NES



NES
The NES' main console competition was with the Master System (along with other PC games, but they had their own competitions to deal with). But the NES proved most famous of its gen and though it may not have specs like the Master System's, its library is far better, thanks to colossal 3rd party support. The old console wars has long died down, and you should try both if you can!

If you're a real collector, get an NES 101 (the toploader), seen here as it plays PAL NES games, and has a port that makes it compatible with the Famicom Disk System! However IT DOES NOT PLAY FAMICOM GAMES due to the pin difference, you'll have to get a top loading Game Genie or a converter to play them.

The List

Famicom
These are the games that didn't quite make it out West, but are still worth checking out. Whether you own a clone system, an actual Famicom, a converter for your NES, or maybe just looking for ROMs, here's the list for you.

[* Denotes the game only came out on the Famicom Disk System]

ROM Hacks
In this section, we recommend ROM Hacks that we consider worth checking out.

Links to the patches -and NOT to patched ROMs- should be provided in the description whenever possible.

How to play
You will need ROMs of the original games. Sometimes you need a specific version of the said ROM but it's usually told in the readme file. For example you may need to use "awesomegame (U).nes" while it may not work with "awesomegame (U) [!] [b1].nes".

You will also need a ROM patcher such as Lunar IPS, which you can download here http://fusoya.eludevisibility.org/lips/

Of course, you will need the patches that turn the original ROMs into the hacked ones. Links should be provided in the descriptions. Most of them should be avalaible at www.romhacking.net and/or at http://www.zophar.net/

Finally, run the patched ROMs in your emulator of choice (or put them on your expensive Powerpak to play them on a real console, but that's only if you're a rich bastard). If nothing happens, or if something odd happens, then you probably applied the patch on a wrong version of the ROM of the game.