NES Recommendations (very specific)

[Despatche]

there are way too many people who really really liked the fc 1942 as children, and there are WAY too many people who legitimately like fc makaimura

[Obiwanshinobi]

Some Men of Destiny™ had already tried to do something about too many folks inhabitating our planet.

[trap15]

people who legitimately like fc makaimura

Those exist!?!? Holy fuck.

[BrianC]

Gun.Smoke (Disk System in Japan) ** Graphical Differences between FDS/NES

I haven't heard of the graphical differences, but I know for sure that the FDS version has less music than the NES version. In the the FDS version, the songs repeat after a few stages, but the NES version has unique music for every stage.

Stinger/Moero Twinbee is interesting since it's the only Twinbee game with side scrolling stages and the only one released in the US on NES. It also has a 3 player mode exclusive to the Japanese version. It was originally on FDS, but has a very rare JP cartridge version.

[BIL]

I didn't know you can "duck" flying knives in DDII by kicking. I suppose BIRRY does kinda get his head down. 99% of the time you'd just move out of the way or jump, yes, but Mission 4's corridor battle with dastardly WILLIAMS gives no such leeways!* Not as satisfying as palmheel ricoheting 'em right back into the sender's face ala Return, but cool and stylin' nonetheless. Just don't go trying to duck flying bolas now, y'hear?

Reminds me of Silent Hill 3's similarly dubious "duck" feature, also critical to evading pointy death at a lone instance.



Super protip for Mission 6's mansion platforming - wait until the platform sprites fade to black before jumping. That way you won't go sailing through a still-materialising landing spot into spikey death!

The Real Beltscrolling Platformer Simulator.

*oh god, you could just whack your head on the ceiling, couldn't you. And that'd set you up to launch an uppercut or knee! OH NEVER MIND THEN :/

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Reminds me of Silent Hill 3's similarly dubious "duck" feature, also critical to evading pointy death at a lone instance.

Spoiler

Technically, that puzzle doesn't rely on knowing about 'ducking', but remembering that movement while in your 'ready to attack/defend' stance also prevents you from falling into pits (the manual does mention this), which that puzzle implies will happen (visibly there are spikes above, but the dialogue implies you will fall through the floor).

[BIL]

Still a bit of a cheap shot to suddenly make it lethal on Hard Action though.

Then again

Spoiler

Hard Riddle is the domain of ornithology and Shakespeare pop quiz ambushes, so some brutality on the Action equivalent is to be expected.

SH3 is blowing my mind, replaying it nao I always subconsciously underrate this one in the time between my roughly biennial SH1-4 revisits.

[Drum]

Been playing The Mysterious Murasame Castle on 3DS. This is a fun, challenging game. Weird to see Nintendo make such an intense, shmuppy experience and for it to be so good - makes you wonder how different things might have been if they'd done more in that area.

[BIL]

I've put off trying that one for a long time due to a lack of an FDS, will have to check it out. I wonder how the GBA Famicom Mini version fared...

On getting back into FC/NES I've been playing a lot of Spartan X, Excitebike, Balloon Fight and occasionally Popeye. I really dig the earlier first-party stuff that lets you just whack on "GAME B" and get right into it. I got distracted from this stuff pretty quickly as a kid, in part due to the consistent lack of beefy men on the boxarts.

[cicada88]

Balloon Fight is god-tier

I used to play Kung-Fu as a kid; my best friend owned it. I should give SpartanX a go, but I'm also interested in the arcade versions.

[evil_ash_xero]

Been putting the time into Gimmick.

So far, I've been able to make it to the last boss of stage 6, who ruins my day. If I can just get past that Orko looking clown, this game is as good as beaten. It took some time to get a handle on that star. But I had to, to get those secret items.

ALSO:

What do you guys do when you play these games? As in, what are your rules?
I will play a game with save states to practice, but then take it on and beat it legit. A friend of mine told me that was cheating, but I cannot even imagine beating a game like Holy Diver, without practicing.

Same for the last boss of Batman. I had to really get his pattern down, and then took the game on and beat it. If I hadn't of done that, I don't think I would have had the patience for it.

[trap15]

Been putting the time into Gimmick.

So far, I've been able to make it to the last boss of stage 6, who ruins my day. If I can just get past that Orko looking clown, this game is as good as beaten. It took some time to get a handle on that star. But I had to, to get those secret items.

Fucking fantastic game, that one. Best of luck.

What do you guys do when you play these games? As in, what are your rules?

I generally prefer playing on real console for various reasons, but my 'rules' are the same as STG. If I'm in it for the enjoyment of playing, no savestates, maybe credit feeding. If I want to just beat it, I'll grind savestates 'til the cows come home.

[BIL]

What do you guys do when you play these games? As in, what are your rules?

If I'm not playing on a console, I act as though I am. No savestates, basically.

I like to at least beat a game without continuing before I consider myself decent at it - if I move on before then, I make a note to finish it later. If it's something I really love, I'll usually try to one-life it.

I find a lot of quality console action games attain more coinop levels of difficulty if played for the no-miss. Imposing this condition obviously isn't necessary with stuff like Holy Diver that's balls-hard just to finish without continuing. ^_~

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Still a bit of a cheap shot to suddenly make it lethal on Hard Action though.

Huh? It's not lethal on lower difficulties? O_o I never knew that. The bleeding, forced health sap areas on the extra difficulties (in the underground) are the cheapest bit I think. You can't avoid damage, and you have to basically run the hell through them.

IMO, the red run of doom is the nastiest part in the game. That takes a lot of practice to know what to do...

Spoiler

save an ampoule and use it right before, makes it so much easier with ultra stamina

But then SH2 had that annoying boat ride which is harder to do quickly on Hard due to the rowing controls (and you need to do it quickly if you're going for a high ranking run!).

Speaking of Survival Horror, I played Sweet Home again. That's a fun game. Really a shame it didn't get a port, it was a better horror game than Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street were (both are decent NES action games).

[Jonathan Ingram]

Speaking of Survival Horror, I played Sweet Home again.

But have you seen the film adaptation?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Yes, I enjoyed it, was a lot better than I'd expected it to be.

[cicada88]

Speaking of Survival Horror, I played Sweet Home again. That's a fun game. Really a shame it didn't get a port, it was a better horror game than Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street were (both are decent NES action games).

Agreed. I am not a huge RPG fan but this one was great for me. Really good graphics and sound and very creative.

I've been playing Highway Star (Rad Racer) the past couple of nights. It's actually super fun.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

As a kid, I had an uncle with an NES; Rad Racer and Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! were two of my fave games (I didn't have a copy of either one, so I got to play them when I went over). He had an arcade stick for the NES along with the 3D glasses for Rad Racer (it sucked to play with them, I used them once).

The AI in Rad Racer is really fun to deal with. You basically have to nudge the backs of cars until you have one going at a reasonable speed you can stay behind later on, since cars can't aggressively change into a lane that already has a car. Los Angeles is where it gets nasty. As a huge Outrun fan since my dad got me playing the C64 port (Outrunners & Outrun 2006 are probably my fave racing games), Rad Racer's checkpoint racing was amazingly fun.

Rad Racer 2 was a lot less fun. The charge-up mechanic was unnecessary and way too annoying to use, especially when mid-race (or during some of the later races at the start) you could instantly slam into a high speed car. It was a lot more annoying to deal with the AI too, as you can't nudge them any faster it seems. In fact, and this is obvious during the brutally difficult final two stages, the enemy car appearances seem to be static. You can predict exactly what cars will appear, and at what speeds. Getting past the super slow vehicles that purposefully block you is ridiculously annoying, especially since the physics were changed in favour of the computer (car collisions seem much more likely to get you in a crash, rear-ending someone to nudge them faster doesn't work effectively if at all). I beat Rad Racer 1 without cheats, but I've yet to beat Rad Racer 2.

[evil_ash_xero]

What do you guys do when you play these games? As in, what are your rules?

If I'm not playing on a console, I act as though I am. No savestates, basically.

I like to at least beat a game without continuing before I consider myself decent at it - if I move on before then, I make a note to finish it later. If it's something I really love, I'll usually try to one-life it.

I find a lot of quality console action games attain more coinop levels of difficulty if played for the no-miss. Imposing this condition obviously isn't necessary with stuff like Holy Diver that's balls-hard just to finish without continuing. ^_~

Yeah, but you're like REALLY GOOD, man.

I can't take the heat! I tend to practice on the old NES games, before I beat them legit. (not all)
I just disagreed with my friend, who said it was "cheating". It may not be as hardcore as it could be, but I don't think it's cheating.

[BIL]

IMO, the red run of doom is the nastiest part in the game. That takes a lot of practice to know what to do...

Spoiler

save an ampoule and use it right before, makes it so much easier with ultra stamina

I'd never thought to do that - I really need to spend more time actually playing SH3, it's by far the most mechanically interesting of the original trilogy, especially on the Extreme settings. I actually like how SH4 plays too, but its quasi-action is such a massive departure from the old RE model it's difficult to directly compare it.

Yeah, the Normal Action equivalent of that deathtrap is merely one of the area's several jump scares. So it's a bit of a double whammy - on a Hard Action replay you'll figure it's lost its sting, then BOOM! Dead. ^__^

Yeah, but you're like REALLY GOOD, man.

I can't take the heat! I tend to practice on the old NES games, before I beat them legit. (not all)
I just disagreed with my friend, who said it was "cheating". It may not be as hardcore as it could be, but I don't think it's cheating.

Oh no, I'd never refer to it as cheating. It's just part of the appeal for me I guess, same as never using graphical filters.

Weird question corner: for Batman fans, do you prefer the FC or NES's track order? They swap around the first two stage's BGMs.

Stage 1 FC / Stage 2 NES (commonly titled "Axis Chemical Plant")
Stage 2 FC / Stage 1 NES (commonly titled "Streets of Desolation")

The FC version threw me off for a long time, but I prefer it now - kicks the game off with a comic book superhero bang. Not as memorably atmospheric and brooding an introduction as the NES version's, but like Raf World/Journey to Silius, it feels more natural to have the much darker tune saved for after the initial frenzy of activity.

Currently blasting ROM Cassette In SUNSOFT loud enough to feel Raf World's kick drum in my chest. ^__^ Any Sunsoft music aficionados (or VGM fans period) who haven't: read blackoak's Naoki Kodaka interview translation, it's inspirational.

[soprano1]

BIL, did you listen to the Gremlins 2 OST yet? Delicious SUNSOFT there!

[BIL]

Oh yes, I'm a big proponent of Gremlins 2's musical and overall excellence. ^__^ Some great shooting action, very much the FC's Pocky & Rocky. Of course it's much more of a platformer with all the jumping. Razor sharp controls, especially in the air.

I always stress to anyone trying it out that the action improves hugely from the second stage onward. That crummy tomato can create a bad impression, but ho ho holy crap does it pick up from stage 2. Super arcadey.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I'd never thought to do that - I really need to spend more time actually playing SH3, it's by far the most mechanically interesting of the original trilogy, especially on the Extreme settings.

I remember reading an Extreme guide that suggested saving the Ampoules for the red heat run, the times you need to run through the streets of Silent Hill (pendulums and dogs are nasty stuff on Extreme), and once for after the carousel fight. Just don't ever use an Ampoule against the final boss, as RE3 has an interesting example of Rank in a survival horror game. Specifically, while you have the stamina boost from an Ampoule active (which actually gives you more stamina available than you normally can regain), the final boss will go psychotic and launch fire waves at a ridiculous speed, making it way harder to dodge than normal. Same goes for the hospital boss.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/561292-sile ... faqs/25316 :

Spoiler

Under no circumstances use an ampoule while fighting Leonard.
Leonard is ridiculously faster if he senses you used an ampoule.

[About the red heat run:]On low/no stamina you will only make it
out of here one out of every twenty times you try. On an ampoule your odds
improve so well that you'd have to smack three walls to get caught.

Under no circumstances use an AMPOULE to heal. If you get burned, then
use FAK or HD only. The God will respond to your super-stamina with
super fast shots and you will die.

I loved Gremlins 2! It reminded me of Startropics 2 and how the gameplay was a lot more smooth and polished compared to how stiff Startropics 1 was due to per-tile movement.

Another NES game I remember fondly renting was Widget, a fun platformer based on a cartoon about a shapeshifting alien (before the GBA era where a shitstorm of bad, licensed games based on tv shows were churned out).

[KindGrind]

I don't know if this is the right place, but would you bother owning a copy of Felix the Cat? I can't seem to find much info about it - only that it plays somewhat well, but is quite easy and short. Have you guys played the game, and if so, do you recommend it? My LGS has a copy and I wonder if I should random-snag it...

[cicada88]

I've been playing 1943 & Dragon Spirit the last few days. They both are pretty fun.

I particularly like the music in Dragon Spirit.

[evil_ash_xero]

Took down Gimmick, and got the real last boss.

For a last boss, he was kind of easy. I had a harder time with that big mage before him.

[BrianC]

I like the US track order for Batman, but I'm really curious about which came first. The US prototype uses the US track order, so I assume that the order in the US version is the original. The prototype is interesting because it uses placeholder artwork based on art from the Killing Joke, along with some very strange artwork with an odd looking Joker. It also has a different ending with no Joker fight at the end.

[BIL]

Speaking of the proto... like Return of Double Dragon, I'm really glad Batman left the much wordier cutscenes out of the finished game (though you'd hope they'd still be skippable, regardless). The minimal ones it went with look great, and it's legitimately pretty grim stuff - how many other action games of the era have the protagonist flat-out execute his vanquished, helpless foe?

[BrianC]

The cutscenes in the final are also much closer to the film it is based on. I'm guessing the proto was made before the movie was in production.

[KindGrind]

Playing Shatterhand for the first time yesterday. Gave it a few shots, played a few hours. What a game...

Is there an optimal level order? The gravity level (Metalstormish) kicks my ass very, very hard.

Any tips in particular about the game in general? Should I always aim for the "optimal" robot? Is it part of a winning strategy?

Any help greatly appreciated.