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The best NOW Production games

The 9 best games from NOW Production, ranked from 508 critic and player ratings.

The best NOW Production game is We Love Katamari, with a critic score of 89/100. Updated October 2026.

  • Ranked releases span 1991 to 2008.
  • Average critic score across the 9 ranked games: 73/100.
  • 508 critic and player ratings behind this ranking.

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 30 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.
  • 9 games are listed on this page, carrying 508 ratings between them.
  • Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 12 October 2026.

Top 9

01 We Love Katamari We Love Katamari 2005 · 51 ratings We Love Katamari, is a third-person puzzle-action video game where the player controls the Prince, the 5-centimeter-tall son of the god-like entity the King of All Cosmos, who rolls around a "katamari", a magical ball that causes objects smaller than it to attach to it. Throughout each level, the play must collect objects in order to fulfill objectives set by the prince's father. 89 /100
02 Katamari Damacy Katamari Damacy 2004 · 138 ratings The King of All Cosmos accidentally destroyed the stars and—having recovered—wants the prince to rebuild them. Unfortunately the prince stands a little less than half a foot tall, so recreating the stars will require some effort. Enter the Katamari, a sphere the prince can push around our world to “roll up” items increasing the Katamari’s size until it’s suitable for the King. Taking place in stylized versions of Japanese houses, cities, and environs, the prince pushes the Katamari around collecting items which adhere to it. At first, the prince can only pick up smaller items, but as the Katamari grows, the more it can collect. Push pins and paper clips cling to the Katamari increasing its size so it can roll over obstacles and pick up bigger items. Over many levels, the Katamari can eventually pick up people, cars, and other bigger items. Players steer the Katamari from a third-person perspective using the analog sticks on the PS2. A tutorial stage takes the player through the controls and sets up the story as well as introducing a side story about a Japanese girl who can feel the cosmos. Wanting to challenge the prince, the King sets requirements on the Katamari’s size and sets time limits on the level. Bonus missions restore constellations and have their own restrictions. The world of Katamari Damacy is brought to life with off-beat animation and a catchy soundtrack. Players can find presents hidden in the levels that contain accessories for the prince. Two players can also battle head-to-head in a Katamari competition. 85 /100
03 Sonic and the Secret Rings Sonic and the Secret Rings 2007 · 50 ratings Sonic and the Secret Rings is a three-dimensional platform and action game featuring an on-rails style of movement. Sonic the Hedgehog, the series' main character, is the game's only player character. He is controlled exclusively with the Wii Remote, which is held horizontally like a traditional gamepad. 82 /100
04 Beautiful Katamari Beautiful Katamari 2007 · 30 ratings Experience the new high-definition, next generation sights and sounds of Beautiful Katamari as the Prince takes on a new high-rolling adventure, with his famous cousins in tow, to save the Katamari universe once again after the King of All Cosmos has a very un-royal and unfortunate accident. As usual, the King of All Cosmos demands the service of his son, the Prince, to roll anything and everything up into massive clumps and set things right, bringing harmony once again to the Katamari Cosmos. To keep his son inspired, the King of All Cosmos will provide another fresh and memorable soundtrack that will have players moving and grooving to the beat as they roll through the absurd, yet wonderful world of Beautiful Katamari. 80 /100
05 Adventure Island II (1991) Adventure Island II (1991) 1991 · 41 ratings Adventure Island II is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Now Production and published by Hudson Soft that was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. It is the sequel to Adventure Island and the second game in the series for the NES. While the first game was an adaptation of Westone's Wonder Boy arcade game, Adventure Island II is an entirely original work, as were all the subsequent Adventure Island games. 69 /100
06 Sonic Riders Sonic Riders 2006 · 90 ratings Sonic Riders is the fourth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, preceded by Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic R. The game was released to start off the 15th anniversary of the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. For a short while, the Microsoft Xbox version of the game was released with a free Sonic X DVD. This game introduces five new playable characters, the Babylon Rogues and the E-10000 series. A sequel to Sonic Riders, entitled Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, was released in 2008 for the Wii and PlayStation 2, followed by the Kinect-required game Sonic Free Riders for the Xbox 360 in 2010. This was the last Sonic the Hedgehog game for the GameCube and Microsoft Xbox. 66 /100
07 Mario Super Sluggers Mario Super Sluggers 2008 · 37 ratings Mario Super Sluggers, the sequel to Mario Superstar Baseball, continues the arcade-style gameplay of Mario sports games. Mario and friends are invited to the Baseball Kingdom to play games against each other. When Bowser hears this, he immediately interrupts the party. There are several game modes to choose from like in the previous game. In Exhibition mode, players play a single game against each other. Players can choose different options such as how many innings to play, if captains can use star powers (each captain has a different star swing and pitch), and toggle error items off and on (error items can be thrown at fielders). The single-player Challenge mode is different this time around. Instead of choosing a team captain, players start with Mario who must find teammates to take on Bowser Jr. and Bowser. Teammates aren't unlocked by playing a game rather they only join the team by clearing certain objectives. Most of the action takes place on areas with an overhead perspective; each area is based around a team captain. Each captain has a special ability to find teammates and coins, which are used to buy items to aid in the quest or in a game against Bowser Jr. or later against Bowser. More coins can be gotten in minigames. Toy Field mode is slightly different to the one featured in Mario Superstar Baseball. Like in the GameCube game, players take turns batting to get points; a turn is granted to whomever grabs and holds the ball after a certain amount of time has passed. Unlike in the previous game, however, fielders can attack each other to steal the ball away from whomever has it. The batter can also throw items at the fielders to cause them to drop the ball and grant the batter another turn. 65 /100
08 Mario Superstar Baseball Mario Superstar Baseball 2005 · 38 ratings The superstars of the Mushroom Kingdom have gathered on the diamond to power up America's game! Pick a captain, fill your team with your favorite characters from the Mario universe, then hit the field. Each captain has a special Star Skill for pitching and batting, so whether you're hurling fireballs as Mario or blasting curving banana-ball dingers as DK, you've never played ball like this! 60 /100
09 Adventure Island III (1992) Adventure Island III (1992) 1992 · 33 ratings Adventure Island is a side-scrolling platform game published by Hudson Soft that was originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. It is the third game in the Adventure Island released for the NES, following Adventure Island II. 57 /100
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Frequently asked questions

What is the best NOW Production game?

We Love Katamari currently tops the ranking with a score of 89/100 across 51 ratings. Ranking updated October 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.