NES/Famicom Appreciation Thread

I really like a few of the levels in World 7, so Im glad they didnt think like you :)

Anyways, Steel Assault went from looking super awesome to nothing special, so that was a bummer.

Oh, and Ive been playing Rescue Rangers 2 lately, a game that actually feels kinda boring compared to its predecessor. Couldnt keep up my interest for more than 4 or 5 levels, which is a bad sign unfortunately.
 
Looks more like a 16-bit game to me.

Which is cool. That's an under-utilized art style, honestly. Most are either full-on 8-bit, or really lazy attempts at pixel art with an "it's 8-bit!" to try and handwave it despite clearly not being 8-bit.

Character sprite still looks very 8-bit, though, and kinda sticks out.
 
As a backer of Steel Assault, I'm not pleased with the change. I was looking forward to what was originally pitched. I don't like that just because they have more money now, they are changing the idea and scope of the project. I won't be asking for my money back, but I'm not really excited about the project any longer.

Anyway, in other news, I sat down with my girlfriend and we powered through Super Mario Bros. 3 this evening/night. No Warp Whistles. Was a super fun time. I did forget how short many of the levels are in that game, but man, playing it is just the best damn time ever. Everything about the way Mario controls is pitch perfect and most of the levels are designed so thoughtfully. I do still think World 7 is a bit of a drag -- they easily could have cut that whole area and went right from Ice to Dark and the pace would have been a little smoother, but then, here I am, complaining about MORE content in an amazing game. If it bothers me that much, grab two Warp Whistles, finish it straight through 6, then warp to 8 from the start of 7.

Either way, I love Mario 3.

I remember seeing a blurb in one of those rare gaming mags a friend would buy at the grocery store. Both were pics from big world so I remember complaining at how huge the enemies were and not as good looking as Super Mario 2. ha.

You finally got to rent a Famicom at our local mall video game rental place after it was released in Japan - $200 for two days. Two Benjamins to play Mario 3 before 99% of Americans. My uncle did it but refused to invite anyone over because of the time limit. Just him and his son playing Mario 3 for 48 hours straight. They acted like they had a fucking NDA, refusing to tell this 11 year old me anything about the game - which also made me wonder if they really rented it.

Then a girl from school said she got it. It was just released. I saw a commercial two days later. Still my favorite gaming commercial ever (sorry Mad World Gears of War or Dead Island). It was so damn epic with the cheering, the drum beats in the background, the angelic voices. I remember a version that was "He's back...all you had to do was ask..Super Mario Brothers 3".

I was obsessed with it. My grandma got it for me for my birthday but it was difficult - she worked in the electronics section of her department store and even she had troubles getting a copy. We celebrated my cousin's birthday with mine at his family's house and after opening Mario 3 I didn't want to eat, socialize, anything. While they played games in the dining room I was alone in their living room playing up to World 2. I bought the strat guide, my very first and my best friend did as well: we would pretend we were playing while our parents drove us around (we used our fingers as "characters").

I just replayed it because my son has become obsessed with the Mario series. I warp whistle cheated from world 2 to 8, but regret it. I want to show him the other awesome worlds. I want to show him my many tricks on getting infinite lives. My "parkour" moves as he calls them. But he was so damn proud of me for beating Bowser that he told everyone for a week afterwards. "My dad beat Bowser in Mario 3!"
 
I don't think it looks very 16-bit at all, particularly not SNES/Genesis or even Neo-Geo. It looks a little 8-bit (main sprite) mixed with visuals and effects you'd find in 16- and 32-bit games and modern pixel games. It's not bad looking but it's sort of all over the place and uninspired.

You finally got to rent a Famicom at our local mall video game rental place after it was released in Japan - $200 for two days. Two Benjamins to play Mario 3 before 99% of Americans. My uncle did it but refused to invite anyone over because of the time limit. Just him and his son playing Mario 3 for 48 hours straight. They acted like they had a fucking NDA, refusing to tell this 11 year old me anything about the game - which also made me wonder if they really rented it.

Lying about gaming stuff in the pre-Internet 90s? Sounds about right. So many damn liars back in the day! I have a Neo Geo and all the games, my dad got me a Jaguar and a Sega CD and a Nomad for Christmas/my birthday, my uncle has the Ultra 64, I played Sonic on the SNES, etc. I heard so much shit. I dunno what compelled kids to lie so much about this stuff.
 
It looks very much like a DS game now.

Just make a DS game if you want a DS game, guy. Don't 'upgrade' an NES game.
 
I remember seeing a blurb in one of those rare gaming mags a friend would buy at the grocery store. Both were pics from big world so I remember complaining at how huge the enemies were and not as good looking as Super Mario 2. ha.

You finally got to rent a Famicom at our local mall video game rental place after it was released in Japan - $200 for two days. Two Benjamins to play Mario 3 before 99% of Americans. My uncle did it but refused to invite anyone over because of the time limit. Just him and his son playing Mario 3 for 48 hours straight. They acted like they had a fucking NDA, refusing to tell this 11 year old me anything about the game - which also made me wonder if they really rented it.

Then a girl from school said she got it. It was just released. I saw a commercial two days later. Still my favorite gaming commercial ever (sorry Mad World Gears of War or Dead Island). It was so damn epic with the cheering, the drum beats in the background, the angelic voices. I remember a version that was "He's back...all you had to do was ask..Super Mario Brothers 3".

I was obsessed with it. My grandma got it for me for my birthday but it was difficult - she worked in the electronics section of her department store and even she had troubles getting a copy. We celebrated my cousin's birthday with mine at his family's house and after opening Mario 3 I didn't want to eat, socialize, anything. While they played games in the dining room I was alone in their living room playing up to World 2. I bought the strat guide, my very first and my best friend did as well: we would pretend we were playing while our parents drove us around (we used our fingers as "characters").

I just replayed it because my son has become obsessed with the Mario series. I warp whistle cheated from world 2 to 8, but regret it. I want to show him the other awesome worlds. I want to show him my many tricks on getting infinite lives. My "parkour" moves as he calls them. But he was so damn proud of me for beating Bowser that he told everyone for a week afterwards. "My dad beat Bowser in Mario 3!"

This is such a wonderful story, thanks for sharing, it got me emotional (literally teared) and reminded me of my experience with Chrono Trigger, back when the PS2 was new, my cousins had stacks of PS1 pirate games, they wanted to play Final Fantasy 4 and both CT and FF4 CDs looked the same.

After watching the epic intro of what I thought was FF4 they shut down the PS and put in FF4, so I asked "why did you change the game?" and they replied "that was Chrono Trigger". Then they started a game that was just another boring RPG with one of the lamest intros. As soon as they got done with FF4 and moved to PS2 I stayed in that room alone playing CT, little did I know that I was going to experience one of my favorite games of all time, I ignored everything and skipped meals staying in that small room with that very old TV playing CT.

This got me thinking; what if CT was called FF instead? That thought slowly shaped how I think about video games and made me look at things in life in a different perspective. CT didn't only help me with depression and a messy childhood, but it helped shaping me into the person I am today.

Sorry for the off long, off topic post :)
 
Naw, man, that background is very Genesis-y.
I disagree. Going through a healthy and representative cross-section of Genesis games: Hard Corps, Gunstar Heroes, Mega Turrican, Rocket Knight, Bloodlines, Hyperstone Heist, Thunder Force, Streets of Rage, SF II, Shinobi, Sonic (man-made stages), Comix Zone, Quackshot or Castle of Illusion? I don't see it.

Am I crazy when I say I prefer the Before gif?
Not at all. That's what got the game attention in the first place and some backers in the game thread are unhappy.

It looks very much like a DS game now.

Just make a DS game if you want a DS game, guy. Don't 'upgrade' an NES game.
Wow, that's actually spot on. Forgot all about the DS.
 
I disagree. Going through a healthy and representative cross-section of Genesis games: Hard Corps, Gunstar Heroes, Mega Turrican, Rocket Knight, Bloodlines, Hyperstone Heist, Thunder Force, Streets of Rage, SF II, Shinobi, Sonic (man-made stages), Comix Zone, Quackshot or Castle of Illusion? I don't see it.
See, Comix Zone is actually what came to mind. Granted, Comix Zone had a lot more in the way of outlines, but nevertheless, I think it's the palette choices made that make me think of it.
 
That and Alien Soldier look the closest, but I still think there's way too much going on to call that 16-bit. The DS remark is pretty much it... that weird PS1/N64 level of tech in refined post 32-bit, mid-2000s hardware and limited to handheld game budgets.
 
I know nothing about Steel Assault and I think the new version looks really nice. I also have no particular hardcore 8bit nostalgia :)
 
I really like a few of the levels in World 7, so Im glad they didnt think like you :)

Anyways, Steel Assault went from looking super awesome to nothing special, so that was a bummer.

Oh, and Ive been playing Rescue Rangers 2 lately, a game that actually feels kinda boring compared to its predecessor. Couldnt keep up my interest for more than 4 or 5 levels, which is a bad sign unfortunately.

Now I'm not saying there aren't fun stages in World 7, and frankly, every world except maybe World 1 has at least one level that probably could have been left out of the mix (which is ok since you can often skip some using alternate paths). But the general aesthetic of World 7 (Pipe World is, ultimately, a pretty limited gimmick design-wise), mixed with the fact that you know it's the penultimate world, just kind of makes it drag a little bit. I'm just looking forward toward the finish line the whole time. Heck, even the theme song for the world is the least inspired of the 8.

Am I crazy when I say I prefer the Before gif?

Not at all. I'm in the same boat.

Naw, man, that background is very Genesis-y.

The email update I received (which might be on the Kickstarter page?) hinted at the completed game being a Genesis ROM instead of an NES ROM now. So I guess we'll see.
 
I remember my first encounter with SMB3. My friend got it from USA (along with two other weird, cool looking games - Shadowgate and Fester's Quest), but his European NES would just blink. This was 1990 I think. The game wasn't even rumoured for Europe until mid-1991.

Then, one day, we decided to try it in my other friend's NES that he got from Asia (US design, but said Asian Version on the lid). And boom, it worked. For some reason, that Asian NES would play any version you threw at it. I remember seeing those magical curtains and the map for the first time. By the time 1991 came around we had played the game over and over.

And still, the hype almost got to me. Nintendo Magazine had a huge article on it. That TV ad with kids yelling 'Mario, Mario' was constantly on air. Shops had those really cool yellow 3D Super Mario 3 stands. There was even a reservation list, a first for a videogame. Then the day before the game release, I saw the shop's glass cabinet absolutely stacked with yellow boxes, I had never seen that many copies of a single game. I was so hyped I almost bought the game despite having played it extensively.

Luckily, Super Mario World saved my wallet - I got to see the first demonstration of the game by the local Club Nintendo crew in an amusement park. They were playing a cave stage, where everything had a magical echo, and suddenly I knew that NES was old news.
 
I remember seeing a blurb in one of those rare gaming mags a friend would buy at the grocery store. Both were pics from big world so I remember complaining at how huge the enemies were and not as good looking as Super Mario 2. ha.

You finally got to rent a Famicom at our local mall video game rental place after it was released in Japan - $200 for two days. Two Benjamins to play Mario 3 before 99% of Americans. My uncle did it but refused to invite anyone over because of the time limit. Just him and his son playing Mario 3 for 48 hours straight. They acted like they had a fucking NDA, refusing to tell this 11 year old me anything about the game - which also made me wonder if they really rented it.

Then a girl from school said she got it. It was just released. I saw a commercial two days later. Still my favorite gaming commercial ever (sorry Mad World Gears of War or Dead Island). It was so damn epic with the cheering, the drum beats in the background, the angelic voices. I remember a version that was "He's back...all you had to do was ask..Super Mario Brothers 3".

I was obsessed with it. My grandma got it for me for my birthday but it was difficult - she worked in the electronics section of her department store and even she had troubles getting a copy. We celebrated my cousin's birthday with mine at his family's house and after opening Mario 3 I didn't want to eat, socialize, anything. While they played games in the dining room I was alone in their living room playing up to World 2. I bought the strat guide, my very first and my best friend did as well: we would pretend we were playing while our parents drove us around (we used our fingers as "characters").

I just replayed it because my son has become obsessed with the Mario series. I warp whistle cheated from world 2 to 8, but regret it. I want to show him the other awesome worlds. I want to show him my many tricks on getting infinite lives. My "parkour" moves as he calls them. But he was so damn proud of me for beating Bowser that he told everyone for a week afterwards. "My dad beat Bowser in Mario 3!"

Fun story, thanks for sharing. That's great that you've got your son into it. My daughter is 2 and half and I don't really play games around her, but I might start. She knows who Mario is and I of course want her to start with the classics!
 
I remember seeing a blurb in one of those rare gaming mags a friend would buy at the grocery store. Both were pics from big world so I remember complaining at how huge the enemies were and not as good looking as Super Mario 2. ha.

You finally got to rent a Famicom at our local mall video game rental place after it was released in Japan - $200 for two days. Two Benjamins to play Mario 3 before 99% of Americans. My uncle did it but refused to invite anyone over because of the time limit. Just him and his son playing Mario 3 for 48 hours straight. They acted like they had a fucking NDA, refusing to tell this 11 year old me anything about the game - which also made me wonder if they really rented it.

Then a girl from school said she got it. It was just released. I saw a commercial two days later. Still my favorite gaming commercial ever (sorry Mad World Gears of War or Dead Island). It was so damn epic with the cheering, the drum beats in the background, the angelic voices. I remember a version that was "He's back...all you had to do was ask..Super Mario Brothers 3".

I was obsessed with it. My grandma got it for me for my birthday but it was difficult - she worked in the electronics section of her department store and even she had troubles getting a copy. We celebrated my cousin's birthday with mine at his family's house and after opening Mario 3 I didn't want to eat, socialize, anything. While they played games in the dining room I was alone in their living room playing up to World 2. I bought the strat guide, my very first and my best friend did as well: we would pretend we were playing while our parents drove us around (we used our fingers as "characters").

I just replayed it because my son has become obsessed with the Mario series. I warp whistle cheated from world 2 to 8, but regret it. I want to show him the other awesome worlds. I want to show him my many tricks on getting infinite lives. My "parkour" moves as he calls them. But he was so damn proud of me for beating Bowser that he told everyone for a week afterwards. "My dad beat Bowser in Mario 3!"

I never owned this. Because of THIS. Stupid shortages even in Toronto. I had an aunt that went to the states on business frequently who never found it either.

Almost a year after release (and like 6 weekend rentals later), finally saw it on vacation in Florida at some Kmart store. Lol I was so mad at Nintendo for the shortages that I didn't buy it just to spite them lol (bought turtles arcade game instead).

Come to think of it, maybe now is the time to buy one, 25 years later...
 
I re-played a friend's copy of Mega Man 2 dozens of times back in the day, being the only MM I had access to. I always wanted the charged shot until I played MM4 and realized how freaking loud and distracting it was.



Yes. It can be done in several hours at a normal pace but it's just long enough that you feel compelled to use warps. The game really should have had battery backup or a password system. Most casual players would not sit through a complete playthrough.

After Mario World came out that's what I thought. I played through and 100% Mario 3 on the GBA version since it did let you save and continue. I feel like I cheated.
 
So I just tested my sister's hi-def NES with Mario 3 and the OEM power adapter. Everyhing worked fine. I went through Mario 3's world 1, almost with my eyes closed.

Was this game that easy? I know it gets tougher later on, IIRC, but maybe my skills as a child were piss poor. Since there's no real saving in this game, you can beat levels in 20 seconds sometimes (i.e. they're very short!).

I imagine speed running this game with whistles is quite quick.
 
World 1 is really easy.

I tend to start having difficulties around World 3, although that's more due to the instakill fish than anything else; it's still pretty tame other than that.

It's pretty brutal by World 8.
 
Black Falcon, TMNT II and III both have 3 continues. Personally I think that's more than enough since you get extra lives in those games. Heck I did youtube playthroughs of them without using a single continue and not using special attacks either!
Maybe that's enough for someone like you who, going by your posts here, is VERY good at games, but for those of us who aren't that amazingly good they are pretty tough games to finish.

Man, I must have remembered Rescue Rangers being easier than it actually is. It's still pretty damn easy, but it's caught me off guard in some later levels, especially in regards to enemy placement. Definitely a game that's a lot more enjoyable in Co-Op, too. What I wouldn't do for a DuckTales-esque remake with online Co-Op.

I want to say I remember Rescue Rangers 2 being slightly better, but I lost my copies of that, Ducktales 2 and Darkwing Duck years ago. I should probably at least get DD, since prices for that are getting stupid now, too.

Edit: Wow, Famicom Rescue Rangers 2 is $80+. Yikes.
Rescue Rangers and DuckTales are both harder than people often give them credit for in large part because of the continue system, or lack thereof. Having to start the whole game over just because you got game over makes the games hard! In terms of the levels themselves Darkwing Duck is probably a harder game, but it has infinite continues so in practice it's actually a much easier game to finish, or at least it sure is for me. I've beaten Darkwing Duck, but not Rescue Rangers, and I don't think I've actually finished DuckTales either though I may have long ago, not sure about that.
 
Got a nice piece of NES ephemera in the mail this week - the official How To Win At Super Mario Bros guide created by Nintendo. I would post pics but my Imgur app on my phone seems to be fucked at the moment. Really nice detailed color maps with every secret, a two-page story that I don't think appears anywhere else and a cool pic of Howard Phillips at his desk with a bunch of Famicom games in the introduction. The cover art is really cool art from the FC game and I think it might be the only official release of that artwork in the west? It might be Nintendo's first official strategy guide as well?
 
Maybe that's enough for someone like you who, going by your posts here, is VERY good at games, but for those of us who aren't that amazingly good they are pretty tough games to finish.
Yes, I am good at games, but I was able to finish these games a few days after the 1st time I played them earlier this year. I would say they have some tough bosses and a few tough stages(like the last 2 stages in each game) but the help of extra lives(and continues) plus the instant kill grab attack in TMNT 3 make them more than manageable to beat after trying them a few tries. It was tough for me to not die on Kraang in TMNT 2 though, what a pain he was.
 
Started on the slippery slope of buying my NES stuff boxed complete. Got a beautiful condition Zelda, with the map etc. TMNT which is in great nick box wise. Also got Popeye which has the coolest box ever and I got the rarer early misprint run of Mario Bros 3. Working on Balloon Fight next and a couple of others. Turns I'd rather pay more and have less games if it means having them complete.

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Don't start down that process! Just bitbox them.

I got NES Playaction Football in a box, complete, $9. It's in perfect condition. But if we look for CIB for everything we're going to go crazy and our wallet will pay.

Bitbox is good enough for me, with manual.
 
So I've closed the voting. And it looks like --

...drumroll please...

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Rygar is our winner!

Also, not many of you voted! In fairness, I'll have the link up in a more timely fashion this next time.

Anyway, I kinda forgot to talk to my images guy about this and it's NYE so I won't be able to get the post up tomorrow more than likely. So I'll have it ready to go, I would guess, by Monday.

So far for our suggestions for the voting in January 2016 (that was weird to type) we have:
  1. Startropics
  2. Renegade
  3. Trog
  4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  5. ...
 
Great choice. Rygar is such an ambitious, innovative game for its time. It really kicked off the trend of radically reinventing arcade games for NES/Famicom release, as well as being one of the very first proper (and good) action RPGs for the system.
 
I've honestly never given Rygar a real, honest-to-goodness shot, so this will be an educational experience for me. I didn't know there were RPG elements.
 
Yay! Ill have my copy ready to go this weekend. Neat to see 2 games I've nominated chosen so far. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's opinions on it. Also, who is going to play Rygar and who is going to play Algos no Senshi?
 
TMNT was robbed! I don't have Rygar but will try and grab it.

As for the bitbox alternative. I can totally understand people going that route. I might do it for certain games but whilst I have a few quid I'm going to try to grab a few boxed complete games
 
I will say, I'm glad Pinball Quest didn't win. I popped that in the other day and man, is the RPG section of that frustrating.

Well, at the beginning it's a hell of a grind. Just getting to the third stage requires a LOT of patience. But once you save up enough for better flippers and permanent stoppers it becomes much more manageable (or you can just keep stealing until you get good stuff, I suppose). You do gain "exp" which makes your ball stronger, but you lose a chunk of it every time you fall down to a previous table, which was a terrible design choice.

It has some big flaws but overall I love what it tried to do and give it credit for being a unique take on pinball that's full of charm.



My nomination for February's game is Trog! It's a Pac-Man style dot gobbler with fun powerups, lots of variety and fantastically animated sprites. It holds up really well and even has multiplayer if you're into that.
 
Well, at the beginning it's a hell of a grind. Just getting to the third stage requires a LOT of patience. But once you save up enough for better flippers and permanent stoppers it becomes much more manageable (or you can just keep stealing until you get good stuff, I suppose). You do gain "exp" which makes your ball stronger, but you lose a chunk of it every time you fall down to a previous table, which was a terrible design choice.

It has some big flaws but overall I love what it tried to do and give it credit for being a unique take on pinball that's full of charm.



My nomination for February's game is Trog! It's a Pac-Man style dot gobbler with fun powerups, lots of variety and fantastically animated sprites. It holds up really well and even has multiplayer if you're into that.
I also love what it tried to do. Some really cool ideas in there. The systems are not communicated properly though. It suffers from what a lot of NES RPGs suffer from, and that's a lack of clarity. When I go back, it'll be with some sort of guide. Which I hate to do, but it's just not clear enough.
 
I didn't know we were voting - I agree TMNT was robbed!

That's my fault. Still learning how to run one of these threads! I'm going to be pushing the voting harder this month, making the link more visible, more often, and I'm going to be giving it a lot longer to run.
 
I didn't know we were voting - I agree TMNT was robbed!

*high five*. Our day will come!


I'm so glad this happened!

Because I didn't feel like doing a no death run in January, I want that to happen later, lol.

Lol Timu you are a savage! No death run on that game is crazy. Actually just uploading my very normal person plenty of death run to youtube now. That Technodrome is TOUGH
 
Lol Timu you are a savage! No death run on that game is crazy. Actually just uploading my very normal person plenty of death run to youtube now. That Technodrome is TOUGH
I've been playing the game for years so I'm capable. I just need to master the Technodrome mainly and I'll be set...though I predict that's where most of my time will be spent at, lol. Also, I'm mainly using Donatello for that stage.
 
Early EGM's review of the first NES Double Dragon. Review of Sega's version for the Master System will be posted in the SMS appreciation thread.

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And American NES Super Mario Bros. 2.

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I'm in this year, I'll try anyway. I'll be playing with OpenEMU and Wii Classic Controller. I hope the lag doesn't hurt my chances of throwing my controller through the wall.


So, this month is Rygar? I owned this game as a kid.

If we are voting, I vote Star Tropics. I always wanted to play it. I remember the Nintendo Power issue.

 
Double Dragon better than the arcade?

Hmm I guess it's slightly less of a scrappy buggy mess.

Goddamn I love both versions though haha. Such a shame Technos died.
 
I'm so glad this happened!

Because I didn't feel like doing a no death run in January, I want that to happen later, lol.

You mean not losing any Turtles?

No death was the only way to play it because I remember it being a pain in the ass otherwise. How far back does the game send you if you lose a Turtle? Beginning of stage?
 
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