphere. This is a game series one genuinely hopes goes on and on, and (no spoilers!) the engaging, eerie story the series tells absolutely has the legs for several more entries. I can’t wait for the next one!
🔰 #8 | Flea!
Review: See the review for Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, above.
🔰 #9 | The Magnilo Case
Review: This game is a blast, pure and simple—and I say that as a retro gamer who often dislikes Adventure games, and games in the mystery sub-genre specifically. What makes The Magnilo Case something else entirely, however, is the quality of its writing: both the text itself, and also the pacing, plotting, evidence, and scenery that make this game run. From the moment you step inside Magnilo Studios, you want to explore it because it is creepy and adorable and ethereal all at once—by which I mean that you never know what the next room will hold, because the game developers have clearly let their imaginations run wild. Some Adventure games meet the requirements of the genre but lack a real sense of exploration, wonder, and negative capability (the idea, which we get from the poet John Keats, of finding a certain joy in uncertainty); The Magnilo Case reels you in from the very beginning and never lets go. Gameplay-wise it has all the features you would expect from this sort of title, yet all of them are done wonderfully and with a snarky, noirish panache. Magnilo is a game—and a place—you will want to lose yourself in.
🔰 #10t | Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure
Review: Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure is a remarkably complete game—not just for an NES homebrew, but for any NES game. If there’s a thing you love about 8-bit gaming, it’s here. Several playable characters, each with their own personalities and powers? Check. Elements of all six major 8-bit video game genres (Action, Adventure, Beat ‘em Up, Platformer, Puzzle, and Shooter)? Check. An overworld? Yes. A unique aesthetic that comes with a sense of humor? Certainly. While the story is gestural, (a) there is one, and (b) it’ll make you smile on occasion. But more than all this, and beyond even the tight controls, fine difficulty scaling, and interestingly varied levels and obstacles, Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure is invested enough in immersion and replayability to offer secret areas, special hard-to-find items, and little gameplay quirks (such as needing to duck into an igloo—if/when you can get to it—to change characters) that lend a sense of, pun a bit intended I guess, “adventure” to the game. I suppose I’m also one of those retro gamers who greatly appreciates a developer willing to build out a world across multiple games; it should be deemed a significant asset of Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure that if you like its graphics, music, gameplay and characters, you can spend even more time with them—in a set of games that are excellent in their own right—via Eskimo Bob: Starring Alfonzo, Alfonzo Melee, and The Alfonzo Game. With the ongoing “Haunted: Halloween” series (which includes, so far, Haunted: Halloween ‘85 and Haunted: Halloween ‘86) and John Vanderhoef’s excellent “MULEniverse” series (which includes neMULEsis, Leggite Luta Livre, Bat Lizard Bonanza, Wampus DX, and Wart Worm Wingding), the “Alfonzo” series has all the makings of a new cult-classic miniverse in the NES2 ecosystem.
🔰 #10t | Dungeons & Doomknights
Review: Building off a long-running IP, Artix has built an 8-bit world that feels fully realized and lived-in, as though there were no iterations of this fantasy ecosystem besides this one (though there are). Beyond its airtight gameplay, excellent graphics, and suitably vast world—which is every bit as varied and imaginative as you’d hope—Dungeons & Doomknights is distinguished by its humor, fourth-wall-breaking self-referentiality, and quality-of-life components (such as the optional use of the Konami Code, a very useful in-game pet, and regularly appearing save spots). From the option to fight and defeat Death as your very first in-game action—I won’t reveal how to do it—to twists on common video game tropes, Dungeons & Doomknights continually surprises and delights. It’s a game you won’t want to put down, as without a doubt it is one of the most polished, finished, and expansive NES2 games you can play right now.
🔰 #10t | Little Medusa
Review: We need to get the obvious out of the way, first: yes, this game is reminiscent of Kickle Cubicle, a widely respected original NES title that nevertheless only made #100 on the consensus Top 100 NES Games of All Time ranking. In view of this, there is ample reason to feel like retro gaming needs more games that investigate the unique mechanic from Kickle Cubicle: pushing enemies to turn them into useful landmasses. Whereas Kickle Cubicle lacked an interesting narrative frame, Little Medusa not only has one but is of course borrowing from the best frame there is: Greek mythology. But it’s not just that the story here is far more engaging than was ever the case with Kickle Cubicle—though that’s true—but so too are the level designs, the enemies, the boss battles, your powers, the power-ups, the obstacles, the battlefields, the overworld art, the puzzles, the cutscenes and intermediary graphics, the music, the secret areas, and—well—everything, really. When you take a classic gameplay mechanic and improve on everything surrounding it in every way imaginable, you end up with a thrilling game. Little Medusa can confidently stand alongside the very best action-puzzle games from the original NES.
🔰 #10t | MOMOC
Review: MOMOC is very likely to move up this list over time, as the game mechanic upon which it (and its engineer protagonist) relies—the ability to traverse a Meiji-era Japan filled with hostile military forces using only the ability to craft ladders, walls, planks, and fuses—is so unthinkably versatile that it feels deeper and deeper with each moment of gameplay. I have rarely if ever seen an NES game that allows for so many different ways to “beat” (or clear) each screen; MOMOC almost feels like an open-world adventure, in which the only limiting factor is your own ingenuity. While a few stages in the journey can be crossed with little difficulty, many will have you plotting out a strategy with your brow furrowed, engaged in some slow-boiling trial-and-error session that will test your mental acuity and even your manual dexterity. The fact that the protagonist of MOMOC can gather materials Minecraft-style means you will develop a relationship to not just the layout but the mineral composition of each screen that goes well beyond the typical experience of 8-bit gaming. In short, MOMOC is a sneaky contender to one day—once RETRO takes even more time with it—become one of the top three NES homebrews on this list. It’s just that good. Anyone with an interest in the NES, whether twentieth century (“NES”) or twenty-first century (“NES2”) should be playing this game. See this link for in-game GIFs.
Some Other Reviewed Games
{Note: Games deemed a cut above the others listed below are marked with a red pushpin.}
8-Bit Xmas 2008
8-Bit Xmas 2009: Snowball Fight!!! 📍
8-Bit Xmas 2010: Jolly Joyriding 📍
8-Bit Xmas 2011: Fireplace Bash°°°
8-Bit Xmas 2012: Biplane Dogfight 📍
8-Bit Xmas 2013: Santa’s Blasters 📍
8-Bit Xmas 2014: Killer Queen Arcade
8-Bit Xmas 2016: Xmas Pinball
8-Bit Xmas 2017: Anniversary Multicart
1007 Bolts
A Simple Platformer Game 📍🔹
A Small World
Airboat Apocalypse
Ambushed
Astroid
Auge 📍
Axelay 📍
Basic Championship Wrestling
Battleball
Beat ‘em and Eat ‘em
Berzerk 📍
Betelgeuse
Big City Sliding Blaster
Blurred Lines 2048
Bohpoli! 🔹
Bomb Array
Bomberman 2002 📍
The Box 📍🔹
Box Game 🔹
Brandon, You’re Going to Hell 📍🔹
Brilliant Pebbles 📍
Brony Blaster
Bsides
Bust a Nut
Caged Fury 📍🔹
Candy Shop°
Cat Killer 📍
Cats
Chase 📍
Code Master
Connect 4
Convention Quest
Dizzy: Melanchony of Existance [sic]
Dragon Master 📍🔹
Drakaina
The Fateslayer 🔹
Fighter F-8000
Fire of Rebellion
First Lights Cry 📍🔹
Flappy Bird 📍
Flappy Block
Flight Minigames
For the Birds VI
For Points 📍
Forgotten in Time 🔹
Function 📍
Galaxy NES 📍
Galaxy Patrol 📍
Game of Life
Geminim 📍
Global Warming 🔹
Go
Grave Digger
Greedy Snake
GSM
Halloween 2009 📍
Hammer Smack 🔹
Hangman
Happy Scrappy and the Haunted House 📍🔹
Hazard 🔹
HexS 📍
Hey Reset 📍🔹
Horror Hospital
Hot Head Joe
Hot Seat Harry
Iconoclast 📍🔹
Invaders Must Die
Jane Jones: Poet Detective 📍🔹
Jelly Jam’d 🔹
Juhannussauna
Kosmity Atakujo 📍🔹
Lake Fever
Libertango°
Lights Out
Little Flame 📍🔹
Llamagade 🔹
Mandelbrot Set
Manhole
March of the Minotaurs 🔹
MashyMashy
Master of Time 📍🔹
Melo-Jellos 2 📍
Memory
Meteor Guard
Midnight Jogger
Miner 📍🔹
Minotaur Game 📍🔹
Missing Lands
Moon Magic
Mouser II 📍🔹
Munchie Attack 📍
Nanaca Crash 📍
Nature Clan: Island
Nature Clan: Mirror Devil World
NES Raycaster
Nesglovphone
Nighttime Bastards 📍🔹
The Ninja of the 4 Seasons 📍
Ninja Slapper
Nintencat: The Parody
NNNNNN 📍
No Points
Nothing Good Can Come of This
Number Muncher
Obstacle Trek 📍
Odyssey 1156 🔹
The One with the Walls
Orphea 📍
Ooze Redux
Overclocked
Paint or Draw
Pair the Pets
Pegs 📍
Pingback 📍🔹
Pong 198X
Pong & Head Bounce
Poronkusema 📍
Prez
Pung! Balls of Steel
Putt Putt
Reggie’s Radical Adventures
RetroRGB Test 🔹
Robotfindskitten
Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Sbock
ROM City Rampage
Save the Kuin
Shaolin Squirrel 🔹
ShootNES
Simone Says
Sitten Kitten
Ski Pirates 🔹
Slappin’ 📍
Snail Maze 📍
Snowball
Soko Man
Space Fighter
Space Punks 🔹
Spacevania 🔹
Specus
Splash Rightnut
Sprilo
Squish: The Bouncing Cat Ball
S.T.I.N.G.
Super City Mayor 📍
Super Floofy Sheepie
Super Marxsky Comrades
Super Roman
Sweetie and the Carnage
The Tao of 007
Thallasophobe
That’s Whack
Theremin
Tiger Jenny°° 📍
Vector Run
Windermere 📍🔹
Zack in Time 📍🔹
Zap Ping 📍🔹
Zombie Calavera Prologue 📍
° These individual chiptune tracks by Norwegian programmer Snowbro might well make the RETRO Music rankings if compiled on a single ROM or cartridge.
°° This game’s final boss hasn’t yet been coded, leaving the game without an ending.
°°° See Quadralords, under the Multiplayer section of these rankings.
The Shortlist: Games To Be Reviewed
Subscribers can comment below this article to suggest additional games for review. Note that the list below is non-exhaustive; the next edition of these rankings will include many more new NES homebrews beyond the ones in this preliminary list.
0—>X; Arlington Apple in An Interplanetary Pickle; Blob Land; Dragon Feet; Electronic Sweet-N-Fun Fortune Teller; Garage Cart; Goofy Foot: Power Chiptunes; Jet Set Willy; Masmix; Perkele; Planter; Retropia; TRACK+FEEL II; True Alien: It Came From Outer Space; Uchusen: Ultimate Ploid Battle; Weed N’ Stiff 2: Bobson’s Revenge; You Are Insignificant.
Here’s a non-exhaustive watchlist of unreleased NES homebrews of interest to RETRO:
Allison of Astra
Attack From Planet X
Balls and Booty
Chaos Between Realms
Diary of a Zomboni Driver
Force Bot
Full Quiet
Former Dawn
Halcyon
High Noon Knockout
Isolation
Jester
Malasombra
The Meating
Mega Commando
Mystic Searches
Orange Island
Project Chocoblip
Project Sword
Pyronaut
Sam’s Journey
Skeler Boy
Sword of Ianna
Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death
Walter Nate: Timeline Agent
Witch City
The Witch Guild
Looking for Legally Acquired Aftermarket ROM or Cart
Contract RETRO via this form if you are in legal possession of any of the games below (as either a ROM or cartridge) and are legally entitled to share them with a third party.
Ping Pong°
° Specifically, the late 1990s or early 2000s Hummer Games version, pictured below.
Promising Homebrews Never Released
RETRO is watching—albeit with not too much hope—these NES homebrew projects, on the long odds that they may one day be resuscitated by their very talented creators.
Journey World
Maru Mari
Neotoxin
RETRO owes a debt of gratitude to the many digital artists and game development studios that have offered critical feedback during the formation and evolution of this ranking. RETRO would like to offer special thanks to Matt Hughson (website), M-Tee (website), Jeffrey Wittenhagen (website), FrankenGraphics (website), and Michael Chiaramonte (website). More names will undoubtedly be added to this list soon!
RETRO dedicates the Top 300 NES Homebrews to the memory of talented gamer, streamer, and rom-hack game developer Adam Hiner of Akron, Ohio (1983–2021).
Known by the many gamers whose lives he touched via his various online channels as AdamOSRetro, Adam exhibited an irrepressible love of gaming and NES homebrews in particular. His energy, joy, and bravery was superlative, and he will be sorely missed.