{"id":25507,"date":"2026-07-07T23:00:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T04:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/?page_id=25507"},"modified":"2026-07-07T23:00:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T04:00:58","slug":"nintendo-entertainment-system-review-console","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/nintendo-entertainment-system-review-console\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo Entertainment System Review (Console)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nintendo Entertainment System Review (Console)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
NES Game Catalog<\/a><\/td>Console Reviews<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Console that Changed Gaming<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~by tankMage (July 2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Score: 91\/100 (Excellent)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I was thinking to myself “What’s the most pompous, self-important thing I can do this month?”, so I came up with the ridiculous idea of reviewing the Nintendo Entertainment System. Sure, it’s a decades old system and no one asked what I think about it, but here it is anyway. In my defense, I’ve played a lot of NES over the years, so I at least know something about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to think the original Nintendo got way more credit than it deserved when I first started reviewing retro video games a decade ago. Then I played Atari, MSX, DOS, and games from other systems that predated or were contemporary to the NES and realized just how much the little-gray-box-that-could pushed gaming forward. That’s not to say what came before the NES lacks value, I’m just saying that home gaming scene was in its nascence before 1985. If you ever sat waiting for a floppy disk to load or played a watered down port of Pac Man, you know what I mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may see the NES as antiquated by modern standards, but its speed and agility allowed developers of the time to create some truly classic games. Just about every genre was defined or refined on the NES. Games like Super Mario Bros, Dragon Warrior, Tetris, and Double Dragon captivated audiences with levels of complexity that were previously unseen on home gaming consoles. Sure, arcade machines were faster and had better graphics and PCs had already seen the birth of intricate RPGs, such as Ultima, by the time the NES came on the scene, but this console often managed to beat them at their own game so to speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this day, the NES retains its magic and is still playable. If anything, its lack of load screens, updates, DLC, and other features that often annoy people like me, means it has something to offer that modern consoles do not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Nintendo were not saints by any means, even back in the 1980s. Anyone who has fought with its DRM chip to get an unlicensed game to run (hey, some of those Code Masters games were cool) dropped what was a small fortune at the time on a single cartridge, or bought a crap game stamped with the “Nintendo Seal of Quality” can tell you the old days were not a bed of roses. But, the good far outweighed the bad.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Castlevania<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Library of a Lifetime<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If not for its excellent lineup of games, the NES would have been quickly forgotten. Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda are probably the most notable titles to appear on this console, but there is a host of other games to enjoy. Some of these titles are classics like Castlevania, while others are more obscure footnotes in the history of the NES, like Little Samson. Regardless, the NES has a lineup of great games that goes into the triple digits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of digits, the North American library comes in somewhere around 760 official releases. Add in Japanese exclusives as well as unlicensed games and there are thousands of NES titles. To be fair, Japanese titles were not widely available in North America in the heyday of the NES nor were they very accessible for those who did not speak Japanese, but it’s pretty easy to play them nowadays thanks to emulators and things like the Everdrive. Some Famicom titles have even seen official localizations on Nintendo’s virtual consoles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NES is also arguably the best system for platformers. I’ve already mentioned the Super Mario Bros. games, but there were many more great platformers including relatively famous ones like Contra and Mega Man to lesser known titles such as Vice: Project Doom. There’s just something about the way they crafted platformers back then that was difficult for more advanced systems to replicate despite their superior graphics and speed. Players will also find a lot of admittedly basic, yet still fun, role playing, sports, puzzle, and adventure games. The NES even saw its fair share of Action RPGs, with Faxanadu, Willow, and Castlevania 2 being the most notable among them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wouldn’t be an honest review if I didn’t discuss all of the shovelware and well meaning, yet failed games which came out for this console. For every good game that hit the shelves bearing the Nintendo Seal of Quality, there is another title that’s complete garbage. Of course what qualifies as good or bad game is kind of subjective, but as someone who got stuck with games like Day Dreaming Davey and Athena one Christmas long ago, I can tell you there’s a line between good and bad that some games cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much is made of this era’s shovelware, because it was often extremely heinous, but I have to be a contrarian and point out that it was possible terrible games. Personally, I often asked for games that I knew were good after playing them at a friend’s house or renting them. There was also a burgeoning second hand market even in the 1980s. You could often buy used games from rental places, small retailers, and yardsales at greatly discounted prices. Of course paying less for a bad game doesn\u2019t alter the fact that it\u2019s bad, but it does soften the blow and made taking risks on unknown titles less daunting. For the most part, avoiding duds was ultimately a matter of being cautious, but I still have sympathy for people who were taken in by a licensed character or some really nice box art, especially since they were likely kids or parents who didn’t really know what they were buying.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dragon Warrior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

That slowdown…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NES was certainly a step up in terms of graphics compared to its predecessors, but it’s limitations were fairly obvious. A limited color pallette and a relatively low maximum sprite count placed a lot of restraints on developers. Early NES games are often very flat looking for lack of a better term. However, it wasn’t long before Nintendo capitalized on its cartridge format, which allowed for larger games, special graphics chips, and better sound. Consequently, the games released in 1987 were noticeably more sophisticated than the first wave of NES titles. Cartridges evolved so much that games made after 1990 often looked like they belonged to a new generation of console, which was probably wise since Nintendo had found themselves competing with Sega and NEC for the home market by 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing Nintendo couldn’t seem to get ahead of was the console’s modest CPU and RAM, which were certainly showing their age by the time more advanced carts started shipping. Slowdown was basically a fact of life for NES players and I am hard pressed to think of games that aren’t RPGs or point ‘n clicks, like Deja Vu, that didn’t show down when too much was happening on screen. Most RPGs failed the slowdown test come to think of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the NES’s limitations are contained to the actual console and it is easy for someone playing on a virtual console to forget about SMB3 or Castlevania 3’s sometimes atrocious framerates, but the problem was very real and nearly ubiquitous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gotta Love that NES Blooop<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NES music is iconic, with songs like “The Moon” from Duck Tales appearing in memes and indie devs attempting to replicate its 8-Bit style to this day. While I won’t go into technical details, I will say it’s amazing how composers were able to get so much out of so little. It’s also worth pointing out that the NES sounded better than a lot of other platforms back in ’85 and its prowess carried it into the 1990s. I’ll also go out on a limb here and say that the NES has some of the best game music of all time thanks to titles ranging from Mega Man to Legend of Zelda. Even relatively bad games often have decent music.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Mega Man 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Those controllers hurt like hell!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not sure what Nintendo was thinking when they made plastic blocks and called them controllers. They were very uncomfortable and easily swung around like flails by eight-year-olds, but hey, it was the Eighties! To be honest, I kind of like the NES controller. Sure, it’s about as ergonomic as a bed of nails, but the cord is long, the buttons are snappy, and you can’t beat its color scheme. They were also durable as tanks. After about 40 years they get mushy, but I’ve had to maintain my controllers less than the machine itself, which is crazy since they see a lot more physical wear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nintenduh just had to put that region lock chip in!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not going to lie, I have beef with modern day Nintendo, so I\u2019m biased when it comes to their bad practices, which stretch all the way back to their debut in North America. If there’s one thing that made life miserable for gamers back when the NES was king, it was the damn region lock chip. See, Nintenduh has always been obsessively concerned with DRM and they decided the US version of their new system needed a chip that would check the authenticity of the game cartridge before loading it. This was to keep pirated and unlicensed carts from playing on the front-loading NES consoles released in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I have to ask myself some questions, like was piracy that rampant in the 1980s? And “Did the chip stop the pirates?” As you may guess, the first answer is a \u201cmaybe\u201d and the second answer is “no.” I actually own a book from the late 80s that tells players how to order pirated games from places like Taiwan and I think it even has tips on how disable the lockout chip. I’ll have to dig it up and look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At any rate, Nintenduh’s lockout chip was merely an obstacle for pirates to overcome and a complete headache for western gamers. Brand new, officially licensed games often refused to load thanks to the chip. It would often take several tries to get a game to start, which was confusing and frustrating in an era where you often had to figure things out for yourself. People often blamed dust or lose pin connections, which did actually contribute to the issue, and kids often blew on the cartridges to coax them into working. Ironically, this fix often contributed to the problem since moisture from the human respiratory system isn’t exactly great for electronics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll be honest, I was annoyed when I learned years later that the region lock chip was the cause of so many problems. Imagine coming home from a long day of school and having to fiddle with your copy of Super Mario Bros 3 to get it to work. Yeah, I know it’s not a real problem, but it was a nuisance and people pay for these products. It’s not unreasonable to expect something you shelled out money for to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wouldn’t be fair to overlook the fact that Nintendo addressed this issue by leaving the lockout chip out of the top-loader NES that was released years later. They must have been well aware of the issue. It’s also easy to disable the chip of you’re willing to open the system up and clip the connections. I can’t advise doing so, because I don’t want anyone ruining their NES by taking my advice; still it’s an option if you know what you’re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t Forget the Peripherals!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally, the NES included two controllers (imagine getting two controllers with a console these days) and a light gun known as the Zapper. Nintendo, being ever eager to innovate for better or worse, decided to make a pretty heavily fleshed out line of extras to go with their system. These included the Power Pad (no, it\u2019s not a feminine hygiene product) R.O.B the robot, and the infamous Power Glove. As you can guess, the actual usefulness of these accessories varied greatly. I imagine some gamers really appreciated the NES Advantage controller, which was designed to mimic arcade controls, though I can\u2019t imagine playing the majority of NES games with one personally. The Zapper was also pretty good and had a library of games to go with it, though most of them were mediocre at best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, things like the Power Pad, which was basically an exercise mat that could control a handful of sports games, and the Power Glove were rather impractical. In fact, the Power Glove was probably the most heinous of all, because it made the huge promise of allowing players to control games with hand gestures while working about as well as one would expect from a piece of tech that was about twenty years ahead of its time. And by that I mean it barely worked at all. To rub salt in the wound, some of these expensive extras only worked with a few titles and were otherwise useless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the unlicensed peripherals, there are too many to mention, though the most famous of them was the Game Genie. I won\u2019t lie, I used the Genie to cheat my way through a few games when I was a kid. It was also fun to make up codes that did weird things and there are still websites dedicated to Game Genie codes to this day. But most importantly, the Game Genie managed to bypass that damn region lock chip and made it easier to get games to load. Take that Nintendo! Oh, wait, they sued the makers of Game Genie, because of course they would.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Super Mario Bros. 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Final Thoughts<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its technical issues and the outrageous cost of its games, the Nintendo Entertainment System is one of the greatest consoles of all time and we have it to thank for breathing new life into the home video game market. It’s one of the things that every gamer should try along, with the Atari and some of the classic home computers of the 1980s and 90s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people may have trouble enjoying the NES due to its limited graphical capabilities and often difficult games, while others may enjoy what it has to offer. Personally, I enjoy the aesthetics of old consoles and video games in general. While they may not be as realistic as modern games, they offer a lot more variety and challenge players to use their imaginations to fill in the gaps.So, if you’re looking to get into retro gaming, it’s not a bad idea to try the NES. While someone accustomed to modern gaming may struggle with the differences, the NES has a lot to offer those who are willing to try it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading this review of the Nintendo Entertainment System!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RetroMaggedon.com \u00a92026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nintendo Entertainment System Review (Console) NES Game Catalog Console Reviews The Console that Changed Gaming ~by tankMage (July 2026) Score: 91\/100 (Excellent) So I was thinking to myself “What’s the most pompous, self-important thing I can do this month?”, so I came up with the ridiculous idea of reviewing the Nintendo Entertainment System. Sure, it’s … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-25507","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25509,"href":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25507\/revisions\/25509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/retromaggedon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}