Koopa64

Probably Donkey Kong 64. I really enjoy it, but it's one of those "once a decade" types of games. I still haven't yet had a full urge to do the collect-a-thon again.

The DS has a bad first party lineup? If anything it's got one of the best. Mario Kart DS is in many ways the best Mario Kart game of them all. Super Mario 64 DS is a remake done right and is the perfect launch title for any console. It's a port of Super Mario 64 with multiplayer a great assortment of mini-games that show off the features of the DS. It's like if the Wii launch title was Wii Sports + Super Mario Galaxy. Super Princess Peach is a miracle that it ever got made. Also, you're missing Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story from your DS list, for shame. Now the 3DS, that's a system with a poor first party showing. Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, New Super Mario Bros 2, Paper Mario Sticker Star, all three Mario Parties, Metroid Prime Federation Force, Hey Pikmin, Chibi Robo Ziplash, Super Smash Bros 3DS, Mario & Luigi Paper Jam, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga remake and Yoshi's New Island are all either bad games or were done far better by previous series entries. Paper Mario Sticker Star is especially horrible, completely devoid of everything that made Paper Mario great. Or to put it another way: The DS has a re-release of Chrono Trigger, the 3DS doesn't. (yes the 3DS can play all DS games. I'd sooner use a DSi and not have to deal with the slow 3DS menu system)

Hard to believe it's been over 10 years since I first went to NintendoAge and it's been gone for a few years already.

[DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with the Mother To Earth documentary in any way] Some years ago, there was the Mother To Earth documentary, which was all about Earth Bound for the NES, the Nintendo of America JRPG that never was. In it was a mockup box, based on a description given by Phil Sandhop, the English Script Writer for the game. It has bothered me for years that the original cover for this game still has not surfaced, more than 30 years after its cancellation. Not even a Vidpro card has been found. Inspired by the mockup box shown in the documentary, I stitched together this label below, for now this is likely the closest we'll ever get to the original intended label art for this game. This label should print to the correct size to fit a real NES cartridge, set to 300 DPI. This is a Videogamesage community release. Please use this to replace your incorrect all-red EarthBound Zero labels to preserve the real history and legacy of the NES's most famous unreleased game.

I certainly remember TheNESDump, doesn’t feel that long ago but I guess it really has been something like 8 years now.

Definitely gotta be Rocket: Robot on Wheels, such a fun game with its incredibly advanced physics engine and its carnival theme. There’s so much to do in the first world, between the different simple carnival games to test the physics engine, a dune buggy to drive, there’s even a rollercoaster mini-game where you can construct a little track! not sure if this other game counts as a 3D platformer, but I also gotta mention Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. It’s an excellent port of the PC original and is just a great game all around, lots of fun and makes great use of its Indiana Jones IP. It plays like the earlier Tomb Raider games which the N64 has none of so, it’s like this game helps to fill that hole in the N64 library. only word of warning is this game is known to crash and softlock sometimes, make sure you’re saving occasionally during levels. I’ve only had it crash during a couple of the early levels, the later ones seem fine.

The excitement is building!

I remember gamereproductions.com, hard to believe it was seriously 13 years ago I bought a game from them and they're still around. It seems in recent years, they've been garnering a reputation for not actually shipping out products which is a shame. As leatherrebel said, the chinese market took over, people prefer lower prices over original cartridge boards and shells for a higher price. Maybe it's for the best, eventually we would run out of John Elway's Quarterback and Silent Service carts, I think.

I wonder if it's that Panel de Pon 64 prototype that surfaced a couple years ago. I'm still painfully hoping that will be released online one day, I'd love to play it on a real N64.

This probably doesn’t count, but I always liked how EarthBound and EarthBound Beginnings had a cast of characters at the end. I say they don’t count because the cast of characters excludes monsters.

I’m surprised the most common answer isn’t the Neo Geo MVS. Gotta love interchangeable cartridges and a huge library. Maybe it’s all the re-releases and game compilations?

Any hope we'll see these prototypes of Banana and Mario Bros. Classic preserved online? Crackout too for sure, though there is a seemingly finished USA version floating around online still.

I think I missed the boat on getting a Sunsoft FME-7 repro board from InfiniteNesLives. So, specifically, I'm wondering if anyone would part with their: "Mr. Gimmick (USA proto version) built using an InfiniteNesLives repro PCB" I'd offer around $50, maybe a bit more. I'm hoping they aren't more than $100.

I thought there was already a dump of USA Crackout available? The title screen still says Palcom on it though. Does this version use Ultra or Konami instead? Now USA version Mario Bros. Classic, man I have waited years and years for that one to one day surface! I’m super excited to play the rom! (If you’ll be sharing that is)

Looks like mine is a v1.1 cart. See the attached pictures below.

That is an excellent choice, NARC is definitely a game that should have been toned down by the NOA censors, yet strangely was not. The game itself also really does have that Color Dreams feel. Maybe NOA was too busy ripping apart Maniac Mansion to notice or care.

Steve, he sticks out like a sore thumb

Over the years I’ve seen the general consensus around unlicensed games being that they’re of low quality. Maybe not Tengen or Camerica but definitely Color Dreams and most of the smaller outfits for sure, according to most people. Games licensed by Nintendo are often thought to be of great quality but of course, we all know that’s the case. So are there licensed NES games that you feel could pass for that unlicensed cheapness? This question is not a roundabout way of saying “which licensed NES games are crap”, I’m asking about that unlicensed feel. We all know it, sometimes it’s hard to describe. Are there licensed nes games that feel on part with wisdom tree and color dreams games? Or Camerica?

The PSP isn’t 20 years old yet, it hasn’t hit the nostalgia checkpoint yet

Adding extra slots and edge connectors is always worse than a direct connection to the console. Cut those tabs!

So Tetris, Lemmings, Litil Divil, Pac-Panic, Micro Machines and The Apprentice aren't good games?

Have you played any CD-i games? Ever actually play a real CD-i?

Just because there’s a lot of moves doesn’t mean it’s easy. Zelda II is one of the hardest NES games I’ve ever played. It’s the sort of game where you either get the feel for the combat or you don’t, I just can’t. Zelda 1 is a million times easier.

I suspect there's a lot of people in here who have never played a real CD-i, or the Zeldas and Mario game for it. I can confirm your thoughts on Zelda Wand of Gamelon / Link The Faces of Evil. Not clunky at all, it's no worse off than Zelda II NES in many ways. In fact I'd say it's a bit more forgiving, the combat in Zelda II is beyond hard.

I think a more fair comparison would be against systems like the Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS PCs as they all have fairly similar types of games and developers to one another. Lemmings is available on all four of those platforms, for example.