The 1988 NES version of Gauntlet was developed and published by Tengen, and – surprisingly – it doesn’t feature the levels from the arcade original, but does its own thing instead.
Category Archives: NES/Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System and Famicom games.
Choplifter, NES/Famicom
The NES/Famicom version of Choplifter was reprogrammed and published by Jaleco in 1986, although it was only ever officially released in Japan.
Battletoads, NES/Famicom
Battletoads is a scrolling action game, developed by Rare and published by Tradewest in 1991. It satirises (and takes advantage of the popularity of) the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and features a group of cartoon toads, called Zitz, Rash and Pimple.
Two of the toads – Zitz and Rash – are on a mission to rescue their third member, Pimple, and Princess Angelica, both of whom have been kidnapped by the evil Dark Queen and taken to her planet. The toads fly to the planet in their spaceship and lower themselves down to the surface using their ‘Turbo Ropes’. From there they begin the fight to free their friends.
Willow, NES/Famicom
Based on the 1988 Ron Howard film of the same name, Willow is an adventure/RPG that was developed and published by Capcom in 1989. It has nothing in common with the arcade game, called Willow, which was released by Capcom the same year.
Kid Dracula, NES/Famicom
Known in Japan as “Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun“, this cute and humorous Castlevania spin-off was initially released by Konami, in Japan only, in 1990, for the Nintendo Famicom. Numerous fan translations exist for the game, but it was also officially released in English for the first time – as “Kid Dracula” – in 2019, in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. That’s the version I’m showing here.
Legacy of the Wizard, NES/Famicom
Legacy of the Wizard is the North American localisation of Dragon Slayer IV, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Brøderbund in 1989. It’s a fantasy-based platform/action game featuring a family of four heroes – and their pet – on a mission to retrieve a mystical sword and slay a dragon, inside a sprawling dungeon.
Romancia: Dragon Slayer Jr., NES/Famicom
The Nintendo Famicom version of Romancia – aka Dragon Slayer Jr. – was developed by Compile and published by Tokyo Shoseki, in Japan only, in 1987. A fan translation makes the game playable in English (and Spanish), which is good because this version of the game is considerably better than the MSX version.
Faxanadu, NES/Famicom
Faxanadu is an action/platform game, developed by Hudson Soft and first published for the Nintendo Famicom in 1987. It is a spin-off from the Falcom Dragon Slayer series and its name is a combination of the words “Famicom” and “Xanadu“, so could even be considered a remake of the second Dragon Slayer game.
Lagrange Point, NES/Famicom
Released in Japan only by Konami in 1991, Lagrange Point is a science fantasy JRPG set on a human colony ship in space (located at the Lagrangian points between Earth and the Sun). Communications are lost between colonies, so a search team is sent in to investigate.
Paperboy 2, NES/Famicom
The NES version of Paperboy 2 was ported by Eastridge Technology and published by Mindscape in North America only in 1991. It’s a playable game with some good ideas, but is frustratingly difficult to play at times.
The King of Grabs 