The Definitive 101 Most Popular NES Games
This is a really good one with little room for change. It's a truly definitive list of the top 100 NES games. It includes sales numbers from the entire first quarter of 2017, and only one unlicensed game makes the cut (Gauntlet)
These games are purely the most popular games by sheer sales alone on eBay in Q1 2017.
What surprises you guys on this data? For me it's Paperboy, I knew it was a popular game, but I didn't think it's top 25 popular.
Sales Data credit to: GameValueNow.com
These games are purely the most popular games by sheer sales alone on eBay in Q1 2017.
What surprises you guys on this data? For me it's Paperboy, I knew it was a popular game, but I didn't think it's top 25 popular.
Sales Data credit to: GameValueNow.com
- Merged Super Mario Bros., SMB/DH, and SMB/DH/WCTM into one title.
- Merged Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! and Punch-Out!! into one title.
- Merged Donkey Kong Classics, Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Jr. into one title.
- Merged Gauntlet Unlicensed and Gauntlet Licensed into one title.
| Rank | Sales | Title |
| 1 | 1561 | Super Mario Bros. (+ SMB/DH & SMB/DH/WCTM) |
| 2 | 1113 | Super Mario Bros. 3 |
| 3 | 1061 | Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (+ Punch-Out!!) |
| 4 | 992 | Legend of Zelda |
| 5 | 763 | Super Mario Bros. 2 |
| 6 | 695 | Contra |
| 7 | 541 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| 8 | 479 | Metroid |
| 9 | 468 | Donkey Kong Classics (+ DK & DK Jr.) |
| 10 | 452 | Tetris |
| 11 | 449 | Excitebike |
| 12 | 440 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game |
| 13 | 422 | Tecmo Super Bowl |
| 14 | 381 | Paperboy |
| 15 | 379 | Castlevania |
| 16 | 366 | DuckTales, Disney's |
| 17 | 362 | Tecmo Bowl |
| 18 | 359 | Mega Man 2 |
| 19 | 356 | Final Fantasy |
| 20 | 343 | Zelda II: The Adventure of Link |
| 21 | 340 | Bubble Bobble |
| 22 | 338 | Dr. Mario |
| 23 | 333 | Ninja Gaiden |
| 24 | 327 | Mega Man 3 |
| 25 | 307 | R.C. Pro-Am |
| 26 | 303 | Battletoads |
| 27 | 302 | Super C |
| 28 | 299 | Double Dragon |
| 29 | 283 | Kung Fu |
| 30 | 283 | Batman: The Video Game |
| 31 | 265 | Friday the 13th |
| 32 | 260 | Castlevania II: Simon's Quest |
| 33 | 258 | Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse |
| 34 | 250 | Kirby's Adventure |
| 35 | 247 | Dragon Warrior |
| 36 | 239 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project |
| 37 | 233 | Kid Icarus |
| 38 | 230 | Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Disney's |
| 39 | 227 | Double Dragon II: The Revenge |
| 40 | 197 | Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos |
| 41 | 194 | Rampage |
| 194 | Rad Racer | |
| 43 | 184 | Blaster Master |
| 44 | 182 | Blades of Steel |
| 45 | 182 | Bionic Commando |
| 46 | 181 | Top Gun |
| 47 | 180 | Adventure Island |
| 48 | 176 | River City Ransom |
| 176 | Mega Man 4 | |
| 50 | 175 | Simpsons: Bart Vs. the Space Mutants |
| 51 | 165 | Little Nemo: The Dream Master |
| 52 | 164 | Jackal |
| 53 | 163 | Galaga: Demons of Death |
| 54 | 160 | Mega Man 6 |
| 55 | 159 | Metal Gear |
| 159 | BurgerTime | |
| 57 | 158 | Mega Man |
| 58 | 157 | Pro Wrestling |
| 59 | 156 | Rygar |
| 60 | 152 | Mario Bros., The Original |
| 152 | Gauntlet [Unlicensed] (+ Licensed) | |
| 62 | 151 | Double Dribble |
| 63 | 148 | Marble Madness |
| 148 | Jaws | |
| 65 | 144 | Maniac Mansion |
| 66 | 138 | Little Mermaid, Disney's |
| 138 | Golf | |
| 68 | 135 | Life Force |
| 135 | Hogan's Alley | |
| 135 | Crystalis | |
| 71 | 133 | Q*bert |
| 133 | Ice Hockey | |
| 133 | Faxanadu | |
| 74 | 132 | Star Tropics |
| 75 | 131 | Gradius |
| 76 | 126 | Gun.Smoke |
| 126 | Bad Dudes | |
| 78 | 125 | Duck Hunt |
| 125 | Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones | |
| 125 | 1942 | |
| 81 | 119 | Yoshi |
| 82 | 118 | Baseball Stars |
| 83 | 117 | Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road |
| 84 | 116 | Darkwing Duck, Disney's |
| 116 | California Games | |
| 86 | 115 | Wizards & Warriors |
| 115 | Ghostbusters | |
| 88 | 114 | Fester's Quest |
| 114 | Back to the Future | |
| 90 | 113 | Tiny Toon Adventures |
| 91 | 112 | T & C Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage |
| 112 | Skate or Die | |
| 112 | A Nightmare on Elm Street | |
| 94 | 111 | Shadowgate |
| 111 | Mickey Mousecapade | |
| 111 | Commando | |
| 97 | 109 | Super Dodge Ball |
| 109 | Guardian Legend | |
| 99 | 108 | Monster Party |
| 108 | Monopoly | |
| 101 | 107 | Mega Man 5 |
Comments
Simon's Quest higher than Drac's Curse...yeesh
It doesn't make them the best games, just the most frequent selling. It surprises me that Metroid is a top 10 title and Mega Man doesn't show up until the 18th spot. Probably has a lot to do with rarity there, Metroid is more readily available even though MM is probably more popular.
I like to think of the word "sales" as a synonym for popularity, so it's certainly the most popular 101 games. In terms of being the actual best games, at a glance I somewhat agree with the list but it'll obviously exclude stuff like Little Samson, Bubble Bobble 2, Duck Tales 2, given the limited amount of sales. I wouldn't say those examples are "top" but they're certainly somewhere in the running for the top 100 spot.
I chose the Q1 period on purpose, and I might consider expanding to doing an entire year just to be a little more solid. Gotta wait until 2018 for that data though, I love GVN, but there are some spikes here and there that make me think there are some minor data holes that'll skew results (notably May-June '16, and Nov-Dec '16)
A bigger and better breakdown will be included in the book project that I'm doing. A lot of these lists I make will be actually.
I'm surprised there's enough SMB solos out there for it to be that high. I always thought that 80-90% of SMBs were on multicarts.
I'd imagine given the nature of the game and GameValueNow, that the solo SMB is contaminated with a lot of SMB/DH and SMB/DH/WCTM, I don't see how it's possible to filter it out unless Rick is doing it manually, or running image recognition software, or his algorithm is just really that good...
I think its interesting to see sales, compared to rarity and fun. Batman is really fun and really common, yet its all the way up at number 30? Jaws makes it at number 65, not far off from Life Force at 71. Life Force is way more fun than Jaws, both are pretty common, why are so many people buying Jaws?
jaws is cheaper?
I think its interesting to see sales, compared to rarity and fun. Batman is really fun and really common, yet its all the way up at number 30? Jaws makes it at number 65, not far off from Life Force at 71. Life Force is way more fun than Jaws, both are pretty common, why are so many people buying Jaws?
jaws is cheaper?
yeah by like 5 dollars I know its not all for playing purposes, but I just find it interesting that the 2 games are so close on the list. I always figuered Jaws would be something you wait on to get in a bulk lot, where life force youd buy on its own because you really wanted to play it anyway.
I think its interesting to see sales, compared to rarity and fun. Batman is really fun and really common, yet its all the way up at number 30? Jaws makes it at number 65, not far off from Life Force at 71. Life Force is way more fun than Jaws, both are pretty common, why are so many people buying Jaws?
jaws is cheaper?
yeah by like 5 dollars I know its not all for playing purposes, but I just find it interesting that the 2 games are so close on the list. I always figuered Jaws would be something you wait on to get in a bulk lot, where life force youd buy on its own because you really wanted to play it anyway.
I'm actually watching a copy of jaws on eBay
I think its interesting to see sales, compared to rarity and fun. Batman is really fun and really common, yet its all the way up at number 30? Jaws makes it at number 65, not far off from Life Force at 71. Life Force is way more fun than Jaws, both are pretty common, why are so many people buying Jaws?
jaws is cheaper?
yeah by like 5 dollars I know its not all for playing purposes, but I just find it interesting that the 2 games are so close on the list. I always figuered Jaws would be something you wait on to get in a bulk lot, where life force youd buy on its own because you really wanted to play it anyway.
I'm actually watching a copy of jaws on eBay
haha funny enough, I sold a lot of loose to focus on CIB. These are two of the first games that I got when I started again
Didnt even realize when I made the comparision
I think its interesting to see sales, compared to rarity and fun. Batman is really fun and really common, yet its all the way up at number 30? Jaws makes it at number 65, not far off from Life Force at 71. Life Force is way more fun than Jaws, both are pretty common, why are so many people buying Jaws?
jaws is cheaper?
yeah by like 5 dollars I know its not all for playing purposes, but I just find it interesting that the 2 games are so close on the list. I always figuered Jaws would be something you wait on to get in a bulk lot, where life force youd buy on its own because you really wanted to play it anyway.
I'm actually watching a copy of jaws on eBay
haha funny enough, I sold a lot of loose to focus on CIB. These are two of the first games that I got when I started again
Didnt even realize when I made the comparision
jelous of your lone ranger cib!
I'm surprised there's enough SMB solos out there for it to be that high. I always thought that 80-90% of SMBs were on multicarts.
I'd imagine given the nature of the game and GameValueNow, that the solo SMB is contaminated with a lot of SMB/DH and SMB/DH/WCTM, I don't see how it's possible to filter it out unless Rick is doing it manually, or running image recognition software, or his algorithm is just really that good...
By crackie, I bet that's it!
Nice to see MM3 isn't too far behind MM2.........Suuuuuuuuuch a better game.
Simon's Quest higher than Drac's Curse...yeesh
Probably the cost factor there. Castlevania III isn't expensive but when compared to Simons Quest, most people would probably assume that they're similar enough and it's cheaper
Originally posted by: Foochie776
Originally posted by: TheToxieRules
Nice to see MM3 isn't too far behind MM2.........Suuuuuuuuuch a better game.
Simon's Quest higher than Drac's Curse...yeesh
Probably the cost factor there. Castlevania III isn't expensive but when compared to Simons Quest, most people would probably assume that they're similar enough and it's cheaper
Yeah and that is what I figured too.
Nice list. Thanks for sharing. Id love to see the rest of the list, 102 - end.
You're just gonna have to buy the book then!
I'll PM you the list when I get a chance.
I'm surprised there's enough SMB solos out there for it to be that high. I always thought that 80-90% of SMBs were on multicarts.
I'd imagine given the nature of the game and GameValueNow, that the solo SMB is contaminated with a lot of SMB/DH and SMB/DH/WCTM, I don't see how it's possible to filter it out unless Rick is doing it manually, or running image recognition software, or his algorithm is just really that good...
That could be the case with Gauntlet beiing the only unlicensed game on the list, since there are licensed Tengen Gauntlets too.
Also how the hell California games made it in there?!
California Games was insanely popular. It was in the collection of just about everyone I knew back in the day. I can imagine a bunch of people buying it to get back into it.
Also, solo SMB was a pack-in game for the Control Deck set. A lot of people got that set prior to the Action Set and SMB/DH dropping. So I imagine a lot of them are around.
Also, I'm more surprised by what is not on that list. Where the fuck is RBI Baseball? Where is IronSword? Battle of Olympus?
Also how the hell California games made it in there?!
California Games was insanely popular. It was in the collection of just about everyone I knew back in the day. I can imagine a bunch of people buying it to get back into it.
Also, solo SMB was a pack-in game for the Control Deck set. A lot of people got that set prior to the Action Set and SMB/DH dropping. So I imagine a lot of them are around.
This is true. Califonia games was huge back in the heyday of NES, like you said everyone I knew had that game too. I guess if it doesn't get pimped out hard by the youtube frauds then nobody knows about it these days.
Also how the hell California games made it in there?!
California Games was insanely popular. It was in the collection of just about everyone I knew back in the day. I can imagine a bunch of people buying it to get back into it.
Also, solo SMB was a pack-in game for the Control Deck set. A lot of people got that set prior to the Action Set and SMB/DH dropping. So I imagine a lot of them are around.
This is true. Califonia games was huge back in the heyday of NES, like you said everyone I knew had that game too. I guess if it doesn't get pimped out hard by the youtube frauds then nobody knows about it these days.
I don't know if everyone I knew had it, but I certainly did!
I'm surprised there's enough SMB solos out there for it to be that high. I always thought that 80-90% of SMBs were on multicarts.
I'd imagine given the nature of the game and GameValueNow, that the solo SMB is contaminated with a lot of SMB/DH and SMB/DH/WCTM, I don't see how it's possible to filter it out unless Rick is doing it manually, or running image recognition software, or his algorithm is just really that good...
By crackie, I bet that's it!
Great stuff Joseph!
I just did a quick, query on the database to see how well we have been keeping out listings with duck hunt and world class track meet. Turns out we had 3 copies of SMB/DH and and 2 copies of SMB/DH/WCTM that infiltrated the list. So 347 is the correct number for Super Mario Bros. Still keeps it at number 20 though.
Originally posted by: JosephLeo
Originally posted by: XYZ
Nice list. Thanks for sharing. Id love to see the rest of the list, 102 - end.
You're just gonna have to buy the book then!
I'll PM you the list when I get a chance.
ditto!