1985: Super Mario Brothers. (NES)

ROUNDING OUT THE LIST:

• Excitebike

• Duck Hunt

• Hogan’s Alley

Ask any Generation X-er about this game in the gaming markets most will tell you they played it (some even their parents with them) and have memories of getting their first Nintendo with it, probably with Duck Hunt (the awesome Action Set with the Nintendo Light Gun.) The music and sounds when heard today are universally recognized and sounds of our youth are brought back to us but perhaps even more than that…the game still holds up even today.

As for Mario’s nemesis and Ex? 32 years later Kong somehow became old and Kranky and Pauline became a singing mayor of New Dong City and looks just as good as ever and nobody even noticed the little jumping man was the same guy when he visited them. -PW

1986: GRADIUS (NES)

ROUNDING OUT THE LIST:

• Ghosts ‘n goblins

• 1942

• Donkey kong

Gradius was an arcade port ( yeah, all the games we have in the GOTY for ‘86 are) of a shump from 1985 that was brought over to the NES.

This game was hard, very hard for six - seven year old us but still fun and it had a two player couch co-op mode which was an excellent edition to the game. Remember when that was a thing kids?

Also this game was the first game to have the Konami code. Pause the game and enter the code (UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A START) and it activates all powerups except for Speed Up, Double, and Laser. -PW

1987: MIKE TYSON’S-PUNCH-OUT!! (NES)

ROUNDING OUT THE LIST:

• Castlevania

• The Legend of Zelda

• Mega Man

• Out Run (SEGA Master System)

One of the main reasons I wanted a NES was Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! Tyson was the king and this game at the time was worthy of him. Coming off the heels of the original Punch-Out arcade  Tyson had absolutely not to do with the game. He was just licensed to the game and programmed in as the last fighter. It could have been anyone, which after the licensing deal ends does happen with every release of the game.

BOOOOOOOO!!!!! To a generation of fans it will always be Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! Little Mac isn’t training with Doc and shattering Glass Joe’s jaw or slugging King Hippo in the gut, dogging the Great Tiger’s attacks or battling the great Piston Honda who somehow gets two matches just to fight some excuse for a boss who couldn’t tie Soda Popinki’s boots in Mr. Dream. No! We want, MIKE TYSON.

Why?

Because as the poets DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince said, “I think I can beat Mike Tyson.” -PW

1988: CONTRA (NES)

ROUNDING OUT THE LIST:

• RBI BASEBALL

• Double Dragon (SEGA Master System)

• Metal Gear

• Adventure Island

Konami wins! Konami wins! Remember when Konami was awesome? 1988 Konami wins game of the year with, yes, ANOTHER port but this time they did for the better. Normally the Arcade to home console port takes away since you have a major lack of power but they made up for it by making definitive version of the game.

Yes, the graphics took a hit but the argument could be made that they actually look better since the characters are not so tall and lanky (much like Double Dragon having a similar look) with the aspect ratio now fixed for the home instead of arcades.

And something that Scott loves this feature and it was important to a lot of us at the time couch co-op was back. And this is when history was made. As stated earlier his wasn't the first game to do it, but this was the game to make the Konami Code iconic.