Top Gun is Konami's NES game based on the 1986 film. It was released in North America in November 1987, in Japan on 11 December 1987 and in Europe in 1988. It adapts VS. Top Gun, Konami's 1987 arcade game for the Nintendo VS. System.
The player flies an F-14 through four missions against MiGs, an enemy carrier, a fortress and a space shuttle on its launch pad. The jet carries an unlimited machine gun and a choice of three missile types. Every mission ends with a landing on an aircraft carrier, and later missions also require mid-air refueling from a tanker.
The player gets three F-14s and no continues, and that strictness made the game a byword for "Nintendo hard." Konami followed it with a sequel, Top Gun: The Second Mission.1
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Top Gun | NES | November 1987 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | トップガンToppu GanFamicom | NES | Dec 11, 1987 | Konami | 1 |
| EU | Top Gun | NES | 1988 | Konami | 1 |
Also known as: トップガン JP1VS. Top Gun NA1
Box art by region
NA Top Gun 
EU Top Gun 
JP トップガン
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Reception
Top Gun was the best-selling game in the US for two weeks in January 1988 and passed 1.8 million US sales by 1989, about two million in total. Critics praised its graphics and sound but criticized its repetitiveness and the punishing landing and refueling sequences.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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