Adventure Island II (高橋名人の冒険島Ⅱ Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima Tsū?, lit. "Great Takahashi's 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. A different version was also released for the Game Boy in 1992 titled Adventure Island.

Ice Climber (アイスクライマー Aisu Kuraimā?) is a vertical platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Family Computer in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1985. In Ice Climber, the characters Popo (ポポ) and Nana (ナナ), collectively known as the Ice Climbers, venture up 32 ice-covered mountains to recover stolen vegetables from a giant condor. In some European countries, the NES console was sold bundled with the game, increasing Ice Climber's familiarity outside Japan.An alternate version was released in the arcades as part of the Vs. Series, known as Vs. Ice Climber (VSアイスクライマー VS Aisu Kuraimā?). It includes gameplay features not found in the home console release, such as an animated title screen, stage select menu, 16 additional mountains, occasional blizzard and wind effects, more enemy characters, and bonus multiplier items.

Mega Man, alternatively written as Megaman and MegaMan, known as Rockman (ロックマン, Rokkuman) in Japan, is a video game franchise created by Capcom, starring the robot character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. Mega Man, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, began a series of over 50 games on multiple systems. By March 2015, the series had sold approximately thirty million copies worldwide, and is often cited as one of the most renowned video game franchises of all time.

Mega Man 2, known in Japan as Rockman 2: Dr. Wily no Nazo (ロックマン2 Dr.ワイリーの謎, Rokkuman 2 Dr. Wairī no Nazo, lit. "Rockman 2: The Mystery of Dr. Wily"), is a platform game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the second installment in the original Mega Man series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, and in North America and PAL regions the following years. Mega Man 2 continues the titular protagonist's battle against the evil Dr. Wily and his rogue robots. The game features graphical and gameplay changes from the first Mega Man game, many of which have remained throughout the series. Although sales for Mega Man were unimpressive, Capcom allowed the Rockman team to create a sequel. They worked concurrently on other Capcom projects, using their free time to develop the game. Unused content from the previous title was integrated into Mega Man 2. Takashi Tateishi composed the soundtrack, with Yoshihiro Sakaguchi serving as a sound programmer. With more than 1.5 million copies sold, the game is the best-selling Mega Man title. Critics praised its audio, visuals and gameplay as an improvement over the first game. Many publications rank Mega Man 2 as the best title in the series, and as one of the greatest video games of all time. The game has been re-released on several consoles and mobile phones.

Ninja Gaiden (NINJA 外伝) is a series of video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as Ninja Ryukenden (忍者龍剣伝, Ninja Ryūkenden, lit. "Legend of the Ninja Dragon Sword") in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American Ninja Gaiden title means "side-story" in Japanese, even though the Ninja Gaiden series is not a spinoff of a previous series. The original arcade version, first two NES games and Game Boy game were released as Shadow Warriors in PAL regions.The series gained popularity on the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) for its tight action-platform gameplay, catchy music and, according to G4's X-Play, for being the first console game to have the story presented in cinematic cutscenes. The 8-bit trilogy was enhanced for the 16-bit Super NES in 1995. Sega also released two Ninja Gaiden games for the Game Gear and Master System, the latter only for PAL regions. A new game, titled Ninja Gaiden, was released in 2004 as a 3D action game on the Xbox, developed by Team Ninja, the makers of Dead or Alive. The Ninja Gaiden franchise is well known for its high degree of difficulty, particularly the original NES version and the Xbox revival.

Rockin' Kats, released in Japan as N.Y. Nyankies (ニューヨークニャンキーズ, Nyū Yōku Nyankīzu) is a platform video game produced by Atlus Software Inc. in 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The side-scrolling game involves the adventures of a cartoon cat in his quest to defeat a criminal gang of dogs that has taken over the city.

Shadow of the Ninja, originally released in Japan as Yami no Shigotonin Kage (闇の仕事人 KAGE, The Darkness Worker Kage) and later released in Europe and Australia as Blue Shadow, is a side-scrolling action game developed by Natsume for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1990. The game revolves around a pair of ninjas sent to assassinate a dictator in a futuristic version of New York City. A port was planned for the Game Boy, but was released in rebranded form as Ninja Gaiden Shadow.

Shatterhand is a side-scrolling action game for the Nintendo Entertainment System developed by Natsume and published by Jaleco in North America in 1991 and in Europe in 1992. Shatterhand was originally released by Angel (Bandai) in Japan in 1991 as a licensed game for the Family Computer based on the live-action superhero series Super Rescue Solbrain (特救指令ソルブレイン, Tokkyū Shirei Soruburein).