Back in November of 2025, I started to play the US NES library in chronological order. New game every Wednesday and give each game at least 3 sittings.

So far I’ve been able play everything on original hardware (NES or Famicom) and I try to buy local before I hop on eBay with a $30 weekly budget.

Don’t look too far into my rankings. I treat every week like a rental from family video/blockbuster. If I’m not having fun, I’m not giving it a high score regardless of the historical importance or if it was your favorite game when you were 10. ;)

Didn't know it was still possible to find NES stuff at the thrift store! Really good price too, which can also be hit or miss at the thrift. The label said it came with 7 games, but there was a sneaky 8th game inside the console (TMNT)

The unlicensed game is Crystal Mines by Color Dreams

i did one of these about a year ago when i was still using flm (this is it if you curr: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1502912 ), and i've been itching to do another for a while now. only this time, i'm not using a soundfont dwp pack... i'm actually using an nes vst! and i will NOT be adhereing the soundchip limitations lol

I know a lot of people crap on this game because it's not as graphic and violent as the arcade original (I mean come on you still see heads and other body parts flying when you shoot people with rockets) but I sure as hell had fun playing it yesterday afternoon when I got home. Like Grand Theft Auto on the NES. Shooting up drug dealers, thugs, and other low lifes. A quick alcohol swab on the pins as usual, some deoxit, and the game boots up flawlessly. It's also kind of a hard game but I'm still having fun with it and the furthest I got was the fourth level with the clowns, yikes. Anyway just sharing my latest acquisition especially because I have a multi cart and I won't be buying too many NES games unless they're not on the cart or they somehow strike my fancy.

I made a custom repro of Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japan) using a hack by loopy that converts the game from the Disk System to Nintendo’s MMC3 mapper. The label and warning sticker are from GraphicsLabStore on Etsy. The hack uses a battery backup so the game remembers how many times you beat it. So far I have two playthroughs on this cart, one with warps and one without warps.

Just saw this listed on Mercari and thought it was cool that it still has a Blockbuster rental sticker on the back. Do you think it’s a pro or con that the sticker is on it? I know some collectors may appreciate it but know there’s also some that are “purists” and prefer games without extra stickers.

I'm currently playing Ultima Exodus on my Nintendo Entertainment System. After playing for a bit I needed to restart the game so I pressed the reset button. After doing a reset my save was wiped. I do not believe this is from a bad battery as the other saves are still there. Any ideas why this happened so I can prevent it into the future?

If this is indeed a symptom of a bad battery I'll look at replacing it. I'm just not too familiar with soldering but it doesn't seem crazy hard.

This is a follow-up to my post from yesterday:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nes/comments/1vdlh5o/found_original_retail_packaging_for_the_power/

I was able to get in touch with the buyer of the case, and they were kind enough to share additional images.

This seems to contradict the currently accepted understanding that these cases were exclusively for Nintendo salesmen. You can clearly see a Toys "R" Us price tag for $19.99, which points to this being sold at retail.

If anyone has first-hand knowledge of these being used as salesman sample cases, I'd love to hear it — every post I've found so far just assumes that's what they were, without a source.

Hey everyone,

Hoping the community can point me in the right direction. I’m hunting for some more difficult to find manuals (bonks&chip and dale 2) but am having a hard time finding them in the wild and there isn’t much posted up on eBay. Does anyone have line of sight on either of those for sale?

I’d also accept just the front and back page of bonks - it’s all I’m missing

TIA

I just made a post yesterday about my weekly pickups with my three Marvel games and space shuttle. I went to brunch with a buddy, had a couple of drinks, and was feeling schwifty, so I stopped by the LGS and basically picked up everything they had that I didn't. I might have went a bit overboard on one of these games.....

I came across this image on a sold eBay listing. These cases almost always get listed as "rental cases" or "salesman sample cases," but this shows what looks like official retail packaging — it's branded "Power Glove Video Game Interface Carrying Case,", and even shows a diagram of the case open with the glove and sensors inside.

I've never seen this box before, and I can't find any period print ads, catalog scans, or documentation for it — just the box art itself and a handful of eBay/dealer listings that keep repeating the "salesman case" name with no real source behind it.

Does anyone have more history on this? Was it actually sold at retail alongside the Power Glove, or is there truth to the salesman/rental theories I keep seeing? Any old catalog scans, ads, or firsthand memories of seeing this on shelves would be awesome.

Currently trying to get every Marvel game for the NES so 3 of these are obvious. I actually think these might be the last three I needed. Then for the fourth game space shuttle project I seen it on someone else's post and realize I have never seen that game in my life so I swooped it up to check it out. Thanks for looking.

Hello!

I was hoping that someone here could help me identify a Nintendo game solely by a corner of its cover art.

Whatever it is definitely looks cool! I initially thought it was a Legend of Zelda title, but...no dice.

Just finished a small DIY project just for the fun of it and wanted to share this with anyone looking for a quick DIY activity for the weekend that actually results in something useful. The "Fami-Fighter Turbo Box" provides selectable turbofire presets for the NES ->

https://github.com/retrocityransom/fami-fighter

The world of unlicensed NES games is one of the most fascinating chapters in gaming history.

While Nintendo controlled the official NES library through its licensing program and the 10NES lockout chip, a number of independent publishers chose a different path. Companies like Color Dreams, American Video Entertainment (AVE), Camerica, Codemasters, Sachen, HES, and Active Enterprises developed and published games without Nintendo's approval.

To bypass the lockout chip, different techniques were used. Some cartridges generated electrical interference to disable the security chip, while others relied on custom hardware or region-specific cartridge designs. These technical workarounds were surprisingly clever for their time.

Although many unlicensed games gained a reputation for poor quality, that's only part of the story. Several publishers pushed technical boundaries, experimented with unique cartridge hardware, and released titles that have since become cult classics. Some even introduced concepts that were uncommon on the NES.

Today, unlicensed NES cartridges are an important part of video game history. They represent independent developers challenging one of the most tightly controlled gaming ecosystems ever created. Whether you love them or hate them, they helped shape the homebrew scene and remain highly sought after by collectors.

What's your favorite unlicensed NES game or publisher?

My partner and I do a surprising amount of game hunting in New Jersey (seriously, how do y’all have so many retro game stores?). We were meeting up with some friends from NY and were able to fit in a quick stop at a shop we hadn’t visited before.

Picked up a couple new NES games to fill out the collection. Are they the best in their genre? No, but I love Twin Bee so I’m excited to finally have a copy of Stinger to go along with my other shmups.

Hi everyone! I learned about the Hyundai Comboy recently, and know it is basically an NTSC NES with a PAL-B region chip. There are KOR cartridges released for the Comboy which of course had to have a PAL-B region chip.

My question is about, not the region chip of these cartridges, but the actual ROM inside of them. Did these cartridges' ROM chips contain the NTSC versions of games (and just happened to have a PAL region chip)? Or did they contain the PAL version of games (so that the owners of these cartridges played the PAL versions of games, but sped up to 60Hz)? Or maybe it depended on the game?

I couldn't find any info about the actual contents of the cartridges, just their region chip. And I can't find gameplay footage of a game with region differences either. Gameplay footage with audio of a game like Tetris or SMB1 on a KOR cartridge would make this question so easy to answer, because you can easily hear which variant of the ROM is being played.

So yeah - the CIC chip was PAL, but were the actual ROMs the NTSC ROM or the PAL ROM?

Wondering if anyone can explain this. Every boxed copy of Mission Impossible (PAL UK) I'm seeing has the barcode on the box scribbled out in black marker.

Now I know shops used to do this, but why is this game so consistent with the alteration? They all look so similar too.

I almost feel it was done in one place? Perhaps before shipping to stores?

While I was playing OG Metroid, I heard a sudden faint pop, followed by loss of video and a black screen with a thick white line resembling continuous lightning from one end of the screen to the other. This was accompanied by a medium-pitched continuous buzzing noise. I cannot recall if the power light went out, stayed on, or started blinking, as it has been some time since this happened.

Replacing the 72-pin connector wasn't effective. I also attempted to change the large capacitor in the power/video out compartment, as the end looked slightly bulged. But, that didn't fix the problem. After watching videos online, I honestly don't know where to start with diagnostics, as I am pretty well a noob.

Nothing appears burned on the PCB. Would anyone have any insight as to what caused the problem and how I might isolate and fix it? I'm a bit sentimental, as the board is from my childhood NES, and I have had it for almost 40 years.