Nintendo & Third Parties Discontinue Over 40 NES Games
Nintendo has announced the discontinuation of 19 of its first-party NES Game Pak cartridges. These titles will no longer be produced, so if you’re looking to pick any of them up, don’t wait too long or they’ll disappear forever!
- Gumshoe
- Wild Gunman
- Mach Rider
- Baseball
- Soccer
- Slalom
- Volleyball
- Balloon Fight
- Clu Clu Land
- Ice Climber
- Urban Champion
- Donkey Kong Jr. Math
- Donkey Kong 3
- Mario Bros.
- Popeye
- Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong Jr.
- Super Mario Bros.
- Duck Hunt
It should be noted that both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. are being packaged together into one Game Pak and being re-released as Donkey Kong Classics this summer. Most of the games being discontinued are titles that have been on the market for several years or just don’t sell as well as hits like The Legend of Zelda and Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out. The NES Action Set is looking more appealing than ever for newcomers since that will be the only way to get Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt going forward!
The main reason for pulling the games is the huge microchip shortage gripping technology companies around the world. Nintendo can no longer afford to divert chips to these old games when there are dozens waiting in the wings to be released, but are being held up to shortages of the necessary computer parts. We’ve been waiting what seems like forever for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link to ship, and that’s almost entirely due to the shortfall in component pieces. Also, retailers only have so much room to display the NES games, and with a veritable flood of new releases on the way, it’s out with the old and in with the new!
Nintendo isn’t the only one discontinuing games to make room for hotter releases. Some third parties have announced they have pulled the plug on manufacturing some catalog titles:
- Burgertime
- Tag Team Wrestling
- Gradius
- Arkanoid
- Mighty Bomb Jack
- Solomon’s Key
- Track & Field
- Castlevania
- Stinger
- Rush ‘N Attack
- 1942
- Trojan
- Section Z
- Lode Runner
- Raid on Bungeling Bay
- Spelunker
- Stadium Events
- Athletic World
- Chubby Cherub
- Ninja Kid
- Lunar Pool
- Zanac
- Sqoon
Good luck tracking down those games! Some have already become rather scarce.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
Curious about the origin of the first- and third-party lists here, since so many of your other posts credit the sources so well. The LA Times article linked in the 5/26/88 posting indicates Nintendo discontinuing 12 titles, but there are 19 listed here. Is this from a contemporaneous source? Thank you!
Hi btgreenone! Thanks for reaching out. The full list of NES games discontinued came from Computer Entertainer. Specifically across two issues, the May 1988 and June 1988 issues. Hope that helps!