Strategy Games on the NES

[jhd]

Like many other people, I suddenly have a great deal of "free" time on my hands. I have been exploring the NES library.

 

I never had an NES BITD; indeed, the only actual hardware that I own are several Famiclones with multiple built-in games. I am therefore very unfamiliar with most of the games for this system.

 

My two favourite genres are RPGs and Strategy games. I have absolutely no difficulty in finding RPGs ?, but I am unsure about what strategy games are available. I have downloaded the TOSEC set, but with only the titles as a guide, it is challenging to find something without knowing the name.

 

Any recommendations (bearing in mind that I cannot read Japanese)? 

 

[dj_convoy]

I believe there are patched versions in English of Famicom Wars (the predecessor to Advance Wars) if you are looking for a fun tactics / strategy game. You can't go too wrong with any of the KOEI games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Bandit Kings of China, etc. Some folks find those games to be a bit dry, but I think they are of decent quality. North vs. South is also worth a look.

 

Not enough people talk about Guardian Legend, which is a space shooter with overland RPG elements, sort of like Zelda. That's a terrific game. 

Edited March 23, 2020 by dj_convoy

[Newsdee]

There is also Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem Gaiden, both have been fan translated.

[electricmastro]

 

[Mikebloke]

There's a few others but not too many. 

 

Gemfire which also ended up on the next gen consoles, Think there is a version of M.U.L.E and although we'd be stretching the boundary of strategy there is things like Elite available too. 

 

Edit didn't realise this was bumped, but hey, anyone who is a fellow education worker is off work by now right

Edited December 20, 2021 by Mikebloke

[+GoldenWheels]

To be frank you probably couldn't pay me to play it for very long now but I spent some long weekends bitd with Desert Commander.

 

 

[PressureCooker2600]

North vs. South is great. Give it a try.

[youxia]

North & South is an awesome classic, but it looks much better in 16 bits, so if you can, play it on Amiga.

 

You have to try Bokosuka Wars. It's a bit different than the microcomputer version but still great - a bizarre, hybrid precursor of action-RPG/RTS games.

This fabulous cover art really says it all

 

[Tanooki]

How far do we want to stretch or be strict to the idea of a strategy game?  Fire Emblem?  Conflict?  North & South?

 

I'm only asking because while they really are using the point and click format, games like Kings Quest 5, Maniac Mansion, and the full homebrew of Leisure Suit Larry 1 with their moon logic puzzle messes there require a lot of strategy not to get killed or trapped or get the crap score missing some one off perks to the plot.  You need to be smart and calculated on what X does to Y and maybe Z an hour later with real consequences.

[Reaperman]

Godzilla 2 is a straightforward wargame with nice theming. It's kind of similar to Famicom Wars in perspective and mechanics.

 

 

Overlord was kind of a neat NES empire-builder strategy game.

It's one of those games where the manual is super-helpful.

without it there's a learning-cliff that turns people off.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Reaperman

[0078265317]

Cobra command was fun bitd.  Also Dragon Warrior.  Or is that more RPG-ish?

[Tanooki]

12 hours ago, 0078265317 said:

Cobra command was fun bitd.  Also Dragon Warrior.  Or is that more RPG-ish?

The first is like choplifter, the second is basically like the birth of the modern JRPG so no...not strategy games.

[Austin]

It's not full-on turn-based-strategy like Godzilla 2, but I recently tried Archon for the first time. It's a fantasy take on chess with a ton of rule changes and extra subtleties added in. When pieces collide, it turns into a one-on-one action sequence in small arenas. Players have full control over their characters at that point and it turns into more of a reflex game. It's definitely a strategy/action hybrid at its core, but in terms of actually winning, it leans more heavily on the strategy side. Very fun game, I was quite surprised by it. It also makes for a great human vs. human multiplayer game.

Edited December 23, 2021 by Austin