Famicom Help???

[12-51-00]

Okay, Long Story.... I'm currently working in Seattle (which I'm lucky enough to do from time to time) and a friend/colleague of mine here recently took me to a Baseball game with her brother. As he, well they both, are Japanese the geek in me couldn't help but mention my fetish for anything Japanese, including games. Luckily, it was an obsession he shared and we discovered a mutual love for the Dreamcast (the only console I'm really into). I then proclaimed it was the best console ever only to be shot down with him saying the Famicom/NES is actually better. Having never owned anything Nintendo I didn't argue and when I told him this he said it was criminal and he'd give me one of his with some "choice" games. I never really took him seriously but today his sister brought it into the office and now low and behold here it is , apparently he works in IT and his house is full of old computer crap his wife wants rid of, he just can't bare to see it all go.

The Famicom itself is a bit discoloured (Yellow) but the games are all boxed and almost mint bar a few frayed corners here and there. I've played most the games now and they are excellent, they've aged much better than some PSone games lol. Obviously the boxes are all in Japanese but after bashing HVC-?? codes from the cartridges into google I found most the titles and they are:

Balloon Fight
Baseball
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong 3
Donkey Kong Jr.
Donkey Kong Jr. no Sansuu Asobi (Donkey Kong Jr. Math?)
Dr. Mario
Excitebike
Ice Climber
Mario Bros.
Popeye (I thought it'd be crap but it's very good)
Popeye no Eigo Asobi (some kind of English hangman game?)
Super Mario Bros.

As I am totally new to anything pre-1998 I was just wondering:
a) What are the best Famicom games, or what is at least still worth picking up and playing, and also what can I expect to pay?
b) What are issues I should be aware of if I think about buying UK/US games?

[mezzanine]

As I am totally new to anything pre-1998 I was just wondering:
a) What are the best Famicom games, or what at least is still worth picking up and playing, and also what can I expect to pay?
b) What are issues I should be aware of if I think about buying UK/US games?

Metal Storm, Guevara, Duck Tales, Contra, Over Horizon, Yume Penguin Monogatari, Rod Land, Ninja Gaiden, the Lolo games... Too many to list. Not sure about prices, they can vary considerably. I think the best FC games have aged really well IMO.

I've had no problems playing US games with an adaptor (don't buy the bare PCB one which is a nightmare to use, get one like in this old sale thread of mine). US games are an easy way to play the disk only games on a FC without bothering with the unreliable Disk System.

BTW: If you get bored of those DK games, Ice climber and Balloon Fight then sell them to me please

[12-51-00]

Metal Storm, Guevara, Duck Tales, Contra, Over Horizon, Yume Penguin Monogatari, Rod Land, Ninja Gaiden, the Lolo games... Too many to list. Not sure about prices, they can vary considerably. I think the best FC games have aged really well IMO.

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for those

BTW: If you get bored of those DK games, Ice climber and Balloon Fight then sell them to me please

Sadly, I love the Donkey Kong games but now you mention it I'm not too keen on Balloon Fight or Ice Climber so if they don't grow on me I'll let you know.

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

Samurai Pizza Cats is a MUST!!!

[Juste]

I think Batman is great and Double Dragon II. You can get lots of shooting games like Gradius and there is also Crisis Force by Konami. The Castlevania games are really good and you could get Mario 2 & 3 to go with Super Mario Bros. (^_^)

I think Ghosts 'n Goblins is really good but tough and maybe also Rygar.

You have to get Megaman 2 as well (best Megaman game ever ^_^)

[DeathAdder]

I'm sure Popeye sells in the Mandrake shop in Nakano for some ridiculous price, so I'd keep hold of that one if I were you.

[Lord Of Swede]

I get lots of Famicom games from JapanGameStock, so try them out.

They've got Rockman 2 cartridge only for less than a fiver for example.

Some of those mentioned, like Metal Gear and Guevara, and Contra will be fairly expensive if you want MIB.

I love the Famicom, it's easily my favourite system, and the games make great collectables.

Here's some of my collection:

[12-51-00]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions, and the pic, I had no idea Tetris was available on the Famicom. I thought it started life out on the Gameboy, definitely going to try pick it up though. Saying that Dr. Mario is quite similar and having never even knew it existed, I must say it's fantastic.

I've also just bought Dig Dug, Pac-Man, and Soccer quite cheaply from a guy on the net I usually buy DC games from so I'm hoping those will be good when they turn up.

I'm going to try pick up at least one Mega/Rockman game since you all hold it in such high regard but I might wait until I get Super Mario Bros. 3 first as I really like the first, I'll probably miss out on Super Mario 2 though as I've heard really bad things.

Looking at "best of lists" Duck Hunt, Ice Hockey, Kid Icarus, Mother, and Bubble Bobble all seem good, anyone else think much of them? Oh and are the Zelda, Final Fantasy & Meteroid games as good as everyone says?

[Lord Of Swede]

Definitely get Rockman 2 and Super Mario 3, they're superb. Super Mario 2 as we know it, i.e. picking up and throwing veg, etc, was called Super Mario USA in Japan (it's the one in the pink box in my pic). It's ok, but very unlike the other Mario games. Super Mario 2 was only available on Famicom Disc System in Japan, and is basically a harder remix of Super Mario 1 ... phew!

Metroid and Kid Icarus are very good, but again only on Famicom Disc System in Japan ... they were released on cartridge in the US though.

I would recommend the Castlevania games, however the Japanese release of Castlevania 1 is very expensive on cartridge. The Japanese version of Castlevania 3 is superior to the US version, with better graphics and music.

Both Duck Tales games are great, as is Mighty Final Fight.

There are so many good games to consider

[MattyD]

The Famicom version of Contra, like Castlevania, has better graphics than the NES version. Both games came fitted with custom rendering chips which produced animated backgrounds and a few other effects, but Nintendo wouldn't allow third-party chips in their Western carts.

Oh and BTW, don't foget to pick up River City Ransom

[12-51-00]

Oh and BTW, don't foget to pick up River City Ransom

I presume this has nothing to do with the Scottish soap opera?