10 Terrible NES Games with Amazing Cartridge Label Cover Art (Nintendo Entertainment System)

The real irony is that the NES initially made its name with honest cover art, so as not to make the Atari 2600's mistake of misleading customers.

Tom fricking Sawyer... I got bamboozled on that one. Played it for hours and was always pissed I didn't spend my $50 on a different game.

Awwwwwwww. I loved playing Dr Chaos. Loved it!

The arcade Athena is in fact a different game also by SNK, which featuring an in-game theme song that is ahead of its time, gaining its popularity in Japan.
The NES geme is a prequel, where you play as the ancestor of the arcade protagonist.

I I like ghouls but I don’t like school

This guy is a turd of a human being. Steals people's ideas then makes fun of them. I bet this guy is a rich kid who never worked a day in his life. Now he has a family and raising another turd. Hope your kid ends up better than you. F U loser

Best channel on YT!!!

Ok ok … everything was cool until you dissed bad street brawler! My brother and I sunk HOURS into,that game, beating up little bald weirdos with French moustaches that look like babies… or fighting apes in mini boss fights.

I own Athena. I bought it on the cover art. Thank you for recognizing my experience.

As a casual collector I can relate to you. I have alot off games that I never really play, but are nice additions. Then when I actually play them I have a good time.

I had Athena as a kid, and it was never really my favorite....

The horror in the window above the door is a skeleton skull sideways

Tom Sawyer on NES is a good game.

I thought Dr. Chaos was pretty good! Sure it's not fantastic, but the adventure mechanics break up the platforming sections nicely. And they're not a pixel hunt nightmare or involve obtuse puzzles either. You just need to ransack the rooms for items and punch holes in the walls. And the chance of having a surprise monster pop out of a door or armoire kept it just a bit suspenseful. The platforming action is a bit basic, but plays well and isn't frustrating or janky. Not a shining gem of a game, but a worthwhile playthrough nonetheless.

Hydlide and Super Pitfall

The only one of these I have is Dr. Chaos. Bought it solely because of the artwork...and cheap price. Yeah not a great game unfortunately.

I'm expecting Swords and Serpents to be on here.

Have you done a video about how NES games based on movies or TV shows were almost always impossibly hard? The only exception I can even think of is DuckTales which is actually super easy for a change.

If any young gamers are reading this, back then you went only by the cart labels. It was always a magical journey to the movie store cause sometimes you’d get something great and sometimes bad based on the labels.

I'm here to say you are WRONG about Tom sayer! You should give it another go!

Here are more "bad games with good covers" on the NES!

Hydlide - while the cover isn't mind-blowing, it at least invokes an action-packed fantasy game not dissimilar from the Legend of Zelda. At the very least, it seems like it "could be good". Oh, dear, you poor thing.

Legend of the Ghost Lion - this cover doesn't just scream "80s", it's saturated in it. That badass white lion in the background hovering over those pyramids and that sexy warrior-woman in the foreground could've easily been the cover art for Whitesnake, Ratt, Journey, Cinderella, or any number of hair-metal bands. It's amazing. The actual game stars a young girl (ok, not so bad) who recruits a number of strange and mystical allies (sounds amazing), but gets into loads of random battles (um) that don't give you any XP (wait), are nearly impossible to run from (please stop), and have the worst battle music in any RPG ever (AUGH, WHYYYYYYYYY).

Wolverine - any video game that had Wolverine on the cover automatically had to be good, right? ...RIGHT?!

WWF Wrestlemania - SAY YOUR PRAYERS AND EAT YOUR VITAMINS, BROTHER, CUZ' HULKAMANIA'S RUNNIN' WIIIIIILD!!!!! ...Or at least it does until you actually play the game. It honestly wouldn't be so bad if you could, you know, pin your opponent.

King's Knight - looks like a fun, wacky, cartoonish game featuring an exciting cast of fantasy characters who band together and get into all kinds of crazy shenanigans as they save the day, doesn't it? (sighs) Yeah, that would've been nice to play.

Darkman - badass cover, but the game is just ass. And bad.

I remember buying Dash Galaxy from Kay Bee Toys thinking the box art was cool. When I got home, I realized I had made a huge mistake.

I'd go to bat (no pun intended) for Ghoul School, while also admitting it's really crusty and fighting enemies is more of a bad rhythm game than actual combat. The vibes and metroidvania aspects are great though, and I dig the simplistic but catchy music.

That game really was a BAD Street Brawler.

HAHA Loved these great cover arts, but awful games. Chiller comes to mind as well. Practically ANY Bunch Games, Color Dreams, or eventually called Wisdom Tree games had the most AWESOME cover art EVER MADE on any systems really. But the games themselves were almost always sucky AT BEST!! Oh my they sucked. hahahaha Love the videos!

I had no idea Duke Nukem was on the cover of Bad Street Brawler!

One of the NES games had Fabio as a cover model, as a picture. I wanna say Wizards and Warriors but it's been a while. Either way, straight up Fabio on the cover.

Conan is my most hated NES game ever.

I have a soft spot for Athena, being one of the first games I ever bought used. The arcade version looks better, but doesn't play any better.

Haha, I actually owned "Starship Hector".

"With a great appreciation for that top level of conartistry."

I love it

"Confident knee up stance revealing the mysteries behind the loincloth."

I love the flat, laid-back, style, of commenting, and thoughtful script writing.

Here's a list idea:

Games you traded with your friends.

Whether you knew you were getting a better game trade, an upgrade trade, an uptrade.

And,

If you knew you were covertly passing a lame game, like a 90s crappy bag of weed.

As far as Athena being a "top...game" top, being defined as: top of a pile of s***.

Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch sounds like a mushroom trip, in which Mike Tyson partook.

I mean Mark Tyler; future Mandela effect.

You might have to add the Mighty Bomb Jack cover to this list.

"...a subculture of dating that involves wearing handcuffs in public."

I'm sorry I can't stop quoting you.

" and,Huckleberry Finn looks like he's sashaying away."

I bet your biggest struggle is saying these funny ass lines without laughing uncontrollably.

It would be cool if someone made the games that these covers make you expect. With how varied the indie NES scene is, it's totally possible and it makes total sense.

Ghoul School. I want to hurt that goddamn game. And yet I haven’t seen anyone else talk about it and how garbage it is.

Relative to its cover, Dr. Chaos is the most dissapointing game I ever rented back in the day.

Conan is not a Conan game. Is a "Myth History in the Making"'s port.