The 1980s were the golden age of the arcade and the birth of the home console: the pixel takes shape, genres are invented, legends begin. This Top 50 gathers the 8-bit and arcade games that laid the medium's foundations. RomWize re-tests and ranks them by its re-evaluated scores, each with its versions, their rarity and their collector value.
"The original Wonder Boy: an enjoyable old-school platform-runner. Run, jump, dodge. Simple as can be but extremely addictive. The foundation of a saga that kept getting better."
"The first Mega Man on NES: revolutionary concept of choosing boss order. Elevated difficulty, colorful visuals, memorable music. Some growing pains, but foundational to an entire saga."
"Kunio-kun dodgeball in its western Super Dodge Ball version on NES. Insane mechanics with spectacular special shots. Fun co-op, humor present. The Nekketsu formula exported perfectly."
"The third Konami TwinBee on Famicom. The kawaii saga enriched with new mechanics and more characters. Just as colorful and addictive. One of the best in the series."
"Konami's foundational horizontal shoot'em up on NES. Vic Viper ship, capsule power-up system, memorable bosses. Still magnificent and essential to understand genre history."
"An absolute masterpiece. Blaster Master blends tank exploration and on-foot dungeon action. Vast, inventive, visually splendid for NES. Essential in every form."
"The sequel to Konami's comic Japanese thief adventures. Bigger, more varied, even funnier. Japanese folklore enters a colorful action-adventure. Japanese only but visually expressive."
"Western version of 1943 with some welcome adjustments. The Midway historical backdrop is nicely used. A classic 8-bit shoot'em up worth revisiting without apology."
"ICOM's graphic adventure on NES. Explore a haunted castle by making decisions. Dark and oppressive atmosphere, ingenious puzzles. Point-and-click that works remarkably well on NES."
