Hypothetical: Which 8-bit Nintendo game do you most wish existed?

[Magicantian]

I'd also have loved home ports of Konami's beat em ups for X-Men and The Simpsons. They definitely would've lost something on NES hardware, but they would've been a lot more fun than the X-Men and Simpsons games we did get. The Simpsons Arcade was probably my favorite arcade game ever. I've never played the X-Men one, but it looks fun. It definitely would've been possible, since the TMNT arcade game was ported. (I've heard the lack of X-Men and Simpsons ports blamed on the fact that Konami didn't have and couldn't get home licensing rights, which were in the hands of the infamous LJN/Acclaim at the time.)

If I was 5 years old again, this is probably what the kid in me would've said back then. I absolutely adored the Arcade Simpsons game.  You actually reminded me of back when, I thought Bart vs The Space Mutants was The Arcade port. I was so excited to see (think) it was on the NES. My parents bought it for me, I got home to play it to only find out the game was not what I thought was. It was such a disappointing moment. I also remember my eyes lighting up after that of seeing mention of other Simpsons Games on NES and SNES only to find out it wasn't that one either.

I think you might enjoy the X-Men most if played with a full party of 4 or 6.

[nerdynebraskan]

I'm glad I'm not the only one here who remembers the Simpsons Arcade. I still remember Marge tripping up goons with her vacuum cleaner; it's the only time she's ever been cool. I would totally drop at least $50 if anyone could port it or X-Men anywhere as good as the NES version of TMNT Arcade, even though I'm sure an NES version would only be for two players. I would also buy it repro-ed for Genesis or SNES, and I don't even collect repros for those consoles.

[NintendoKing]

Obviously, I always wanted Uninvited 2. Because they could bring Dracon back again with magic and have people come to the house again.

[Magicantian]

I'm glad I'm not the only one here who remembers the Simpsons Arcade. I still remember Marge tripping up goons with her vacuum cleaner; it's the only time she's ever been cool. I would totally drop at least $50 if anyone could port it or X-Men anywhere as good as the NES version of TMNT Arcade, even though I'm sure an NES version would only be for two players. I would also buy it repro-ed for Genesis or SNES, and I don't even collect repros for those consoles.

Both would definitely be best suited for SNES or Genesis. Optional Multitap functionality would be a must. I haven't played the X-Men Co-op much, I'm saving the experience for when I have a group of 4-6 to play with. Thankfully, there's arcade preservation. <3

[nerdynebraskan]

I would pay handsomely for a four-player Simpsons or X-Men arcade experience ported to the Genesis or SNES. I would prefer an NES port (even 2-player only, almost certainly) for personal reasons, but a 16-bit version would be probably close to duplicating the original game.

And I know those games are popular with the arcade crowd, but I'll never have an arcade cabinet in my house. They take up way too much space for me, and to be honest I never liked gaming while standing up. I like having my ass on the floor in front of the TV, with controller in hand.

[nerdynebraskan]

I'm bumping this up because of something I was reminded of in another thread: Another R.O.B. game, and one that actually tried to take the li'l guy seriously. And maybe more Power Pad games by Nintendo. Short Order/Eggsplode was actually really fun, and completely different than the mostly generic track-and-field games that Bandai sold. Maybe some nutty homebrewer will peek at the Power Pad someday, but I won't hold my breath. As for ROBbie, there's definitely not a snowball's chance of that, is there?

[P]

There is a chance! The problem is of course that not too many people have ROB.

I'm thinking about a ROB game that can be played with a custom set that people could make themselves with dice or whatever (they would still need either ROB or Famicom Robot though). Another problem is that ROB doesn't give any feedback to the Famicom except in Gyro Set where he pushes the con II buttons with the gyros. So if the game should take place in the Famicom without an honor system like in Block Set you would need to do something like that in Gyro Set.

[nerdynebraskan]

Yeah, it's a challenge to do something with ROB. The number of customers would definitely be limited, due to the scarcity of working ROBs and especially of the accessories for Gyromite and Stack Up. I suspect you're right that any game would require at least the use of the Gyromite controller tray, and some kind of apparatus to help ROB push/hold down the buttons. So, the interaction would still be limited to the A and B buttons on Controller 2. Anything too ambitious might require the creation of new ROB accessories, which would be super complicated and pricy... it could become the most expensive homebrew project ever! (But I'd still probably buy it, unless the sale price became obscene as a result...)

[That Guy from Faxanadu]

The problem is of course that not too many people have ROB.

Still, it would be beautiful if somebody created the "system seller" ROB never had  I´d be glad to chase down a robot if there was a great game to it...

[L___E___T]

But he's so slow and sloooow.  Maybe a game where he bluffed and you judged him on the way he behaved afterwards

[nerdynebraskan]

The game would have to take ROB's physical limitations into account to be successful. It might be interesting to incorporate him into another platformer. The timing would have to be less-breakneck than it often is in Gyromite, and his means of pushing the buttons for you would have be simpler on top of that.

Or maybe a puzzle game (probably without strict time limits)...

[L___E___T]

Got it - Nintendo themed ROB chess (and other brain games) with trash talking speech samples.

[P]

But how do you mean ROB would be used in a chess game?

Gestures is a good idea to be part of a ROB game! I'm thinking a game where ROB communicates with you with gestures. For example let's say the player is looking for a bomb but have no way to know where it is. But ROB knows, and he gives a certain response when the player asks and when on the right track. The game is of course designed so that it's very hard to find the bomb within the time limit if you don't use ROB. There's no need for the game to know what ROB is doing, since his actions doesn't affect the game directly. He only gives information to the player.

[nerdynebraskan]

It's kind of an intriguing idea, P. But how would you make it so ROB knew where to look for the bomb?

[P]

In this example you would maybe approach the place you think the bomb is in and ask ROB to scan it. If the bomb is in there, ROB gives you a positive response. If you don't understand what ROB says (ie something is blocking ROB's movement) you can simply scan again. You can also reset ROB's position with the ON/OFF switch or with a command.

The gestures would mostly be primitive ways of saying "yes", "no" and so on but the game would also need some quirks to it to keep it interesting.