I just bought a Famicom... Recommend me some cheap but good games!

[Silverfleet]

After years of wanting one, I bit the bullet last week and clicked Buy It Now on an auction for an A/V-modded Nintendo Famicom. The one I bought came bundled with Duck Hunt, Hogan's Alley, Wild Gunman, and a modded US Zapper that plugs into the Famicom's front expansion port. I also ordered up a small selection of cheap games: Star Soldier, Tag Team Wrestling, F1 Race, Route 16 Turbo, Baseball, Ninja Hattori-kun, and Major League (apparently based on the movie, why didn't the US get that?). I've been scouring eBay in search of more cheap goodness.

 

I know of many of the heavy hitters for the Famicom (Cocoron, Holy Diver, Splatterhouse, etc.) but those are a bit out of my budget right now. I've been really interested in some of the earlier titles and arcade ports that never had a release in the US, like Route 16 Turbo, for instance (love that game, BTW). Since I can't read Japanese, I'll leave the RPG/text adventures out of the picture. Is there anything I should be on the lookout for?

 

Here's a terrible pic of the console I bought:

 

 

Someone modded the controller wires to exit toward the front on the sides, and added A/V ports where the old ports were. The picture does exhibit jail bars a little, but it's not too bad and it doesn't really bother me. It looks better than the RF would, that's for sure!

 

 

It's amazing how much smaller the Famicom 60 pin carts are compared to the 72 pin NES carts. And I like the fact that they fit in cassette tape holders! I wall mounted a few in my game room for my SMS and Genesis carts, so I will have to mount more to hold my Famicom carts.

 

 

Apparently Japanese kids wrote on their carts like US kids did! Anyone know what that translates to?

[+DamonicFury]

Congrats on the Famicom purchase! You got a really nice one there... mine is unmodified and pretty yellowed. But I've been very pleased with it. Being a big fan of the early 80's era of gaming, I've mostly concentrated on the earlier games, and less-so on the ones that 'feel' like typical NES platforming games.

Here's a few favorites:

Binary Land - you control two cute little penguins at the same time, helping them negotiate a maze, clearing it of enemies and collecting bonuses. Has a unique feel to it while feeling every inch of an early 80's game.

Super Arabian - an expanded version of the arcade game that Atari released here in the US.

Nuts and Milk - single screen platforming game with a bit of a a puzzle element

Devil World - Pac-man style game with more than enough differences to make it very interesting

I'm also a fan of the classic arcade games that didn't make it to the NES:

Dig Dug

Mappy

Warpman (Warp Warp)

Space Invaders

Galaxian

Front Line

Crazy Climber

Pooyan

Road Fighter

Circus Charlie

Battle City (Tank Battalion)

[7800fan]

my Android translator says that writing is "Yamaguchi Takanori" so it's probably just name.

 

There are many Famicom games that were never ported to USA. Some are worth trying like Lagrange Point. Other like Mystery of Atlantis (Atlantis no Nazo) should be avoided because it's poorly done and ridiculously hard. (FWIW Activision bought the right to Mystery of Atlantis and had planned to release this as Super Pitfall II)

[The Usotsuki]

After years of wanting one, I bit the bullet last week and clicked Buy It Now on an auction for an A/V-modded Nintendo Famicom. The one I bought came bundled with Duck Hunt, Hogan's Alley, Wild Gunman, and a modded US Zapper that plugs into the Famicom's front expansion port. I also ordered up a small selection of cheap games: Star Soldier, Tag Team Wrestling, F1 Race, Route 16 Turbo, Baseball, Ninja Hattori-kun, and Major League (apparently based on the movie, why didn't the US get that?). I've been scouring eBay in search of more cheap goodness.

 

I know of many of the heavy hitters for the Famicom (Cocoron, Holy Diver, Splatterhouse, etc.) but those are a bit out of my budget right now. I've been really interested in some of the earlier titles and arcade ports that never had a release in the US, like Route 16 Turbo, for instance (love that game, BTW). Since I can't read Japanese, I'll leave the RPG/text adventures out of the picture. Is there anything I should be on the lookout for?

 

Here's a terrible pic of the console I bought:

 

 

Someone modded the controller wires to exit toward the front on the sides, and added A/V ports where the old ports were. The picture does exhibit jail bars a little, but it's not too bad and it doesn't really bother me. It looks better than the RF would, that's for sure!

 

 

It's amazing how much smaller the Famicom 60 pin carts are compared to the 72 pin NES carts. And I like the fact that they fit in cassette tape holders! I wall mounted a few in my game room for my SMS and Genesis carts, so I will have to mount more to hold my Famicom carts.

 

 

Apparently Japanese kids wrote on their carts like US kids did! Anyone know what that translates to?

Looks like a name, Takanori Yamaguchi.

[0078265317]

BTW speaking of famicoms (ebay for example) how do you tell a genuine one from a clone or kncokoff?

[Osgeld]

Tetris

 

Lol I got one just to test Famicoms menus are in English and the controller is.different just to add something new

 

Cost 2 bucks eBay free shipping from new york

[hwj_chim]

star soldier is a good game that is still cheap

[+frankodragon]

BTW speaking of famicoms (ebay for example) how do you tell a genuine one from a clone or kncokoff?

I find that pirated carts usually don't have the two vent? holes on top. Some of the labels are hilarious as they have art taken from GameCibe/Wii games. Some multicarts have Mario from Super Mario Sunshine with a picture of Resident Evil 4 and Pikachu.

[0078265317]

I find that pirated carts usually don't have the two vent? holes on top. Some of the labels are hilarious as they have art taken from GameCibe/Wii games. Some multicarts have Mario from Super Mario Sunshine with a picture of Resident Evil 4 and Pikachu.

I meant systems not carts.

[Silverfleet]

Thanks for the tips and the translation on the name, guys!

 

I've rarely seen Famiclones that look exactly like a real one. The ones that are close usually have subtle differences. Usually, the colors are off, the front label says something that's not Family Computer, etc.

 

Here's one by a Chinese company called Chin Laser (best name ever):

 

 

Most of the clones have detachable controllers and don't work with the Famicom Disk Drive.

 

Here's a good resource for Famiclones: http://ultimateconsoledatabase.com/famiclones.htm

 

Before I bought the console I ended up buying, I nearly bought a clone that had 60 and 72 pin slots. This one wasn't a Yobo, which are common here. It was something older, and looked similar to the Famicom, except with two slots. I passed on it because I want to have the option to pick up a Famicom Disk Drive down the road.

[+frankodragon]

 

 

Most of the clones have detachable controllers and don't work with the Famicom Disk Drive.

 

 

The only Famiclone I know that works with the disk drive is the Virtual Station. But you have to do a little surgery to remove the round circular piece that surrounds the cartridge slot. Otherwise, the interface cartridge won't fit all the way in.

 

[R.Cade]

I have a VirtualStation and know for a fact that expansion audio would never work unmodified, so I'm surprised it works with FDS.

 

Pins 45 and 46 and both grounded... You can perform surgery and free them up and mix in the audio.

I have done this and it works with Everdrive N8, at least.

 

Mine looks identical to this design-wise, but it's orange.

Edited May 25, 2016 by R.Cade

[HoshiChiri]

There's a shop near me with a copy of Takeshi's Challenge for sale...

 

*evil cackle*

[Silverfleet]

Another game that I picked up on the cheap off of eBay finally showed up from Japan: Major League.

 

Yes, as in the movie Major League.

 

 

It's a typical RBI Baseball-style baseball game that was released in 1989, with good presentation and decent controls. Other than a few screens at the beginning, this game has very little to do with the movie itself. But whatever... for $4 shipped, it's not bad at all! I played the crap out of it over the weekend.

 

Some more terrible pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The real question is why this game was never released in the US??? Seriously, it's an American movie about Baseball. It would have done great here, and it's a lot better than some of its peers (I'm looking at you, Bases Loaded!) so it would have sold just fine even without any real connection to the film. The Japanese seemed to have way more Baseball games than we did, and some of them are quite good. Count Major League among them.

[HoshiChiri]

 

The real question is why this game was never released in the US??? Seriously, it's an American movie about Baseball. It would have done great here, and it's a lot better than some of its peers (I'm looking at you, Bases Loaded!) so it would have sold just fine even without any real connection to the film. The Japanese seemed to have way more Baseball games than we did, and some of them are quite good. Count Major League among them.

 

It's pretty simple- Japan is OBESSED with baseball. I think they like it more than Americans, quite frankly. Back when Ichiro Susuki joined the Mariners, Seattle International District stores used to have random stickers in windows that just said 'Ichiro' in Japanese. It was a really big deal.

[madhatter667]

Oh man...

Joy Mech Fight.

Kickle Cubicle (not exclusive just fun).

All the Ninja Kun titles.

Parodius

Gradius 2

Castlevania: Kid Dracula

Daikou No Gensan/Hammerin' Harry

Quarth

Devil World
Star Wars (it's silly)

Flipull

If you can swing it, Splatter House is way fun.

 

If you get heavy into Famicom, there are a lot of "collection gems" in its library. Recca, Punch Out Gold, Over Horizon, Holy Diver. Many of these are available in US friendly repro carts... but meh, grab what you like. Lol. There are also disk system games that have been dumped to cart (I believe these were pirate done), such are SMB2, Doki Doki Panic, and several others that I cannot remember. If you get a Famicom Disk System... that's another crazy (but fun) can of worms.

 

 

Also, don't be too afraid of pirate carts. They're all over the place. Pretty easy to identify once you know what you are looking for. Not the worst way to get some rare titles into your collection for cheap. There are folks out there who collect them, and there are some fairly rare ones in and of themselves. Generally also, a rare game tends to = a rare pirate. If you get any pirate carts that are super light... they are glop top boards, store them somewhere temp stable as they are more sensitive than carts made with ICs. Otherwise, play on. Pirate carts tend to lack the twin squares punched out of the top of Famicom carts... but that's not a dead giveaway. Bright colors... not always so either. Reds, pinks, light blue, yellow, orange, and black are pretty common colors. I've seen some grey, green, and white. They tend to be flat topped, with three ribs on top. Label arts range from "ok" to "shit."

If you want, I have an NES/Famicom pic thread in the collection section. There's legit, and pirate in there. The pirate stuff should jump out pretty quick as a visual reference for you.

Edited June 1, 2016 by madhatter667

[Silverfleet]

Oh man...

Joy Mech Fight.

Kickle Cubicle (not exclusive just fun).

All the Ninja Kun titles.

Parodius

Gradius 2

Castlevania: Kid Dracula

Daikou No Gensan/Hammerin' Harry

Quarth

Devil World

Star Wars (it's silly)

Flipull

If you can swing it, Splatter House is way fun.

 

If you get heavy into Famicom, there are a lot of "collection gems" in its library. Recca, Punch Out Gold, Over Horizon, Holy Diver. Many of these are available in US friendly repro carts... but meh, grab what you like. Lol. There are also disk system games that have been dumped to cart (I believe these were pirate done), such are SMB2, Doki Doki Panic, and several others that I cannot remember. If you get a Famicom Disk System... that's another crazy (but fun) can of worms.

 

 

Also, don't be too afraid of pirate carts. They're all over the place. Pretty easy to identify once you know what you are looking for. Not the worst way to get some rare titles into your collection for cheap. There are folks out there who collect them, and there are some fairly rare ones in and of themselves. Generally also, a rare game tends to = a rare pirate. If you get any pirate carts that are super light... they are glop top boards, store them somewhere temp stable as they are more sensitive than carts made with ICs. Otherwise, play on. Pirate carts tend to lack the twin squares punched out of the top of Famicom carts... but that's not a dead giveaway. Bright colors... not always so either. Reds, pinks, light blue, yellow, orange, and black are pretty common colors. I've seen some grey, green, and white. They tend to be flat topped, with three ribs on top. Label arts range from "ok" to "shit."

If you want, I have an NES/Famicom pic thread in the collection section. There's legit, and pirate in there. The pirate stuff should jump out pretty quick as a visual reference for you.

 

That's a decent list right there. I have played more than a few of them through emulation (like Joy Mech Fight, Holy Diver, Kid Dracula, etc.) and they are really great games. I actually have Kickle Cubicle on the NES, so that's covered. I'm interested in picking up the Ninja Kun games because they are still cheap and look like fun.

 

I'm really interested in picking up a pirated copy of SMB2, since I don't own a FDS yet. I just haven't seen one out there yet.

[Silverfleet]

So, I'm a few months into Famicom ownership, and I love the thing so far. My favorite thing about it is all the early arcade-style games, many which we never got here in the states on the NES. I've picked up a few games recently:

 

 

I'm up to about 15 games now. My latest pickups were all found in the wild, which I never expected. That Power Joy cart (originally bundled with one of those crappy Famiclone N64 controllers, I think) has "64 games", and about 55-60 are different games. Most of them are good ones too!

 

 

A lot of them are the usual pirate cart games, but it was nice to see some of these games on there, especially Twin Bee, Devil World, Pooyan, Nuts & Milk, and Exerion. And the Namco (or Namcot in this case) games that we never got here, like Dig Dug, Galaxian, and Mappy were a bonus as well.

[Newsdee]

I love my Famicom and, with some exceptions only get FC versions of games. The size of the carts is much more convenient for storage, although sadly many don't have end labels.

 

For FDS games I've got the RAM adapter, but without the drive and plugged to a kind of USB stick. Basically it replaces only the storage so it plays everything faithfully (unlike the Everdrive which still has some glitches on FDS)

Edited August 23, 2016 by Newsdee

[madhatter667]

Hey, it's got Gradius, Devil World, Ice Climber (baby seals?), Dig Dug, Galaxian, and Galaga. All good titles, and would run you a few bucks a pop if bought individually. Good times.

[zetastrike]

I just bought an AV modded Famicom last week. I'm really stoked for it to arrive. I picked up 5 games for it so far:

 

Gradius II

TMNT (TMNT II the Arcade Game in the US)

TMNT 2 (TMNT 3 in the US)

Ninja Ryukenden III (apparently much less punishing than the western NES version)

Hole in One Professional Golf (made by HAL, looks similar to Golf on the Gameboy, so I thought what the hell)

+ Some random game the seller will include with the FC, I won't know until I get it

[Newsdee]

I've found Takeshi's Challenge for super cheap in one store. I'm tempted to get it but then it's so terrible and I've seen that episode of Game Center CX; so know most of it.

 

Re: TMNT the first game had a different name in Japan (Geki Kame Ninja Den, kind or "legend of the cool ninja turtles")

 

Famicom Wars is worth checking out, it's a very fun tactical game that came before the Fire Emblem series.

[Silverfleet]

I just bought an AV modded Famicom last week. I'm really stoked for it to arrive. I picked up 5 games for it so far:

 

Gradius II

TMNT (TMNT II the Arcade Game in the US)

TMNT 2 (TMNT 3 in the US)

Ninja Ryukenden III (apparently much less punishing than the western NES version)

Hole in One Professional Golf (made by HAL, looks similar to Golf on the Gameboy, so I thought what the hell)

+ Some random game the seller will include with the FC, I won't know until I get it

 

Nice pickups! I want to get some of the Konami games that have the enhanced sound at some point, like Gradius II and Castlevania III.

[madhatter667]

Lol. I just noticed the Ultimate Console Database link. That's MY Micro Genius IQ-501 on there. Lol. Old pic though. System still works. One of the better clones actually. I like that one a lot, and the controllers are pretty good too. A large number of clones are kinda meh, but some are quite good. The Micro Genius, old Dendy, and some of the ones that look like the older model Famicom )some just say Computer Game) are pretty good. There's more good ones besides that, but names aren't popping into my head. There are TONS of them. There are modern clone systems that came post patent expiration, but they seem to have the same issues as the many others (lots of Nintendo On A Chip). The hardware clones seem to have fewer problems.

[billysastard]

really if you want to see what's worth getting then a multicart is the way to go and dirt cheap, in terms of bang for your buck i'd recommend the coolboy 400 in 1 and coolboy 198 in 1 as those have the least duplicates on them you should pick them up for about £4 each or £7 for the pair with free shipping from aliexpress in china.

 

you can also pick up on ebay a copy of hyper olympic and/or hyper sports (track and field 1 & 2) along with a pair of hypershot controllers for £10-£15, goonies 1 and the famicom klax are fun games (and klax is better than the tengen one), afterburner again is similar to the us version but is afterburner 1 or 2 (i forget which the tengen one is but the namco one is the other) obviously splatterhouse is recommended but pricey as is gimmick.

 

some of the chinese pirate carts can be fun too, i have sonic the hedgehog, boogerman, golden axe 3 and the super shinobi, there is also a version of final fantasy 7 (in english, make sure its more common in chinese) that is a lot cheaper than a us copy its pretty good but very difficult, the demakes of donkey kong country (titled dkc4) and contra spirits are also fantastic work (but contra spirits demake is really hard to get on cart as it uses a custom mapper).