5 Great Franchises That Lived and Died on the NES

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In 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System revitalized the home video game market. It boasted over 1,300 officially released games, including more than 700 in North America, and introduced many of Nintendo’s most popular series. While some of these franchises continued to thrive on later consoles, others peaked with the NES and weren’t seen much beyond it. We’ve explored the NES’s extensive game collection to highlight five excellent franchises that truly shone on the system but didn’t achieve lasting success elsewhere, with just a few minor exceptions. These are presented in random order.

1) Wizards & Warriors

In 1987, Rare created Wizards & Warriors for the NES, starting a franchise that I particularly enjoy. The games center around Kuros, a “Knight Warrior of the Books of Excalibur” in the land of Elrond. These action platformers rely heavily on jumping, with players collecting keys, treasure, and powerful weapons and magical items. While the original game spawned three sequels – including one for the Game Boy – the series ultimately faded away when the NES was discontinued and hasn’t been revisited since.

2) Power Blade

Released in 1991 for the NES, Power Blade is an action platformer where you play as NOVA, the head of security for a powerful computer on a future Earth. The game plays a lot like the Mega Man series, and NOVA fights enemies using a boomerang, as seen on the game’s cover. NOVA’s character design is noticeably similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger, probably as a marketing tactic. Power Blade was popular enough to get a sequel, Power Blade 2, in 1992, but that was the last game ever made in the series.

3) Casino Kid

Casino Kid is a casino game released in 1989 that’s set in the far-off future of 1991. The game is based on Yuki Ishigaki’s popular manga series $1,000,000 Kid, so it’s not a straight-up casino game, as it features a story, characters, and more. Essentially, it’s about becoming the top player in Las Vegas, which leads to its sequel, Casino Kid II, released in 1993. That game carried on the story from its predecessor, but no additional sequels followed, ending the franchise on the NES with only two titles.

4) Rad Racer

While many classic racing games spawned long-running series, Rad Racer didn’t. Released in 1987, the game let players drive a Ferrari 328 on a Formula One track and was notable for its stereoscopic 3D graphics, which were quite innovative for the time – players could even use special glasses! Rad Racer was a commercial success, selling almost 2 million copies, and was featured in the 1990 Nintendo World Championship. A sequel, Rad Racer II, added new tracks and music, offering similar gameplay, but the series stopped there.

5) StarTropics

Released in 1990 for the NES, StarTropics is an action-adventure game where you play as a teenager named Mike. He embarks on a quest to rescue his uncle, exploring dungeons and towns along the way. It’s a charming adventure, often compared to Zelda, and was well-received by both critics and players. This success led to a sequel, Zoda’s Revenge: StarTropics II, in 1994. While it was the last game in the StarTropics series, released near the end of the NES’s lifespan, it remains unclear why Nintendo chose not to continue the franchise, as it had a lot of potential and has been re-released on different consoles over time.

What classic Nintendo Entertainment System game series do you wish would make a comeback? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-04-08 16:17