The Best Card Games Ever Released on the NES

Zelda deck of cards

The gaming industry has become incredibly huge today. However, back in the day, i.e. the time of Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), it held a special spot for us. After all, for the first time we had video games that were diverse, visually breathtaking (for the time), and pocket-friendly.

When we talk about NES, then games like Super Mario Bros., Contra, Adventure Island, etc. come to mind. However, if you are a fan of card games or casino games, then you will be surprised to know that the classic gaming console had a great selection of these too.

The following are some of the best card games ever released on the NES:

Blackjack

Can you guess what this game is about? If your answer is “blackjack”, then you are absolutely correct! No brownie points for guessing though.

It’s true that the title of the game has no creativity, but it doesn’t matter because at the time it was released, which was 1992, a simple blackjack game that worked was enough to make it popular and much sought-after. That said, the game did offer a few basic features to keep things interesting. For starters, you could set the table limit, change the starting cash for the players, pick different designs and colors for the cards, etc.

It’s true that today you can play all kinds of casino games such as poker, online slots, etc. on online casino sites with beautiful graphics, game mechanics, and most importantly- real cash winnings and bonuses! However, during the NES-days, Blackjack was one of a kind.

Vegas Dream

Vegas Dream was released in March 1990 (1998 for Japan) and was a product of HAL Laboratory, the developer behind some of the most popular game series such as the Super Smash Bros. and Mother.

Vegas Dream offered four types of casino games for you to play which are roulette, blackjack, slot machines, and Keno. Even more interestingly, it offered you two different game modes- Vegas Dream (one with a storyline), and One Spot (all games, no story).

Vegas Dream was fun because apart from the casino games it also offered many other interesting features. For instance, there were social interactions with other NPCs in the game including businessmen, employees, etc. You were also allowed to marry as many characters of the opposite sex in the game.

There was a password save feature in the game too which allowed you to save your progress. However, these were 26 characters long and thus rather inconvenient to use.

Caesars Palace

Caesars Palace was another classic NES casino game that took inspiration from the Las Vegas AAA casino with the same name.

You start with a thousand bucks that’s given to you by Suzy the cashier. Your goal is to earn as much money as possible in games like video poker, blackjack, roulette, wheel of fortune, etc.

Although there is nothing fancy about the game, the music is just about perfect. You are sure to enjoy the jazzy and bossa nova music that’s characteristic of David Hayes. An added bonus silly feature is the bathroom doors, which when you can click play a funny flushing sound.

Peek-A-Boo Poker

If you didn’t get across a copy of Peek-A-Boo Poker during your childhood, then don’t worry because only a few did. The reason behind this is that this game wasn’t licensed by Nintendo, and for one good reason- it’s highly explicit and sexual theme.

Peek-A-Boo Poker is all about poker but with a good dose of female nudity. Or you can say it’s a standard game of strip poker. Basically, you had to win as much money in Poker, and for each $1,000 you earned, it rewarded you with an arousing image of a nude woman. It also had three CPU controlled players- Pok-er Penny, Full House Francine, and Double Dealing Debby.

So, these were some of the classic card games that were released for the NES. How many have you played?

Eugene lives in New Mexico and has been a life long gamer since getting his hands on an NES. Always partial to Nintendo, Eugene has made it a point to keep informed on all things Mario.