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These Were the Best Video Games of 1988

By HC Green Men's Journal

Updated April 24, 2026 4:31 PM

The year is 1988. Compact discs outsold vinyl for the first time. Andre the Giant won the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan with the help of a referee's evil twin. John McClane saved the Nakatomi Christmas party from a terrorist plot, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit dominated movie theaters. All the while, the gaming industry kept tightening its grip on America's youth with the help of these top games from 1988.

Honorable Mentions: John Madden Football, R.C. Pro-Am

If pretending to drive a real car sounded too intense, R.C. Pro-Am allowed gamers to live out the fantasy of driving a radio-controlled version. Only the most rebellious of rebels dared get behind that virtual wheel. John Madden Football also got its start. Who knew the microtransaction-laden, annual-roster-update juggernaut sprang from such humble roots?

5) Ice Hockey

With its simplistic roster construction of fat guy who shoots hard but is slow, skinny guy who skates fast but is weak, and average guy who is mid at everything, Ice Hockey not only provided a fun version of the sport but also taught an entire generation how to judge people based on their appearance. An approach that remains as vital and foolproof today as it was back in 1988....

4) NARC

A pioneer of over-the-top video game violence, NARC let you play as either Max Force or Hit Man on a mission of utmost importance: topple notorious crime lord Mr. Big. It offered bonus points for "arresting" some enemies instead of turning them into a bloody explosion of severed limbs, but if you think Max Force is filling out that extra paperwork, you're sadly mistaken.

3) Super Mario Bros. 2

The red-headed stepchild of the NES-era Mario games, Super Mario Bros. 2 eschewed the jump-heavy formula of the other titles in favor of pulling vegetables and throwing them at your foes. To this day, every time I see a turnip, I instinctively want to fling it at someone's head. Hard to say if there's any correlation to my time with Super Mario Bros. 2.

2) Ninja Gaiden

It's widely accepted that certain "universal truths" exist that transcend cultural, ideological, and even theological beliefs. Perhaps the most indisputable among such truths is this: Ninjas are cool. Tecmo understood this, and thus made Ninja Gaiden, a game about ninjas conducting ninja business. It was, as you may suspect, cool.

1) Super Mario Bros. 3

When you consider that there have been two Super Mario Bros. games in the last 10 years, it boggles the mind to think two mainline sequels once released in the same year. The signature gimmick here saw Mario don different suits-such as frog and tanuki-for unique abilities. Rumors that a zoot suit, which allowed Mario to "chat up" Goombas and Chain Chomps, was originally included remain unsubstantiated.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Apr 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 3:16 PM.