Yeah, had some really unique music for the NES. I think I got the game for good grades when I was a kid. lol
NES/Famicom Appreciation Thread
- Thread starter Teknoman
- Start date
Spent several hours yesterday cleaning the outside of all my NES and FC carts (around 100 carts) with a damp cloth. I always clean the contacts when I get a new game but for some reason I never cleaned the outsides on any of my carts. I also used to smoke inside before, so a lot of the carts also had a distinct smoke smell. That bowl of water I had got really fucking dirty and murky haha. Had to change the water every 15 games or so. It was probably 25+ years of dirt on those carts. I had a drop of liquid dishwashing soap in the water as well. Just enough for you to smell it but not enough for it to start foaming.
Well now the carts are finally clean and don't smell like smoke anymore. And some of the dirtier carts are looking much better now. My copy of Devil World for example was really dirty and grimey and had sticker residue on the label, but after a lot of tlc and elbow grease I got rid of it all without damaging the label. It actually surised me how much the condition of that cart improved. So I'm really satisfied with the results but man did it take a long time. From now on I'll clean both the insides and the outsides whenever I get a new game.
Edit: Legendary Wings is one of those odd cases of an NES game only being released in North America. It wasn't released in Japan or Europe. Usually when that happened it was with a shitty game, but this game is a real classic.
Well now the carts are finally clean and don't smell like smoke anymore. And some of the dirtier carts are looking much better now. My copy of Devil World for example was really dirty and grimey and had sticker residue on the label, but after a lot of tlc and elbow grease I got rid of it all without damaging the label. It actually surised me how much the condition of that cart improved. So I'm really satisfied with the results but man did it take a long time. From now on I'll clean both the insides and the outsides whenever I get a new game.
Edit: Legendary Wings is one of those odd cases of an NES game only being released in North America. It wasn't released in Japan or Europe. Usually when that happened it was with a shitty game, but this game is a real classic.
IrishNinja
Member
yeah, i started cleaning the contacts on all incoming games & went back on my SNES library but god there's so many genesis/NES/etc ones that it's gonna take forever, haven't even thought about the exteriors yet...
sixteen-bit
Member
cool tip for getting rid of smoke smell is wrapping the game or cart in a fabric softener sheet for a few days.
I remember doing that for a stubborn alisia dragoon that I got second hand, lol
I remember doing that for a stubborn alisia dragoon that I got second hand, lol
IrishNinja
Member
damn, i just picked up that PSX stick you called poop off ebay a few weeks back, shit smelled like a chain smoker's butthole...wish id've known this, haha
Rygar 8 Bit
Jaguar 64-bit
if you can hold out for one a bit longer the retron 5 should be out soon it can play famicom games
But how do you guys keep your laundry soft and smelling spring fresh?
Forgot about that thing, but I'm a collector and honestly like to play on official hardware.
sixteen-bit
Member
I read the retron 5 temporarily dumps the game ROM to the system's memory and doesn't actually play off the cart. That might not be a big deal for NES and FC games, but I don't look forward to spending 1-2 minutes "loading" before I boot up a 16-bit game.
You could also just get one of those converters and play on an NES. There are some games that have extra sound channels which won't output the sound through an NES without modifications, but I think you can count the ones worth owning of those on one hand.
Obviously if you also want to start collecting Disk System games you'd need an actual Famicom, or a Famicom Twin unit. But most games worth owning are playable on an NES. Make sure it's an NTSC NES though if you're in PAL-land. Some games don't play nice on PAL systems. Like Quinty straight up crashes on a PAL unit, and Wai Wai World 2 has graphical issues making it unplayable.
Edit: Oh shit this thread started moving fast lol. This reply was meant for 5amshift.
Obviously if you also want to start collecting Disk System games you'd need an actual Famicom, or a Famicom Twin unit. But most games worth owning are playable on an NES. Make sure it's an NTSC NES though if you're in PAL-land. Some games don't play nice on PAL systems. Like Quinty straight up crashes on a PAL unit, and Wai Wai World 2 has graphical issues making it unplayable.
Edit: Oh shit this thread started moving fast lol. This reply was meant for 5amshift.
Well we have liquid fabric softener.
Rygar 8 Bit
Jaguar 64-bit
i dump my games in my laundry i find it gives my cloths that attic and garage smell that the other providers just dont offer
RoryDropkick
Member
My fellow Swede, here's a rad tip for removing exterior dirt and stickers from carts (or boxes if you're gentle), available at ICA and Konsum:
Seems like that would damage the label no? I actually didn't have many carts with sticker residue on them. On the ones that did I used a vinyl eraser to simply erase it. Vinyl erasers are great for removing sticker residue. I didn't use them on labels though because I'm not sure they wouldn't damage them. But I'll keep kemiskt ren bensin in mind for the next time I have a dirty cartridge because I don't doubt that it's very effective. I actually have a bottle around here somewhere already.
Also I asked my mom about those fabric softener sheets and apparently we do have them here!
But she said they're not very common and can't exactly be found in every store. So I guess that's why I've never seen them.
Also I asked my mom about those fabric softener sheets and apparently we do have them here!
But she said they're not very common and can't exactly be found in every store. So I guess that's why I've never seen them.
The Lamonster
Member
You guys know it's available on PSN right?
sixteen-bit
Member
Arcade version, no less.
Nah, just be very gentle and use a q-tip with a small amount of this stuff on it and the sticker will be gone in a sec or two.Seems like that would damage the label no? I actually didn't have many carts with sticker residue on them. On the ones that did I used a vinyl eraser to simply erase it. Vinyl erasers are great for removing sticker residue. I didn't use them on labels though because I'm not sure they wouldn't damage them. But I'll keep kemiskt ren bensin in mind for the next time I have a dirty cartridge because I don't doubt that it's very effective. I actually have a bottle around here somewhere already.
Also I asked my mom about those fabric softener sheets and apparently we do have them here!
But she said they're not very common and can't exactly be found in every store. So I guess that's why I've never seen them.
sixteen-bit
Member
Anyone played Legend of Kage back in the day? I recently found out they made a sequel on DS in 2008. That's a 21 year gap!
StAidan
Member
Wow, I owned Legend of Kage as a kid, never knew about a sequel. I played the original to death on the NES. In retrospect I never really saw it as a great game, I enjoyed it for a long time though.
OK cool. I'll do that next time. That definitely beats the 15-20 minutes I spent getting the sticker residue off of that Devil World label.
A Black Falcon
Member
The DS game is actually kind of good, too, unlike the NES original...
I spent a good week's worth of free time cleaning my NES games after I opened and cleaned out the old pin connector so it wouldn't get dirty again.
After that anything that comes into the library is put in a quarantine pile until I can properly deal with it and throw it into its proper system pile.
You have the bits you need to open S/NES and Genesis carts, right?
dreamcastmaster
Banned
It's very satisfying, opening up the controllers and digging out the gunk.
baphomet
Member
I do that with everything i get in. Ive got a pile of 10 n64s that im dreading cleaning out.
lo zaffo
Member
I hope that this thread can deal hobbyist and retro-development.
I feel that retro developments for emulators or, by means of flash rom cartridges, actual console gaming, can become big. I personally think that is relevant yet.
As an example Alter Ego | RetroSouls.
I feel that retro developments for emulators or, by means of flash rom cartridges, actual console gaming, can become big. I personally think that is relevant yet.
As an example Alter Ego | RetroSouls.
Hehe I do exactly the same thing. Dem new dirty games aint touching my clean consoles until they get cleaned.
And yeah I also kinda enjoy cleaning them. But not when you have 250+ carts for various consoles to clean the exterior of haha.
I love homebrew development for retro consoles and I wish it was more common. With the advent of flashcarts for retro consoles it certainly has become a little more common but I'd still like more. Even just stuff from the demoscene like this is cool. They should stop making so many C64 demos and start making more NES demos!
Thanks for the link, looks really interesting. I'll try it on my PowerPak later when I get access to a CF card reader.
As a Tetris nerd, one of my favorite homebrew games for the NES is LJ65. It's a very well made Tetris game that somewhat emulates how Tetris: The Grand Master feels to play if you select the "Bottom" rotation type. It was removed from the author's website, I assume because the Tetris Company gave him trouble or something, but it's mirrored on archive.org here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110717052604/http://www.pineight.com/nes/lj65.zip
IrishNinja
Member
oh man, you guys open them and clean that too? holy crap i'm dreading just q-tipping the contacts on these things, did most of my NES/some SNES library but ive got a ton of sega ones to do...
Oh yeah you gotta open them up to really get access to the contact pins. A q-tip will get some of the dirt, but you can't apply much force with only sticking a q-tip in there. I personally use a vinyl eraser to clean the contacts with. I apply quite a bit of force when I'm erasing the dirt and it all seems to come off fine and the pins look like new. Then I take a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol and run it over the pins to remove the left-over bits of vinyl from the eraser.
I've seen some people recommend Brasso in this thread but that seems like overkill in most cases in my opinion. I suppose it can sometimes be needed though in case of really dirty and oxidized contacts.
Famicom carts are more problematic though, because they aren't meant to be opened. There are simply two plastic tabs on the insides that hold the cart together and it's apparently very easy to snap them when trying to open a famicom cart. So I never dared to open those up and I've settled for using q-tips only on them.
I've seen some people recommend Brasso in this thread but that seems like overkill in most cases in my opinion. I suppose it can sometimes be needed though in case of really dirty and oxidized contacts.
Famicom carts are more problematic though, because they aren't meant to be opened. There are simply two plastic tabs on the insides that hold the cart together and it's apparently very easy to snap them when trying to open a famicom cart. So I never dared to open those up and I've settled for using q-tips only on them.
IrishNinja
Member
^yeah, i only try to open & clean if q-tip + alcohol didn't do the job, personally. at that point ill consider brasso as well (glad that i now know to use it sparingly; the black stuff coming off isn't the desired effect, haha), but ive yet to have a cart not work since learning all these steps.
i'm just not eager to go through the hassle of opening so many to find dead roaches too, haha
i'm just not eager to go through the hassle of opening so many to find dead roaches too, haha
haha yes that is a concern. Although through all my years of collecting and opening carts up I've never ran into a cart with roaches or any other insects in them. So I don't think that is very common, but these threads sure have made me weary of it haha.
And yeah only opening them up if you notice the dirt is not coming off is probably adequate enough. I only opened all of mine up because I thought I might as well.
And yeah only opening them up if you notice the dirt is not coming off is probably adequate enough. I only opened all of mine up because I thought I might as well.
7DollarHagane
Banned
I only have a handful of NES games anymore.. I'm thinking about getting an everdrive instead of worrying about the prices of these games now.
With old systems I always get an everdrive first, then collect CIB for the games i love the most.
Also any that release on Virtual Console I purchase to support their re-release, of course.
With old systems I always get an everdrive first, then collect CIB for the games i love the most.
Also any that release on Virtual Console I purchase to support their re-release, of course.
uncleslappy
nethack is my favorite dark souls clone
My absolute favorite NES game:
I also played a legendary game of this the other night:
All fat guys, double overtime, final score was 19-18.
I also played a legendary game of this the other night:
All fat guys, double overtime, final score was 19-18.
sixteen-bit
Member
My absolute favorite NES game:
One of my favorite box arts of all time.
Roddslayer
Member
I keep getting stuck on level 3 in Journey to Silius. With only 3 continues, this game is hard as nails.
Oh just you wait until level 4. That one's really unfair at some points even if you know it inside out. Those falling platforms over the bottomless pits... *shudder* If I get a game over in this game it is usually because of those.
Where are you getting stuck exactly?
Speaking of hard games, I'm playing Ghosts 'n Goblins right now and holy shit I had forgotten how hard that game is. I always get stuck on that stretch in the second level where there are like 5 or 6 Red Arremers/Firebrands you have to take care of in addition to the other enemies, and then the dragon boss at the end. The only times I've made it past that part it was because of pure luck haha.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
I refuse to believe anyone has ever beaten Ghosts 'n Goblins without a Game Genie.
Impossible.
Impossible.
GotchaForce
Member
Anyone remember a series of youtube vids, pretty sure they were Japanese in origin that shown all the Famicom games ever in chronological order? Not Chrontendo, this was like five years ago and Sporsk and Mark MacD were talking about it.
Rygar 8 Bit
Jaguar 64-bit
was going to wait for either a manual or a boxed version to show up but prices started to go up a little bit on it so bit the bullet and just got loose cart
I did it back in the day and last year (or was it 2012) when I reviewed it. It.......was not an enjoyable experience. I can safely say I will never, ever play that version again.
I definitely have. That's not to say it wasn't one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had and didn't require a lot of luck. But I've done it.
It's a shame that Micronics did the porting of the FC/NES version and not Capcom themselves. Could've been a lot nicer with a more competent team working on it. Still, for a Micronics game, it's not too bad. Actually it's probably their best game lol.
The most frustrating thing about the game that I found today (well, aside from that stretch with the Firebrands in the second level I mentioned in my previous post) is that you have to watch the map screen slowly scroll by every time you die before the stage starts again. And it also takes an absurdly long time, for an NES game, to load the stage in and let you start playing after the map screen disappears. It's not that long really, but when you die so often it gets really frustrating. You just want to start playing again but you have to wait like 10 seconds.
Edit: By the way, did you guys know that the Japanese version has the continue option hidden?! I think you have to hold left when you press start or something to continue in that version. Madness.
entremet
Member
Speed runners eat it alive.
Great game. The other master, Swordmaster, seemed pretty cool too. That has also gone up in price though.
Roddslayer
Member
I guess I'm not getting stuck per say but I'm having a tough time managing lives. I start a new level with only one life left yet, despite getting a checkpoint, if I die I lose a continue and start the level all over. So now whenever I get to a new level with a only life remaining I suicide knowing that the run would be in vain cause there's no way I'm beating it with just one life.
TL;DR I need to stop sucking and dying, then I think I'll be able to beat the game.