Good affordable carts for Famicom?

[metalslugger]

Hi, I'm new here. I found the forum while researching what famicom to buy and just ordered an AV Famicom from Japan. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there are some very affordable classic Famicom carts from Japan on Ebay so I ordered a few like Gradius I & II, Salamander, Xevious, Star Force. I love space shooters, it was my urge to own as many variations of Gradius off-shoots as possible that inspired me to get a Famicom (I did own a NES decades ago as a kid). Gradius II was more expensive and was definitely more than i'd generally be willing to spend on one game, but I made a special exception there as it's so good.

Can anyone recommend any good action / shoot'em up games along the lines of Gradius, Contra or hack slashers like Astyanax with no significant language barrier that are not stupidly expensive?  Cheers!

[portnoyd]

For shooters, Volguard II is ok, but Japan4U has it for $3 shipped which makes it worth looking out even if it's not in the class of Gradius. Same goes for Astro Robo SASA. There are a lot more shooters at super cheap prices but they are just about not worth it at those prices.

Twinbee 3 is solid, but not terribly cheap. You might be able to swing it for $10 shipped. Insector X is good too, but definitely out of your price range at $20-$25.

For hack and slash types, I swear by Wing of Madoola. It can be had easily for $10 shipped with some patience, so higher end of your range.

[metalslugger]

Nice one mate, Twinbee is a great idea, can't get enough of Konami, and aside from Insector X I am not familiar with the others so i'll check em out right now!
Post Merge: July 27, 2019, 06:14:02 pm

There are a lot more shooters at super cheap prices

I just picked up Hector '87 from J4U for a paltry $4 or so, never heard of it before but it turns out to be a Hudson Soft space shooter with vertical and horizontal scrolling levels and a Xevious-like weapon style, absolute gold! I got Galaga too. Seems a good port and I don't have it on any other consoles.