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[TreasureHunterG]

IMO (which I remember):

Megaman IV-V-VI
Ninja Gaiden II-III
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
Yo! Noid

 

[alr1ght]

Mario 3

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Kirby's Adventure

 

[Shion]

Crystalis
Kirby's Adventure
Shatterhand
Super Contra
Vice: Project Doom
Little Samson

 

[illadelph]

Kirby's Adventure looks really good

 

[MikeE21286]

Kirby's Adventure

 

[Tain]

Shatterhand already posted. Nice and fast.

 

[Clydefrog]

I always thought The Immortal's graphics were cool

 

[EatinOlives]

I'm going to say MegaMan 6. I find them better than Kirby's Adventure, in fact.

 

[dark_prinny]

Mario 3

Firts post... this... that...

 

[Gisk]

Mr. Gimmick

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

It does a great job with a few colors at a time.

 

[RM8]

Both Mr. Gimmick and Kirby's Adventure have been mentioned, good job.

 

[edeo]

Ufouria

 

[Parallax Scroll]

Besides what's already been mentioned, Punchout.

 

[Sapphire Dreams]

What about Metalstorm ?

 

[Het_Nkik]

Kirby's Adventure

The rotating building blew my mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8BeYrEhCoQ&t=5m11s

 

[chertipros]

Kirby's Adventure

 

[corrosivefrost]

Came in to say Metalstorm and Strider.
Crystalis is also a good choice.

 

[Earthpainting]

Mr Gimmick and Kirby's Adventure would have been my picks. It's funny how both my contenders for best visuals end up featuring a simple looking blob-like protagonist.

 

[Suzzopher]

Mr Gimmick and Super Mario Bros 3.

 

[Camp Lo]

Wow... tough question there. I'd go with double dragon 3 maybe. I don't remember ever being amazed by the nintendo's graphics

 

[chiablo]

I think this article has this pretty much covered: http://www.racketboy.com/retro/nintendo/nes/best-nes-graphics-sound

My choice would be Battletoads. Although it's not the most graphically impressive game, there is absolutely no slowdown despite there being a ton of action on the screen, and absolutely amazing animation.

The rotating building blew my mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8BeYrEhCoQ&t=5m11s

I think Battletoad's rotating level looked better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qDfqKZMj08&feature=player_detailpage#t=2966s

 

[GDGF]

Batman: Return of the Joker was pretty great looking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Ivxnpbd5Y

 

[Pietepiet]

Anything Sunsoft has made.

 

[kittens]

Wow, I've never seen Mr Gimmick before. Really impressive.

 

[lordmrw]

My top picks are Kirby's Adventure, Ninja Gaiden 3, and Shatterhand. I will say that Bucky O'Hare and Little Samson come close to inching off Shatterhand on that list.

 

[RoadHazard]

Batman: Return of the Joker was pretty great looking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Ivxnpbd5Y

Yeah, Batman's character model could damn near pass for something from a 16-bit game.

 

[jett]

It's SMB3. It just has absolutely glorious art design that does the best it can within the NES's limitations.

 

[EatinOlives]

Some images to back my previous statement up:

 

[antitrop]

It would be hard to argue against Kirby's Adventure or the Mega Man series.

 

[Celine]

Technically or all around?
Rekka is all kind of awesome but Crisis Force looks better.

Motherfucking Rare.
Captain Skyhawk

Look at those animations!
Moon Crystal

Radia Senki is a great looking RPG:
Radia Senki

 

[JNT]

Batman: Return of the Joker was pretty great looking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Ivxnpbd5Y

Those animations are damn amazing.

 

[Het_Nkik]

I think Battletoad's rotating level looked better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qDfqKZMj08&feature=player_detailpage#t=2966s

Oh yeah, that's pretty crazy. I only had Battletoads on Genesis and I never made it that far : p

 

[Mandoric]

In terms of sheer technical achievement, how about Recca?

 

[Vanillalite]

Crystalis
Kirby's Adventure
Shatterhand
Super Contra
Vice: Project Doom
Little Samson

IDK why but for some reason this game immediately jumped to mind when I saw this topic.

It's probably not better than Kirby or the Megaman stuff though.

 

[Shion]

 

[ArachosiA 78]

My first thought was Battletoads. I remember being blown away by it when I was a kid.

 

[Tmdean]

Castlevania III was really good.

 

[Kenai]

I remember thinking Gargoyle's Quest 2 looked pretty good when I was younger.

 

[Celine]

In terms of sheer technical achievement, how about Recca?

Recca is the the RR2 of the NES (or better RR2 was the Recca of the SNES).
Game programmed so well at low level that pushed the machine near the limit, laughing at what were thought were the system constraints.

 

[galvatron]

Yeah, Batman's character model could damn near pass for something from a 16-bit game.

It looked better than the Genesis port's batman sprite, IMO.

Most of my other answers were already given, so for completeness I'm going to consider the insane amount of things that compile could move at once on an NES in this list:

Darkwing Duck
Panic Restaurant
Zanac
Gunac
The Guardian Legend

 

[Roto13]

In terms of sheer technical achievement, how about Recca?

I didn't know NES could do that.

 

[revolverjgw]

Castlevania III was really good.

That screen is ART

 

[chemicals]

Super Mario 3. All day long.

 

[TripOpt55]

I'd go with Kirby's Adventure.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

IMO (which I remember):

Megaman IV-V-VI
Ninja Gaiden II-III
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
Yo! Noid

Nothing to see here guys, the OT already answered his own question.

 

[zlatko]

My vote goes to Crystalis. That is one of the most amazing games of the NES that doesn't have enough recognition.

 

[gryz]

wow didnt realize how good return of the joker looked.

also stop posting the filtered screenshots, they don't look good.

 

[7threst]

Little Nemo looks almost un-NES-like pretty imo.