NES
NES Games
The Nintendo Entertainment System is where modern console gaming began. Browse our collection of classic NES games and play them free in your browser, no downloads or emulator setup required: legendary platformers like Super Mario Bros. 3, adventures like The Legend of Zelda and notoriously tough action games like Ninja Gaiden.
Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Capcom's 1990 Disney platformer with two-player co-op and crate-throwing action. Play free in your browser.
Wario’s Woods
Nintendo's 1994 puzzle game, the last Mario-universe title and last NES game Nintendo itself released. Play free in your browser.
Road Fighter
Konami's 1984 arcade racer, ported to NES in 1985 — dodge traffic, manage fuel, beat the clock. Play free in your browser.
Jackal
Konami's 1986 arcade run-and-gun, ported to NES in 1988 with expanded stages. Play free in your browser.
Battletoads & Double Dragon
Rare's 1993 beat-'em-up crossover, uniting the Battletoads and Double Dragon casts. Play free in your browser.
Adventures of Lolo 3
HAL Laboratory's puzzle game, the last Lolo entry released stateside. Play free in your browser.
Adventures of Lolo 2
HAL Laboratory's 1990 NES puzzle sequel, continuing the Japanese Eggerland series. Play free in your browser.
Baseball Stars
SNK's 1989 NES baseball game, the first sports title on the console with create-a-player and battery saves. Play free in your browser.
Pac-Mania
Sculptured Software's 1990 NES port of Namco's isometric 1987 arcade original, published by Tengen. Play free in your browser.
Shatterhand
Natsume's Dec. 1991 cybernetic-fist action game, published by Jaleco. Play free in your browser.
Rad Racer
Square's 1987 racer, famous for its included 3D anaglyph glasses mode. Play free in your browser.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Koei's NES strategy adaptation of the Chinese historical novel, commanding a warlord toward unifying the empire. Play free in your browser.
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse
Konami's 1989 Castlevania prequel, with three swappable companions and branching paths. Play free in your browser.
Mega Man
Capcom's Dec. 1987 series debut, introducing the boss weapon-stealing mechanic across six Robot Masters. Play free in your browser.
Blaster Master
Sunsoft's Nov. 1988 run-and-gun, alternating tank exploration and on-foot platforming across a Metroid-like map. Play free in your browser.
DuckTales
Capcom's 1989 licensed platformer, built around Scrooge McDuck's pogo-cane bounce across five non-linear stages. Play free in your browser.
Bomberman
Hudson Soft's 1989 NES release, the original maze-bombing template the whole Bomberman series is built on. Play free in your browser.
Mega Man 3
Capcom's 1990 sequel, introducing Rush, Proto Man, and the slide move. Play free in your browser.
Mega Man 4
Capcom's 1991 sequel, introducing the Mega Buster's charge shot and Dr. Cossack. Play free in your browser.
Final Fantasy
Square's 1987 RPG directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, launching one of gaming's longest-running franchises. Play free in your browser.
Dragon Warrior
Enix's 1986 RPG (Dragon Quest in Japan), credited with establishing the console RPG genre. Play free in your browser.
Gradius
Konami's 1986 NES conversion of its arcade shoot-'em-up, with a gauge-based power-up system. Play free in your browser.
Excitebike
Nintendo's 1984 motocross racer with an engine-heat gauge and built-in track editor. Play free in your browser.
Ice Climber
Nintendo's 1985 platformer starring Popo and Nana, later of Super Smash Bros. fame. Play free in your browser.
Metal Gear
Konami's 1987 stealth-action game directed by Hideo Kojima, one of the earliest stealth titles. Play free in your browser.
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
Konami's 1987 sequel, an open exploration departure from the original's linear stages. Play free in your browser.
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Tecmo's 1990 sequel continuing Ryu Hayabusa's story with expanded moveset and cutscenes. Play free in your browser.
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Nintendo's 1987 sequel, a side-scrolling action-platformer departure from the original's top-down design. Play free in your browser.
Super Mario Bros
The 1985 pack-in title that helped relaunch the North American console market, and the platformer most others since have been measured against. Play free in your browser.
Duck Hunt
The 1984 NES Zapper showcase where you shoot ducks out of the sky while a dog judges your aim. Play free in your browser.
Kid Icarus
The 1986 Greek-mythology action platformer starring the angel Pit, from the same team behind Metroid. Play free in your browser.
Double Dragon
The 1988 NES port of the arcade beat-'em-up that helped define the genre, with an added competitive Duel mode. Play free in your browser.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Konami's notoriously difficult 1989 NES beat-'em-up starring all four Turtles. Play free in your browser.
Metroid
Nintendo's 1986 NES classic that started the Metroid series and the Metroidvania genre. Play free in your browser.
Mega Man 2
Capcom's 1988 NES classic with eight Robot Masters and a legendary soundtrack. Play free in your browser.
Contra
Konami's 1987 run-and-gun classic with two-player co-op and the famous Spread Gun. Play free in your browser.
Castlevania
Konami's 1986 NES gothic platformer that started the Castlevania series. Play free in your browser.
Kirby’s Adventure
HAL's 1993 NES platformer that introduced Kirby's Copy Ability. Play free in your browser.
Punch-Out!!
Nintendo's 1987 NES boxing classic starring Little Mac. Play free in your browser.
Battletoads
Rare's 1991 NES action game, famous for the Turbo Tunnel and its brutal difficulty. Play free in your browser.
Ninja Gaiden
Tecmo's 1988 NES ninja classic with cinematic cutscenes and tough challenge. Play free in your browser.
The Legend of Zelda
Nintendo's 1986 NES adventure that started the Zelda series. Play free in your browser.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Nintendo's 1988 NES platformer masterpiece with flying Mario and eight worlds. Play free in your browser.
robotfindskitten
A 2014 NES port by Damian Yerrick of the 1997 Zen simulation robotfindskitten, with two-player support. Free to redistribute, no download required.
Zap Ruder
A 2012 NES Zapper light-gun test suite by Damian Yerrick, including the playable two-player game ZapPing. Free to redistribute, no download required.
RHDE: Furniture Fight
A 2011 NES real-time strategy game by Damian Yerrick, billed as a breaking-and-entering simulator. Free to redistribute, no download required.
Thwaite
A 2011 NES missile-defense game by Damian Yerrick, inspired by Missile Command. Free software (GPLv3), no download required.
Concentration Room
A 2010 NES card-matching game by Damian Yerrick, playable free in your browser. Free software (GPLv3), no download required.
About NES games
Nintendo launched the console in Japan in 1983 as the Family Computer (Famicom), then brought it to North America in 1985 as the NES. It arrived just after the 1983 video game crash had wiped out the home console market, and its strict quality control, built around the 10NES lockout chip, helped rebuild consumer trust. The system went on to sell over 60 million units worldwide.
The NES library defined many genres that still exist today. Metroid and Castlevania laid the groundwork for exploration-based action games, Mega Man 2 perfected the pick-your-stage formula, and Contra became the template for co-op run-and-guns. Capcom's licensed games like DuckTales showed that tie-ins could be excellent, while Punch-Out!!, Kirby's Adventure and Battletoads pushed the 8-bit hardware further than anyone expected.
The NES is also still alive as a homebrew platform: independent developers continue to release new games for its 8-bit hardware decades after Nintendo stopped making it. Some of those rights-cleared titles run on our own self-hosted EmulatorJS player.