The Most Regretful 20 Games Missing in The NES Classic Edition

Battletoads is a video game media franchise by Rare that began with the original beat 'em up game Battletoads in 1991. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions, Rash, Zitz, and Pimple, the series was created to rival the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games series. The series as a whole has been quite popular with five installments up to this date and at its apex spawned an animated television pilot.

The initial Battletoads game for the NES was renowned for its difficulty, but also received a cult following and spawned sequels for various platforms including a crossover with the Double Dragon series. In each of the games, the objective is to defeat the toads' nemesis the Dark Queen and her army of space mutants.

In one of Capcom's essential and frustrating action games, Ladd Spencer (more often known by his arcade name "Rad") is sent to investigate and sabotage a facility run essentially by Nazis (literal Nazis before being localized). Spencer's special weapon is an extending arm that can latch onto multiple surfaces, pulling him up to platforms or swinging dynamically through the air. The tradeoff is that Spencer cannot jump, only maneuver by swooping around like a spider caught in the breeze. 

R.C. Pro-Am is a racing video game developed by Rare. It was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) by Nintendo for North America in March 1988, and then in Europe on April 15 of the same year. Presented in an overhead isometric perspective, a single player races a radio-controlled car around a series of tracks. The objective of each track is to qualify for the next race by placing in the top three racers. Players collect items to improve performance, and they must avoid a variety of hazards such as rain puddles and oil slicks. It is an example of a racing game which features vehicular combat, in which racers can use missiles and bombs to temporarily disable opposing vehicles. Originally titled Pro Am Racing, R.C. Pro-Am was also ported to the Sega Genesis in 1992 as Championship Pro-Am, an enhanced remake with enhanced graphics and additional features. R.C. Pro-Am was followed by two sequels: Super R.C. Pro-Am in 1991, and R.C. Pro-Am II in 1992.

Metroid is a science fiction action game franchise created by Nintendo.

Metroid follows space-faring bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from the Space Pirates and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic Metroid creatures. Metroid combines the platforming of Super Mario Bros. and the adventure of The Legend of Zelda with a dark science fiction atmosphere and greater emphasis on nonlinear gameplay.

Everyone remembers Punch-Out!!, as THE NES boxing game. Forgotten is Ring King, a quality alternative. Unlike Punch Out!!, Ring King lets you view your boxer from outside the ring, giving you a little more control, and even allowing grapples. It’s sort of like the first real boxing simulation. And then there’s that certain…scene between rounds. If you haven’t seen it before, Google it now. Yeah, it would be pretty funny to watch older gamers experience that scene for the first time on the NES Classic.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation, titled Dragon Warrior III when initially localized to North America, is a role-playing video game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix. It is the third installment in the Dragon Quest series and was first released for the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan and later for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America. The game saw an enhanced remake for the Super Famicom (the Japanese release of the Super NES) in 1996 and the Game Boy Color in 2001, and a port to mobile phones and the Wii in 2009 and 2011. A version of the game for Android and iOS was released in Japan on September 25, 2014,[1] and worldwide as Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation on December 4, 2014. It was the first time the game was given an official English subtitle.

Mega Man 3 (stylized as Mega Man III on title screen) is an action-platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third game of the original Mega Man series and was originally released in Japan on September 28, 1990. The game localized in North America later in 1990 and in European regions in 1992. Taking place after the events of Mega Man 2, the plot follows the titular hero as he helps his creator, Dr. Light, and a former villain, Dr. Wily, collect parts for a peace-keeping robot by defeating several Robot Masters that have gone haywire.

Ice Hockey (アイスホッケー, Aisu Hokkē) is a 1988 ice hockey video game published and developed by Nintendo, originally for the Famicom Disk System. It was later released in North America and in some PAL regions on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In 2006, it was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console service in Japan, North America, and some PAL regions.

Ice Hockey is based on the sport of the same name, with the objective of the game being to get more points than the opposing player by hitting round, black pucks into the opposing goal with a hockey stick. It is well-regarded by critics, and has been often cited as one of the best games for the NES.

Jackal, also distributed under the title of Top Gunner, is an overhead run'n gun-style shoot-'em-up video game by Konami released for the arcades in 1986. The player must maneuver an armed jeep in order to rescue prisoners of war (POWs) trapped in enemy territory.

Wario's Woods is a 1994 falling tile puzzle video game published by Nintendo for both the Nintendo Entertainment System and its successor the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Based on the company's Mario series, players control Toad in his mission to defeat Wario, who has taken control of the Peaceful Woods. Gameplay revolves around clearing each level by using bombs to destroy groups of enemies. There is also a multiplayer mode that allows for two players to compete against each other.

Little Nemo: The Dream Master (known as Pajama Hero Nemo (パジャマヒーロー NEMO, Pajama Hīrō Nīmō) in Japan) is a platform game released on the NES in 1990 by Capcom. It is based on the Japanese animated film, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland from Tokyo Movie Shinsha, which itself is based on the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay. The game's music was composed by Junko Tamiya, credited in the game as "Gonzou".

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (often shortened to the TMNT or Ninja Turtles) are four fictional teenaged superhero anthropomorphic mutant turtles. Named after Italian Renaissance artists, they were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the Japanese martial art of ninjutsu. From their home in the sewers of New York City, they battle petty criminals, evil overlords, mutated creatures, and alien invaders while attempting to remain hidden from society. They were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The characters originated in comic books published by Mirage Studios and expanded into cartoon series, films, video games, toys, and other merchandise. During the peak of the franchise's popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it gained worldwide success and fame.

Mega Man, known as Rockman in Japan, is a science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man". Mega Man, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, was the first in a series that expanded to over 50 games on multiple systems. As of December 31, 2019, the game series has sold 36 million units worldwide.

Duck Hunt is a 1984 light gun shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game console. The game was first released in Japan in April 1984 and was released as a launch game for the NES in North America in October 1985, with it also releasing in Europe two years later.

In Duck Hunt, players use the NES Zapper in combination with a CRT television to shoot ducks that appear on the screen. The ducks appear one or two at a time, and the player is given three shots to shoot them down. The player receives points upon shooting each duck. If the player shoots the required number of ducks in a single round, the player will advance to the next round; otherwise, the player will receive a game over.

Tetris (Russian: Тетрис [ˈtɛtrʲɪs]) is a tile-matching video game created by Russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies, most prominently during a dispute over the appropriation of the rights in the late 1980s. After a significant period of publication by Nintendo, the rights reverted to Pajitnov in 1996, who co-founded The Tetris Company with Henk Rogers to manage licensing.

Contra is a run and gun video game developed and published by Konami, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game on February 20, 1987. A home version was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, along with ports for various computer formats, including the MSX2. The home versions were localized in the PAL region as Gryzor on the various computer formats and as Probotector on the NES, released later. Several Contra sequels were produced following the original game.