What settles this game apart from the other racing games? Atmosphere. You can drive with only the sound of your engine, maybe turn on the radio. It's such a simple addition but it adds a lot to the game's charm. Otherwise, it's your usual simple yet tough NES game.
I've always been bad at it though. Oh well!

GOTY every year baby.
Okay, to be honest, I feel like if this didn't have Mario plastered on the cover, this game would had been overlooked. It's fun, and visually it's really good, but it doesn't hit the same as the other Mario games.

A single playthrough is enough to see why people always talk about this one. It's really good. The music is great, you can do the game in whatever order you see fit, the difficulty is well balanced but I can't lie, there's a few sections that are gonna make you groan. The wall defense system, man....

There aren't a lot of games that let you shoot birds with a shotgun as a controller, but when it comes to that genre, Duck Hunt's the king. If you ever get to replay this with a family member or something, plug a second controller, you can control the duck. Go, now, and do a little trolling.

I still replay this game once in a while. It's hard, and because of that you'll pretty much mostly follow the same level order, but you can still technically do the game in the order you want. The music doesn't hit as much as its sequel, but it's worth checking out.

Great graphics, replayability, lot of content, good difficulty, very good music, saving.. this, to me, is the very best the NES can offer. It's still so worth replaying in 2024. Gotta mention there's framerate issues, though, but it's no big deal. If it bothers you, check out the 3DS version.

Shame that some of the games don't launch, who knows, they might secretly be the next GOTY.

Feels weird ay? Not that it's a bad game, but most people know there's an entire level lacking. If you want the full experience, check out the arcade version-- and if you really like the NES version, play the 3DS special edition where they added the factory level! Anyway, really short, but still fun.

Okay, it's legit so cool that this game has a level editor. It's fun, simple and still really funny to fall over. Sadly, you won't get much out of this game after the first 10 minutes. Still worth looking back on though!

On one hand, the few songs are lovely, the game looks good and powering up through the game is really rewarding. On the other hand, basic things like healing is plagued with grinding and it's another one of those games you can't finish with a map. You need to get in the right mindset to go through this one, tbh.

I'm divided on this game. It's honestly one of my favorite but I can't pretend it's even close to an easy game. It's definitively less cryptic than it's predecessor, and once you master every hurdle the game throws at you, it feels insanely good. Odds are you won't, though, and I can't blame you for that.
Also, there's towns now! And the temple theme is a BANGER

Truth is, you can't approach this like a normal game. Get a guide, a manual. There's a really cute one you can find online. If you do that, I can promise it'll be a magical adventure. Otherwise, it's practically impossible.

This game is full of content, and going through it with someone is a blast, even if they start raging in the Ice World (i'm talking about you, Jake). I think replaying this on original hardware can be a bit tough as there's no saving system, which tbh suuucks.

Mario's like an universal language everyone can understand. Replaying this with the old man was really fun. I gotta say that everyone going on and on about "Mario games are easy" never finished this one-- easy to learn, hard to master.

It's simple fun, straight to the action, but you need to unplug the "Mario" part of your brain. Most people I played with took a bit of time to figure out you're not supposed to jump on the enemy, but under them.