Famicom National Referendum - Japanese fan poll results (ongoing for the system's 40th Anniversary!)

[koifish | 562]

22 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Not a bad list, can't blame that spread.  Star Luster is a little surprising, I own this one and it's a lot of fun despite its age it is fairly unique and plays well.  It's interesting to see Nintendo's own fighter Joy Mech Fight got in high on the list that's a solid little fighting game that plays surprisingly well, almost feels like it has some early Custom Robo dna to it given how that one works out between the fights.  Rampart is a good good call, that game Konami made really shames the US release in comparison, it's not the same title, check it out.  I've been meaning to scoop that one up, just have not yet as I had it years ago.

Joymech is not entirely surprising; It came out 3 years after super famicom and 5 years after mega drive, 6 years after pc-engine and after the CD add-ons. In fact, you could get a 3DO or Neo Geo by that time, and a PlayStation or Saturn the year after. Probably hidden gem for that alone; Nobody was paying attention anymore.

I always wanted to see an attempt at joymech fight for game boy; I bet it could have been incredible, though you would need a big cartridge storage space for those days.

[Tanooki | 4,958]

I guess so, the date would support it as much.  But there it is, the only other as far as I can recall legit/licensed fighter for the system, or in a way the ONLY since FC got it, and NES got the TMNT fighters.  And this game destroys that janky Konami title control wise, and has far more substance and things to do too.  It's a shame it never made it out of there but it just was too late.  MM6, Warios Woods, gray cart Zeldas were far easier to market than some disjointed robot pixel parts fighting game at that rate.  It would have been endless reviewer baby snark how it just wasn't street fighter II.

[wongojack | 232]

Cool thread, I'm catching up on reading the history.  Has Punch Out appeared as an answer anywhere?  I haven't seen it.

[scaryice | 603]

7 hours ago, wongojack said:

Cool thread, I'm catching up on reading the history.  Has Punch Out appeared as an answer anywhere?  I haven't seen it.

Only for the "mic" question as a joke answer.

[scaryice | 603]

10 hours ago, Tanooki said:

I guess so, the date would support it as much.  But there it is, the only other as far as I can recall legit/licensed fighter for the system, or in a way the ONLY since FC got it, and NES got the TMNT fighters.

Keru Naguuru is on the hidden gem list also, and it's a fighter.

[scaryice | 603]

This week's results:

Question #38 (4/5-4/11) - When it comes to "4 character titles", what game comes to mind?

1	Xevious	17.5
2	Tetris	8.7
3	Life Force	8.6
4	Karateka	7.8
5	Door Door	6.0
6	Seicross	5.8
7	Getsu Fuuma Den	5.4
8	Ufouria	5.1
9	Mappy	2.9
10	Son Son	2.9
11	Milon's Secret Castle	2.3
12	Galaga	2.0
13	Karnov	2.0
14	1942	1.7
15	Pooyan	1.3
16	Puyo Puyo	1.2
17	Hanjuku Hero	1.1
18	Legend of Kage	1.1
18	Pro Wrestling	1.1
20	Contra	1.0

 

Xevious walks away with first place, doubling the second place Tetris. As before, these type of questions will be hard to comprehend unless you're looking at the Japanese spellings. Hopefully, this is the last of them, since they're not too interesting. It's mostly just a list of well-known games. Hebereke/Ufouria is on the list, which is probably because of the recent release of its sequel on modern platforms.

 

Next week's question: When it comes to simulation games, what comes to mind?

Koei stuff?. It all depends on what people consider simulation to be. I saw some people mentioning strategy rpgs like Famicom Wars and Fire Emblem, and some people mentioning sports games.

Edited April 11 by scaryice

[koifish | 562]

12 hours ago, scaryice said:

Next week's question: When it comes to simulation games, what comes to mind?

Koei stuff?. It all depends on what people consider simulation to be. I saw some people mentioning strategy rpgs like Famicom Wars and Fire Emblem, and some people mentioning sports games.

Super Mario Bros will be on there as an accurate portrayal of plumbing.

[scaryice | 603]

This week's results:

Question #39 (4/12-4/18) - When it comes to simulation games, what comes to mind?

1	Famicom Wars	22.6
2	Fire Emblem	22.1
3	Nobunaga's Ambition	8.7
4	Gachapon Senshi 2	5.0
5	King of Kings	3.8
6	Romance of the Three Kingdoms	3.1
7	Gachapon Senshi: Scramble Wars	2.8
8	Dai-2-ji Super Robot Taisen	2.6
9	Fire Emblem Gaiden	2.0
10	Dokuganryuu Masamune	1.9
10	Best Play Pro Yakyuu	1.9
12	Hanjuku Hero	1.5
13	Romance of the Three Kingdoms II	1.3
14	Sangokushi: Chuugen no Hasha	1.2
15	Nobunaga's Ambition III	1.2
16	Nobunaga's Ambition II	1.0
17	Gachapon Senshi 3	0.9
18	Dai Kaijuu: Deburas	0.7
18	Best Keiba: Derby Stallion	0.7
20	Gachapon Senshi 4	0.7

 

Very close finish for first place. Those are the two games I think of when I imagine "Famicom strategy rpg". The presence of the sequel likely led to Fire Emblem finishing second. There's four Gachapon Senshi games, three Nobunaga games (including the third one, which was released on the SNES in the US as "Lord of Darkness"), and three Romance games (including Namco's Sangokushi). Also, Best Play Baseball, which was a different take on the sport.

We're now 75% of the way through the year of polls!

 

Next week's question: When it comes to a good story, what game comes to mind?

I'm expecting the usual rpgs like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Also interested to see how good the adventure/visual novel games do. A number of people are mentioning Famicom Detective Club on Twitter, but that game is in two parts, so it's unlikely to finish first. I doubt Portopia is interesting enough story-wise to finish super high.

Edited April 18 by scaryice

[Tanooki | 4,958]

Well there are others from the FDS library too like the Catherine mystery novel conversions, and a few others too so they may rate a way up the scale.

[scaryice | 603]

This week's results:

Question #40 (4/19-4/25) - When it comes to a good story, what game comes to mind?

1	Dragon Quest III	22.0
2	Dragon Quest IV	13.3
3	Mother	8.9
4	Shin Onigashima	5.0
5	Okhotsuku ni Kiyu	4.9
6	Famicom Detective Club (part 2)	4.5
7	Final Fantasy II	4.3
8	Final Fantasy III	3.8
9	Famicom Detective Club (part 1)	3.5
10	Megami Tensei II	2.0
11	Captain Tsubasa II	1.4
12	Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken	1.2
13	Metal Slader Glory	1.1
14	Fire Emblem	1.1
15	Dragon Quest II	1.0
15	Kirby's Adventure	1.0
17	Yuuyuuki	1.0
18	Lagrange Point	0.8
19	Sanma no Mei Tantei	0.7
19	Tantei Jinguuji Saburou: Toki no Sugiyuku Mama ni	0.7
19	Doraemon: Gigazombie no Gyakushuu	0.7

 

DQ3 wins, of course. The end game stuff is memorable, but I'd say DQ4 might have a better story overall. Although, I still think 3 is the better game. I'd go with StarTropics in an NES poll.

 

Next week's question: When it comes to good special moves, what game comes to mind?

Tough one. I don't know if any fighting games like Joy Mech Fight are popular enough to finish first. Maybe just something basic like Mario 3?

[Tanooki | 4,958]

Special moves is kind of vague, so with that, I'd consider 'suits' special moves which to me puts Super Mario Bros 3 and Kirby's Adventure at the top of the list, so many moves there.  SMB3 with the frog ability, hammer, tanooki, etc.  Kirby and the so many differing captures and how that changes how to attack a stage or a boss.  Rockman any of them making that list I think would be obvious too with all the robot master abilities and other specials like the platforms, rush dog, etc.  Megami Tensei may get it again given the special you pick up with the demons you can recruit too.

[DefaultGen | 5,506]

I don't know how relatively popular anything is in Japan but I'm surprised Sweet Home didn't even get a minor nod. I was pretty shocked how horrifying it is for an 8-bit Nintendo game. It really stands out.

But then I looked up the lowest rated game and it's Doraemon vs the freaking Gigazombie.

This is the true face of terror

[Tanooki | 4,958]

Doraemon is a national treasure, like tezukas astro boy/tetsuwan atom, golgo-13, and a few others that lasted like 30-50+ years.  That definitely had some amount of draw to creeping into the rankings.

[scaryice | 603]

This week's results:

Question #41 (4/26-5/1) - When it comes to good special moves, what game comes to mind?

1	MUSCLE	12.3
2	Super Dodge Ball	8.1
3	Captain Tsubasa II	7.6
4	Captain Tsubasa	5.1
5	Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku	4.7
6	Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugou	4.0
7	Joy Mech Fight	3.8
8	Hiryuu no Ken II	3.1
9	Flying Dragon	2.6
10	Mother	2.2
11	Dragon Ball Z	1.7
12	River City Ransom	1.7
13	Dragon Ball Z II	1.5
14	Fire Emblem	1.3
15	Dragon Ball 3	1.2
15	Ninja Jajamaru-kun	1.2
15	Famicom Jump	1.2
18	Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu	1.2
19	Double Dragon II	1.1
20	Pro Wrestling	1.1

4 Kunios, 3 Dragon Balls (4 if you count Famicom Jump), and lots of fighting and wrestling. However, the MUSCLE/Kinnikuman nostalgia ends up on top. It's actually the second poll that game has won (#19 - tag). They love their MUSCLE over there... I like it better than Tag Team Wrestling, at least.

 

Next week's question: When it comes to -chan/-kun, what game comes to mind?

That would refer to the honorifics used in Japanese used mostly for younger boys/girls. "kun" is sometimes translated as kid, like Dracula-kun = Kid Dracula. Kunio-kun is the most obvious answer here, although like this poll it might be divided among multiple games. Maybe the Ninja-kun/Jajamaru-kun games too. Also expecting some joke votes for Jackie Chan.

 

 

 

[Tanooki | 4,958]

I'm fairly impressed to see (Kunio) Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball Bu take the #2 slot as that seems almost out of nowhere, yet it does make a lot of sense.  If you play that single player you'll get a taste because every character you can choose on field has a special ground and air shot, though the captains are usually the most devastating.  But, there are a few other non-captains who have some utterly nasty moves when two go at it in 1on1 mode.  One shot a bumblebee is a good one, it spins but also loops the area fairly tightly in the same space so it's hard to snag as you could easily catch it or catch it in the side/back and it'll clear the entire area more or less nailing everyone.  The game has a lot of special attacks, probably the most of the system.

[scaryice | 603]

This week's results:

Question #42 (5/2-5/8) - When it comes to -chan/-kun, what game comes to mind?

1	Renegade	23.3
2	Ninja Jajamaru-kun	15.4
3	Ninja Hattori-kun	10.9
4	Ninja-kun: Majou no Bouken	7.5
5	Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula-kun	6.2
6	Chack 'n Pop	4.8
7	Kid Kool	4.7
8	Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugou	2.3
9	Akuma-kun: Makai no Wana	2.3
10	Obocchama-kun	1.9
11	Ninja-kun: Ashura no Shou	1.8
12	Penguin-kun Wars	1.4
13	Moai-kun	1.2
14	Mezase Pachi Pro: Pachio-kun	1.2
15	Castelian	1.1
16	Doraemon	0.7
17	Chibi Maruko-chan: Uki Uki Shopping	0.7
17	Magical Taruruuto-kun	0.7
19	Famicom Detective Club (part 2)	0.6
20	Mystery Quest	0.6

 

Lots of games appearing for the first time in these polls. Kunio-kun was able to consolidate the vote around his first game to get first place. Oh yeah, I guess Jackie Chan's last name is spelled "chen" in Japanese, so that's why that game wasn't there.

 

Next week's question: When it comes to moms, what game comes to mind?

It's gotta be Mother. Other than that, I know DQ3 (again) starts with your mom walking you up. Betting it all on those being the top two... Should be fun to be see what else fills up the top 20.

 

Edited May 9 by scaryice

[Tanooki | 4,958]

@scaryice  Onyanko Town playing as a mom with some cat kids, and then there was the pig family and you playing the mom with shooting down wolves after her kids in Pooyan.

[Link | 2,768]

8 hours ago, scaryice said:

When it comes to moms, what game comes to mind?

Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family (Legacy of the Wizard)

[scaryice | 603]

This week's results:

Question #43 (5/9-5/15) - When it comes to moms, what game comes to mind?

1	Mother	46.2
2	Dragon Quest III	16.0
3	Touhou Kenbun Roku	7.4
4	Pooyan	4.5
5	Legacy of the Wizard	4.0
6	Famicom Wars	3.1
7	Onyanko Town	3.0
8	Yume Koujou: Doki Doki Panic	1.6
9	Metroid	1.5
10	Dr. Mario	1.4
11	Famicom Detective Club (part 1)	1.4
12	Bird Week	1.3
13	Sweet Home	0.6
14	Takeshi no Chousenjou	0.5
15	Shoukoushi Ceddie	0.3
15	Sylviana	0.3
17	Ganbare Goemon	0.3
17	Tetris	0.3
17	Dragon Quest IV	0.3
20	Goonies 2	0.2

 

Mother's 46.2% is the second highest percentage yet, only trailing DQ2's 48.8% for the password poll. I saw some people on Twitter mentioning Touhou Kenbun Roku, and sure enough, it finished third. It's a visual novel, but I don't know anything about it to understand what it has to do with moms.

Lots of animal moms represented - Pooyan, Onyanko Town, Bird Week. And of course, Metroid for Mother Brain. Dr. Mario and Tetris though... I guess they're just games that were popular with moms?

 

Next week's question: When it comes to racing games, what comes to mind?

I'm assuming the dad question will come later on Fathers Day week. If this were an English poll, Rad Racer would be near the top. But that game was much bigger in the US than in Japan (they didn't even release the sequel over there), so it'll probably be Excitebike first and then F1 Race second.

Oh BTW, I just now realized that the -chan/-kun poll coincided with the Childrens Day holiday in Japan. Makes sense.

 

Edited May 16 by scaryice

[Tanooki | 4,958]

Wow my couple odd picks made the top 10, nice, and wow I did forget about Bird Week that one seems almost obvious.

For my cares with racing on Famicom I can think of some solid picks starting with their own(Nintendo's) F1 Race, the better answer to Pole Position and then there's Excitebike/Vs Excitebike.  FInal Lap from Namco is a realy amazing release with some RPG lite mechanics to it.  Highway Star(Rad Racer) is a gimme.  They do love F1 over there so the F1 Circuit titles, surely 1-2 of those will get in there.  Konani's overhead F1 racer should make the cut too.  Seeing they're including stuff more popular here RC Pro Am probably would make it.

[Link | 2,768]

9 hours ago, scaryice said:

5 Legacy of the Wizard

Hey I made top 5, nice. 

9 hours ago, scaryice said:

Dr. Mario and Tetris though... I guess they're just games that were popular with moms?

That makes sense to me, good call.

9 hours ago, scaryice said:

When it comes to racing games, what comes to mind?

Rad Racer and RC Pro Am

16 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Wow my couple odd picks made the top 10, nice,

haha, jinx!

[scaryice | 603]

This week's results:

Question #44 (5/16-5/22) - When it comes to racing games, what comes to mind?

1	F1 Race	25.3
2	Excitebike	21.0
3	Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race	6.6
4	Family Circuit	6.3
5	Mach Rider	5.0
6	Zippy Race	4.8
7	Famicom Grand Prix II: 3d Hot Rally	3.4
8	Paris-Dakar Rally Special	3.3
9	Rad Racer	2.7
9	Family Jockey	2.7
11	Road Fighter	2.6
12	Final Lap	1.8
13	Racer Mini Yonku	1.7
14	Bump 'n Jump	1.1
15	Sanma no Mei Tantei	1.0
15	Taito Grand Prix	1.0
17	Michael Andretti's World Grand Prix	0.9
18	Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku	0.6
19	Antarctic Adventure	0.5
19	Seicross	0.5

 

Got the top two right, but out of order. Maybe it helps that the winner has "race" right in the title. Lots of Famicom only stuff here, including some non-car racing games (horses, penguins, people - anything can race, apparently). No Jogging Race or Wacky Races, though.

 

Next week's question: When it comes to yellow carts, what comes to mind?

We already had red (Mother), white (Doraemon), black (Dragon Quest III), and blue (Baseball). This will probably be like the black category, because there's an extremely obvious winner in Super Mario Bros.

Edited Thursday at 05:07 AM by scaryice

[Link | 2,768]

5 hours ago, scaryice said:

Super Mario Bros.

This was my pick. 

Can't find my stack of Famicom games to see what else.

[Tanooki | 4,958]

Super Mario Bros 3 is also a yellow cart so there's the impact of that one to consider.  Not sure it would hit the radar but PC Genjin (Bonk's Adventure) is also yellow as is Urusei  Yatsura Lums Wedding Bell might make a top 20.

[scaryice | 603]

This week's results:

Question #45 (5/23-5/29) - When it comes to yellow carts, what comes to mind?

1	Super Mario Bros.	27.6
2	Lode Runner	16.0
3	Pinball	10.0
4	Milon's Secret Castle	9.6
5	Chubby Cherub	4.9
6	Super Mario Bros. 3	4.8
7	Mighty Bomb Jack	4.5
8	Flappy	3.0
9	City Connection	2.9
10	Exed Exes	1.8
11	Solomon's Key	1.8
12	Pocket Zaurus	1.6
13	Mega Man 6	1.3
14	Lunar Pool	1.3
15	Trojan	0.9
16	Tokoro-san no Mamoru mo Semeru mo	0.8
16	Mario Bros.	0.8
18	Pachi Com	0.7
19	B-Wings	0.6
20	Woody Poco	0.5

Not quite as huge of a victory as I expected, but still SMB takes it. As you all probably know by know, Lode Runner was a huge hit in the early days of the Famicom, one of the first 3rd party games released in 1984. As usual, the list is dominated by the stuff from those early days when the Famicom boom was happening.

I can't help but be amused by Mario Bros. being there too, even though it's orange. Probably just people who meant to put Super and picked the wrong one.

 

Next week's question: When it comes to RPGs, what comes to mind?

Of course Dragon Quest III will win again. But this should be a lot of fun to see how everything stacks up against one another. Probably DQ1, FF3, and Mother in the top 4?