1st Wave Nintendo Games (85-87)

[Tempest]

Even though I owned a NES back in the day during the height of its popularity and have quite a large NES collection, I always find myself coming back to 1st wave of titles that Nintendo put out (the ones with the pixelated art work). While the later titles are quite impressive, I find that the arcade style simplicity of the original titles captures my interest.

My favorite titles are:

Goonies (technically a Konami game, but it always seems like a Nintendo game to me since I played it on the Vs System)
Clu Clu Land
Wrecking Crew
Balloon Fight
Gyromite (yes I like Gyromite but without ROB)
Ice Climber
Kung Fu
Gumshoe (too damn hard though)
And any of the arcade classics (DK, DK jr, DK 3, Popeye, etc)

I also add Kid Icarus and Metroid to the list although they weren't released until 87. 1987 seems to be the 'cut off' date for the classic style Nintendo games, from then on they started to get more advanced and complex. 87 also seems to be about the time when all the 3rd party companies jumped onto the NES bandwagon.

So for me, my NES world goes from 85-87 (83 if you're counting Japanese titles). I know it sounds odd, but maybe it's because I grew up with simpler arcade style games. I like the uniformity of the title screens, music, and graphics. It makes them all seem very connected to each other.

Anyone else feel the same way or am I just way out there?

Tempest

[bangtango]

I love Kung Fu and Ice Climber.

One of my favorite NES titles is the much reviled Urban Champion from that same era. Such a simple concept but I always thought it was a lot of fun to play, despite the flaws.

I agree with the general premise. To me, many of the later NES games were either trying to push the system for the sake of pushing it, they were trying to live up to an SNES version of the same game or they were trying their best to match an arcade port (obviously a huge stretch).

Early on, it was all about the gameplay and the fun.

[spiffyone]

Metroid was released in mid '86, not '87. Kid Icarus was released in late '86 in Japan.

As for cutting myself off at about '87? Nah...can't do it. To me the defining time span of NES was from '86 to about '89, when both Super Mario Bros. 3 and Sega's Genesis were released in the US.

But there's still a ton of games beyond that year that are great on NES. Castlevania III came out in '90, and I'd be remiss not to point out my favorite NES games of all time, StarTropics 1 and 2, came out in the '90 and '94(!).

I love arcade style gameplay, but to me it doesn't really define NES, and doesn't define Nintendo. Aside from Donkey Kong, DK Jr. and Mario Bros., Nintendo's never really been an arcade game company, and even those games were very, very "different" from most classic arcade games. They don't really have that arcade gameplay "feel" to them. They feel like console games, actually.

Sega, on the other hand, is an arcade game company through and through. And that helps define their systems. Atari is as well (well..."classic" Atari).

So I could see myself just playing arcade style games on a Sega system or Atari system (though I don't, as much as I love arcade games I still like console style experiences to mix things up a bit); I just cannot see myself only playing arcade style games on a Nintendo system, as Nintendo's never "felt" like an arcade company to me, so when I think of playing NES I'm much more likely to gravitate toward the home console style games.

[homerhomer]

Recently, I've done the same. I'm currently working on getting some of those first gen games. I think that it might be because those first gen games where almost where simple.

It seems like Rygar formula is what killed it for me. it's like they would take the arcade game and mess with it. With Goonies II, they did the same thing. I just wanted the VS. goonies and I got a confusing mess with Goonies II.

In both cases, I wanted the arcade game but ended up with something different. It was okay, but misleading.


Hey Don't forget

Elevator Action and Kid Niki

[sheath]

Urban Champion and Kung Fu were almost all I played on the NES until sometime in late 1988. Good (often frustrating) times. I also enjoyed the heck out of Gyromite without the robot.

I don't have much interest in NES games after 1990, I have always tended towards the Arcade adaptations of any console. I pretty much used RPGs to change the pace between Action releases. I did buy an NES for Zelda II and Metroid back in 1989. Cobra Triangle, TMNT and Ninja Gaiden occupied plenty of my time that year.

[8bitgamer]

I still play Popeye, Donkey Kong 3, and Mario Bros. probably more than any other NES games.

[betamax001]

I am quite fond of Donkey Kong Classics myself. It's got Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr on one cart. So sweet.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Meh, I never really liked that first generation of games for the NES. However, when SMB came out and the screen scrolled, my enthusiasm for the system shot through the roof. Simple games do have charm, but think the later, more complex games like SMB, Metroid, and Kid Icarus had a lot more entertainment to offer to the player.

[sheath]

Hah, I just thought to wonder what "everybody" online would say about the NES if its production software stopped at 2 years from US launch. Or what about 4 years from launch?

[Steve W]

I had Wrecking Crew, Balloon Fight, Mario Bros., and Gumshoe out of those early titles. I think I loved Wrecking Crew the most, with Mario Bros. being close behind. I loved the NES in the beginning, but their business practices made me give up on them long ago.

[JudgeYohance]

I have always been more partial to Kirby more then any other NES title (Though the recent Wii one left me feeling Betrayed on every level!).

It recently stunned me when I learned that a couple of the major names of the NES got their start on the MSX (A Japan only Microsoft system) before they were released to the NES namely Bomberman which I was addicted to back then.

[Tempest]

Hah, I just thought to wonder what "everybody" online would say about the NES if its production software stopped at 2 years from US launch. Or what about 4 years from launch?
I've thought about that myself and once as an experiment I actually did just that. I took all the NES games from 85 through 87ish (Zelda 1 was in there but not 2) and pretended that this was the entire library and then evaluated what I thought of the system at the time (this was mid 2000's). I came to the conclusion that it was neat little system and had some great potential and that it was a shame it died out. I thought it was worthy of remaining hooked up and thought that the closest thing it reminded me of was the Colecovision.

A strange thing to do, but it was sort of an experiment to see if I loved the NES because of it's early games or because of the later blockbusters and hype.

What about everyone else? If the NES had died after about two years (maybe the 7800 totally dominated or something), what would your opinion of it be?

Tempest

[swlovinist]

I love the variety that Nintendo games have. I liked simpler games such as Mario Bros. and Balloon Fight. For me when I first played games like Metroid, Castlevania, and Zelda..I loved that the game experience was varied from what arcade style games could do and offer. Nintendo to me was a system that could offer a different game experience than what was previously offered. Their library reflects that they were trying to be different than what was being offered on other videogame systems. Funny, I have a good friend that would say the same thing as the orginal poster...give me the awesome arcade ports.

[Aussie2B]

While I appreciate some of the earlier titles, I'll always see '87 as the real turning point for the NES when it truly took off and became a must-have for every kid. I don't think it's coincidental that it was the same period in which Nintendo felt it worthwhile to create Nintendo Power. They recognized that things were really getting hot. As for myself, it was games like Metroid and Castlevania that had a huge impact on me. Arcade-style games were loads of fun, but those games sucked me into their worlds and their atmosphere.

[Malon_Forever]

Bump 'n' Jump for the win! I love that game.

[hellraiser]

I really like the first wave games to. Except mach rider...I hate mach rider!

[Cobra Commander]

I have all those first gen bit-art games complete except for Stack Up. I'll probably never get one.

[smallfish]

I'm currently working on getting some of those first gen games. I think that it might be because those first gen games where almost where simple.