For quite a long time, video games have been an integral part of home entertainment for people all over the world. But people do not always play their favorite games, sitting on the couch. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, arcade machines, representing a large vertical body, with a monitor and a control panel for a gameplay, were very popular in the world. Later, on the market began to appear home game consoles from companies such as Atari, Fairchild, Coleco. But such a format of entertainment has not found much success and in 1983 the console market suffered a state of crisis.
The Japanese company Nintendo has made a bold decision to release its home console on the domestic market. The game system called Famicom has not gained much demand because of the problems with the failures. Later, the Corporation decides to restart the product after some changes and the console wins recognition of the Japanese audience, becoming the best-selling in the region. In 1985, Nintendo gets to the American market and then to the European, called the Nintendo System (NES), gaining tremendous success with users. The decline of the game console in North America occurred in 1995 (the peak of popularity of 16-bit consoles), the sales decreased and the company had to stop the production. Following The American branch, in 2003 in Japan the release of this console ended too.
The gameplay, which was offered by gaming consoles in the 1980s and 1990s, nowadays can easily bring out a usual gamer. Image resolution 256*240 pixels, not any realistic 3D graphics, no possibility of saving during the passage of the game and primitive, by today’s standards, gameplay did not stop fans to relax after school or work for the passage of your favorite arcade game. Gamepads could not boast of a large number of buttons, and especially the haptic feedback or a wireless connection. Absolutely not ergonomic and almost rectangular control console was placed on a total of two gaming keys, d-pad, buttons START and SELECT.
Now these consoles and games are in demand, probably only collectors of game consoles and fans of arcade games of the past. For a simple user who caught home game NES systems they cause a warm feeling of nostalgia and pleasant memories of the evenings with friends in front of the TV. Now the original version of the NES practically is impossible to find on the secondary market and the company tried to revive The sensational Nintendo console November 11, 2016, called Nintendo. Production lasted only 6 months, after which the American branch announced the cessation of work on the game system. However, later NintendoofJapan announced the restart of the console in 2018.
The generation of game consoles of the 1980s and 1990s played a big role in shaping the industry and gave us a huge number of games. Some of them marked the beginning of the current projects, which have gained great popularity among modern users. Lets recall the most memorable games that live in our hearts for many years, which gave us the Nintendo Entertainmentsystem.

SuperMarioBros (1985)

It is necessary to start with the game which is known almost by everyone, one way or another connected with the world of video games. It’s about a game that tells the story of two brothers plumbers from Italy. The protagonist of the world «SuperMarioBros», familiar to users since 1981, after the release of arcade machines «DonkeyKong». The character is presented in the role of the main character Jumpman, who was saving the Princess. Later, in 1985, a unique project «SuperMarioBros» appeared on the shelves.
The game was a bright platformer, where the main character had to save Princess Peach from the clutches of his worst enemy Bowser. The player had to go through eight worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom, with 4 levels in each. Passage of the game is accompanied by a change of location. To start, you just run on the ground, then have to go down to the mine and swim under the water, the third level will send you to jump on the giant mushrooms hanging in the air, and finally you should walk through the long-awaited castle.
On the hero’s way there are various obstacles in the form of precipices, enemies and pipes with flowers-piranhas. During the passage, the player can find a variety of bonuses to slightly simplify this passage: Super mushroom, which allows you to become a great Mario; Star gives the hero invulnerability for a short time and the ability to kill the enemy with one touch; Fire flower makes it possible to kill the enemy at a distance with a fireball; Mushroom life awards you one extra life. All bonuses are hidden in blocks with a question mark or invisible blocks that Mario breaks with a punch. During the passage on the way will come across coins, giving points. The game provides the opportunity to play with a partner, at this point his brother Luigi joins the main character.
SuperMarioBros laid the Foundation for the development of the plot for the subsequent games in the series. Then the game dedicated to the brothers earned a huge audience, and the third part of the famous series received the title of the best-selling game, which allowed to get to the pages of the Guinness book of records. A total of 17.2 million copies were sold.

Contra (1988)

In the late 1980s, the possibility of cooperative playthrough was especially appreciated. A great representative of such entertainment was the game Contra. In 1987, the game visited arcade machines and only in 1988 the company Konami released a version ported to the game console NES. This port took a place of honor among the hundreds of the best games of all time.
The plot of the game is typical for the fighters of that time. In the distant future after the fall of a meteorite on the planet Earth there is a terrorist group RedFalcon, located on the island. In opposition to the terrorists on the territory of the enemy base, two marines arrive: BillRizer and LanceBean. Soldiers must fight back the enemy and save the world from genocide. During the passage of the game, the main characters will find out that the organization RedFalcon are alien invaders. The goal of the game is to destroy the alien base and the source of their lives.
The game has a very eventful gameplay and pleasant graphics. The player has five different types of weapons to kill the enemies, coming from the different sides. At the end of each of the eight levels, the player is expected to fight with the boss. It is noteworthy that in this game users play the levels from a third person, which were very rare in these games.
It is worth noting that for different countries was produced its own version of the game. The original Japanese version could boast of an improved graphics and animation also players could notice the fall of snow and leaves fluttering in the wind. American version of the game has a slight change of plot with replacing the meteorite to a spaceship, also the action moved to an earlier time and the events of the game moved to South America. In Europe, the game was called Probotector and human models were replaced by robots. It was made because of the ban in force on the territory of European countries, limiting violence in the games.

Battle City (1985)

BattleCity was an another iconic game from the company NAMCO. Just like the previous two games, firstly it visited arcade machines in 1980 in the face of TankBattalion, and then the very NES in 1985.
The playing field of battle represented by a maze of various obstacles — bushes, concrete and brick walls — opens before the player. Your goal is to defeat the army of tanks of the enemies appearing on top of the screen and trying to destroy your base. There could be only four opponents at the same time on the map, and you must destroy twenty pieces of enemy equipment to win. Developers allowed to share the joy of the game with a partner. In order to facilitate the passage of the player, from some of the tanksis falling various bonuses: a star, raising the rank of your tank; a helmet, allowing to become invulnerable; a ship, through which you can pass through the water; a clock, stopping enemy’s tanks; a grenade which explodes all enemy’s tanks on the playing field. Also on the field there are not only conventional tanks, but also improved — rapid-fire, with higher speed and more durable.
The plot of the game is completely absent. After all 35 levels, the player is invited to go through BattleCity from the beginning, but at a heavier level of difficulty, in which opponents are generated much faster.
It is worth noting that the game has an Easter egg from the developer and a built-in level editor.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle II: The arcade game (1990)

Animated series about the adventures of teenage mutant Ninja Turtles in 1987 has become very popular among young people. Based on the plot of the cartoon, the developer Konami releases the game of the same name.
The game is implemented either a single-mode passage or cooperative. At the very beginning of the game you have to choose between four characters: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael. Fundamental differences in the gameplay should not be expected. Changing the game character during the passage is not provided. During the progress through the seven levels, users will have to fight with a lot of different opponents, already known to all on the animated series. At the end of each stage, you are waited for by the final boss armed with various blows and movements.

Battletoads (1991)

Following the successful entry of TeenageMutantNinjaTurtle into the market, the developers from the British company Rare release a beat’emup game about combat toads «Battletoads».
During the plot of the game Rush, Pimple and Zitz go to accompany the Princess to her home planet. During the walk of Princess Angelica and Pimple, the Dark Queen captured them and took them to her ship «Gargantua» and went to the planet world of Ragnarok. The remaining fighting toads Zitz and Rush, led by Professor Bird, go to the planet of the Dark Queen to save their friends.
The platformer is presented by thirteen levels in which toads have to destroy opponents melee, using super attacks, and overcome various obstacles. The gameplay in the game is very diverse, despite the genre. Players have to dodge obstacles on a motorcycle, climb the ropes and swim under the water, also there are a kind of a race downhill with the enemy. For the fans who likes to speed up the passage of games, the developers have provided several hidden portals that send combat frogs to several levels ahead. You can play alone or with a partner.
The game received a huge number of rave reviews from users and critics thankfully to the variety made by the developers and excellent graphics. It is noteworthy that this game is one of the most difficult games on the console NES — and not only on this console. Due to the high difficulty of the game, the developers who released the ported versions to other platforms were forced to simplify the game. The game also got into the list of hundreds of the best games of all time.

DuckHunt (1984)

The lovers of arcade games will undoubtedly remember a simulator of the hunter on ducks that came to the NES console thankfully to the team NintendoR&D1. A similar game entered the market in 1969, on arcade machines from SEGA. These games should not be confused, because it was a machine with automatic wooden ducks and instead of a gun the player was armed with a gun. Later, the home console version of the Nintendo Entertainmentsystem (1985) and Famicom (1984) appeared on the market.
Armed with a light pistol, the player must perform a single task: to make a hit in the duck with three rounds. The developer offers several options for the game: a mode with one duck, a mode with two ducks, a mode of shooting at flying saucers. During the game, on the screen you see a hunting dog that makes ducks rise into the air. If you make a mistake or just do not shoot, the dog starts to laugh at you, but if you win, your companion leans out of the grass with ducks in his paws, indicating the victory. It is worth saying that many players were eager to be able to shoot a hunting dog because of her laughter. The developers gave them such an opportunity with the game on the arcade booths. From hitting the dog did not suffer, but simply reported that he’s hurt and it’s better to shoot the ducks. The plot of the game is missing, the player just shoots at the plates or birds, for 99 levels.
The game was the second highest selling game among all NES games, with 28 million copies sold. Towards the end of 1980-ies, Nintendo made an arcade machine DuckHunt with two screens to enable users to compete between each other.

The Legend of Zelda(1986)

Another project, which marked the beginning of one of the longest series of games, visited the console from Nintendo in 1986. The team that created SuperMarioBros took part in the development.
In the story of the game the main character named Link seeks to save Princess Zelda, kidnapped by Ganon. The game character travels through the fantasy world of Hyrule, trying to find the parts of a magical artifact with which he will be able to defeat the protagonist of the story.
The gameplay in the game is based on solving various puzzles and fighting with opponents. A role-playing component of the game allows the user to change the characteristics of the weapon and the main character. Through a big opened world are scattered a variety of useful items, secrets, and eight parts of the artifact Triforce wisdom. Near each component of the artifact there is a boss to the player with whom you want to join the fight to obtain the necessary object. During the game some gems are falling to Link that serve as a currency in the world of Hyrule and they can be exchanged at the merchants for various items. Also in the game there are several bonuses that fall after the death of opponents: a clock, stopping the enemies; a heart, increasing the level of power; a fairy, fully restoring the health of the hero. After finishing the game opens the passage with other mazes, changed location of game items and stronger opponents.
The game has gained a great success among fans of this genre. The Legend of Zelda got into the Guinness Book of records as the biggest series of games in action-adventure genre. Zelda is located on the first place in the list of «The best games of all time» in the magazine Game Informer. In 2017 Nintendo Switch released the last part of the series, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Prince of Persia (1989)

The game, which marked the beginning of another series of games, loved by the players around the world, entered the market in 1989 for a huge number of devices. This project acts in the genre of platforming and offers to the gamers their favorite plot «saving the Princess.»
The villain Jafar hoping to take the Princess as his wife, holds her hostage. The Princess’ beloved is thrown into a dungeon from which you have to escape for not letting the vizier to make his plan.
For the passage of the game is allocated only one hour. During this time the Prince needs to get out of prison overcoming various obstacles. In Prince of Persia is presented a large number of puzzles and traps. Also on the Prince’s way there are the guards from the dungeon. The Prince has no choice of weapon, at the first level is hidden the only blade. Opponents kill the Prince with a single blow, so you have to fight with extreme caution. The strength of the enemies increases as you progress through the game. At the end of the game you will fight with Jafar.
The game had excellent graphics for that time and the movements of the main character were considered very realistic. In 2012 Ubisoft released a reissue of the iconic platformer for mobile devices with many new elements, more beautiful graphics and other graphics engine.

Final Fantasy (1987)

FinalFantasy is a game that played a role in the formation of the JRPG genre. The developer is the company Square.Co, currently known as SquareEnix.
The plot tells us about the game world, where there are several stones that control the elements of water, air, fire and earth. At some point, the power of the stones fades and the world is hit by various cataclysms. According to an ancient legend four warriors of light must come and save the world from the threat defeating the four guards of chaos.
The world of Final Fantasy is divided into three major continents inhabited by representatives of different races, from mermaids to robots. A huge number of non-player characters, detailed dialogues, excellent music and game graphics, allowed to surpass the predecessor of FinalFantasy in the face of DragonQuest.
Here, the player is given the opportunity to choose character classes: Mage, Warrior, Monk and Thief. As you progress, you need to defeat enemies in turn-based battles. For a victory the characters gain experience which increases the level and characteristics. In the game world there are various large cities in which it is possible to interact with traders. Thankfully to the trading system, gamers can sell old things, buy new equipment and various items. Also the movement of vehicles (boat, ship and flying ship) is implemented in the game. All of this helps to explore a huge game world.
The game with a detailed storyline and pumping system did not leave indifferent millions of connoisseurs of the genre JRPG. The developers for many years pleased fans with new series of favorite franchise and participated in the creation of animated films about the universe of FinalFantasy. The last game of the series, at the moment, is FinalFantasyXV (2016-2018).
Undoubtedly, there were much more remarkable games on the console NES. Here are described the most popular projects that have left a mark in history and in the hearts of the gamers all around the world.