The Konami NES games left in Japan

[NeoZeedeater]

I would say Konami was the best third-party console game developer of the 8-bit era. How they managed to make so much quantity, variety and quality is beyond me. While many of their best games made it to the West the company still had a lot of Famicom/Famicom Disk games left in Japan. This thread is about those Konami NES games that never made to North America or Europe.

Yie Ar Kung Fu(1985)
This is based on the MSX version rather than the arcade one. It was an excellent fighting game and it was easily the best of its genre on console at the time. Some might find it too simplistic today as the gameplay is completely based on timing and positioning unlike much more complex modern fighters but I still enjoy it.


Arumana no Kiseki(1987, Disk)
This was sort of like Indiana Jones meets Castlevania. Castlevania's definitely better but I like this too.


Rampart(1991)
Konami did license the game from Atari Games but unlike the domestic NES Rampart from Jaleco this isn't really a port of the arcade game; it's more of an original work.

Falsion(1987, Disk)
This was a rail shooter and one of the few games to support Nintendo's 3d glasses. It scrolls pretty smoothly.


Dragon Scroll(1987)
A fantasy action/adventure game.

Tetsuwan Atom(1988)
A side-scroller based on the Astro Boy anime. I loved the look but the game itself is kind of dull, one of Konami's weakest licensed games.


Hi no Tori(1987)
I picked this one up a few years ago at the flea market not knowing what it was and I was pleasantly surprised as it's a quality puzzle-ish platformer. Like Astro Boy, it's based on a Tezuka property.


Ai Senshi Nicol(Disk, 1987)
Overhead action.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/fds/01/3.htm

The Goonies(1986)
Thankfully, the Famicom wasn't advanced enough to recreate Cyndi Lauper's voice from the movie. This was released in the West in PlayChoice form.
http://www.geocities.jp/f_tamakoku/f...86_goonies.gif

King Kong 2(1986)
An overhead view action game where you punched and jumped on enemies. The first Konami King Kong game was on MSX if you're wondering.
http://killlive.hihome.com/6/king_kong_2_-_ikari_no_megaton_punch_(j)0001.png

Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa(1988, Disk)
This platformer was re-released on cartridge in 1993. I don't know if any changes were made.


Hyper Sports(1985)
http://killlive78.hihome.com/1/hyper_sports_(j)0001.png

Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula kun(1990)
An offshoot of the Castlevania series.
http://myhome.naver.com/killlive/1/A...pecial0001.png

Gradius II(1988)
Out of all the games Konami left in Japan this confuses me the most. Gradius 1 was popular enough. Life Force came here. Why did we get denied? Anyway, I'm not the biggest Gradius fan around but there's no denying this game is excellent.


Twinbee(1986)
http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics/twinbee.html

The second Twinbee came here as Stinger.

Twinbee 3(1989)
http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics/twinbee3.html

Circus Charlie(1986)
This wasn't actually a Konami release on the Famicom as it was released by Soft Pro but it was a port of a Konami arcade game.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/nes/0...harlieNES.html

Pooyan(1985)
Another Konami arcade game ported to Famicom by an outside company, this time Hudson.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/nes/01/pooyan.html

Lagrange Point(1991)
This sci-fi RPG had a special chip in it called VRC7 which gave it exceptional sound. I have been meaning to check out the translated rom but I haven't done it yet.
http://www.geocities.jp/f_tamakoku/f...anjyupoint.gif

Getsufuu maden(1987)
I know I would have really loved this game had it been released here back then as it's totally my kind of theme. It's still definitely worth a look today. It's a platform/RPG with excellent art and atmosphere.


Risa no Yosei Densetsu - Risa Tachibana(1988, Disk)
A graphic adventure game, way too Japanese text heavy for me to play. I'm guessing Risa Tachibana is some Japanese pop star.


Racer Mini Yonku Japan Cup(1989)

Doremikko(1987, Disk)
I'm not sure if this was a game or a music program of some kind.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/fds/01/46.htm

Exciting Baseball(1987, Disk)


Exciting Billiards(1987, Disk)


Exciting Boxing(1987, Disk)

Daimashikyou Galious(1987)
A port of the MSX Galious game I think.

Esper Dream(1987, Disk)


Esper Dream 2(1992)
Does anyone have pics/info on this? All I have found is box art.

Meikyuu Jin Dababa(1987, Disk)
This game seems cool but the constant forced jumping gets on my nerves.


Konamic Tennis(1988, Disk)


Ganbare Goemon(1986)
This was the first in the Mystical Ninja/Goemon series that didn't get released outside Japan until the first SNES game.


Ganbare Goemon 2(1989)
http://myhome.naver.com/killlive/4/ganbare_goemon_2_(j)0001.png

Ganbare Goemon Gaiden(1990)
http://killlive.hihome.com/7/Ganbare%20Goemon%20Gaiden%20-%20Kieta%20Ougon%20Kiseru%20(J)0001.png

Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 2(1992)

Antarctic Adventure(1985)
An excellent port of the arcade game. It was on rails 3d game where you had to jump and avoid things. At least the Coleco port made it to the West. It had a sequel called Penguin Adventure on MSX and the main character Pentarou also appears in the Parodius series.


Yume Penguin Monogatari(1991)
Pentarou returns as a tubby penguin. This time he's on a mission to lose weight to win his girlfriend back. The game is half platformer, half shooter. I love it but it's way too easy.


Cosmic Wars(1989)
Turn-based strategy in the Gradius universe.
http://www.vicviper.com/review-cosmicwars.html

Moai kun(1990)
Some sort of puzzle/platformer I gather, based on the Moai head things in Gradius. I only played it briefly.


Mouryou Senki Madara(1990)
An RPG with somewhat strategy-like battles. It had a sequel on SFC.


Konami Wai Wai World(1988)
Long before Sega mixed their various franchises in Fighters Megamix and Nintendo/HAL with Super Smash Bros., Konami had Wai Wai World. In this game you rescued various members of past Konami games(like Simon Belmont, Goemon, King Kong) and they joined your character selection.


Wai Wai World 2(1991)
http://www.geocities.jp/f_tamakoku/f...01/waiwai2.gif

Ganbare Pennant Race(1989)
Another great sports game from Konami. This baseball game was more cartoon-ish than their sports games usually were.

Smash Ping Pong(1987, Disk)
Nintendo's Smash Ping Pong was developed by Konami.
http://www.geocities.jp/f_tamakoku/f...mashpinpon.gif

Motocross Champion(1989)
http://killlive.hihome.com/6/motocross_champion_(j)0001.png

Jarinko Chie(1988)
An adventure game based on a TV show. It's another one of those too text heavy ones for me to comprehend.

Crisis Force(1991)
This was one of the best shooters released on the system and it holds its own nicely against 16-bit shooters of the time. It even had some MUSHA-style multi-layer parallax cavern effects.


Please add any additional info, opinions, etc..

[FlufflePuff]

Wow. I had no idea that Konami had released so many games for the Fami. Granted I never import, but that still seems like a ton of games to be produced that we never got in the states. Some of those games, Gradius 2 and Getsufuu maden, look like great games.

Thanks for the great post. It looks like I'm that much closer to cracking and getting a Famicom now.

[Xantan the Foul]

Alot of those games look pretty beastly. I have the ROM for Getsufuu Maden, it's alot of fun.

I just wish I knew what was going on.

[Dire 51]

Neo, you've touched on a subject that's near and dear to me. I'm a big fan of a lot of games on the list... Gradius II, Crisis Force, Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, Yume Penguin Monogatari, Getsu Fuu Ma Den, The Goonies, Waiwai World 1 & 2... the list goes on.

Regarding the disk and cart versions of Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa - there are relatively few changes. The music sound slightly different on the cart version, plus the disk version has a large Upa on the title screen. Didn't notice any others, though.

We didn't we get Gradius II is a question that's puzzled me for years. Near as I can figure Konami didn't want to spend the cash for the custom chipset (that I can't recall the name of). I might be dead wrong, though. I think the same thing happened with Crisis Force.

Getsu Fuu Ma Den is a great game. Would have been nice to see here, I think, but the subject matter probably prevented it's release. Or maybe I'm dead wrong on that one too.

The Goonies I love to death. For that matter, I just finished it for the first time the other day. I would have loved to see it in the U.S.

I could go on for a while, but I don't have time right now. For those of you that are interested in reading more about some of these games, you can find reviews of them (several written by yours truly) here at DP. Just check out the Reviews section on the main page.

[delafro]

Very cool thread. I've found Japan-only Konami games to be one of the most rewarding parts of collecting for Famicom. There are many gems in there, but also don't forget, some of the titles stayed in Japan for a reason (Wai Wai World's broken gameplay comes to mind).

[Memblers]

Nintendo had a restriction on the amount of NES games a licensed developer would be allowed to publish per year, presumably so the market wouldn't get flooded (plus competing with Nintendo's own games, heh). Plus Nintendo has to 'approve' each game, and probably make a huge quantity of them as a minimum (not mention them sometimes needing translating and re-testing).

The Famicom had no such restrictions, developers/publishers were on their own there AFAIK. And Konami had great capabilities, that's for sure (even making their own chips and everything). So it's not too surprising to see so many FC-only games.

[Ruudos]

For those restricitions Konami created Ultra Games

[rbudrick]

Gradius II is so good that playing through it, one could easily confuse it with a SNES game. The music is the best the NES has to offer. That game really pushed NES technology to its limits, imo.

-Rob

[Dire 51]

Gradius II is so good that playing through it, one could easily confuse it with a SNES game. The music is the best the NES has to offer. That game really pushed NES technology to its limits, imo.

Agreed. The first time I saw it, my jaw dropped... I couldn't believe the NES was capable of displaying graphics like that. Once I got to play it, I was even more in awe.

[Sotenga]

Gradius II is so good that playing through it, one could easily confuse it with a SNES game. The music is the best the NES has to offer. That game really pushed NES technology to its limits, imo.

Agreed. The first time I saw it, my jaw dropped... I couldn't believe the NES was capable of displaying graphics like that. Once I got to play it, I was even more in awe.

Don't forget the sound! Not only is the music quality impressive, but they even have some of the voices from the arcade version in here! Beautiful.

Whoa, I haven't replied to this thread yet! I gotta say, as much as I love Konami, I hate how about a third of their games have not wandered outside Japan, and those are some of their best titles! It's been going on forever, even in the days of the NES/Famicom, and dammit, most Americans didn't even know Goemon (or Kid Ying, if you really only know him by that name :/ ) came long before the SNES! Penguins need more fame in America... a LOT more. And shmups were all the rage in the early 90's... why didn't they release Crisis Force? My guess is the uprise of the SNES, but NES games were released in 1991! Dammit, dammit, dammit. Now I'm angry... at least some of these games have translated roms and have been experienced by the glory of emulation. Though, since I actually do have an NES converter, I should start Famicom collecting. If only I weren't so focused on other things... I'll get to it someday.

[Dire 51]

And shmups were all the rage in the early 90's... why didn't they release Crisis Force?

My money's on the chipset being too expensive to manufacture for a game that might not sell well in the U.S.

[leonk]

Konami went a bit further than the rest as well. They used custom Konami mappers (rather than the typical Nintendo ones) in their mappers. This is also a reason why many of these games never made it here.

[rbudrick]

Konami went a bit further than the rest as well. They used custom Konami mappers (rather than the typical Nintendo ones) in their mappers. This is also a reason why many of these games never made it here.

True, true. Nintendo was a dictator in that area. It was use their mappers or F off.

-Rob

[Tatsu]

Nice list! After a short over-view I say I would have like to see Gradius II, Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula kun and Crisis Force. They seem interesting, especially the Castlevania off-spin.

[Great Hierophant]

Konami came up with the idea to form a "separate" company to release more than six games per year. Ultra Games got many hits too and fooled no one. I think Konami should have localized some of its more advanced titles than churn out so many licensed games (although with Capcom their licensed games are about the only good ones.)

Lagrange Point (1991)
This sci-fi RPG had a special chip in it called VRC7 which gave it exceptional sound. I have been meaning to check out the translated rom but I haven't done it yet.

I have not heard that this game was translated. Where did you hear that? Can you direct me to a patch?

Actually, if you look at Konami NES games' PCB, they sometimes use Konami boards but the functionality is the same as Nintendo's boards. Of NES licensees, only Sunsoft used custom non-Nintendo hardware for one game, Batman - Return of the Joker. But you are right in that Konami preferred to port games that did not require its custom mappers or games that could be ported to Nintendo's mappers with minimal feature loss (Life Force and Castlevania III.) Many others were too primitive (MSX ports), little market (RPGs) or "too Japanese."

Between Konami and Ultra Games, they released almost as many games for the NES as Nintendo themselves.

[Great Hierophant]

Konami came up with the idea to form a "separate" company to release more than six games per year. Ultra Games got many hits too and fooled no one. I think Konami should have localized some of its more advanced titles than churn out so many licensed games (although with Capcom their licensed games are about the only good ones.)

Lagrange Point (1991)
This sci-fi RPG had a special chip in it called VRC7 which gave it exceptional sound. I have been meaning to check out the translated rom but I haven't done it yet.

I have not heard that this game was translated. Where did you hear that? Can you direct me to a patch?

Actually, if you look at Konami NES games' PCB, they sometimes use Konami boards but the functionality is the same as Nintendo's boards. Of NES licensees, only Sunsoft used custom non-Nintendo hardware for one game, Batman - Return of the Joker. But you are right in that Konami preferred to port games that did not require its custom mappers or games that could be ported to Nintendo's mappers with minimal feature loss (Life Force and Castlevania III.) Many others were too primitive (MSX ports), little market (RPGs) or "too Japanese."

Between Konami and Ultra Games, they released almost as many games for the NES as Nintendo themselves.

[GrandAmChandler]

When I was a kid, I spent so many damn quarters in my Local Playchoice 10 for The Goonies. I wished so bad this was released on the NES. A repro would be nice! Also, Gradius II and Wai Wai world 1 & 2 I have never played but they look fun! Any one know where to find them?

[kainemaxwell]

I've got Yie Ar Kung Fu, Antartic Adventure and Moai kun on my NES multicart. All of them are fun games.

Moai Kun is actually a fun puzzle game if you sit down with it. Basically your little Easter island head guy can jump and bash things with his head. Bashing with his head moves boulders to get to the door in the level, bash blocks and enemies too.

[NeoZeedeater]

I have not heard that this game was translated. Where did you hear that? Can you direct me to a patch?

I looked into it and it seems the patch was only 50% done when they stopped making it. That's too bad.

[GaijinPunch]

Getsu Fuu Ma Den is a great game. Would have been nice to see here,

Apparently it is. Max Lords nagged me until I gave up one of these, no doubt framed and on his wall now.