The Top 500 Indie NES Games, Vol. 8
Decades after the last licensed Nintendo Entertainment System game, NES games still get released. This list—which excludes prototypes or localizations of G1 NES games—ranks 1,346 “indie NES” titles.
Introduction
Subscribers can read the Methodology and Eligibility sections of this ranking here.
Please note that a ranking of anything is by definition subjective, if only because every ranking has a creator behind it who has determined what will be measured and how. I’ve taught video games as an R1 university professor, been a journalist for 25 years, and am a professional culture critic, but none of this ensures you’ll agree with any of my judgments or that they’re “objectively” correct. Information on my background as a journalist, a critic, and an academic specializing in digital culture can be found here.
Total Homebrew Library Size
This archive now lists 1,346 NES homebrews, making it the largest archive of its kind in the world.
This tally includes 500 ranked homebrews, 379 honorable mentions, 124 red-pinned (“Tier 3”) titles, 197 titles assessed but not tiered (see “Other Reviewed Games”), 116 “watchlisted” NES homebrews that have not yet received a full public release, and 30 library-only games that count toward total library size but are not ranked in any tier.
Of the homebrews in the four tiers identified in this article (see Ranking Key below), 285 are available as complete-in-box titles.
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
{Note: Use “Ctrl+F” and the phrases below to find the following ranking sections.}
💮 Ranking Key
💮 Top 40 New Additions to the RETRO Top 500 Homebrews
💮 Action-Adventure Rankings (76 games)
💮 Adventure Game Rankings (29 games)
💮 Anthology Rankings (5 anthologies)
💮 Arcade Game Rankings (60 games)
💮 Art App Rankings (5 apps)
💮 Card / Dice Rankings (4 games)
💮 Fighting / Brawler Rankings (14 games)
💮 Kids Game Rankings (2 games)
💮 Multicart Rankings (2 games)
💮 Music Cart Rankings: Music (24 carts)
💮 Music Cart Rankings: Apps (10 carts)
💮 Party Game Rankings (5 games)
💮 Platformer Rankings (59 games)
💮 Port Rankings (34 ports)
💮 Puzzle Game Rankings (38 games)
💮 Rhythm Game Rankings (9 games)
💮 RPG Rankings (31 games)
💮 Serialized Rankings (1 game)
💮 Shooter / Run n’ Gun Rankings (46 games)
💮 Simulation Game Rankings (6 games)
💮 Sports / Racing Game Rankings (11 games)
💮 Strategy Game Rankings (8 games)
💮 Tech Demo Rankings (5 demos)
💮 Utility Rankings (1 utility)
💮 Zapper / FPS Rankings (2 games)
💮 Famicom-Only Rankings (11 titles)
💮 Hack Rankings (20 hacks)
💮 Other Reviewed Games
💮 Ineligible Games (93 titles)
Localizations (19 titles)
Prototypes (47 titles)
Reproductions (20 titles)
Special Editions (7 titles)
💮 The RETRO Homebrew Watchlist
💮 The NES Homebrew Hall of Fame (88 games)
Hall of Fame Games (5 games)
Current Vote Recipients (83 games)
Ranking Key
{Note: This section, much like the rankings as a whole, is best viewed on a desktop computer.}
🔰 = A “Top 500” (First Tier) game; the bolded number beside it is its in-genre ranking.
💠 = An “Honorable Mention” (Second Tier) NES homebrew, according to RETRO.
📍 = An “Other Noted Game” (Third Tier) NES homebrew, according to RETRO.
🔘 = An “Other Reviewed Game” (Fourth Tier) NES homebrew, according to RETRO.
🎴 = A homebrew that has at some point been available as a complete-in-box product.
🔹 = A homebrew new to the Top 500; this symbol is removed for subsequent volumes.
🔸 = A game whose ranking has changed notably in this volume due to a reassessment.
🅰️ = A game featuring adult images, situations, or themes; viewer discretion is advised.
🔫 = A game that requires (rather than just allowing) an NES Zapper to play properly.
📢 = Denotes forthcoming NES2 games (some of which may already exist as prototypes).
📒 = A game with a Special Citation (but only counted once toward total library size).
📕 = A NES game (localization, prototype, or reproduction) ineligible for NES2 status.
📗 = A Famicom-only game counted for total library size but ineligible for the Top 500.
📘 = An NES Hack ranked in its category but not counted toward total library size.
Top 40 New Additions to the RETRO Top 500 Homebrews
🆕 #1 | Save the Kuin, Yukahu Games, #4 RPG (^)🔹 🎴
🆕 #2 | The House in the Cemetery, Daylen Retro, #8 Adventure (^)🔹
🆕 #3 | Tenebra, Haplo, #10 Puzzle (^)🔹
🆕 #4 | Blazing Blocks, FG Software, #13 Puzzle (^)🔹
🆕 #5 | Awol, Most, #40 Platformer (^)🔹
🆕 #6 | Crabbie Attack, Sherman, #45 Arcade (^)🔹
🆕 #7 | X-Horde, Caruso, #22 Shooter (^)🔹
🆕 #8 | Desert Escape, Wowee! Games, #46 Arcade (^)🔹
🆕 #9 | Alien Cat 2, PSCD Games, #22 Puzzle (^)🔹
🆕 #10 | Famicom de Pon, Okunyon, #23 Puzzle (^)🔹
🆕 #11 | 8bit Slicks, 8bit Dude, #12 Sports/Racing (^)🔹
🆕 #12 | Fish, Voxel, #50 Platformer (^)🔹
🆕 #13 | Magnetizer, Jaki, #41 Puzzle (^)🔹
🆕 #14 | Deth Complex 2, Moore, #61 Action-Adventure (^)🔹
🆕 #15 | Allison of Astra, Paltridge, #1 Serialized (^)🔹
🆕 #16 | Mattock Mike, NESLurker, Action-Adventure Tier 2 (^)🔹
🆕 #17 | DDream DDivers, Game Losers, Adventure Tier 2 (^)🔹
🆕 #18 | Grave Frenzy, Neofuturism, Action-Adventure Tier 2 (^)🔹
🆕 #19 | Skate Cat, SJ Games, Action-Adventure Tier 2 (^)🔹 🎴
🆕 #20 | Candyman: Be My Victim, Fista Games, Action-Adventure Tier 2 (^)🔹
🆕 #21 | Black Jewel Reborn, PSCD Games, Action-Adventure Tier 2 (^)🔹 🎴
🆕 #22 | F-Theta, Neodolphino, #11 Sports/Racing (^)🔹
🆕 #23 | Hamburgers En Route to Switzerland, Read, Shooter Tier 2 (^)🔹
🆕 #24 | Fruit Shinobi, Inkbox, #3 Zapper (^)🔹
🆕 #25 | Force Bot, Schafer, Puzzle Tier 2 (^)🔹 🎴
🆕 #26 | Tola, OmniRetro, Puzzle Tier 2 (^)🔹
🆕 #27 | Oopi’s Quest, Kenny, Puzzle Tier 2 (^)🔹
🆕 #28 | Reknum: Souls Adventure, Nape Games, Action-Adventure Tier 3 (^)🔹 🎴
🆕 #29 | Celeste, Locatti, Port Tier 2 (^)🔹
🆕 #30 | Ninja Trip, Alxx, Action-Adventure Tier 3 (^)🔹
🆕 #31 | Basu, Free Hippie, Action-Adventure Tier 3 (^)🔹
🆕 #32 | Dangeon, Scardua, RPG Tier 3 (^)🔹
🆕 #33 | Dungeon Explorer, Bardon, Adventure Tier 3 (^)🔹
🆕 #34 | Alex Islands, Bardon, Platformer Tier 3 (^)🔹
🆕 #35 | Super Honza, Bardon, Platformer Tier 3 (^)🔹
🆕 #36 | Unknown Soldier, Bardon, Action-Adventure Tier 4 (^)🔹
🆕 #37 | Larange Boy, Donato, Platformer Tier 4 (^)🔹
🆕 #38 | Astro Smash n’ Blast, Eskayelle, Shooter Tier 4 (^)🔹
🆕 #39 | The Cutting Room Floor, EV Lover, Music Tier 4 (^)🔹
🆕 #40 | Flashdroid, Mibi88, Shooter Tier 4 (^)🔹
Action-Adventure Rankings
🔰 #1 | Full Quiet, Retrotainment (^)
🔰 #2 | Dungeons & Doomknights, Artix (^)
🔰 #3 | Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure, SBP (^)
🔰 #4 | Alwa’s Awakening, Elden Pixels (^)
🔰 #5 | Little Medusa, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #6 | Spacegulls, Morphcat (^)
🔰 #7 | Trouble at 2A03, Team Disposable (^)
🔰 #8 | L’Abbaye des Morts, Parisoft (^)
🔰 #9 | Nix: The Paradox Relic, Huddleston (^)
🔰 #10 | Kingdom Crisis, Ninja Dynamics (^)
🔰 #11 | Trophy, Gradual Games (^)
🔰 #12 | The Storied Sword, Raftronaut / Bite the Chili (^)
🔰 #13 | Orebody: Binder’s Tale, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #14 | Battle Kid 2, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #15 | Crowborg, Miau (^)
🔰 #16 | Garbage Pail Kids: The Quest for Stale Gum, Retrotainment (^)
🔰 #17 | Super Bat Puncher, Morphcat (^)
🔰 #18 | The Great Gatsby, Hoey (^)
🔰 #19 | Rabbits World, Cmyksoft (^)
🔰 #20 | Wolfling, Lazy Cow (^)
🔰 #21 | Space Raft, Raftronaut (^)
🔰 #22 | Battle Kid, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #23 | Adventures of Panzer, Pixelcraft (^)
🔰 #24 | Cheril’s Nightmares, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #25 | Eyra, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #26 | Mark of the Beast, Red Moon (^)
🔰 #27 | Biocats, PB Games (^)
🔰 #28 | Isostasy, Gravel Studios (^)
🔰 #29 | Nin Nin, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #30 | Sunset Land, Industrial Pixels (^)
🔰 #31 | Tactus, Zeta (^)
🔰 #32 | Cheril the Writer, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #33 | More Glider, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #34 | Cheril the Goddess, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #35 | The Wizard of Oz, Waixing (^/^)°
🔰 #36 | Yun, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #37 | Bootèe, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #38 | Tower of Turmoil, CutterCross (^)
🔰 #39 | The Mad Wizard, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #40 | Jet-Paco, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #41 | Flowers in the Mirror, Waixing (^/^)
🔰 #42 | Underground Mission, Inventor (^)
🔰 #43 | Nomolos, Gradual Games (^)
🔰 #44 | Center of the Alien, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #45 | Saturdayman, Sunday Pistols (^)
🔰 #46 | Sir Ababol, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #47 | Space Foxes, Henry (^)°°
🔰 #48 | Raven’s Gate, Mercury BD (^)
🔰 #49 | Che-Man, Mojon Twins (^)°°°
🔰 #50 | Ralph 4, Pubby (^)
🔰 #51 | Vigilante Ninja II, Fraker (^)
🔰 #52 | Filthy Kitchen, Dust Mop (^)
🔰 #53 | Hiatus Ward, Sedwave (^)
🔰 #54 | Streemerz, Faux Games (^)
🔰 #55 | Nova the Squirrel, Nova Squirrel (^)
🔰 #56 | Lala the Magical, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #57 | Rainbow Brite, Pixelheart (^)
🔰 #58 | Espitene, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #59 | Mawthorne, CrazyGroupTrio (^)
🔰 #60 | Machine Cave, Aeromangus (^)
🔰 #61 | Deth Complex 2, Moore (^)🔹
🔰 #62 | Press Start Again, Coop (^)
🔰 #63 | The Banketh, RetroNES Games (^)
🔰 #64 | Antenna Antics, FG Soft (^)
🔰 #65 | Kuku-Ruku, Siudym (^)
🔰 #66 | The Stranger, FG Soft (^)
🔰 #67 | Almika: Star Rider, Mouse Spirit (^)
🔰 #68 | The Binding of Isaac, Nasdalack (^)
🔰 #69 | Ramen Adventure, Baldriz (^)
🔰 #70 | They Came to Wreak Hell, Team Disposable (^)
🔰 #71 | Press Start, Coop (^)
🔰 #72 | Wo Xiang Niao Niao, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #73 | The Wizard, RetroAge (^)
🔰 #74 | Jane Austen’s Adventure, Justice (^)
🔰 #75 | Montezuma’s Revenge, Normal Distribution (^)
🔰 #76 | Claudia Adventure, Voltopt (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Alien, Mojon Twins (^)
Banana Nana, Riecke & Bétoux (^)
Black Jewel Reborn, PSCD Games (^)🔹
Bobby Six Seven, CalGames (^)
Bogen, Foerg & Harrell (^)
Candyman: Be My Victim, Fista Games (^)🔹
Cur Manor, Manjiro (^)
Dikki Painguin, Blomquist / Druckmann (^)
Dragon Master, Homayouni (^)
Dummy Duck 7, Caudel (^)
Egg World, Voxel (^)
Game Gyaru EX, CrazyGroupTrio (^)
Grave Frenzy, Neofuturism (^)🔹
Love Story, Livak (^)
LSD: One of Us, Eber (^)
Mattock Mike, NESLurker (^)🔹
Mirage Protocol, Yurt Fiend (^)
NES Quest, CF207 (^)
Nezumi, Pereira (^)
Panda Adventure, Hummer (^)
Ploid, Nape Games (^)
Project Kunoichi, GX ‘79 (^)
Purple Cape Man, Fraker (^)
Raz Adventure, Axbakk (^)
Rick Starfield, Nietfeld (^)
Silver Island, Digit 2600 (^)
Skate Cat, SJ Games (^)
Total Extinction, BORB / Samuli (^)
Veggie Invaders, Dustmop (^)
Vestal Vaal, Mojon Twins (^)
Waddles the Duck, CPP (^)
📍 Other Action-Adventure Homebrews
Almika in Space Too (^)
Aspen’s Adventure (^)
Basu (^)🔹
Friday the 13th: Return to Camp Blood (^)
Halloween: October 31st (^)
Hazard: Let Us Out
Miles Con 2016
Master of Time (^)
Musical Quest
The Ninja of the 4 Seasons
Ninja Trip (^)🔹
Reknum: Souls Adventure (^)🔹
Slice of Bread (^)
Zombie Calavera Prologue
🎴 Complete-in-Box Action-Adventure Games
The Adventures of Panzer
Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure
Alwa’s Awakening
The Banketh
Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril
Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment
Black Jewel Reborn
Candelabra: The Mad Wizard
Dungeons & Doomknights
Eyra the Crow Maiden
Flowers in the Mirror
Jet-Paco: Hyper Special Space Agent
L’Abbaye des Morts
Little Medusa
Machine Cave
Mawthorne
Miles Con 2016
Montezuma’s Revenge
More Glider
Nix: The Paradox Relic
Nomolos: Storming the Catsle
Ploid
Rainbow Brite: Journey to Rainbow Land
Reknum: Souls Adventure
Sir Abadol
Skate Cat
Space Raft
Super Bat Puncher
Tower of Turmoil
Trophy
° Requires the use of an English-language patch to play. Use the UniPatcher app from the Google Play store to quickly combine any NES ROM with an “.ips” translation file.
°° Approximate ranking only (derived exclusively from available gameplay footage).
°°° Dire Job—an earlier, equally playable version of this game, with different sprites and a slightly different narrative—can be found here.
Adventure Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | MOMOC, Goaterby (^)
🔰 #2 | Böbl, Morphcat (^)
🔰 #3 | The Magnilo Case, Dalyen Retro (^)
🔰 #4 | Lizard, Smith (^)
🔰 #5 | Cave Driller, Mazin (^)
🔰 #6 | Blob Quest, Livak (^)
🔰 #7 | NEScape!, Hanley (^)
🔰 #8 | The House in the Cemetery, Daylen Retro (^)🔹
🔰 #9 | Dead Tomb, Limited Run Games (^)
🔰 #10 | Alien Isolation, Siudym (^)
🔰 #11 | Sweetleaf, Cramer / Marcel (^)
🔰 #12 | Jet Puri, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #13 | Cheril of the Bosque, Mojon Twins (^)°
🔰 #14 | Turtle Rescue DX, Turtle Rescue (^)
🔰 #15 | Squirrel Chaser, Hammond (^)
🔰 #16 | What Remains, Iodine Dynamics (^)
🔰 #17 | Temple Dilemma, Chacon (^)
🔰 #18 | Kazik & the Mysterious Temple, Siudym (^)
🔰 #19 | Micro Knight IV, Siudym (^)
🔰 #20 | Harry Dwarf, Convoy Avenger (^)
🔰 #21 | Zdey the Game, Art’cade (^)
🔰 #22 | Escape From Flooded Cave, Voxel (^)
🔰 #23 | Waldos Forever, Raftronaut / Coop (^)
🔰 #24 | Star Evil, Pubby (^)
🔰 #25 | Cowlitz Gamers’ Adventure, Kur (^)
🔰 #26 | Wampus DX, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #27 | Retropia, Scardua (^)
🔰 #28 | Closing In, CPP (^)
🔰 #29 | Kubo 3, SJ Games (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Bustina, Holmade Games (^)
DDream DDivers, Game Losers (^)🔹
Demon District, Klonoa (^)
Depths, Parker (^)
Dream Dog Dilemma, CPP (^)
Mega Ari, Little Limit (^)
Micro Knight III, Siudym (^)
Office Hero, Francoeur (^)
Oof McBrewster’s Haunted House Adventure, Stacy (^)
Platformer Text Adventure, Paltridge (^)
The Prying Eye, CutterCross (^)
Sack of Flour, Heart of Gold, Rost & Co. (^)
Shadow: An Adventure in Monochrone, Red Herring (^)
Sparkle Panda Rainbow Hunter, FutuRETROistic (^)
Through Dimensions, CPP (^)
📍 Other Adventure Homebrews
The Box
Dungeon Explorer (^)🔹
Jane Jones: Poet Detective
The Life of Cirkat
Nightmare on Elm Street: Son of 100 Maniacs (^)
Pingback
Windermere
🎴 Complete-in-Box Adventure Games
The Cowlitz Gamers’ Adventure
Dead Tomb
Kubo 3
Lizard
The Magnilo Case
NEScape!
Oof McBrewster’s Haunted House Adventure
Temple Dilemma
What Remains
Zdey the Game
° The Mojon Twins’ Cheril of the Bosque extends over three separately titled ROMS: Cheril of the Bosque: Prologue; Cheril of the Bosque; and Cheril of the Bosque in the Other Bosque. A version of the game in which the protagonist is portrayed as a baby instead of a woman is called Cheril Begins, and is not counted as a separate homebrew here. Another version of the game—Ninjajar, in which the protagonist is portrayed as a ninja—can be found here, and is also not counted as a separate game (despite the presence of other altered sprites in the gameplay, as with Cheril Begins).
Anthology Rankings
(with the top games in each anthology, per RETRO rankings; only first anthologizings noted)
🔰 #1 | Action 53 #4, Various (^)°°
🥇 Gruniożerca 3
🥈 Project Blue°
🥉 Gruniożerca 2
The Cowlitz Gamers’ Lost Adventure
Wolfling
We Are Hejickle
Aspect Star N
Cheril’s Nightmares
Super Uwol
Jammin’ Honey
🔰 #2 | Action 53 #3, Various (^)
🥇 Nebs n’ Debs°
🥈 Twin Dragons
🥉 Haunted: Halloween ‘85°
Sinking Feeling
Cheril the Goddess
Filthy Kitchen
Ralph 4
Super Tilt Bro.
Lala the Magical
Karate Kick
🔰 #3 | Action 53 #2, Various (^)
🥇 Sgt. Helmet: Training Day
🥈 2048
🥉 RHDE: Furniture Fight
Super PakPak
Double Action Blaster Guys
Sir Abadol
PCB Artist
MilioNESy
Solar Wars
Love Story
🔰 #4 | Action 53 #1, Various (^)
🥇 Zooming Secretary
🥈 Lawn Mower
🥉 LAN Master
Streemerz
MineShaft
Pogo Cats
Driar
Thwaite
Russian Roulette 🅰️
Forehead Block Guy
🔰 #5 | NESDEV 2019 Compo Cart, Various (^)
🥇 Böbl
🥈 Blockage
🥉 NIN NIN
Hot Dance 2020
Bloodfall
Falling Tiles
Veggie Invaders
Super City Mayor
Save the Kuin
NNNNNN
💠 Honorable Mentions
3-in-1 2P Pack, Sly Dog (^)*
2011 Midwest Gaming Classic NES Homebrew Showcase, Various (^)*
Atari Flashback Mini 7800, Haywood (^)
Game On Expo Retro Championships 2015, Collectorvision (^)°°°/*
Garage Cart, Parsell / Covell (^)*
HBWC 2012, Various (^)*
MGC Arcade Pack, Tolbert (^)*
🎴 Complete-in-Box Anthologies
3-in-1 2P Pack
Action 53, Vol. 1: Function 16
Action 53, Vol. 2: Double Action 53
Action 53, Vol. 3: Revenge of the Twins
Action 53, Vol. 4: Actually 54
Home Brew World Championship 2012
MGC Arcade Pack
NESDEV 2019 Compo Cart
Retroplayer Championship 2016
° Demo version.
°° Other games of particular note anthologized for the first time in this unusually stacked anthology cart include (in alphabetical order), The Alfonzo Game, Alfonzo Melee, Espitene, Euchre, Falling, Get It!, Leak or Die, Nalleland, Nim & Nom, Robo-Ninja Climb, Split Second, Star Evil, and Super Homebrew War.
°°° This 25-screen-long Sydney Hunter adventure is exclusive to this competition cart.
* 3-in-1 2P Pack includes Boombox, !CLIK! (better known as NES Virus Cleaner), Pegs, Snail Maze Game, and Tic-Tac XO; 2011 Midwest Gaming Classic NES Homebrew Showcase includes Concentration Room, LJ65, Munchie Attack, Thwaite, and Yars’ Revenge; Game On Expo Retro Championships 2015 includes Meteor Swarm, Pedal to the Metal, and a special demo edition of Sydney Hunter; Garage Cart includes Hot Seat Harry, Munchie Attack, and Solar Wars; HBWC 2012 includes Chunkout 2, NES Virus Cleaner, Seagull’s Revenge, Slappin’, and Ultimate Frogger Champion; MGC Arcade Pack includes Convention Quest, NNNNNN, Spacey McRacey, and Super Homebrew War.
Arcade Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Sparky, Most (^)
🔰 #2 | Assimilate, Nessylum Games (^)
🔰 #3 | XenoCreeps, Ehlers (^)
🔰 #4 | Fire and Rescue, Skyboy Games (^)
🔰 #5 | Kira Kira Star Night DX, RIKI (^)
🔰 #6 | Space Raft Arcade, Raftronaut (^)
🔰 #7 | Coin World, Cmyksoft (^)
🔰 #8 | Yeah Yeah Beebis II, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #9 | Super Painter, Retrosouls (^)
🔰 #10 | Zooming Secretary, Shiru (^)
🔰 #11 | Blazing Rangers, Karu_gamo (^)
🔰 #12 | Cue, Most (^)
🔰 #13 | Eskimo Bob, SBP (^)
🔰 #14 | Neo Heiankyo Alien, Columbus Circle (^)
🔰 #15 | Altercation, Scott (^)
🔰 #16 | Super Snake, HD380000 (^)
🔰 #17 | Paws N’ Play, Darthlother (^)
🔰 #18 | Get ’em Gary, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #19 | Wart Worm Wingding, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #20 | Plummet Challenge, Fista Games (^)
🔰 #21 | The Cell, Most (^)
🔰 #22 | Super Crusher Fighters, FG Soft (^)
🔰 #23 | Escape From Pong, Gashlin (^)
🔰 #24 | Up the Wall, Most (^)
🔰 #25 | Carpet Shark, Fista Games (^)
🔰 #26 | Lawn Mower, Shiru (^)
🔰 #27 | Jammin’ Honey, Fraker (^)
🔰 #28 | Blob Land, Scardua (^)
🔰 #29 | Beer Slinger, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #30 | Rooms, Manjiro (^)
🔰 #31 | Spacewalk 3030, Cramer (^)
🔰 #32 | Perfect Pair, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #33 | I Love Polun-chan’s Rice Balls, Mook TV (^)*
🔰 #34 | Sinking Feeling, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #35 | Get It!, Gravel Studios (^)
🔰 #36 | NES Virus Cleaner, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #37 | Be a Pirate!, FutuRETROistic (^)
🔰 #38 | Chopper Bombs, Most (^)
🔰 #39 | The Paper Plane in Subsoil, 5cinq (^)
🔰 #40 | Robo-Ninja Climb, Bite the Chili (^)
🔰 #41 | Germ Squashers, 8bit Evolution (^)
🔰 #42 | Ninja I & II, Elisondo (^)
🔰 #43 | Heather the Beheader, Pewko (^)
🔰 #44 | Minekart Madness, Hughson (^)
🔰 #45 | Crabbie Attack, Sherman (^)🔹
🔰 #46 | Desert Escape, Wowee! Games (^)🔹
🔰 #47 | Bombermania, Senil Data (^)
🔰 #48 | Mooooo!, Toscani (^)
🔰 #49 | Radish Field, Nice Code (^)
🔰 #50 | Micro Knight V, Siudym (^)°
🔰 #51 | Ouroboros, Scardua (^)
🔰 #52 | Immunatio, Romek RJM (^)
🔰 #53 | Blow Em’ Out, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #54 | Heist, Johnybot, # Arcade (^)
🔰 #55 | Turtle Party, Sherman (^)
🔰 #56 | Crap Job, Oniric (^)
🔰 #57 | FamiDepth, Oliver Twins (^)
🔰 #58 | Submarine, Dream Gear (^)
🔰 #59 | Fox Hunt, Tolerant X (^)
🔰 #60 | Wacko, Most (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Alley Bat, FG Soft (^)
Amazing Gravity Boys, Laubisch (^)
Angry at Faces, Morphcat (^)
Animalia Dreamland, Pineberry Fox (^)
Another NES Snake, Hot Coffee (^)
The Archer, Nice Code (^)
Arkade Rush, Tolbert (^)
Ball n’ Flag, Barasc (^)
Battlefield, Nice Code (^)
Battler, Karu Gamo (^)
Bovinium Quest, Grey Badge (^)
Box Boy, Tew (^)
Brick Breaker, Correa (^)°°
Candy Workshop, Nice Code (^)
Chopper, Halelamien / Shultz (^)
Chubby’s Mazes, Siudym (^)
Colliding, Nice Code (^)
ConTroll, Scardua (^)
CoOperating System, Mihoshi (^)
Corpse, Mojon Twins (^)°°
CrossShoot, Caruso (^)
Crypto, Mercan & Yeni (^)
Cybroitek, Siudym (^)
Cybroitek: Double Revenge, Siudym (^)
Debris Dodger, Sly Dog (^)
Diablobetes, Addolorato / Pewko (^)
Eelectric, Scardua (^)
Egg Contest, Nice Code (^)
Escapeway, Nice Code (^)
Exist, Nice Code (^)
Family Bird, Nishimura (^)
Farming Mushrooms, Scardua (^)
Flappy Jack, Fraker (^)
Forehead Block Guy, Hoffman (^)
Galaxy Patrol, Bumbershoot (^)
Ghost Castle, Nice Code (^)
Golden Bird, Nice Code (^)
Greedy, Nice Code (^)
The Grind, RNG (^)
Gruniożerca, Kur & Brzukała (^)
Hallihoo, Power Joy (^)
Hitting Mice, Alien Tech (^)
Intergalactic Transmissing, Lembcke (^)
Interrobang, Shadick (^)
Irritating Ship, Fiskbit (^)
Just Another Maze Game, Siudym (^)
Kevin Power in Concert Carnage, FG Soft (^)
Kevin Power in Too Many Games, FG Soft (^)
Lost Souls, Red Moon (^)
The Masmix, Andralojc (^)
Megazame, Yan (^)
Micro Knight, Siudym (^)
Micro Knight II, Siudym (^)
Muck Sunflower: Escape from Bot Planet, Kevintron (^)
Nasu, Kikiyama (^)
NESnake, Matrixz (^)
Nibbles, Yerrick (^)
North Korea, PSMIP (^)
Octopus, Dream Gear (^)
Pac-Man Xtreme, Kaboom! (^)
Paramedic, Redeye Hunter (^)
Pindable Crystal Ball, Nice Code (^)
Pixel Poops: No. 2, Techmaster (^)
Plush in a Twisted World, Siudym (^)
Power Robot, Nice Code (^)
Protector, Khopa (^)
Rocketman, Nice Code (^)
Season Garden, Nice Code (^)
Shooting Balloons, Nice Code (^)
Shrew Mouse, TWTS (^)
Snail Maze Game, Bryant (^)
Snakky, Shiru (^)
Snowball Blaster, Celestina (^)
Split Second, Hyatt (^)
Spring World, Nice Code (^)
Stay Safe, Freizeitstaette (^)
Super NeSnake 2, retroUSB (^)
Super Snake Off, Johnybot (^)
Teleport, Power Joy (^)
Tense Conds, Scardua (^)
Tesla vs. Edison, RadTek (^)
Tracy’s NEScapades, OmniRetro (^)
True Alien, Captain Dreamcast (^)
Twelve Seconds, retroUSB (^)
Whack-a-Mole, Lenoci (^)
Wrecking Balls, Rahsennor (^)
📍 Other Arcade Homebrews
8-Bit Xmas 2009: Snowball Fight
1007 Bolts
Ball Catch 80 (^)
Balloon Stand (^)
Bird Blaster (^)
Busy Bar (^)
Cat Killer (^)
Cauldron of Elements (^)
Chase
Closeout (^)
Dwarves Manager (^)
Flappy Bird
For Points
The Game (^)
Hammer and Nail (^)
The Invasion (^)
Juhanusolumppialaiset 2017 🅰️
Just Another Ladder Game
Kosmity Atakujo
Munchie Attack
Nanaca Crash
Nighttime Bastards
Ninja
Ninja II
Ninja Muncher (^)
NNNNNN
Over Crisp’d
Pegs
RoboRun
Simplistic (^)
Super City Mayor
Super Insect Swatter
🎴 Complete-in-Box Arcade Games
8-Bit Xmas 2009: Snowball Fight
Assimilate
Beer Slinger
Blazing Rangers
Blow Em’ Out
Bovinium Quest
Carpet Shark
Eskimo Bob
FamiDepth
Fire and Rescue
Germ Squashers
Get ’em Gary
The Grind
Gruniożerca°°°
Juhanusolumppialaiset 2017
Kevin Power in Concert Carnage
Kevin Power in Too Many Games
Kira Kira Star Night DX
Lawn Mower
Neo Heiankyo Alien°°°
NES Virus Cleaner
Nighttime Bastards
Ninja I
Ninja II
Ninja I & II
North Korea
Perfect Pair
Plummet Challenge
Super NeSnake 2
Super Painter
Twelve Seconds
Wart Worm Wingding!
Yeah Yeah Beebis II
° More commonly known as Micro Knight: Revenge of the Foul Skulls.
°° Brick Breaker is also known as Mini Brix Battle; Corpse is also known as Cheril in Cadàveriön.
°°° Available in Famicom edition only.
* The untranslated title of this game is (in Japanese) Porun-chan no Onigiri Daisuki.
Art App Rankings
🔰 #1 | CrossPaint, CutterCross (^)
🔰 #2 | NESPaint, Rek & Devine (^)
🔰 #3 | Mess Maker, INUT (^)
🔰 #4 | Turtle Paint, Sherman (^)
🔰 #5 | Retro Puzzle Maker, CPP (^)°
💠 Honorable Mentions
Color a Deer, Pubby (^)
GalleryNES, Miller [No Carrier] (^)
GlitchNES, Miller [No Carrier] (^)
Graphics Editor, Yerrick (^)
Lightwall, Green (^)
NES Paint, KHS (^)
NESpix, Morphcat (^)
Paint or Draw, Fraker (^)
Palettician, RG59 (^)
Pixel Art Editor, Baraso (^)
Power Coloring, Parker / retroUSB (^)
Random Access, Miller [No Carrier] (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Art Apps
Power Coloring
Turtle Paint
° This entry—and this ranking—correspond to the original NES ROM of Retro Puzzle Maker. The app has now been built out to constitute a full web-based application that, while excellent, is not (because of its form) eligible for this ranking of NES homebrews.
Card / Dice Rankings
🔰 #1 | Donsol, Rek & Devine (^)
🔰 #2 | Euchre, Fraker (^)
🔰 #3 | Freecell, Neodolphino (^)
🔰 #4 | Yacht, Scardua (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Concentration Room, Yerrick (^)
📍 Other Card / Dice Homebrews
Baccarat (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Card / Dice Games
Freecell
Fighting / Brawler Rankings
🔰 #1 | Haunted (‘86), Retrotainment (^)
🔰 #2 | Almost Hero, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #3 | Jay & Silent Bob: Mall Brawl, SBP (^)
🔰 #4 | Haunted (‘85), Retrotainment (^)
🔰 #5 | Weed N’ Stiff 2, CalGames (^)
🔰 #6 | City Trouble, Walter (^)
🔰 #7 | Justice Duel, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #8 | Super Homebrew War, Bite the Chili (^)
🔰 #9 | Alfonzo Melee, SBP (^)
🔰 #10 | Leggite Luta Livre, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #11 | Fight of the Phoenix, Lother (^)
🔰 #12 | Super Tilt Bro., Gadrat (^)
🔰 #13 | Oink n’ Boink, James (^)
🔰 #14 | Karate Kick, Moffitt (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Ashen House, CrazyGroupTrio (^)
Breakfast of Champions, Francoeur (^)
Bushido Bomb, Sleeping Burrito (^)
Chumlee’s Adventure, GSPawn (^)
Dimension Shift, Mugi (^)
K.Y.F.F., Sly Dog (^)
Light Shields, Zutano (^)
Night of the Lee High Slayer, Audia / Cosgrove (^)
ROB.N, SJ Games (^)
Super Real Bout 97, Ka Sheng (^)
Young Oscar-San, ORart Games (^)
📍 Other Fighting / Brawler Homebrews
Meet Me in the Parking Lot (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Fighting / Brawler Games
Almost Hero
Chumlee’s Adventure: The Quest for Pinky
City Trouble
Haunted: Halloween ‘85
Haunted: Halloween ‘86
Jay & Silent Bob: Mall Brawl
Justice Duel
K.Y.F.F.
Meet Me in the Parking Lot
Weed N’ Stiff 2: Bobson’s Revenge
Kids Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Maile Penguin’s Christmas Adventure, Karikas (^)
🔰 #2 | Pair the Pets, Broke Studio (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
The Alphabet, Sly Dog (^)
Multicart Rankings
🔰 #1 | Mojonian Tales, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #2 | Perkele, Donkey Games (^)°
💠 Honorable Mentions
4-in-1 Retro Gamepak, Hanley (^)
Geminim & Siamond, Sivak (^)
📍 Other Multicarts
PowerPlayer 3-in-1 (^)°°
🎴 Complete-in-Box Multicarts
4-in-1 Retro Gamepak°°
Geminim & Siamond
Mojonian Tales°°°
Perkele
° One of the three NES homebrews on the Perkele cart, Winter War, can be—but need not be—played using an NES Zapper (🔫).
°° PowerPlayer 3-in-1 includes Hanuman Quiz Game, Hanuman Typing Game, and Malaria; 4-in-1 Retro Gamepak includes E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, Fishing Challenge, Sneak n’ Peek, and Ultimate Frogger Champion, all by Kevin Hanley of KHAN Games (a publisher pronounced as the two-syllable word “KAY-HAN”, with “han” rhyming with “ban,” “ran,” or “tan”).
°°° Contains “20+” Mojon Twins games, including all of those listed in this ranking.
Music Cart Rankings: Music
🔰 #1 | Quiet, Ragonnet [Zi] (^)
🔰 #2 | Dawn Metropolis, Anamanaguchi (^)
🔰 #3 | Silicon Statue, Ragonnet [Zi] (^)
🔰 #4 | Thornby, Ragonnet [Zi] (^)
🔰 #5 | 8-Bit Music Power Final, RIKI (^)
🔰 #6 | 8-Bit Music Power, RIKI (^)
🔰 #7 | Goofy Foot, Swedish Columbia (^)
🔰 #8 | 9999 in 1, Nuclear Mushroom Boom (^)
🔰 #9 | NOFX, HeavyW8Bit (^)
🔰 #10 | Vegavox 2, Mauer (^)
🔰 #11 | Endless Fantasy, Anamanaguchi (^)
🔰 #12 | Moon8, Smith (^)
🔰 #13 | Alwa’s Awakening, Kreese / Sakamoto (^)
🔰 #14 | Project PAL, Kreese, Zabutom & Wiklund (^)
🔰 #15 | Curious Quail, Petriform (^)
🔰 #16 | 8-Bit Music Power Encore, RIKI (^)
🔰 #17 | Duck Tails, Puzzle Boys (^)
🔰 #18 | Four, Ragonnet [Zi] (^)
🔰 #19 | Power Supply, Anamanaguchi (^)
🔰 #20 | Years Behind, Retrocoders (^)°
🔰 #21 | Fie, Ragonnet [Zi] (^)
🔰 #22 | 2A03 Puritans, BitPuritans / Smith (^)
🔰 #23 | Mom My Ears Are Bleeding, Various (^)
🔰 #24 | Polygondwanaland: 2nd Edition, 5Seven (^)
Music Cart Rankings: Apps
🔰 #1 | NTRQ, Baldwin (^)°°°
🔰 #2 | PR8, Baldwin (^)
🔰 #3 | Chip Maestro, Lupinski (^)
🔰 #4 | NESflix, Miller [No Carrier] (^)
🔰 #5 | BEATBOX, HeavyW8Bit (^)
🔰 #6 | Super Synth Drums, ElectroKraft (^)
🔰 #7 | Famimimidi, Hekekekhun / Catskull (^)
🔰 #8 | NESK-1, HeavyW8Bit (^)
🔰 #9 | Midines, Wayfar (^)
🔰 #10 | Sound Effects Editor, Yerrick (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions: Music
The Adventures of Lootin’ Leonard, Neon Nightmare (^)
Capcom OST, Anonymous (^)
Chronos, VC & Follin (^)
Creeping It Real, Mega Cat (^)
Donovan Encounter, Dark Antagonist (^)
Maniacs of Noise, Various (^)
Embered Recollections, Heosphoros (^)
Famicompo Pico, Various (^)
Famicompo Pico 2, Various (^)
Famiwave Station, Latte (^)
Final Punch, Stack (^)
A Hole New World, Pellicer (^)
Intermezzo, Smith & Brahms (^)
Journey, NintendoAge (^)
Laxity: Crosswords, Owen (^)
Level Zero, Ragonnet [Zi] (^)
Moonfall, Barnes (^)
Polygondwanaland: 1st Edition, 5Seven (^)
Rambo 3, Dunn (^)
RNDM NES Album, Mega Ran (^)
Suite Bergamasque, Smith / Debussy (^)
Teletime: Animalstyle, Mariano (^)
Turquoise Palace, Morphcat (^)
Unchained Nostalgia, Vrublevsky (^)
Vegavox, Mauer (^)
Visual Player, Memblers (^)
Welcome to Eville, Ragonnet [Zi] (^)
A Winner Is You, Elisondo (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions: Apps
CajoNES, Baldwin (^)
LogoNES, Miller [No Carrier] (^)
ScrollNES, Miller [No Carrier] (^)
Speech Synthesizer, Parsell (^)
📍 Other Music Homebrews: Music
8-Bit Riki Illustrations (^)
32 Bytes Your Butt (^)
Color Caves (^)
Goldrunner (^)
Holly Jolly (^)
Lickshot (^)
Mandelbrot Set (^)
NES Band (^)
Reformat/Reboot (^)°°
Retrogathering (^)
Sunny Dance (^)
📍 Other Music Homebrews: App
droNES
liveNES (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Music Carts
8-Bit Music Power
8-Bit Music Power Final
A Hole New World (OST)
A Winner Is You
Alwa’s Awakening (OST)
Chip Maestro
Creeping It Real
Goofy Foot: Power Chiptunes
Holly Jolly NES Mix
Journey
Polygondwanaland
RNDM NES Album
Teletime: Animalstyle
° If played on an emulator, the emulator’s Region setting must be changed to “PAL.”
°° An NES music cart comes with an expansion audio chip so that this non-8-bit LP can be played—and heard in its original form—on an NES. See here for more details.
°°° A direct successor to (and evolution of) NRTQ, PULSAR, is intended to allow the user to sequence and synthesize sounds directly on an NES console.
Party Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Billionaire Banshee, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #2 | Tailgate Party, Orab Games (^)°
🔰 #3 | Leak or Die, Fleity (^)
🔰 #4 | MilioNESy, Denine (^)
🔰 #5 | Spacey McRacey, Bite the Chili (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Expedition, Mega Cat (^)
HappyNESs, Scardua (^)
Quadralords, retroUSB (^)
$how do 1000000, Scardua (^)°°
📍 Other Party Homebrews
Fireplace Bash (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Party Games
8-Bit Xmas 2011: Fireplace Bash
Billionaire Banshee
Expedition
Quadralords
Tailgate Party
° Tailgate Party is a bean bag–throwing party game that uses the NES Power Pad.
°° Requires knowledge of Portuguese—though for certain of the questions in this quiz-show NES game, advanced knowledge of Spanish will also suffice.
Platformer Rankings
🔰 #1 | Micro Mages, Morphcat (^)
🔰 #2 | Flea!, Lowtek Games (^)
🔰 #3 | The Adventures of Panzer 2, Pixelcraft (^)
🔰 #4 | Nebs ’n Debs, Dullahan Software (^)
🔰 #5 | Project Blue, Phillips / FrankenGraphics (^)
🔰 #6 | Basse Def Adventures, Broke Studio (^)
🔰 #7 | Cowlitz’s 2nd Adventure, Kur / M-Tee (^)
🔰 #8 | Twin Dragons, Broke Studio (^)
🔰 #9 | The Void, Behr / LCM Games (^)
🔰 #10 | Cowlitz’s Lost Adventure, Kur / M-Tee (^)
🔰 #11 | Wolf Spirit, Salgueiro (^)
🔰 #12 | Rollie, Optovania (^)
🔰 #13 | Espitenen & Pimponen, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #14 | Shera and the 40 Thieves, CGT (^)
🔰 #15 | Ghoul Grind, WoogWorx (^)
🔰 #16 | Slow Mole, Rosenlund (^)
🔰 #17 | Hey Reset, Jacotomo (^)
🔰 #18 | Cube, Resident Emil (^)
🔰 #19 | Deth Complex, Moore (^)
🔰 #20 | Copter Bot, Cramer (^)
🔰 #21 | Assault on Planet Beezlbub, Moore (^)
🔰 #22 | Pinky, Axbakk Games (^)
🔰 #23 | Nessy! The NES Robot, DTG (^)
🔰 #24 | Super Uwol, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #25 | Cheril in the Cave, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #26 | Doodle World, Peters (^)
🔰 #27 | Rendezvous, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #28 | Nim & Nom, Krill (^)
🔰 #29 | Espinete Meets Ana, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #30 | Espinete Strikes Back, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #31 | Nalleland, Nallebeorn (^)
🔰 #32 | Cheril Perils Classics, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #33 | Battery Chad, Formula Fanboy (^)
🔰 #34 | Pinky Xmas, Axbakk (^)
🔰 #35 | Mutant Sewer Girls, Boring Kate (^)
🔰 #36 | Blickel, Vintro Studios (^)
🔰 #37 | Welcome Treasure Man, Awful Games (^)
🔰 #38 | Attack of the Gummy Bears, Duel (^)
🔰 #39 | Enormous Adventures, Game Losers (^)
🔰 #40 | Awol, Most (^)🔹
🔰 #41 | Petulant Pugslay’s Powerful Parades, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #42 | Bowels of the Beast, Moore (^)
🔰 #43 | Inversion, Kur / Red Moon (^)
🔰 #44 | Monona Ninona Pana, Mojon Twins (^)°
🔰 #45 | MineShaft, Nioreh (^)
🔰 #46 | Tomb Gator, Addolorato (^)
🔰 #47 | Pogo Cats, Yggi (^)
🔰 #48 | Study Hall, Hanley (^)
🔰 #49 | Study Hall 2, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #50 | Fish, Voxel (^)🔹
🔰 #51 | Moonglow, Yurt Fiend (^)
🔰 #52 | Driar, Adolfsson & Eriksson (^)
🔰 #53 | Platycat, Logana (^)
🔰 #54 | Lala Lah, Mojon Twins (^)°°°
🔰 #55 | Underground Adventure, Coop (^)
🔰 #56 | Falling, Tragic Muffin (^)
🔰 #57 | Falldown, Sivak (^)
🔰 #58 | I Wanna Flip the Sky, Livak (^)
🔰 #59 | Rapid Cycling, Game Losers (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
8Bit Xmas: 12 Seconds, retroUSB (^)
Arlington Apple, Team Disposable (^)
Birthday Bash, Dobbs (^)
Blobert, Mystical Wheelbarrow (^)
Chicken of the Farm, Link / Mitch (^)
Down the Hole, Castimier (^)
Dragon Leap, Crisafulli (^)
Duckstroma, AB Ultra Narwhal (^)
Exit Loop, The Mad Cete (^)
Forest Adventure, Nice Code (^)
Frog, Boston Breams (^)
Grave Adventure, Plude (^)
Jet Set Willy, Siudym (^)
Kid Funky, Kool Doob (^)
Marble Run, Haarahiltunen (^)
Mega Mountain, Adrian Makes Games (^)
Memory Somari, Mojon Twins (^)
Monkey King, Alien Tech (^)
Mr. Maymunshine’s Christmas Land, CalGames (^)
No Name, Daylen Retro (^)
Randy vs. the Aliens, Orangebox (^)
Rescue Time, SJ Games (^)
Santa’s Magical Christmas Sleigh, RetroPlayer (^)
Shadow of the Lemming, Siudym (^)
Somari Katamari, Mojon Twins (^)
Sonic Mal, Mojon Twins (^)°°
Super Adventure Jih, Lira (^)
Tiger Jenny, Ludosity (^)°°°°
Treat Sweep on Creep Street, Kosters (^)
Witches Weed, Moore (^)
You Are Insignificant, Team Disposable (^)
📍 Other Platformer Homebrews
Alex Islands (^)🔹
Miner
Minotaur Game
Obstacle Trek
Kapitan Sowa
A Simple Platformer Game
Super Honza (^)🔹
🎴 Complete-in-Box Platformers
8Bit Xmas 2015: 12 Seconds
8Bit Xmas 2019: Study Hall 2
The Adventures of Panzer 2
Basse Def Adventures
The Cowlitz Gamers’ Second Adventure
Doodle World
Dragon Leap
Exit Loop
Flea!
Micro Mages
Nebs ’n Debs
Pinky
Project Blue
Rollie
Shera & the 40 Thieves
Study Hall
Super Adventure Jih
Super Uwol
Twin Dragons
° Another version of this game, Baboon, has identical gameplay but different sprites.
°° This game, an unlicensed NES adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog, extends across three discrete subgame ROMS: Sonic Mal, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3: Sonic of the Bosque.
°°° This game is a “mirror image” of Petulant Pugslay’s Powerful Parades; in Lala Lah, the player plays the former game “right side up” rather than wholly upside-down.
°°°° This game’s final boss hasn’t yet been coded, leaving the game without an ending.
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, Second Dimension (^)
🔰 #10 | Tenebra, Haplo (^)🔹
🔰 #11 | Fluffy Space Escape, CPP (^)
🔰 #12 | Atmo Sphere, Fiskbit (^)
🔰 #13 | Blazing Blocks, FG Software (^)🔹
🔰 #14 | Babel Blox, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #15 | Tomb of Ice, FG Soft (^)
🔰 #16 | Blockage, The Doc (^)
🔰 #17 | Upsad Down, Fadest (^)
🔰 #18 | Rock Paper Scissors, Wry Games (^)
🔰 #19 | 0-to-X, Sole Goose Productions (^)
🔰 #20 | 2048, Tsone (^)
🔰 #21 | Rupui, Arnpoly (^)
🔰 #22 | Alien Cat 2, PSCD Games (^)🔹
🔰 #23 | Famicom de Pon, Okunyon (^)🔹
🔰 #24 | Nordle, FG Soft (^)
🔰 #25 | RGB, Scardua (^)
🔰 #26 | Dushlan, McQuillan (^)
🔰 #27 | From Below, Hughson (^)
🔰 #28 | The Incident, Hanley (^)
🔰 #29 | Tola, OmniRetro Games (^)
🔰 #30 | Snowball, Power Joy (^)
🔰 #31 | Hot Logic, Wright (^)
🔰 #32 | GemVenture, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #33 | Nerdle, Z10 (^)
🔰 #34 | Bare Metal, Scardua / M-Tee (^)
🔰 #35 | Sudoku, Bailey (^)°
🔰 #36 | Soko Banana, Flip for Fate (^)
🔰 #37 | Animal Clipper, Okunyon (^)
🔰 #38 | Hack*Match, Zachtronics (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Block Dude, Mitch 3A (^)
Chunkout 2, Todd (^)
Critical Match, Lembcke (^)
Crypto-Fascist, Game Losers (^)
Dizzy Sheep Disaster, CPP (^)
Dr. Covio, retroUSB (^)
Draiocht, Mega Cat (^)
Family Picross, Second Dimension (^)
Force Bot, Schafer (^)🔹
Hangman, FG Soft (^)
Hollow Knight: Grub Grab, Elvies (^)
Lan Master, Shiru (^)
Laser, Sav (^)
LJ65, Yerrick (^)
Magic Floor, Korth (^)
Magnetizer, Jaki (^)🔹
Mystic Pillars, Sivak Games (^)
NES15, Brenaman (^)
Oopi’s Quest, Kenny (^)🔹
Orebody: Sand Ripples, Vanderhoef (^)
Pentablocat, Pineberry Fox (^)
Quadz, Blain, Shmit, & Yam (^)
Sokoban, Holmberg (^)
Spanky Gets Spooky, Holmade Games (^)
Squirrel Domino, Hoffman (^)
Sweet Dreams, Scardua (^)
Tetramino, Yerrick (^)
Tic-Tac XO, Bryant (^)
Tola, OmniRetro (^)🔹
Tourtoise, Scardua (^)
UXO, Neodolphino (^)
Wink and the Orchard, Oakland (^)
📍 Other Puzzle Homebrews
Coin-Grab Puzzler (^)
Enigmacore
Function
HexS
Knurps Egg Rescue (^)
Melo-Jellos 2
Planter (^)
Puck-Man Puzzler (^)
Race-car Guzzler (^)
Randy in Sokobanland (^)
Santa’s Snowman (^)
Senseless City (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Puzzle Games
0-to-X
8-Bit Xmas 2020: Dr. Covio
Alter Ego
AO
Draiocht
Dushlan
Enigmacore
Family Picross
Force Bot
From Below
GemVenture
Hack*Match
The Incident
Lan Master
Lucky Penguin
Multidude
Mystic Pillars
Rock Paper Scissors
Roniu’s Tale
Soko Banana
Tapeworm Disco Puzzle
UXO: Unexploded Ordinance
Witch n’ Wiz
° To play this homebrew, you will need to rename the ROM file after downloading it by removing the “.txt” extension; this will automatically convert the file to a “.nes” file.
Rhythm Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | D-Pad Hero II, Hansen & Pedersen (^)
🔰 #2 | D-Pad Hero, Hansen & Pedersen (^)
🔰 #3 | Supermagic Music Maker, Baldwin (^)°
🔰 #4 | TRACK+FEEL II, PT!H! (^)°°
🔰 #5 | 8-Bit Rhythm Land, Columbus Cir. (^)
🔰 #6 | Hyperbeatz, Mystical Wheelbarrow (^)
🔰 #7 | Hot Dance 2020, Adrian Makes (^)
🔰 #8 | Aerobot, Spirit Mouse (^)
🔰 #9 | Raddio, Scardua (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Hocus Pocus Hero, Tomlin / Percival (^)
Utaco, Zurashu (^)°°°
🎴 Complete-in-Box Rhythm Games
8-Bit Rhythm Land°°°°
° Supermagic Music Maker isn’t so much an NES “game” as it is an NES “experience.”
°° TRACK+FEEL II is optimized for use with the Power Pad, but can be played without it; Hocus Pocus Hero requires the use of a hacked Guitar Hero 2 guitar, and cannot be played without it.
°°° A karaoke game requiring use of a Famicom Microphone in the second NES port.
°°°° Available in Famicom edition only.
RPG Rankings
🔰 #1 | The Legends of Owlia, Gradual (^)
🔰 #2 | Weed N’ Stiff, CalGames (^)
🔰 #3 | Chaos Between Realms, VGU (^)🔸
🔰 #4 | Save the Kuin, Yukahu Games (^)🔹
🔰 #5 | Mystic Origins, New 8-Bit Heroes (^)🔸
🔰 #6 | Scourge of the Goblin King, Bite the Chili (^)
🔰 #7 | Light From Within, Atarath (^)
🔰 #8 | We Are Hejickle, Pubby (^)
🔰 #9 | Quest Forge, Ludosity (^)
🔰 #10 | Candelabra: Estoscerro, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #11 | Adventures of Eldorin, Outlaw Bits (^)
🔰 #12 | Just a Game, Jacotomo (^)
🔰 #13 | 1000 Stars, Vufka (^)
🔰 #14 | Paws of the West, Pigeonaut (^)
🔰 #15 | Steins Gate, MAGES (^)°
🔰 #16 | Stellarator, McKinley (^)
🔰 #17 | No Good Choice, Veremenko (^)
🔰 #18 | Moon Harvest, Scardua (^)
🔰 #19 | File Fixers, Scardua (^)
🔰 #20 | Time Survivor, Tinsley (^)
🔰 #21 | Black Box Challenge, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #22 | Pwn Adventure Z, Vector 35 (^)
🔰 #23 | Swords and Runes III, Sole Goose (^)
🔰 #24 | Swords and Runes: The Dark Tower, Sole Goose (^)
🔰 #25 | Swords and Runes, Sole Goose (^)
🔰 #26 | CORGS Simulator, Burke /Files (^)
🔰 #27 | Eternal Prelude, Rustocrat (^)
🔰 #28 | The Paths of Bridewell, ZKIP (^)
🔰 #29 | Roguelore, Scardua (^)
🔰 #30 | Inherent Smile, Calima (^)
🔰 #31 | To the Ends of the Earth, RinRem01 (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
An Elf’s Tale, Bardsley (^)
Page Turner, Ferret Hall (^)
Shadow Animus, Chronicler of Legends (^)
Shokan Doro, Gonzalez (^)
📍 Other RPG Homebrews
The Adventures of Lex & Grim (^)
Dangeon (^)🔹
First Light’s Cry (^)
Monster Slayer (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box RPGs
Anguna: Scourge of the Goblin King
Black Box Challenge
Candelabra: Estoscerro
The Legends of Owlia
Mystic Origins
Quest Forge
Save the Kuin
Swords and Runes
Swords and Runes III
° Often stylized as “Steins;Gate” [sic].
Serialized Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Allison of Astra, Partridge (^)
Shooter / Run n’ Gun Rankings
🔰 #1 | Astro Ninja Man, Columbus Circle (^)
🔰 #2 | Star Keeper, 87 Arts (^)
🔰 #3 | Blade Buster, High Level Challenge (^)
🔰 #4 | Haradius Zero, Neodolphino (^)
🔰 #5 | Haratyler, Impact Soft (^)
🔰 #6 | NeMULEsis, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #7 | Aspect Star N, Nicole Express (^)
🔰 #8 | Mine Mayhem, FG Soft (^)
🔰 #9 | Godzilla: King of Monsters, FG Soft (^)
🔰 #10 | Sgt. Helmet: Training Day, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #11 | Copper Jacket, Monsoon Studios (^)
🔰 #12 | D’veel’ng, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #13 | Gold Guardian Gun Girl, GoodTune (^)
🔰 #14 | Cheril the Nine, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #15 | GunTneR, Langel (^)
🔰 #16 | The Rise of Amondus, Sly Dog (^)
🔰 #17 | Star Versus, Dust Mop (^)
🔰 #18 | Bat Lizard Bonanza, Vanderhoef (^)
🔰 #19 | Mega Meghan, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #20 | Sgt. Helmet: Commando, Mojon Twins (^)
🔰 #21 | Encuera Women, Mojon Twins (^)°
🔰 #22 | X-Horde, Caruso (^)🔹
🔰 #23 | Touhou Rououmu, Kyoske (^)
🔰 #24 | Project S.K.I.F.F., Chacon (^)
🔰 #25 | Steel Moons, Mazionach (^)
🔰 #26 | F-22, Inventor (^)
🔰 #27 | MultiDefender, Tvoybro (^)
🔰 #28 | Star Power, Nia Prene, # Shooter (^)
🔰 #29 | Vegetablets Go, Tulip House (^)
🔰 #30 | Rekt, FG Soft (^)
🔰 #31 | DABG, Hoffman (^)
🔰 #32 | Spook-o’-Tron, Sole Goose (^)
🔰 #33 | Mermay’s Den, Mihoshi (^)
🔰 #34 | Drunk Time Traveler’s Fiancée, 8BZ (^)
🔰 #35 | Troll Burner, New 8-Bit Heroes (^)
🔰 #36 | Thwaite, Yerrick (^)
🔰 #37 | Chrono Knight, Artix (^)
🔰 #38 | Sweethearts, Zhamul (^)
🔰 #39 | Spirit Impel, Passe Gaming (^)
🔰 #40 | Improbability Fighter, Scardua (^)
🔰 #41 | CYO, Nemesys (^)
🔰 #42 | Lunar Limit, Pubby (^)
🔰 #43 | T*Gun, Crisafulli (^)
🔰 #44 | Super PakPak, AOH Games (^)
🔰 #45 | Bandana, Most (^)
🔰 #46 | Zombie Night, Most (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
2600 A.D., CrazyGroupTrio (^)
Black Hole, Siudym (^)
Bloodfall, Ludos (^)
Dragon Feet, Crisafulli (^)
Drakaina, Claire / Pilo (^)
Galaxxon III, Rost & Co. (^)
Galaxy Hero, Siudym (^)
Hamburgers En Route to Switzerland, Read (^)🔹
Jupiter Scope 2, Nin-Kuuku (^)
Klepsydra, Drexegar (^)
Kubo 1 & 2, SJ Games (^)
Neotoxin, Snowbro (^)
Saturn Smash, FG Soft (^)
Solar Wars, Covell (^)
Space Soviets, FG Soft (^)
Spacy Shooty, Fraker (^)
Uchūsen, Nape Games (^)
Vehion, Livak (^)
War Boat, Timeline Games (^)
Wraith, Livak (^)
📍 Other Shooter / Run n’ Gun Homebrews
Auge
Axelay
8-Bit Xmas 2010: Jolly Joyriding
8-Bit Xmas 2012: Biplane Dogfight
8-Bit Xmas 2013: Santa’s Blasters
Brandon, You’re Going to Hell
Brilliant Pebbles
Final Blood (^)
Galaxy NES (^)
Halloween 2009
Happy Scrappy & the Haunted Mansion
Iconoclast (^)
Invaders Must Die
Little Flame
Meteor Guard 2 (^)
Meteor Swarm
NES Sample Balls
Orphea
Poronkusema
Slaughter (^)
S.T.I.N.G. (^)
Terminator (^)
Zack in Time
🎴 Complete-in-Box Shooter / Run n’ Gun Games
8-Bit Xmas 2010: Jolly Joyriding
8-Bit Xmas 2012: Biplane Dogfight
8-Bit Xmas 2013: Santa’s Blasters
Astro Ninja Man°°
Brandon, You’re Going to Hell
Candelabra: The Rise of Amondus
Copper Jacket
Ghoul Grind: Night of the Necromancer
Gold Guardian Gun Girl
Halloween 2009
Haradius Zero
Haratyler°°
Kubo 1 & 2
Lunar Limit
Rekt
Scramble
Sgt. Helmet: Training Day
Spirit Impel
Spook-o’-Tron
Star Keeper
Star Versus
Super PakPak
T*Gun
Uchūsen
° Encuera Women extends across three separately titled ROMs: Encuera Women in the Swamp; Encuera Women in the Desert; and Encuera Women on the Rooftops.
°° Available in Famicom edition only.
Simulation Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | 8-Bit Hero Trainer, LKN (^/^)°
🔰 #2 | Chippy, Fraker (^)
🔰 #3 | Happy Hour, Dinger & Orab (^/^)
🔰 #4 | Shifter, Bjorn (^)
🔰 #5 | Spooky Soccer, Dullahan Software (^)
🔰 #6 | FINnes, AGG 23 (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Chiptune Hell, Progressive Games (^)°°
Conway’s Game of Life, Grey (^)
Join Us, Aerage Games (^)°°
Music Toy, Yerrick (^)🔫
NES Calculator, Scardua (^)
NES Life, Nova Squirrel (^)
NES Life DX, Nova Squirrel (^)
Nintencat: The Parody, Bryant (^)
Oni No Hatago, Denkakudo (^)°°°
PCB Artist, Molloy (^)
Pet Baby, Nice Code (^)
RetroVision, retroUSB (^)
Silent Hunter, Nice Code (^)
° This game requires both a Power Pad and a Power Glove.
°° Only the first two “rooms” in this game have been completed (the “basement” and the “living room”). The remaining two rooms can be viewed but are not fully playable.
°°° A conversation/dating simulation game with text entirely in Japanese. An English patch or intermediate reading knowledge of Japanese is needed to play this homebrew.
Sports / Racing Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | The Arm Wrestling Classic, Fista Games (^)
🔰 #2 | Beyond the Pins, Hanley / Holland (^)°
🔰 #3 | Log Jammers, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #4 | Creepy Brawlers, Mega Cat (^)
🔰 #5 | Galf, Spoony Bard (^)
🔰 #6 | Amazon’s Training Road, Limited Run (^)
🔰 #7 | Amazon’s Running Diet, Ancient (^)
🔰 #8 | Atlantic Fishing Tournament, Nice Code (^)
🔰 #9 | Haku Goes Fishing, Haku (^)
🔰 #10 | Project D.A.R.T., CutterCross (^)
🔰 #11 | F-Theta, Neodolphino (^)🔹
🔰 #12 | 8bit Slicks, 8bit Dude (^)🔹
💠 Honorable Mentions
Basic Championship Wrestling, Dietrich (^)
Battle Pong, Bell (^)
Exciteduck, retroUSB (^)
F-FF, Pubby (^)
Fishing Challenge, Hanley (^)
Fling Ball, Nice Code (^)
HBC Phutball, Scardua (^)
Highway Racing, Alien Tech (^)
Kart Racer ‘86, Blackbird Dev (^)
Mr. Splash, Project F (^)
NESert Golfing, Smith (^)
Ninja Turtle Pong, Eskayelle (^)
Ninja Turtle Pong II, Eskayelle (^)
Ninja Turtle Pong III, Eskayelle (^)
Pedal to the Metal, Collectorvision (^)
Racing Fighter, Power Joy (^)
RC2 Rally, Good_Tune (^)
Rookie Egg Jugglers, Famicuber (^)
Rumblefest ‘89, Jurassic Sunset (^)
Skater, Logana (^)
Skiing, retroUSB (^)
Tennis, Nice Code (^)
📍 Other Sports / Racing Homebrews
Box & Wrestle (^)
Caged Fury
Soccer of the World (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Sports / Racing Games
8-Bit Xmas 2018: Xmas Skiing
8-Bit Xmas 2021: Exciteduck
Amazon’s Running Diet
Amazon’s Training Road
The Arm Wrestling Classic
Beyond the Pins
Creepy Brawlers
Galf
Log Jammers
Mr. Splash
RC2 Rally
° Offers a substantial Adventure game component as well as a bowling game.
Strategy Game Rankings
🔰 #1 | Armed for Battle, 1010 HOWE (^)
🔰 #2 | Dune 2: Sand Emperor, TI (^)
🔰 #3 | Tower Defense 1990, Lloyd (^)
🔰 #4 | Ranch Rangers, Anakrusis (^)
🔰 #5 | Against the Pirates, CoolBoy (^)°
🔰 #6 | RHDE: Furniture Fight, Yerrick (^)
🔰 #7 | Drow Tactics, Manjiro (^)
🔰 #8 | Galactic Ascension, Gerard (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Guardian 5, Maaskant (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Strategy Games
Armed for Battle
Galactic Ascension
Tower Defense 1990
° The title of this game has been mistranslated from Chinese, possibly as “Fighting Pirates” (erroneously transliterated as “Fated Pirate”). The correct title (“对抗海盗”) is Against the Pirates; the protagonist is in each stage fighting off hordes of marauders. Note that you input your ship’s movement in a very unusual way—via the Start button.
Tech Demo Rankings
🔰 #1 | Cowboy Bebop FMV, Pubby (^)
🔰 #2 | HEOH, Shiru (^) [video]
🔰 #3 | High Hopes, Aspekt (^) [video]
🔰 #4 | Bad Apple, Oyashiro (^) [video]
🔰 #5 | EEEAAAOOO, NK (^) [video]
💠 Honorable Mentions
Rotozoom, FG Soft (^)
Sayoonara, Covell (^)
📍 Other Tech Demo Homebrews
Super Stalin Bros. (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Tech Demos
Bad Apple
Utility Rankings
🔰 #1 | ConnectedNES, Weil (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
240P Test Suite, Yerrick (^)
Controller Test, Roatch (^)
Discord for NES, Grey (^)
DrunkenNES, Adams (^) 🅰️
ISS Real-Time Tracker, Grey (^)
Schmup Speed, Glover (^)
TapeDump, Covell (^)
TBAS Interpreter, Grey (^)
Twitch for NES, Grey (^)
Zap Ruder, Yerrick (^) 🔫
📍 Other Utility Homebrews
Brainf*ck Interpreter (^)
Power Glove DevKit
Social Media Bros.
Zapper / FPS Rankings
{Note: Games with a “🔫” icon after them require the use of an NES Zapper. The remaining games are first-person shooters (FPS) or Zapper games that can be played with a controller.}
🔰 #1 | Shark, Most (^)
🔰 #2 | Super Russian Roulette, Reitano (^) 🅰️🔫
🔰 #3 | Fruit Shinobi, Inkbox (^)🔫 🔹
💠 Honorable Mentions
Falling Tiles, Fraker (^)🔫
Messed Intentions, Sanchez-Arroyo / Iwaniec (^)°🔫
Panesian Power, retroUSB (^) 🅰️🔫
Russian Roulette, Intendon (^) 🅰️
Russian Roulette, Yerrick (^) 🅰️🔫
TYMKRS: The Rabbit Hole, Grey (^) 🔫
Zombie Zap, Bailey (^) 🔫
📍 Other Zapper Homebrews
Blastered Cats 1K (^) 🔫
Zap Ping 🔫
🎴 Complete-in-Box Zapper Games
Super Russian Roulette
° Requires the use of an Oculus Rift as well as an NES and NES Zapper. See the link following the game for an explanation of the game’s mechanics and synchronization.
📗 Famicom-Only Rankings
{Note: This section contains games only available as a Famicom cart. Famicom homebrews that have been made available as NES-compatible ROMs are ranked above by genre. Because of the difficulty in accessing these carts, the rankings below are only an approximation based on game descriptions, news articles, screenshots, longplays, reviews, and developer interviews. These games are not counted toward the RETRO Top 500, but are counted toward the total library of this archive. If or when any of these games are ported to the NES or become legally made ROMs, the game(s) in question will be moved to the RETRO Top 500 rankings, above.}
🔰 #1 | Cross-Strait Independence, ITG (^)°°°
🔰 #2 | Ilevan, Tulip House (^)
🔰 #3 | Hungry Ghost Night, ITG (^)
🔰 #4 | F-Θ (F-THETA), Little Sound (^) 🅰️
🔰 #5 | Utakata Synopsis, Little Sound (^) 🅰️
🔰 #6 | Dragon Boat Festival, ITG (^)
🔰 #7 | Chinese New Years Adventure, ITG (^)
🔰 #8 | Peace, Love, Trippy Club, ITG (^)
🔰 #9 | Nearly Eastern Story, Jiyugiga (^)
🔰 #10 | NES Rocky Theme, Habit Soft (^)
🔰 #11 | Pirate Pop OST, Dadako (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
DENDYCompo II, 8081 Netlabel (^)
📍 Other Famicon-Only Homebrews
Southern Taiwanese Haunted House (^)
Leopard Cat (^)
Piss the Fish (^)°°°°
📢 Forthcoming Famicom-Only Homebrews
Fighting HRD, Impact Soft (^)
HaraForce, Impact Soft
Hot Pot Runs, FC Gamer (^)
⚙️ Famicom-Only Ports Awaiting English Translation
Pokémon 4-in-1, Martian Electronics (^)
Pokémon Crystal, Mars (^)
Pokémon Diamond I, Jncota (^)
Pokémon Diamond II, Jncota (^)
Pokémon Gold, Mars (^)
Pokémon Leaf Green I, Hengge (^)
Pokémon Leaf Green II, Hengge (^)
Pokémon Leaf Green III, Hengge (^)
Pokémon Ruby I, Hengge (^)
Pokémon Ruby II, Hengge (^)
Pokémon Ruby III, Hengge (^)
Pokémon Sapphire, NJ (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Famicom-Only Games
Chinese News Years Adventure°
Cross-Strait Independence°/°°
Dragon Boat Festival°
F-Θ (F-THETA)°
Hungry Ghost Night°
Ilevan°
Peace, Love, Trippy Club°
Utakata Synopsis°
° Available in Famicom edition only.
°° You can watch some gameplay footage of this game at this link.
°°° This appears to be the same game as Never Say Die, whose website is at this link.
°°°° RETRO has not yet had the opportunity to review this Famicom homebrew.
Hack Rankings
{Note: There’s a fine line between the categories below, which—to be clear—are not arranged by value. Some gamers prefer hacks that are essentially new games, while others want hacks to be games they already love that have been significantly improved somehow. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to what a “hack” should achieve. Below, RETRO ranks hacks in its Top 20 on the basis of (a) their quality, cross-indexed with (b) how close they are to being original homebrews (the focus of this archive). Because of the difficulty of ranking hanks, the lists below also use numeric emojis to indicate how many experts of seventeen consulted—see the list below—ranked the hack in question as being among the best on the NES. Note that there are more than 1,000 NES hacks, so even being named by two or three experts is striking.}
Category A Hacks: Top 20 Original-Homebrew Equivalents
🔰 #1 | 9 | Mario Adventure (^)
🔰 #2 | 6 | Metroid: Rogue Dawn (^)
🔰 #3 | 5 | Super Mario Bros. 3mix (^)
🔰 #4 | 3 | Dragoon X Omega II (^)°
🔰 #5 | 4 | Deadpool (^)°
🔰 #6 | 4 | Mega Man in the Mushroom Kingdom (^)°°
🔰 #7 | 1 | The Legend of Iowa (^) 🅰️
🔰 #8 | 1 | Dragoon X Omega (^)°
🔰 #9 | 5 | The Legend of Zelda: Outlands (^)
🔰 #10 | 6 | Castlevania: The Holy Relics (^)
🔰 #11 | 4 | Extra Mario Bros. (^)°°
🔰 #12 | 6 | Castlevania: Chorus of Mysteries (^)
🔰 #13 | 3 | Beatles: Adventures in Pepperland (^)°
🔰 #14 | 3 | The Legend of Link (^)
🔰 #15 | 3 | Super Mario Bros. Unlimited Deluxe (^)
🔰 #16 | 3 | Super Mario Ultimate (^)°
🔰 #17 | 1 | Byte’s Adventure (^)°°
🔰 #18 | 2 | Legend of Zelda: Link’s Shadow (^)
🔰 #19 | 6 | Rockman 4: Minus Infinity (^)°°
🔰 #20 | 3 | Rockman 2: No Constancy (^)
💠 Category A Hacks: Original-Homebrew Equivalents Honorable Mentions
1 | Castlevania: Castlevania 5 Legacy
1 | The Legend of Zelda: The Trial of Courage
1 | Mega Man: Limbo Edition
1 | Pony Quest
1 | Puresabe Kirby’s Adventure
1 | Shin Zelda Densetsu Final
1 | Spaceweed (^)°
1 | TetrisGYM (^)
1 | Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 2
1 | Zelda II: Amida’s Curse
1 | Zelda II: Part 2
📘 🟥 Category B Hacks: Dramatic Variations of Existing Games
2 | Mega Man: The New Lands
2 | Rockman Claw
2 | Rockman Gaiden
2 | Super Mario Bros. Special
2 | Challenging Lolo
1 |Challenging Lolo 2
1 | Final Fantasy ++: World of Chaos
1 | Guardian Legend: Secret Edition
1 | Jackal 2
1 | Kirby’s Adventure: Star Rod Scuffle
1 | The Legend of Zelda: Winter Solstice
1 | Mega Man: Mega Mari
1 | Mega Man 4: Voyage
1 | Rockman 3: Burst Chaser
1 | Rockman 4: Burst Chaser x Airsliding
1 | Super Mario Bros. 2: Legend of the Blob
1 | Super Mario Bros. 3: Rainbow Realms 2
1 | Super Pitfall: 30th Anniversary Edition
📘 🟧 Category C Hacks: Dramatic Amendments to Existing Games
3 | Castlevania: Blood Moon
3 | Mega Man: Mega Man Reloaded
3 | Mega Man 2: Rockman CX
2 | Final Fantasy: Ultra Champion Edition
2 | The Legend of Zelda: Perils of Darkness
2 | Metroid Deluxe
2 | Metroid: Mother
1 | Adventure Island 3: The Lost Isles
1 | Castlevania: Overflow Darkness
1 | Castlevania II: Redaction
1 | The Legend of Zelda Randomizer
1 | Mega Man: Return of Wily
1 | Mega Man IV: Gadget Master
1 | Remix of Tiny Toons Adventures
1 | Rockman 2000
1 | Rockman EX
1 | Rush n’ Attack G
1 | Super Mario Bros. DX
1 | Super Mario Bros. 3: Chaos Control
1 | Zelda II: Redux
1 | Zelda II: Shadow of Night
📘 🟨 Category D Hacks: Primarily Cosmetic Alterations to Existing Games
3 | Mother: 25th Anniversary Edition
3 | Sonic the Hedgehog°
3 | Tecmo Super Bowl: Current NFL Season
2 | Duck Tales 2: New Journey
2 | Super Mario Fantasy Adventure°
1 | Adventures of Lolo: The Quest of Lala
1 | The All-New? Punch-Out!!!
1 | Batman: Assassin’s Creed
1 | Batman: Justice
1 | Bomber Mario°
1 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier°
1 | Cute Zelda
1 | Donkey Kong Redux
1 | Hyrule Warriors°
1 | Kirby’s Halloween Adventure
1 | The Legend of Banjo°°
1 | The Legend of Zelda DX
1 | Mega Man IV: Maverick Revenge
1 | Mega Man Redux
1 | Mega Man Remastered
1 | Metroid: Dark Alliance°
1 | Metroid: Incursion
1 | Monster Party: Parody World Revisited
1 | R-Type EX+°
1 | Royal Flush: Princess Side Story°
1 | Super Smash Bros.
1 | Rick & Morty (^)°
📘 🟩 Category E Hacks: Alterations to Make Existing Games Easier
1 | Batman: Easy Version
1 | Kid Icarus: Retold
1 | Mega Man Simplified
1 | Metroid + Saving
1 | Ninja Gaiden III: Restored
1 | Recca: Pure
1 | Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Easy)
1 | Swamp Thing: Easy
1 | Wolverine: Easy Version
📘 🟦 Category F Hacks: Expansions of One-Player Games to Co-Op Games
2 | Super Mario Bros.: 2P (2)
1 | Batman Bros: Co-Op (1)°
1 | Duck Tales 2: 2P (1)
1 | Mighty Final Fight: Ultimate Confrontation (1)
1 | New Ghostbusters II: 2P (1)
📘 🟪 Category G: The Overall Top 20 NES Hacks According to Experts
9 | Mario Adventure
6 | Castlevania: Chorus of Mysteries
6 | Castlevania: The Holy Relics
6 | Mega Man 4: Minus Infinity
6 | Metroid: Rogue Dawn
5 | The Legend of Zelda: Outlands
5 | Super Mario Bros. 3Mix
4 | Deadpool
4 | Extra Mario Bros.
4 | Mega Man in the Mushroom Kingdom
3 | The Beatles: Adventures in Pepperland
3 | Castlevania: Blood Moon
3 | Dragoon X Omega II
3 | The Legend of Link
3 | Mega Man Reloaded
3 | Mega Man 2: Rockman CX
3 | Mega Man 2: Rockman No Constancy
3 | Mother: 25th Anniversary Edition
3 | Sonic the Hedgehog
3 | Super Mario Bros. Unlimited Deluxe
3 | Super Mario Ultimate
3 | Tecmo Super Bowl: Current Season
🎴 Complete-in-Box Hacks°°°
Castlevania: The Holy Relics
Deadpool
The Legend of Link
The Legend of Zelda: Outlands
Mario Adventure
Mega Man 2: Rockman No Constancy
Metroid: Rogue Dawn
Shin Zelda Densetsu Final
Super Mario Bros. 3mix
Super Mario Bros.: Unlimited Deluxe
° The source material for these games is as follows: The Beatles: Adventures in Pepperland, Super Mario Bros. 2; Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Power Blade and Power Blade 2; Royal Flush: Princess Side Story, Super Mario Bros. 3; Super Smash Bros., Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu; Dragoon X Omega II, Final Fantasy; Super Mario Fantasy Adventure, Final Fantasy; Dragoon X Omega, Dragon Warrior; Hyrule Warriors, Gauntlet; R-Type X, Magic Dragon (Famicom); Metroid: Dark Alliance, Blaster Master; Deadpool, Ninja Gaiden; Sonic the Hedgehog, Somari; Street Fighter II, Street Fighter III (Famicom); Super Mario Ultimate, Super Mario Bros. 3; Bomber Mario, Bomberman and the Super Mario franchise; Batman Bros., Super Mario Bros. and the Batman franchise; Ricky & Morty, Alien Syndrome; Spaceweed, Section Z.
°° Extra Mario Bros. is a mash-up of Super Mario Bros. and Metroid; Mega Man in the Mushroom Kingdom is a mash-up of the Super Mario Bros. and Mega Man games; The Legend of Banjo is a mash-up of The Legend of Zelda and Banjo Kazooie; Byte’s Adventure mashes up many different franchises, from Super Mario Bros. to The Legend of Zelda to Mega Man (leaning most heavily on the last of these three series).
°°° Ranked and honorable mention games—“Category A” hacks, above—only.
Sources (17): Captain Jack (I, II); CBR; Denver Gamer (I, II); Fandom Spot; I Heart Una; The New Retro Show; PC Mag; Portal of Awesome; Recommended Games Wiki; Reddit; Requiem Homebrew; RETRO; Retro Dodo; RetroPie; RomHam; SNESdrunk; and Ultra Mega Blob Man (I, IV).
Port Rankings
{Note: This section ranks games that meet both of two criteria: (a) the game is an NES port of a game originally from a generation of game consoles preceding or succeeding the generation the NES is from (the third generation), and (b) the game is a non-simultaneous port, meaning it has not been been published in conjunction with many variations of the game intended for different consoles. So, for instance, an NES demake of a fourth- or subsequent-generation game, or an NES remake of a first-/second-generation game, would appear below; in contrast, an NES homebrew that is simultaneously/near-simultaneously being published by a publisher across a range of different-generation consoles would appear in the genre rankings, above.
The reason RETRO now offers a discrete ranking for ports is to be fair to these games—which are best compared to one another rather than non-port homebrews. Typically, games that are the subject of remakes or demakes are among history’s most beloved video games, making it hard to disentangle them from their original versions when ranking them alongside homebrews with no predecessor, historical subtext or existing cachet. By the same token, developing a port brings unique challenges with it that center on efforts to preserve the source material’s existing gameplay components. RETRO is a fan of ports, and for this and the preceding reasons thinks that they deserve their own discrete ranking in the RETRO Top 500 NES Homebrews ranking.
A home computer’s equivalent “generation” is determined by whether or not it was a part of the 8-bit generation of computing. Because some ports aren’t self-evidently ports, or originally appeared on rather obscure hardware, this section is necessarily a long-term work-in-progress. RETRO asks subscribers to comment below if a homebrew that should be in this section isn’t.}
🔰 #1 | Jim Power: Lost Dimension, Piko (^)
🔰 #2 | Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, Twin Eagles (^)
🔰 #3 | Street Fighter Alpha Zero, Hummer (^)
🔰 #4 | Diablo II, Shenzhen Nanjing (^)
🔰 #5 | Glider, retroUSB (^)
🔰 #6 | Pokémon Yellow, Shenzhen Nanjing (^)°
🔰 #7 | Pokémon Diamond, Jinkotai (^/^)°
🔰 #8 | Indivisible, Kasumi (^)
🔰 #9 | Resident Evil, Waixing (^)°°
🔰 #10 | Final Fantasy VII, Shenzhen Nanjing (^)°
🔰 #11 | Fearless, Pacnsac Games (^)°
🔰 #12 | Plants vs. Zombies, Nice Code (^)°
🔰 #13 | Earthworm Jim, Hummer (^)
🔰 #14 | Pac-Man: Championship Edition, Namco (^)
🔰 #15 | Tekken 2, JY (^)
🔰 #16 | Dark Seed, Yancheng (^)°°°
🔰 #17 | Bomb Sweeper, SnowBro (^)
🔰 #18 | Scramble, Hanley (^)
🔰 #19 | Super Donkey Kong 2, NT (^)
🔰 #20 | Donkey Kong 2: Jumpman Returns, Kulczycki (^)
🔰 #21 | Planet Smashers, Requiem Homebrew (^)
🔰 #22 | Pepsiman, Metro-Cross (^)
🔰 #23 | Ultimate Frogger Champion, Hanley (^)
🔰 #24 | Pitfall, Neverware (^)
🔰 #25 | Gaplus, M2 / Bandai Namco (^)
🔰 #26 | Gravitar, Requiem Homebrew (^)
🔰 #27 | Asteroids, Requiem Homebrew (^)
🔰 #28 | Centipede, Requiem Homebrew (^)
🔰 #29 | 99 Layers, Nagi-P Soft (^)
🔰 #30 | SplatooD, der Zauberer (^)
🔰 #31 | Bomberman 2002, Alien Tech (^)
🔰 #32 | Aerial Warfare, Nice Code (^)
🔰 #33 | Tortoises, FG Soft (^)
🔰 #34 | Angry Birds, Nice Code (^)
💠 Honorable Mentions
Adventure, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Air Sea Battle, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Battlezone, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Berzerk, Parisoft (^)
Boom!!!, Tokumaru (^)
Breakout, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Canyon Bomber, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Celeste, Rein Uses Lisp (^)🔹
Chelonian, Domeshtan (^)
Chu Chu Rocket, Dwedit (^)
Crunch, Domeshtan (^)
Desert Falcon, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Digits, Domeshtan (^)
E.T., Hanley (^)
Food Fight, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Frenzy, Decrescenzo (^)
Larry & the Long Look for a Luscious Lover, Hanley (^)
Lines, Saint Petersburg (^)
Megaman X: Age of Wily, Pacnsac (^)
Millipede, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Pocahontas 2, Super Game (^)
Prince of Persia 2, MKLIUKANG1 (^)
Saboteur, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Sky Diver, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Sneak n’ Peek, Hanley (^)
Solaris, retroUSB (^)
Sprintmaster, Requiem Homebrew (^)
Street Fighter II: Nostalgia Edition, Parisoft (^)
Tormentia, Domeshtan (^)
TheWit.nes, Dustmop (^)
Yars’ Revenge, Jenkins (^)
📍 Other Ports
Crystal Castles (^)
Eatfish (^)
Mouser II
Night Driver (^)
Warlords (^)
🎴 Complete-in-Box Ports
Adventure
Bomb Sweeper
Earthworm Jim
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial
Final Fantasy VII
Glider
Jim Power: Lost Dimension
Larry & the Long Look for a Luscious Lover
Pepsiman
Pokémon Yellow
Resident Evil°°
Scramble
Sneak n’ Peek
Solaris
Tortoises
Ultimate Frogger Champion
° English patch available online.
°° Sometimes known, in its NES-port form, as Bio Hazard.
°°° A patch is required to play this ROM in English. This patch is under development.
Other Reviewed Games
{Note: Homebrews whose title is followed by a “🎴” symbol exist as complete-in-box products.}
🔘 | 8-Bit Xmas 2008 🎴
🔘 | 8-Bit Xmas 2014: Killer Queen Arcade 🎴
🔘 | 8-Bit Xmas 2016: Xmas Pinball 🎴
🔘 | 8-Bit Xmas 2017: Anniversary Multicart 🎴
🔘 | 52
🔘 | 1007 Gifts°
🔘 | 1007 Hammers°
🔘 | A Small World
🔘 | Adventures of Tomley Kleene
🔘 | After Dark (^)
🔘 | Airboat Apocalypse
🔘 | Ambushed
🔘 | Astro Smash n’ Blast (^)🔹
🔘 | Astroid
🔘 | Attribute Zone
🔘 | Battleball
🔘 | Beat ‘em 🎴
🔘 | Betelgeuse
🔘 | Big City Sliding Blaster
🔘 | Bill World
🔘 | Birthday Cart
🔘 | Blurred Lines 2048
🔘 | Blusterer
🔘 | Bohpoli!
🔘 | Boing!
🔘 | Bomb Array
🔘 | Bomber
🔘 | Bomber 4k
🔘 | Box Game
🔘 | Brony Blaster
🔘 | Bsides
🔘 | Bust-a-Nut 🎴
🔘 | Button Logger (^)
🔘 | Candy Shop°°
🔘 | Cats
🔘 | Chasing Balls
🔘 | Code Master 🎴
🔘 | Commie Killer 🎴
🔘 | Computers Are Easy, Love Is Kind
🔘 | Connect 4
🔘 | Console Killer°°°🎴
🔘 | Convention Quest 🎴
🔘 | Cookie Clicker (^)
🔘 | Cornball C*cksuckers
🔘 | Crazy Bus
🔘 | Cursed Bushido
🔘 | The Cutting Room Floor (^)🔹
🔘 | d3ad_form4t (^)
🔘 | DeadlyNeuroEF (^)
🔘 | D*ck Drawing Simulator (^)🅰️
🔘 | Diffusion Chamber
🔘 | Dig Deeper (^)
🔘 | Dizzy: Melancholy of Existence
🔘 | Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyou (^)
🔘 | Drakaina
🔘 | Eat Sh*t (^)
🔘 | Electronic Sweet-N-Fun Fortune Teller 🎴
🔘 | Elusion of the Dead
🔘 | Fade 2 Black
🔘 | The Fateslayer
🔘 | Fighter F-8000
🔘 | Fire of Rebellion
🔘 | FizzBuzz
🔘 | Flappy Block
🔘 | Flashdroid (^)🔹
🔘 | Flight Minigames
🔘 | Flight of the Harbinger 🎴
🔘 | For the Birds VI
🔘 | Forgotten in Time
🔘 | Froggy 1k (^)
🔘 | Global Warming
🔘 | Go
🔘 | Grave Digger
🔘 | Gray Box
🔘 | Greedy Snake
🔘 | GSM
🔘 | Halloween 2015 Scare Cart 🎴
🔘 | Halloween 2016 Scare Cart 🎴
🔘 | Halloween 2016 Scare Cart: Party Edition
🔘 | Halloween 2017 Scare Cart 🎴
🔘 | Halloween 2017 Scare Cart: Party Edition 🎴
🔘 | Halloween 2018 Scare Cart
🔘 | Hammer Smack
🔘 | Hazard
🔘 | High Heels
🔘 | Horrible Mazes Adventure (^)
🔘 | Horror Hospital
🔘 | Hot Head Joe
🔘 | Hot Seat Harry
🔘 | Hunt or Run (^)
🔘 | I, Zilla
🔘 | Jelly Jam’d
🔘 | Juhannussauna 2016 🎴🅰️
🔘 | Lake Fever
🔘 | Larange Boy (^)🔹
🔘 | Libertango°°
🔘 | Lights Out
🔘 | Lil’ Digger
🔘 | Lil’ Digger 2
🔘 | Llamagade
🔘 | Love Machine
🔘 | Malaria
🔘 | Manhole
🔘 | March of the Minotaurs
🔘 | MashyMashy
🔘 | Memory
🔘 | Metal Warrior 4
🔘 | Meteor Guard
🔘 | Micro Knight: Noname (^)
🔘 | Midnight Jogger
🔘 | Minimal (^)
🔘 | Missing Lands
🔘 | Moon Magic
🔘 | Mr. Potato Head in PotatoLand
🔘 | MUSE
🔘 | Mustard
🔘 | NAGE Fundraiser Cart 2009
🔘 | NAGE Hunt February 2009 Prize Cart (^)
🔘 | Nature Clan: Island
🔘 | Nature Clan: Mirror Devil World
🔘 | NES Quine
🔘 | NES Raycaster
🔘 | NESert Bus
🔘 | Nesglovphone
🔘 | New Year 2011 (^)
🔘 | Ninja Slapper 🎴
🔘 | No Points
🔘 | Nothing Good Can Come of This
🔘 | Number Muncher
🔘 | NTSC Pattern Torture Test (^)
🔘 | Nyan Cart (^) 🎴
🔘 | Odyssey 1156
🔘 | The One with the Walls
🔘 | Ooze Redux 🎴
🔘 | Overclocked
🔘 | Pacstyle
🔘 | Paint or Draw
🔘 | Pas-sage (^)
🔘 | Platform Game (^)
🔘 | Pong 198X
🔘 | Pong 1k2p (^)
🔘 | Pong & Head Bounce
🔘 | Poti Poti Grufas (^)
🔘 | Prez
🔘 | Pung! Balls of Steel (^)
🔘 | Putt Putt
🔘 | Quordle (^)
🔘 | Rabbit & Egg (^)
🔘 | Random Insult Generator (^)🎴
🔘 | Reggie’s Radical Adventures 🎴
🔘 | R*tard Adventure
🔘 | RetroRGB Test
🔘 | Rick Roll’d (^)
🔘 | Roadkill
🔘 | Robotfindskitten
🔘 | Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Sbock 🎴
🔘 | ROM City Rampage
🔘 | Shaolin Squirrel
🔘 | ShootNES
🔘 | Simone Says
🔘 | Sitten Kitten
🔘 | Ski Pirates
🔘 | Slappin’ 🎴
🔘 | Slime Combine
🔘 | Snowball
🔘 | Soko Man
🔘 | Space Dude
🔘 | Space Fighter
🔘 | Space Punks
🔘 | Spacevania
🔘 | Specus
🔘 | Splash Rightnut
🔘 | Sprilo
🔘 | Squish: The Bouncing Cat Ball
🔘 | Stallar (^)
🔘 | Strange Brew Games Promo 2012
🔘 | Stuck in Castle Nessenstein (^)
🔘 | Studnia
🔘 | Super Floofy Sheepie
🔘 | Super Marxsky Comrades
🔘 | Super Roman
🔘 | Sweet Child o’ Mine°°
🔘 | Sweetie and the Carnage
🔘 | Target Blitz 1K (^)
🔘 | The Tao of 007
🔘 | Tarot (^)
🔘 | Thallasophobe
🔘 | That’s Whack
🔘 | Theremin (^)
🔘 | Tic-Tac-Two-P (^)
🔘 | Time Conquest (^)
🔘 | Tower (^)
🔘 | Tower to the Truth (^)
🔘 | Tracklayer
🔘 | Unknown Soldier (^)🔹
🔘 | Urban Acid Zombies
🔘 | Vector Run 🎴
🔘 | VGBS Gaming Podcast 🎴
🔘 | Want You Gone (Eternal GladNES)
🔘 | Whack-a-Mario (^)
🔘 | Who’s Cuter? (^)
° While this game is arguably a hack of 1007 Bolts, 1007 Bolts has so few gameplay components that sprite changes create what is here deemed a (slightly) distinct game.
°° These individual chiptune tracks by Norwegian programmer Snowbro might well make the RETRO Music rankings if compiled on a single ROM or cartridge.
°°° Do not insert this cartridge into any video game console, whether the NES or any other system that accepts NES cartridges. It is especially designed—as it informs you both on its box and in its manual—to fry video game consoles. This is not a joke: this cartridge is actually dangerous, and it constitutes a major fire hazard. If for any reason you choose to insert this cart into your NES to kill it, do not leave the NES and cart on and unattended, as a fire could start in your absence. RETRO does not endorse this cart or encourage its use—by anyone. It is listed here for the sake of creating a complete archive of NES homebrews, and for this reason only.
Ineligible Games
If there are NES games you expected to see in the rankings above but didn’t, it may be because they’re ineligible for inclusion in the RETRO Top 500 Rankings because they’re in one of four ineligible categories: localizations, prototypes, reproductions, or special (faux NES) editions.
Needless to say, being ineligible for the lists above in no way speaks ill of a game. But because NES titles are often wrongly included in NES2 listings, it’s important that RETRO distinguish between the two categories as explicitly as possible. Only those titles most commonly confused for NES2 games are listed below. To read RETRO’s ranking of all unreleased NES prototypes, see here. To read the RETRO ranking of all localized and localization-eligible NES games, see here. Please note that these two links do require a full RETRO subscription to access.
Note: None of the games listed below are included in the “total library size” of this archive, and they cannot be regarded as NES2 titles under even the broadest definition of the term.
Localizations
📕 | Adventure Island IV
📕 | Akira
📕 | Cocoran
📕 | Cosmo Police Galivan
📕 | Crisis Force
📕 | Chronicle of the Radia War
📕 | Earthbound
📕 | Final Fantasy II
📕 | Final Fantasy III
📕 | Flying Hero
📕 | Hello Kitty World
📕 | Holy Diver
📕 | Huge Insect
📕 | Kid Dracula
📕 | Recca
📕 | Samurai Pizza Cats
📕 | Sky Destroyer
📕 | Silva Saga
📕 | Sweet Home
Prototypes
📕 | The Adventures of Dr. Franken
📕 | Airball
📕 | Bashi Bazook: Morphoid Masher
📕 | Bio Force Ape
📕 | The California Raisins
📕 | Chase H.Q.
📕 | Cheetahmen II
📕 | Chip’s Challenge
📕 | Chuck Yeager’s Fighter Combat
📕 | CrossFire
📕 | Days of Thunder
📕 | Drac’s Night Out
📕 | Dreamworld Pogie
📕 | The Escape From Atlantis
📕 | Exploding Fist
📕 | Fighting Simulator World Champ
📕 | Free Fall
📕 | Happily Ever After
📕 | Happy Camper
📕 | Hard Drivin’
📕 | Hellraiser
📕 | HeroQuest
📕 | Hit the Ice
📕 | Hoppin’ Mad
📕 | Kung Fu II
📕 | Makai Island
📕 | Mike Ditka’s Big Play Football
📕 | Mystery World Dizzy
📕 | Panic! Dizzy
📕 | Pizza Pop!
📕 | Police Academy
📕 | Pyramids of Ra
📕 | Proto Dere
📕 | Robocop Versus The Terminator
📕 | Secret Ties
📕 | SimCity
📕 | Spy vs. Spy II: Island Caper
📕 | Squashed
📕 | Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
📕 | Sunman
📕 | Super Boogerman
📕 | Super Pitfall II
📕 | Time Diver Eon
📕 | UWC
📕 | War on Wheels
📕 | A Week of Garfield
📕 | Wonderland Dizzy
Reproductions
📕 | Aladdin
📕 | Altered Beast
📕 | Banana Prince
📕 | Battletoads
📕 | Battletoads & Double Dragon
📕 | A Boy and His Blob
📕 | Devil World
📕 | The Goonies
📕 | The Lion King
📕 | Magic Block
📕 | Magic Jewelry
📕 | Metal Storm
📕 | Moon Crystal
📕 | Mr. Gimmick
📕 | S.C.A.T.
📕 | Shadow of the Ninja
📕 | Space Harrier
📕 | Star Wars
📕 | Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
📕 | Ufouria
Special Editions
NES Product Sold By Independent Publisher
📕 | Data East All-Star Collection
NES Box or Cart with No Product Inside
📕 | Bonestorm°°
📕 | Mighty No. 9
📕 | River City Girls°°
📕 | Shovel Knight
Non-NES Products in NES Packaging
📕 | Castlevania: Anniversary Collection°
📕 | Infernax°
📕 | River City Girls°
° Castlevania: Anniversary Collection is a Nintendo Switch game in an NES box; Infernax is a PS4 game in an NES box; and River City Girls is a CD of that game’s soundtrack in an NES box. River City Girls also comes in an empty-NES-box edition.
°° Bonestorm is an NES box with no cart inside it, and River City Girls an NES cart with no game inside it.
This is a non-exhaustive watchlist of unreleased NES homebrews of interest to RETRO:
📢 | 8bit-Strike
📢 | Almost Hero 2
📢 | Api the Cat
📢 | At Doom’s Gate
📢 | Attack From Planet X
📢 | Bad Hare Day 🎴
📢 | Balls and Booty 🎴
📢 | Bat Hunt
📢 | Blades of the Lotus
📢 | Bleu Bleu’s Adventure (^)
📢 | Bloodbath (^)
📢 | Brizzle
📢 | Bullet Bros.
📢 | Casablanca by Night
📢 | Cat Zap
📢 | Choumiryou Party 🎴
📢 | CityZen (^)
📢 | Clean-Up Crew
📢 | Cobol’s Laboratory
📢 | Code Name: Silencer (^)
📢 | Courier
📢 | Crypt Stalker
📢 | Data Man
📢 | Deal or No Deal
📢 | Deep Blue (^)
📢 | Demptronic NFL Football
📢 | Diary of a Zomboni Driver
📢 | Epicade (^)
📢 | The Excitables
📢 | FamiJammers
📢 | Flap Happy and Fancy Free 🎴
📢 | Former Dawn
📢 | FX Unit Yuki
📢 | Gamer Quest 🎴
📢 | The Gift of Discernment
📢 | Gorodki
📢 | Gypsum & The Travelers
📢 | Halcyon
📢 | High Noon Knockout
📢 | Hyperdrive Soul
📢 | Icescape
📢 | In Cod We Trust
📢 | Isolation
📢 | Isometric Survival Horror
📢 | Isshokuta
📢 | Jester 🎴🅿️
📢 | John Wick
📢 | Journey to Cygnus
📢 | Knil
📢 | Knuckle Knight
📢 | Legacy of the Vagrant
📢 | Leon: Tactical Asshole Cat
📢 | Lumber-Jerks! (^)
📢 | Malasombra
📢 | The Meating 🎴
📢 | Mega Commando
📢 | Mutant Island
📢 | Mystic Searches 🎴
📢 | NES Breakout (^)
📢 | Nightmare Castle
📢 | Nosey Joe: The Power Mystery (^)
📢 | October Sinclair
📢 | Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls
📢 | Orange Island 🎴
📢 | Pelusa Saga: Kaji’s Trials 🔹
📢 | Pio Pow
📢 | P.O.W. 2
📢 | Powerglove
📢 | Project Chocoblip
📢 | Pyronaut
📢 | Rally Rally Rally
📢 | Ramses
📢 | Recknum: Fantasy of Dreams 🎴
📢 | Relic Hunter (^)
📢 | Retro Space Championship
📢 | Rival Swarms
📢 | Robo Factory
📢 | Sam’s Journey
📢 | Saru Kani Panic 🎴
📢 | Shadow of the Beast (^)
📢 | The Shapeshifter 1 & 2 🎴
📢 | Shark Pirate (^)
📢 | Skatemasta Tcheco
📢 | Skeler Boy 🎴
📢 | Snakey
📢 | Space Beats
📢 | Steel Legion
📢 | Street Fighter II: Deluxe (^)
📢 | Super Hiking League
📢 | Super Sunny World 🔹
📢 | Sushido°
📢 | Swamp Donkey
📢 | Sword of Ianna
📢 | Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death 🎴
📢 | Tamfor (^)
📢 | Tattoo Apprentice
📢 | Tcheco in the Castle of Lucio
📢 | Tomb Gator 3: The Search for Tomb Gator 2 (^)
📢 | The Trial of Kharzoid
📢 | Turtle Rescue: Storm Watch
📢 | Vice: Magic City Mayhem
📢 | Vigilante
📢 | Walter & Billy’s CONQuest
📢 | Walter Nate: Timeline Agent
📢 | Wartide 1990
📢 | Witch City
📢 | The Witch Guild
📢 | Wizz Scape
📢 | Wolfholm
📢 | You Are Error 🎴
📢 | Your Pizza Sir
📢 | Zombie Siege: Lumberjack Defense
📢 | Zombiejack°°
NES2 titles that have been released but cannot yet be tracked down for review:
📢 | Meathook Massacre (^)🎴
° An 8-bit demake of Sushido was released on Game Jolt in 2015. RETRO holds out hope that a ROM or cart of this demake will eventually be released by developer Yal.
°° In 2017, this game existed (with screenshots) as a collaboration of developer Shiru and Mega Cat Studios (MCS) that played like Germ Squashers or Yeah Yeah Beebiss II: a co-op-oriented single-screen 2D arcade shooter. All traces of this version of the game—which may be related to what is now Log Jammers (MCS)—have been erased from the internet. The game is listed here on the assumption it may one day reappear.
The NES Homebrew Hall of Fame
RETRO wants gamers to have as much of a voice in honoring NES homebrews here at RETRO as the author of this publication has. This was the impetus for the first-ever NES Homebrew Hall of Fame—an archive and ranking created by and for RETRO readers. Each year, a month-long open-voting period will lead to the induction of new games to the Hall of Fame. Below you’ll find the inaugural class of NES Homebrew Hall of Fame inductees and the current state of the voting for games not yet inducted.
Dozens of voters contributed ten-game ballots during the 2022 NES Homebrew Hall of Fame balloting, with an astonishing 88 discrete games receiving votes from voters.
*Hall of Fame Games*
✴️ | Böbl, Class of 2022
✴️ | Dungeons & Doomknights, Class of 2022
✴️ | Micro Mages, Class of 2022
✴️ | Spacegulls, Class of 2022
✴️ | Witch n’ Wiz, Class of 2022
*Current Vote Tallies*
(excludes the top five 2022 vote-getters, all of which have now been inducted into the Hall)
🔰 #1 | Doodle World
🔰 #2 | Space Raft
🔰 #3 | Adventures of Panzer
🔰 #3 | Anguna: Scourge of the Goblin King
🔰 #3 | Project Blue
🔰 #3 | Twin Dragons
🔰 #7 | Lizard
🔰 #7 | Nebs n’ Debs
🔰 #9 | Alter Ego
🔰 #9 | Astro Ninja Man
🔰 #9 | Blade Buster
🔰 #9 | Flea!
🔰 #9 | From Below
🔰 #9 | Super Bat Puncher
🔰 #15 | Ghoul Grind: Night of the Necromancer
🔰 #15 | NEScape!
🔰 #15 | Tapeworm Disco Puzzle
🔰 #15 | Trophy
🔰 #15 | Turtle Paint
🔰 #15 | Turtle Party
🔰 #21 | Alwa’s Awakening
🔰 #21 | Blazing Rangers
🔰 #21 | Candelabra: The Mad Wizard
🔰 #21 | Gold Guardian Gun Girl
🔰 #21 | Jay & Silent Bob: Mall Brawl
🔰 #21 | Kubo 3
🔰 #21 | L’Abbaye des Morts
🔰 #21 | Lawn Mower
🔰 #21 | Legend of Owlia
🔰 #21 | Light From Within
🔰 #21 | The Magnilo Case
🔰 #21 | Nalleland
🔰 #21 | Nim & Nom
🔰 #21 | Shera & the 40 Thieves
🔰 #21 | Slow Mole
🔰 #21 | Sparky
🔰 #21 | Streamerz
🔰 #21 | Street Fighter II: Nostalgia Edition (2)
🔰 #21 | Super Painter
🔰 #21 | Super Russian Roulette
🔰 #21 | Tower of Turmoil
🔰 #21 | Yeah Yeah Beebiss II
🔰 #21 | Zooming Secretary
🔰 #44 | Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure
🔰 #44 | Allison Of Astra
🔰 #44 | Almost Hero
🔰 #44 | Arlington Apple in An Interplanetary Pickle
🔰 #44 | Assimilate
🔰 #44 | Bare Metal
🔰 #44 | Battle Kid
🔰 #44 | Battle Kid 2
🔰 #44 | Bio Hazard*
🔰 #44 | Blob Quest
🔰 #44 | Candelabra: Estoscerro
🔰 #44 | Carpet Shark
🔰 #44 | Copper Jacket
🔰 #44 | Cowlitz Gamers’ Second Adventure
🔰 #44 | Creepy Brawlers
🔰 #44 | Dead Tomb
🔰 #44 | Fire and Rescue
🔰 #44 | Gruniożerca 3
🔰 #44 | Haunted: Halloween ‘86
🔰 #44 | The Incident
🔰 #44 | Kira Kira Star Night
🔰 #44 | Larry and the Long Look for a Luscious Lover
🔰 #44 | Mr. Splash
🔰 #44 | Nintencat: The Parody
🔰 #44 | Nothing Good Can Come of This
🔰 #44 | Paws of the West
🔰 #44 | Pinky
🔰 #44 | Plants vs. Zombies
🔰 #44 | Porun-chan no Onigiri Daisuki
🔰 #44 | Press Start Again
🔰 #44 | Quest Forge: By Order of Kings
🔰 #44 | SkateCat
🔰 #44 | Spook-O-Tron
🔰 #44 | Star Evil
🔰 #44 | Super Pakpak
🔰 #44 | Super Stalin Bros.
🔰 #44 | Super Tilt Bro.
🔰 #44 | Temple Dilemma
🔰 #44 | What Remains
🔰 #44 | Wolf Spirit
🔰 #44 | Wolfling
*An NES port of Resident Evil.
Do not forget Over Ob J オーバーオブジェ Famicom that is great
WHERE IS THE TOP GAMES OVERALL LIST GONE?