Introduction Technōs Japan released Nekketsu! Street Basket – Ganbare Dunk Heroes for the Famicom in 1993 as part of the Kunio-kun series. Kunio and his classmates from Nekketsu High School take their rough style to the basketball court, playing two-on-two matches against rival teams on outdoor courts around Japan and the United States. As in…
Introduction Namco released Battle City for the Famicom in 1985, a tank shooter played on a single screen viewed from above. The player commands a tank whose mission is to defend a base marked by an eagle from waves of enemy tanks. Each stage is made of brick walls that can be destroyed, steel walls…
Introduction Hudson Soft released Adventure Island II for the NES in 1991, the follow-up to the original Hudson’s Adventure Island. Master Higgins once again sets out to rescue Tina, travelling across eight islands filled with forests, deserts, caves, volcanoes and icy lands. The core gameplay remains fast side-scrolling action: Higgins runs, jumps and throws stone…
Introduction Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game was released by Konami for the NES in 1990, bringing the hit 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade machine to the console. The Shredder and the Foot Clan have kidnapped April O’Neil and Splinter, and Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael must fight through burning buildings, city…
Introduction Ghosts ‘n Goblins was released by Capcom in arcades in 1985, and its NES version arrived in 1986. The knight Sir Arthur must rescue a princess who has been carried off by the demon Astaroth, fighting through a graveyard, forests, caves and a demon castle. Arthur starts each life in armour, and one hit…
Introduction Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES in North America in 1988, and it plays very differently from the other Mario games of the era. It was built from Doki Doki Panic, a 1987 Famicom Disk System game, which Nintendo reworked with Mario characters for western audiences. Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess…
Introduction Mappy was created by Namco for arcades in 1983 and brought to the Famicom the following year. The player controls Mappy, a police mouse, who must recover stolen goods from a mansion owned by a gang of cats called the Meowkies and their leader, Goro. The mansion is built across several floors, and Mappy…
Introduction Kid Niki: Radical Ninja started life as an Irem arcade game in 1986, and Data East brought it to the NES in North America in 1987. Niki is a young ninja with spiky hair and a spinning sword who sets out to rescue Princess Margo from the Stone Wizard. The game plays as a…
Introduction Konami released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project for the NES in 1991, an original adventure created for the console rather than an arcade conversion. While the turtles are on vacation in Florida, the Shredder raises the entire island of Manhattan into the sky, and Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael must fight…
Introduction Lode Runner began as a 1983 computer game created by Doug Smith and published by Broderbund, and Hudson Soft brought it to the Famicom in 1984, with the NES version reaching North America in 1987. The player controls a runner who must collect every pile of gold on the screen while avoiding robotic guards….
Introduction Nintendo released Wario’s Woods in 1994 for both the NES and the Super Nintendo, and the NES version is known as the last game Nintendo itself published for the console in North America. Wario has taken over the Peaceful Woods and filled it with monsters, and Toad sets out to clear them with help…
Introduction HAL Laboratory released Adventures of Lolo 3 for the NES in 1991, the final entry in the western Lolo trilogy. King Egger has once again turned the people of Eden to stone, and this time both Lolo and Lala are playable, with the player able to switch between them. Instead of a simple series…