BEST Famicom exclusive?

Started by Protoman, July 16, 2015, 04:08:58 am

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Protoman

I'm happy that I'm into Famicom because I get to experience a bunch of good games that most american or europe-only gamers don't play, but
when I think about it, the actual cream of the crop games, like Super Mario Bros 3, Mega Man 2, Castlevania etc, they all were released internationally.

Which are the Famicom-only games you think are the best, and do any of them rival the BIG international titles?

Ghegs

Some of the better JP-exclusive ones I could think of:

Holy Diver
Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima IV
Crisis Force
Recca

All are up there in quality for their respective genres.

Zycrow

And there's stuff like Hebereke, LaGrange Point, Cosmic Epsilon...but to me it's more a matter of perspective. When you get into games that were considered very good or very popular on the Famicom, comparing them to the later international "classics" gets to be an apples and oranges scenario.

Like if you look at the Doraemon game from 1986 or, say, Door Door. Both of these games were popular and notable but you can't exactly compare them to Mega Man 2.

My philosophy in FC/NES games is that I want to own and play the games that have elements of care or quality. I can enjoy "decent" games that aren't "great" simply because they are FC games and because I understand the context in which they were made.

For example, I really enjoy playing the FC-exclusive game "Challenger," even though you could say "why play that when you could play literally any platformer made after 1989, they're all better." Same for stuff like Tower of Druaga or Star Force.

I guess I'd call it a historical perspective. I rambled on a bit there, but the gist is that you can enjoy a lot more games if you get into a certain mindset.
Favorites: Castlevania, Metroid, Namco 18

zmaster18

Games that I think would have been pretty popular world-wide would be Ai Senshi Nicol and Bio Miracle Upa. I see why Bio Miracle Upa never was released in the west since you play as a baby and people would assume you're such a baby for playing a baby game. Ai Senshi Nicol is a great action game though. It's like a semi-linear Zelda game with a gun instead of a sword. It has great graphics and rocking music.

Protoman

Quote from: Zycrow on July 16, 2015, 05:43:58 am
And there's stuff like Hebereke, LaGrange Point, Cosmic Epsilon...but to me it's more a matter of perspective. When you get into games that were considered very good or very popular on the Famicom, comparing them to the later international "classics" gets to be an apples and oranges scenario.

Like if you look at the Doraemon game from 1986 or, say, Door Door. Both of these games were popular and notable but you can't exactly compare them to Mega Man 2.

My philosophy in FC/NES games is that I want to own and play the games that have elements of care or quality. I can enjoy "decent" games that aren't "great" simply because they are FC games and because I understand the context in which they were made.

For example, I really enjoy playing the FC-exclusive game "Challenger," even though you could say "why play that when you could play literally any platformer made after 1989, they're all better." Same for stuff like Tower of Druaga or Star Force.

I guess I'd call it a historical perspective. I rambled on a bit there, but the gist is that you can enjoy a lot more games if you get into a certain mindset.


Hebereke came out in europe as Uforia though

I get you, but personally I tend to avoid the pre 1987 or so games because most of them have one-hit-kills and continue codes instead of passwords or saves etc, there's a lot of extra effort to play them, I guess this makes me a bad retro gamer but I kind of feel entitled to passwords/continues and some sort of health bar!

Then there are the what I call "strategy guide games" like Clash at Demonhead, Blaster Master or Milon's Secret Castle. Good games but if you don't know where to go and what to do, the experience of playing them will be much less satisfying, just running around in circles for a long time.

zmaster18

Quote from: Protoman on July 16, 2015, 06:11:11 am
Quote from: Zycrow on July 16, 2015, 05:43:58 am
And there's stuff like Hebereke, LaGrange Point, Cosmic Epsilon...but to me it's more a matter of perspective. When you get into games that were considered very good or very popular on the Famicom, comparing them to the later international "classics" gets to be an apples and oranges scenario.

Like if you look at the Doraemon game from 1986 or, say, Door Door. Both of these games were popular and notable but you can't exactly compare them to Mega Man 2.

My philosophy in FC/NES games is that I want to own and play the games that have elements of care or quality. I can enjoy "decent" games that aren't "great" simply because they are FC games and because I understand the context in which they were made.

For example, I really enjoy playing the FC-exclusive game "Challenger," even though you could say "why play that when you could play literally any platformer made after 1989, they're all better." Same for stuff like Tower of Druaga or Star Force.

I guess I'd call it a historical perspective. I rambled on a bit there, but the gist is that you can enjoy a lot more games if you get into a certain mindset.


Hebereke came out in europe as Uforia though

I get you, but personally I tend to avoid the pre 1987 or so games because most of them have one-hit-kills and continue codes instead of passwords or saves etc, there's a lot of extra effort to play them, I guess this makes me a bad retro gamer but I kind of feel entitled to passwords/continues and some sort of health bar!

Then there are the what I call "strategy guide games" like Clash at Demonhead, Blaster Master or Milon's Secret Castle. Good games but if you don't know where to go and what to do, the experience of playing them will be much less satisfying, just running around in circles for a long time.

I agree with your point on 'strategy guide games'. Some games are designed so that you walk around not knowing where to go or what to do. I hate the 'where the F do I go' type of games. I think that Zelda II did a good job in guiding you on your own. There are roadblocks in the way that prevent you from going too far and wasting time.

Nightstar699

Second Ghegs' pick of Holy Diver... I'd add in Mitsume Ga Tooru, Cocoron, and Samurai Pizza Cats.
So ends another chapter in the glorious legend of the Ninja... Until next time...

Great Hierophant

I would add Gimmick and Just Breed for completeness' sake.
Check out my retro gaming and computing blog : http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/

Ghegs

Gimmick! was released in Europe as Mr. Gimmick, so it's not a Famicom exclusive.

@Nightstar699

I thought about mentioning Samurai Pizza Cats, but I just can't quite bring myself to say it rivals the internationally released games in the same way Holy Diver and Recca do. SMC is good no doubt, and I think it would've sold fairly well in US, but it falls a bit short compared to Tecmo's own Ninja Gaiden games, for example.

Nightstar699

July 16, 2015, 08:55:49 am #9 Last Edit: July 16, 2015, 09:06:19 am by Nightstar699
Yeah, good point. Whereas Holy Diver absolutely ranks up there alongside Castlevania I and III.

Edit: I'd also add Time Zone, Don Doko Don 2 and Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 3 as runner-ups.
So ends another chapter in the glorious legend of the Ninja... Until next time...

Zycrow

Quote from: Protoman on July 16, 2015, 06:11:11 am
Hebereke came out in europe as Uforia though

I get you, but personally I tend to avoid the pre 1987 or so games because most of them have one-hit-kills and continue codes instead of passwords or saves etc, there's a lot of extra effort to play them, I guess this makes me a bad retro gamer but I kind of feel entitled to passwords/continues and some sort of health bar!

Then there are the what I call "strategy guide games" like Clash at Demonhead, Blaster Master or Milon's Secret Castle. Good games but if you don't know where to go and what to do, the experience of playing them will be much less satisfying, just running around in circles for a long time.


Oh yeah, I forgot about Hebereke having a Euro release.

You're totally right about the "extra effort." It took me a long time to get to where I could enjoy those older, more obtuse games and the "strategy guide games." I'm willing to undergo a certain amount of suffering to enjoy games like that, but I wouldn't expect everyone else to. Like I think if Shovel Knight (for example) were homaging that era of NES games, rather than the later, more self-evident platformers, I don't think it would have been nearly as accessible or fun. :)
Favorites: Castlevania, Metroid, Namco 18

Nightstar699

I gotta say, I'm also not a fan of the early pre-1987/86 FC games, the action genres just weren't very firmly established at this point. I'd say Spartan X and Yie Ar Kung Fu are my favorite early ones... I also like Binary Land and Nuts & Milk for some reason. But I'm guessing I'll have less than 10 pre-'87 games by the time I'm finished with my collection.
So ends another chapter in the glorious legend of the Ninja... Until next time...

P

I actually like the real early NROM games. There's a certain charm simple games like Popeye or Pacman. :)

Picking a best game is very hard for me, but the Famicom has as all other systems tons of great games that never left Japan. Especially RPGs and adventure games. Although USA got a pretty good number of RPGs, they still missed out on FF2 and FF3.

NintendoKing

Quote from: Nightstar699 on July 16, 2015, 09:59:47 am
I gotta say, I'm also not a fan of the early pre-1987/86 FC games, the action genres just weren't very firmly established at this point. I'd say Spartan X and Yie Ar Kung Fu are my favorite early ones... I also like Binary Land and Nuts & Milk for some reason. But I'm guessing I'll have less than 10 pre-'87 games by the time I'm finished with my collection.


Oh my yes, all of those are great! Though Spartan X is Kung Fu, Spartan X 2 wasn't released outside Japan though. I struggle suggesting because others may not like what I enjoy.

Nightstar699

Yeah I guess Spartan X2 would also be among my honorable mentions for best Famicom exclusive... though it's so short and easy. I swear, if it had a respectable hard mode, it'd be right up there as one of my favorites. Such a finely-crafted game.
So ends another chapter in the glorious legend of the Ninja... Until next time...