Claiming this spot here, jumping in a bit late but I'm excited. The games I beat will have a distinct retro focus, as I just got a Framemeister and my AV Famicom RGB modded. Looking forward to this!
List so far:
1. Rygar (NES/Famicom, 1 hour 20 minutes, 1/13)
I've always loved this game, ever since I first played it when I was a kid. I know the game very well and my strat to make an otherwise difficult game easier is to strengthen my character by repeatedly fighting the robots before taking on the series of bosses. Makes it more fun.
2. The Legend of Zelda (NES/Famicom, 2 hours 15 minutes, 1/16)
Another classic. Just as with Rygar I know the game well and get upgrades early to make the game easier. You can get the white sword and blue ring before beating a single dungeon; makes it a relaxing playthrough (except a few tricky sports in dungeons 6 and 9).
3. Super Mario Bros. (NES/Famicom, 15 minutes, 1/16)
The first game I ever worked on speed running, and I plan to beat several of the mainline super mario bros. titles this year. I took it easy and made sure to be big / stay big in 8-3 and 8-4. There's something so relaxing about this game for me; great nostalgic way to unwind for a few minutes.
4. Contra (NES/Famicom, 25 minutes, 1/17)
Using the 30 lives code makes this game a pleasant romp. If I have time after completing the challenge I'll go back and redo without the code, that will take quite a bit more time I suspect.
5. Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES/Famicom, 50 minutes, 1/18)
This game was a lot of fun. I don't think I'd ever beaten it all the way through without warping except for the first time I played it as a kid. It was particularly cool playing through it on a Framemeister in RGB. With scanlines off it actually had a really clean, bright, and colorful look to it. So much better than the weird unrefined off-looking colors feel I remember from playing it years ago.
6. Mega Man (NES/Famicom, 7 hours, 1/22)
I remembered trying to beat this as a kid and getting absolutely destroyed by the yellow devil boss in the Dr. Wily stage. Same situation transpired this time. After blazing through the initial bosses I was feeling pretty good, only to again be ruined by this boss. Burned through all of my accumulated 1ups and ended up repeating the stage many times until I finally resorted to the select pause trick. I don't even feel bad about it, without the difficulty is just insane. After that, steady progress untli the end. If you want a reminder of just how punishing the difficulty of some NES games can be, this game would be a very good choice.
7. Mega Man 2 (NES/Famicom, 4 hours, 1/23)
I had a lot more fun with this than MM 1. Amazing graphics and soundtrack and, since I played on Normal difficulty, a much more reasonable difficulty curve. I actually enjoyed the entire experience. I've never finished MM 3-6 so am looking forward to seeing how good they are; that said I'd be surprised if any of them top MM 2. Such a good game.