Introduction Donkey Kong Country was developed by Rare and published by Nintendo, released on the SNES in November 1994 as a platformer built around Rare’s then-groundbreaking use of pre-rendered 3D CGI models compressed down into detailed 2D sprites, giving the game a visual polish that stood out sharply from most of its contemporaries. Players control…
Introduction Little Nemo: The Dream Master was developed and published by Capcom, released on the NES in September 1990, loosely based on the 1989 animated film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, itself adapted from Winsor McCay’s pioneering early-1900s newspaper comic strip. Players guide young Nemo through a dreamlike platforming world, using handfuls of candy to…
Introduction Shadow of the Ninja, released in Japan as Kage, was developed and published by Natsume, released on the NES in 1990 as a fast-paced action platformer set in a dystopian near-future America under the rule of the tyrant Emperor Garuda. Players choose between two ninja protagonists, Hayate and Kaede, each armed with a sword…
Introduction Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom was developed and published by Tecmo, released on the NES in Japan in June 1991 and North America that August as the third and final entry in the original NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy. Ryu Hayabusa returns once more, now investigating the assassination of his father and…
Introduction Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos was developed and published by Tecmo, released on the NES in Japan in April 1990 and North America that May as the direct sequel to 1988’s Ninja Gaiden. Players once again control ninja Ryu Hayabusa, fighting through side-scrolling stages against the Jaquio’s forces after the villain…
Introduction Batman: The Video Game was developed and published by Sunsoft, released on the NES in 1989 as a tie-in to that year’s blockbuster Tim Burton-directed Batman film. Players control the Caped Crusader through a series of side-scrolling stages set in a shadowy, industrial version of Gotham City, using batarangs and a limited melee attack…
Introduction DuckTales was developed and published by Capcom, released on the NES in 1989 as a licensed adaptation of Disney’s popular animated series of the same name. Players control the wealthy adventurer Scrooge McDuck, using his signature cane both as a weapon to bounce on enemies pogo-stick style and as a tool to smash open…
Introduction Hudson’s Adventure Island was developed and published by Hudson Soft, released on the NES in 1988 as a loose adaptation of Sega’s 1986 arcade game Wonder Boy, reworked with an original cast and story after Hudson lost the rights to use Sega’s characters directly. Players control Master Higgins, a shirtless island adventurer racing left…
Introduction Elevator Action Returns was developed and published by Taito, released in Japanese arcades in 1994 as the sequel to the studio’s 1983 original, Elevator Action. Players once again control a spy infiltrating tall, multi-floor buildings, riding elevators and escalators between levels while shooting enemy agents, collecting secret documents from marked red doors, and avoiding…
Introduction Puzzle Bobble, released outside Japan as Bust-A-Move, was developed and published by Taito, released in arcades in 1994 as a spin-off built directly from the world of Bubble Bobble. Players aim and shoot colored bubbles from a cannon at the bottom of the screen up into a shrinking field of bubbles above, matching three…
Introduction Three Wonders, known in Japan as Wonder 3, was developed and published by Capcom on CPS-1 hardware, released in arcades in July 1991 as an unusual multi-game cabinet offering players a choice between three entirely different games on a single board. Midnight Wanderers: Quest for the Chariot is a fantasy action-platformer following a hobbit-like…
Introduction Bubble Bobble was developed and published by Taito, released in arcades in 1986 under the direction of Fukio “MTJ” Mihara. The game follows Bub and Bob, two friends transformed into bubble-blowing dragons, as they climb through 100 single-screen levels trying to rescue their girlfriends and reverse the curse turning them into monsters. Rather than…