I also am among the few who like NES Metroid and wish any of the other Metroids were as difficult as it is, yeah. The premise of spelunking deeper and deeper into a viciously alien cave system works a lot better when you’re getting battered at every turn and your life total is like a clock.
I’m not sure I’d credit it with that much sense of pace, though. Your starting health being 30 (making you farm health before you set out) is an inexplicable waste of time. And Norfair is an endless blob of copy-pasted rooms where you may discover anticlimactic missile packs.
I finally got to play the 4 player fighting Riki Kunio game with 3 flesh and blood pals, and it was well worth the decade of anticipation.
Bought an AV Famicom and a bunch of cheap carts lately often based just on the cover art. I don’t know Japanese, but if you do (or if it ever gets an English patch), Kyonshiizu 2 seems pretty sweet. It does the Roger Rabbit/Dick Tracy urban overworld peppered with side scrolling bits thing, but you’re roaming around pagodas kicking hopping vampires.
I also nabbed this sweet Ultraman vs Godzilla baseball game that plays just like the RBI series. Dr. Serazawa is Team Godzilla’s starting pitcher despite his depth perception problem. SD Hedorah is adorable.
Always had a thing for NES Superman. It’s has that obtuse NES game feel, and the map feels sprawling, like a more interconnected RCR.
I feel like we’re jumping the gun here. I mean we haven’t started a Snes emulation thread. There are a lot of hidden gems on that system as well.
Honestly I think every system has some hidden gems. A lot has to do with different limitations and output. IDK what a console’s ‘cannon’ is really. I mean there’s so many disparate things and so many odd technologies in that moment it feels more like a time capsule than a cannon.
Also since we’re talking emulation we’re skipping over some of the crazier stuff. Rob, the light gun, the exercise mat…
Also IDK maybe as I play a bit more, my opinion is softening on the NES. The amount of games here I’m being introduced to just proves my ignorance here.
TMNT2 is SO much better on the NES. But man if they could remake it again with some of the tech they had for Turtles in Time even the NES one could be better.
Okay, look. Everyone in this thread download and play Dr Chaos. Don’t look up how to play. Just run the thing, and stick with it beyond the point where you feel like putting it down.
If you’ve played it before, do it again now that you’re older.
Crystalis and Faria got mentioned above, but don’t forget Capcom’s Willow too. Unlike the arcade game, it’s another Zelda style game. It has one of my all time favorite NES soundtracks too.
Speaking of the NES/SNES evolution, Lagoon gave me serious Willow vibes with the chunky sprites, wide hallways, and giant boss life bars. Two edge case examples?
Unprompted-but-obligatory mention of Niklas Jansson’s ridiculously detailed alternate console history concepts. I love looking over his site every few months. If he ever finds a programmer with as much ambition as him there’s gonna be some great PICO-8-style faux-retro games.
If you want a more refined thing, there is an NES-based sequel called Demon Sword. Same ludrcrpus jumping; more of a confident late-era NES design. Reminds me in some ways of Ninja Gaiden II, Shatterhand, etc.
Dr Chaos was a really interesting game. Games back then were so much more difficult because there weren’t walkthroughs and save states to get you through them and Dr Chaos did zero hand holding.
I’m playing Final Fantasy II now and the memo feature makes the game so much easier. That dread that I would have playing The original Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior games is eliminated. Now you just reload the memo save from one or two battles back and continue on your way.
