The Black Box Games (NES, 1984-87)

The Black Box Games refers to all of the NES games that were made by Nintendo for the NES, and were all held together by a similar aesthetic (pictured above).  They came in black boxes, and the cover art was usually taken straight from the game, if not enhanced slightly.  When talking about what makes these games great, it's impossible to do them justice without briefly talking about them individually.  Not all of them are good games, however, some of them are downright terrible.  Therefore, I will talk about all the games that still hold up, with some exceptions for games that deserve their own essays as Great Video Games (for instance, I've already written about Super Mario Bros., and Donkey Kong should be discussed separately).
Duck Hunt is one of a few games that used the NES Zapper, a light gun that worked by detecting targets on the screen when the trigger was pulled.  It is a very simple game, but that is part of what makes this game seem timeless.  All you do is shoot ducks that come up out of the grass, and your dog collects them (a fair weather friend, who laughs at you when you miss).  There is an alternate mode where you shoot at clay pigeons, a fairly accurate simulation of the sport.
Balloon Fight is actually a redesigned version of the arcade game Joust, in which one or two players rode ostriches to fly and land on the heads of other ostriches.  Somehow two little men flying with balloons to attack other balloon-flying men makes more sense.  This game also controls better than Joust.  Press the button to flap your arms and float upward, and the directional pad to steer.  Where Joust had floaty and stiff control, Balloon Fight is very precise.  Another fun mode has you steering around an obstacle course of electric bolts.  Touch anything or fall in the water and you are dead.  This works due to the game's tight control.
Clu Clu Land is the most bizarre entry in this list (which includes mushroom hopping plumbers and wrestling swamp men) in every design aspect.  You play as a little red balloon creature who floats around in little stages where he must uncover diamonds hidden in a picture arrangement, while avoiding enemies.  You fight back by shooting sound waves which stun enemies, and then ramming them into the walls.  This makes no logical sense, but it is still highly enjoyable for its oddness and fun factor.
Wild Gunman is another Zapper game where you are in the wild west, getting into gunfights.  You can fight with one other gunman or two, and there is another mode where you must shoot out gunmen in a saloon coming out of the door and windows.  It is more geared around reaction time than aim, but is a refreshing change of pace from the other games that center on accuracy.  The game is fun to look at, since all of the gunmen are drawn with cartoony style.  The Zapper games always give the player a sense of skill that a lot of other games cannot.
Hogan's Alley is the best of these Zapper games.  It is meant to be a police simulator, where you shoot cardboard cutouts of gangsters, and avoid shooting civilians.  In the first mode, three cutouts roll out and turn toward you, and you must quickly shoot the correct targets.  In the second, you move along a city street, where cutouts move along the scenery.  Again you must shoot the right ones.  In the third, you must juggle cans to land them inside ledges which award different point values.  The game offers wide variety and challenge in all its parts.
Excitebike is a racing game, one of the best on the NES, and one of the best of the Black Box titles.  It is a dirt bike race with precision controls and fun track layouts.  You move up and down in each lane (the tracks scroll sideways and loop Flintstones style) and lean to go over hills and gain maximum jump speed.  You must be careful to not overheat the engine or hit anything/land improperly or you will crash, costing you precious time.  I always love to go in front of other racers and make them crash.  There is also a mode where you can design and play on your own tracks.  All of these Black Box games offer challenge, variety, and most importantly, fun, which has not been lost after all of these decades.