Best games
Best Shooter games on NES
The 11 best Shooter games on NES, ranked from 1,843 critic and player ratings.
The best Shooter game on NES right now is Mega Man 3 (1990), with a critic score of 79/100 — updated September 2026.
How this ranking is built
- Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
- A game only enters the ranking with at least 80 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
- Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
- Release window covered: 1970 to 2026.
- 11 games are listed on this page, carrying 1,843 ratings between them.
- Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 29 September 2026.
Top 11
01
Mega Man 3 (1990)
It's robot rebellion, and nobody's safe! Least of all, Mega Man! This time the superpowerful cyborg takes on a horde of metal maniacs who've had it with being obedient! And they use every android-annihilator ever invented to make you believe it! Mega Man goes berserk, blasting through a galaxy of mining stations in search of energy crystals. But it takes more than guts to battle the phenomenal robot masters who control these worlds. It's a wrenching job, the worst - and the best - that Mega Man's faced so far!
79
/100
02
Contra
Contra is the NES port of the homonymous 1987 arcade game. It is a run and gun action game developed and published by Konami. The NES port was originally released in North America, and it lacks the cutscenes and other details present in the Japanese version which was released a week later.
79
/100
03
Battle City
Battle City, also known as Tank 1990 or Tank in some pirate multicart releases, is a multi-directional shooter video game for the Family Computer produced and published in 1985 by Namco. The game was later released for the Game Boy and was included in the Japanese version of Star Fox: Assault. It is a port of the arcade game Tank Battalion with additional features (including two player simultaneous play and a level edit feature). There was also a rendition for Nintendo's Vs. System arcade cabinets. The player, controlling a tank, must destroy enemy tanks in each level, which enter the playfield from the top of the screen. The enemy tanks attempt to destroy the player's base (represented on the map as a bird, eagle or Phoenix), as well as the human tank itself. A level is completed when the player destroys all 20 enemy tanks, but the game ends if the player's base is destroyed or the player loses all available lives.
78
/100
Mega Man 3 (1990)
It's robot rebellion, and nobody's safe! Least of all, Mega Man! This time the superpowerful cyborg takes on a horde of metal maniacs who've had it with being obedient! And they use every android-annihilator ever invented to make you believe it! Mega Man goes berserk, blasting through a galaxy of mining stations in search of energy crystals. But it takes more than guts to battle the phenomenal robot masters who control these worlds. It's a wrenching job, the worst - and the best - that Mega Man's faced so far!
79
/100
02
Contra
Contra is the NES port of the homonymous 1987 arcade game. It is a run and gun action game developed and published by Konami. The NES port was originally released in North America, and it lacks the cutscenes and other details present in the Japanese version which was released a week later.
79
/100
03
Battle City
Battle City, also known as Tank 1990 or Tank in some pirate multicart releases, is a multi-directional shooter video game for the Family Computer produced and published in 1985 by Namco. The game was later released for the Game Boy and was included in the Japanese version of Star Fox: Assault. It is a port of the arcade game Tank Battalion with additional features (including two player simultaneous play and a level edit feature). There was also a rendition for Nintendo's Vs. System arcade cabinets. The player, controlling a tank, must destroy enemy tanks in each level, which enter the playfield from the top of the screen. The enemy tanks attempt to destroy the player's base (represented on the map as a bird, eagle or Phoenix), as well as the human tank itself. A level is completed when the player destroys all 20 enemy tanks, but the game ends if the player's base is destroyed or the player loses all available lives.
78
/100
04
Mega Man 5
In the fifth chapter of the original Mega Man series, the battle is closer to home as Mega Man fights to save the world from further destruction. Gain the advantage by picking up items and successfully defeating bosses to gain their weapons as your own. Get ready for intense action-platforming in 13 stages before taking up battle against Protoman!
77
/100
05
Mega Man (1987)
Experience the game that started it all! Play as cybernetic hero Mega Man as you battle to stop the evil scientist Dr. Wily and his Robot Masters from taking over the world! A classic platformer in every sense of the word, Mega Man features timeless 8-bit graphics, a memorable soundtrack, and balanced but challenging gameplay that combine to create one of the most iconic video games of all time. Mega Man, known as Rockman in Japan, is a 1987 action-platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was directed by Akira Kitamura, with Nobuyuki Matsushima as lead programmer, and is the first game of the Mega Man franchise and the original video game series. Mega Man was produced by a small team specifically for the home console market, a first for Capcom, who previously focused on arcade titles.
76
/100
06
Duck Hunt
It’s duck season, and your trusty hunting dog is ready to scour the open fields. Test your sharpshooting skills as your targets take flight. Be quick to knock them out of the skies, or your canine companion won’t hesitate to make you the laughingstock of hunters! Need a change in scenery? Best your score against clay-pigeon targets instead! With three fun modes to choose from, get your trigger finger ready for some fast-paced action! You only have three shots to hit your target before it zooms offscreen. Things might get a bit hairy when you advance to the next round, because those ducks and clay pigeons are going to fly faster and faster! Play solo, or challenge a friend as you test your dogged determination and feathered speed in this NES classic!
72
/100
07
Galaga
The objective of Galaga is to score as many points as possible by destroying insect-like enemies. The player controls a starfighter that can move left and right along the bottom of the playfield. Enemies swarm in groups in a formation near the top of the screen, and then begin flying down toward the player, firing bombs at the fighter. The game ends when the player's last fighter is lost, either by colliding with an enemy or one of its bullets, or by being captured. Galaga introduces a number of new features over its predecessor, Galaxian. Among these is the ability to fire more than one bullet at a time, a count of the player's "hit/miss ratio" at the end of the game, and a bonus "Challenging Stage" that occurs every few levels, in which a series of enemies fly onto and out of the screen in set patterns without firing at the player's ship or trying to crash into it. These stages award a large point bonus if the player manages to destroy every enemy. Another gameplay feature new to Galaga is the ability for enemies to capture the player's fighter. While the player is in control of just one fighter, a "boss Galaga" (which takes two shots to kill) periodically attempts to capture the fighter using a tractor beam. If successful, the fighter joins the enemy formation. If the player has more lives remaining, play resumes with a new fighter. The captured fighter flies down with the enemy that captured it, firing upon the player just like normal enemies, and can be shot and destroyed. The player can free the fighter by destroying the boss Galaga while in flight, causing the captured fighter to link up with the player's current fighter, doubling his or her firepower but also making a target twice as large. Galaga has an exploitable bug that can cause the attackers to stop firing bullets at the player, due to a coding error. In addition, similar to the famous "Split-Screen bug" in Pac-Man, a bug exists in Galaga in which the game "rolls over" from Level 255 to Level 0. Depending on the difficulty setting of the machine, this can cause the game to stall, requiring that the machine be reset or power-cycled in order to start a new game.
70
/100
08
Super Contra (1988)
Super Contra is a Run and Gun-style action game produced by Konami, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1988. It is the sequel to the original Contra and the second game in the Contra series released for the arcades. Like in the original game, the game centers on soldiers Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, who are once again assigned to protect the Earth from an army of alien invaders. The game features standard side-scrolling stages, as well as all new overhead stages in lieu of the original game's "3D" stages.
61
/100
09
Metroid
It's you against the evil Mother Brain in the thrilling battle of Metroid! You're inside the fortress planet Zebes. The planet of endless secret passageways where the Metroid are multiplying. Left alone the Metroid are harmless. But in the wrong hands they could destroy the galaxy. It's up to you to prevent the Mother Brain that controls Zebes from using the Metroid for evil purposes. But that won't be easy. You'll have to use your spacesuit to absorb valuable energy for your search to gain the use of power items like the Ice Beam, Wave Beam, High Jump Boots and Varia. If you survive, it will be you and your acquired powers against the Mother Brain.
60
/100
10
Contra
Contra (also known as Gryzor in Oceania and Europe), is a 1987 run and gun action game developed and published by Konami originally released as a coin-operated arcade game on February 20, 1987. The game had multiple ports, including for various computer formats. Several Contra sequels were produced following the original game.
50
/100
11
Wild Gunman (1984)
29
/100
Mega Man 5
In the fifth chapter of the original Mega Man series, the battle is closer to home as Mega Man fights to save the world from further destruction. Gain the advantage by picking up items and successfully defeating bosses to gain their weapons as your own. Get ready for intense action-platforming in 13 stages before taking up battle against Protoman!
77
/100
05
Mega Man (1987)
Experience the game that started it all! Play as cybernetic hero Mega Man as you battle to stop the evil scientist Dr. Wily and his Robot Masters from taking over the world! A classic platformer in every sense of the word, Mega Man features timeless 8-bit graphics, a memorable soundtrack, and balanced but challenging gameplay that combine to create one of the most iconic video games of all time. Mega Man, known as Rockman in Japan, is a 1987 action-platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was directed by Akira Kitamura, with Nobuyuki Matsushima as lead programmer, and is the first game of the Mega Man franchise and the original video game series. Mega Man was produced by a small team specifically for the home console market, a first for Capcom, who previously focused on arcade titles.
76
/100
06
Duck Hunt
It’s duck season, and your trusty hunting dog is ready to scour the open fields. Test your sharpshooting skills as your targets take flight. Be quick to knock them out of the skies, or your canine companion won’t hesitate to make you the laughingstock of hunters! Need a change in scenery? Best your score against clay-pigeon targets instead! With three fun modes to choose from, get your trigger finger ready for some fast-paced action! You only have three shots to hit your target before it zooms offscreen. Things might get a bit hairy when you advance to the next round, because those ducks and clay pigeons are going to fly faster and faster! Play solo, or challenge a friend as you test your dogged determination and feathered speed in this NES classic!
72
/100
07
Galaga
The objective of Galaga is to score as many points as possible by destroying insect-like enemies. The player controls a starfighter that can move left and right along the bottom of the playfield. Enemies swarm in groups in a formation near the top of the screen, and then begin flying down toward the player, firing bombs at the fighter. The game ends when the player's last fighter is lost, either by colliding with an enemy or one of its bullets, or by being captured. Galaga introduces a number of new features over its predecessor, Galaxian. Among these is the ability to fire more than one bullet at a time, a count of the player's "hit/miss ratio" at the end of the game, and a bonus "Challenging Stage" that occurs every few levels, in which a series of enemies fly onto and out of the screen in set patterns without firing at the player's ship or trying to crash into it. These stages award a large point bonus if the player manages to destroy every enemy. Another gameplay feature new to Galaga is the ability for enemies to capture the player's fighter. While the player is in control of just one fighter, a "boss Galaga" (which takes two shots to kill) periodically attempts to capture the fighter using a tractor beam. If successful, the fighter joins the enemy formation. If the player has more lives remaining, play resumes with a new fighter. The captured fighter flies down with the enemy that captured it, firing upon the player just like normal enemies, and can be shot and destroyed. The player can free the fighter by destroying the boss Galaga while in flight, causing the captured fighter to link up with the player's current fighter, doubling his or her firepower but also making a target twice as large. Galaga has an exploitable bug that can cause the attackers to stop firing bullets at the player, due to a coding error. In addition, similar to the famous "Split-Screen bug" in Pac-Man, a bug exists in Galaga in which the game "rolls over" from Level 255 to Level 0. Depending on the difficulty setting of the machine, this can cause the game to stall, requiring that the machine be reset or power-cycled in order to start a new game.
70
/100
08
Super Contra (1988)
Super Contra is a Run and Gun-style action game produced by Konami, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1988. It is the sequel to the original Contra and the second game in the Contra series released for the arcades. Like in the original game, the game centers on soldiers Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, who are once again assigned to protect the Earth from an army of alien invaders. The game features standard side-scrolling stages, as well as all new overhead stages in lieu of the original game's "3D" stages.
61
/100
09
Metroid
It's you against the evil Mother Brain in the thrilling battle of Metroid! You're inside the fortress planet Zebes. The planet of endless secret passageways where the Metroid are multiplying. Left alone the Metroid are harmless. But in the wrong hands they could destroy the galaxy. It's up to you to prevent the Mother Brain that controls Zebes from using the Metroid for evil purposes. But that won't be easy. You'll have to use your spacesuit to absorb valuable energy for your search to gain the use of power items like the Ice Beam, Wave Beam, High Jump Boots and Varia. If you survive, it will be you and your acquired powers against the Mother Brain.
60
/100
10
Contra
Contra (also known as Gryzor in Oceania and Europe), is a 1987 run and gun action game developed and published by Konami originally released as a coin-operated arcade game on February 20, 1987. The game had multiple ports, including for various computer formats. Several Contra sequels were produced following the original game.
50
/100
11
Wild Gunman (1984)
29
/100
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Shooter game on NES?
Mega Man 3 (1990) currently tops the ranking with a score of 79/100 across 93 ratings. Ranking updated September 2026.
How is this ranking built?
Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.