What's the worst NES game that was actually popular?

>>11791752 (OP)
Zelda.

>>11791752 (OP)
probably one of the early black box games

I'd say Tennis. A lot of people had Tennis but the CPU was really unfair.

ET

bad dudes

>>11791752 (OP)
I remember Metal Gear being pretty popular but I thought it was kinda shit all those years later.

dragon quest 1

>>11791754
whoops, left off the 2 there.

>>11791752 (OP)
it seemed like everyone had 10 Yard Fight and it seemed like that nobody liked it

>>11791780
>tops your ROM list

>>11791752 (OP)
Zelda II and Castlevania II

>>11791778
>>11791815
Zelda II is one of the best games on the system.

Skate or Die

>>11791778
>>11791815
Zelda II is the best Zelda game. Zelda 1 was pretty decent as well. All the other Zelda games are toddler trash for 8 year olds.

>>11791864
ok.

>>11791772
I would say Dragon Quest II. I know that fag that posts the screenshot collages will argue this

Duck Hunt. It's not a bad game, but as far as games that everybody played, it's probably the worst, if only because you've basically experienced all it has to offer within 10 minutes, and there just isn't a whole lot to it. I'd say Wild Gunman is a worse lightgun game, but it wasn't as popular.

The answer is a licensed title.
Maybe Ghostbusters?

>>11791752 (OP)
could be ninja turtles

>>11791752 (OP)
Double Dragon II

>>11791897
Gumshoe is worse as a light gun game, and hardly anyone remembers it compared to Duck Hunt. But yeah some of those early black box games have as much depth as your average Atari 2600 game, Pinball probably being even worse than Duck Hunt in that regard

>>11791945
how much can you fit in 24k of ROM? i guess Lode Runner is reasonably long as it has 50 stages.

>>11791754
I knew I would open this thread and see this as the first reply.

>>11791949
Bomberman might also be one of the longer 24kb games as it goes. I guess Hudson were pretty efficient at using the available ROM space.

>>11791752 (OP)
golf(there are MUCH better golf games on the system but people always pick this one because muh black box)
skate or die
california games
Hydlide

>>11791764
>NES

>>11791901
Was it popular, though? I knew no one else who liked it (besides me).

>>11792053
"Liked" is always a subjective matter. If OP is asking about bad games that were popular, then that means it's games that sold well, but not many people actually enjoyed because it was bad.
Ghostbusters probably sold a lot for the name alone and the game is really bad. Not sure if any other popular game (meaning a lot of people bought it) is as bad. TMNT is not even close to being as bad as Ghostbusters, it's a masterpiece in comparison (it's not even a bad game it just has bs moments)

>>11791897
>you've basically experienced all it has to offer within 10 minutes
Have you beaten round 99 on clay shooting????

>>11791778
Zelda II is great

Golf is in the top ten best selling games on the system and really doesn't deserve to be

>>11792086
It's also not a bad game either.

>>11792086
i've seen those fucking carts at flea markets in stacks 20 and 30 high. you could build furniture out of them.

>>11791752 (OP)
Kung Fu is horrendous and everyone I knew had a copy.

>>11792124
>Kung Fu
I love that game.

>>11791752 (OP)

>>11791894
This is silly. The potential problems with it: it's a JRPG at all; it's too grindy; the puzzle aspects are too obtuse. But JRPGs are okay at worst, grinding is fun for many children, and obtuse puzzles are no problem when printed guides are widely distributed (as happened with the most popular NES JRPGs including this one). This isn't one that could be said to have become popular despite being unpleasant to play. People actually liked it.

>>11791752 (OP)
Battletoads had a weird level of popularity despite being impossible after the third level.

>>11791752 (OP)
The first TMNT game. Everyone owned it, but almost no one ever got past level 3. They just wandered around that city part until they ran out of lives or got bored.

>>11792283
Came here to say this, Konami did a lot of kids dirty with this one

The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants. Every kid owned that piece of shit and it was a barely playable video game compared to mediocre stuff like Kung Fu or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

>>11791752 (OP)
Any/all sports games.

69th best selling NES/FC game according to wikipedia.

73rd...

>>11792471
Fun game but the soundtrack is grating

>>11792219
yep, it's just shitty Lode Runner

>>11792436
i remember that Famidaily said he was the only kid in his neighborhood who could beat level 1 of BvTSM

There must be a thread on the Japanese Internet somewhere with posts like "grrr i knew nobody who could get past level 2 of Atlantis no Nazo"

>>11791994
>california games
This shit has like 14 ports and it sucks ass on every platform

I dunno probably one of those famous kusoges, like that one Journey to the West game or Mystery of Convoy

>>11791778
Zelda 2 is one of the best and most well-designed games made for the NES, sorry you've never had a real opinion in your life and get your thoughts preprinted for you by "angry video game nerds".

>>11792283
>They just wandered around that city part until they ran out of lives
So
Fucking
What?

You sound like yet another idiotic zoomer dipshit that wasn't alive in the 80s and never played any of these games. That is precisely how we played MOST games, and here's the most impossible thing for you to wrap your infantile mind around: WE ACTUALLY HAD FUN. We weren't dipshit checklist-chasers like you trying to "100% 1cc clear" everything. We played the game and we had fun. If we beat it, great. If we didn't, that wasn't a problem. We came back to it time and time again anyway. Games offered many, many things besides just an ending screen, and you sick soulless husk mind apparently can never comprehend that.

I checked a couple lists of top selling NES games and they’re all pretty decent games really. Wikipedia says MUSCLE sold over a million copies and that game is total trash, though.

>>11792829
The TMNT hate is like completely invented by AVGN. It’s a tough game but it really isn’t as hard as people say, and it certainly isn’t bad.

>>11792961
i watched the Mexican Runner's playthrough of TMNT he didn't take all that long to beat it. difficulty of the game is overblown.

>>11792829
nah you're the zoomer. i take huge pride in having beaten Mega Man 1 and feel ashamed there are other NES games I've never managed to finish.

milons shitty asshole

>>11791752 (OP)
Pro Wrestling
Top Gun
Double Dribble

>>11792967
You just have to know where to go and stock up on scroll magic.

>>11792961
M.U.S.C.L.E. gets a pass because it was a very early NROM release.

>>11791752 (OP)
Likely some garbage licensed crap.

>>11792829
>WE ACTUALLY HAD FUN.
I'm 40 years old. I recall playing lots of NES games just to pass the time a a kid but not really having "fun". As a kid you felt this kind of despair over a tough section of a game coming early on because you know there's way more of the game walled away from you. Game Genies were a blessing because you could finally get to see all the levels of your game, finally get to see the final boss.

>>11791752 (OP)
Bunch of different kids in my school had it, but as far as I can tell nobody enjoyed it.

>>11793172
>fucking implying
at least 2/3 of those are legitimately good games...

>>11793172
All of those were reasonably good games. I mean Pro Wrestling was a huge step up from fucking M.U.S.C.L.E.

>>11792484
...????

>>11793187
>just to pass the time a a kid but not really having "fun". As a kid you felt this kind of despair
You sound like you have genuine mental health problems. Every kid I know, myself included, had fun playing video games no matter what we were playing. Occasionally there'd be a stinker or one that was way too hard, but we'd still give them a shot anyway.

At no point did the word "despair" ever enter my vocabulary as a child. That is fucking weird and I don't think any of your opinions should be counted for much if you were some clinically depressed child.

>>11791789
8 Eyes doesn't come before that?

presented without comment
https://youtu.be/yD9rNhafCFA?si=xMRSbTjEQIlQSw-O

>>11792053
>Was it popular, though? I knew no one else who liked it (besides me).

You could make an argument LJN games like Back to the Future, BTTF 2 and 3, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, X-Men, and other LJN games were 'popular', as they would all sell a lot pf copies based on their licenses alone.

>>11791945
To the Earth is probably the worst Zapper game, but, again, not that popular.

>>11791832
That game sucked on every system.

>>11793924
>That game sucked on every system.
It's awesome, and so is ski or die. But skate or die 2 isn't that great.

>>11793262
This game managed to make its way to the best selling list of all NES/FC games despite never having been released in Japan.

And it's a good game. The sequel is cool too, it just got released too late to shine.

>>11793821
I enjoyed this game quite a bit. I don't know if I'd really call it "popular"? Seemed like a niche title even in its day. I played it a girl neighbor's house because her mom bought it for her because with a name like "Athena" it was assumed by parents to be a game for girls. That's where we were at with video gaming in the 80s. She was such a cutie too. She was younger than me but she looked exactly like Takagi-san, if you're familiar with that manga. Anyway, had fun, not a flawless game by any stretch of the imagination, but a nice guilty pleasure.

This one is a contender. A lot of people had it. Perhaps it is not a truly bad game, it has some interesting ideas, but, when it comes down to it, it's not that fun or well designed.

Another contender. Popular game, the first level is interesting and has some good ideas, but overall the game really isn't that great and it's not fun to play.

This sold over 2 million copies and all anyone remembers is the insanely hard landing sequence. Was there even a real game behind this?

>>11794218
>it's not that fun
*as an adult*
>>11794220
>it's not fun to play
*as an adult*

Every kid I knew loved ABAHB. Games can offer a lot more than just what is mathematical appraised of their design and balance. Exploration is a major component, in the psychological sense of the word, not strictly the topographic, though the latter is a component of the former. People need to be very clear when they say "akshually this game isn't very good", they're saying that as a 30+ year old playing something that was intended for, received by, and enjoyed by, 1980s children. Which is a valid opinion, but not a definitive one.

>>11794230
>Every kid I knew loved ABAHB
I wanted to like it as a kid but I never figured it out properly. I just ran around and had fun with the blob, collected a few treasures and then game overed.

Dragon Warrior - got hate for it because Nintendo Power sent it as a free "popular" game promotion for having a subscription. 2 fucking steps after a battle and you're in another one. No hope, you're out of any useful items. No escape - start over. Bullshit. It took time but I made it part of the way through this shitstorm. Tried playing it again last month and it was just as frustrating.
TMNT is difficult, and there is some cheap shit in it, but at least there is a possibility to win. I think that's more infuriating than anything. But you can farm weapons and rescue lost turtles.

>>11793262
Weird. I liked that game a lot as a kid.

>>11793807
Well it's alphabetical ordering, not numerical prefix ordering. So the ROM file would need to be called 08 Eyes right?

>>11794058
>But skate or die 2 isn't that great.
That soundtrack though, almost redeems it. But not quite. And of course you can listen to the soundtrack by itself these days.

>>11794156
I enjoyed it too. It's terrible but in a weird and interesting way. You can wreck blocks all over the place, find crazy weapons everywhere... it's a teeny tiny taste of the freedom and chaos of something like GTA. And it was prohibitively difficult to finish, but not because of any brick wall of a find-the-exit or find-the-key puzzle like in Milon's Secret Castle, so it felt comparatively inviting to the inept young player. And yeah I think it can't have been all that popular.

>>11794231
Yeah me too. I was really baffled by the idea that you could use the rocket transformation to go to another planet right at the beginning of the game... and then you'd just die there... or you could go into some weird caves on Earth and just die... and the game never even told you what your goal was or what it might mean to leave Earth. Like, what kind of game structure is that? Of course as an adult I'd explore systematically and maybe read the instruction manual and that would be that.

Well now that I have read the whole thread I figure the main thing we've concluded is that the answer, whatever it is, is probably some uninteresting game that hardly anybody here even cares about. Among games that people actually care about, the only halfway decent contenders I see here are A Boy and His Blob and Bart. And I doubt that either of those is bad enough to take first place here.

TMNT, Dragon Warriors, Zelda II, etc. are all FAR too good to qualify, even if you personally didn't groove with them.

>>11791754
fpbp

>>11791752 (OP)
Battletoads. Ignore anyone who gives any other answer.

>>11794273
What about pic related? It seems to make no sense at all and the jump physics are really obnoxious. Yet, it sold well over a million in Japan.

>>11792603
I remember enjoying it on PS1 but that could have been just because we didn't have good games yet.

>>11791894
>angrily argues with pictures of untranslated jarpigs

>>11794231
Just screwing around with the blob makes the game fun. The mechanics were SUPER innovative and fun just to dick around with.

>>11794628
The only ones angry are the voices in your head

>>11794218
It was awful. I spent many hours getting to the second world just to die with the cherry bombs hitting the ground. Even if you ran as far as you could to a different screen their sonic booms still killed you instantly. I've still never passed that screen.

>>11794452
Nah, this one is funny, and even retards can win the first levels easily.

And yeah, it's weird, but games like Bomberman are also weird if you think about it.

>>11792829
No need to get so worked up. Some of us just expect a little more quality than others. I'm glad you had fun as a kid, but kids can have fun with basically anything. It's not a good metric for whether something is good

>>11793572
nta but you sound insufferable

>>11794263
Oh right, I'm dumb.

>>11791752 (OP)
Track and Field

>>11791770
Metal Gear 1 *is* a good and very innovative game for its time. It's just that the NES version is a terrible fucking port. The fucking game doesn't even have Metal Gear in it

>>11795234
the game was rushed out in 3 months i think they didn't have the time to implement it

>>11794230
I always thought some people were too hard on DQ1 and Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle.

>>11792825
>most well-designed games made for the NES
>monster hits you on a safe road
>still get en empty encounter screen
>monsters spawn even if you don't move
>can't chop the forest tile you're standing on
>no minimap
>can't save without dying
>can't save without dying but dying means losing your accumulated exp
>can't save AND continue
>wait, no! You can force the save screen.. by pausing on the overworld screen and pressing up+a on the p2 controller????????????????????????
>still lose your fucking exp because fuck you
maybe you should stop relying on your own opinion of games because you clearly have retarded ones.

>>11794221
Yeah, all the other games people are mentioning I know were disappointing rentals but for some reason people actually bought Top Gun. I guess it was a dad-friendly license and they were like sure I'll buy that it'll help my kid not be so much of a pussy.

>>11791770
Listing a shitty port of a game that's popular from its release on a different platform is kind of cheating in the context of OP's question.

>>11791752 (OP)
ninja teetles

>>11791752 (OP)
Paperboy

>>11795246
I played DQ1 back in around 2008 and enjoyed it a lot. Anyone who says "ackshually it's bad" is a retard. For a game that started jarpigs, it's remarkable how much cool stuff is in it. Like metal slimes, golems that fall asleep etc.. Yes, it's monotonous by modern standards, but for the time it was an excellent RPG and a very competent game.
I hate people who dismiss any game that isn't chicken tenders of vidya

>>11798704
it's fun because it's so simple whereas DQ2 onward are a real fucking slog

>>11798704
>cool stuff is in it. Like metal slimes, golems that fall asleep etc.
That all sounds lame though

>>11798704
It's not bad, because for when it came out it was amazing, but playing it is definitely a chore due to how much sheer grinding is required otherwise you just outright die since every battle is 1v1 you don't have allies to help cure you, so if you take more damage than you can heal you're just SOL.

>>11798716
This stuff is cool because the entire game is designed as this open ended puzzle where things have various solutions and your progress is entirely based on what you've managed to pull off at any given time, with virtually no story gating. Dragon Quest is extremely different from what JRPGs ended up becoming, and is honestly far closer to what they ought to be like, but for whatever reason people act like the whole genre is some kind of 'natural progression' from a series actually that's barely anything like the things that copied it.

>>11791864
Bit too obvious for me but am looking forward to seeing the replies

>>11796809
You think the American little shits knew about anything other than the NES and maybe Master System at the time?

>>11792829
Based post

>me and the boys dicking around in GTA games, never ever completing a mission, making memories for life

>>11800376
thanks, Reddit

>>11796750
Utterly worthless seething zoomer resentment post. Only a person with a completely miserable life would waste time posting so much irrelevant crocodile-tear greentext.

>>11802127
>get proven wrong
>something something zoomer something something miserable
concession accepted.

>>11796750
Worked on my machine

>>11791752 (OP)
Blades of Steel

>>11800274
Most people who've played Metal Gear have retroactively checked it out after Metal Gear Solid made the series popular. Everyone who I know who's played Metal Gear played the MSX version after they played Metal Gear Solid.

Moreover, OP never specified in America.

>>11791752 (OP)
Pipe Dream, partly because it created a trend where every game had to have a fucking Pipe Dream minigame.

>>11794452
It sounds like you didn’t even figure out the rapid press to float. A game isn’t bad just because you’re a moron

>>11794230
>>11794220
As a child I didn't like Bart vs the Space Mutants. I agree: get past level 1 and it's just a bad game. Level 1 was intentionally hard to beat in order to prevent people from finding this out. It was a "rental game" made to be hard to beat in a weekend.

>>11791901
Seconding Ghostbusters. It was genuinely popular in the day and genuinely sucks.

>>11805793
>Seconding Ghostbusters. It was genuinely popular in the day and genuinely sucks.
Complete nonsense. My friends and I all played this game EVERY SINGLE TIME we got the chance in computer lab. In a sea of Apple IIs and one C64, it was far and away the best game around. Montezuma's Revenge came close, but we still preferred Ghostbusters.

TMNT. it was the bundled system seller in the UK

>>11794220
Backing this up. I remember renting this and just not having a good time.

TMNT or BTTF are my contendors for this. Both were clunky and punishing.

>>11792086
i like it

How about what is the best game for the system that doesn't get enough credit for being good? My vote goes to Bionic Commando. My favorite game for the system. Based beyond measure and it deserves far more credit than it gets.

>>11810182
There are a lot of those but my favourites probably are:

NES:
Darkwing Duck
Formula 1 Sensation
Gyruss
Might & Magic - Secret of the Inner Sanctum
S.C.A.T
The Lone Ranger


Famicom:
Cosmo Police - Galivan
Dream Master (the Namco one, not Little Nemo)
Exciting Billiard (probably the best pool/billiard game ever made at that point in time)
Famicom Jump II
Mashin Hero Wataru Gaiden
Mitsume Ga Tooru
Radia Senki - Reimei Hen
Shadow Brain
Taito Grand Prix

>>11810285
>Formula 1 Sensation
One of the most technically impressive racing games on the system but it's not very well known because it never came out in North America

>>11791752 (OP)
Worst is pretty subjective. I'll say:

Duck Hunt:
Literally everyone had this. It's fun for about five minutes and then you turn it off.

Jaws:
Another one everyone I knew had. It's just shooting sharks and jellyfish over and over again to power up so you can fight Jaws. The map screen is utterly pointless besides traveling to the power up shop to spend your conch shells.

>>11810182
>what is the best game for the system that doesn't get enough credit for being good?
Startropics. Been in my top 10 NES games since the day I played it. You might see it mentioned in a rare or "hidden gem" game list, otherwise most people forget about it.

>>11810472
Wouldn’t really call Startropics rare or obscure, it was on the NES mini for Gods sake. Zoda’s Revenge, sure.

>>11810478
I mean the cart itself wasn't rare, it's just that it got forgotten and the only time I see it mentioned is in those lists of "lesser played" NES games.

People go down this list of NES classics: Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania, Kirby, Ninja Gaiden, Kid Icarus, Dragon Warrior, etc

I would much rather play StarTropics than Ninja Gaiden or Kid Icarus. Definitely more than the first two Castlevanias too. I just personally feel it's way better than people usually rank it.

>>11810472
>Duck Hunt:
It's seriously a great game and it's iconic.

>>11800382
Did you not have friends as a young lad, anon? That’s too bad.

>>11791767
This is a good one. A beat em up called "bad DUDES" and only one guy can play at a time. The arcade game is much better but not great. Kinda boring, weird difficulty swings where later stuff is easier than earlier stuff. But it was well known, before everyone had the internet you could say "the president has been kidnapped by ninjas" and more people than you expected would know what you're talking about.

I remember a lot of people having Total Recall toom

>>11793262
I liked this game.

>>11810472
>Duck Hunt:
>Literally everyone had this
Because it came with the system, obviously. And it was pretty great.

Duck Hunt kind of feels more like a toy. Everyone loves it because they'd pick it up for 5 minutes and shoot the screen then go do something else.

>>11792471
This game is so horrible it's not even funny. It's basically a proto dial-up ringtone simulator witht he most irritating pitched beeps known to man, what were they thinking? The sequel is seriously GOATed though and easily one of the best shmups on the system if not the best.

>>11815221
It's fine for what it is but yes a tech demo

>>11791752 (OP)
Contra. It's literally a game you can learn to 1cc in an hour or two, but hipsters like to compare it to real shmups.

>>11815221
All video games are toys. Coming right off Atari era, Duck Hunt was mind-blowing.

>>11792086
It's not bad. It's nothing to write home about, but for a 1984 game, it's not bad at all.

>>11792219
>actually popular
it wasn't though
nobody likes this game, it's mediocre at best and playing it with ROB is legitimately impossible past the first few stages

>>11794218
I hate this fucking game solely because it had SO MUCH potential to be great, but the devs instead gave us a convoluted mess of bullshit and barely-functional level design.
>>11794230
who gives a shit what kids think? they're retards who will eat up anything

>>11815429
Difficulty ≠ Quality

>>11817861
Considering the genre, difficulty most certainly equals quality. What else is there? Story?

>>11818139
Presentation and gameplay that generally feels good
An example would be Megaman X: The game is piss easy but it's still beloved because of the presentation

>>11791764
Lost

>>11791778
Zelda 2 was complete dog crap and the only answer. /v/irgins are just being edge lords saying it's good.

>>11792124
You are the gayest of all faggots. Kung Fu is freeking great.

>>11793172
Pro Wrestling and Double Dribble are A+ when you have a freind to play with. We spent many nights playing double dribble and it was so fun my freinds Chad brother and all his freinds would join in when they got home late at night.

>>11810285
DARKWING DUCK CHADS WW@