SMB is clearly the best, but it’s kinda cheating lol.
But I also loved Pro Wrestling, Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Pinball, Baseball, and DK. Jr. Gyromite was decent but not as good as my previous selections. I also have some love for Ice Climbers. It aged terribly though. Loved it at release, mostly due to the 2 player coop play.
I had a handful of these when they came out. Other than SMB the ones I played the most were excitebike and Gumshoe. Gumshoe actually has really good graphics and it is an interesting if flawed concept. Shoot the dude to make him jump!
I have a nearly complete set of CIB black box games - minus Stack-Up and the box/manual for DK Jr. Math. I have no interest in paying anywhere close to the dumbass prices for the DKJM box and Stack-Up is essentially a non-game, even with R.O.B. So, in my mind, I pretty much have the full set!
Some of my faves in the set are the ones you mentioned, for sure. Balloon Fight is probably one of the best early NES games, period. It’s excellent. Excitebike, Kung Fu, Slalom and Mario Bros are personal faves as well; while Wrecking Crew and DK3 are cited less often but are really swell IMO.
