One of the rarest and most accomplished games on NES. Breathtaking visuals, varied mechanics, top-flight soundtrack. Released right at end of console life. A discreet and precious masterpiece.
Your verdict
Category
Action1 player7+
Description
Action platformer featuring Little Samson battling the Black Knight demon's forces with his magical bell. Published by Taito, released in the USA in 1992. Little Samson in side-scrolling view with bell, bow, kunai and mace depending on context, impressive bosses and very high quality NES visuals. A late-hardware NES masterpiece.
Little Samson review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
A hidden NES treasure, the music deploys melodic themes of rare beauty and variety, cut for the four heroes with distinct powers. Each level breathes a heroic adventure carried by polished, rousing compositions. This sonic triumph, long confidential, delights collectors.
The US NTSC NES version of Taito Takeru's 1992 platformer, released at the very tail of the cycle. The US cart is one of the most expensive in the NES NTSC catalogue: a tiny print and Holy Grail status, carried by exceptional technical and artistic quality from ex-Capcom developers. The scarcity is real, not speculative, and an intact US boxed CIB regularly hits top public-auction marks, the fragile US carton making clean copies even more coveted.
An underrated gem
Four interchangeable heroes — a boy, a dragon, a bird, and a stone mouse — for an adventure whose fluidity and beauty rival the very best of the genre. Released too late and too quietly, it reached only a handful of players. A high point of NES platforming that enthusiasts simply must rediscover.
Is Little Samson still worth playing in 2026?
Little Samson is one of the rarest and most accomplished NES games. Four characters with radically different abilities, stunning graphics for the console, varied mechanics and a high-grade soundtrack from Takeda Productions make for a platformer of almost unreal polish. Released right at the end of the console's life and now insanely priced, Taito's title remains a discreet and precious masterpiece. A peak to discover by any means today.
