List of best-selling Nintendo Entertainment System video games

Nintendo Entertainment System with controller

The best-selling video game of all-time on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console, known as the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan, is Super Mario Bros. First released in Japan on September 18, 1985, it went on to sell over 40 million units worldwide, making it the fifth best-selling video game of all-time.[1] The game's two sequels on the NES are also featured in the top five best-selling games on the platform – Super Mario Bros. 2 sold 7.46 million units to rank fourth, while Super Mario Bros. 3 sold in excess of 17 million copies to rank third.[2] Duck Hunt is the second best-selling game on the NES, selling over 28 million copies worldwide.[3]

A total of 74 NES/Famicom games have sold over a million units. Of those, 31 titles were developed by internal Nintendo development divisions. Aside from these, the developer with the most million-selling games is Capcom, with seven games in the list of 74. Nintendo published 41 of these 74 games. Other publishers with multiple million-selling titles include Capcom (seven games), Konami, Bandai and Hudson Soft (five games each), Enix and Namco (both four games). The most popular franchises on NES include Super Mario (67.63 million combined units), Dragon Quest (10.975 million combined units) and The Legend of Zelda (10.89 million combined units).

Video games

Key
dagger Game was shipped with NES consoles during its production era
List of best-selling Nintendo Entertainment System/Family Computer video games
No. Title Developer(s)[lower-alpha 1] Publisher(s)[lower-alpha 1] Release date Sales Ref.
1 Super Mario Bros. dagger Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo September 13, 1985 40,240,000 [1]
2 Duck Hunt dagger Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo April 21, 1984 28,300,000 [3]
3 Super Mario Bros. 3 dagger Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo October 23, 1988 18,000,000 [2]
4 Super Mario Bros. 2 Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo October 9, 1988 7,460,000 [2]
5 The Legend of Zelda Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo February 21, 1986 6,510,000 [4]
6 Tetris Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo December 22, 1988 5,580,000 [5]
7 Dr. Mario Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo July 27, 1990 4,850,000 [5]
8 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo January 14, 1987 4,380,000 [4]
9 Excitebike Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo November 30, 1984 4,160,000 [6]
10 Golf Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo May 1, 1984 4,010,000 [6]
11 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dagger Konami Konami
Ultra Games		 May 12, 1989 4,000,000 [7]
12 Dragon Quest III Chunsoft Enix February 10, 1988 3,895,000 [8]
13 Kung Fu Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo October 18, 1985 3,500,000 [6]
14 Baseball Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo December 7, 1983 3,200,000 [9]
15 Dragon Quest IV Chunsoft Enix February 11, 1990 3,180,000 [8]
16 World Class Track Meet dagger TRY Co. Nintendo December 23, 1986 3,080,000 [6]
17 Punch-Out!! Nintendo R&D3 Nintendo September 18, 1987 3,020,000 [6]
18 Metroid Nintendo R&D1[lower-alpha 2] Nintendo August 6, 1986 2,730,000 [6]
19 Super Mario Bros.2 (Japanese version) Nintendo R&D4 Nintendo June 3, 1986 2,650,000 [6]
20 Ice Hockey Nintendo R&D2 Nintendo January 21, 1988 2,420,000 [10]
21 Pro Wrestling Nintendo R&D3 Nintendo October 13, 1986 2,400,000 [6]
22 Dragon Quest II Chunsoft Enix January 26, 1987 2,400,000 [11]
23 Mario Bros. Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo September 9, 1983 2,280,000 [6]
24 Tennis Nintendo R&D1[lower-alpha 3] Nintendo January 14, 1984 2,170,000 [6]
25 Volleyball Nintendo R&D3 Nintendo July 21, 1986 2,150,000 [6]
26 Mahjong Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo August 27, 1983 2,140,000 [6]
27 R.C. Pro-Am Rare Nintendo February 1988 2,140,000 [6]
28 Pro Yakyū Family Stadium Namco Namco December 10, 1986 2,050,000 [12]
29 Soccer Intelligent Systems Nintendo April 9, 1985 1,960,000 [6]
30 Rad Racer Square Nintendo
Square		 August 7, 1987 1,960,000 [6]
31 Pinball Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo February 2, 1984 1,850,000 [6]
32 Kid Icarus Nintendo R&D1
Tose		 Nintendo December 19, 1986 1,760,000 [6]
33 Yoshi Game Freak Nintendo December 14, 1991 1,750,000 [6]
34 Kirby's Adventure HAL Laboratory Nintendo March 23, 1993 1,750,000 [6]
35 DuckTales Capcom Capcom September 14, 1989 1,670,000 [13]
36 Ghosts 'n Goblins Capcom
Micronics		 Capcom June 13, 1986 1,640,000 [14]
37 Bases Loaded Tose Jaleco June 26, 1987 1,580,000 [15]
38 Donkey Kong Classics Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo October 1988 1,560,000 [6]
39 F-1 Race HAL Laboratory Nintendo November 2, 1984 1,520,000 [6]
40 Mega Man 2 Capcom Capcom December 24, 1988 1,510,000 [14]
41 Lode Runner Hudson Soft Brøderbund
Hudson Soft		 July 31, 1984 1,500,000 [16]
42 Ice Climber Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo January 30, 1985 1,500,000 [6]
43 Ninja Hattori-kun Hudson Soft Hudson Soft March 5, 1986 1,500,000 [12]
44 Dragon Quest Chunsoft Enix, Nintendo May 27, 1986 1,500,000 [11]
45 Nintendo World Cup Technōs Japan Nintendo
Technōs Japan		 May 18, 1990 1,480,000 [6]
46 4 Nin Uchi Mahjong Hudson Soft Nintendo November 2, 1984 1,450,000 [6]
47 Final Fantasy III Square Square April 27, 1990 1,400,000 [11]
48 Gyromite dagger Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo August 13, 1985 1,320,000 [6]
49 Pro Yakyū Family Stadium '87 Namco Namco December 22, 1987 1,300,000 [12]
50 Hogan's Alley Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo June 12, 1984 1,270,000 [6]
51 Xevious Namco Namco
Bandai		 November 8, 1984 1,260,000 [12]
52 Ninja Kid Tose Bandai April 17, 1986 1,250,000 [12]
53 Dragon Power Tose Bandai November 27, 1986 1,250,000 [12]
54 TwinBee Konami Konami January 7, 1986 1,200,000 [12]
55 Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Dōchū Konami Konami July 30, 1986 1,200,000 [12]
56 Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers Capcom Capcom June 8, 1990 1,200,000 [13]
57 Doraemon Hudson Soft Hudson Soft December 12, 1986 1,150,000 [12]
58 Commando Capcom Capcom September 27, 1986 1,140,000 [14]
59 Donkey Kong Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo July 15, 1983 1,130,000 [6]
60 Yoshi's Cookie Home Data, Tose Nintendo November 21, 1992 1,120,000 [6]
61 Donkey Kong Jr. Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo July 15, 1983 1,110,000 [6]
62 Popeye Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo July 15, 1983 1,100,000 [6]
63 Pro Yakyū Family Stadium '88 Namco Namco December 20, 1988 1,080,000 [12]
64 Mega Man 3 Capcom Capcom September 28, 1990 1,080,000 [14]
65 Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden Tose Bandai February 15, 1989 1,060,000 [12]
66 Tag Team Match: MUSCLE Tose Bandai November 8, 1985 1,050,000 [12]
67 Adventure Island Hudson Soft Hudson Soft September 12, 1986 1,050,000 [12]
68 1942 Capcom
Micronics		 Capcom December 11, 1985 1,000,000 [17]
69 Bomberman Hudson Soft Hudson Soft December 20, 1985 1,000,000 [18]
70 Hydlide T&E Soft T&E Soft
FCI		 March 18, 1986 1,000,000 [19]
71 Gradius Konami Konami April 25, 1986 1,000,000 [12]
72 Tiger Heli Micronics Pony Canyon
Acclaim Entertainment		 December 5, 1986 1,000,000 [20]
73 Metal Gear Konami Konami
Ultra Games		 December 22, 1987 1,000,000 [21]
74 NES Open Tournament Golf Nintendo R&D2 Nintendo September 20, 1991 1,000,000 [6]

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Only developers and publishers for the original release of each game are listed.
  2. ↑ Intelligent Systems worked as additional developers on Metroid.
  3. ↑ Intelligent Systems worked as additional developers on Tennis.

References

  1. 1 2 Stuart, Keith (September 13, 2010). "Super Mario Bros: 25 Mario facts for the 25th anniversary". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 O'Malley, James (September 11, 2015). "30 Best-Selling Super Mario Games of All Time on the Plumber's 30th Birthday". Gizmodo. Univision Communications. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Welch, Hanuman (April 23, 2013). "1984: Duck Hunt - The Best Selling Video Game Of Every Year Since 1977". Complex. Verizon Hearst Media Partners. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "March 25, 2004". The Magic Box. Archived from the original on November 26, 2005. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Terry, Paul (October 5, 2015). Top 10 of Everything 2016. New York City, New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 123. ISBN 978-1770856172. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 CESA Games White Papers. Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association.
  7. ↑ Kent, Steven L. (June 16, 2010). The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon and Beyond... The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World. New York City, New York: Crown Archetype. p. 571. ISBN 978-0761536437. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Dragon Quest History". Planet Nintendo. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  9. ↑ Guinness World Records 2015: Gamer's Edition. Vancouver, British Columbia: Jim Pattison Group. November 6, 2014. p. 105. ISBN 978-1908843654.
  10. ↑ Guinness World Records 2017: Gamer's Edition. Vancouver, British Columbia: Jim Pattison Group. September 8, 2016. p. 188. ISBN 978-1910561393. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 "February 2, 2004 - February 4, 2004" (PDF). Square Enix. February 9, 2004. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Japan Platinum Game Chart". The Magic Box. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  13. 1 2 "Platinum Titles". Capcom. Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Platinum Titles". Capcom. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Domestic successive million shipment". Geimin.net. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Lock'n'Lode". IGN. Ziff Davis. February 17, 1999. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  17. ↑ Kent, Steven L. (September 6, 2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon and Beyond... The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World. New York City, New York: Three Rivers Press. p. 351. ISBN 978-0761536437.
  18. ↑ "Bomb Away With Bomberman On The N-GageTM Mobile Game Deck". Nokia. March 1, 2004. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  19. ↑ Szczepaniak, John (2015). "History of Japanese Video Games". Kinephanos. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  20. ↑ Kent, Steven L. (September 6, 2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon and Beyond... The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World. New York City, New York: Three Rivers Press. p. 310. ISBN 978-0761536437.
  21. ↑ 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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