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NES/Famicom Appreciation Thread

Grinchy

Banned
Started on the slippery slope of buying my NES stuff boxed complete. Got a beautiful condition Zelda, with the map etc. TMNT which is in great nick box wise. Also got Popeye which has the coolest box ever and I got the rarer early misprint run of Mario Bros 3. Working on Balloon Fight next and a couple of others. Turns I'd rather pay more and have less games if it means having them complete.

iQlbYQW.jpg

God, every time I see boxed copies, I want to start building a NES, SNES, and Genesis boxed library. Then I realize how much it would cost, and there's just no way. But thoes boxes....hnnng
 

Mega

Banned
I would collect boxed NES games if I had the space... and if I didn't hate the frail cardboard boxes. I take care of my games but I don't like having to baby them since I'm not a collector... and dislike the idea that any minor pressure can cause damage to the package. I have a bunch of GBA games with mint condition boxes but always thought they were dumb comparing to Gamecube packaging at the time... well, Nintendo's decision to go with cardboard again in the 00s was dumb. Love the sturdy cases for Genesis, GC, Wii and DS games!
 

Bog

Junior Ace
I thankfully kept all my games CIB growing up, so my collection started with about 65 great games already complete, and most mint. Hell, my Mega Man 3 still has the shrinkwrap on it, just slit at the top to open it.
 
I have about 40/100 CIB but I'm not really trying to go for that necessarily. I am going after the black box games CIB and the mark up for that paper and cardboard is nuts. Lately I have been looking for carts and manuals, though. Oftentimes they aren't much more expensive.

I thankfully kept all my games CIB growing up, so my collection started with about 65 great games already complete, and most mint. Hell, my Mega Man 3 still has the shrinkwrap on it, just slit at the top to open it.

Wish I'd have done this. I was old enough to have kept a lot of stuff in good shape by the time I was into SNES but didn't keep boxes.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
i've mostly stopped caring about s/fc and n64 CIB games. md is the only system that i adamantly persue CIB anymore. those shockboxes look so gorgeous on the shelf.

i really wish more publishers adopted the namco's famicom shockboxes:




i've mostly got md collecting out of my system for now and i've decided to start picking up more famicom games that i've been meaning to play. just ordered copies of guardic gaiden and dragon slayer 4. :)
 
think it's safe to say we all do, man
Mzo was talking about a friend of his who just removed the trays & flattened the boxes, stored em all in a box in the closet...man, i wish that dude was my friend in the day, haha

I have a friend who, along with his older brother, kept all their NES stuff in tact. I don't see him much anymore but I would love to get a hold of those. Pretty sure they're all just sitting on a shelf in their parents basement in our hometown.
 

Huggers

Member
I've been playing the game for years so I'm capable. I just need to master the Technodrome mainly and I'll be set...though I predict that's where most of my time will be spent at, lol. Also, I'm mainly using Donatello for that stage.

Thinking about it this isn't the toughest game to do a no death run. If you can finish it you have a good shot at no death running it so long as you refill all your turtles at every opportunity with pizza.

God, every time I see boxed copies, I want to start building a NES, SNES, and Genesis boxed library. Then I realize how much it would cost, and there's just no way. But thoes boxes....hnnng

I've always been a boxed complete type for everything except the NES but saw a friends collection and decided it was time I started grabbing some. Very addictive once you strart
 

IrishNinja

Member
man, this feels like historically the worst time to want to start getting into boxed copies...i get the fear that it's (potentially) only gonna get worse, but still

on a related note, my grrl asked what i wanted for my upcoming birthday & im hoping she gets a few friends to go in on an N8!

I have a friend who, along with his older brother, kept all their NES stuff in tact. I don't see him much anymore but I would love to get a hold of those. Pretty sure they're all just sitting on a shelf in their parents basement in our hometown.

that'd be amazing, man...godspeed with this effort
 

Mega

Banned
Thinking about it this isn't the toughest game to do a no death run. If you can finish it you have a good shot at no death running it so long as you refill all your turtles at every opportunity with pizza.

I've done it at least a dozen times, although not since I was in middle school. If I recall correctly, some out of the way pizzas are best avoided if your turtles are in good shape.
 

OnPoint

Member
GrBwstP.png

Super Mario Bros 3 is a fantastic game, and I hope everyone had fun
with it, as well as a safe New Year's celebration. New year, new month,
new game! We're continuing on to Rygar for the month of January!

n2OGojC.png


Tecmo is largely known for their work on games like Tecmo Bowl, and the
illustrious Ninja Gaiden series. But one game that is well-loved by many is
Rygar. It's an NES port of the arcade game, though from what I can gather,
it's far from a carbon copy job.

Rygar is an action-adventure title with RPG elements. Using your trusty
Diskarmor weapon, you must defeat the evil King Ligar in order to restore
peace to the realm of Argool.


Header image by D Lo, Monthly image made
by Wanyodos. Guidelines below by RavenholmDX. Thanks guys!


NES Game Club Guidelines
The nominated title should be readily available via standard
channels such as eBay, for a reasonable price (Maximum $30,
preferably less to give the majority of people a chance to join
in). The title should be a licensed NES/Famicom title (No hacks,
homebrew, multicarts). Only exception is unlicensed, but readily available titles.
The title should be available in English, and if not, it should at the very least be
playable without knowledge of Japanese.

Due to the nature of the Club, excessively long or grind-heavy
games such as RPGs will be excluded.

Selection Process
The first week of each month, the selection process for the following
month commences. The first five games suggested that have not
yet been played, and were not nominated the month before will be
added to the list and will be voted on.
So be sure to come in early to
nominate your favorites!

On the 7th day of the month, or when we reach five nominations (whichever comes
first) the nominations are tallied in the following manner:
The list of nominees are checked for infringements of the above
guidelines, and any not meeting the requirements are removed.
The voting list will be shuffled for each member voting.
Voting will take place until the 20th day of the month, at which point the poll will
close and the votes will be tallied.
The winner will be announced as soon as the tally is counted so that members
will have time to pick up the winning game.

Previous months:
- October 2015
- November 2015
- December 2015
 

Huggers

Member
man, this feels like historically the worst time to want to start getting into boxed copies...i get the fear that it's (potentially) only gonna get worse, but still

It's definitely a bad time to start. I do wonder whether things will continue to get worse or whether the market will stagnate or even crash price wise. Retro gaming is huge right now but will it maintain it's boom. I've no idea.
 

IrishNinja

Member
exactly - those who are fearfully taking part are saying "there's only less and less of these over time" etc, the rest of us are assuming at least casual interest will die down at some point & leave the actually rare stuff still expensive, but maybe not quite as bad as things are currently.
 

OnPoint

Member
I'd like to highlight a change I've made for the new year in the thread for the selection process for the club:

Selection Process
The first week of each month, the selection process for the following
month commences. The first five games suggested that have not
yet been played, and were not nominated the month before will be
added to the list and will be voted on. So be sure to come in early to
nominate your favorites!

On the 7th day of the month, or when we reach five nominations (whichever comes
first) the nominations are tallied in the following manner:
The list of nominees are checked for infringements of the above
guidelines, and any not meeting the requirements are removed.
The voting list will be shuffled for each member voting.
Voting will take place until the 20th day of the month, at which point the poll will
close and the votes will be tallied.
The winner will be announced as soon as the tally is counted so that members
will have time to pick up the winning game.

We'll include TMNT for the voting for this month. But keep this in mind for the future.

Also, only one more nomination needed before we start voting.
 

Timu

Member
You mean not losing any Turtles?

No death was the only way to play it because I remember it being a pain in the ass otherwise. How far back does the game send you if you lose a Turtle? Beginning of stage?
Yep, not even losing Mikey and Ralph...though I honestly don't care if they die for obvious reasons, lol.

Also I think that varies on the stage itself.

Thinking about it this isn't the toughest game to do a no death run. If you can finish it you have a good shot at no death running it so long as you refill all your turtles at every opportunity with pizza.
Donatello and Leonardo are the main ones that need all that health. I'm going to try to avoid getting hit by most enemies as well.
 

D.Lo

Member
Alright Rygar hey? I have the Mark III version...

RE: Collecting:

I've always felt like I don't own a game unless it's complete in box. My collection is 100% CIB and I don't even give loose carts a look haha.
 

Timu

Member
I can't do CIB anymore, between the time, the cost and space, it's not worth it to me.

Plus I'm not a collector, I'm a (hardcore)gamer 1st and everything else comes after.
 

D.Lo

Member
Plus I'm not a collector, I'm a (hardcore)gamer 1st and everything else comes after.
I play everything I own.

I feel like the packaging/manual is part of the real retro experience, just like using the real hardware and a CRT instead of virtual console or piracy or whatever.

For example, I just did a write up on Relics: Ankoku Yōsai for Famicom disk, and the outrageous packaging genuinely adds to the experience IMO.

No way I'd play through a Konami NES game without the punny manuals either haha!
 

Timu

Member
I play everything I own.

I feel like the packaging/manual is part of the real retro experience, just like using the real hardware and a CRT instead of virtual console or piracy or whatever.

For example, I just did a write up on Relics: Ankoku Yōsai for Famicom disk, and the outrageous packaging genuinely adds to the experience IMO.


No way I'd play through a Konami NES game without the punny manuals either haha!
Well, I did try at least.=p I see what you mean though.

If I were rich this wouldn't even be a problem...what a world we live in.
 

IrishNinja

Member
^they were punny? oh god...and that is cool

yeah, to each their own but i want as many experiences as possible, so everdrives have become my weapon of choice these days. if i really like something & want it on my shelf, i'll totally hunt it down...but if i can catch say a loose MUSHA (or for this thread, Gun Nac) for something like $30, ill hold out for a box & manual another day, personally.
 

D.Lo

Member
It helps I mostly collect Japanese versions. Cheaper if you know what you're doing.

My complete Konami silver box NES set is the biggest exception, but some of those I've had for 20+ years of course.

Yeah I guess I'd consider loose for certain things which are insane otherwise, like Earthbound.
 

ElTopo

Banned
I tried Rygar. I never played it back in the day and it really didn't hold up very well. I played it for about 5 minutes and just stopped.
 

b3b0p

Member
I tried Rygar. I never played it back in the day and it really didn't hold up very well. I played it for about 5 minutes and just stopped.

Game is not bad. This is why I love NES games. Compared to most of the games released today, they are actually difficult and require patience and skill with perfect timing, learning the ins-and-outs. The games are super short compared to the monsters that are Xeno/Final/Fallouts/Skyrim's of today, but feel so much more rewarding and I'm able to beat them without having that feeling of, "What was I doing? Where am I? What am I supposed to do next?"

I actually have time to play NES games, it's hard to fit in these epics beasts released today. The fact that they require patches just to work sometimes sucks too.
 

Timu

Member
Game is not bad. This is why I love NES games. Compared to most of the games released today, they are actually difficult and require patience and skill with perfect timing, learning the ins-and-outs. The games are super short compared to the monsters that are Xeno/Final/Fallouts/Skyrim's of today, but feel so much more rewarding and I'm able to beat them without having that feeling of, "What was I doing? Where am I? What am I supposed to do next?"

I actually have time to play NES games, it's hard to fit in these epics beasts released today. The fact that they require patches just to work sometimes sucks too.
They are more rewarding when you don't die or don't use continues as well.=p
 

Peltz

Member
I play everything I own.

I feel like the packaging/manual is part of the real retro experience, just like using the real hardware and a CRT instead of virtual console or piracy or whatever.

For example, I just did a write up on Relics: Ankoku Yōsai for Famicom disk, and the outrageous packaging genuinely adds to the experience IMO.


No way I'd play through a Konami NES game without the punny manuals either haha!

Awesome write up D.Lo. I'd love to see a pic of that inflatable controller mentioned in your blog.
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
Rygar's not a port of the arcade game, it's an original and very different game.

It's also not very good, IMO; the hit detection is shoddy, it has awful buzzy Jeckyl & Hyde-esque music and there's no way to record your progress--no passwords, no saves, nothing. I want to like it but I just can't.

On top of all that, the PAL version is bugged so you can only level your damage/health to around 25% of their maximum capacity, which makes the game way harder past a certain point.
 

D.Lo

Member
Cheeky show-off post incoming ;)

The cart-only experience:


The Complete in box master experience:


Or there's even 'Mint Ultra Completes' for the brand new feeling:

The only problem I have is deciding what to play today...


Awesome write up D.Lo. I'd love to see a pic of that inflatable controller mentioned in your blog.
Ha, thanks. I don't have it yet unfortunately. It will be my most expensive purchase ever to complete my Konami Fami collection most likely.
 

Mega

Banned
All of that stuff reminds me of buying a modern card/board game (Elder Sign, Friday) and cracking it open. It is a nice feeling.
 
I play everything I own.

I feel like the packaging/manual is part of the real retro experience, just like using the real hardware and a CRT instead of virtual console or piracy or whatever.

For example, I just did a write up on Relics: Ankoku Yōsai for Famicom disk, and the outrageous packaging genuinely adds to the experience IMO.


No way I'd play through a Konami NES game without the punny manuals either haha!

Just watched the Chrontendo episode with this one. Looks abysmal. Crazy cool packaging, though - definitely something not often covered.

EDIT: Those pics! Looks incredible.
 
I would do boxed NES if they were more common around here. I hardly ever see them and don't want to rely on ebay for everything. NES and SNES are the only systems I don't CIB just because of the box rarity/price.
 

D.Lo

Member
^ nice collection of konami box art. was hoping to see the great boxart of gradius in the pile =) it's prob buried in there off camera
You can actually see Gradius if you look closely ;)

It's every Konami NES game that got a silver box release worldwide. So I have the US silver version of Dracula's Curse (which was released under the Palcom brand in PAL), and the PAL AU silver versions of Metal Gear, Turtles I and II, Snake's Revenge etc (released under the Ultra brand in the US). If it was silver everywhere I just have one version, though Probotector is different enough to warrant having both Probos and both Contras.

Technically I still need the PAL B Turtles Tournament Fighters and PAL Noah's Ark, which aren't full silver box releases, but have silver sides (like Turtles III).
 

Peltz

Member
I would do boxed NES if they were more common around here. I hardly ever see them and don't want to rely on ebay for everything. NES and SNES are the only systems I don't CIB just because of the box rarity/price.

Same here. It's hard to go CIB for those two systems. N64 has also suddenly gotten stupid-expensive for CIB.
 

Teknoman

Member
Two months later, and i'm still trying to finish up Faxanadu lol.

rECKNmW.jpg



On that note, i've never play Rygar, so I'll jump in for January.
 

Olly88

Member
Does anyone else think cart-only NES collections look pretty cool? I prefer getting games boxed obviously, but for some that I'm not 100% sure about, if there's a pretty decent jump in price between cart only and complete, then I don't really mind getting it loose.

There's just something about the carts that look cool compared to any other cartridge system, IMO anyway.
 
Does anyone else think cart-only NES collections look pretty cool? I prefer getting boxed games obviously, but for some that I'm not 100% sure about, if there's a pretty decent jump in price between cart only and complete, then I don't really mind getting it loose.

There's just something about the carts that look cool compared to any other cartridge system, IMO anyway.
I agree with that, they look better than other loose carts. Probably because of the square design and their size.
 

D.Lo

Member
Two months later, and i'm still trying to finish up Faxanadu lol.
I gave up after a couple of hours lol. Same with Monster Party.

Still, was good to visit games I wouldn't have otherwise.

Does anyone else think cart-only NES collections look pretty cool? I prefer getting games boxed obviously, but for some that I'm not 100% sure about, if there's a pretty decent jump in price between cart only and complete, then I don't really mind getting it loose.

There's just something about the carts that look cool compared to any other cartridge system, IMO anyway.
Yeah they do. They're huge carts for one thing, and clearly designed with a 'video library' type thing in mind, with the spines and flat edges.
 
^^^ That's a good way to put it. It also helps that the labels were high quality and can hold up over time if well maintained. Another cool piece of it for me is how so many publishers had their own themes/designs across packaging (as so well demonstrated above). It's not just the boxes - the carts themselves look cool when lined up as sets.

The spines are one reason why I like storing my carts in drawers.
 
You can actually see Gradius if you look closely ;)

It's every Konami NES game that got a silver box release worldwide. So I have the US silver version of Dracula's Curse (which was released under the Palcom brand in PAL), and the PAL AU silver versions of Metal Gear, Turtles I and II, Snake's Revenge etc (released under the Ultra brand in the US). If it was silver everywhere I just have one version, though Probotector is different enough to warrant having both Probos and both Contras.

Technically I still need the PAL B Turtles Tournament Fighters and PAL Noah's Ark, which aren't full silver box releases, but have silver sides (like Turtles III).

yeah, i see it now off to the right next to salamander( one of my favorite arcade shooters)

Jackel... i guess nes didn't go with the U. S. arcade name top gunners. I loved how the missile explosion powered up, a line sideways, then a 4 way pattern similar to the shells in super contra (arcade).

damn, you got quite the collection.
 

Macheezmo

Member
I realllly prefer the look of cart-only when it comes to games that have ancient cardboard boxes.

Pretty much this unless you can get boxes in perfect condition. I've got a few boxed games that look amazing, but if they're beat up even a little they don't display well at all. Of course just the cart can look bad if you get a ripped label or I've got one game that looks like someone took a bite out of the cart; still works though.

As for Rygar. I remember playing it when I was younger, but I just couldn't ever figure out where to really go. Especially when there are spots you have to randomly shoot your grapple off screen and just kind of know that there's something there. I may go back and give it another shot this month, even if I have to look up some walkthroughs to finish it.
 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
TMNT was robbed! I don't have Rygar but will try and grab it.

As for the bitbox alternative. I can totally understand people going that route. I might do it for certain games but whilst I have a few quid I'm going to try to grab a few boxed complete games

TMNT is the Bloodborne of the Nes Appreciation community!

Anyways, I just defeated Rescue Rangers 2, which was pretty forgettable really. First few levels felt very boring and uninspired, but I will say, it got slightly better towards the end, and a few of the bosses even became creative. Excellent look and presentation though, and well worth it for the multiplayer fun. Cant really hold a candle to the excellent original though.
 
man, this feels like historically the worst time to want to start getting into boxed copies...i get the fear that it's (potentially) only gonna get worse, but still

Whatever the current time is will continue to be the worst time so far for getting into boxed games.
 
Here's that SMB guide. I love this kind of stuff. Anyone know of an official Nintendo strategy guide that pre-dates this thing? It was published with Tokuma Shoten in 85 and in 87 in the U.S. The intro featured Howard Phillips in full game master mode, including a pic with a bunch of FC stuff.

 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
Surprised the trouble people have with Faxanadu, maybe its been too long, but I remember beating it in like two days when I got it.

Anyways, I havent been in on this since Monster Party, but was never able to beat Rygar, so will probably giving it a go this month. Remember it being crazy hard with the confusing map and no saving. Guess I need to use a walkthrough if im going to have a chance of getting anywhere, if its like how I remember it.
 
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