NES games I need to review?

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VideoGameCritic
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NES games I need to review?

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 10th, 2017, 8:04 pm

A helpful reader sent me an ordered list of NES games I should review.
Apparently the second number is a all-time ranking from another site.
It's a lot to digest so I thought I'd toss it out to you guys to advise which ones I should track down first.

1 15 Final Fantasy
2 21 Kirby's Adventure
3 25 Dragon Warrior III (Dragon Quest III)
4 40 Little Nemo: The Dream Master
5 56 Faxanadu
6 63 Little Samson
7 68 Dragon Warrior IV (Dragon Quest IV)
8 69 Guardian Legend
9 72 Willow
10 74 Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors II
11 76 Mario Bros. (Kaettekita Mario Bros. / Return Mario Bros.)
12 77 A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobbonia
13 82 North and South
14 87 Kickle Cubicle
15 88 Gargoyle's Quest II: The Demon Darkness
16 91 Power Blade
17 92 Adventures of Lolo 3
18 97 Battletoads and Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
19 100 Lode Runner
20 101 Stinger
21 103 Fester's Quest
22 104 Legacy of the Wizard (Dragon Slayer IV)
23 105 Adventures of Lolo 2
24 106 Pro Wrestling
25 109 Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode
26 113 Bomberman
27 115 Gradius II
28 116 Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones
29 117 Bomberman 2
30 118 Ring King
31 121 Bucky O'Hare
32 122 Dragon Warrior II (Dragon Quest II)
33 123 Klax
34 127 Konami Wai Wai World (parody game)
35 129 Famicom Wars
36 130 Final Fantasy II
37 134 Final Fantasy III
38 136 Astynax
39 139 Rampage
40 142 Fire N Ice
41 143 Magic of Scheherazade
42 145 Kid Niki: Radical Ninja
43 149 Gun Nac (parody shooter)
44 151 Rainbow Islands
45 153 Darkwing Duck
46 155 Déjà vu
47 159 Solstice
48 160 Mother
49 161 Sweet Home (prequel to Biohazard)
50 162 Tecmo World Wrestling
51 164 Ganbare Goemon 2
52 168 Ultima: Quest for the Avatar
53 169 Crash N The Boys: Street Challenge
54 170 Wizardry
55 171 Crisis Force
56 175 Tower of Druaga
57 177 SD Gundam Gachapon 2
58 178 Fire Emblem Gaiden
59 179 Battlekid Fortress of Peril
60 182 M.U.S.C.L.E. (Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match)
61 185 Magical Doropie
62 188 Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken
63 189 Dragon Ball Z Gaiden Saya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku
64 191 Twinbee
65 194 Captain Tsubasa
66 196 Star Trek: The Next Generation
67 198 Getsu Fuma Den
68 199 Battle of Olypus
69 200 Moon Crystal
70 202 Lemmings
71 203 Holy Diver
72 204 Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula Kun! (parody game!)
73 205 Downtown Special - Kunio Kun No Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugou (Kunio in Feudal Japan)
74 207 Over Horizon
75 208 Kiwi Kraze (The New Zealand Story)
76 209 Panic Restaurant
77 210 Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout
78 212 Dragon Ball Z
79 215 Dragon Ball Z 3
80 216 Dragon Ball Z II - Gekigami Freeze!!
81 217 Konami Wai Wai World 2: S.O.S. (parody game)
82 218 Super Turrican
83 219 Takeshi No Chousejou (Teakeshi Beat Kitano Kusoge)
84 220 Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
85 221 Pro Yakkyu Family Stadium (baseball game)
86 222 Dragon Warrior V (Dragon Quest V)
87 223 Final Fantasy 1+2 (compilation)
88 224 Gimmick
89 225 Adventure Island IV
90 228 Ganbare Goemon
91 229 Golgo 13: The Mafat Conspiracy
92 230 Joust
93 231 Earth Bound
94 232 Joy Mech Fight
95 233 Ufouria
96 235 Lei Dian Huang Bi Ka Qiu Chuan Shuo
97 237 Wagyan Land
98 238 Elite
99 239 Downtown Nekketsu Koushin Kyoku: Soreyuke Dai Undoukai (Kunio Sports)
100 240 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
101 241 Rod Land
102 243 Kunio Dodgeball (Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball Club)
103 244 Kunio Kun no Nekketsu Soccer League

Robotrek
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Re: NES games I need to review?

Postby Robotrek » January 10th, 2017, 8:27 pm

With Mr. Gimmick you'll need a flash cart to play it, as it was never released in the US. But trust me, it's very well worth it, as it's one of the best video games ever made. Festers Quest is a good game despite what you may hear, it's a cool little shooter in my opinion. Joust is a great port, and may be the definitive home version. And Kirby's Adventure is a late NES release that kicks ASS, and you should really give it a try.

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ptdebate
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Re: NES games I need to review?

Postby ptdebate » January 10th, 2017, 8:48 pm

I'd start with Dragon Warrior III if I were you. You already have a review for the original and DWII is hard to recommend. It will almost certainly earn a negative review. Not that that's a reason to skip it, but I think readers of the site would like to see more retro RPGs represented and DWIII is just such a phenomenal game. I also agree that Kirby's Adventure, Final Fantasy, DWIV, and Little Samson definitely deserve reviews on the site. I wrote a review for FF1 in the RPG crew forum and I don't think I've gotten a final response from you yet. Let me know if you want me to tweak it (or if you think it's trash).

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nesfan
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Re: NES games I need to review?

Postby nesfan » January 10th, 2017, 11:31 pm

I'd love to see your take on Little Nemo and Kirby's Adventure. I've never played Golgo 13 but I'm interested in it and would like to see a review of that as well. Also, something not on the list: Capcom's The Little Mermaid.

eneuman96
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Re: NES games I need to review?

Postby eneuman96 » January 11th, 2017, 1:25 am

A lot of these are for the Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES. Worth noting is that Famicom cartridges are designed differently and thus can't be played (or even fit) in an NES without a special converter, though you could always use a flashcart instead. To reduce confusion, it would be a good idea to add a brief explanation of this in your NES system review and add "Famicom" in parentheses to the titles of Japan-exclusive games. Example: Sweet Home (Famicom).

twilighthotel
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Re: NES games I need to review?

Postby twilighthotel » January 11th, 2017, 10:40 am

I say Faxanadu. For one, it has some traits in common with Zelda II. Next would be Robin Hood, which is a similar type of game.

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scotland
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Re: NES games I need to review?

Postby scotland » January 11th, 2017, 11:04 am

I would say Bucky O'Hare and Guardian Legend. These come up in conversations about hidden gems of the system.

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ActRaiser
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Re: NES games I need to review?

Postby ActRaiser » January 11th, 2017, 1:24 pm

+1 for Little Nemo

I remember renting it as a kid and loved you got to ride a ton of various animals. Great game.

And would highly recommend Willow as well. It's a Zelda like RPG light game based on the movie. It would most likely garner a solid B.

Lastly, A Boy and His Blob would be a fun read. I remember the box had something about David Crane designing it. As you know he's the guy that left Atari to found Activision, did Pitfall!, etc.

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AtariToday
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Re: NES games I need to review?

Postby AtariToday » January 12th, 2017, 7:06 am

I think some of the titles on the list may be a bit divisive. I know some people absolutely love Faxanadu but I can't stand it. I owned a copy back in the day and it was traded off a few weeks after it was purchased.
The same goes for Joust on the NES. I LOVE Joust and the NES port just feels off. The controls just don't feel right and the sprites are too big in regards to the play field. Maybe i'm just used to the 7800 port..and the 2600 port...just picked up a copy of the XE version. Those all play amazing! I'm very interested in your thoughts of the NES version of Joust actually.

Some of my favorites on the NES:
North and South
Pro Wrestling
Tecmo World Wrestling
Jackie Chan's Action Kung-fu
Crash N the Boys: Street Challenge

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Re: NES games I need to review?

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » January 12th, 2017, 10:27 am

Based on your love of old school shmups, Gradius II, Gun Nac, and Crisis Force are a must. These are like the triple crown of the genre on the NES.

I'd love to see what you think of Little Sampson, but it's going to be expensive - overlooked on release, this platformer pushes the NES hardware in every way except the 3 color sprite limit.

There are two releases of Rainbow Islands - you might want to read up on the hidden nuances of the game before approaching it - there's a meta game that's not at all obvious. For many UK gamers, this title seems to be up there with SuperMario Bros.

Elite is the pride of the UK - this was 3d sandbox gaming at a time when it was thought impossible. With that said, how well is that going to hold up for a modern gamer? A lot of the atmosphere came from the book included with the computer releases, which gave you a reason to care about all the cold data that the program could actually display.

And continuing with the UK theme, Solstice is a lonely representative of the most popular 8-bit UK microcomputer genre by far. Isometric platformers are way more common over there than the sum total of Super Mario Bros/Castlevania style platformers on the NES, combined.

To finish off the set, throw in Super Turrican, which is what happens when you add Metroid to Contra, and artificially crank up the difficulty. The camera system is designed to kill everyone without superheroic reflexes and a perfect memory. It's a perfect example of why NES difficulty is considered a joke among their nostalgic retrogamers.


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