Classic Game Replay: NES

[NowhereMan]

I mentioned in another thread, I would replaying some classic Mario games. Instead, I will be playing classic videogames. A complete overview of my gaming sanctuary. While Mario is my first true love as a gaming character, gaming series, I will be playing videogames beyond that spectrum. But most importantly, I will be playing classic Mario games. The other games selected are do to legacy, its popularity, or just games in my general interest.

We are going to start with NES. Here is a list of games I plan on playing. 

Duck Hunt - 8/10
Tetris - 6/10
Tetris (Tengram) - 5/10
Battleship - 4/10
Tetris 2 - 4/10
Yoshi's Cookie - 3/10
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Battle City
Battletoads
Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
Bionic Commando 
Bomberman
Bomberman II
Bubble Bobble
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout 
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
Contra
Contra Force
Dragon Warrior 
Donkey Kong
Double Dragon
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones
Dr. Mario
Duck Tales
Duck Tales 2
Earthbound Beginnings
Egypt
Elite
Excite Bike
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Fire Emblem: Gaiden
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Gauntlet 
Gauntlet II
Gimmick!
The Goonies
The Goonies II
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Gyromite
Iron Tank
Jaws
Jordan vs. Bird: One on One
Joust
Joy Mech Fight
Jurassic Park
King's Quest V
Kirby's Adventure
The Legend of Zelda 
Little Samson 
Lode Runner
Mad Max
Mah-Jong
Maniac Mansion
Mario Bros. 
Mario is Missing!
Mario Open Golf
Mario's Time Machine
Mario & Yoshi
M.C. Kids
Mega Man
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 4
Mega Man 5
Mega Man 6
Metal Gear
Metal Slader Glory
Metroid
Mickey's Mousecapade 
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Moai-kun
Monopoly
Ms. Pac-Man
Mystery Quest
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Othello
Pac-Man
Paperboy
Paperboy 2
Pirates!
Popeye
Prince of Persia 
R.C. Pro AM
R.C. Pro AM II
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2
Rally Bike
Skate or Die
Skate or Die 2
Solomon's Key
Spot
Star Tropics
Star Wars
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Super Dodge Ball
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Pitfall
Sweet Home
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters
Tennis
The Terminator 
The Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Total Recall 
Wario's Woods
Wrecking Crew
Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
Yo! Noid

A lot of these games I have never played before, so I am jumping in without knowing the game itself. Certainly there are games I will not want to finish, let alone play.

Are there games you want added or that you would recommend to me? This is the starting NES list, not complete, not in this order. Needed to get this topic started.

[littlelum]

Woah, that is a lot of games! Here are some potential additions:

Earthbound Beginnings
Joy Mech Fight
Gimmick!
Metal Slader Glory
Little Samson
Star Tropics
Super Dodge Ball
Elite (PAL version)
Sweet Home

I've only played some of these, but I've heard good things about them.

[NowhereMan]

Woah, that is a lot of games! Here are some potential additions:

Earthbound Beginnings
Joy Mech Fight
Gimmick!
Metal Slader Glory
Little Samson
Star Tropics
Super Dodge Ball
Elite (PAL version)
Sweet Home

I've only played some of these, but I've heard good things about them.

I created my original list earlier today, and Earthbound Beginnings was definitely on there! I had to go through the entire NES list again because some games were randomly missing! There are probably more missing games from my original list. Those other games, mostly, I have never heard of, I am excited to learn about them!

[Louis Paul]

One of the advantages of NES is the large game library, consisting of hundreds of commercial, unlicensed, bootleg and homebrew games. You forgot to add these games:

Battle City
Bionic Commando
Bomberman
Bomberman II
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
Gyromite
Lode Runner
M.C. Kids
Moai-kun
Wrecking Crew
Yo! Noid

Have you played NES Remix today?

Signature reserved for future use

[VinnyVideo]

I'd definitely add the Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest series if you're into JRPGs. The first game is a bit janky, but I'd say DW3/DQ3 is still one of the finest RPGs there's ever been.

I'm also contractually obligated to suggest the original Fire Emblem games - Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem Gaiden. The first FE isn't quite as polished as later games in the series, but it is a classic that set the stage for many more games to come. And FE Gaiden is fun if you want something a little different - a Fire Emblem game with an SMB3-style world map.

Course clear! You got a card.

[NowhereMan]

I'd definitely add the Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest series if you're into JRPGs. The first game is a bit janky, but I'd say DW3/DQ3 is still one of the finest RPGs there's ever been.

I'm also contractually obligated to suggest the original Fire Emblem games - Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem Gaiden. The first FE isn't quite as polished as later games in the series, but it is a classic that set the stage for many more games to come. And FE Gaiden is fun if you want something a little different - a Fire Emblem game with an SMB3-style world map.

All feedback is great. I will check out the Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest series. Last year, I played the new polished version of FF1, I also have FF2 (polished). I have yet to finish the first game, probably not too much more effort unless I want to get 100% achievements and what-not, I am not sure how much effort I am going to put into the NES versions, considering I already went through the first game. 

I was reading about the Fire Emblem NES games, almost added, but I heard the games were hard to get into if you start from the beginning. I have never played any game from the Fire Emblem series (knowing Marth from Smash Bros.), but I would like to. I will add the games to the list for good measure.

EDIT: I did not see Louis Paul's post, I will surely add/check those games out too! A good list is grand, playing all those games, especially if I want to go to other older systems is a long haul!!!!!!

[VinnyVideo]

If you've never played a Fire Emblem game before, the first game may or may not be the best starting point, since it lacks a lot of quality of life improvements offered in later games. Fire Emblem (a.k.a. Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade) for the GBA is a great introduction to the series, since it has a detailed tutorial and starts off pretty easy.

Course clear! You got a card.

[NowhereMan]

If I don't play now, I probably won't play any Fire Emblem game anytime soon, or at least "plan" on playing anytime soon

So I'll at least check them out, and also keep in mind the GBA game

... it might launch the series for me, who knows

[DogToon64]

Most of the ones I would personally suggest have already been listed, so the only two I could suggest are Duck Hunt and Mario & Yoshi.

If you can't handle the heat.
You can't handle the Neutron Style.

[NowhereMan]

Most of the ones I would personally suggest have already been listed, so the only two I could suggest are Duck Hunt and Mario & Yoshi.

I'll check out Mario & Yoshi, too, knowing nothing about this game.

Duck Hunt is an obvious choice, but I'm gonna skip *playing* this game due to not having the gun, my relative has the game we grew up with at his house tho

[NowhereMan]

I checked out the "top selling" NES games all-time and think that the list is pretty complete, all-around.

I watched the movie The Wizard (1989), a movie where the points do matter, especially in Super Mario Bros. 3. 

The movie also features these games; Ninja Gaiden series, R.C. Pro-AM, Contra series. Probably good adds.

[NowhereMan]

Let us not forget, that Duck Hunt, was a great bundle game, mixed with Super Mario Bros. 



The gun was really neat, the aiming was as good as ever, for an 80s technology game. Japanese Nintendo, this is the kind of stuff that come from that culture. 



The dog was annoying. 


Nice sprite sheet overall. I could imagine myself, as an art student, getting the colors of the ducks from this preset. 


The sounds/short songs are nice.


The Clay Shooting is very much fun too. 

Mario is the clear winner of the bundle/combo pack though!

My Rating: 8/10

[NowhereMan]

Alright, alright, alright, aright, alright!!!!!! I have played a few games from the list, also added Tengan's Tetris because I accidentally played that before Nintendo's version. Tengen is/was a subdivision (or something) of Atari. Atari got sued by Nintendo multiple times for their game, having to take their version off the shelves, allowing for Nintendo to put their version up. On the Wikipedia page of the NES version, it is often stated that Nintendo's version is inferior of the Tengen version, this is something I disagree with for multiple reasons. Playing Tengen, it DOES have 2-player modes, which Nintendo's does not, but even when I play 1-player, it is still in a split-screen box, so if you want to master Tetris on your own (maybe the Game Boy version is best), the Nintendo version's layout is much better, looks more modern, feels more modern, more polished and better music. The Tengen version does have a CPU cooperative mode, but it isnt something to master, I would rather just play 1-player, just me. The Nintendo version is perfect for that.




It's no secret that Tetris was created in Russia. Conceptualized by Alexey Pajitnov in the mid-1980s, inspired by pentomino tiling puzzles. Tetris is definitely not an NES exclusive (have played the Game Boy version many times), spanning across 70 platforms and 220 versions. Tetris is still a BRAND of its own today, a lot of the newer games (for PC), like over $20 and more! (Not sure if that is worth my buying price of a new Tetris game, also the reason I haven't played any of them). The Nintendo DS version (speaking of Nintendo) is something I have never played but it seems to be the one I would probably cherish the most as a Tetris game. Tetris 99, a free downloadable game for the Nintendo Switch released in 2019 as an online multiplayer game against 99 players! Sounds fun. 

Anyways, we are speaking of the NES version. The music is a great, popular Russian classics; "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker and the overture from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen.

There is no 2-player game, which should have been added, Tetris 2 has 2-player, but it is not normal/classic Tetris. 
.
Don't really need to talk about anything else. It is just basic Tetris. But Nintendo's Tetris is my favorite on the console, beating out Tengen and Tetris 2. It is not my favorite Tetris game, but I would be willing to pay for a physical copy of this game. Nintendo, or not, Tetris as its own game (not console game) is considered one of the greatest videogames of all-time, also an enormous cultural legacy. 

My rating for the NES Nintendo version: 6/10