Top 5 NES Games So Good And Cheap I'll Keep Them Forever

Some games are just so good, so nostalgic, and so (relatively) inexpensive, that - like a time capsule or childhood keepsake - I'll keep them long after the rest of my collection is gone.

Script (draft)

Even when I finally grow up and have a social life and kids and chores and other interests, and have zero time money or energy for video games, these five NES games are so good, so nostalgic and so... relatively kind of inexpensive that, for as long as I own an NES console, I will keep these games... and also many others, but I had to cut the list off somewhere.

1. Obviously Super Mario Bros 3, because it's the best 2D platformer and probably best NES game.
2. Tecmo Super Bowl, as this licensed football game is one of my most-played games of all time.
3. Legend of Zelda, but it was surprisingly close to Crystalis for a top-down action-adventures.
4. With apologies to my more-nostalgic Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy is a better common jrpg.
5. I really wanted a hilarious weirdo-wildcard, but when I actually sat down and played Ivan Ironman Stewart's Super Off-Road, I remembered that I hate the home port, so let's go with super-nostalgic brawler Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game.

I'll never actually grow up, there are at least 20 more games I think I'd want to keep for the same reasons, and retro game prices are crazy, so this list is worthless other than the joy I got from making it... so yes, totally worthless.

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But I'll also get joy from reading YOUR keep-forever NES games, so share your list with me, and thank you so much for being here and for any likes, subs, reviews, or whatever digital currency you can spare me. Thanks also to my partner Gamer's Outpost LLC for sharing all my content, check them out at GamersOutpostLLC.com or on Facebook. You take care, I'm going to go deliberate the price tag I would put on all my childhood nostalgia.

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You mean for the same price as Zelda I can get 5 Hydlides?!

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So for my full-video and podcast-format audiences, if you have not already left out of boredom, I hope you don't mind that I elaborate on the topic with a little post-skit rambling.

This is something I think about a lot, for all of my consoles really. As life goes on, situations and interests change, and I know there could come a time when I would want or need to part with my game collection. Overall, I have a pretty small collection very light on rare and valuable things, but I still enjoy thinking about, almost regardless of why I parted with the collection, which games I would keep for at least as long as I owned the appropriate console for them. 

For me it's heavily weighted on relatively low price and high quality, and to a lesser extent some x-factors like being particularly nostalgic or iconic to the system experience. I don't have a specific price cut-off or quantity - I just picked 5 for title appeal - it just goes off a subjective fluid feeling.

The NES for example, I've got the 5 games above for sure, but other games in contention or that I truly believe I would keep include a lot of the standard stuff you'd expect, like: Metroid; Tetris; the other Super Marios; Dragon Warrior; Punch-Out; Mega Man 2 and 3; RC Pro-Am; Gradius and Life Force; Guerrilla War; and a few of my favorite cheap sports games. Some of my maybe slightly more surprising picks would be like Clash at Demonhead; Dragon Spirit; Willow; and Wizards and Warriors, and maybe even the sequel Iron Sword with Fabio on the label.

So tell me about your keep-forever NES games. Can you whittle it down to a handful? Are your criteria different than mine? Is this even interesting as a topic? Let me know, I really do appreciate you being here, and I'll see you next time.