Battletoads

Despite its medieval difficulty, Battletoads had such original gameplay that it became a classic to Nintendo fans. Every level consisted of different game mechanics. The first level was in the traditional side scrolling beat'em up style. The second level was top-down scrolling, in which the toads used grappling hooks to go down the a tunnel in the enemy fortress. In the third level, which was as far as many people could go, you rode on bikes that had to constantly hit the ramps at the right time otherwise you'd lose a life. If you got past this level, you were considered the hardcore gamer.

When it was released in 1991, it was great graphical achievement for the NES. During a time when the 16-bit Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo had just come out. Battletoads proved that 8-bit graphics could still show great animation and detail.