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[Retro On] Playing through the top 100 NES games! [NSF56K]
Spawnbroker
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The Top 100 NES Games Playthrough Project
So this is a personal project of mine that I decided to start over the holidays. I want to play through the top 100 NES games, starting with #100 and working my way to #1, and beat them. I googled it, and found a list and figured why the hell not? First off, the rules:
Rules and Regulations:
- I must play through every game on the list if it works on my machine.
- If the game is unbeatable, I must play it for a minimum of two hours before posting about it.
- I will play through sports games, even though I hate them with a passion.
- I am allowed to use save states, but not to abuse random number generators or gain unfair advantage.
- I must get to the end credits of every game I play, even if it is prohibitively difficult.
- I must keep track how many times I receive a game over or die and post the end result.
- I am allowed to use walkthroughs / FAQs if I get stuck.
- I will HAVE FUN!
I will be posting my experiences with each game and the good / bad things that I personally encountered. I will not be playing through certain games because they don't work on the device I'll be using to play them with. I would prefer not to mar the integrity of the list by replacing games, so you will have to bear with me. Boo hoo. Also, please do not argue about which top 100 list I should have used. I'm using the list that I chose. Each game that I play will be the American version of the game, since I am American. Any game not released in America will not be considered for my playthroughs.
This project is meant to bring out discussions of old memories and introduce people to video games they may have never played on the NES before. I personally have not played a lot of these games, so this is a learning experience for me too. Each entry will include a brief introduction to what the game is about, and the good and bad experiences I had with it. Others are encouraged to join me on my quest to beat the top 100 NES games as well, if you like!
NOTE: Discussion of ROMs and emulation are strictly off-limits on the forums, please take such things to PM. I don't want any of that in this thread please, I just want discussion about the games themselves.
The List:
#100: Abadox - The Deadly Inner War (COMPLETE!)
#99: [strike]Micro Machines[/strike] (Freezes up on my machine)
#98: Batman (COMPLETE!)
#97: Spy Hunter (COMPLETE!)
#96: Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure (COMPLETE!)
#95: Battle Chess (COMPLETE!)
#94: The Magic of Scheherazade (COMPLETE!)
#93: Kiwi Craze (COMPLETE!)
#92: Tecmo Bowl (Post upcoming)
#91: Hogan's Alley (Currently Playing)
#90: The Three Stooges
#89: Wrath of the Black Manta
#88: Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode
#87: Casino Kid
#86: Tombs and Treasure
#85: Rampage
#84: Mappy Land
#83: Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
#82: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
#81: Double Dribble
#80: Adventures of Lolo
#79: North and South
#78: Caveman Games
#77: Wizards and Warriors
#76: Rygar
#75: Jaws
#74: Ice Hockey
#73: Adventures of Lolo 2
#72: Robocop
#71: Snake's Revenge
#70: The Goonies II
#69: Ultima: Quest of the Avatar
#68: Yo! Noid
#67: Adventure Island II
#66: Bomberman
#65: The Guardian Legend
#64: Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
#63: Journey to Silius
#62: Snake Rattle 'n Roll
#61: R.C. Pro-Am
#60: Double Dragon II: The Revenge
#59: The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout
#58: Deja Vu
#57: Mega Man VI
#56: Adventures of Lolo 3
#55: Ice Climber
#54: Tecmo Super Bowl
#53: Dragon Warrior IV
#52: Super C
#51: Faxanadu
#50: Adventure Island
#49: Blades of Steel
#48: Mega Man V
#47: Mega Man IV
#46: Kirby's Adventure
#45: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
#44: Gradius
#43: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
#42: Little Nemo: The Dream Master
#41: Pirates!
#40: Dragon Warrior
#39: Blaster Master
#38: A Boy And His Blob: Trouble on Blobonia
#37: Willow
#36: Paperboy
#35: Kid Icarus
#34: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
#33: Excitebike
#32: Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors II
#31: Dr. Mario
#30: Bionic Commando
#29: Dragon Warrior III
#28: DuckTales
#27: Base Wars
#26: Shadowgate
#25: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
#24: Duck Hunt
#23: Castlevania
#22: River City Ransom
#21: Super Mario Bros. 2
#20: Mega Man
#19: Metal Gear
#18: Crystalis
#17: Maniac Mansion
#16: Ninja Gaiden
#15: StarTropics
#14: Tetris
#13: Mike Tyson's Punch Out
#12: Metroid
#11: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
#10: Super Mario Bros.
#9: Battletoads
#8: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
#7: Contra
#6: Bubble Bobble
#5: Mega Man II
#4: Mega Man III
#3: The Legend of Zelda
#2: Final Fantasy
#1: Super Mario Bros. III
#99: [strike]Micro Machines[/strike] (Freezes up on my machine)
#98: Batman (COMPLETE!)
#97: Spy Hunter (COMPLETE!)
#96: Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure (COMPLETE!)
#95: Battle Chess (COMPLETE!)
#94: The Magic of Scheherazade (COMPLETE!)
#93: Kiwi Craze (COMPLETE!)
#92: Tecmo Bowl (Post upcoming)
#91: Hogan's Alley (Currently Playing)
#90: The Three Stooges
#89: Wrath of the Black Manta
#88: Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode
#87: Casino Kid
#86: Tombs and Treasure
#85: Rampage
#84: Mappy Land
#83: Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
#82: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
#81: Double Dribble
#80: Adventures of Lolo
#79: North and South
#78: Caveman Games
#77: Wizards and Warriors
#76: Rygar
#75: Jaws
#74: Ice Hockey
#73: Adventures of Lolo 2
#72: Robocop
#71: Snake's Revenge
#70: The Goonies II
#69: Ultima: Quest of the Avatar
#68: Yo! Noid
#67: Adventure Island II
#66: Bomberman
#65: The Guardian Legend
#64: Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
#63: Journey to Silius
#62: Snake Rattle 'n Roll
#61: R.C. Pro-Am
#60: Double Dragon II: The Revenge
#59: The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout
#58: Deja Vu
#57: Mega Man VI
#56: Adventures of Lolo 3
#55: Ice Climber
#54: Tecmo Super Bowl
#53: Dragon Warrior IV
#52: Super C
#51: Faxanadu
#50: Adventure Island
#49: Blades of Steel
#48: Mega Man V
#47: Mega Man IV
#46: Kirby's Adventure
#45: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
#44: Gradius
#43: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
#42: Little Nemo: The Dream Master
#41: Pirates!
#40: Dragon Warrior
#39: Blaster Master
#38: A Boy And His Blob: Trouble on Blobonia
#37: Willow
#36: Paperboy
#35: Kid Icarus
#34: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
#33: Excitebike
#32: Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors II
#31: Dr. Mario
#30: Bionic Commando
#29: Dragon Warrior III
#28: DuckTales
#27: Base Wars
#26: Shadowgate
#25: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
#24: Duck Hunt
#23: Castlevania
#22: River City Ransom
#21: Super Mario Bros. 2
#20: Mega Man
#19: Metal Gear
#18: Crystalis
#17: Maniac Mansion
#16: Ninja Gaiden
#15: StarTropics
#14: Tetris
#13: Mike Tyson's Punch Out
#12: Metroid
#11: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
#10: Super Mario Bros.
#9: Battletoads
#8: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
#7: Contra
#6: Bubble Bobble
#5: Mega Man II
#4: Mega Man III
#3: The Legend of Zelda
#2: Final Fantasy
#1: Super Mario Bros. III
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Abadox: The Deadly Inner War
Genre: Space Shooter
Developer: Natsume
Publisher: Milton Bradley
So this game didn't have much of a plot, but really, how many NES games did? The basic plot is supposedly this demonic thing swallowed up your planet and made it part of its body, and now it's up to you to destroy it. Or something! I dunno, I wasn't really paying too much attention because SHIT SHIT KILL IT WITH FIRE. The end of the game is kinda neat though, you fly away in your ship and the planet explodes, woooo! Also, the final level is very Metroid escape-from-Zebes-esque. Except insanely more difficult.
This game tried my patience, especially since it was the first game on my list. It was insanely difficult, to the point where getting past the first level was a trial. Some problems with the game were apparent from the very beginning: you can only fire two shots from your weapon until they either hit something or move off screen. In a shooter with a lot of enemies coming at you at once, you either have to be very good at what you're firing at or you die.
Speaking of dying, one shot kills you in this game. Unless you happen to get the speed powerup to allow you to move faster, avoiding shots will be rather difficult, resulting in lots of deaths.
One interesting tidbit about this game I noticed: When you get a game over (which happens frequently), it asks if you want to continue. Pressing continue then puts you back either at the beginning of the level or at the checkpoint where you defeated the last mini-boss. Unless I am mistaken, it doesn't quite work like that. Or maybe the developers realized that nobody would ever finish their game if they didn't do that. It just seemed a little strange to me.
So you play a little guy riding around in a space suit firing at what could only be random appendages popping out of walls. There is no explanation for why these appendages are firing at you, but does there need to be? Of course not!
My biggest complaints with this game are the extreme difficulty and the lack of rapid fire. The upgrades are nice, but can be few and far between. The bosses aren't terribly difficult, but the levels themselves are a pain. Forcing the player down narrow corridors while firing at them from a billion different angles with a one hit kill mechanic in place does not equal fun!
A funny thing about this game is it's produced by Milton Bradley, yet the content is ridiculously not kid-friendly. Random appendages popping out of walls, blood and entrails everywhere. This is the stuff nightmare fuel is made of. Thanks Milton Bradley!
I know I'm supposed to post my death / game over count, but that rule was thought up after I finished the game. Let's just say it's well into the hundreds. If I hadn't used save states, it would have been much, much more.
There was one specific part of the game that really makes me cringe when I think about it. On one of the levels, these green flames show up and begin circling your ship. They eventually collapse inward and form a flaming phoenix that moves up off the screen. If any flame hits your ship, you're dead. If you leave the flames alone and just move out of their way, you're okay! But if you destroy a flame, the phoenix can't form, so the rest of them chase your ship down until you die!!! Now that's just not cool, Natsume! I died about 50 times to that part of the level alone before I realized that if you don't shoot the flames, the rest of them won't track you down and kill you for killing their flamey brethren.
And what the hell is up with that box art? I know we were just coming out of the eighties, but really?
The Good:
- Powerups are plentiful
- Continues don't send you back to level 1
The Bad:
- Only two shots at a time
- One hit death
- Slowdown with too much action on screen
- If you don't get certain powerups, you can't beat the game.
- Green flames of doooooom!
Rating: 2/5
Although the art style and sprites for the environment look really good for an NES game.
Edit: I dont think you putting in rapid fire would be cheating, some of these games it was necessary for them to be fun, unless nintendo hard is your definition of fun.
No Adventures of Bayou Billy?! HERESY!
Also, I know you probably aren't taking requests, but I wanted to let you know about two NES games that are not on your list but worth checking out: Gun-Nac (space shooter) and Shatterhand (punchemup sidescroller with great music). They are not well known by any means but they're the best NES games I've come across since the classic era.
But I do love me some Startropics, and I didnt think it was that well loved. Good to see it that high I guess.
and yeah UncleSporky, no requests because this list will already take me long enough as it is. But I'll keep those in mind if I ever get a hankering for playing some NES games besides these
I finished Batman up today, so there will be a post about that soon. Finishing up Spy Hunter and Battle Chess as we speak, then I'll be able to devote my full time to Bill and Ted.
Edit: If you guys like, I could start up a "recommended" list, of games that posters feel should be on the list but didn't make it for some reason.
How many of them had you played before?
Heh, I think this sort of thing will happen a lot in this thread.
In my mind there are two kinds of good NES games: the ones that are considered good because they are classic and iconic, and the ones that are actually very fun to play but never got that much exposure in their heyday. Of course as you get closer to that #1 game (which should always be Mario 3), they're both iconic and fun.
This is why you'll see things like Bomberman 1, Ice Climber and Kid Icarus on people's top 100s, but not games like Gun-Nac or Mendel Palace(! Why isn't that one on the list either?!).
Really, how many people had Kabuki Quantum Fighter back in the day? Did the kids around the playground go, oh man, I can't wait to get home and play that game with the guy who looks like a girl and beats people up with his hair? But it really is a fun game, as the internet has shown us in more recent years.
I've played about half of the list. The bottom 50 are mostly new to me, but I've played most of the top 50. I have beaten very few of these games, I just played the crap out of them when I was younger.
I was one of those kids!
Genre: Racer
Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Camerica
I didn't get to play much of this game before my game froze and I realized I couldn't play it. From what I saw it was a pretty fun game, though.
You play little tiny machines as they race across countertops, through bathtubs, etc. Every time you win a race, you get a little collectible machine. I assume the game is finished when you're done collecting all of the machines.
The only problem I ran into besides the game freezing was unintuitive controls. Certain machines run differently than others. The jeeps require a different control scheme to master than the boats. There is no indication in the game that this is the case, so the first 10 or so seconds of each race is spent trying to figure out how exactly to work the vehicle you're in now. Other than that, no complaints. Oh, and running off the tracks is not as penalizing as in other games unless you run off the countertop.
The Good:
- A driver in the game is named Spider and looks like The Fonz.
- You play as different vehicles besides just cars.
- Varied environments
- A driver in the game is named Spider!
The Bad:
- Different controls for each vehicle
- Game freezes
Rating: 2/5
Batman
Genre: Platformer
Developer: Sunsoft
Publisher: Sunsoft
In this game, you play as Batman and the Joker is at large. It was supposed to be based upon the first Batman film (the Joker even resembles Jack Nicholson), but it doesn't. Apparently the Joker gained the ability to summon lightning somewhere, too. At the end, Batman throws the Joker off of a skyscraper and the game ends with a close-up on the Joker's face. Awesome.
Like most NES games, this game is incredibly hard. The boss fights are pretty tough, and some of them take a loooong time to beat if you want to live. Batman only gets 8 life bars and there is no way to increase them. The amount of ammo that you have carries over through death as well.
I have to take a moment to talk about something real quick. See this enemy right here?
Whoever designed that jumping fucking demon toad needs to DIE IN A FIRE. I died more times to those things than to the Joker. See, it's okay if you make a jumping enemy. Just don't make the enemy jump a different length every time so it's impossible to determine if it will jump over you or jump ON you. Which it does most of the time.
So the Joker is a really hard end boss. He has two attacks: shooting his gun at you and summoning lightning from the ceiling (?). His gun takes 3 of Batman's 8 life bars, and the lightning is pretty hard to dodge. I basically spent the entire fight right next to the Joker shooting Batarangs at him until he died, and jumping to avoid his fire. It was pretty tough, but I got to throw the fucker out the window afterward, so it's okay.
One of the things I really thought was impressive about this game was the wall jumping. Wall jumping is an integral part of the game, certain parts are impossible to get past without it. I just thought it was neat that this game used it.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention: Batman can punch through anything. Including metal claws and steel. If it's an enemy, his punch can take it down. His punch can also go as fast as you can push the button. This makes the game ten times cooler and more fun if you go through PUNCHING EVERYTHING.
The Good:
- You start with all the weapons in the game
- Wall jumping!
- Cool looking bosses
- You get to kill the Joker
- Batman punches through EVERYTHING
The Bad:
- Ammo depletion carries through death
- Some parts are too difficult to navigate without losing life
- Evil jumping demon toads
Rating: 4/5
*Game would not be worth playing at all, it's probably one of the more impossible NES games which is really saying something.
I look at it this way: it means I get to play it sooner! Wooooo!
I totally forget what mine was. That actually bums me out.
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Also your description of batmans punches reminds me of Kung Fu. Oh that game was great... until my cousin and I realized we sucked and couldn't beat the second level.
One of my first videogames ever was Super Mario Bros. I was about 5 years old at the time. I actually thought I had beaten the game when I beat the first castle, because there's no way a game could be any longer, right?
Captain Skyhawk was mine, damn fine game that. Might pop it in later, see how its held up
Mine too, I think I wrote down the date in the manual. Those note pages had to be used for something right? Too bad that manual is at my parent's house.
I had a list of games I considered "finished" but it was more like ones I had seen the ending of, whether I used Game Genie or not, and regardless of whether it was a stupid Fischer Price matching game. I think some of the first ones I legitimately finished were Dragon Warrior games.
I did finally legitimately beat Super Mario Bros in a suitably epic fashion: on the day I graduated high school, without using any warps, just a straight playthrough. And I finished on my very last life.
I love these kinds of stories.
My first game beaten on the NES was The Legend of Zelda and then Commando.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
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Good times NES style
I'm not playing these on my computer, I'm using an A320 Dingoo Game System. This means, unfortunately, no recordings.
When you say Kung Fu, do you mean Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu? Because I will be playing that game
Edit: Expect another update by the end of the day for Spy Hunter. I'm going to the movies to see both Avatar and Sherlock Holmes, but when I get back I will post about it.
This one's my favorite NES game, for sure.
Batman at #98 is sacrilege. One of my favorite games on the system. Outstanding musical score.
Spy Hunter
Genre: Survival Racer?
Developer: Sunsoft
Publisher: Sunsoft
I just want to take a quick moment and say that the box art for this game is way cooler than the game itself. Look at that. I wish I had gotten to play THAT game instead!
This game starts you out on the side of the road and you have to drive along the road until you die. That's it. I am unaware of a plot besides blue cars and helicopters attempting to run you off the road, shoot you down, or explode you. There was a distinct lack of spies in this game, as well as a lack of me hunting them. This was disappointing and made me sad.
So the way the game works is you have seemingly unlimited lives until the timer in the bottom right corner runs to zero (it starts at 999). This means you have about 100 seconds to do whatever you want before you can get a game over. The farther you go along the road, the more difficult the game becomes, eventually throwing helicopters at you.
The Hazards of the Road:
Ice Patches
Yes, ice patches on the road in the dead of summer near a beach! It makes perfect sense! If you hit one, then your car swerves a little bit and nothing much else happens. I just ran over them and didn't worry too much about it.
Regular Blue Cars
I'm not sure why all the enemies are blue in this game, but whatever. This type of blue car will generally just try to run you off the road, and when you get later in the game they will have tire spikes that will make you careen off and explode. Because tire spikes do that. Pretty easy to deal with because you can shoot them down.
Bulletproof Blue Cars
These guys are annoying. They can't be shot at and they will always try to run you off the road. You can run them off the road instead, but it seems random whether you win or the computer wins. Using powerups on these guys helps
Limousines
I don't know why Limousines want to kill me, but they do. This car will pull up alongside you and shoot out the window at you. This makes you careen into the side of the road and explode because I DONT KNOW IT JUST DOES OKAY!?
Attack Helicopters
Okay now this is just unfair. These show up and start dropping bombs in front of your car to try and explode you. I also found out that if you run over an already-exploded patch on the ground from a bomb, you explode anyways. Nice.
Civilian Vehicles
Running into any of these will make you explode. Killing these will make your point score freeze for 5 seconds. These vehicles apparently dont know how to get the fuck out of the way of a chase scene straight out of cops, because they generally will make a beeline for your vehicle as soon as they appear on screen.
Suicidal Motorcyclists
I felt that these guys deserved their own section because they are just that annoying. I died more to these guys than any other thing, and they aren't even enemies! If I LOOK at one of these wrong, my vehicle explodes! So, instead of running over the idiot motorcyclist and leaving him in a pool of blood and guts on the road, my SPY CAR that has guns and is running 25 cars a minute off the road EXPLODES when I run into him? C'mon.
Another comment I wanted to make is that it's impossible to find a good speed to go at this game. Too fast, and you run into motorcycles or civilian vehicles before you can react. Too slow, and the enemy cars run you off the road. I wasn't a huge fan of this game, and I was horrible at it.
Death Count: 158
Game Over Count: 30
High Score: 21,725
The Good:
- Unlimited lives before time runs out
- Neat power ups
The Bad:
- Suicidal motorcyclists. Seriously, fuck those guys.
- Can't go off-road
- Can't win the game
- Impossible to go at a decent speed
Rating: 1/5
The best thing about Batman for me was the music.
edit: Just looked through the list and I've played 72 of those games. I'm not sure what percentage of those I've actually completed, but it's probably about half that.
North and South was a surprisingly fun and goofy Civil War action/strategy game. It was at its most fun in 2 player vs mode.
My Backloggery
You didn't even talk about the boat parts in the game.
The mine spewing boats in the river was worse than the helicopter. I have gotten really really REALLY far in that game.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
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The Spy Hunter I remember was one where you were actually hunting spies - you had a target car to catch up to and disable within a time limit. But hell if I can find any indication of it now. I did find Super Spy Hunter which was actually not a Spy Hunter game in Japan but it's still really awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w8X2m_Yz7I
I played Spy Hunter quite a bit in the arcade, it was a great game. I don't know if I ever played the version on the NES, but I highly doubt it because I don't remember exploding when I ran into motorcycles and civillian cars.... I'd just knock them off the road and receive a score penalty, which was OK by me because I was generally more concerned with fighting off the badguys.
I'd say the first game I ever completed on the NES was Super Mario Bros., a feat I consider one of my greatest in gaming. Man that game was epic... or at least felt like it when I was a kid. I also completed Legend of Zelda, but that was a bit later on, and while it may have been a more epic game, I didn't have to beat it in one go.
It did come as an awesome golden cartridge though.