The Nominees:

1) Castlevania (NES) - Dracula enters the gaming universe and how would you take him down? With a whip. Yes a whip. Not a gun, not a steak; a whip! Add in some flying Medusa heads and some holy water, and we have a game that elevated the adventure to the next level.

2) The Legend of Zelda (NES) - Nintendo's forth franchise player would become their MVP. You play as Link, who must adventure through the land of Hyrule to save the princess, Zelda. Music, gameplay, epic scope - never before had it achieved this level of perfection.

3) Rygar 2 (NES) - Tecmo quickly adapted their hero to the NES after debuting in Japanese arcades. Here, Rygar's equipment is enhanced, his world grew to a huge landscape of both overhead and sidescroller, and some cool music too. Hard to resist Rygar's swinging mace attack and those bizzare gurus.

4) Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! (NES) - Mario referee's the best boxing game of the era. A defining game for Nintendo, until Tyson went to jail for rape, then they downplayed it. But we all know that if you had a NES at anytime in your life, you had a great time taking down King Hippo and Bald Bull. With a very memorable lineup of opponents, this game somehow existed perfectly with only one real life counterpart, the invincible Mike Tyson. One of boxing's best eras.

5) Wizards & Warriors (NES) - Another fantasy in which you must save the damsel in distress from an evil wizard. But what a big game for it's day. Jumping from ledge to ledge inside a giant tree trunk may get annoying at times, but some really great music and treasure chests gallore help a lot.

1987 Game of the Year - The Legend of Zelda

This is the game that really changed it all. It wasn't the first (Mario), but it was the best! This was the first game that was simply magical. From the golden case it came in, to the haunting title screen with a bright waterfall; this game shaped the minds and hearts of a generation.  The creative combination of elves & fairies, with bombs & boomerangs, magical triforces and teleportation flutes; Zelda remains a work of genius. 

It's epic scale came from a huge overworld, that also contained nine underworld levels to explore.  Searching for keys for locked doors, unlocking puzzle boobytraps, lighting your way through the darkness, defeating grand monsters - it all really started here.  And how to you not like the original idea of having hearts represent health.  And leveling up your character to make him stronger also became universal with Zelda. 

Players and developers alike marveled at it in it's day, and every day since. It is a legend.