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List of best-selling Nintendo Entertainment System video games

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The list of best-selling Nintendo Entertainment System video games totals 75 games with sales or shipments of at least one million copies. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game console was first packaged as the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan. Its best-selling game is Super Mario Bros., first released in Japan on September 13, 1985, with sales of more than 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video game of all time. Two sequels are within the top five best-selling NES games: Super Mario Bros. 2 ranks fourth at 7.46 million units, and Super Mario Bros. 3 ranks third at 18 million units. The remaining top five are Duck Hunt with 28 million units and The Legend of Zelda with 6.5 million units.

Of these 75 games, 31 were developed by internal Nintendo development divisions, and 41 were published by Nintendo. Other developers with the most million-selling games include Capcom with seven games, and Konami, Hudson Soft, and Tose, with six games each. Other publishers include Capcom with seven games, Konami with six games, Bandai and Hudson Soft with five games each, and Enix and Namco with four games each. The most popular franchises on NES include Super Mario with 67.63 million combined units, Dragon Quest with 11.475 million combined units, and The Legend of Zelda with 10.89 million combined units.

Games

Key
Pack-in games bundled with NES consoles
Game Developer(s) Publisher(s) Release date Sales Ref
Super Mario Bros. Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo September 13, 1985 40,240,000
Duck Hunt Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo April 21, 1984 28,310,000
Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo October 23, 1988 18,000,000
Tetris Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo November 1989 8,000,000
Super Mario Bros. 2 (international version) Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo October 9, 1988 7,460,000
The Legend of Zelda Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo February 21, 1986 6,510,000
Dr. Mario Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo July 27, 1990 4,850,000
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo January 14, 1987 4,380,000
Excitebike Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo November 30, 1984 4,160,000
Golf Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo May 1, 1984 4,010,000
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Konami May 12, 1989 4,000,000
Dragon Quest III Chunsoft Enix February 10, 1988 3,895,000
Kung Fu Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo October 18, 1985 3,500,000
Baseball Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo December 7, 1983 3,200,000
Dragon Quest IV Chunsoft Enix February 11, 1990 3,180,000
World Class Track Meet TRY Co. Nintendo December 23, 1986 3,080,000
Punch-Out!! Nintendo R&D3 Nintendo September 18, 1987 3,000,000
Metroid Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo August 6, 1986 2,730,000
Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japanese version) Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo June 3, 1986 2,650,000
Dragon Quest II Chunsoft Enix January 26, 1987 2,550,000
Ice Hockey Nintendo R&D2 Nintendo January 21, 1988 2,420,000
Pro Wrestling Nintendo R&D3 Nintendo October 13, 1986 2,400,000
Mario Bros. Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo September 9, 1983 2,280,000
Tennis Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo January 14, 1984 2,170,000
Volleyball Nintendo R&D3 Nintendo July 21, 1986 2,150,000
Mahjong Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo August 27, 1983 2,140,000
R.C. Pro-Am Rare Nintendo February 1988 2,140,000
Pro Yakyū Family Stadium (R.B.I. Baseball) Namco Namco December 10, 1986 2,050,000
Dragon Quest Chunsoft May 27, 1986 2,000,000
Top Gun Konami Konami November 1987 2,000,000
Soccer Intelligent Systems Nintendo April 9, 1985 1,960,000
Rad Racer Square August 7, 1987 1,960,000
Pinball Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo February 2, 1984 1,850,000
Kid Icarus Nintendo December 19, 1986 1,760,000
Yoshi Game Freak Nintendo December 14, 1991 1,750,000
Kirby's Adventure HAL Laboratory Nintendo March 23, 1993 1,750,000
DuckTales Capcom Capcom September 14, 1989 1,670,000
Ghosts 'n Goblins Capcom June 13, 1986 1,640,000
Bases Loaded Tose Jaleco June 26, 1987 1,580,000
Donkey Kong Classics Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo October 1988 1,560,000
F-1 Race HAL Laboratory Nintendo November 2, 1984 1,520,000
Mega Man 2 Capcom Capcom December 24, 1988 1,510,000
Lode Runner Hudson Soft July 31, 1984 1,500,000
Xevious Namco November 8, 1984 1,500,000
Ice Climber Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo January 30, 1985 1,500,000
Ninja Hattori-kun Hudson Soft Hudson Soft March 5, 1986 1,500,000
Mighty Bomb Jack Tecmo Tecmo April 24, 1986 1,500,000
Nintendo World Cup Technōs Japan May 18, 1990 1,480,000
4 Nin Uchi Mahjong Hudson Soft Nintendo November 2, 1984 1,450,000
Final Fantasy III Square Square April 27, 1990 1,400,000
Gyromite Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo August 13, 1985 1,320,000
Final Fantasy Square Square December 18, 1987 1,300,000
Pro Yakyū Family Stadium '87 Namco Namco December 22, 1987 1,300,000
Hogan's Alley Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo June 12, 1984 1,270,000
Ninja Kid Tose Bandai April 17, 1986 1,250,000
Dragon Power Tose Bandai November 27, 1986 1,250,000
TwinBee Konami Konami January 7, 1986 1,200,000
Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Dōchū Konami Konami July 30, 1986 1,200,000
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers Capcom Capcom June 8, 1990 1,200,000
Doraemon Hudson Soft Hudson Soft December 12, 1986 1,150,000
Commando Capcom Capcom September 27, 1986 1,140,000
Donkey Kong Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo July 15, 1983 1,130,000
Yoshi's Cookie Tose Nintendo November 21, 1992 1,120,000
Donkey Kong Jr. Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo July 15, 1983 1,110,000
Popeye Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo July 15, 1983 1,100,000
Pro Yakyū Family Stadium '88 Namco Namco December 20, 1988 1,080,000
Mega Man 3 Capcom Capcom September 28, 1990 1,080,000
Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden Tose Bandai February 15, 1989 1,060,000
Tag Team Match: MUSCLE Tose Bandai November 8, 1985 1,050,000
Adventure Island Hudson Soft Hudson Soft September 12, 1986 1,050,000
Ninja JaJaMaru-kun Jaleco November 15, 1985 1,000,000
1942 Capcom December 11, 1985 1,000,000
Bomberman Hudson Soft Hudson Soft December 20, 1985 1,000,000
Hydlide T&E Soft March 18, 1986 1,000,000
Gradius Konami Konami April 25, 1986 1,000,000
Tiger Heli Micronics December 5, 1986 1,000,000
Metal Gear Konami December 22, 1987 1,000,000
NES Open Tournament Golf Nintendo R&D2 Nintendo September 20, 1991 1,000,000

Notes

  1. ^ Only developers and publishers for the original release of each game are listed.
  2. Only the initial release date on this platform is listed.
  3. Intelligent Systems worked as additional developers on Metroid.
  4. Intelligent Systems worked as additional developers on Tennis.

References

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  4. Director/Producer: Magnus Temple; Executive Producer: Nick Southgate (2004). "Tetris: From Russia With Love". BBC Four. Event occurs at 51:23. BBC. BBC Four. Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2012-09-04. The real winners were Nintendo. To date, Nintendo dealers across the world have sold 8 million Tetris cartridges on the Nintendo Entertainment system.
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  12. Tokyo Business Today. Toyo Keizai. 1990. p. 35. Archived from the original on 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2021-09-24. Since the new contract went into effect, Namco, whose hit "Family Stadium" has sold 2.05 million copies in Japan, has been limited in the number of new programs it can produce, and has suffered declining revenues.
  13. ^ "Japan Platinum Game Chart". The Magic Box. Archived from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
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  22. "February 2, 2004 - February 4, 2004" (PDF). Square Enix. February 9, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
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  27. Szczepaniak, John (2015). "History of Japanese Video Games". Kinephanos. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
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  29. Hideo Kojima (Interviewee) (March 14, 2006). Metal Gear Saga, Vol. 1. Konami. Konami decided to develop a NES version of Metal Gear, but I had absolutely nothing to do with this game. The game launched worldwide and became a huge hit, selling one million copies in the U.S.

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