The Nintendo classic (not so) mini thread

[Leon Retro]

The Japanese box art is really nice too compared to the garish USA one.

It really is disgusting what publishers often delivered with NES box art. A lot of it is not only gaudy but also really badly drawn. Abadox is a perfect example of this.

I really wish I'd discovered JRPGs when I was younger; I might've gotten a SNES as a kid and played some of those early greats.

My brother is a bit younger than me - and he played some of the best SNES RPGs because I owned the machine and he would gradually play through them when I wasn't around. I remember how much he loved Final Fantasy 2 & 3(USA versions, so 4 & 6 in Japan). He still talks about how fantastic they were.

[importaku]

It really is disgusting what publishers often delivered with NES box art. A lot of it is not only gaudy but also really badly drawn. Abadox is a perfect example of this.

Yeah sometimes it’s shocking just how little effort went into presentation in the West, people in charge were so misguided in what to do. In some respects japan was a lot more sophisticated in how games were presented. Don’t get me wrong they are not perfect there are some truly turd calibre Japanese box designs but in comparison to the stuff the West churned out they seem a lot rarer to come across.

[Leon Retro]

In some respects japan was a lot more sophisticated in how games were presented.

I agree that Japanese publishers tended to have a more professional approach to box art and overall presentation. A few Western publishers did put effort in though, such as Psygnosis. I think the box art shown above is something special.

[importaku]

I agree that Japanese publishers tended to have a more professional approach to box art and overall presentation. A few Western publishers did put effort in though, such as Psygnosis. I think the box art shown above is something special.

Yeah with the ones that made an effort they still stand out today, seems on console they just assumed everything was for kids in the west and decided why bother making the effort. Even Nintendo is guilty of it, just look at how wonderful the japanese super mario bros box is and then compare it to the crappy sprite one we got or even worse the mario 3 box where that fantastic montage is replaced with some weak ass mario clip art and a yellow background lazyness of the highest order. Still it's one of the reasons i find the Japanese minis enjoyable as i get to relish that great box art which is why i goto great lengths trying to track down the best condition box scans i can find even if it meens spending ages in paint restoring them so they look great in the menu.

[Nico87]

A solid selection of games, your list is nearly identical to mine. Good game taste hehe, never tried kyatto ninden teyandee all I know is it’s a platformer and called samurai pizza cats in the west. I have a lot of platformers already installed but have yet to try that one. Worth a play?

Found a shooter called abadox last night from watching a YouTube vid, love its organic levels. Kind of a cool concept of flying inside a living alien to kill its core feels a bit like salamander in that respect.

Yep, if you take away Gimmick, Sweet Home and the two Goemon games, and add Getsu Fuuma Den, Holy Diver and Wai Wai World then the list is the same as my old Famicom collection that I sold off ages ago. I actually still have my AV Famicom and a FDS (both boxed) stored in a closet at my mum’s house, together with a PC Engine Duo-R.

And yes, Kyatto Ninjen is pretty cool, at least in opinion. It’s not the best platformer on the system, but it’s a cute take on whatever genre Mega Man belongs to. Same goes for that Doki Doki game.

[importaku]

Yep, if you take away Gimmick, Sweet Home and the two Goemon games, and add Getsu Fuuma Den, Holy Diver and Wai Wai World then the list is the same as my old Famicom collection that I sold off ages ago. I actually still have my AV Famicom and a FDS (both boxed) stored in a closet at my mum’s house, together with a PC Engine Duo-R.

And yes, Kyatto Ninjen is pretty cool, at least in opinion. It’s not the best platformer on the system, but it’s a cute take on whatever genre Mega Man belongs to. Same goes for that Doki Doki game.

I’ll give it a try this weekend then as I’m always on the lookout to try new games. Planning now to save my horror themed ones for Halloween. Out of curiosity I went looking on eBay to see what physical copies would cost for certain favourite games, my god those prices even for cart only it’s not cheap unless you are looking for only common games. Then again pricing for a lot of systems is way out of control there’s 2 gegege no kitaro games I really want one on gba and one on ps1 the gba one is nearly £200 and the ps1 version is almost £300 no way I’m paying those inflated prices. The minis are a godsend for cost effective retro gaming.

[Nico87]

I’ll give it a try this weekend then as I’m always on the lookout to try new games. Planning now to save my horror themed ones for Halloween. Out of curiosity I went looking on eBay to see what physical copies would cost for certain favourite games, my god those prices even for cart only it’s not cheap unless you are looking for only common games. Then again pricing for a lot of systems is way out of control there’s 2 gegege no kitaro games I really want one on gba and one on ps1 the gba one is nearly £200 and the ps1 version is almost £300 no way I’m paying those inflated prices. The minis are a godsend for cost effective retro gaming.

Yep, been looking at the GBA Kitaro game myself and it’s stupidly expensive on Yahoo Auctions Japan as well with plenty of bidders on every auction. Could easily just download a ROM and put it on my EverDrive, but I’ll only allow myself to play games that I don’t own on the FC and SFC Minis. I have EverDrives for both GB/GBC and GBA but it’s only for convenience and for game saves - I own all the games I have on them.

It’s weird that both GB/GBC and GBA collecting can be done fairly cheaply while FC/SFC can be off the charts. I bought a brand new copy of Wario Land 4 for 700 Yen and 5000 yen for a brand new copy of Guru Logi Champ. Granted, there are exceptions, but still.

[samanosuke]

The minis are a godsend for cost effective retro gaming.

You could always pick up a used PS3 for some cheap ‘retro’ gaming

[importaku]

I have a ps3 already, but you don’t tend to find Nintendo games on Sony hardware lol.

[Leon Retro]

The minis are a godsend for cost effective retro gaming.

It's a weird thing, but I feel more excited about NES/Famicom games when they're on the NES Mini. I don't feel the same about playing them on my Raspberry Pi. It's the same feeling with the SNES/SFC.

I think that's for a few reasons: Excellent build quality, authentic emulation, perfect joypads, and a really nice interface. Knowing I can't just bung hundreds of games on them also helps make things interesting, so I have to really consider what I'm including.

I'd definitely like to own some of the really expensive games, but unless I get rich, it's not going to happen.

[importaku]

It's a weird thing, but I feel more excited about NES/Famicom games when they're on the NES Mini. I don't feel the same about playing them on my Raspberry Pi. It's the same feeling with the SNES/SFC.

I think that's for a few reasons: Excellent build quality, authentic emulation, perfect joypads, and a really nice interface. Knowing I can't just bung hundreds of games on them also helps make things interesting, so I have to really consider what I'm including.

I'd definitely like to own some of the really expensive games, but unless I get rich, it's not going to happen.

You exactly nailed the reasons why these minis are so much fun, the only thing i kind of wish they had added would be for the manuals to have been built into the menu as well but i understand why they didn't as they would take up a lot of room. But still, even with the boxes on display it's nice browsing through the box art looking for something to play.

The huge downside is now Nintendo have shown us what a decent plug & play is like, it's going to be tough to accept less than the same standard from others. The Nintendo ones are not 100% perfect but the bar has been set pretty high all the same.

Still loving abadox, managed to get to level 4 the continue points are pretty fair even if the enemies kick your ass repetedly. Also finally gotten around to playing samurai pizza cats, it's a pretty nice platformer the character changing mechanic keeps things interesting although i sometimes forget which cat has which ability hehe.

[Nico87]

Just finished setting up my newly arrived FC Mini, good times!

[Leon Retro]

Still loving abadox, managed to get to level 4 the continue points are pretty fair even if the enemies kick your ass repetedly.

I got to Level 3 and then decided to use a cheat.

It's a fun game throughout, with nice graphics, decent music,and some interesting bosses. The last bit of the game is probably near impossible to complete without a cheat though. I would give a gold medal to anyone who could conquer it.

[Nu-Eclipse]

So is it just me, or is anybody else surprised that nobody has tried to commercially manufacture Classic Mini versions of the NES Four Score and/or SNES Super Multitap?

I mean, I get that the Classic Minis don't initially come with games that cater for more than two players but at this point in time it's clearly no secret that the machines can be haxxed to feck to play games that do. You would've thought that somebody like 8Bitdo would've capitalized, surely? Unless Nintendo licensing/permission is that stringent??

[importaku]

It’s certainly possible for 4 player as via the usb host hack and then use a usb hub to connect pads to. Would be awesome if someone could do it using the ports at the front. Bomberman would be a hell of a lot more fun.