by Tzvi Ference

Created on: July 03, 2007

I used to play a lot of video games back in the glory days of the classic 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. I'm still of the opinion that the average NES game is far superior to anything that has been produced subsequently. This is partially due to the fact that I am terrible at those "first person shooter" games like Halo and Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, but it's also partially due to the fact that I don't really have time for video games anymore. I can't remember that last time I actually turned on one of my video game systems.

I always used to get a few video games for Christmas. My mom was a pro at landing the most popular titles of the season for me, even going so far as to allegedly bribe the Toys R Us workers on occasion. For this I am eternally grateful. I may suck at modern video games, but I was an absolute stud at the old NES (by which I mean I was a giant nerd). I could beat Mike Tyson with my eyes closed (it's not as hard as it sounds, he follows the same routine every time you fight him), I played Ikari Warriors all the way though even though it had a bug that would make you become randomly trapped forever, and my fingers were fast enough to play Track and Field to the point that the score reset. In short, I spent way too much time on the stupid thing, which makes me especially qualified to pick out the best games ever made.

I won't restrict the following list just to the NES, even though the NES was truly great. That would ignore the whole Madden series, arcade games, etc. So, without further ado, here are the 10 best video games in history (if history ends in the year 2000, with the Playstation, which it does).

10. Contra (NES)

I bet I've played Contra through to the end about 1000 times, sometimes with the code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, select (for 2 players) start), and sometimes without. Contra has a great plot. Fierce aliens have invaded the Earth's most inhospitable regions, and the government has dispatched two commandos without shirts or automatic weapons to fight off this threat. Fortunately the Aliens have apparently stashed superior weapons in helpful boxes throughout their territory, which allows you some chance of survival.

Contra moved from a 2D side scroller, to a first person shooter seamlessly, although it is worth pointing out that one of your enemies in the first person portion of the game does jumping splits across the screen. This may be the reason that the aliens were ultimately unsuccessful.

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