Yep. I said it. Because I belive it. The NES is over-rated. Yes, I know it was popular, and it is home to some outstanding titles (such as SMB 3, Ninja Gaiden, The Legend Of Zelda, Metroid, etc), but I truly feel it's reputation rests on a nostalgia fueled remembrance of the past. Especially from an American standpoint. 

It hit the US at just the right time to take off. There was no competition to speak of in the console space, and the market was primed for a "new drug" as it were. Here in the UK, we had a far more prevalent home computer scene, and Sega managed to find the right pricepoint to become the dominant brand with the, IMHO, far better Master System.