Nintendo NES classic 80s game art: The evolution of 8-bit graphics, from Donkey Kong to Ghostbusters
While the Switch is currently Nintendo's play to get back into the gaming saddle, in the '80s Nintendo WAS the video-game industry. The Nintendo Entertainment System, or Famicom in Japan, took over the US in the mid-80s, made Mario a star and eased people away from their home computers and into the strange new world of the "video-game console".
But as a new book, NES/Famicom: A Visual Compendium, drops this month to celebrate the classic console, it's time to look back to a time when Nintendo pushed the aesthetic boundaries, rather than being berated for under-powered graphics. Soak in the tome's glorious 8-bit visuals of the console's evolution from 1983 to 1990 – then go buy it here from Funstock.
Donkey Kong (1983)
Duck Hunt (1984)
Track & Field (1985)
Castlevania (1986)
Punch-Out!! (1987)
Metal Gear (1987)
Double Dragon (1987)
Mega Man 2 (1988)
Super Contra (1988)
Ninja Gaiden (1988)
Final Fantasy II (1988)
Super Mario Bros 3 (1988)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989)
Duck Tales (1989)
Batman: The Video Game (1989)
Snake Rattle 'N' Roll (1990)
New Ghostbusters II (1990)
Matt is a journalist, audience strategist, editorial director and workflow consultant with over 20 years' of experience in the industry.
A former director of audience development and content strategy at Hearst UK, Matt was previously Editor-in-Chief of Digital Spy. There, he contributed features and reviews on TV, movies, consumer technology, video games and Lego sets, won BSME Digital Editor of the Year, and led the team to numerous awards including Campaign Consumer Media Brand of the Year and PPA Digital Content Team of the Year twice.
As Digital Development Director of the Hearst UK portfolio, he oversaw the central digital editorial teams including SEO, video, e-commerce and design, contributing to digital acceleration across all Hearst UK brands from Cosmopolitan to Good Housekeeping.
Before joining Hearst in 2015, Matt edited Future’s consumer technology lifestyle brand T3 and the UK arm of Gawker’s tech culture website Gizmodo, and was deputy editor at ShortList, the then biggest men’s magazine in the UK, interviewing the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Lord Sugar and Sirs Ridley Scott and David Attenborough in the process. LinkedIn
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