Late Capcom NES Games

[SoleGoose | 95]

Capcom during the NES era, like Square during the SNES era, is the one that defines the greatness of the console for me. That being said, I never really got to play the last games that they released until recently. Is it just me, or do Mega Man VI and Rescue Rangers 2 feel rather poor in comparison to the games that went before them? Graphically and sound-wise they're great, gameplay is spot on, but game design is lacking. RR2 cuts out any form of level choice, and MM6 isn't even a challenge. Both feel very short. I haven't played Duck Tales 2, but these two at least feel underwhelming. Anyone else?

[Br81zad | 629]

Duck Tales 2 is the best of the 3 you mentioned. The hold d-pad-down to pogo jump mechanic is corrected (you now only have to hold the jump button) and the levels are all enjoyable with plenty of secrets to find.

[SasoriVader | 1]

I'd think of Mega Man 6 as the pinnacle of the series. They went all out with the level design, with the route choices and the stage hazards, the Rush part upgrades were so cool, amazing set of Robot Masters. Fairly good weapon balance too, just like 4 there's a lot of strong weapons worth using in 6. 

DuckTales 2 isn't perfect but there's a lot more to it than the original DuckTales had to offer. I mostly agree on CnD 2, CnD 2 has really cool boss fights but that's about it. The stages are weak and the game is quite laggy. 

[Tanooki | 4,933]

I wouldn't knock MM6 like that, the game is like Sasori said there pretty special.  I'd give you a nod though with RR2.  I've tried it via secondary sources and it's a good reason why I never pulled the trigger on it in nearly 10 years and the price still then and now hasn't helped matters.  But that said, post-SNES launch stuff, on the whole, lacking is an unfair statement.  I've got MM6, but I also have Gargoyle's Quest II, Duck Tales 2, and Mighty Final Fight.  GQ2 has everything going for it from the Gameboy, but they fixed up some odd nagging quirks it had and made for a better setup without really any compromises.  MFF though may not be a huge game, but embarrassingly enough the game is more accurate to the source material arcade game than the infuriatingly and insultingly censored and chopped up SNES title with stickboys and a whole boss+stage removed entirely to name a few.

[fox | 1,667]

Mega Man 6 is easily the best of the "buster trilogy."  4 and 5 feel really run of the mill, but 6 changed up a lot with the branching levels and rush armor mechanics.

Rescue Rangers 2 does let you pick levels in the second half of the game.  It does add a bit more story, which helps it feel more like the cartoon.

Duck Tales 2 is a lot of fun with the upgrades and the hidden treasure map pieces.

Darkwing Duck and Gargoyles Quest 2, are both pretty rough so I haven't gotten that into them, but seem very impressive.  Even Mighty Final Fight does a fair job of cramming what they can into a pint sized 8 bit brawler.

Really all of the late Capcom NES games range from good to great.  Less iconic sure, but still well worth playing.
 

[SasoriVader | 1]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

I wouldn't knock MM6 like that, the game is like Sasori said there pretty special.  I'd give you a nod though with RR2.  I've tried it via secondary sources and it's a good reason why I never pulled the trigger on it in nearly 10 years and the price still then and now hasn't helped matters.  But that said, post-SNES launch stuff, on the whole, lacking is an unfair statement.  I've got MM6, but I also have Gargoyle's Quest II, Duck Tales 2, and Mighty Final Fight.  GQ2 has everything going for it from the Gameboy, but they fixed up some odd nagging quirks it had and made for a better setup without really any compromises.  MFF though may not be a huge game, but embarrassingly enough the game is more accurate to the source material arcade game than the infuriatingly and insultingly censored and chopped up SNES title with stickboys and a whole boss+stage removed entirely to name a few.

Yes Mighty Final Fight is definitely in my top 20 for the NES, such a great game. I've been playing it for years and yet only a couple months ago I figured out Guy's secret attack. Every character has at least one secret move. A lot more than meets the eye to this one, though I do wish it had an option for a hard mode.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

39 minutes ago, SasoriVader said:

Yes Mighty Final Fight is definitely in my top 20 for the NES, such a great game. I've been playing it for years and yet only a couple months ago I figured out Guy's secret attack. Every character has at least one secret move. A lot more than meets the eye to this one, though I do wish it had an option for a hard mode.

I'd agree with that.  I knew of the moves, figured it out some years back shortly after getting it, it's like a mini SF2 like dial a move bit and it's not unique, as they later re-used it again on the fun Final Fight 3 two years later.  I'm with you, the game isn't terribly hard so a difficulty option would have been nice.  But also because it's easier than the SNES(ports) and arcade it's more fun and relaxing just to push through it.

[SasoriVader | 1]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

I'd agree with that.  I knew of the moves, figured it out some years back shortly after getting it, it's like a mini SF2 like dial a move bit and it's not unique, as they later re-used it again on the fun Final Fight 3 two years later.  I'm with you, the game isn't terribly hard so a difficulty option would have been nice.  But also because it's easier than the SNES(ports) and arcade it's more fun and relaxing just to push through it.

Very true, the Haggar Thunder Tackle loop infinite is a lot more satisfying to pull off than any of the punch infinites from Final Fight arcade. You feel so strong playing Mighty Final Fight. Oh, also the weapons are great, how each character has a unique weapon to themselves. Versus Final Fight arcade where weapons are only decent if you're Cody and the weapon is a knife.

Also to confirm, back in the day did you find Guy's flying kick special? I pulled it off for the first time a few months back and was stunned, at first I couldn't figure out how to replicate it since the input is so obscure, but doing it consistently now, Guy is actually my favorite character to use. He's so much fun. 

[CMR | 519]

I regret not paying more attention to those late releases when they were coming out, but I was all in on the SNES.  I wound up doing the same thing in the SNES's later years as well.  Final Fight 3 and Mega Man X3 were both better than a lot of stuff coming out for the newer consoles.

 

I also hate the fact that at one point I had almost all of these games and let them go, thinking I could just buy them back later. lol.

Edited November 10, 2019 by CMR

[fcgamer | 4,723]

I just played rescue Rangers 2 with my brother a few weeks back, whilst he was visiting. If you ask either of us, we will both swear up and down that the game is lack luster and sucks, yet we always enjoy it more than we think we should, when we actually sit down and play it.

We've come to the recognition that at least for us (and I'd suspect the same for many others), we all had and loved the original rescue Rangers game. Hardly anyone had or knew about the sequel back in the day, and it has large shoes to fill. So although it's a fun title, when viewed in a bubble, it ultimately gets compared to other games such as the original rescue rangers and earlier Capcom games, thus making it not feel as good, despite being fun in and of itself.

[m308gunner | 352]

12 hours ago, fox said:

Mega Man 6 is easily the best of the "buster trilogy."  4 and 5 feel really run of the mill, but 6 changed up a lot with the branching levels and rush armor mechanics.

Rescue Rangers 2 does let you pick levels in the second half of the game.  It does add a bit more story, which helps it feel more like the cartoon.

Duck Tales 2 is a lot of fun with the upgrades and the hidden treasure map pieces.

Darkwing Duck and Gargoyles Quest 2, are both pretty rough so I haven't gotten that into them, but seem very impressive.  Even Mighty Final Fight does a fair job of cramming what they can into a pint sized 8 bit brawler.

Really all of the late Capcom NES games range from good to great.  Less iconic sure, but still well worth playing.
 

Now there's a game that I'm conflicted on. The side scrolling stages are great! A treat to play. But the overworld feels so underutilized. It feels like padding and nothing more. Sure, you can collect a few things in it, but overall it feels empty.

[Foochie776 | 1,052]

I enjoyed Ducktales 2 a lot. Rescue Rangers 2 has some of my absolute favorite NES cover art, Mega Man VI also. 

 

 

RR2 is definitely paled in comparison to the original though. Felt kind of rushed 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

Is Darkwing Duck not considered late enough (1992)?

[Nintegageo | 582]

The arcade game means am biased a bit but Snow Bros is awesome.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

13 hours ago, SasoriVader said:

Very true, the Haggar Thunder Tackle loop infinite is a lot more satisfying to pull off than any of the punch infinites from Final Fight arcade. You feel so strong playing Mighty Final Fight. Oh, also the weapons are great, how each character has a unique weapon to themselves. Versus Final Fight arcade where weapons are only decent if you're Cody and the weapon is a knife.

Also to confirm, back in the day did you find Guy's flying kick special? I pulled it off for the first time a few months back and was stunned, at first I couldn't figure out how to replicate it since the input is so obscure, but doing it consistently now, Guy is actually my favorite character to use. He's so much fun. 

I never really had a back in the day.  I can't recall exactly the year I joined NA but it was around 2009/2010 and I had been for a few years stuck back out in So. Cal. and hit a flea market there every sunday and one weekend I got a stack of NES games for a few bucks each, the most I paid was $7 and it was MFF and I've kept it all this time because it's a go-to for relaxing awesome stress relieving fun beating on dumb grunts.  So if that counts as back in the day, yeah, and while I don't recall it this moment I could figure it out again as I just prefer using Guy, did in the arcade, saddened me it was never in the SNES game without a rental (or a well timed buy of a sold rental.)

 

 

M308: The answer is easy about GQ2, it's what you said, under-utilized, but in a way it's for the better perhaps.  The GB game had very pickily fired off random encounters which ranged from aggravating in frequency to/and/or annoying in what it did pop up to deal with as some were short and some were almost like a take a hit to win setup between any stage spots on the map.  The complaining about it internally/externally in those pre-internet days had that removed to an empty walkable map on the NES.  So I'm conflicted as the was nice, but so badly done on GB as far as FUN goes I was happy it was removed.

[Strikezone1 | 154]

I echo/agree with a lot of what’s already been mentioned. Late Capcom games are excellent. They lack the popularity and nostalgia bias that many of the games released during the height of the NES days have... however they all overall excel in graphics, music, and most importantly, gameplay.

Rescue Rangers 2 is good, it’s not great, but really neither is RR1 (IMO). RR1 might be slightly better, but 2 isn’t far off.

Mega Man 6 is a great game. A lot of people are especially blinded by nostalgia bias towards MM2 & MM3 (I understand why) but really 4-6 are every bit as good.

Ducktales 2 is every bit as good as the first game, if not slightly better.

I consider Gargoyles Quest II to be a NES masterpiece.

Darkwing Duck is great. Has the core feel & gameplay as of the Mega Mans, with a splice of its own original weapons & gameplay features.

Mighty Final Fight is a good NES beat em up.

 

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by Strikezone1

[Tanooki | 4,933]

I forgot that Darkwing was 1992 out like almost a year after the SNES.  A very good game using the mega man engine on that one and earlier this year I bit for the GB version of it too and due to that fairly recently I decided to grab the two Duck Tales handheld releases as well.  I like the little differences so they're not just straight cheap ports exactly.  Looking back, unlike the over inflated orgy that Taito stuff gets I felt the Capcom games were more impressive 1992 and after, and I have owned all of them but Gold Medal Challenge and Rescu Rangers 2 and currently I don't have GiJoe either.  They really did ahead of expectation quality stuff right along side of their workers doing that amazing SNES stuff in those days.