Top Gun for NES
Shares rank 27 of 78 video games by recommenders
Fans like its carrier landing simulation and classic feel, but critics say carrier landings and mid-air refueling are very hard and the instructions mislead.
Fans like its carrier landing simulation and classic feel, but critics say carrier landings and mid-air refueling are very hard and the instructions mislead.
18 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 44%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Challenging, rewarding carrier landings
“I played the game a ton and was maybe 50/50 at the landings”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” “I felt like a Maverick himself when I finally landed it.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” Interesting to reverse engineer
“Pretty cool still, especially if one's into reverse engineering.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” “The game actually models this somewhat accurately!”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” Frustrating yet beloved by players
“And this one infuriated me, because I loved it.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” “I played the game a ton and was maybe 50/50 at the landings”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Carrier landings very difficult
“never got to actually do anything because I couldn't figure out how to land the damn plane”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” “This landing was the bane of my existence back in kinder at my friends house”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” “next to impossible as a kid”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” - Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES”
Refueling in the air frustrating
“Carrier landing was frustrating enough but the re-fueling was another level.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” “I never had much trouble landing on the carrier, but refueling in the sky?”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” Misleading instructions and manual
“this is bad game design. A manual should never be needed.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES” “it's the landing instructions that I think are misleading”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Carrier Landing in Top Gun for the NES”
Other video games people recommend
The four most recommended other video games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helldivers 2 | 50 | 34 | 60% | 10 | 1.9 yrs3 owners | — |
| GPU building game | 49 | 16 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
| Triple-A Minesweeper | 40 | 25 | 62% | 1 | — | — |
| Quake II | 33 | 8 | 80% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Top Gun for NESThis page | 8 | 10 | 44% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
17 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Carrier landing was frustrating enough but the re-fueling was another level.”
“it's the landing instructions that I think are misleading”
“This landing was the bane of my existence back in kinder at my friends house”
“The game actually models this somewhat accurately!”
“I just remember this game being so frustrating that I never replayed it.”
“your F-14 was able to carry up to 40 air-to-air missiles, unlimited cannon rounds”
“felt like a huge amount of randomness added to the controls”
“never got to actually do anything because I couldn't figure out how to land the damn plane”
“And this one infuriated me, because I loved it.”
“The refueling music is the best part of the soundtrack”
“I felt like a Maverick himself when I finally landed it.”
“I never had much trouble landing on the carrier, but refueling in the sky?”
“this is bad game design. A manual should never be needed.”
“I played the game a ton and was maybe 50/50 at the landings”
“next to impossible as a kid”
“you didn't even get your score reduced for crashing the plane on landing?”
“Pretty cool still, especially if one's into reverse engineering.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.