Top 25 Killer Apps for the NES Powerpak

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Over the past several months I've been preparing a list of the top 25 essential games for Retrozone's NES Powerpak. Why 25? Seemed like a good number. The only qualification would be that the games must work with the latest powerpak mappers and must not include any commercially available NES games.

After extensive play testing, I feel I've come up with a pretty good list. Check it out!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/top-25-powerpak-killer-apps-nes/

Let me know what you guys think and feel free to drop any further recommendations.

[Steven]

Good stuff -- look forward to trying out some of these games. Thanks for passing along some groovy info :)

[OldSchoolGamer]

Wow great job. I have the worst memory so I hope you don't mind, I made a PDF of your article for future reference, also I will link to it in my Facebook Classic Gaming group with full credit to you of course. Thanks.

If anyone is on Facebook and interested check out my group HERE:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26887025879

[Satoshi_Matrix]

You might wanna redo it; I just finished editing out spelling errors and correcting a few other mistakes. It should be go to go now. I've listed a lot of reviews as well so be sure to check the backlog!

[Icarus Moonsight]

Nice list. Gives me some games to add. I'd suggest you check out the Recca Pure patch, if you haven't done so already. Only reason I even mention it is it isn't on your list, and I really think it ought to be.

[Sabz5150]

+1 for Blade Buster. That game is the cat's meow. Its worth it to burn this to its own cartridge if you don't have a Pak.

[Zoe F]

While you composed a very solid list overall, I'm extremely disappointed not to see Super Mario Bros. Special listed on there. It's a ROM hack that puts the level data from Hudson Soft's PC8801 Mario game into the regular Super Mario Bros. ROM. What you end up with is an utterly fantastic game that's, in my view and that of several others, actually superior to the Famicom Disk System's Super Mario Bros. 2.

The patch is available here: http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/527/

[Greg2600]

Nice list. I'd never heard of D-Pad Hero or Blade Buster, they both look cool. One thing I have to say is that I am just not at all a fan of the NES pirate games and most of the hacks. They always seem so sloppy. I will have to agree on Gradius II though! A great game, and I was really thrilled when the mappers came out not too long ago to get it to work on the PP. Adventure Island IV is another plus because it was never released here.

Games left off....
Crisis Force, which the NES hardware just barely can run, but it's a magnificent shooter only released in Japan.
Konami's The Goonies.
Time Diver: Eon Man is pretty decent.
Robocop vs Terminator is just okay.
Capcom's California Raisins and
Parker Brother's Drac's Night Out, both are just average.
Titan Warriors from Capcom, an okay space shooter.
I'm Kid Dracula! is liked by many, though not my cup of tea.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

No (Almana no Kiseki) Miracle of Arumana??

Awww. :(

[MachineGex]

Great Read!

Is the information on Sachen's "Huge Insect" correct? Are there really only 10-20 legit copies out there? I own a boxed Huge Insect that I got off of Ebay a few years ago. I thought the game sounded good and got into a bidding war for it. Luckily, I won the auction and it arrived safe and sound.

I have a huge soft spot for Sachen's games. Generally, I think they arent that bad. Some of them are really good ideas for games and could have been great games with some more(alot more) polish.

Here is my list for interesting Sachen games:
Huge Insect, Auto Upturn, Happy Pairs, Jovial Race, Popo Team, Pyramid II, Super Pang, Q Boy, Locksmith, Tasac
I would love to see someone polish the above titles. Most of them are really pretty decent and don't need too much work.

Here are a few more games that would fit nicely on your list:
Recca Pure, Over Horizon, Devil World, Hammerin' Harry, New Ghostbuster II

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I'd suggest you check out the Recca Pure patch, if you haven't done so already.



Games left off....
Crisis Force, which the NES hardware just barely can run, but it's a magnificent shooter only released in Japan.
Konami's The Goonies.
Time Diver: Eon Man is pretty decent.
Robocop vs Terminator is just okay.
Capcom's California Raisins and
Parker Brother's Drac's Night Out, both are just average.
Titan Warriors from Capcom, an okay space shooter.
I'm Kid Dracula! is liked by many, though not my cup of tea.


Here are a few more games that would fit nicely on your list:
Recca Pure, Over Horizon, Devil World, Hammerin' Harry, New Ghostbuster II

Guys, keep in mind the list is for NON COMMERCIALLY RELEASED games. Most of what you guys listed came out in Europe or Japan and are playable if you just import them. The only exceptions I included to my no commerical game list were extensive fan translations such as Final Fantasy III and Ganbare Goemon 2. Playing these in English is required for non-Japanese readers. Shooters like Recca or Chrisis Force have no Japanese at all, making them importable, not games for this list. Also this list is for the best of the best - I'm not sure unreleased games like California Raisins or Robocop vs the Terminator should have been considered.:roll:


No (Almana no Kiseki) Miracle of Arumana??

Even though I said no commercial games, I really wanted to put this one on the list. Consider it an honorable mention:)


While you composed a very solid list overall, I'm extremely disappointed not to see Super Mario Bros. Special listed on there.

Thanks for this info! I'll be sure to check this out. I had completely missed it. If I think it's good enough, I'll include it in a follow up article. Stay tuned.


One thing I have to say is that I am just not at all a fan of the NES pirate games and most of the hacks. They always seem so sloppy.

I understand completely what you mean. The pirates I chose for the list are either unusually excellent, breaking said sloppy mold or are just so fucking strange you can't ignore them (Somari). I encourage you to give each of the pirates I listed a fair try before you pass judgment. A lot will be better than you think, especially Aladdin.



Great Read!

Is the information on Sachen's "Huge Insect" correct? Are there really only 10-20 legit copies out there? I own a boxed Huge Insect that I got off of Ebay a few years ago.

Holy shit, you seriously own a boxed Huge Insect? Is the cartridge: Solid black with a label that looks like it was printed on a standard inkjet printer and cut by hand?

If so, you most likely have one of the 10-20 copies in existence. If not, then you probably have some sort of pirate (oh the irony).

Huge Insect was featured on 1up's now defunt podcast Retronauts in their massive NES special. If you have a real copy of Huge Insect, you can think/blame Frank Cifaldi for it. The podcast is definitely relevant to your interests.

http://podcast.the1upnetwork.com/flat/Retronauts/R091010.mp3

[Icarus Moonsight]

Recca Pure is a patch which opens up modes that were blocked or left out of the standard release version, somewhat similar to the translations and Gradius graphic improved patched games which you included.

Try it out, seriously, it's almost mandatory. LOL

I'm gonna give Blade Buster a run as soon as I get some spare time to hook up the NES again.

[Greg2600]

Guys, keep in mind the list is for NON COMMERCIALLY RELEASED games. Most of what you guys listed came out in Europe or Japan and are playable if you just import them. The only exceptions I included to my no commerical game list were extensive fan translations such as Final Fantasy III and Ganbare Goemon 2. Playing these in English is required for non-Japanese readers. Shooters like Recca or Chrisis Force have no Japanese at all, making them importable, not games for this list. Also this list is for the best of the best - I'm not sure unreleased games like California Raisins or Robocop vs the Terminator should have been considered.:roll:
Oh I thought you meant not commercially released in North America. I think that's still more appropriate, because I couldn't play those games I listed without a PowerPak, on a US NES, realistically. As for the pirate clones, like I said, they are neat to check out, but for me rarely nothing more. Aladdin is impressive for the NES, but I'd rather just play the real version on Genesis.

PS: I checked out Blade Buster, and wow, that game is pretty wild. I am pretty stunned at how fast moving and how many things are going on.

[ryborg]

If you want to email me regarding any of the games I’ve listed, email satoshimatrix@hotmail.com. I will remove this option if I get a lot of spam mail, fair warning.

I don't think the automated email spiders care too much about your warning.

Great list, though, and a nice read. Good job!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Oh I thought you meant not commercially released in North America. I think that's still more appropriate, because I couldn't play those games I listed without a PowerPak, on a US NES, realistically. As for the pirate clones, like I said, they are neat to check out, but for me rarely nothing more. Aladdin is impressive for the NES, but I'd rather just play the real version on Genesis.

PS: I checked out Blade Buster, and wow, that game is pretty wild. I am pretty stunned at how fast moving and how many things are going on.

You can always import Famicom games and play them with an adapter, or better yet import a whole Famicom. That's what I did. My Powerpak is only used for convenience as it runs on both NES and Famicom hardware.

Also the Genesis Aladdin is completely different. The FC pirate is based on the Capcom SNES Aladdin.

[MachineGex]

Guys, keep in mind the list is for [B]NON COMMERCIALLY RELEASED ...


Ok, I got confused by a few games on your list. With everyone making Repros, finding a repro of Recca is gonna be much easier than finding an original, that is way I included some of the more difficult/harder to find NES games(kinda like Huge Insect). I thought the list was more weird/cool/rare-ish games you should check out on your power pak. Either way, great read!

Also, is Alladin different/better than the PAL release? I didnt know there were two different Alladin games for the NES.



Holy shit, you seriously own a boxed Huge Insect? Is the cartridge: Solid black with a label that looks like it was printed on a standard inkjet printer and cut by hand?


Yeah, it is a "real" one. Here is what Nintendo Age has for numbers, still pretty damn rare:
* First Generation - Green Box, 10 copies, Released 1993
* Second Generation - Orange Box, 15 copies, Released 2002
* Third Generation - Blue Box, 18 copies, Released 2002
* Fourth Generation - Purple Box, 35 copies, Released 2005

Mine is the purple box release. One of only 78 total copies. Rarer than a NWC cart. :)

[Kiddo]

Are you planning a similar list for the SNES Powerpak/Super Everdrive/whatever-else-is-out-there or the Genesis Everdrive?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Ok, I got confused by a few games on your list. With everyone making Repros, finding a repro of Recca is gonna be much easier than finding an original, that is way I included some of the more difficult/harder to find NES games(kinda like Huge Insect). I thought the list was more weird/cool/rare-ish games you should check out on your power pak. Either way, great read!

Also, is Aladdin different/better than the PAL release? I didnt know there were two different Aladdin games for the NES.


Haha, with so many people asking why i didn't put Recca in there I'll have to include another 5-10 follow up recommendations and be sure to put Recca in there for you guys ;)

There are actually four Aladdin's for the NES/Famicom.

Aladdin by Yoko is the one I mentioned. This is a port of the Super NES version made by Capcom.

Super Aladdin - This is a port of the Genesis version. It's not nearly as good as the Yoko one.

Aladdin 2 - this is also a port of the Genesis version, but its AWFUL.

Disney's Aladdin - Made by Virgin released only in Europe. Pretty much a dumbed down Genesis port from what I've seen.

and hey man, great find to know you have Huge Insect! I envy you! That's pretty much the only Sachen game other than Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu that I like.


Are you planning a similar list for the SNES Powerpak/Super Everdrive/whatever-else-is-out-there or the Genesis Everdrive?

I plan on making a similar non-commercial release list for the Super Powerpak yes. Everdrive I'm less sure about because there's only a handful of games I can think of that would fall into the fan translation/pirated/hack category and be worth your attention.

The other kind of lists would be top 25 commercially released games in a very similar article style to what you see here. I could do them for any number of systems from the 2600 to the current gen. As some of you might guess from reading my blog (http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com) my choices are a bit unconventional.

For example, if I were to make a top 25 PS2 games list, you'd see Beyond Good & Evil and perhaps GTA 3, but you wouldn't see Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts Socom or most what else you'd typically find on such lists. Mine would have games like Fatal Frame III, Gradius V and Global Defense Force.

[Kiddo]

I plan on making a similar non-commercial release list for the Super Powerpak yes. Everdrive I'm less sure about because there's only a handful of games I can think of that would fall into the fan translation/pirated/hack category and be worth your attention.


Really? I'm fairly certain there's at least a certain amount of hacks to look into.
You can start with the Sonic major Sonic hacks

http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_Hacks

At the very least Knuckles in Sonic 1 deserves attention.

There's also the recently-ported SMB1 for Genesis, a lot of fan translations (Langrisser II, Monster World IV, the Phantasy Star Text Adventure line, and others come to mind. Oh, nad Pulseman.)

Thing is, you'll probably end up mostly having to pick out from Sonic ROM hacks.

(EDIT:

Ah, yeah, Ultimate MK Trilogy.

http://umk3.hacking-cult.org/eng/index.htm

Nearly forgot about that one..)

[Greg2600]

(EDIT:

Ah, yeah, Ultimate MK Trilogy.

http://umk3.hacking-cult.org/eng/index.htm

Nearly forgot about that one..)
Ultimate MK Trilogy doesn't work on EverDrive (rom too big). It doesn't even work on most emulators without those being hacked.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I wouldn't do a list until I can come up with at least 25 because I'm obsessive compulsive about numbers.

At present there's a lot less than that I can think of for the Genesis. Also I'm not nearly as much of a fan of the Everdrive as I am either of the Powerpaks. They're just simply superior devices.

But I will *eventually* make a Genesis/Megadrive list. Just not for a while.

[Superman]

I guess I haven't been keeping up with rom hacks for awhile. I figured I would see all of the usual suspects on the list, but I was pleasantly surprised! I always have had an interest in Super Mario and Zelda hacks, in particular, but the Mega Man hacks look really fun (by fun I mean torturous) as well.

Thanks for sharing, Satoshi!

[Zoe F]

There's also the recently-ported SMB1 for Genesis, a lot of fan translations (Langrisser II, Monster World IV, the Phantasy Star Text Adventure line, and others come to mind. Oh, nad Pulseman.)

How can you mention all of those and not mention King Colossus? The plot might be downright hilariously stupid at times, but the game is still an absolute blast to play through. Well, it's admittedly a little less fun once you realize that the spear is grossly overpowered and makes most enemies unable to even touch you, but it's still really good. It was even translated by the same people who gave us the Phantasy Star text adventures and Pulseman.

You're all monsters for ignoring some of the games I like! You're monsters, I say! :-P