A while back I beat Spelunker and this weird ass shitty game called Vice: Project Doom. The latter had some of the best graphics for NES it seems, it plays like Gaiden but is actually a bunch of hot trash gameplay-wise. The player character whacks a laser sword in an awkward angle, the bosses are a joke you can safespot and everything moves in a breakneck pace.
Also beat this another similar game called Power Blade, which is like NG and Megaman but with a boomerang to give it a twist. It has a forgiving difficulty, but gets a bit repetitive towards the end.
Now trying to make it through Journey to Silius. I've heard it being a classic and all that jazz, but it's a bit clumsy and cheap asf, forcing you to remember out of screen enemies. Almost made it through but makes me want to play Metal Slug instead.