NES Works 1985-86 (Hardcover)

The hardcover binding feels sturdy, and the full-color photos of those classic 1985-86 NES game boxes really bring back memories. It’s a solid deep dive into the system’s early library — exactly what a retro game fan wants.

I didn't expect a coffee-table book to teach me this much about the 1985 rollout, but the chapters on the console's rebranding for America had me hooked. The hardcover binding feels solid and the screenshots are printed sharp, not muddy like some retro game books I've bought.

The behind-the-scenes story of how the console got rebranded for America is told with such detail that I read the whole 1985 section in one sitting. Page layouts are clean and the screenshots are sharp. Anyone nostalgic for that era will get lost in this.