Accessible Good Famicom Games

The Famicom had over 1,000 games released for it during its lifetime.  Hundreds of those games were never released outside of Japan, and there were only a few releases of Japanese games exclusively in Europe.  Of course, many, many of those games that never officially made it out of Japan are terrible, as were many games that did make it overseas.  In this post I am going to list many good Famicom cartridge games that were not released for the North American NES console.  Not all the games identified below are classics, but all have their virtues.  Famicom Disk System games have already been mostly covered elsewhere :

http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2016/04/worth-loading-times-famicom-disk-system.html

The first list is of games that are English-friendly.  These games do not use a lot of Japanese text and what text there is is not essential to completing the game.  Most of these games have translation patches as well.  Many tend to be simpler games, namely shooters and platformers

English Friendly Famicom-Exclusive (or Near-Exclusive) Games
Atlantis no Nazo
Attack Animal Gakuen
Babel no Tō
Baltron
Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa
Cosmic Epsilon
Crisis Force
Devil World
Dig Dug
Doki! Doki! Yuuenchi: Crazy Land Daisakusen
Exerion
Flying Hero
Galaxian
Gimmick!
Gradius II
Holy Diver
Insector X
JJ: Tobidase Daisakusen Part II
Joy Mecha Fight
Moai Kun
Nangoku Shirei!!: Spy vs Spy
Parodius da!
Quarth
Recca - Summer Carnival '92
Spartan X 2
Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti
Star Wars
Super Star Force Jikūreki no Himitsu
Super Xevious GAMP no Nazo
The Goonies
Thunderbirds
Twinbee
Uchuu Keibitai SDF
Wai Wai World 2: SOS!! Paseri Jou
Wizardry II: Legacy of Llylgamyn
Yōsei Monogatari Rod Land

Devil World, Parodius da! and Doki! Doki! Yuuenchi: Crazy Land Daisakusen (Trolls in Crazyland) and Yōsei Monogatari Rod Land (Rod Land) were released for the PAL NES system.   The Goonies was only released for the PlayChoice-10 arcade, it never made it to home cartridge.  Weirdly Thunderbirds was not despite its origins as a British TV show.  Star Wars is a very, very loose adaptation of the film and is a very different adaptation from the LucasArts/JVC game.

Atlantos no Nazo was almost going to be an entry in the Pitfall series, but it never got past the prototype stage.  Bio Miracle was a late Disk to Cartridge port, the music may be a little lacking but the gameplay is still there.  Spartan X2 is a sequel to Spartan X, a.k.a. Kung Fu.  JJ: Tobidase Daisakusen Part II is a dark sequel to The 3-D Adventures of the Lode Runner and takes advantage of the Famicom 3-D System glasses.

There are several fine shooters on this list, Crisis Force, Uchuu Keibitai SDF and of course the technically stunning Recca - Summer Carnival '92.  Good platformers include Holy Diver, Gimmick! and Moai Kun.  Joy Mecha Fight is weird but one of the few good one on one fighters for the system.

The second list include games that really require a translation to fully play and enjoy.  It is extremely fortunate that the Famicom catalog has had many fine hackers and translators for it over the years.

Japanese Games Worth Playing with a Translation
Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula-kun
Cocoron
Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zen'in Shuugou!
Esper Dream 2: Aratanaru Tatakai
Famicom Wars
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Fire Emblem Gaiden
Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi
Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu
Getsu Fuuma Den
Ike Ike! Nekketsu Hockey Bu: Subette Koronde Dairantou
Just Breed
King of Kings
Konami Wai Wai World
Kunio Kun no Nekketsu Soccer League
Lagrange Point
Mother
Musashi no Bouken
Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu
Nekketsu! Street Basket: Ganbare Dunk Heroes
Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken
Romancia
Shufflepuck Cafe
Sweet Home
Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima IV
Takeshi no Chousenjou
Tenchi o Kurau II - Shokatsu Koumei Den
Wily & Light no RockBoard: That's Paradise
Ys
Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys
Yume Penguin Monogatari

In this list there are a lot of RPGs.  The NES library was rather weak on RPGs, so supplementing them with the Famicom's is a good idea if you like 8-bit RPGs.  Some of the best are the VRC7-sound enhanced Lagrange Point, the charming Mother (the US prototype is Earthbound) and the intricate job system of Final Fantasy III.  

Tactical-based RPGs are also given a heavy emphasis here.  We got almost nothing, so with the Nintendo-developed Fire Emblem games, the Namco-163 sound enhanced King of Kings and the MMC5-graphics and sound enhanced Just Breed, you will have plenty of opportunities to explore this genre.  

There are a couple of games I really would not recommend if they stood alone.  Ys II is a far superior port of its game compared to Ys.  Final Fantasy II's improvement system is broken.  Similarly, other games are more recommended for their historical interest.  Takeshi no Chousenjou is not an objectively good game but it is pretty insane.  Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken shows the beginning of what would become Enix.  

If you like River City Ransom, Nintendo World Cup or Super Dodge Ball, I have listed most of the other Kunio Nekketsu games.  Technos just could not stop making them for every kind of sporting activity.  

My final list is of Japanese games that did get a release in North America, but have some feature which makes their Japanese version notable :

Japanese Name	North American Name	Major Differences
Akumajou Densetsu	Castlevania III - Dracula’s Curse	Enhanced VRC6 Music, More Balanced Difficulty
Akumajou Dracula	Castlevania	Easy Mode
Arabian Dream Scheherazade	The Magic of Scheherazade	Graphics Changes, Shorter Sword for Warrior
Argus no Senshi	Rygar	Several Different Music Tracks
Contra	Contra	Introduction and in-game Story Cutscenes, Animated Background Tiles
Donald Duck	Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular!	Major Graphics Changes
Double Dragon III - The Rosetta Stone	Double Dragon III - The Sacred Stones	More Balanced Difficulty
Final Mission	S.C.A.T. - Special Cybernetic Attack Team	More Difficult
Golgo 13 - Dai 1 Shou - Kamigami no Tasogare	Golgo 13 - Top Secret Episode	Uncensored
Gradius - Archimendes HEN Version	Gradius	Graphics Changes
Gun-Dec	Vice: Project Doom	Uncensored
Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru	Yo Noid!	Major Graphics Changes
Karnov	Karnov	Extra Endings, Story Cutscenes
Mad City	The Adventures of Bayou Billy	Much Fairer Difficulty
Magic John	Totally Rad	Graphics Changes
Magical Doropie	The Krion Conquest	Story Cutscenes
Mickey Mouse III: Yume Fuusen	Kid Klown in Night Mayor World	Major Graphical and Sound changes
Mighty Bomb Jack	Mighty Bomb Jack	More Difficult
Moero TwinBee - Cinnamon Hakase o Sukue!	Stinger	Three-player support
Ninja Ryukenden III: Yomi no Hakobune	Ninja Gaiden III – The Ancient Ship of Doom	Much Fairer Difficulty, Infinite Continues, Password
Obake no Q-tarō: WanWan Panic	Chubby Cherub	Major Graphics Changes
Parody World: Monster Party	Monster Party	Red Blood, Prototype that was never Released in Japan
Power Blazer	Power Blade	Significantly Less Polished Version
Rolling Thunder	Rolling Thunder	Enhanced Namco-163 Music
Saiyuuki World 2 - Tenjoukai no Majin	Whomp 'Em	Graphics Changes
Salamander	Life Force	3rd Option Powerup, Different Endings, Translucent Cartridge
Strider Hiryuu	Strider	Buggy, Prototype that was never Released in Japan, Textual Differences, Graphics Differences
Super Mario Bros. 3	Super Mario Bros. 3	Somewhat More Difficult
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - The Arcade Game	Somewhat Less Difficult, No Pizza Hut Ads
Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain	Shatterhand	Graphics Changes, Level and Boss Changes, Intro
Top Secret Hitler no Fukkatsu	Bionic Commando	Uncensored, Somewhat More Difficult
Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World	Panic Restaurant	More Balanced Difficulty, Graphics Changes

Obviously, games with cutscenes will need a translation patch or improvement hack to fully enjoy.  All the above listed games seem to have such patches, so do some of the censored games.  

Two Late Classic Apple II to PC Ports, Unalike in Dignity

Even though the Apple II was very long in its lifespan by the end of the 1980s, there was a fair bit of software still being released for it.  The Apple II was very strong in the educational market, computer labs across the United States had yet to upgrade to the PC platform.  The Apple II had many, many classic games.  Most of them were ported to the PC at some point, but by the end of the 1980s the number of A2-to-PC ports (that did not have the name Carmen Sandiego in the title) was dwindling.

Even so, two classics of the Apple II did make their way to the PC platform in the late 1980s and they are the subject of this blog entry.  The first is MECC's 1985 update of The Oregon Trail.  The second is Jordan Mechner's Prince of Persia, programmed on and released for the Apple IIe, IIc and IIgs in 1989.  MECC ported the Apple II version of The Oregon Trail to the IBM PC in 1988.  Mechner and Broderbund ported the Apple II version of Prince of Persia to the PC compatibles in 1990.

The Oregon Trail is the simpler game, in fact it was an update of an earlier version MECC made for the Apple II in 1980.  That version was mostly text-based and occasionally displayed simple wire-frame graphics and a little music.  Before personal computing, Oregon Trail was played on mainframes on a time-share basis.  But the 1985 Apple II version is undoubtedly the most popular version of the game.  The 1985 version requires 64KB of RAM on an Apple II.  This version was ported to the PC by MECC in 1988.  The PC port requires 512KB of RAM and at least a CGA card.

Prince of Persia is a spiritual successor to Mechner's Karateka, another big hit.  Both were published by Broderbund.  Prince of Persia takes the rotoscoped graphics and one on one combat of Karateka and combines them with running and jumping mechanics, obstacles, traps and triggers.  It requires 128KB of RAM and an Apple IIe capable of displaying double high resolution graphics, a IIc or a IIgs.  It only uses double high res graphics on the title screen and story text screens (four screens).  Mechner supervised the ports of the game to the IBM PC compatibles and the Amiga in 1990.  It supports CGA, Hercules, Tandy, EGA and VGA and a variety of sound cards and 512KB-640KB depending on the graphics mode.

When it came to porting these games to the PC, MECC did an outstanding job.  Broderbund and Mechner, not so much.

Recording the IBM PC Speaker's Sound

The PC Speaker was the first audio device that PCs used.  In some form or another, it is contained in almost every PC ever made.  In the original IBM PC, the Model 5150 released in 1981, the speaker was a distinct cone 2.25" in diameter.  And it was loud, but it had to be in order to compete with the noisy power supply fan and the seeking of the disk drives!  The tones it output were pure, and while they were rather harsh they were also clear.

However, eventually the PC Speaker began to shrink in size and eventually give way to the tiny piezoelectric tweeters that are just too quiet to do justice to any kind of complicated audio.  (You can blame IBM for putting the idea into other manufacturer's heads because the IBM PCjr., released in 1983, used a piezo tweeter for the PC Speaker.)

When emulators like DOSBox became mature, they could easily output basic PC Speaker audio.  Basic PC Speaker audio is essentially a square wave with a fixed volume level and a 16-but frequency selector.  They can have difficulty with the more complex sounds produced by Pulse Width Modulation, which essentially sends changes to the frequency of the square wave to the speaker faster than the speaker cone's driving circuitry was intended to handle.  This requires a much more rigorous emulation of the CPU, the timer and the "analog" characteristics of the audio generation.

Famciom vs. AV Famicom External - Internal Audio Mixing

There is a myth that the AV Famicom is too quiet when it mixes internal audio with external audio.  The myth goes that the external cartridge audio drowns out the internal audio from the console and gives an unbalanced and unfair impression of what the programmer intended the music and sound effects to sound like.  The conclusion is that an original Famicom, preferably an earlier model, is the ideal way to experience Famicom audio.  However, this conclusion is too simplistic and the internal/external mix is not as extreme on standard Nintendo Famicoms and AV Famicoms as one may be led to believe.

Of course Famicom audio has its own problems.  The first problem is that genuine Famicom audio is encoded into RF and decoded in a TV.  The baseline audio has a buzz and the output of the audio sounds like it was run through an oppressive low-pass filter.  The second problem is that playing a Famicom with its RF video and hardwired controllers is something of a chore.

I have made some recordings of several games which use Famicom expansion audio and internal Famicom audio.  The games in question are :

Zelda no Densetsu (Famicom Disk System, The Legend of Zelda)
Akumajou Densetsu (Konami VRC6, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse)

More Keyboard Adapters : The Tandy 1000 Keyboard to Tandy 1000 TL or SL

The earlier Tandy 1000s, the 1000, 1000A, 1000 SX and 1000 TX came with a 90-key Tandy Keyboard.  The Tandy 1000 EX and HX had the 90-key Tandy Keyboard built in.  This keyboard uses its own communications protocol and timing and is not compatible with an IBM PC, XT or AT or their clones.  This keyboard uses an 8-pin DIN plug.

The later Tandy 1000s from the TL and SL onward came with 101-key keyboards.  These keyboards, called the Tandy Enhanced Keyboard, were an autoswitching keyboard that could work in an IBM PC, XT, AT or their clones.  This keyboard uses a 5-pin DIN plug and do not work in an earlier Tandy 1000.

In the technical reference manuals for the TL and SL, which are the last Tandy technical reference manuals available online, the keyboard controllers do mention Tandy 1000 Keyboard compatibility.  These computers have a 7-pin DIN connector even though an XT or AT keyboard only uses four pins.  The schematics indicate that the extra pins are used for Tandy 1000 keyboard-specific signals.

Pleasant Suprises : The Epson MGA Q205A

Sometime ago, I acquired an 8-bit ISA card called the Epson MGA Q205A.  I figured it was a CGA compatible card because it had one DE-9 female port and one RCA jack, which the standard CGA configuration.  The only unusual thing about the card was a two-position switch on the bracket plate.  The switch is labeled color/mono.  I couldn't find anything about the card in Total Hardware '99.  I noted that the card displays in color on startup instead of B&W on a color composite monitor, I figured the switch was there to turn it to B&W.  An IBM CGA displays in B&W on startup in an IBM PC or XT.

After testing the card out a bit, I was pleased that it gave composite colors reasonably close to an IBM CGA card.  I was also pleased that the card is less than 10", meaning it will fit inside a Tandy 1000 computer.  However, Trixter's CGA Compatibility Tester demonstrated that the CGA compatibility was weak when it came to the 6845 tests.  This is not particularly surprising when I determined that the card does not have a 6845 CRT Controller onboard.  Since I have three IBM CGA cards, the card rarely has surfaced in my thoughts.

Northgate Omnikey 101 vs. IBM Model M Keyboard

I have had the privilege of being lent a Northgate Omnikey 101 keyboard.  This keyboard is identical to the layout of my IBM Model M keyboards.  I am going to first identify the features of each keyboard and then give my impressions of the Northgate compared to the Model M.

Enclosure

Model M's use PBT plastic on the top and bottom enclosures, on the key caps and the key stems.  For this reason Model M do not yellow through exposure to ultraviolet light.  On the other hand, PBT can be somewhat brittle and it is not a rare thing to see cracked keycaps on a Model M.  Because keycaps come off very easily, it is often the case that you will find a keyboard for sale with one or more missing.  The enclosure is held together with hex screws requiring a long-barreled 7/32" driver to access.  Later Model Ms, mostly made by Lexmark and Unicomp, often have drainage holes cut into the bottom half of the enclosure for liquid spills, but the IBM-made keyboards rarely have them.

Famicom and NES Expansions and Peripherals

Famicom Peripheral List

Devices that Plug into the Famicom Cartridge Slot

Nintendo Famicom Disk System

• 199 Official Licensed Games

Nintendo Family Computer Network System (a.k.a. Famicom Modem)

• Used a memory card for program storage
• Used primarily to trade stocks and for betting on horse racing.

NES Similar Peripheral : NES Modem (unreleased), Baton Teleplay Modem (unreleased)

Bandai Datach Joint ROM System

Games supported :

• Battle Rush: Build Up Robot Tournament
• Crayon Shin-Chan: Orato Poi Poi 
• Dragon Ball Z: Gekitō Tenkaichi Budokai (included)
• J-League Super Top Players
• Yū Yū Hakusho: Bakutō Ankoku Bujutsue
• SD Gundam: Gundam Wars
• Ultraman Club: Spokon Fight!!

Also includes a barcode reader in the main unit to read special cards which would come with the games.  Cartridges use a proprietary form factor.

NES Similar Device : Aladdin Deck Enhancer