12 replies to this topic

[Great Hierophant]

A poll of the top 30 Famicom games was taken in preparation of an exhibit of all 1200 Famicom titles in Tokyo next week. Here are the results:

1. Dragon Quest III, Enix, 1437 votes
2. Super Mario Brothers, Nintendo, 1420 votes
3. Mario Brothers, Nintendo, 887 votes
4. The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 838 votes
5. Dragon Quest, Enix, 770 votes
6. Dragon Quest II, Enix, 753 votes
7. Final Fantasy III, Square, 614 votes
8. Dragon Quest IV, Enix, 604 votes
9. Xevious, Namco, 590 votes
10. Ice Climber, Nintendo, 543 votes
11. Balloon Fight, Nintendo, 461 votes
12. Super Mario Brothers 3, Nintendo, 456 votes
13. Spelunker, Irem, 449 votes
14. Excitebike, Nintendo, 424 votes
15. Kung Fu, Nintendo and Irem, 423 votes
16. Tower of Druaga, Namco, 416 votes
17. Stinger, Konami, 378 votes
18. Earthbound, Nintendo, 369 votes
19. Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken, Enix, 354 votes
20. Super Mario Brothers [2], Nintendo, 347 votes [fds I think]
21. Mappy, Namco, 346 votes
22. Lode Runner, Hudson, 339 votes
23. Goonies 2, Konami, 338 votes
24. Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari (River City Ransom), Technos Japan, 327 votes
25. Bomberman, Hudson, 313 votes
26. Milon's Secret Castle, Hudson, 305 votes
27. Gradius, Konami, 299 votes
28. Gal Force, HAL Laboratory, 294 votes
29. Metroid, Nintendo, 286 votes
30. Kirby's Adventure, Nintendo and HAL Laboratory, 281 votes

Put into categories, we see the following breakdown:

Role Playing Games
Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest II
Dragon Quest III
Dragon Quest IV
Earthbound (Mother)
Final Fantasy III

Adventure Games
The Goonies 2
The Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Milon's Secret Castle
River City Ransom

Sidescrolling Games
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Kirby's Adventure

Shoot-em up Games
Gal Force
Gradius
Stinger

Small Games and Arcade Ports
Balloon Fight
Bomberman
Excitebike
Ice Climber
Kung Fu
Lode Runner
Mappy
Mario Bros.
Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken
Spelunker
Super Mario Bros.
Tower of Druaga
Xevious

As for the interesting observations about this list, there are the following:

First, at least 2/3 of the games were made in the 1984-87 period.
Second, the only sidescrollers on this list were Nintendo's titles.
Third, all the shooters are early shooters.
Fourth, every Dragon Quest title is on the list but only Final Fantasy III is.
Fifth, over 1/3 of these titles are small games and arcade ports (24-40KB).
Sixth, three out of four FDS games on the list were developed by Nintendo.
Seventh, 24 out of 30 games were released in the US (Earthbound was supposedly translated for US release.)
Eighth, Nintendo, with 11 games and Enix, with 5 games, account for more than half the list. Of the rest, Hudson and Irem are not as visible as they once were, Enix bought Square, Technos Japan is no longer in the business, and Konami thrives.
Ninth, The Japanese sometimes display poor taste with their choices. I can think of many avdentures superior to Milon's Secret Castle, many shoot-em-ups that could put Stinger and Gal Force in their place, side scrollers far more innovative and fairer than Super Mario Bros. 2, and arcade ports more playable than the limp Tower of Druaga and Spelunker.
Tenth, no western-style RPGs made the list.
Eleventh, no sports games are on the list, only one racing game (Excitebike), one beat-em up (River City Ransom), no driving or flight simulations, and no strategy titles.

See the Gamespot's article here: http://www.gamespot....ws_6084624.html What has been unfairly overlooked?

[Ze_ro]

The only parts of this list that really surprise me are the fact that Super Mario Bros 1 beat out both it's sequels (while SMB3 is generally recognized as the most popular NES game in North America) and that very old games like Ice Climbers, Balloon Fight and Mario Bros not only made the list, but scored very highly (I very much doubt many North Americans would have included them at all).

I'm also surprised to see The Goonies II make the list... I always assume that games based on North American movies don't translate well to the Japanese market... but what do I know?

--Zero

[Raijin Z]

Rekka beats the bloody FUCK out of Stinger/Twinbee! If you don't belive me, I DARE YOU TO TELL ME OTHERWISE after you play it!

[JerseyDevil]

Raijin Z said:

Rekka beats the bloody FUCK out of Stinger/Twinbee! If you don't belive me, I DARE YOU TO TELL ME OTHERWISE after you play it!

You speak the truth, Recca is the best shooter for any system.

[DracIsBack]

Quote

, Recca is the best shooter for any system.

In your opinion ...

[JerseyDevil]

DracIsBack said:

Quote

, Recca is the best shooter for any system.

In your opinion ...

Obviously, I wouldn't tell you somebody elses opinion. Have you played Recca?

[DracIsBack]

Yep - great game. Still personally prefer R-Type.

Just get tired of opinions being passed off as fact.

[JerseyDevil]

DracIsBack said:

Yep - great game. Still personally prefer R-Type.

Just get tired of opinions being passed off as fact.

When did I say it was a fact? If I say something then it is obviously my opinion.

[Bratwurst]

Yeesh, pop an alkyl nitrate, DracIsBack.

I sort of suspected that there would be more Japanese exclusives on that list. Akumajou Special - Boku Dracula Kun, or Kid Dracula is pretty darn fun for what it is.

[thund3r]

Raijin Z said:

Rekka beats the bloody FUCK out of Stinger/Twinbee! If you don't belive me, I DARE YOU TO TELL ME OTHERWISE after you play it!

i believe you man this game ROX!

[DracIsBack]

It's the way you wrote it.

"It is the best shooter".

Not

"It is my favorite shooter for any system"

[DracIsBack]

LOL. I'll try to get popping. Anyone got any reviews of that Dracula game? I wouldn't mind finding out more.

[Ze_ro]

I have the Gameboy version of Kid Dracula... if the NES version is anything like it, then it's basically Megaman with a vampire theme (and a very kiddy one at that). You get weapons like bats that you throw in arcs and such. It's pretty fun, but not great.

--Zero