The Nominees:

1) Metroid (NES) - Nintendo's alien franchise got things off to a great start with this big and innovative early title.

2) Rampage (ARCADE) - What a great concept. Being able to be a gigantic beast who destroys every major city on the globe. Brilliant!

3) Dragon Quest (NES) - The father of RPG's. It was this game that practically invented the genre and it does so successfully with charm, design, and a memorable score.  I'd say that random-encounter experiment worked out pretty well.  This game presented gamers with an entire world to look at and is perhaps the first legit epic to grace the industry. 

4) Solomon's Key (ARCADE) - A brilliant puzzle game from Tecmo in which you play as a young elf in a green tunic and matching hat, and you collect keys and fairies. Now where have I heard that one before?

5) Rolling Thunder (ARCADE) - Tecmo's second nominee is another early entry that helped define it's genre, the shooter. In it, you blast you pistol against unforgettable masked aliens, all for a blonde!

1986 Game of the Year - Metroid (NES)

The largest game to date, Metroid featured an entire planet to explore with mysterious and hidden treasures all over the place. Not to mention some really great music. This game also introduced audiences to the First Lady of Video Games: Samus. Hard to beat shooting missles at Kraid, Ridley or the omnicient Mother Brain. And oh those parasitic Metroids were menacing. From being able to morph into a ball, to the discovery of the Screw Attack, to the climatic race against time as you try to flee the exploding planet. Good times.