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[Retro On] Playing through the top 100 NES games! [NSF56K]
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I already said in the OP that no top 100 list would ever satisfy everyone's expectations. It's too subjective a matter. I can't play every game that was ever released on the NES. I will be making a 'recommended games' list though, for games that didn't make the list but that people should still try out, so I'll put that one on there.
You play as Bop-Louie, a man whose head literally explodes from his body in order to smite his foes, having crazy landed on a strange planet you must find your friends who were lost in the crash
You must find Gil, a Bomb-Vomiting Fish-man.
Shades, a sungalsses wearing ghost whose eyes, fall out of his head when he bashes himself with a hammer, only to seek and eliminate his enemies.
And some dinosaur guy who I can't recall, I think he has freezing breath.
Seriously, I am filled with a smouldering rage.
My favorite bot is beta-beta-alpha which gives you a really powerful flamethrower.
Also, get the same combination twice in a row and you'll become a super robot man for a limited time, as seen at :49 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdWe7M8X_9c
Your seething hatred and tears of rage sustain me.
Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure
Genre: Horrible Game
Developer: Rocket Science Productions
Publisher: LJN
Let's just get this out up front. I have no fucking clue how this game got on the top 100 video games of the NES, because it is a genuinely terrible game. Let me break it down for you.
You have to travel back in time to find historical figures such as Cleopatra, Rembrandt, George Washington, etc. and give them one of four historical items you find in the level that are hidden. One and only one item works for each individual. For example, you have to give Sitting Bull a lawn chair to finish the level, or else you get sent to the jail.
The only way to find these historical items is to talk to the locals. However, there's a problem with this in that they aren't very helpful and the levels are FUCKING HUGE. Even better! The historical items are completely hidden. The ONLY way to find one is to jump on random things like fences or bushes to figure out if they're there or not. Even better is that there are about 5-6 bushes, fences, rocks, or what have you per screen. And remember, these levels are insanely large.
Another difficulty that I had with this game: it doesn't tell you how to access the levels. See, at the very start you're given a phonebook and told to look for the number that has been changed. Okay. So I flip through this phonebook with 16 historical people in it, and I see all these numbers. I press select and a telephone dial comes up. Alright. I start typing in numbers. Nothing happens. I keep flipping through, can't find anything. See, what the game doesn't tell you is the historical person you're looking for is always randomized out of a list of these 16 guys, and the password to enter the level is the flashing red number at the bottom of their name. I had to use a walkthrough for this entire game because the game is FULL of shit like that.
So what's a game without some difficulty, right? Some enemies that make the game challenging? Well that comes in the form of those villagers I was talking about earlier. They come in three types.
1. The complacent villager
This guy just chills out, standing there until you go talk to him. He will give you some advice, tell you that you're a terrible human being, or he may give you an item. Once you've talked to him, however, he turns into villager type number 2.
2. The Meandering villager
This guy will wander around aimlessly until he runs into a wall (or you) and change direction. If you run into him, he will demand payment for you bumping into him (?) in the form of 1 coin. These coins are used to get between levels, so they are rather important and you don't want to give them up. If you have no coins, you are sent to jail. Getting sent to jail is what I refer to as 'dying' in my Death Count.
3. The Crazy Insane Zombie villager
Some villagers are apparently so incensed at your presence that they feel the overpowering urge to HUNT YOU DOWN AND IMPRISON YOU at all costs! These guys will chase after you (with rather good pathing, I might add) with their arms upraised like zombies. If they catch you, you are sent immediately to jail.
Getting sent to jail is a problem, since as I mentioned earlier the levels are ENORMOUS. The jail is never in the same spot in the different levels, either. Also, since the game is played in isometric view, it can be rather difficult to find your way around since there is no map.
There were some genuinely enjoyable parts to the game, though. The horse riding and canoe parts of the game were kinda cool, and gave you coins if you completed them without hitting anything. This was really the only part of the game I liked, though. Everything else was a pain.
And that's the major, major issue I have with this game that might have made it playable. A map. Seriously, that would have solved most of the issues I had with this game. Ugh. This game was terrible, I'm done talking about it.
The intentional death count is here because I sent myself to jail a few times on purpose in order to facilitate moving around the map easier. Oh, and I forgot to mention this: there are four spots that the historical dudes can be in each level, but it's randomized. They're always strewn about the level randomly, so you have to go look for them. Keeping in mind that these levels are huge, and it can take a long time to find the guys.
Unintentional Death Count: 54
Intentional Death Count: 7
Game Over Count: 0
The Good:
-The canoe and horse sections
The Bad:
-The game doesn't give you the information you need
-Huge levels
-No map
-Coins get sparse in the last few levels
Rating: 1/5
Edit: Oh and I totally forgot! The ending for this game is terrible. We don't even get a credit roll. It's just one black screen with the words "Congratulations from Rocket Science! Game Over!"
WHAAAAAT!?!?!?!? I just went through 12 levels of terrible video gaming for THAT!?
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A few of those other games are going to be tough to "beat" because they don't really have an ending. Some games, like Spy Hunter and Mappy Land (fucking seriously? This game makes it into the top 100 with Yo! Noid?) are just endless as fuck until you run out lives.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
Oh yeah, one more NES game that belongs on the list of awesome: Moon Crystal. It never made it to the US but was translated by fans. It has some very smooth graphics and animation, good music, and a surprisingly well made story with cutscenes that is reminiscent of a decent anime movie (I was going to say Miyazaki but I don't want to go crazy). Here's a video, sadly they skip the cutscenes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o68IPyg3og
The cloud effect at 1:41 is really rare for NES games.
I'm not sure what you mean by best. It's by far the longest this much is true. However it's also extremely easy compared to the other two, it's not really challenging at all. Plot wise, it and one are tied. When it comes to game play they all have their ups and downs. The control on two is far better then one, but the lack of any real challenge kinda kills it.
One on the other hand, good plot, good gameplay (there are only a couple really obnoxious parts), challenging without crossing into the realm of stupid, and it only has one stupid swiss cheese mechanic, the spin slash = boss dead one shot
Three had a chance to be the best. But after level 4 the difficulty runs off a cliff, you take too much damage, and they limit continues. For some odd reason they made the NA version harder. Plus the plot makes no sense.
All are good. I just think people like II the best because it's easy to finish without launching a controler through the TV.
I actually beat that game when I was a kid, and it's pretty tough.
But I remember having an absolute blast doing so.
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Also, how is Bubble Bobble in the top 10? I remember playing it as a youngin, and being very....confused.
I did play it a lot though, so I guess that says something.
99 levels of bubble popping goodness.
@Sporky: Yea, the fact that it wasn't made originally as a Noid game is probably why it turned out to be a decent game. If you guys haven't played it, give it a try. Just remember, it's not easy. It is a challenge.
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This thread is a great resource for this endeavor.
I'm also trying to track down a Famicom, so I can play some of those games that never made it over here, but I don't really know how much I should spend on one.
Eep. I can't find my copy of Ninja Gaiden. I must rectify this.
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K A B O O O M !!
Super goals
Steam: TheArcadeBear
All 4 Dragon Warrior games for the NES; 2 & 3 marked "CIB", 1 & 4 just the cartridge for $116.
Overpaid? Probably.
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I have the first, and want the others. It seemed simpler to have a bit of overlap than trying to track them all down individually.
I am assuming the OP is being assisted by tools, something in the way he worded the first bullet point.
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2008, 2012, 2014 D&D "Rare With No Sauce" League Fantasy Football Champion!
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What..?
Is this a real thing? Some company needs to do a remake pronto.
It's really not as exciting as that description.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAoDvMg1CTY
But it's not a bad game either! It's ahead of its time, plays a lot like Super Metroid mixed with Knytt, cutesy and exploration-based.
Because that game made me cry as a kid >.>
PS3 Trophies
What, you mean game #82?
Seriously though, that game is so horribly designed...but somehow I loved it as a kid. :P
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Battle Chess
Genre: Chess Simulator
Developer: Beam Software
Publisher: Data East
Not much to say about this game. It's a Chess simulator, except whenever a piece goes to capture another piece, it shows a little cut scene showing how the pieces fought (and died).
It was nice that each piece-on-piece combination got it's own unique battle scene. For example, the queen uses magic against all of her enemies and the rook is a giant stone golem that clobbers people into the ground. My favorite death scene was knight-on-knight. The winning knight chops the other knight's limbs off, ala Monty Python's Black Knight scene. It was rather humorous.
The game has multiple difficulty settings, from Novice to settings from 1 through 5 for your computer opponent. You can also pick your color, or whether you can play two-player or computer on computer. There is also an option to request a move from the computer, to give you hints on what to do. Nice to see that included in an NES game.
My only complaint is how slow it runs. It takes forever for a piece to walk across the board, and even longer for a knight to move. This is because any time a knight moves through another piece, the game has to take even more time for the piece to step aside for the knight to walk past. I appreciate the realism, I do not appreciate the slowness.
For what it is, it's a great game. I just don't find Chess simulators all that interesting. Overall, not a horrific experience, and great for Chess enthusiasts I guess.
The Good:
-Faithful Chess simulator
-Unique battle animations for each piece combination
The Bad:
-The game runs really slow
-There is no option to skip combat animations and just play the game
Rating: 3/5
My favorite were the king's animations - watch this, especially the queen at the end:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZAt4_nLtbQ
I need to just ask you for videos before I post, because you find the best videos of the games I'm talking about at the time :P
I wish I had the sort of time necessary to do this
Actually I've only done it this once, and even so it's the PC version and not the NES. :P Every other time has been random other NES games.
It's going to slow down once school starts back up. Even then I'll be trying to get at least a game a week in at the worst.
Yeah, Faxanadu was pretty fucking awesome. That game, Crystalis, Final Fantasy, Wizards and Warriors, Dragon Warrior and Dragon Warrior 3, Contra, Super C, Castlevania 1, 2, and 3, and Wizardry: Knight of Diamonds were some of my favorite games for the NES. This thread is pretty awesome and I wholeheartedly approve and cannot wait for more updates.
Also, hi-5 for the PC version. Did your version have that annoying "find the famous game, input the next move" 'copy protection'?
Way too much credit, I'd wager.
I'm working on Romance of the Three Kingdoms II (NES) at the moment. It seems ... complicated, for a NES game.