Ed Ranks NES Games Released by Ultra

It's not Konami! It's... eh... okay, it is Konami.

Were you aware that the producers of video games, much like the mafia, liked to set up front companies? I'll tell you why! Back in the day, Nintendo of America had a sort of stupid rule, that prevented any particular company from releasing more than five video games on its Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console. Therefore, the video game company Konami set up its own little front company called "Ultra," in order to release additional games in the North American market. Therefore, some video games were released in Japan as "Konami" games, while being released as "Ultra" games in the US, and "Palcom" games in the European market (yet another Konami front company).

These are those Ultra video games, ranked.

17. RollerGames - This is a forgettable game based on forgettable roller derby TV show. The TV show lasted for one season. Do you remember the show? Probably not. Do you remember the game? Probably not.

Good luck entering the Konami code backwards.

16. Gyruss - This is a 1983 arcade game, and basically a Galaga copycat. Six years later, it was converted to the NES by Ultra. A six-year old Galaga copycat adaption does not make a great game.

15. Q*bert - Look, you've heard of Q*bert and the game is pretty famous, so you might be unsure why this is ranked this low. Well, it's for much of the same reason that Gyruss above is ranked pretty low. I have no problem with the original Q*bert arcade game, which was released in 1982 and was completely fine for its time. You play a circular dude with a weird tube mouth that goes around swearing and jumping up a pyramid (that was as close to 3D technology that early1980s games could get). Yet this adaption was totally unnecessary for the NES when it was released in 1989. Video games had moved on from the old 1982 technology and gameplay in the SEVEN years between original release and NES adaption.

14. Kings of the Beach - A beach volleyball game, with nothing particularly exciting about it.

13. Defender of the Crown - Another re-release of a previously existing game, this time of a game that originally came out on the Commodore Amiga (a PC, not a video game system) in 1986. Some games are better on PCs than on video game systems.  This is one of them.

12. Silent Service - Yet again, a 1989 adaption of an earlier 1985 game. This one was developed by the legendary Sid Meier (of Civilization fame), and features you serving in the US Submarine Command during World War II. Not originally a Japanese Konami game, but instead developed by Rare. Obviously. It would be weird if this game about hunting villainous Japanese forces during WWII was a Japanese game. It wasn't.

Still better than Ski and Die.

11. Ski or Die - Skate or Die is a great game. You've probably heard of it. We'll talk about it later! This is the "Winter Sports" spinoff of that game. It's meh.

10. Snake's Revenge - This is an interesting bit of video game history. After the smash success of Metal Gear, Ultra rushed to produce this sequel, without the involvement of series creator Hideo Kojima. They should have been more patient, as Kojima went on to develop a separate sequel called Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. That one was released in Japan only, and is seen as vastly superior. This is a weird one where the villain from the first one, Big Boss (not yet established in continuity as Solid Snake's daddy, Naked Snake, until much later), comes back as cyborg. This game is a curiosity, but is totally discounted in the (already convoluted) continuity of the Metal Gear series.

9. Pirates! - This was a fantastic computer game for the PC, and might have been one of the greatests of its time. As with Silent Service, another Sid Meier adaption, this one featuring open-world gameplay where you live the life of privateer. Its just fine on the Nintendo, but like others above better on original computer format. Nintendo was also noted for family friendly censorship, and key aspects about the pirate life like having some "Tobacco" were replaced by boring stuff like "Crops."

8. Star Trek: 25th Anniversary - Great on this game for getting such iconic licensing, and it's at least an enjoyable-ish game. You're part of the crew of the original Star Trek show (Kirk and all), and you're going to Sigma Iotia II. Until you get caught in time space thingamajig that sends you to parts unknown. They you have to do a bunch of jumps between worlds, searching for dilithium crystals to get back.

7. Nightshade - You've probably totally forgotten about this game, and/or never heard about it in the first place. You play a superhero named "Nightshade," who fights crime in Metro city. The game is full of bad jokes (which it admits are bad jokes) and pop culture references.  It has point-and-click game elements, and also a "popularity meter" that effects the game. It definitely tried to be different and innovative, but never caught on. I'll give it an "B" for effort, and for being somewhat original though.

There were zero other games in the "Cyber Stadium Series"

6. Base Wars - This game may not be all that amazing, but I have fond memories of it, so I'll rank it this high. It's a baseball game set in the future, with human players being replaced by robots because WHY NOT? Something about whiny humans asking for salaries or something. Robots don't need no money. This game had everything a 10-year-old boy (that would be me in 1991, when this came out) - would be interested in. Baseball. Robots. What's not to love? A spiritual precursor to the awesomeness that would be Mutant League Football two years later, and a good way to create a sports video game that stands out despite a lack of official licensing from a sports league. 

5. Mission: Impossible - Based on the 1988 reboot of/sequel to Mission: Impossible (rather than the original and more famous version, or the movie reboot series that would come later in the 90's), you can play as the 1988 show's Max, Grant and Nicholas characters. You can flip in the game between the different characters, which was important and necessary because each had different skills. Sort of like Maniac Mansion, right? That's a good gimmick for a game, and good on them for getting licensing for the TV show. 

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - What game is "the original TMNT" game can be confusing/ For purposes of the Nintendo Entertainment System, this is the first one. An enjoyable game that EVERYONE had to have when it came out in 1989 because in 1989 the Ninja Turtles were bigger than Jesus and the Beatles combined. It featured overall top-scrolling at a city-level, followed up by action/gameplay that is side-scrolling. The problem with this one? Super hard gameplay. I, like almost everyone else, had a near to impossible time to get past Level 2, where you have to jump into the water and swim around to disarm a bunch of bombs (on a ludicrously short time limit) that are protected by killer seaweed and bolts of electricity. I probably played this game a million times and disarmed all the bombs like four times.

3. Skate or Die! - One of the original 1988 titles for Ultra, you compete in five different skateboarding events. A super memorable game, and as with Base Wars I'm sure my memories of loving this game are actually making it a better game than it was. And points for a cool, memorable name. Who the hell is going to remember RollerGames or Gyruss decades later? Nobody. But Skate or Die? Now that's a memorable name. I assume most people choose to skate.

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game - This was called "Part II" on the NES, but in many ways it is the actual original Ninja Turtles game, having been released in the Arcade in 1989. Hence the whole "The Arcade Game" in the title. Why didn't this get released as the original TMNT game on the NES? Probably because there was some difficulty in adapting the 4-person arcade game to the 2-person NES. I dunno. I'm not doing a crapload of research here. That just sounds right. This game is in almost every way superior to the first TMNT game, and had great side-scrolling fighting action.

Definitely "not" Kyle Reese.

1. Metal Gear - Ah, the greatest Konami game of all time was technically an Ultra game in North America. The original Hideo Kojima game, which I absolutely adored on the NES, but would go on to become an even bigger franchise after Metal Gear: Solid hit the Playstation years later, and expanded the franchise and its continuity to deeper levels. You play Solid Snake, an operative the special forces group FOXHOUND, infiltrating a mercenary-controlled state called "Outer Heaven" (yeah, none of these words make any sense, and the plot of the game manuals released in America often contradicted the plot in the actual game) to investigate and stop the creation of Metal Gear, a bipedal Mecha tank WMD, capable of launching nuclear missiles. As you play you learn that your own boss, "Big Boss" is actually the mastermind behind Metal Gear and Outer Heaven. So that's fun! The developers initially wanted another shoot em up type of game, but due to technical limitations, actually settled on turning it into a game of espionage and all-powerful stealth instead. Which made it legendary. There is no doubt this game would be #1, despite featuring some serious translation flaws.