Depends on what you consider top bracket I guess. I like it a lot better than quite a few oft-cited favorites and popular titles.
NES/Famicom Appreciation Thread
- Thread starter Teknoman
- Start date
Depends on what you consider top bracket I guess. I like it a lot better than quite a few oft-cited favorites and popular titles.
Huggers
Member
To me it is a fair bit behind Castlevania 3, Mega Man, Contra, Batman etc. I'd put it in the next tier along
Yeah, it's definitely a taste thing, because I put it above Contra and Batman. Honestly though, we're in a funny situation. Because they're all great games and we're just on different wavelengths about what order to put them in.
What an amazing library the NES has.
And high five on Castlevania III. It gets proper love in this thread, but I feel like it doesn't elsewhere, both on GAF and otherwise.
Edit:
Also, I don't know if this is something any of you would be interested in, but the Chip Maestro came out today.
It's a cartridge that lets you plug in a midi keyboard to your NES and play it as an instrument. I've had one for a few months but I need to get a compatible keyboard to use it properly. I'd have loved if it had some sort of visual settings option instead of the keyboard-input setup it uses, but it's still pretty cool regardless.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
Anyone been reading I Am Error from Altice/MIT Press? Here's a book review in case you haven't heard of this, a just-released Famicom history based more on technical details than business interviews/records. I'm loving what I've read so far, just the bits about Portopia Serial Murder Case and how that was actually inspired by a coastal development project in Kobe.
Huggers
Member
Yeah man absolutely agreed, just a personal preference thing. The Nes library is just incredible. So many games that are still endlessly playable to this day. CV3 is greatest of all time material for sure.
The only Classicvania that outdoes C3 (in its Japanese form with proper audio) is Rondo. Akumojou Densetsu is godly.
Huggers
Member
Rondo is in my top 5 games of all time. It's absolute perfection.
Yeah, I saw. That's why I rarely leave the retro threads these days.
Yeah, it's definitely a taste thing, because I put it above Contra and Batman. Honestly though, we're in a funny situation. Because they're all great games and we're just on different wavelengths about what order to put them in.
What an amazing library the NES has.
And high five on Castlevania III. It gets proper love in this thread, but I feel like it doesn't elsewhere, both on GAF and otherwise.
Edit:
Also, I don't know if this is something any of you would be interested in, but the Chip Maestro came out today.
It's a cartridge that lets you plug in a midi keyboard to your NES and play it as an instrument. I've had one for a few months but I need to get a compatible keyboard to use it properly. I'd have loved if it had some sort of visual settings option instead of the keyboard-input setup it uses, but it's still pretty cool regardless.
That sounds like a cool concept. I wish there was a first party version.
entremet
Member
It's hard to figure out why. Unless search isn't showing his recent posts, which happens sometimes.
Shadow Hog
Member
I can find my recent posts when I search for 'em, so I don't think we're missing any recent posts - unless they've been outright deleted.
Well you could still have Wii Music
So I mentioned that I got a great deal on a toploader NES recently, and it came with a dogbone controller in great shape. Heard so many great things about it and finally got around to using it today and... I don't like it at all! I was very surprised that I didn't like it, since I consider the SNES controller to be the pinnacle of retro controller designs.
My problem is mostly with the A and B buttons. On the original rectangle cut your hand controller, holding one button and rolling your thumb to the other is very satisfying and feels good, but on the dogbone it feels mushy. Lacks the same snappiness the buttons had on the original controller, and the buttons are a bit too far apart to easily roll between. Plus, I prefer the concave buttons. Is this just my dogbone controller that is a bit mushy or are they all like that? I opened it up to give it a thorough cleaning and it looks barely used inside so it doesn't seem like it has just been heavily used or anything, and it is definitely official Nintendo brand.
My problem is mostly with the A and B buttons. On the original rectangle cut your hand controller, holding one button and rolling your thumb to the other is very satisfying and feels good, but on the dogbone it feels mushy. Lacks the same snappiness the buttons had on the original controller, and the buttons are a bit too far apart to easily roll between. Plus, I prefer the concave buttons. Is this just my dogbone controller that is a bit mushy or are they all like that? I opened it up to give it a thorough cleaning and it looks barely used inside so it doesn't seem like it has just been heavily used or anything, and it is definitely official Nintendo brand.
sixteen-bit
Member
Not a fan of the dogbone button orientation either.
SNES works better b/c the default resting position is YB not BA
SNES works better b/c the default resting position is YB not BA
Shadow Hog
Member
And yet modern Nintendo insists everyone used A/B back in the day, going by how they lay out controls for non-Wii U Virtual Console, Mario Kart, Kirby et al
entremet
Member
Funny how they had the same layout for the GB, but I don't remember much issue with it.
But different ergonomics, though.
D.Lo
Member
SNES needs that 'rest on Y and X' orientation because of the two sets of two buttons. The pairs need to be that way, because if YX was a pair you'd be reaching over AB to use that pair.
NES and Game Boys don't have that problem, because there are only two. You're supposed to rock between the two buttons, and doggone is oriented as such.
It's hard for some people to go back from their SNES muscle memory of 'leaning' on a button instead of 'resting' between the two buttons. Mainly in games where you hold B the whole time. I've found people who 'grip' the controller and press buttons really hard fare worse at adjustment than those with a lighter touch.
OG Famicom's my favourite Fami/NES controller, but doggone is solid as hell and better than sharp edge hand cramp NES.
NES and Game Boys don't have that problem, because there are only two. You're supposed to rock between the two buttons, and doggone is oriented as such.
It's hard for some people to go back from their SNES muscle memory of 'leaning' on a button instead of 'resting' between the two buttons. Mainly in games where you hold B the whole time. I've found people who 'grip' the controller and press buttons really hard fare worse at adjustment than those with a lighter touch.
OG Famicom's my favourite Fami/NES controller, but doggone is solid as hell and better than sharp edge hand cramp NES.
I agree fully. I think that folks who grew up on SNES instead of NES want to use the "double joint" thumb position, and NES folks are much more into the rocking between the two.
Problem with the dogbone is I find the buttons are just to small and far apart to rock back and forth properly. My thumb kind of sits between the two touching only the inside 1/4 of each, which doesn't lead to a satisfying press. Mostly noticed it when playing Castlevania 1 and having more trouble jump-whipping, which I certainly didn't have trouble with when I beat the game a week or two ago with the OG controller. The gameboy has the same angle as the dogbone, but the buttons are closer together so I have no issues with it.
Also, the double-jointed 2 button press format on the SNES is still more comfortable to me than rolling between the buttons even at its best, so I would have personally preferred the dogbone buttons to be angled down instead of up.
Honestly, I never had an issue with hand cramping or discomfort with the rectangle of doom NES controller, and for "hold B tap A" games like Mario I find the dogbone actively difficult to use, though it is way more comfortable to hold in general and for games where you only ever use one button at a time.
Emperor Bohe
Member
wow chip maestro looks awesome as hell. i definitely gotta pick that up once i get a working NES again.
Cool, must've been some really old post...
Agreed. I prefer the classic NES controller thick and through.
I didn't ask. Ah well, happens to the best of us.
D.Lo
Member
This got me interested.
I just got out the callipers and measured the size of and distance between all Nintendo 8-bit buttons.
All buttons are more or less identical in size. less than 0.1mm difference.
Dogbone buttons are less than 0.5mm further apart than NES/Famicom (NES and Fami share the same PCB so are identical).
Game Boy buttons are less than 0.5mm closer together than NES/Famicom.
There's really almost nothing in it.
Design-wise, dogbone buttons rise a bit higher and are on a raised section, GB buttons are slightly recessed. Dogbone and Game Boy of course have convex buttons, GB ones are slightly less convex. Fami and NES concave.
This got me interested.
I just got out the callipers and measured the size of and distance between all Nintendo 8-bit buttons.
All buttons are more or less identical in size. less than 0.1mm difference.
Dogbone buttons are less than 0.5mm further apart than NES/Famicom (NES and Fami share the same PCB so are identical).
Game Boy buttons are less than 0.5mm closer together than NES/Famicom.
There's really almost nothing in it.
Design-wise, dogbone buttons rise a bit higher and are on a raised section, GB buttons are slightly recessed. Dogbone and Game Boy of course have convex buttons, GB ones are slightly less convex. Fami and NES concave.
I can honestly rock all of those with absolutely no problems. To me, B/Y configuration on the SNES controller is just as comfy as A/B as well.
Seven Force
Banned
I actually don't mind the button orientation on the dogbone at all, but I hate the the cords for the AV Famicom variation are so damn short.
Beats having it permanently attached to the system itself, though.
Beats having it permanently attached to the system itself, though.
D.Lo
Member
Original NES is still a fantastic controller. I mean, compare it to the abominable Master System pad, which had the same square shape but the worst dpad ever and only two buttons.
It's just that on marathon sessions, the sharper edges start to dig into your hands a bit.
I actually change controller based on the system/game for authenticity. I'll play Snake Rattle N Roll with NES, FDS stuff with Fami, and later NES games dogbone.
It's just that on marathon sessions, the sharper edges start to dig into your hands a bit.
I actually change controller based on the system/game for authenticity. I'll play Snake Rattle N Roll with NES, FDS stuff with Fami, and later NES games dogbone.
Oh wow, I am really glad you measured it since I would have never expected these results, dogbone visually look so much smaller and farther spaced than OG NES. Though I would argue even an extra 1 mm space between means a lot when talking 6 vs 7 mm space between (I personally measured somewhere between 0.75 and 1 mm extra space). But I think the major difference actually is the convex vs concave buttons and the different rubber contact piece inside the controller.
I opened up both of mine, and the OG NES rubber contact piece is taller and not as wide, while dogbone is shorter and fatter, which is what gives the OG controller (to me) that really satisfying click from the A and B buttons, while the dogbone feel squishier and don't have as satisfying of a press when you are on the side of the button. Not sure why they changed that part.
Though still super interesting to know that the much larger and closer appearance of the OG buttons vs dogbone is mostly an optical illusion. Maybe I'll try to cannibalize an old OG controller and give the dogbone the older rubber contact things and concave buttons to see how it feels, I have a ton of old NES controllers lying around.
E: I did not explain what I meant at all with the rubber contact things, hopefully I was clear enough. Already closed both controllers and almost stripped a screw though, so I'd rather not bust them open again for pics.
georgetheplushie
Member
Blinking Light Win came in today. Install was painless, and it works as advertised. Pins are kind of tight, though. Overall, a step up from standard toaster fair.
Do you still push the cart down or is it just insert and go?
georgetheplushie
Member
Insert and power on. Interesting to note, there's a custom CIC chip on the board which basically makes it so you never have to worry about region or even your cartridges' lockout chips.
sixteen-bit
Member
Oh wow, that's convenient. Are these up for general sale yet?
I purchased Goonies from Bishop Bros. I agree that the repros are high quality.
Gunstarheroes
Member
Wow. I gotta say, if you want NES repros...check out Bishop Bros. at Nintendoage's forums.
Stuff is pro tier.
These two just arrived today.
As someone who makes repros, and is also a friend of the Bishops, i'm always jealous of them : (
I own a copy of their Wily & Right no Rockboard, consider this a seconded vouch for them
Does Gimmick have the expanded audio? I really want to get a version of Gimmick with the expanded audio.
D.Lo
Member
I had a think about where I'd rank Bucky versus other Konami games on the Fami/NES.
Just did my list, it comes out at about 30. I mean it's solid, but comparing it to Contra is absolute madness.
On a side note, this just forced me to do a count, and I have 78 Konami Fami/NES games. I'm pretty sure there are 105 total across regions (including Circus Charlie and Smash Ping Pong which were published by other companies, and Konami's ports of other companies' games such as King's Quest and Q*bert).
Gunstarheroes
Member
They can do one with the expanded audio, no idea if his cart is one though.
I prefer Super C greatly. I like Bucky O'Hare better than Contra. /spreadshotsfired
For the record, I think for me with Konami NES games, it's:
- Castlevania
- Castlevania III
- Bucky O'Hare
- Gradius
- Super C
- etc...
I have no clue how you have 29 games better.
EDIT:
Also these came in yesterday. I'm so happy.
If you keep jumping on the rush jet as you move it from left to right, you'll conserve it so that you don't need as many weapon capsules. The rush jet only drains when Mega Man is physically standing on it.
Edit: I fucking love how each Rockman cart is a different color.
Ah the NES. Probably my fondest gaming memory of all. Think it was Christmas 91 when I got mine. Right at the height of the Ninja Turtle craze too. To wake up and find the NES and TMNT package lying on the living room floor at five in the morning was joyous. I'd endured three or four years of an Atari 2600 beforehand so as far as I was concerned, firing this exotic new machine and its enormous cartridge up was a glimpse of the future for me. Things got better and better as I was introduced to the likes of Mario 2, 3, Snake Rattle 'n Roll, Batman, Castlevania, etc
Glorious times.
Glorious times.