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[Teknoman]

In honor of the recent retro revival GAF has experienced, I decided that we also should have a place to discuss anything related to collecting or just playing NES / Famicom games. The system, at least in North America, played a big part in reviving the video game industry, and as such, alot of the games still hold up today. Whether its nostalgic feelings you're seeking, a place to post collection shots, pick ups, deals, or simply discuss a game you recently discovered, this is the place for 8-bit Nintendo goodness.

Release Date:

Japan - July 15, 1983
North America - October 18, 1985
Europe - September 1, 1986

Useful Links:

The cover project - Great place to find official and custom box art to use for Universal Game Cases (which need to be modded for NES carts but not for Famicom).

Hardcore Gaming 101 - Helpful if you want to read up on well known, obscure, or new series that you may have never heard of.

Racketboy - Site with some nice lists and a good resource for replacement parts (usually third party, but the 72 pins work great).

Chrontendo - This is the definitive web video series about the Famicom/NES. A chronological playthrough of every single Famicom/NES game, starting with Donkey Kong in '83.

Nintendoage.com A great forum for fans of all things Nintendo. Participate in contests or check out their for sale/for trade section.


GAF:

Retro GAF Unite!

• Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Appreciation Thread of HIGH DEFINITION GRAPHICS™
• SNES Game Collecting
• The Sega master system appreciation thread of SegaScope 3D!
• Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread
• GB/GBC/GBA Collecting Thread
• Sega CD/Mega CD Appreciation Thread of Welcome to the Next Level
• OG Xbox Appreciation and Lack of Emulation Thread of the big black box of doom
• Sega Dreamcast - Appreciation and Emulation Thread
• PS1 Appreciation/Collectors Thread of Ugly-Ass Polygons
• The Nintendo GameCube Appreciation and Collecting Thread.
• PS2 Appreciation & Celebration Thread, long live the King!
• PC Engine/TG Appreciation and Collecting Thread, Because who needs a 2nd controller?
• The MSX Nostalgia thread – A return to the cradle of Solid Snake
• The Nintendo 64 Appreciation/Collecting/Emulation Thread.
• Nintendo Virtual Boy Appreciation Thread, brought to you by the color Red!
• HEY! C'MON C'MON: It's the Giga Powered Neo Geo Appreciation Thread
• Neo Geo Pocket Color Appreciation Thread: Way Ahead of the Game (Boy)
• The PSP Appreciation and Collecting Thread
• The Waggle-Free Nintendo Wii Appreciation/Collectors Thread
• Sega Game Gear Appreciation Thread: Separating The Men From The Boys
• The Vintage PC Collectors Thread of GLORIOUS PC Gaming. 1980s to 2005 PRE STEAM.
• Back in my Play: A Podcast for Nostalgic Gamers (New Episodes Every Sunday)
• Scanline screenshot thread. Because 240p is all the p's I need.

Clues that you can use

↑↑↓↓←→←→BA

Thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, and swap meets are your friends. Those are your best chances for finding games at below retail.

Also make friends who are also into retro game collecting, either locally or online, and trade with them.

Go to retro gaming conventions. Most of the retailers there are also collectors and are more likely to give you a good deal.

Craigslist and Kijiji are hit or miss, but some good deals can still be found there.

Sell or trade your doubles. This helps out fellow collectors by getting them the games they need and can help recoup the cost of collecting and/or get you the money for that more expensive game.

The most important tip - be patient. Game collecting can be an expensive hobby or not depending on how you do it. Yes, you could just go crazy on Ebay since 99% of all games are readily available and just buy everything at Buy It Now prices. Unless you have a ton of disposable income and you need every game right now, be patient and wait for deals where you can get the right game at the right price. The collectors out there who have full or nearly full sets of games for any system took years to build their collection, so why should you be any different.

And for those who prefer watching videos to reading text, here are some videos about collecting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_hfdyA9Fg4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UVaMg6424g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0x1-dZ9BM0

Justin Bailey

Hey! It's August! Zanac is finished, did you enjoy your time with it?
Well, keep going if you wish, but we're moving on to the odd Wonder Boy port
Adventure Island by Hudson Soft!​

Let's get dat Wikipedia description up and moving:

Master Higgins (the player character) loses a life whenever he touches an enemy, an enemy's attack or a fire roast, or when he falls into a pitfall or a body of water. Moreover, the player also has a health gauge that starts out with 11 points, which gradually depletes over time or whenever Higgins trips on a rock in his path. When Higgins' health gauge reaches zero, he will lose a life as well. If Higgins still has extra lives left, he will revive at the last checkpoint he passed through.

The game ends when all of Higgins' lives runs out. To replenish his health, Higgins can pick up numerous fruits (or a milk bottle) on his path (his maximum health reaches up to 13 points). When the player's score reaches 50,000 points, 100,000 points, and 200,000 points, Higgins will receive an extra life. Finding a bee-like fairy known as Honey Girl will grant Higgins invincibility for fifteen seconds and allow him to kill enemies with a single touch. Also hidden somewhere in each stage is a special pot, which, when collected, gives the player a bonus, effectively doubling their stage score.​

​

Header image by D Lo, Monthly image made
by Wanyodos. Guidelines below by RavenholmDX. Selection Process by OnPoint.
Thanks guys!​

 

[Chrom]

Super Mario Bros. 3 is my favorite NES game.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

The greatest video game console ever.

 

[Anth0ny]

Great thread. Love me some NES.

Recommended listening: 8-4 Play NES Retrospective

Megaman 2 is the best NES game, closely followed by Zelda II.

 

[beanman25]

+1 for Crystalis.

Favorite game on the NES.

2nd would have to be Conquest of the Crystal Palace.

 

[Teknoman]

I've found a new love for Sunsoft games, at least the NES releases. I need to find a way to get Mr. Gimmick though (a repro cart). Kickmaster is on my list as well.

Also a decent Famicom adapter.

 

[ElectricKaibutsu]

+1 for Crystalis.

Favorite game on the NES.

2nd would have to be Conquest of the Crystal Palace.

+2 for Crystalis. Remember the trick that you could warp everywhere if you used a second controller?

 

[Lambtron]

I had a ton of NES games I got in a huge lot, and I sold most of them off. I'm trying to keep my NES collection really tight unlike some of my others.

I'm kind of obsessed with Famicom carts, though. Definitely going to pick up Rockman 1-6 and Kid Dracula at some point.

 

[Jake Tower]

Awesome thread!

Everyone bow down for the system that saved console gaming!

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Might as well get this out of the way.

Journey to Silius has one of the best soundtracks in the entire library. Severely overlooked.

Title
Level I
Stage II
Stage III
Stage IV
Boss
Credits

The game is pretty good, too.

 

[AwShucks]

NES is actually my favorite system of all time. It's hard not to love it when you have things like Super Off-Road, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Wizards and Warriors, Ninja Gaiden, Excitebike, etc.

 

[Teknoman]

Might as well get this out of the way.

Journey to Silius has one of the best soundtracks in the entire library. Severely overlooked.

Title
Level I
Stage II
Stage III
Stage IV
Boss
Credits

The game is pretty good, too.

I think the majority of Sunsoft releases had great soundtracks. I know Master Blaster, Batman, and Gimmick did. Ufouria's main theme sounds cool, but yeah Silius is another I need. Pretty interesting how it was supposed to be a Terminator game, then got transformed into something else (probably better) entirely.

 

[GrayFoxPL]

Dat Golgo 13 experience.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

Ahh the NES, my first console
Also my cool dad got me Super C and Double Dragon II as my first games.

I think, no, I demand that the OP gives credit to the greatest composer of NES music ever: Tim Follin

Solstice Intro

Silver Surfer level 1

 

[Jake Tower]

I have recommendations to add that are outside the obvious:

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I think the majority of Sunsoft releases had great soundtracks. I know Master Blaster, Batman, and Gimmick did. Uforia's main theme sounds cool, but yeah Silius is another I need. Pretty interesting how it was supposed to be a Terminator game, then got transformed into something else (probably better) entirely.

Yes.

Also, Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Another overlooked goodie.

 

[Linkhero1]

Oh God D:

 

[Rezae]

Megaman 2 is the best NES game, closely followed by Zelda II.

We should go have a beer together.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Goonies 2 BITCHES!!!

http://youtu.be/boTvpvKKCuY

 

[revolverjgw]

I used to rent an NES game every day, experienced such an amazing, broad spectrum of different kinds of games. Most were crap, to be honest, but it was probably THE defining cultural touchstone of my childhood. We lived to play this thing and it's impossible to not well up with nostalgia just thinking about these games.

 

[Iacobellis]

I used to rent an NES game every day, experienced such an amazing, broad spectrum of different kinds of games. Most were crap, to be honest, but it was probably THE defining cultural touchstone of my childhood. We lived to play this thing and it's impossible to not well up with nostalgia just thinking about these games.

You're making me feel so young... I grew up on the GameCube.

 

[Sleepy]

My life changed forever the Christmas I received the NES. If Nintendo would FINALLY get the ball rolling for the 3DS eShop I could be reveling in the nostalgic glory.

I loved this game, but never could manage to beat it.

 

[PixyJunket]

Here's a quick and dirty photo of my NES shelf, I have about seventy or so carts in another location.

 

[Teknoman]

Battle of Olympus actually looks pretty cool. Would have never guessed it was a Zelda 2 esque game from looking at the cover art.

How is Magic of Scherazade? Also is Life Force NES different from the Life Force Arcade/ Salamander DX pack?

EDIT: Steel cases?

 

[Sleepy]

^^
Amazing pic.

 

[lobdale]

When I moved to Japan about four years ago I started really getting into Famicom stuff, decided I'd try to get all of the "Nintendo" published games from the Famicom and FDS era boxed and complete.

Picked up this beauty a few months ago, a square-button Famicom complete in the box and in really great shape:

Also recently finished the complete set of the "original" tiny-boxed Nintendo-published games. So colorful!

A glimpse of the "game shelf" as it was a couple months ago, boxed stuff here and just outta the bottom of the picture is a shelf of loose carts (below that, all the boxed FDS things):

Managed to pick this up a few years ago before it became incredibly expensive, what a great game!

WHAT IS IT about Famicom? I grew up with an NES of course. There's still something simple and nice about just slapping a cart into the thing and pushing the switch and playing the game on a little old CRT in the spare room that gives me a feeling unlike firing up the PS3 or the Wu and loading and doing all this stuff. I play Famicom probably more than any other system that I have, even now.

 

[Sleepy]

^^
Even better pics. Very jealous, dude.

 

[Jake Tower]

Help Me!
Member
(Today, 07:16 PM)

Gets 10 lives per continue in Castlevania III - Dracula's Curse

 

[IrishNinja]

subbed so hard, muhfuggas trynna find me

excellent banner Tekno, and in line with this thread: getting Sweet Home soon! prolly Earthbound Zero as well, god i hope it's the easy patched version though

*edit SWEET FANCY MOSES, PIXY THAT'S AWESOME

 

[Teknoman]

Is there a cheap famicom adapter that actually works nicely, or would it be better to just track down a 5 screw something or other that might have one inside?

Dont really feel like buying a Famicom or top loader just to play a few games.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

The NES experience wasn't complete without a monthly helping of power.... NINTENDO Power, motherfuckers!

And don't lie, you know the first page you turned to every month was the 'Classified Information' section. Those vanilla-colored pages of code-filled goodness.

 

[Aeana]

Might actually be my favorite system. There are so many great games, so many memories.

Most of the obvious stuff is going to be mentioned by lots of people, so I'll mention something a little more obscure that I think a lot of people should try.

Radia Senki is an RPG by Tecmo that integrates a similar type of cinematic storytelling that Ninja Gaiden did. The gameplay is also pretty interesting, especially compared to its peers. When you get into a battle, the whole screen turns into a battlefield where you can move around and attack. In some ways, it's quite a lot like a proto-FF12. There's a fan translation available, so I really recommend that people give it a go.

 

[Teknoman]

Help Me!
Member
(Today, 07:16 PM)

Gets 10 lives per continue in Castlevania III - Dracula's Curse

Mind blown. Is there something like this for CV1, because i'm playing that for the first time, and the Fleaman Franky combo is killing me.

subbed so hard, muhfuggas trynna find me

excellent banner Tekno, and in line with this thread: getting Sweet Home soon! prolly Earthbound Zero as well, god i hope it's the easy patched version though

Thanks, looking forward to Sweet Home impressions. I've been looking at that game for awhile now...but not sure if thats the next thing I should go after. I know i'll go after Earthbound Zero at some point too, but I want the cover that actually says Earthbound Zero...and maybe with a picture of the Earth. Not bothered if it isnt easy version (used to grinding).


It would be nice if you could find early NP with the posters at decent prices.

 

[entremet]

NES was great times:

Trading games with school buddies, since I we had no disposable income.
Leafing through the latest Nintendo Powers at lunchtime.
The roulette wheel known as renting. Never knowing if the game was gonna be good or not.


Some of my non-Nintendo developed favs

Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers
Ducktales
Mega Man 2/3
Super Dodge Ball
Shadow of the Ninja
Goonies 2
Faxanadu
Battletoads
Batman

 

[PixyJunket]

Might actually be my favorite system. There are so many great games, so many memories.

Same here!

Radia Senki is an RPG by Tecmo that integrates a similar type of cinematic storytelling that Ninja Gaiden did. The gameplay is also pretty interesting, especially compared to its peers. When you get into a battle, the whole screen turns into a battlefield where you can move around and attack. In some ways, it's quite a lot like a proto-FF12. There's a fan translation available, so I really recommend that people give it a go.

I have an English reproduction of this!

It's a great game, very crazy for the NES in some ways.

 

[Teknoman]

Might actually be my favorite system. There are so many great games, so many memories.

Most of the obvious stuff is going to be mentioned by lots of people, so I'll mention something a little more obscure that I think a lot of people should try.

Radia Senki is an RPG by Tecmo that integrates a similar type of cinematic storytelling that Ninja Gaiden did. The gameplay is also pretty interesting, especially compared to its peers. When you get into a battle, the whole screen turns into a battlefield where you can move around and attack. In some ways, it's quite a lot like a proto-FF12. There's a fan translation available, so I really recommend that people give it a go.

I saw a video of this at ocdreproductions, and the music alone made me add it to my list.

I mean just listen to this!

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

You know, even though I'm not a real big fan of Nintendo anymore, there was nothing more awesome than Ninty in the late 80's and early 90's. There was just something about their image. It was very campy in that 80's kind of fashion, but it was so much fun.

I miss that about gaming. That sense of fun that was present in those days.

 

[PixyJunket]

Everybody in this thread better know and love The Guardian Legend and Gun*Nac.

Or at least be prepared to correct their crimes if they do not.

 

[lordmrw]

Battle of Olympus actually looks pretty cool. Would have never guessed it was a Zelda 2 esque game from looking at the cover art.

How is Magic of Scherazade? Also is Life Force NES different from the Life Force Arcade/ Salamander DX pack?

EDIT: Steel cases?

Magic of Scheherezade is one of the best NES games of all time and my personal favorite for the system. My review is a bit long but it covers pretty much every aspect of the game and should enlighten you about its greatness: http://www.retrogameage.com/?p=1421

 

[Delicious Waffles]

My Dad gave away my original NES a long time ago but I bought a bundle off eBay many summer's ago. NES didn't work, which broke my heart. However, I didn't give up on it. Bought a new 72-pin connector and fixed it myself. Only thing I've ever fixed myself. Been working ever since. Even got an extra 72-pin connector just in case. Good times.

 

[Muffdraul]

My secret shame is that I skipped the NES and the entire 8-bit era. I stopped gaming around the time of the Great Crash, but from my POV it was more about hitting puberty and putting aside childish things. I didn't feel like playing video games anymore in the same way I didn't feel like playing with Star Wars action figures any more, or getting up early to watch Saturday morning cartoons. I was exposed to the NES a lot, a couple of my friends in high school had it, my first girlfriend's family had one and I'd watch them play Super Mario or whatever. They'd offer to let me play and I just didn't wanna.

I got back into it by accident when I bought an SNES as part of a scheme to establish credit. I thought I'd play with it for a couple hours and then sell it or give it away, but after one night of Super Mario World and F-Zero, that was it... they pulled me back in. A couple years later I bought an NES so I could go back and play everything I missed, but I just couldn't do it. I tried to play Zelda 1 and 2, Metroid... I couldn't stand them. For me it was a cut and dried case of You Had to Be There.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Found this last month while organizing some NES/SNES stuff. Probably not rare or anything but I thought it was cool.

 

[Teknoman]

You know, even though I'm not a real big fan of Nintendo anymore, there was nothing more awesome than Ninty in the late 80's and early 90's. There was just something about their image. It was very campy in that 80's kind of fashion, but it was so much fun.

I miss that about gaming. That sense of fun that was present in those days.

Everybody in this thread better know and love The Guardian Legend and Gun*Nac.

Or at least be prepared to correct their crimes if they do not.

Gun*Nac...can you elaborate

Magic of Scheherezade is one of the best NES games of all time and my personal favorite for the system. My review is a bit long but it covers pretty much every aspect of the game and should enlighten you about its greatness: http://www.retrogameage.com/?p=1421

I remember it vaguely from back in the day, friend let me borrow it in exchange for a Megazord toy lol. Had no idea it involved time travel though. Added, nice review too.

 

[Portman]

My favorite NES game of all time is The Blue Marlin. I don't know why but I was addicted to that game as a kid, still have my notebook full of passwords. It's the one game that I hunted down on eBay complete in box and still play occasionally. I've always wanted to go deep sea fishing due to the game.

I always enjoyed the little puzzles (can you call them that?) in the game where you'd get crazy things like "The reel is smoking, what do we do?" Never did figure those out as a kid even though you'd have thought that notebook would have helped out with that.

 

[Jake Tower]

Mind blown. Is there something like this for CV1, because i'm playing that for the first time, and the Fleaman Franky combo is killing me.

There's no extra lives cheat. But I'll offer this ProTip: Holy Water is the best weapon in the game.

 

[Aeana]

Famicom Detective Club 2 title music (first 50 seconds) still gives me chills when I listen to it. It was one of Kenji Yamamoto's earlier works, long before Super Metroid. I really wish it had come out in English so people could have the kind of nostalgia for it that I do. And they even missed a second chance when it was remade for SNES. But at least that did finally get an English fan translation.

 

[PixyJunket]

Gun*Nac...can you elaborate

Crazy Compile Shmup (see also: MUSHA and Space Megaforce for the Genesis and SNES threads).

 

[baphomet]

I still play my nes every few days. I actually just finished running through Zelda in about 3 hours today. I remember the day my dad brought the NES home. We played so much Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt that day. It wasn't a birthday or Christmas, it was just a regular day. I was 3 and played it constantly up until the Genesis came out in 89 when I got one of then.

A few months ago I sat down with my girlfriend's 5 year old and we both played through Contra with the 30 lives code. It was so awesome to see how excited he was to beat it and live until the end, he jumped up on they bed and yelled, "give me a five!" Then I let him look through all my games and he picked out Ducktales to play. He's actually really excited that they're putting it out on Xbox because he has one in his room and will be able to play it.

 

[IrishNinja]

^yeah i totally use that "NOW YOURE PLAYING WITH POWER" montage poster, a few people say the upper black cracks (ice hockey & excitebike) look like batman, now i cant unsee that

Thanks, looking forward to Sweet Home impressions. I've been looking at that game for awhile now...but not sure if thats the next thing I should go after. I know i'll go after Earthbound Zero at some point too, but I want the cover that actually says Earthbound Zero...and maybe with a picture of the Earth. Not bothered if it isnt easy version (used to grinding).

It would be nice if you could find early NP with the posters at decent prices.

i will totally post spoiler-free impressions when i finally get into it, and yeah same site im using does EB Zero with the red cover or the other american looking one, ima go with the stock one myself.

NP issues likewise kinda shot up when the magazine sadly ended, i got a great deal on craigslist (like 3 years worth in great shape for $20!), got the Super Metroid, CV 3, MMX etc posters, only one im tracking down now is # 53 (i think?) for the old Secret of Mana one i had in the day. i'm still curious how the Strider one looks, but its a rather early issue.

 

[hunnies28]

Mine is still hooked up. I only have like 30 games or so. No boxes. My dad kept all my stuff when my folks split. So I had to start my collection all over again. I will hit flea markets, they usually have alot off good games.