[Family Computer]

So with the wiki seemingly down and me starting to actively collect NES games again, I figured it would be a good time to start an NES thread for recommendations, remembrances and whatnot. I just got a new control deck(og, not the top loader unfortunately) because playing on a Retron 2 felt off. I've been going to a new local used game shop that just opened up and picking up 3-4 games each time based purely on how cool the cover looks. After playing some shit like The Karate Kid(managed to beat it in my second or third play session) I'm ready to talk about some of the games in my collection.

Karnov: what is there to really say about Karnov? It's a fucking weird game where you play as a carnival sideshow attraction out to find treasure and fight dinosaurs or somshit. Every time you enter a level LIGHTNING STRIKES and Karnov appears. The levels look like NES barf. When you get hit, Karnov turns blue, and if you get hit again you die. There's a bunch of different items that don't seem completely necessary(I could be wrong as I've only made it to stage 3 so far, I am determined however to beat this game over the weekend). Most of the things mentioned in this paragraph don't make any sense, but it's why I love the NES library. You can spend $5 on some random game you've never heard and be absolutely charmed by the sheer insanity of what the cartridge contains.

Air Fortress: indieriffic. At first it seems like a regular side scrolling shmup. Then in the middle of level 1 you get out of the ship and you start exploring the first air fortress. The energy you pick up in the first section = your life in the second. So you can start with 700-800 energy give or take, and every action you do outside your ship depletes that energy. As does taking damage. I have no idea if this is one of those games that has all of it's story contained in the manual, but I hope not.

Monster In My Pocket: a side scrolling action game from Konami, based on the early 90s toy line, Monster In My Pocket! you play as either Dracula or Frankenstein's Monster, and you play through what you would come to expect from an 8-bit Konami action game.

The Mafat Conspiracy: this is the follow up to Golgo 13: Top Secret Mission. I think it's pretty simiar to the first but I can't get past the first 3D maze section and the cart wont play in my OG NES, only my Retron 2. So I'll probably get to it later.

Werewolf: The Last Warrior: this is Karnov with a werewolf.

So yeah, please give me some recommendations. I'm looking for some deep cuts in the NES library.
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[Mr. Mechanical]

A bunch of these are ports of arcade games but whatever.

Bubble Bobble - Blow bubbles, capture monsters, pop bubbles, eat fruit

Jackal - Two guys in a jeep with a gun on top and an island full of P.O.Ws to rescue

River City Ransom - You explore a city while beating dudes up

Double Dragon - Your girlfriend gets kidnapped so you beat dudes up

Super C - Aliens are attacking so you shoot and blow up everything

TMNT - Shredder is up to no good so you fight dudes and explore a city

Arkanoid - They took Breakout and put a gun on the paddle and gave you powerups.

Xevious - You came to drop bombs

Batman - You're the goddamed Batman

Bionic Commando - Swing 'n Shoot!

Blaster Master - Explore caves in a tank that can climb walls

Crystalis - Kind of a Zelda-like

Dr. Mario - You know the drill

Galaga - What else is there to say

Defender 2 - You either like it or you don't

Marble Madness - Roll that ball!

Ghosts 'n Goblins - It's the easiest one but you'll still die forever

Gradius - Really good horizontal shmup

Life Force - Better than Gradius

Goonies 2 - It's a metrovania

Castlevania - The one and only

Wizards & Warriors - Pretty easy platformer but a fun ride while it lasts

Kid Icarus - A strange game

Zelda 1 & 2 - You know the drill

Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, & 3 - You either like it or you don't

Metroid - The one that started it all

Mega Man 2 - Best Mega Man

Metal Storm - Cool as fuck

Mighty Bomb Jack - Haven't actually played this

Ninja Gaiden - It has cutscenes

R. C. Pro-Am - Race cars!

Rad Racer - Looks a bit like OutRun

Rygar - Very tough platformer

Strider - Even tougher than Rygar?

Tetris - You know the drill

Tiger Heli - It's a shooter but you're in a helicopter

Top Gun - I can't remember if you played this in first person or not, I think you did.

Yo! Noid - No I'm not joking. This is basically some other, more obscure platformer from Capcom I think but rebranded with Domino's Pizza mascot the Noid.
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[Family Computer]

I have Yo! Noid. It's not as good as I remember it being. I guess I'm just wistful for the Noid.
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This summer, become Buried In Games.

[Mr. Mechanical]

I could never beat it but I can get like halfway through it consistently and that's kind of a big deal for me.

I have nostalgia for the Noid as well.
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[notbov]

every Capcom Disney game save Mickey Mousecapades (which isn't a Capcom game but is still kinda okay) and Magic Kingdom (which is terrible)

I'm partial to Chip and Dale, even if it's kinda easy
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[evnvnv]

My love for Kickle Cubicle knows no bounds. One of the first NES games I ever played and I still think it's one of the best overhead-view-do-shit-with-sliding-blocks games out there. Shout out to the little raccoon who looks like he has a rotating white dingleberry all the time.
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[RT-55J]

I posted this in the Kickstarter thread, but it bears mentioning here: Lizard

It's a work in progress homebrew exploratory platformer thing. The guy is aiming for a cartridge release. It has a demo out right now and it is excellent all around.


Other recs:

Shatterhand plays a lot like Sunsoft's Batman, except that you play as a guy that can punch bullets, and the main character is not as stiff as Batman. The presentation and level design are absolutely top notch.

The Guardian Legend is a hybrid of a really good vertical shmup and a so-so top-down Zelda-thing. The top-down parts aren't particularly exciting, but they help provide aesthetic cohesion to the thing, so in the end they make it better than the sum of its parts. Just be ready to write down really long passwords with lots of umlauts.

[Mikey]

Balloon Fight is the best NES party game.

Punch Out might have kept me coming back for more moreso than any other NES game.

Little Nemo: The Dream Master was pretty sweet, similar to Adventure Island II perhaps.

Star Tropics is great but you're going to be missing out on the cool pack-in secret message thingy that came with the game at the time of its original release.

[notbov]

RT-55J reminds me, Sunsoft's output was consistently good on the NES, if not always in gameplay, then at least in music. Journey to Silius is my favorite Sun game and has one of my favorite set of tracks on the system.
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[kitroebuck]

Wizards and Warriors 3 is not a very good game, but it has an early Rare vibe that I enjoy due in large part to the great David Wise soundtrack.

If you can hang with an RPG, the NES version of Ultima IV is surprisingly good. Garriot himself praised it for being the most accessible version of the game. It plays like Dragon Quest, but it's completely open right from the start. The graphics are masterfully done as well, particularly the tilesets. Battles are tedious, though (as you'd expect.)

Crystalis, on the other hand, is so much fun. It even makes grinding for money fun.

Blaster Master is the best Metroid-type game on the NES. I like its structure, the way the levels link together non-linearly, and the way you have to really look for the boss by checking all the little overhead sections. Granted, I know the whole game by heart, but it was great learning it. Almost Souls-like in that way(!?)

[schroeder]

[Wall of Beef]

Uforia: The Saga is a fantastic open world platformer from SunSoft. You have a handful of characters you can swap between as you explore finding different power-ups to gain access to newer areas. Its one of the few Hebereke series of games to make it over to the U.S. (perhaps the only one?)

However that franchise usually tries to make each game something different so this may be the only platformer of its ilk that has the cast.

Its got charm for miles, weird stuff, and exploring...


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[Mr. Mechanical]

Clash at Demonhead is a good little action platformer with really great music.
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[Rud31]

RIP SBWiki.
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[Mikey]

[Family Computer]

[wourme]

These are a few of my favorites, excluding obvious ones such as Super Mario Bros. and Zelda:

Blaster Master
A Boy and His Blob
Crystalis
Destiny of an Emperor
Dragon Warrior 3
Dragon Warrior 4
Dragon Spirit
Faxanadu
Final Fantasy
Ironsword
Life Force
Little Nemo: The Dream Master
North and South
StarTropics
Super Dodge Ball

Will probably think of more right after I hit Submit.

[CubaLibre]

Have to rep for Base Wars, a game about robots playing baseball that can beat the shit out of each other to stay on base. Killer soundtrack.
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[Rud31]

Moon Crystal rules.
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[username]

All I know is that while Legend of Kage is a stunningly limited game just jumping dozens of feet in the air through the trees while swatting away ninja stars with my sword is pretty goddamn amazing.
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[jjsimpso]

[username]

[Wall of Beef]

The wiki is working again thanks to Takashi, so here is the NES/Famicom recommended list: http://wiki.selectbutton.net/sb:recommended:nes
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[Family Computer]

Thanks beef and takashi.
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3DS Friendcode: 2337-3480-4823
PSN: play2forget
This summer, become Buried In Games.

[parker]