IGN recently named the Nintendo Entertainment System (affectionately known by many as the “NES”) the greatest console of all time. (You can see their countdown HERE.) They followed this announcement with their list of the top 100 NES games of all time. You can see this list HERE. Unlike a number of top lists, these hit home with a parent who grew up with video games as a child. One of the most important things about many of these titles is that they are FUN!

In fact, many of them are so much fun that you can still purchase them and enjoy them via GBA cartridge adaptations and as downloads for the Wii. In fact, over 80 NES titles are available on the Wii’s Virtual Console.

For those of you who may not be convinced, I encourage you to take a look at PlayNES.net. This site allows you to play practically any original Nintendo Entertainment System game online via a web-hosted Flash emulator.

For those of you who know me, I can wax philosophic about the major impact that the NES had on the gaming industry having single-handedly resurrected the video game market after the North American Video Game Crash of the 80s caused by a glut of bad games for the most successful previous system, the Atari VCS (or 2600 as many know it). However, I will spare you my usual litany and, instead, encourage you to just have some fun. What’s more, almost all of these games are very kid-friendly and some even have multiplayer options!

Enjoy!