10 Best Selling Games on the NES

Nintendo scored a huge win in 1985 with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System. The gaming console solidified Nintendo as the industry leader, and it helped right the ship after the Video Game Crash of 1983. The NES is a classic console with a fantastic library of excellent games, many of which sold in the millions of copies. We’ve taken a look at the sales history of the NES’ best games and determined the top 10 best-selling titles. We’ve decided not to include pack-in games, which the NES had many of, and to focus only on titles purchased separately from the console.

10) Baseball

The NES featured several sports games, including a few really great baseball games like R.B.I. Baseball. Still, its best-selling one was simply called Baseball, and it was one of the system’s launch titles when the NES was released in North America in 1985. That likely helped boost sales, and thanks to its status as America’s Pastime, players ate it up. The game is pretty rudimentary by today’s standards. Still, it’s a well-made baseball game that lets players play through games against a computer opponent or another player. Throughout its shelf life, Nintendo moved around 3.2 million copies of Baseball.

9) Kung Fu

Kung Fu started life as Kung-Fu Master in arcades (Spartan X in Japan), where the beat ’em up became incredibly popular. The game is loosely adapted from Jackie Chan’s 1984 film Wheels on Meals, taking some inspiration from Bruce Lee’s 1972 classic Game of Death. Commercially, Kung Fu was a huge hit, so it was ported to various consoles and computers. Shigeru Miyamoto oversaw development of the NES port, which first appeared on the Famicom in Japan before being retitled as Kung Fu for international markets. It remained popular on the NES, where it sold over 3.5 million copies.

8) Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation

The third installment in the Dragon Quest franchise, Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation, was released on the Famicom in 1988. The role-playing game was a hit in Japan before it found its way to North America, where it became a success on the NES. The game was noteworthy for its story and how well it expanded its gameplay when compared to its two predecessors. Its popularity earned Dragon Quest III several remakes over the years, and it’s been made available on a variety of modern systems, including the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PCs. On the NES, Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation sold incredibly well, moving around 3.9 million copies.

7) Golf

Golf was first released on the Famicom before finding its way into arcades on the Nintendo VS. System. It was later released on the NES in 1985, where it became the system’s second-best-selling sports game, and while it’s not the most advanced golfing game in the world, it’s still a lot of fun to this day. It was included in the Nintendo Switch’s firmware as an Easter Egg as a tribute to the game’s creator, Satoru Iwata. Golf sold remarkably well, likely due to the overwhelming popularity of video golf at the time of its release. Throughout the NES’s lifecycle, Golf sold more than 4 million copies.

6) Excitebike

Excitebike is a side-scrolling racing game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto. It was designed specifically for the NES but was later ported to the Nintendo VS. System and the Famicom in 1988, four years after its North American release. Excitebike is a fairly straightforward game, where the player races their motocross bike along a course, making jumps to try and finish before any of the other racers. The gameplay is highly addictive, and the game sold remarkably well, becoming the best-selling sports game on the NES. In total, Excitebike sold over 4.2 million copies on the NES.

5) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was released in 1987 as an action-RPG, and unlike its predecessor, the game featured a side-scrolling mechanic alongside a top-down world map. This incorporated a Castlevania-esque element to the gameplay, and while some gamers loved the change, others didn’t. Regardless, the game’s RPG elements were an experiment that didn’t carry over into the series. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was a critical and commercial success, selling incredibly well. Throughout its time on store shelves, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link managed to move more than 4.4 million copies.

4) Dr. Mario

Puzzle games were popular on the NES, and one that did incredibly well was Dr. Mario. It’s an interesting game that probably wouldn’t get made today because its focus is on matching pills to destroy viruses, and that’s not necessarily the message you want to give kids today. Regardless, the gameplay is addictive and entertaining, and the Mario element adds some classic Nintendo charm as players align the correct colors to destroy viruses as their drugs fall from above. Dr. Mario was a huge hit, wowing critics and players. While it was ported to numerous platforms, it sold over 4.9 million copies on the NES. There was a pack-in bundle with Dr. Mario, but it was so limited that the sales figures were negligible, so we decided to include the game.

3) The Legend of Zelda

One of the most impactful games released on the NES was The Legend of Zelda. The action-adventure game introduced many of the tropes common to the genre, and it also launched one of the biggest franchises in all of gaming — certainly one of the largest in Nintendo’s library. The Legend of Zelda was released first on the Famicom and then on the NES a year later. It was the first game released in North America with an internal battery that allowed players to save their progress, which was a huge innovation. The game’s popularity was widespread, and it sold remarkably well, moving over 6.5 million copies.

2) Super Mario Bros 2

Super Mario Bros. 2 is a pretty odd entry in the franchise, seeing as it started life as Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. The game was completely reskinned as a Mario game, given the title Super Mario Bros. 2, and released on the NES in 1988. Despite being considerably different from its predecessor, the game was a massive success, becoming one of the system’s best-reviewed and best-selling games. It’s been remade a couple of times and re-released in collections across various systems. While on the NES, Super Mario Bros 2 sold more than 7.5 million copies.

1) Tetris

Of all the games released on the NES, the one that sold better than any other (that wasn’t a pack-in game) was Tetris. The Soviet puzzle game was better known on the Game Boy, as it was included as a pack-in game, making its mobile version more familiar to more people. Still, while that port got a lot of play, the NES version did as well, and it was a smashing success on the system. Throughout its life on the NES, Tetris sold some 8 million copies, making it the best-selling game on the console. That’s just a drop in the bucket because Tetris is the best-selling game of all time, having moved more than 520 million copies across its many versions.

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