What do you think?
Rate this book
The NES Encyclopedia: Every Game Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
A comprehensive, colorful guide to every game ever released on the classic Nintendo Entertainment System.
One of the most iconic video game systems, the NES is credited with saving the American video games industry in the early 1980s.
The NES Encyclopedia is the first ever complete reference guide to every game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo's first industry-defining video game system. As well as covering all 714 officially licensed NES games, the book also includes more than 160 unlicensed games released during its lifespan, giving for the first time a definitive history of this important console's full library. Written by a retro gaming expert with 30 years of gaming experience and a penchant for bad jokes, TheNES Encyclopedia promises to be both informative and entertaining.
The NES continues to enjoy a strong cult following among Nintendo fans and gamers in general with wide varieties of officially licensed merchandise proving ever popular. Nintendo's most recent console, the Switch, is the fastest selling video game console of all time in the United States and Japan. Nintendo launched a variety of classic NES games for download on the system, meaning a new audience of gamers is due to discover the NES for the first time if they have not already.
Praise for The NES Encyclopedia
"As a catalog of all 876 NES games, this work is unique in its breadth of coverage and will be of great interest to old-school video gamers and collectors." --Booklist
"A definitive resource that is more than worthy of the title 'Encyclopedia.' " --Nintendo World Report
One of the most iconic video game systems, the NES is credited with saving the American video games industry in the early 1980s.
The NES Encyclopedia is the first ever complete reference guide to every game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo's first industry-defining video game system. As well as covering all 714 officially licensed NES games, the book also includes more than 160 unlicensed games released during its lifespan, giving for the first time a definitive history of this important console's full library. Written by a retro gaming expert with 30 years of gaming experience and a penchant for bad jokes, TheNES Encyclopedia promises to be both informative and entertaining.
The NES continues to enjoy a strong cult following among Nintendo fans and gamers in general with wide varieties of officially licensed merchandise proving ever popular. Nintendo's most recent console, the Switch, is the fastest selling video game console of all time in the United States and Japan. Nintendo launched a variety of classic NES games for download on the system, meaning a new audience of gamers is due to discover the NES for the first time if they have not already.
Praise for The NES Encyclopedia
"As a catalog of all 876 NES games, this work is unique in its breadth of coverage and will be of great interest to old-school video gamers and collectors." --Booklist
"A definitive resource that is more than worthy of the title 'Encyclopedia.' " --Nintendo World Report
264 pages, ebook
First published July 26, 2019
113 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 22, 2023
This is exactly what it says it is. It starts off with a few prologues and forwards. Gives a quick history of Nintendo, then gets right into listing every NES game pak including a screenshot and small trivia facts. Some of the bigger games get more space than the more obscure games. And at the end it even has a section for unlicensed games. This was particularly interesting for the Tengen games.
This author also has books for the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo which I’m now going to seek out.
This author also has books for the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo which I’m now going to seek out.
May 3, 2021
The greatest book ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2019
With The NES Encyclopedia, author and retro-gamer Chris Scullion has released a compendium of all 714 licensed videogames ever released for the original 1980s Nintendo Entertainment System – as well as a huge chunk of unlicensed games that are still being created today.
The encyclopedia opens with a quick author introduction and history of the Kyoto, Japan, based Nintendo company, which was founded in 1889 (yes, 1889!) and got its start manufacturing toys and playing cards. The intro also has plenty of vintage advertisements that were originally found in the backs of comic books or in the Sears catalog, including several for R.O.B. (robotic operating buddy), the console accessory who looked strikingly similar to #5 from the Short Circuit movies.
Of course, the bulk of the book consists of all the videogames themselves. From the games you’ve probably never heard of – Banana Prince, The Trolls in Crazyland, Panic Restaurant – to the classics you and all your friends owned – Tetris, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, Super Mario Bros. – this encyclopedia does a detailed job of including game cover art and screenshots, release dates, software developers, and seemingly unknowable facts for each and every title. The entries also delve into each games’ gimmicks, player reception, innovations, and any controversy resulting from the release of the game.
This blast from the past is recommended for any level of gamer or collector, young or old, that holds a fascination for the beginnings of videogame history.
The encyclopedia opens with a quick author introduction and history of the Kyoto, Japan, based Nintendo company, which was founded in 1889 (yes, 1889!) and got its start manufacturing toys and playing cards. The intro also has plenty of vintage advertisements that were originally found in the backs of comic books or in the Sears catalog, including several for R.O.B. (robotic operating buddy), the console accessory who looked strikingly similar to #5 from the Short Circuit movies.
Of course, the bulk of the book consists of all the videogames themselves. From the games you’ve probably never heard of – Banana Prince, The Trolls in Crazyland, Panic Restaurant – to the classics you and all your friends owned – Tetris, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, Super Mario Bros. – this encyclopedia does a detailed job of including game cover art and screenshots, release dates, software developers, and seemingly unknowable facts for each and every title. The entries also delve into each games’ gimmicks, player reception, innovations, and any controversy resulting from the release of the game.
This blast from the past is recommended for any level of gamer or collector, young or old, that holds a fascination for the beginnings of videogame history.
May 4, 2019
A wonderful exploration of an iconic games console. Here’s hoping for a SNES follow up too!
February 25, 2024
I recently wrote a review for The Super Nintendo Encyclopedia and everything I wrote more or less applies to The Nintendo Entertainment System Encyclopedia. So instead of writing a new review, I just copied and pasted that review here.
Simply change SNES to NES and Super Nintendo to Nintendo Entertainment System. Also the part about the Virtual Boy bonus section, pretend that says there's bonus pages about unlicensed games instead. And the bit where it says I need the NES and N64 Versions of the book, well I only need the N64 one now. You can change wunderbar to excellent too if you want.
So here be the review.
Here we have an encyclopedia of every game officially released for the Super Nintendo. The book begins with a brief history of the SNES and then details each game in alphabetical order.
Most games get a quarter of a page each, and some of the more popular games get half a page or even a full page. We are given the games' release date, their publisher and developer, which regions they were released in, a brief info, and a fun fact.
We are also treated to bonus Virtual Boy pages at the end of the book, which is in the same format as the SNES section except much shorter, as the Virtual Boy only lasted five minutes and had hardly any games for it.
The info handed out in this book is basic and minimal. If you want the full, in-depth history of any SNES games, you'll have to go digging elsewhere. But this is a nice walk down memory lane, especially if you grew up playing Super Nintendo games like I did.
It's a cool looking book to own, and a pleasant, humourous read, although I did skip all the sports games (there's like 5000 versions of each sport). I'll probably pull it off my shelf every now and again and flip through it on the bog.
I need to get the NES and N64 versions now.
Wunderbar!
Simply change SNES to NES and Super Nintendo to Nintendo Entertainment System. Also the part about the Virtual Boy bonus section, pretend that says there's bonus pages about unlicensed games instead. And the bit where it says I need the NES and N64 Versions of the book, well I only need the N64 one now. You can change wunderbar to excellent too if you want.
So here be the review.
Here we have an encyclopedia of every game officially released for the Super Nintendo. The book begins with a brief history of the SNES and then details each game in alphabetical order.
Most games get a quarter of a page each, and some of the more popular games get half a page or even a full page. We are given the games' release date, their publisher and developer, which regions they were released in, a brief info, and a fun fact.
We are also treated to bonus Virtual Boy pages at the end of the book, which is in the same format as the SNES section except much shorter, as the Virtual Boy only lasted five minutes and had hardly any games for it.
The info handed out in this book is basic and minimal. If you want the full, in-depth history of any SNES games, you'll have to go digging elsewhere. But this is a nice walk down memory lane, especially if you grew up playing Super Nintendo games like I did.
It's a cool looking book to own, and a pleasant, humourous read, although I did skip all the sports games (there's like 5000 versions of each sport). I'll probably pull it off my shelf every now and again and flip through it on the bog.
I need to get the NES and N64 versions now.
Wunderbar!
May 21, 2021
Exceptionally researched survey of every official NES game released outside of Japan (i.e. North America, Europe, and Australia), as well as about 200 notable unlicensed games released during the NES lifespan from approximately 1988-1994. As an encyclopedia-style book, there are no deep dives into any one specific game here, but it makes an excellent reference guide.
My one quibble is that there are a fair number of spelling, grammatical, or formatting errors for a book released by a fairly notable UK publisher. One or two in a book this size is understandable; a dozen or more is questionable. Nonetheless, it's still an excellent resource.
My one quibble is that there are a fair number of spelling, grammatical, or formatting errors for a book released by a fairly notable UK publisher. One or two in a book this size is understandable; a dozen or more is questionable. Nonetheless, it's still an excellent resource.
March 20, 2022
I miss the days of the NES and SNES. That said I had no idea how many games both licensed and unlicensed were released for the Nintendo. Some of these were really bad and don’t deserve to be remembered. Some of them are a really good and should be remembered fondly. And some of them are just plain weird. However the author is a clear WWE fan and has sprinkled in references to wrestlers within the book. I loved this. Great book overall!
January 28, 2023
If you were a rabid fan of the NES in the middle 80s and early 90s you owe it to yourself to get ahold of this book. Even if you don't read it cover to cover it is still a wonderful journey down memory lane to revisit games you loved and games you have forgotten. The Unlicensed portion of the book is a fascinating look at the many bootlegs and rip offs happening in other countries that I am sure very few of us knew anything about. 4/5 Stars
June 24, 2020
If you are a fan of video games of the classic variety, this book will scratch all of those itches. In this book, every NES game ever released in the US and Europe is covered, and this includes unlicensed games. Each entry includes limited information on each game, a fun little fact and a screenshot.
May 24, 2024
It's a beautiful book. So full of nostalgia. It has a brief summary of every game released for the NES. I don't know if the list is complete, but anyway it is exhaustive. So many games I played and so many I didn't. It's a light reading that always can make you feel good without demanding too much from your brain, and gives enough visual pleasure with screenshots of the games.
June 21, 2020
Needs A Magnifying Glass
This is a good listing of NES games that include both authorized and unauthorized titiles. However my main gripe is the small type that requires you to either hold the e reader close to your face or get a magnifying glass in order to read it.
This is a good listing of NES games that include both authorized and unauthorized titiles. However my main gripe is the small type that requires you to either hold the e reader close to your face or get a magnifying glass in order to read it.
May 13, 2023
Just a listing and short description of all the Nintendo games released. Not too much here that is new.
July 22, 2024
If you are a video game fan as I am, especially of the classic variety, this book will scratch all of those itches.
January 3, 2024
This is my sons rating!! i have not read it. 😂
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews