{"id":18273,"date":"2018-09-21T00:01:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T00:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=18273"},"modified":"2018-09-12T20:02:30","modified_gmt":"2018-09-12T20:02:30","slug":"the-games-of-the-nes-classic-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/21\/the-games-of-the-nes-classic-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"The Games of the NES Classic Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For the longest time I was kind of sad I never got the NES Classic Edition.\u00a0 But when Nintendo restocked them last, I was finally able to get one!\u00a0 So here is a blog about all the games you can play on it.<\/p>\n

Now, I wasn\u2019t TOO sad that I wasn\u2019t able to get one at first.\u00a0 Mainly because while I had a NES as a kid and enjoyed it a lot, I generally played third party games that were not on this collection.\u00a0\u00a0 Mostly Capcom\u2019s Mega Man and Disney titles.\u00a0 In fact I was more excited about The Disney Afternoon Collection than I was the NES Classic Edition.\u00a0 But I still wanted one anyway.<\/p>\n

Really the only problem I have with the NES Classic Edition outside of the selection of games is the controller.\u00a0 One of my unpopular opinions is that I never really liked the NES controller.\u00a0 In fact, when I first got my NES, one of the first things I got for it was the NES Advantage joystick.\u00a0 I liked that much better.\u00a0 But the biggest problem isn\u2019t the controller itself, but the cord!\u00a0 It\u2019s so short on the NES Classic Edition.\u00a0 Normally I wouldn\u2019t complain about that, but it\u2019s REALLY bad here.\u00a0 Like, if I have my NES Classic Edition on the ground and hold the controller and stand up, I would end up pulling the whole console up with me!\u00a0 It\u2019s pretty bad.\u00a0 And they didn\u2019t include two controllers, which is dumb since many of the games on this collection are best played with two players simultaneously.<\/p>\n

One other thing I noticed is that some of the games play slower than I remember.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s because I\u2019m used to playing faster games now or if the emulation isn\u2019t perfect or my memory is just not as good.\u00a0 But yeah, some games felt a little slower.<\/p>\n

But anyway, here are some pictures of the NES Classic Edition.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the front of the box.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And the back of the box.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And here it is in my hand so you can see how small it is.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

OK enough of that, let\u2019s get on to the games!<\/p>\n

Super Mario Bros.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I actually first played this game in the arcade, not on the NES.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pretty good game for the time, but it\u2019s actually not the game that made me want a NES.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t like this game as much as most people think I would.\u00a0 I read that in Japan, they had planned for this to be the last hurrah for the Famicom before they went onto make games for the Disk System.<\/p>\n

Super Mario Bros. 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

So we all know the story about how our Mario 2 is not Japan\u2019s Mario 2.\u00a0 I\u2019m actually kind of glad we never got the TRUE Mario 2, as I consider that more of a harder expansion pack than a sequel.\u00a0 Later on in Japan, they ported our Mario 2 back to Japan under the title Super Mario USA.\u00a0 And it\u2019s pretty much the same game as what we got.\u00a0 I figured they lost the license to the characters who were originally in Doki Doki Panic, what would become our Mario 2, as they were from a TV channel festival in Japan.<\/p>\n

Super Mario Bros. 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m about to say something that\u2019ll make everyone hate me.\u00a0 I actually like Mario 2 (USA) more than Mario 3.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I still think Mario 3 is a very creative and influential game.\u00a0 I just prefer playing 2.\u00a0 Did you know that our Mario 3 is significantly easier than Japan\u2019s, because when you\u2019d get hit while having a power-up or a suit on their game, you\u2019d turn into small Mario, whereas in our version, you just go back to being Big Mario.<\/p>\n

Mario Bros.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Probably the only Mario game where he actually does some plumbing, although it\u2019s really more like pest control.\u00a0 It\u2019s an all right game, but it\u2019s been done to death on the Mario Advance titles.\u00a0 Again, but with only one controller included, you really can\u2019t enjoy the two player mode here.<\/p>\n

Donkey Kong<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read somewhere that the Famicom was originally designed to play a near arcade perfect version of Donkey Kong.\u00a0 And yet they still omitted the cement factory level.\u00a0 But then, for 1983, when the Famicom was released in Japan, it\u2019s still a pretty darn good arcade port.<\/p>\n

Ice Climber<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the only reason why people remember this game is the characters were in Super Smash Bros.\u00a0 The game itself isn\u2019t that good, thanks to clunky jumping controls.\u00a0 They changed some of the characters in the US version so that you hammer little furry snow monsters instead of seals, like in the Japan version.<\/p>\n

Excitebike<\/strong><\/p>\n

I remember this game being fairly popular when I was a kid.\u00a0 Although I think I mostly just enjoyed making my own tracks.\u00a0 I played it at friends\u2019 houses and even saw it in arcades a few times.\u00a0 But I never owned it.\u00a0 When my brother Jeff was old enough to enjoy games, he played Excitebike on GameCube Animal Crossing and LOVED it.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of his favorite retro games!<\/p>\n

Balloon Fight<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is pretty much Nintendo\u2019s answer to Joust, except you\u2019re flying on balloons instead of ostriches.\u00a0 I know people say this was one of Satoru Iwata\u2019s early masterpieces, but honestly I don\u2019t remember playing it much and I didn\u2019t know anyone who had it back then.\u00a0 Plus I just like Joust better.\u00a0 Sorry Iwata.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mario<\/strong><\/p>\n

This puzzle game has always been pretty popular.\u00a0 Ever since the NES it\u2019s been ported to nearly every other Nintendo system in some form or fashion.\u00a0 Up until a few years ago, I didn\u2019t know there was an arcade version of Dr. Mario, but once I found out, I saw it everywhere.\u00a0 How did I miss that?\u00a0 Dr. Mario is also one of my mom\u2019s favorite games.<\/p>\n

Kirby\u2019s Adventure<\/strong><\/p>\n

This game is a masterpiece and one of the NES\u2019 crowning achievements.\u00a0 Believe it or not, I didn\u2019t play it when it first came out on the NES.\u00a0 I was too into SNES games and I wasn\u2019t a Kirby fan yet.\u00a0 The game that made me a Kirby fan was actually Kirby\u2019s Dream Course on the SNES.\u00a0 But once I was a Kirby fan, I did go back and play this one when I got the chance.<\/p>\n

The Legend of Zelda<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first Zelda title was the game that made me want a NES, not Super Mario Bros.\u00a0 I was so enthralled with the fact that you could save your game!\u00a0 To this day, the original NES Zelda is probably in my top three favorite Zelda games, right after Link to the Past and Link\u2019s Awakening.\u00a0 In Japan, the game first came out on the Disk System, and that version was on the Famicom Classic Edition that I have as well, so it was neat to play one of my favorite Zelda games in a different way.<\/p>\n

Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sorry fans, but Zelda 2 is probably one of my least favorite Zelda titles.\u00a0 At least it\u2019s better than the Disk System version of the same game.<\/p>\n

Metroid<\/strong><\/p>\n

I played the game a few times when my friends would rent it and I\u2019d go over to visit.\u00a0 But I didn\u2019t really get into Metroid games until Super Metroid on the SNES.<\/p>\n

Castlevania<\/strong><\/p>\n

I never was into Castlevania, but I knew a lot of people who had this game on the NES.\u00a0 It was very popular, and still is to this day.\u00a0 The game has even had two animated series: Captain N and the new adult cartoon on Netflix.\u00a0 I wonder if I would\u2019ve been more into Metroid and Castlevania on the NES if I could save my game like Zelda?\u00a0 You could do it on the Disk System!<\/p>\n

Castlevania 2: Simon\u2019s Quest<\/strong><\/p>\n

This game is exclusive to the US NES Classic Edition and has more adventure elements.\u00a0 A lot of people complain about it because of that, but when my friend rented it back in the day and we played it and beat it, I don\u2019t remember it being TOO bad.\u00a0 But I certainly don\u2019t like it now.\u00a0 Getting knocked back into insta-death pits is incredibly frustrating.\u00a0 Too bad they didn\u2019t get Castlevania 3 on here, too.<\/p>\n

Mega Man 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of third-party games, I\u2019m glad they put a good number of them on this Classic Edition because back on the NES, I mostly played third-party games over Nintendo\u2019s own.\u00a0 And most of those were from Capcom, especially their Mega Man and Disney games.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I was more excited when Capcom announced The Disney Afternoon Collection than I was when Nintendo announced the NES Classic.\u00a0 And I was way more into Mega Man than Mario.\u00a0 While my favorite is Mega Man 3, I can see why most people like 2 the best.\u00a0 It is pretty darn good.\u00a0 Aside from the title change, not much difference from this and the Japan version.\u00a0 We got a difficulty selection, but they didn\u2019t.\u00a0 It was always set on \u2018difficult\u2019 for them, but aside from some enemies being tougher and bosses taking more hits, it\u2019s not really that much different.<\/p>\n

Ghosts N Goblins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another Capcom NES game.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a very good port, though, and I was never that much into the series anyway.\u00a0 One of my friends had it so we did play it quite a bit for a while.<\/p>\n

Gradius<\/strong><\/p>\n

Konami was another king of third-party games in the US.\u00a0 In fact, they made so many games they had to form a second company called Ultra in order to get around Nintendo\u2019s rules about limiting how many games a company can release in a year.\u00a0 I guess Gradius is a pretty good port of the arcade game, but I was more into Life Force as a kid.\u00a0 Too bad we never got Gradius 2 on the NES, that was a pretty impressive 8-bit port!<\/p>\n

Super C<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure why the NES Classic Ediiton has Super C but not the original Contra.\u00a0 I do remember both games being pretty popular, though.\u00a0 I played both quite a bit at my friend\u2019s house.\u00a0 They\u2019re tough as nails run and gun games, but still somewhat fun with a friend and the Konami code.\u00a0 Impressive graphics and music, too.<\/p>\n

Pac-Man<\/strong><\/p>\n

Namco was one of Nintendo\u2019s big third-party developers on the Famicom at first, but got frustrated with Nintendo\u2019s rules on limiting third-party releases.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why you saw a lot of their later titles on the TG-16 and the Genesis.\u00a0 This really isn\u2019t a very good port of the arcade game, but I guess when it was released on the Famicom in 1984, it was pretty decent.\u00a0 We never got it in the US until 1988 under the Tengen label and later in 1993 under the Namco brand.\u00a0 So by then it was showing its age.<\/p>\n

Galaga<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aside from some missing colors, I guess this is a pretty decent port of the arcade game.\u00a0 Interestingly enough, Galaga was published in the US by Bandai, which would be foretelling since Namco and Bandai have now merged.<\/p>\n

Double Dragon 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in the day, Double Dragon was HUGE!\u00a0 Normally I\u2019d question why we got the sequel on this collection instead of the first game, but I think most people preferred the second game on the NES anyway.\u00a0 I was never much into Double Dragon myself.\u00a0 I was more into Final Fight back then.<\/p>\n

Ninja Gaiden<\/strong><\/p>\n

This game was super popular on the NES.\u00a0 My friends and I rented it and the sequels a few times.\u00a0 This was one of the first games to really implement cut scenes frequently.\u00a0 There was nothing like it at the time so it was really innovative.<\/p>\n

Punch Out!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next five games are on the NES Classic Edition, but not the Famicom one.\u00a0 Punch Out was always more appealing to Americans anyway.\u00a0 It was super popular when I was a kid, at least the Mike Tyson version (not on here).\u00a0 I never was a big fan of Punch Out, though.\u00a0 The bigger kids hogged it in the arcade, and it just didn\u2019t appeal to me on the NES.\u00a0 My little brother Jeff loves that game, though.<\/p>\n

StarTropics<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was another game that was designed to appeal to an American audience.\u00a0 I rented it once back in the day and hated it, so I\u2019m glad it\u2019s on here so I can give it a second chance.\u00a0 So far I don\u2019t like it now either, though.\u00a0 It just feels slow and clunky, and I\u2019d rather just go and play The Legend of Zelda, which this game is trying to imitate.<\/p>\n

Tecmo Bowl<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHut! Hut! Hut! Hut! Hut! Hut! Hut!\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ve never been much into sports games but I do know this was super huge on the NES.\u00a0 I mostly remember the arcade version, which had a extra wide screen (or two screens) so you could see more of the field.\u00a0 After trying it on the NES Classic Edition, I can see why it was so popular, as it\u2019s very approachable and fun.\u00a0 Although I do much better running than passing.\u00a0 My friend had another football game when we were kids called NES Play Action Football. \u00a0He got it because it came with a four player adapter, but I kind of wish he would\u2019ve gotten Tecmo Bowl instead.<\/p>\n

Bubble Bobble<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of my favorite games, but I don\u2019t remember seeing it in arcades much back then.\u00a0 I think I first heard of the game from the NES version.\u00a0 Which is a pretty good port of the arcade game, all things considered.\u00a0 Although it\u2019s not as much fun here since it\u2019s a better two player game and this only came with one controller.\u00a0 When I was a kid I rented this game a ton of times and would take it to my friend\u2019s house for us to play together.\u00a0 And my friend would be like, \u201cUgh, not again!\u201d\u00a0 When the arcade version was ported to the PSOne, my brother Jeff and I played it a lot.<\/p>\n

Final Fantasy<\/strong><\/p>\n

My friend had both Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, and while I enjoyed playing them at his house, I didn\u2019t feel compelled enough to buy them for myself.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t really get into RPGs until the SNES anyway.\u00a0 But I certainly liked Final Fantasy better than Dragon Warrior, even though it\u2019s a bit hard to go back to this game on the NES.\u00a0 If you want to play the first FF game, I recommend the GBA or PSP versions.<\/p>\n

And those are all the games.\u00a0 It\u2019s a neat console, but I certainly wouldn\u2019t pay a scalper\u2019s price for it. And I like the SNES Classic Edition much more, but then the SNES is my most favorite console ever.\u00a0 \u00a0Let me know what you think about all this.\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 \u2013Cary<\/p>\n

PS: Here are links to my other articles on Nintendo\u2019s \u201cClassic Editions\u201d if you\u2019d like to read those.<\/p>\n

The Games of the SNES Classic Edition<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Games of the Famicom Classic Edition<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the longest time I was kind of sad I never got the NES Classic Edition.\u00a0 But when Nintendo restocked them last, I was finally able to get one!\u00a0 So here is a blog about all the games you can play on it. Now, I wasn\u2019t TOO sad that I wasn\u2019t able to get one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18273"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18275,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18273\/revisions\/18275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}