The original NES game library is like a chaotic toy box from the ‘80s where every idea—no matter how weird, dangerous, or vaguely illegal—got its own cartridge. You’ve got a plumber fighting turtles in a mushroom kingdom, a kid with a yo-yo saving space colonies, and an anthropomorphic eggplant wizard who’s somehow ruining everyone’s day. And for every classic like Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda, there’s at least five fever dreams like Deadly Towers, M.U.S.C.L.E., or Town & Country Surf Designs—which sounds like a beachwear catalog but is actually a game where a tiki mask rides a skateboard. The NES library wasn’t just the Wild West—it was the Wild West on acid with a MIDI soundtrack.

It’s also the birthplace of gaming difficulty trauma. Every game box should’ve come with a warning: “No saves, no mercy, and if you die—start over, loser.” Developers back then didn’t believe in tutorials. Instead, they gave you a vague objective like “save the princess” or “defeat evil,” tossed you into pixelated chaos, and let you figure it out with nothing but raw determination and a prayer to Shigeru Miyamoto. And yet, we loved it. The NES library raised a generation on blinking screens, blowing into cartridges, and the soul-crushing agony of falling into the same pit for the hundredth time. It was janky, magical, and utterly unforgiving—and honestly, we wouldn’t have it any other way.