Every Nintendo Switch Online NES Game Ranked

Sunsoft went bold with The Mystery of Atlantis in Japan and dubbed it “The game that surpassed Super Mario!!”. And, sure, it certainly has more levels than Super Mario Bros., but we’re not sure the company managed to achieve such lofty ambitions. Its jump mechanic doesn’t feel half as precise, and the strict timer can be a bit distracting. That said, there’s a strong sense of place with Mystery of Atlantis, and it’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of platformers in general.

Donkey Kong Jr. Math adds some arithmetic to the basic vine-swinging and platforming of Donkey Kong Jr. in a title that sucks all the fun out of both gaming and mathematics. It combines ‘education’ and ‘entertainment’ to make — you guessed it! — a terrible game. Think of the poor kid who got a launch NES console and this. There must have been at least one.

Don’t feel too sorry, though. Boxed versions of Donkey Kong Jr. Math are worth a pretty penny these days, so silver linings and all that. The title makes the game sound dreary, and it very much is, but at least it delivers on the promise of its name, and a unique, surprisingly fun two-player experience is this retro curio’s saving grace.

Previously available via Virtual Console, it’s technically playable on GameCube, too, as it’s one of the NES games included in the original Animal Crossing.

Certain entries in Nintendo’s ‘Black Box’ series have aged better than others and, unfortunately, Volleyball went off long ago. In fact, we’d go as far as to say it’s the worst of Nintendo’s early sports titles, providing only the very basics of the game in a rather unattractive package. We much prefer a round of Tennis when it comes to ball-based net sports, but we suppose you’ve got nothing to lose in firing up Volleyball for a match or two.

Another rather primitive take on a national sport, the ‘Black Box’ title Baseball is a slow-and-steady game that takes time to master, but persevere and you’ll find it to be a fun, if simple, experience – especially with a second player in tow. It’s more of a historical document at this point, but there’s fun to be had if you give it a chance.

The beautiful game has seen more than its fair share of digital iterations over the years. This quaint early effort won’t keep you occupied for long, but Soccer is an intriguing look into early sports titles on the system and worth firing up at least once.

When Urban Champion was released it would surely have been mediocre even for its time, but played in the modern era it’s painfully bad. It’s rubbish, and we’d rather take to the streets and pick random fights — which we’d in all likelihood lose — than play this again. However, there’s no arguing that as the first entry on a very short list of Nintendo fighting games, it’s a significant game in the company’s catalogue.

An isometic fantasy action-RPG published by EA, The Immortal might not be the NES classic that springs to mind, but it was generally well received when it released back in 1990. It dumps you in the Labyrinth of Eternity and charges you with searching the dungeon for your character’s tutor, Mordamir. On the way, you’ll inevitably have to battle beasties, cast spells and perform general wizard-y deeds.

City Connection didn’t look or feel particularly good back in the day, and time has not been kind to Jaleco’s city-hopping arcade port. With so many other options available in the NES library, getting behind the wheel of this one again isn’t recommended unless you’re determined to take every last NES title available for a quick test drive.

This is the game, originally programmed by HAL Laboratory’s Satoru Iwata, that was hidden in Switch’s firmware as a good luck charm for the system in 2017. Golf may not be the most exciting game on the NES, but it set the template for almost every video game version of the sport until Wii Sports arrived over two decades later.

Jaleco’s Ninja JaJaMaru-kun wasn’t released outside Japan until the arrival of the Virtual Console on Wii. The game takes place on a horizontal playing field with four storeys, between which are solid concrete floors and weak brick floors that you can break to jump through. It can get pretty dang hard later in the game, so if you’re one of those people who can’t even beat the first stage of (Super) Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, this one probably isn’t for you.

You’ll need to bring a second player along to get the most out of Kung-Fu Heroes. It’s a simple martial arts game but the combination of decent moves, power-ups and the tactical options that come from having two players controlling Jacky and Lee makes this one worth a go, especially if you’re a fan of kung-fu fighting.

If you can stomach the odd controls and steep difficulty, you may well be able to mine some fun from Clu Clu Land, and as a ‘Black Box’ title it’s certainly got curio kudos. That said, this arcade puzzle-style maze game is unlikely to keep your attention unless you’re a real Nintendo enthusiast or scholar. We’d be tempted to leave our Rupee collecting to Link.

Rudimentary is perhaps too kind an adjective to describe Tennis, although we’ve always had a soft spot for it (and its Game Boy brethren, in particular). It’s an extremely simple take on the sport, and not one that’ll keep you occupied for any length of time, but at the very least it’s fun to see how far we’ve come.

Game? Why not. Set? Hmm, perhaps. Match? Nah, you’re alright. Let’s play Mario Bros. 3.

Daiva Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia is, as the title suggests, the sixth entry in a seven-part series. As the only game released on the Famicom, it was apparently simplified considerably when compared to the previous games to account for Nintendo’s younger audience. Nevertheless, the game displayed a pretty sophisticated visual design and certainly posed a challenge despite the apparent nerfing. Heck, weren’t all NES games challenging to some degree…?