Famicom Recommendations

[ZOM]

FDS version has better sound IIRC.

I noticed when watching a video of the intro, but is it worth putting up with the FDS (there are some other FDS games I'm interested in too, but I heard the FDS's belts often break and the disks are fragile)?

The belts are easily replaced, there should be a lot of replacement parts for the FDS scattered around on internet auctions in general. As for the fragility of disks... dunno never happened to me that a disk died. Admittedly though, I haven't used my system much, but I wouldn't go as far and say that I regret buying it, on contraire, there's a bunch of games that I really enjoyed, even if they're few.

[BrianC]

Flying Warriors is Hiryu no Ken II except Americanized. I noticed no changes to the mechanics or story. Still an amazing game though IMO.

EDIT: OK, I see in the Wiki (as well as a FAQ and YouTube vid), someone is claiming that Flying Warriors is a hybridized HNK II & III except with HNK II's plot. I don't understand that.

When I played through HNK II years back, I remember everything being exactly identical to Flying Warriors except the names and some graphics. I don't remember the battle system being any different from the options already available, nor any moves missing. HNK III is a completely separate game with a new story, enemies, and locales that aren't in HNK II / Flying Warriors.

If this Hayabusakun guy could elaborate on what he meant by Flying Warriors being a hybridization, that would be helpful. Although Flying Warriors was released after the JP trilogy, nothing comes to my mind of any elements being taken from HNK III.

I found out what the deal is and why Flying Warriors was called a mix of Hiryu no Ken 2 and 3. The locations, plot, and mechanics are from Hiryu no Ken 2, but the game engine and some of the music are from Hiryu no Ken 3 (the first stage in both games, while completely different, has the exact same music). The stages were also remade in Flying Warriors and aren't exactly the same as the ones in Hiryu no Ken 2 (though the locations are based on Hiryu no Ken 2's locations). The AI is more like Hiryu no Ken 3, as well. I might be picking up both versions of Hiryu no Ken 2 since they are pretty different.

I just ordered Twinbee 3 for the Famicom. My order of the JP Super Dodge Ball and Quarth was cancelled since Super Dodge Ball wasn't working (I wish I could try these games out myself, I often get these games working after some cleaning and a few tries).

[Ganelon]

Ah, good stuff, Brian; thanks for testing.

[Battlesmurf]

Recca.

if you can afford it

+1

Gotta go with this one, too. I've also been pretty curious about Holy Diver. Also- if you don't want to do a translated US cart for Contra- the JP one has a storyline and some little graphical effects that were neat

[Nico87]

Any Konami game.

[BrianC]

Any Konami game.

yeah, a good chunk of games I imported for FC are from Konami. Been picking up a lot of Namco stuff too. Rolling Thunder JP should be arriving soon. Any Jaleco or Bandai recommendations? I like what I played of the first jajamaru and I actually like Dragon Power (and I just found out the JP DB version has more levels).

I'm on the fence on Ninja Ryukenden III. I heard the JP one is very easy and the US one may be a bit unfair. Should I go US for extra difficulty, or JP for less frustration? I liked what I tried of the game and the stages look interesting.

[Turrican]

I found out the JP Guevara does have something that isn't in the US version, a hidden port of Sasuke vs. Commander.

This is the coolest thing ever.

[BIL]

That is cool. Never heard of "games within games" on the FC!

I'm on the fence on Ninja Ryukenden III. I heard the JP one is very easy and the US one may be a bit unfair. Should I go US for extra difficulty, or JP for less frustration? I liked what I tried of the game and the stages look interesting.

I know it's an ancient post, but since it's not been answered - it depends what you want. Ninja Gaiden III (NES) is either satisfyingly hard or just punishing. Ninja Ryukenden III (FC) is either more enjoyable or disappointingly mild and vacant. I own the latter, and it's certainly a fun game to blast through, but I intend to get the NES cart at some point. It's not just damage scaling that was increased - enemies were added to some points, and they're usually needed to stave off boredom (the auto-scrolling vertical section early on is a huge offender in JP).

NGIII is definitely not unfair - it just expects you to play skillfully and will shut you down otherwise, where in NRIII you can screw up a lot and still scrape through.

The game's biggest obstacle if you're going for a one-life clear, and something that *could* be considered unfair, is actually in JP as well: if you want to finish the very last stage and its three bosses without running out of time, you pretty much have to get the invincibility subweapon and use it to blow through the spiked areas.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I happily keep playing Balloon Kid on my GBA SP with the Super Game Boy colours (or so I think), but apparently there is a Famicom port titled Hello Kitty World. If it's neither broken nor too expensive, you may be interested in that.
The portable version is a rad, autoscrolling oddity.

[Despatche]

ty for clarification on ng3

...oh. moon crystal, final fantasy iii, famicom wars, CONVOY NO NAZO AHAHAHAHA

[scrilla4rella]

Holy Diver is pretty badass actually. Not QUITE as good as Getsu Fuu Ma Den, but almost. I have it...forgot that one on my list. Plus it's Irem

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. I much prefer Holy Diver, great game. Maybe it's just because I haven't been able to warm up to Getsu Fuu Ma Den yet, I sure have tried tho

edit: Konami games have cool carts and great music, especially Larange Point. Crisis Force is a must for shmup fans. Amazing game. For Recca, just go with a repro.

[BIL]

So in Raf World, while the character is in his turning, going prone or getting back to feet frames, he cannot jump. It's very noticeable when exchanging fire with large enemies. Dropped jump inputs because I was moving? Here is my considered response:



Level layouts and boss battles are excellent, though. I may stick with it yet.

[Stealthlurker]

Stuff off the top of my head. Games people never seem to talk about... look'em up on youtube.

All action platformers

- Time Zone
- Sayuki World 1 & 2
- Mitsume ga tooru
- Jajamaru Ginga Daisakusen
- Parasol Henbee

Got about 300 famicom games CIB (Recca, Guevara, Battle Formula, Moon Crystal, etc etc) and about 100+ loose carts. Just need one more to complete my want list.

.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Radia Senki: Reimeihen might be worth looking into. Good rpg, realtime combat which is interesting for the time it was made, good music, worth playing if you understand Japanese or have the fan translation.

[BIL]

Stuff off the top of my head. Games people never seem to talk about... look'em up on youtube.

All action platformers

- Time Zone
- Sayuki World 1 & 2
- Mitsume ga tooru
- Jajamaru Ginga Daisakusen
- Parasol Henbee

Thanks, will be trying all of these. I'm in the hunt for good FC/MD/SFC action game obscurities at the moment!

[Drum]

Don Doko Don 2 is a fun, well put-together platformer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g78tDGWvl00

[scrilla4rella]

^_ that looks much more interesting than its predecessor, where the levels are arena- bubble-bobble-snow-bro.-like. I'll have to check it out

[Drum]

I would love a Bubble Bobble sidescrolling platformer. I guess the closest I'll ever get is that and Liquid Kids - which are both fine games, but not quite the same.
The NES Bubble Bobble 2 is really great. I really like how you can charge up a bubble and float in the air. I don't think it breaks the bouncing-on-bubbles part of the game, but I haven't played it enough to tell for sure.

[scrilla4rella]

I would love to get a copy of Bubble Bobble 2 on Famicom or NES but I just can't justify that price for a non-shmup game. I'd rather put it towards Power Strike 2 on SMS or something like that. The emulated ver. on Taito Memories Vol. 2 will have to suffice for now

[Drum]

The emulated ver. on Taito Memories Vol. 2 will have to suffice for now

Different game. Different enemies/levels/features. It's its own deal.

[scrilla4rella]

Good to know. I'll have to check some youtube vids of them shits

[Drum]

Stuff off the top of my head. Games people never seem to talk about... look'em up on youtube.

All action platformers

- Time Zone
- Sayuki World 1 & 2
- Mitsume ga tooru
- Jajamaru Ginga Daisakusen
- Parasol Henbee

Got about 300 famicom games CIB (Recca, Guevara, Battle Formula, Moon Crystal, etc etc) and about 100+ loose carts. Just need one more to complete my want list.

.

I just discovered Mitsume ga Tooru and came here to post about it. Fun game with a bunch of cool ideas. Is this the first game with magnetic pickups? I like how they just sorta bounce towards you like friendly puppies.
Hi No Toori is pretty interesting too.

[KAI]

Kyatto Ninden Teyandee
Kunio-kun no Nkketsu Soccer League

Great games, nice music and graphics, two of my favorites back then.

[Strider77]

No one had mentioned Contra yet?? I know the famicom version has a few more graphic effects in the background. The trees in the 1st stage sway and there is an intro at the beginning.

[shmuppyLove]

Captain Skyhawk
Cobra Triangle
RC Pro AM

yeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhh

[BIL]

No one had mentioned Contra yet?? I know the famicom version has a few more graphic effects in the background. The trees in the 1st stage sway and there is an intro at the beginning.

The neatest addition to the FC Contra for me is the game keeping track of your loops. Every time you clear it the escape chopper will have one more flag on its side, up to six. The animated BGs in the jungle, snow and alien stages are really nice and the NES version now feels kinda bare to me without them. Intermissions and map screen are no big loss, though - thank god you can skip them in FC or they'd be really annoying.

[trap15]

Gimmick! is pretty godlike. Highly recommended for anyone who likes really really good platformers.

[tinotormed]

Shatterhand is a game that is neatly good, especially it's Japanese counterpart 'Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain'.

Choujin Sentai Jetman is also worth a pickup, especially if you're a fan of Power Rangers and/or Super Sentai.

[Marble]

Got my NES running again today. Question, how many of the sick side-view action games are available in PAL format? I have both Shadow Warriors, one of the Mega Mans, Batman, Kabuki Quantum Fighter and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Konami's games are out of the question because I can't stand the speed of the PAL versions. The only others I can really think of that look awesome are Journey to Silius, Blue Shadow and maaaybe Power Blade. There's many US and Japan only games that look really awesome and I will get the consoles required for them eventually (not digging Famicom emulation), but what else is there in the mean time?

[Ed Oscuro]

Blue Shadow is the PAL version of Kage, aka Shadow of the Ninja, which is an excellent game...at least in its original format. The boxart (Taito-supplied) is not terrible, but...do yourself a favor and get a real NES or FC. The idea of fooling around with crippled PAL releases makes me sad. "Both Shadow Warriors," lol. That's a three-game series originally, although maybe NGIII / RNIII isn't your cup of tea it's an option, at least, on the other systems

Conspiracy theory time: Time-traveling alien LCD monitor salesmen introduced PAL consoles to test human acceptance of knackered aspect ratios and slowdown in preparation for the Four Red Lights invasion of 2005.