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[sambojin]

Now that the emulator "console" gimmick has passed, I'm wondering what games bay12 think should have been on there, to not only make them good/fun toys to have, but things with actual replay value. Almost to the point that you'd be happy to hand them down to your kids on a "this is what Grand-/Dad/Mum used to play, and they stood the test of time".

Not necessarily the big power hitters of each console, but games that really can be played for a bit of fun whenever, or even your "if I was stuck on a desert island" games. Disregard licensing issues, newer versions of, etc, etc. Just good games that *could* have been on those console's memory cards, so you would still consider turning them on in ten years time, even though you've finished those particular games.

My quick list (that I'll probably add more to, and isn't even really ordered other than the top 3) is:

NES Classic
#1 Sid Meyers Pirates! It's just a damn good, light hearted game. The NES menu system made everything fast to do, and it's still one of my go-to emulated games on my phone, because it's so carefree and open. Tight, easy controls, with plenty of fun and replayability.

#2 M.U.L.E  It's a trading sim that can bring great woe to friendships, or laughter, and is great to crack out after a few beers as a party game. It's amazing. Pretty good to teach kids some concepts too, because it can be played cooperatively or competitively, with non-zero-sum outcomes, specialization, market gluts, planning, economies of scale, random events, diversification, and many other somewhat complex topics all being covered in a fun/cutesy manner.

#3 Elite.  Yes, I know the controls are horrible. Yes, I know Elite isn't even that good to play with better controls. But it's Elite, the grand-daddy of first-person space Sims, and it's not on the NES Classic.

#720°.  A skateboarding game. Because skateboarding both was, and still is, cool.

#1943.  It's like Tyrian, but far, far worse. At least there's some character upgradability in it though.

#AD&D: Pools of Radiance. Because AD&D both was, and still is, geeky as fuck. But makes for a different RPG style from the FF or DW series.

#Bionic Commando.  Just good, novel, fluid mechanics in a platformer.

#California Games.  All the "cool" sports that aren't in other games, even if this is a crappy version of the title.

#Defender of the Crown.  Medieval sim. Because, there's not many of them from that era.

#Gauntlet/II. Plain good top-down dungeon crawling fun.

#Joust.  Look, we got Balloon Fight, why not Joust? At least joust is great fun to play in vs mode.

#Lemmings.  A puzzle game is sorely needed to enhance longevity. Even with a tiny colour palette so that it looks awful, and bad controls for this genre, Lemmings is better than most.

#Loadrunner. The completely unrandomized Spelunky of its day.

#Might and Magic 1: Pretty clunky as RPGs go, but closer to an "open world" experience out there than anything else on the NES.

#Operation Wolf.  Because, shooting EVERYTHING is fine to do sometimes.

#Rampage.  Because smashing buildings is fun.

#Rampart.  Because putting buildings back together in between smashing ships with cannons is fun, but hard.

#River City Ransom.  Open'ish world street fighting. Kind of.

#Romance of the Three Kingdoms II. You want deep and fiddly strategy? Here it is. Could also chuck in Nobunaga's Ambition II as well. Every Dynasty/Samurai Warriors fan's wet nightmare.

#Tetris.  I bought a cheap Chinese TV that had Tetris on it as a minigame a while ago. But the NES classic doesn't have it on the console. Everyone can play Tetris. So it should be there.

#Ultima 4.  One of the few RPGs that tried doing things completely differently, and entirely succeeded in doing so. A non-arbitrary bad guy, only your semi-virtuous self to rein in.

#A golf game, a baseball game, and a monster car game. These play quite well on the NES. So there should have been one of each. Possibly a "normal"driving game as well (or Spy Hunter).

#Aussie Rules Footy. No, the rest of the world hasn't heard of it. No, I don't even like the game IRL, and I'm Australian. But it translated to a two button console controller surprisingly well. A hidden gem, of a horrible football code.


What other games would you have chosen to slip into the memory card of the NES classic, mostly in terms of replayability rather than "big Nintendo games"? Admittedly I've listed a lot of games that also got PC ports, but being the master race and all, we're of more discerning values in what actually stands the test of time and playtime.

[Folly]

For SNES mini, I would have liked to see E.V.O. I'm sure Terranigma would also have been well received. And Chrono Trigger is just too obvious.

[sambojin]

Yeah, I'll edit the hell out of this post once I've cobbled together a list for Snes. I mean, there was Civilization 1 on SNES. Why the hell that's not on there, even with slightly clunky controls, I'll never know......

Snes console ports are a weird bunch. They go from "kinda playable" like Civ, to "quite hard to play, but at least you can pause it" like Simcity2000, to "probably unplayable, plus it took a major graphics downgrade" like Syndicate. Normally you'd think "fuck yeah, all three of them, for sure!". But nope, I still haven't managed to play Syndicate properly through an emulator. I try and overlook the "real" experience that I've had on PC, but some shit is just too far removed from what you liked about the game to bother.

[sambojin]

*reserved for random snes list*

[Aoi]

I don't think there's anything Enix that was included, which is a pity, because I will insist to the end that there is little that rivals the narratives of the Dark Gaia trilogy. Also, I remember thinking that the merge system in Breath of Fire II was the coolest thing ever.

Lufia 2-- RPG that streamlined and simplified menu combat, had encounters you could see on the map (and influence), actually interesting puzzles, and an entire roguelike dungeon? Yes.

And-- no Archon for the NES? I remember picking that up at Toys R Us randomly when they were clearing out the NES inventory for SNES. Picked up all sorts of random stuff for 1$ each.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Snes console ports are a weird bunch. They go from "kinda playable" like Civ, to "quite hard to play, but at least you can pause it" like Simcity2000, to "probably unplayable, plus it took a major graphics downgrade" like Syndicate. Normally you'd think "fuck yeah, all three of them, for sure!". But nope, I still haven't managed to play Syndicate properly through an emulator. I try and overlook the "real" experience that I've had on PC, but some shit is just too far removed from what you liked about the game to bother.

I haven't experienced the game on PC, but I've had quite a good time with Syndicate on the Mega Drive. 
 
As for the SNES Mini, I'll have to second E.V.O.: Search for Eden. I haven't played many games on that console (got the Mega Drive first, and only occasionally had a SNES in possession), but E.V.O. is one of the more unique ones.

[Robsoie]

Was there Tecmo Bowl/SuperBowl on that "nes mini" thing ?
If not it's simply unforgivable, i never even cared about the american football sport but Tecmo SuperBowl was one of the most fun entertaining and brillant piece of sport game, and probably the only reason i have the nestopia emulator on my drive.

I even read that there are modders that are still working on hacking that old nes rom and implement up to date roster for those that like the real sport.
 
And who can ever forget Bo Jackson !



I believe there were versions of the game released on the snes too, but i never played them.

[dennislp3]

Act Raiser anyone? I loved that game when I was a kid. It was the first simulation/strategy game I played and my primary passion ever since then has been Simulation and strategy games.

[sambojin]

Yeah, completely forgot about Archon. It definitely deserved a spot. Great little action/strategy title.

[Shadowlord]

M.U.L.E. for the NES. I never had an NES myself, but I did have a Commodore 64/128, and loved playing M.U.L.E.'s local multiplayer.
 

[Arbinire]

Shadowrun for the SNES mini.  Been playing through that game this past week and I must say, damn was it ahead of it's time.  Will say though it's TONS easier with an analog stick instead of a d-pad

[wierd]

English translation Seiken Densetsu 3.
(Secret of Mana 3, Japan)

Only ever released in Japan. Exists as a De-Jap translated rom. Very playable, very enjoyable. A second player can assume limited control over one of the other party members during combat, so it is pseudo-2-player.

[IndigoFenix]

Surprised to see multiple people with Enix love.  Illusion of Gaia was one of my favorites for its weird plot and unorthodox message.

It has always been my headcanon that E.V.O. was a prequel to the Soul Blazer trilogy.  Crystal = Comet.  Or maybe Enix just likes mysterious evil forces that promote evolution into monsters.

[Cicero]

I would kill for an NES mini with M.U.L.E. and Rampart on it! As far as games you didn't list go, Blaster Master and Bandit Kings of Ancient China would both be nice.

[Aoi]

Shadowrun for the SNES mini.  Been playing through that game this past week and I must say, damn was it ahead of it's time.  Will say though it's TONS easier with an analog stick instead of a d-pad

Didn't it support the SNES mouse? Or is that just wishful thinking...

I remember spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to keep Kitsune alive all the way to the end... and, that was totally not worth the time and effort, other than a marvelous sense of (un)accomplishment.