Innovative and Classic: Nintendo Entertainment System (1985) Review and Retrospective

With me reviewing the Gamerz Tek G 8-Bit last time, I wanted it to serve as a segway into a full review and retrospective of the NES. Released in 1983 as the Famicom in Japan and later being released in 1985 and 1986 around the world, the Nintendo Entertainment System is easily seen as a classic and to this day is often considered among the best consoles of all time. And with me reviewing the rest of Nintendo’s systems, I think it’s time I give the NES a go.

Background and History

Like I said, the Nintendo Entertainment System was originally released as the Famicom in Japan in 1983. The idea came after Nintendo’s series of arcade successes throughout the early 80’s and came in the form of an interchangeable cartridge-based system. The Famicom after it’s release was a massive success in Japan, however it wouldn’t be released to the rest of the world until 2 years later.

In the United States, Nintendo did originally plan to enter the video game market by releasing the Famicom under Atari’s brand and calling it the “Nintendo Advanced Video System,” however these plans fell through, and on top of that, the game industry had just entered the 1983-1985 Video Game Crash - a recession within the US console market caused by a mix of factors such as the over saturation of video games and consoles, the market leaning more towards personal computers and a general view by the population that video games were more or less just a fad. But of course, Nintendo released the Famicom in 1985 as the “Nintendo Entertainment System” in the United States and used a strategy in order to not just gain interest in the system but to revive the game industry in general by marketing the NES primarily as a toy, packing it in with stuff like R.O.B the Robot and the NES Zapper and designing the system itself to feel more like a VCR than a dedicated game console. As you can probably guess, this did end up working, and now the console and gaming industry in general is now bigger than it ever has been.

Personal Experiences

Not gonna lie, I didn’t really know about the Nintendo Entertainment System until when I was about 10 years old. While I think I have mentioned in the past that my grandfather owned a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, I don’t remember him or anyone in my family owning the original NES. My uncle (my mom’s brother) apparently did own an NES at a young age but I don’t recall ever seeing one in person until I actually got into retro games.

But when I did get into retro games, in particular after getting Super Mario World on the Game Boy Advance and loving it, I decided to look more into Nintendo’s full history. I’m not exactly sure how I found out about the original NES, but I do remember reading about how it essentially revived the game industry. And I gotta admit, I was one of those who fanboyed over Nintendo for the longest time and constantly brought that up to dismiss any criticism about the company and to prove Nintendo was better than everyone else. I’ve grown out of that of course, but I still do have respect for the Nintendo Entertainment System and ultimately what it did to revive the industry.

But like I said in my Gamerz Tek G 8-bit review, I never actually owned an official NES. Throughout the next few years I collected Nintendo’s other consoles - the SNES, the N64, the GameCube, the Wii and over the past few years the Wii U and Switch, but I never actually got my hands on an actual NES. Truth be told I never really felt “interested” in the console enough to actually buy it like Nintendo’s other systems even if I did have respect for it. Plus even when I did consider buying one I was always put off by the long-term issues I heard about with the original model. In fact, even now with me writing… I still don’t have an actual NES. I have the Gamerz Tek G 8-Bit, a clone console that plays the original NES cartridges, as well as the NES Classic Edition, a miniature version of the NES with 30 games loaded onto it that doesn’t use cartridges, but not an original, official NES. Like I said, I’ve always been put off by the issues the original model had, and while there is a more reliable top loader model, those definitely tend to be more rare and for the most part only output in RF.

But this year, I did gain some interest in the original NES, and considering I basically had all of Nintendo’s other home console systems, I kind of wanted to at least come close to filling the entire history while also being able to use the cartridges with it. If you want to see my review of the Gamerz Tek G 8-bit and feelings about that, I’d suggest reading that. But this post will be more focused on the NES itself and it’s library.

Hardware and Models

The NES isn’t really too interesting when it comes to specifications. It uses a Ricoh 8-bit microprocessor for its CPU, a custom Ricoh Picture Processing Unit for graphics and 2 kilobytes of RAM that can be expanded upon with the NES’ cartridges. Nintendo at the time also wanted to crack down more on unofficial games, so they created the 10NES chip - a lockout chip that worked pretty much as a lock and key for official games to use and required Nintendo’s approval for creating games for the system. Some companies however did find ways around this, even going as far as to reverse engineer the chip, but I mean, I guess they tried.

There are two different models of the NES that exist at least worldwide. The original model is definitely the most common and iconic - sporting a VCR-like design where games were loaded from the front and pushed down once completely inside the system. This was definitely an innovative design choice for the time and helped the NES’ goal of reviving the industry. Buuuut… in the long run, it has created problems. Due to this design the pins in the system tended to bend over time and after being used so many times it became harder for the console to make the connection. Doesn’t really help either that the 10NES chip makes the connection a bit more complicated and makes it harder for the chip to communicate with the cartridge. Also I’ve heard that there were plenty of cases of the owners of the original NES leaving their drink on top of the flat top which really bothers me but at the same time that definitely sounds like an American thing. There are of course different ways to refurbish the NES but if you don’t want to take apart your system then buying an OG model NES is a bit… risky.

There does exist a separate model though released around the time of the SNES’ launch. This model is officially known as the NES-101 but is also nicknamed as the “NES Top Loader” or “NES Jr,” and as the former nickname suggests, it is a top loader and has been known to be more reliable compared to the original model due to having a less amount of parts to worry about. The NES-101 also does away with the 10NES chip which makes it easier to create and play bootleg games on. I would almost consider this version to be the better model… but it has one thing keeping it from being the superior variation for me. I said it previously, but this system only outputs in RF. I mean, back when it was released it was more common for TVs to have RF ports, but what I don’t understand is why it didn’t have the option for AV when the original model had that alongside RF. I mean, in 1993 when it was released RF was becoming outdated as it is. It may not seem like a huge deal, but as a result of only having the RF option the NES-101’s video quality generally tends to be worse than that of the original model. For me, it’s not a big deal, but for those who want the best quality out of an NES, it’s definitely the way to go. Even then though, the NES top-loader is generally a lot more pricey and rare than the original console, often going for over $100 compared to the original model hovering around $40 to $50.

There’s also an add-on for the Famicom only released in Japan called the Famicom Disk System which plays games off of a proprietary floppy disk rather than cartridges in order to make games cheaper. I don’t have much to say about it, but it’s interesting enough to at least mention.

Controllers

As far as the original NES controllers go… they’re fine. They are definitely a step above the 2600 controllers and whatnot that came before it and are simple and to the point, pretty much being designed entirely with the sorts of games that were on the NES in mind. There’s really not too much to say about them and it comes to NES games they definitely work well enough. I have heard some people complain about the rectangular design and it’s corners being uncomfortable, but from what I’ve used I never really had that much of a problem with it.

This controller was also the first to use a D-pad. It didn’t necessarily introduce it though, the traditional “cross” D-pad was introduced with the Donkey Kong Game and Watch in 1982, although it is safe to say that the NES’ implementation of it was definitely more notable to most people and was what really popularized the traditional D-pad as it’s known nowadays.

If the original NES controller wasn’t your cup of tea there were also quite a few substitutes. I haven’t really used any official alternatives, but I might as well talk about them here. The dogbone controller was released with the NES Top Loader and replicates the style of the SNES controllers. I haven’t used it myself, but I’ve heard many argue that it is more comfortable than the regular NES controller although the way the buttons are angled on it makes it seem a bit more awkward to use to me. The NES Max pad was also an official controller that also uses a more traditional design but includes two turbo buttons alongside the regular A and B buttons and a slidey stick as opposed to the regular D-pad.  There’s also the NES Advantage, a full arcade stick, and the NES even had some experiments with motion controls.  The Power Glove is easily the most infamous out of these and designed to work similarly like a WiiMote on your hand. Of course, the Power Glove is hardly functional, but there’s also stuff like the U-Force that reads movements of your hands as input for the game. This also kinda sucked.

Personally, while I don’t mind the regular NES controllers, I will say that the Gamerz Tek G 8-bit controllers are probably my favorite to use with NES games due to the controllers rounded design and similar button layout to the original. If you want to read more on that, I would suggest reading my review of the Gamerz Tek G 8-Bit itself.

Game Library

But of course, the game library is always the most important part of a dedicated game console. The NES game library introduced a lot of new series, and in general games on the NES tended to be deeper than what was on the Atari 2600, Intellivision or Colecovision.

I think the most safe games to start off with are the Super Mario Bros games. The original was easily one of if not the most innovative titles of all time, introducing the side-scrolling feature that 2D platformers and games in general often used alongside setting a standard for controls, level design and many other game design elements. This game was followed by what’s known in Japan as Super Mario Bros 2 but is known as Super Mario Bros Lost Levels elsewhere on the Famicom Disk System in 1986. Instead of that Super Mario Bros 2 though, the world got a different Super Mario Bros 2 in 1988 that was actually a reskin of a Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic. Not Doki Doki Literature Club, Doki Doki Panic. I know that’s confusing as all hell but luckily there’s just one Super Mario Bros 3 that the world knows, which was also a critically acclaimed and innovative game.

And to be honest, I don’t think anyone would blame me if I said that the Super Mario games for the NES are all great, classic titles and still fun to play for me to this day. While my favorite Mario game has always been Super Mario World on the SNES, I still enjoy popping in any of the NES Mario games from time to time and could just spend all day playing them. I’d probably say my favorite of the NES games is Super Mario Bros 3, which is also my favorite NES game of all time. I definitely feel like it added so much to the formula introduced in Super Mario Bros 1 and introduced elements that would later become common not just in Mario games but in platformers in general. I definitely get the impression that while Super Mario Bros set the standard, Super Mario Bros 3 raised the bar. And then in 1991, Super Mario World simply improved even further upon that. Although I will say Doki Doki Mario 2 is also a lot of fun to play, I do like how different it is compared to pretty much of any other 2D Mario platformer even if it didn’t quite start out as a Mario game. 

Though, I do gotta admit - I’m not entirely fond of Japanese Mario 2 or “Lost Levels.” I don’t really like how it feels the exact same as the original Mario game but with more frustrating level design. It’s not the worst game I’ve ever played, but one of my least favorite Mario platformers and one of the ones I really don’t find myself going back to very much. In retrospect I actually am pretty glad that we got Doki Doki Panic: Mario Edition instead of that game.

But one of the next most popular Nintendo series also got it’s start on the NES, that being of course The Legend of Zelda. I remember playing the original Zelda game on the Wii Virtual Console and having fun with it when I was 11 years old or so although I would pretty much always get lost. I will say that the game is a bit cryptic and hard to progress through if you don’t have a guide or anything but keep in mind that it did have quite a scope especially for 1986 when it came out and not only gave the Zelda series life but in some ways did set a standard for open world and exploration-based games. I have stated in the past that I’m not the biggest Zelda fan out there, but I can definitely respect the overall scope of the original Zelda game. There’s also Zelda II, which I haven’t played. It does seem to be a bit more polarized than its predecessor and is also more difficult but regardless I still can respect what both games were going for and the overall scope of them. And especially if you like the Zelda series, these games are still worth playing to this day.

Metroid, another series that got it’s start on the NES. This has always been sort of a series I’ve wanted to get into but never really got around to playing much of. Although I will say that there is the impression that Metroid 1 hasn’t held up as well as the first Mario or Zelda games due to it being too cryptic and maze-like and that Zero Mission, a remake on the Game Boy Advance does improve upon the game. Still, like Zelda, I can definitely respect the overall scope that Metroid was going for at the time and it did lead due to the “Metroidvania” subgenre of platformers on top of becoming it’s own series.

Another series that started out on the NES and also led to the Metroidvania subgenre though was Castlevania. I’ve only played the first game out of the three released for the NES, although I did enjoy it even if it is, well, difficult.

Mega Man also got it’s start on the NES, and there were six games on the system, although Mega Man 2 definitely seems to be the most recognizable.

To be honest, I don’t really want to go through every single series that got it’s start on the NES or every other NES title that’s recognized as a classic as I already kind of talked about of a lot of them in my NES Classic Edition review, but I think some games that are worth mentioning include of Kirby’s Adventure, Dr. Mario, Excitebike, Ice Climbers, Final Fantasy 1-3, Ghosts ‘n Goblins,  Kid Icarus, Ninja Gaiden, Contra, Super C, Startropics, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Battletoads, Double Dragon, Little Samson, Adventures of Lolo, and Mr. Gimmick.

But I wanted to touch upon a few other things. First of all, arcade ports. The NES is definitely a more powerful system than the Atari 2600, Intellivision and Colecovision which all came before, and I think the NES was the system where ports of classic arcade games were really starting to catch up with their original versions. Games like Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Mario Bros, Pac-Man, Bubble Bobble, and Galaga definitely feel like a step above what was being offered by consoles before, and to this day I would probably consider most of those to be the best ports of their respective arcade games. Maybe not the definitive way to play those games even on consoles - the original arcade versions of games like Pac-Man have been made available in collections such as Namco Museum, but as far as games that were ported over from consoles at the time go, the NES definitely felt like the “peak” of that. I’m not sure how to explain that in a way that makes sense, but hopefully you do get an idea.

The NES also has it’s share of licensed games. A lot of them… aren’t very good, but there are definitely some good ones in the NES library. I mentioned TMNT 2 earlier, which serves as a port of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game and is definitely far better than the “original” TMNT game the NES got.

But another one I really like is definitely DuckTales, which was developed by Capcom and was based off of the cartoon of the same name. It still is a really fun platformer with good level design and a really good soundtrack too - seriously, the “Moon” level theme slaps. There was also a sequel released for the NES that I do want to get around to playing at some point, although I’ll probably play it as part of the “Disney Afternoon Collection” on Steam since an original NES cartridge goes for almost $200 these days.

There’s also Tiny Toon Adventures, which has always been one of my personal favorite games on the NES. I remember when I was starting to get into older cartoons watching the show on Youtube and later finding out about this game which I did really enjoy. I will admit that it’s nothing too mindblowing as a 2D platformer from this time, but it is fun and I think that’s enough for me to enjoy a game.

There’s also The Flintstones: Rescue of Dino and Hoppy which I haven’t actually played but kind of want to because of a certain internet meme that came from a bootleg of this game but also truth be told I really want to play this game with my Grand Dad at least within the next 7 years.

But I will say that while the NES has some great titles, it also has some shovelware. Despite Nintendo’s efforts at quality control, there’s still a lot of not-so-great games on the NES - games like Ghostbusters, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, pretty much any game by LJN… I could go on, but for every great NES game I feel like there’s a lot of bad ones. If you want to know more about the dark side of the NES’ library, I would point you in the direction of Angry Video Game Nerd, although frankly if you’ve never heard of or watched Angry Video Game Nerd then I really gotta ask what the hell are you doing with your life.

One complaint I have heard about the NES’ library though is that it doesn’t really hold up as well compared to later Nintendo systems. And to an extent I can see where those people are coming from. While NES games are definitely of a higher caliber than Atari 2600 games, this still was at the time where console hardware just wasn’t quite ready to take games to their full potential, and on top of this there was also a lot of experimentation and developers were still trying to figure out stuff that worked and stuff that really didn’t. It’s similar to what I said about the PS1 and N64 regarding 3D games, but with the NES it’s not just 2D games but games in general really. But at the same time I still find some charm in the NES’ library. As someone who’s favorite genre of games is 2D platformers, the NES frankly has a lot of those - some that are pretty notorious like Super Mario Bros, Mega Man and Castlevania, but also some more hidden gems alongside that like Tiny Toon Adventures and Mr. Gimmick. And I’ve always found some charm in 8-bit games of this era between both the graphics and music. I know nowadays the style of retro 8-bit games has gotten overused especially in a number of indie platformers, but I think as far as the originals go, it was definitely interesting to see what they could do with the limited hardware of the time.

Conclusion

I probably wouldn’t say the NES is quite my favorite Nintendo system, but at the same time, I do respect it and find some charm with the console. While some of it’s games don’t necessarily hold up as well as others, I still gotta respect what it did for the gaming industry and a lot of the best games for the console still hold up well and are really fun to play. I don’t really have much to say about a lot of the NES’ games or even much to say about the console, but I definitely find the NES to still be pretty solid overall.

Would I recommend it nowadays? Well, like any retro system, that kind of depends. I did make it clear earlier that original NES models generally tend to have issues and are a bit risky to buy nowadays and while the Top Loader is more reliable, it’s also more rare and expensive to buy if you find one. I mean, if you just want to play the NES’ best games, then emulation will probably work just fine for you, as well as the Switch’s digital service. The NES Classic Edition also does come closer than those to the original experience although it has been discontinued by Nintendo and does have the tendency to go over it’s original price tag. But, at the same time… there is some charm to having the original system or at least owning the original cartridges and that’s kind of why I ended up buying a clone system for myself. As far as those go, I would probably recommend checking my Gamerz Tek G 8-bit review where I go a bit more into detail regarding clone consoles if you are interested.