In light of the ongoing Konamiclysm and all of the minor Capcomstrophes (and the impending doom of the Japanese console gaming industry), I was remembering the good times I had with those companies, back in the day.

With that in mind, what are your Top 5 third-party games on each Nintendo console? You can rank them or just list them. Whatevs. It might even be fun to compile the results in the end.

I'll do one platform now and fill in the rest later.

NES: (in no particular order)
a) Bionic Commando
b) Contra
c) River City Ransom
d) Castlevania
e) Super Spike V'Ball

Honorable mentions: TOO MANY TO LIST, especially for an action game junkie like myself. NES is probably my favorite system of all time. But, off the top of my head... Crystalis, Ghosts'n'Goblins, Stinger, Ninja Gaiden, Ring King, Rygar, Wizards & Warriors, The Goonies II, Ikari Warriors, Double Dragon II, Blaster Master, Tetris, Batman, Gradius, Maniac Mansion, Lode Runner... I could honestly keep going for a really long time, but I'll stop here.


First roundtable of the new year, baby!!

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Are we counting stuff like Bayonetta 2 which is 3rd party developed but 1st party published?

@Zero
Nah, that's a second-party relationship.

Otherwise, I would've included stuff like R.C. Pro-am.

Nintendo 64:
1. WWF No Mercy
2. WWF Wrestlemania 2000
3. WCW/nWo Revenge
4. WCW vs. nWo World Tour
5. Um, uh...hmmm...Turok 2 maybe?

VERDICT: THQ/AKI/Asmik Ace kicked ass!

GameCube:
1. REmake
2. Resident Evil 4
3. Killer 7
4. Viewtiful Joe
5. Um, uh...hmmm...Timesplitters 2 maybe?

VERDICT: Capcom kicked ass!

NES
1.) Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (my #1 favorite NES game ever, actually!)
2.) Mega Man IV
3.) Super C
4.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
5.) Bubble Bobble

Gameboy
1.) Mega Man V
2.) Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
3.) Operation C
4.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back From The Sewers
5.) Kwirk

Super Nintendo
1.) Chrono Trigger (Best Game Of All Time)
2.) Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
3.) Mega Man X
4.) Tiny Toons: Buster Busts Loose!
5.) Castlevania: Dracula X

Nintendo 64
1.) RUSH 2: Extreme Racing USA
2.) Resident Evil 2
3.) Castlevania
4.) Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
5.) DOOM 64

Gameboy Color
1.) Metal Gear Solid
2.) Mega Man Xtreme
3.) Street Fighter Alpha
4.) Shantae
5.) Toki Tori

Gameboy Advance
1.) Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
2.) Mega Man Zero
3.) Street Fighter Alpha 3
4.) Metal Slug Advance
5.) Ninja Five-O

Gamecube
1.) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
2.) Resident Evil 4
3.) Baten Kaitos Origins
4.) Soulcalibur II
5.) SSX3

DS
1.) Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
2.) 999: 9 Persons, 9 Hours, 9 Doors
3.) Phantasy Star 0
4.) Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
5.) Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Wii
1.) Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (favorite Wii game overall)
2.) Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
3.) FAST: Racing League
4.) Guitar Hero 5
5.) World of Goo

3DS
1.) SUPER Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
2.) Resident Evil Revelations
3.) Shovel Knight
4.) Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy - Curtain Call
5.) Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate

Wii U
1.) Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
2.) Guitar Hero Live
3.) FAST: Racing Neo
4.) ???
5.) ???

(sorry, haven't played many Wii U games. )

My list is mostly just my "favorites" - not necessarily what I would call "the best." I know objectively, some games probably should have been listed instead of others. But I decided to list favorites since those are the ones that stick out most in my mind. Also, I kinda "cheated" a bit since some of the games I didn't play until they were made available on Virtual Console. (*glances in Shantae's direction*) Hopefully that's "allowed."

Not necessarily in exact orders.

NES
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Mega Man
Adventure Island II
Contra

Was so close to just doing an all Mega Man top 5. Mega Man was awesome.

SNES
Mega Man X
Lufia & the Fortress of Doom
Chrono Trigger
Secret of Mana
Lemmings

Discovered RPGs. Mega Man is STILL awesome.

N64
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Mischief Makers
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
Extreme-G
Robotron 64

No Rareware? Makes it tough! But I still had some 3rd party fun.

Gamecube
Resident Evil 4
Super Monkey Ball
Skies of Arcadia Legends
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
Resident Evil

Became a fan of Resident Evil. And Sega, surprisingly... for a short time.

Wii
Okami
World of Goo
BIT.TRIP RUNNER
Mega Man 9
No More Heroes

Got a lot of quirky games on the Wii, and this is when I started getting into indie games.

Wii U
Human Resource Machine
Shovel Knight
Rayman Legends
Little Inferno
BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien

Basically all indie games except for Rayman.

GBA
Mega Man Battle Network 2
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Mega Man Zero
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Astro Boy: Omega Factor

Top 20 would have a bunch more Mega Man... Zeros and Battle Networks.

DS
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure
Radiant Historia

Some point and click fun, some 2D action / adventure. Mega Man ZX just missed the list.

3DS
VVVVVV
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
Resident Evil: Revelations
Mutant Mudds

This a pretty varied top 5 here actually, everything from a fully 3D survival horror game to a 2D one button controlled platformer.

GB / GBC / VB
Haven't played enough.

I checked my games in the database... between GB and GBC they're all Nintendo published / developed. And I have no VB games.

SNES: (in no particular order)
a) Mortal Kombat II (my chums & I played the shit out of this game)
b) ActRaiser (a clunky classic!)
c) Super Bomberman 2 (multiplayer madness)
d) Super Ghouls'n'Ghosts (balls hard)
e) Rock'n'Roll Racing (R.C. Pro-am + Hard Rock = endless bliss)

Honorable mentions: Bust-a-Move, Contra III, Super Castlevania, Street Fighter II Turbo, Krusty's Super Fun House (shut up, it was really good!)

I actually don't have as much of a connection to the SNES as some of y'all. The NES game was incredibly exciting and fresh, but the SNES era, in general, felt like a period of iteration and refinement, rather than innovation.

N64: (in no particular order)
a) Micro Machines 64 (natch)
b) Rush 2049 (stunt mode was super-fun)
c) Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (surprisingly good!)
d) Wipeout 64 (four-player!)
e) Bust-a-Move '99 (because The New Tetris was published by Nintendo)

Honorable mentions: Quake II, Extreme G, Beetle Adventure Racing, Turok Rage Wars, Bomberman 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day & Perfect Dark (these might be cheating, since Nintendo partially owned Rare - otherwise PD would have definitely topped my list)

@GameDadGrant
As long as they were on the system and not affiliated with Nintendo, they're fair game! Tekken Tag 2 on Wii U is pretty awesome. I wish they kept that persistent doodling feature, though. It was so brilliant! Is there a sicker burn than drawing a pile of poop on the loser's face? Like, with stink lines, and everything?

Well, I can probably think of one...

@Zero
Mischief Makers was published by Nintendo, wasn't it?

Was it?

Damn you and your rules. Seems like Nintendo was barely involved anyway.

"Neither Square or Enix built a "special relationship" with Nintendo specific for Mischief Makers '​s release, though Nintendo later served as the game's publisher for Western markets."

You're just trying to eliminate it because you know what my number 6 is. MICRO MACHINES 64.

This would definitely change depending on what day you ask me, but here's what came to mind for now in no real order:

NES
Dragon Warrior IV
Mega Man 2
Castlequest
Snow Brothers
Gemfire

SNES
Final Fantasy III
Chrono Trigger
Faceball 2000
DooM
Final Fantasy II

A couple of these are just because most of the good stuff is Nintendo-published!

N64
Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Snowboard Kids 2
DooM 64
Bomberman 64

I actually had some trouble choosing here, some good stuff!

GCN
Tales of Symphonia
TimeSplitters Future Perfect
Burnout 2
Sonic Mega Collection
James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire

Once again, most of the good stuff was Nintendo-published.

Wii
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Rune Factory Frontier
Little King's Story
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon
The Conduit

This was another tough choice, so many good options!

Wii U
Scribblenauts Unlimited
Tank! Tank! Tank!

Yeah... I think that's all I've even played from third-parties on it!

Game Boy
Final Fantasy Adventure
Mega Man V
Mega Man IV
Mega Man II
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge

I think I played only two other third-party games on this system, which are Mega Man III and Final Fantasy Legend III. I can't help it that Nintendo make most of the good stuff!

Game Boy Color
Dragon Warrior III
Crystalis
Shadowgate Classic
Spy vs Spy
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire 2nd Edition

Not much I've played here either, so...

Game Boy Advance
Sword of Mana
DooM II
Final Fantasy I & II

I might be forgetting something, but this is all I even thought of.

Nintendo DS
Etrian Odyssey
Dragon Quest V
Phantasy Star Zero
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

I still have a lot of games to play on this system, so I'm sure this will change.

Nintendo 3DS
Heroes of Ruin
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
Tetris Ultimate

I think those five are the only third-party games I've played for now... I've gotta play more games!

@Zero
Look, man. Just put MM64 there and be done with it.

You other guys, as well. You can pretend it's Majora's Mask, or something.

@Mop it up
Man, I used to love Snow Brothers in the arcade. I always preferred it to Bubble Bobble. I didn't even know there was an NES version!

@Anand I've never played the arcade version of Snow Brothers, but I think the NES version has some differences. What I liked most about it was that it was co-op, which are always the most enjoyable game experiences for me. It's a pretty short game, but fun while it lasts! It was also one of the first games I encountered that had a special ending if you could complete it without using any continues; took me years before I was able to do that!

Hmm. Tough. Not a huge amount of third party games played (I didn't own the early consoles, and the later ones...well...) So some of the ones I do have are likely on the list by default rather than through merit. Ah well. Here goes:


NES:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Bubble Bobble

...And that's it. Huh.

SNES:

Blakthorne
Contra III
Street Fighter II
Chrono Trigger- (TECHNICALLY played on DS for the first time, but it's a SNES game and deserving of a spot, so I'm cheating)
Breath of Fire


N64

Gauntlet Legends
Forsaken
The World is Not Enough
Rogue Squadron
Mystical Ninja II Starring Goemon


Gamecube:

Tales of Symphonia
Skies of Arcadia
Timesplitters 2
Baten Kaitos
Resident Evil 4
Rogue Squadron II:Rogue Leader

Yeah I'm naming six games. Sue me.

Man the Gamecube was awesome. And an RPG beast.



That's enough for now. Might do the other systems later.

@Anand

Yeah, the face-drawing thing would have been amazing. They probably took that out BECAUSE you could draw...y'know...THAT on the face of your defeated foe!

@Zero

Ooh, Radiant Historia! Good call.

@Mop it up

Yeah, I noticed you're kind of unreasonably good at Tetris ULTIMATE. Trying to keep up with your high score is the path of madness, LOL!

@Shadowlink

Gamecube, an RPG *beast*...? Um...well. Perhaps compared to the N64...but that's not saying much. That said, the RPGs it DID have were really good, and I can think of nearly ten off the top of my head. Which seems plenty enough for those that enjoy the genre. How many RPGs can one play in a generation, anyway?

@GameDadGrant

Not many My backlog started because I imported Tales of Symphonia, Skies of Arcadia and Baten Kaitos at the same time.

"Hmm, I've got nothing to play. Hey, I know, I'll import a bunch of RPG's from America." BEST IDEA EVER THAT CAN'T POSSIBLY BACKFIRE HORRIBLY.


...They were incredibly good though. If not for the no Nintendo rule, Thousand Year Door would be up there too. And Path of Radiance.

This is pretty difficult. I don't feel like doing them all in one post since I got stuff to do, but here're the first few...in descending order!

Ports/remakes excluded unless otherwise noted.

NES

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
4. Mega Man
3. Dragon Warrior IV
2. Mega Man 2
1. Mega Man 3

Mega Man takes it away here, but DW4 is a really great RPG for any era and TMNT 2 is great fun.

Honorable mentions: TMNT3, Castlevania, and a secret gem: Conquest of the Crystal Palace. I'm about to dive into DW3 GBC for the first time so that might retroactively make my NES list.


GAME BOY/GAME BOY COLOR

5. Legend of the River King
4. Solar Striker (nostalgic memories)
3. Gargoyle's Quest
2. Mega Man V
1. Tetris (does this count? Whatever, I'm counting it)

Kinda slim pickings here. There are a ton of 1st-party games that I love on the GB, but I haven't played too many 3rd-party ones. Would be nice if we got more on the VC.


SNES

5. Super Castlevania IV
4. Mega Man X
3. Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals
2. Chrono Trigger
1. Final Fantasy III (best game on the system!)

A strong showing for RPGs, unsurprisingly. The SNES might be my only system where a third-party game is my favorite on the console. The large list of runners-up include Final Fantasy II, Harvest Moon, TMNT4: Turtles in Time, Mega Man X2, Secret of Mana, ActRaiser, Lufia, Contra III, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Evermore...dang, the SNES was amazing.


GAME BOY ADVANCE

5. Sonic Advance? I dunno.
4. Mega Man Zero
3. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
2. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
1. Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town

Not many noteworthy ones, although the top 3 is solid. If I counted ports, FFVI Advance would EASILY top the list, while FFIV Advance would show up too.


NINTENDO 64

5. Rayman 2: The Great Escape
4. Gauntlet Legends
3. Rocket: Robot on Wheels
2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
1. Harvest Moon 64

Not as rough as I thought it'd be. Rocket was a very clever physics-based platformer with some neat variety. Gauntlet Legends is sort of a guilty pleasure but it was very addictive. And speaking of addictive, Harvest Moon 64 was a masterpiece and still the best game in the series.
EDIT: Totally forgot about Tony Hawk! Great game, even if they eventually ran it into the ground. Sorry Space Station: Silicon Valley, you've been bumped.
EDIT 2: Just remembered Rayman 2, which I think edges out the previous number 5, Beetle Adventure Racing.

Next post, I'll start going into the disc-based systems and their respective handhelds!

@Shadowlink

Wait, those RGPs were not localized for our mates "down under?" Ever? That's LAME. Glad you got to play them anyway!

Did you ever play that Lord of the Rings RPG? "The Third Age" at all? EA pretty much straight-up copied Final Fantasy X wholesale, but hey. If you're gonna "steal" then steal from the best! It was pretty fun, from what I remember.

@GameDadGrant

They were eventually (Months after the US release). I was a bit impatient . I'm not sure about Skies though. I came late to the party on that one and just couldn't find a local copy at all.

At least it wasn't as bad as Chrono Trigger. We had to wait 13 years (the DS release) before we got a legit copy of that.

@Shadowlink

Now THAT is a travesty. But at least when the legitimate version came out, it was the DEFINITIVE version!

But man, that's a hard wait. That's like waiting 13 years to play a legit version of Ocarina of Time...!

I'm having a really hard time thinking of third party NES games I'd put in a Top 5 other than Mega Man...

I got halfway through doing this when I realized just how hard it was, and I gave up since none of my answers are original anyway.

Nintendo's software is so clearly ahead of the rest in quality and fun. Have I ever really cared much about third parties?

@nate38 Honestly I almost just did MM 1-5.