Though it tends to be overlooked in studies of role-playing history, Venture iterated on the concepts of Atari's Adventure in a way that made the action RPG viable as an arcade experience—a forgotten yet important influence on metroidvania games.

Here we have the first NES release that wasn't based on a sport... yet it's hardly a bastion of creativity. By 1984, when Pinball debuted on Famicom, pinball had established itself as one of the most popular subjects for video games. Pinball stood apart, though, due to its remarkable quality... thanks in large part to a pinch-hit assist from future Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.

Game Boy certainly didn't lack for puzzle action games in its early years, as we've seen. And here's another one! Lock ’N Chase, however, isn't merely some quick-and-sleazy money grab (despite the fact that the box art says, "Take the money and run!")—this game has an impressive history behind it, and its design reflects an attempt to build on Data East's arcade heritage. And it's pretty fun, too.