/u/Mario mentioned the NES Remix on Wii U to me the other day, basically snippets and stuff from 16 NES games. It struck me that a lot of the games on there aren't really what you'd consider to be great titles.
My top 16 in no particular order would probably be:
- Super Mario Bros.
- Metroid
- The Legend of Zelda
- Contra
- Ninja Gaiden
- Castlevania
- Rad Racer
- Tetris
- Gremlins 2
- Chip N Dale
- Battletoads
- Mega Man
- Galaxy 5000
- Punch Out
- Kid Icarus
- Gradius
In no order
-Ninja Turtles 2 the arcade game
-Dragon Warrior
-Final Fantasy I,II
-Blades of Steel
-River City Ransom
-Double Dragon
-Ninja Gaiden II,III
-Legend of Zelda
-Kirby's Dream Land
-Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!
-Castevania I,II, III
-Excite Bike
I also highly rate everything mentioned by OP