If you've heard of, or played, StarTropics, you may not know there was a sequel. It was called Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II. The Blockbuster employee I asked, BITD, had never heard of it.
Duck Tales 2 was released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One under the Disney Afternoon Collection. Also on that collection was Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers 2, which, a lot like Duck Tales 2, is a game that was released super late in the NES's life cycle, so the cartridge is kind of rare.
You deserve more views, you're a solid writer and presenter Also: "Power Blade 2" is amazing -The fourth adventure island is on lots of readily available affordable NES multicarts, it is by far the most advanced game in the series, with much more 'game' on offer , you should get it...
@@FridayNightArcade the cart still on sale on amazon , "super games 143 in one" has it , and among other awesomeness it has the sweet home ROM hack English trans... and so much more , it's like 35.00, and it's the nicest one I've had , prolly won't be around long...
After your previous comment I Googled into that. I had no idea those multicarts were a thing... I know about Everdrives and those are awesome, but I didn't realize people were just outright selling mutlicarts with all the games built in. They look like nice quality. I'm guessing those won't be around long though with the Big N going scorched earth on ROMs. It's too bad too because it's the video game companies own fault for not preserving the history better. ROMs and emulators are for some folks the only way to play these games and see what they were like back then, especially with the original hardware slowly dying or getting harder and harder to find due to collectors and such. If the companies did more to preserve the history and make these titles available in virtual console form (even for just a few bucks each), that would be better than nothing. And a lot of those companies from the 80s went out of business so the licensing to even sell a lot of those extinct games officially gets murky. Okay I'll stop ranting now sorry lol.
Star Force is a top down shooter we got on NES. But there was a sequel in Japan known as Super Star Force. It looks like a good game with variety. It begins as a top down shooter, but there are parts where you get out of your ship and you have run and gun levels with an overhead view.
The NES was not compatible with on-cart chip addons like the Famicom was. This is why Dracula's Curse for the NES had a completely new soundtrack mixed for it while Akumajou Densetsu had richer audio due to its custom chipset.
Don't forget that Nintendo being Nintendo put the Expansion Pak under the Gray NES System instead of on top like they did the Famicom System.. I will never understand why Nintendo limited the West Nintendo Entertainment System like that..
I own Beyond Shadowgate. Actually got it in early 1994 by calling TTI and asking if I could buy it from them since I couldn't find it. Spent my senior year OBSESSED with it. Took me months to finish it. Was worth it. I still own a pristine copy.
Life Force was the American sequel to Gradius. It originally was a spinoff game Salamander, in Japan. Kinda like Doki Panic is the US version of Mario 2.
There was another Blaster Master sequel for the PS1 called Blaster Master: Blasting Again. They changed it to a 3D type view which made navigating the caves incredibly hard. Plus I remember the load times between screens to be excruciating.
Blaster Master 2, obviously made by a European developer for Sunsoft. It has the look and feel of a Euro game. Especially when it contains the very Euro game feature of having killer water drops.
@@robintst I think some people who used to work for Psygnosis actually worked on this game. And if I remember correctly they also made that game Puggsy or whatever it was called. Didn't they also make the 3D Sonic game for the Megadrive/Genesis? Traveller's Tales I think their studio was called.
Equinox was awesome. Had that game back in the 90's. The boss fights really add to it. It's definitely a lot harder than Solstice (but thank god it has a save feature). I like the music in it, as it really adds to the background. They even left in that funny sound that played when you died in Solstice. My brother in-law HATED that sound lol.
awesome! would love to give it a go. the nes one is my fav due to its music and atmosphere, 64 was fun because it was quite a challenge (absolutely NO guide), was disappointed when rising was cancelled :/ it's such a good series.
I remember Power Punch 2! We used to rent it from the local video game place, and for years I was convinced it was a Punch Out sequel that everyone seemed to have forgotten.
Rock N Roll Racing. No doubt, you remember that game on the SNES. If you don't; check it out, it's fun as hell. It had a sequel that went under the radar (at least, in the US): It was called Red Asphalt. Outside of the US, it's called, "Rock N Roll Racing 2: Red Asphalt". In the states, it's just, "Red Asphalt". It was published by Interplay for the PlayStation. Great soundtrack, great gameplay, gripping difficulty as you progress, and a strict anti-cheating feature. It looks a bit like Twisted Metal, just more futuristic, and it's an actual race. Seriously: Check the game out. I still play it every now and then.
Whoa, I'll have to look for that one. I remember Rock N Roll Racing although didn't play it much. Had no idea there was a sequel. Now you have me curious. This is what I love about this channel. I learn just as much (and usually more) from you than the other way around. Thank you for taking the time to share this.
Funny thing is I originally learned about Blaster Master with the sequel on the Genesis at my buddy's house. Had I known the original was on the NES I probably would have checked it out when I was a kid.
Another relatively unknown series/sequel: Soul Blazer's sequel was Illusion of Gaia, and there was a third that never made it to the US called Terranigma.
The Turbo Grafx 16 was not that expensive. It was priced to compete with the Sega Genesis. I chose tje Sega Genesis in '89 (parents got it for me Christmas of '89). The Turbo CD was expensive but not really any worse than the Sega CD. I loved my Sega CD and was a really big deal when I got it. I believe both the Sega CD and Turbo CD were $299.00. You do know that Super Mario 2 (Japenese version) came out as for the Snes in a compilation cart complete with updated graphics (I got it Christmas when it was new...I don't remember the year). I actually came close to beating that bastard of a game on the Snes...I want to say '92.
I don't really count Super Mario 2 / Lost Levels on the SNES ... I can't remember which video I explained it on, but the 16-bit versions of the NES Mario games in that All Stars cartridge never sat well with me. I realize that's totally bass ackwards lol. I loved Super Mario World but hated 16-bit Super Mario Bros. 1-2-3/Lost Levels. I think it's just because I was so used to the NES versions in look, feel and sound that the 16-bit versions never felt "quite right." The 8-bit versions were too seared into my brain.
The TG16 was expensive as hell, when it came out it was about 100 more than an NES. The CD add on was expensive too, you were looking at around $500 for both and when you consider that the TG16 just didn't have that many good games (in the US, yes I know about the PC Engine) it just wasn't worth it. I mean how can you say $500 dollars in the early 90s wasn't "expensive"? Add to that the fact that you only had 1 controller and if you wanted to add more you had to buy the Turbo Tap, the controller and tap would have set you back another 40-50 bucks. I owned a TG16 but I only ever knew 1 other kid who owned one. Most kids had never even seen one outside a store. I got more and more frustrated with it because it had no games compared to the NES and Genesis. And it ticked me off that TG16 games used freaking passwords and some of them were HUGE. I mean the NES had had battery backup since Zelda but in 1990 the TG16 was still using passwords. As much as everyone now acts like they loved the TG16 back in the day in my experience that certainly wasn't true. Most kids were busy playing Genesis and NES and then SNES and a big reason for the TG16's failure was the price and an even bigger reason was the lack of games.
@@FridayNightArcade As someone who grew up with the all-stars pack, I discovered many years later that the originals do play better. They've tighter controls and the brick busting isn't as wonky. So, I don't think it's just nostalgia bias on your part for preferring them.
Yep. There is definitely a story behind that. Short version is Sega owned the Wonderboy visual assets while Hudson owned the gameplay. Their partnership ended, and Wonderboy became a completely different game in sequels while Hudson created new assets for their sequels that played like the original.
I was disappointed in Blaster Master 2. It looks and feels like one of those quick cash grabs that Psygnosis pooped out like the Bram Stoker's Dracula game.
Pretty old video but worthy of a comment: Adventure island 2 is the best of the series. Actually the earlier one aren't metroidvania style games but rather have a SMB style level progression on a world map.
Came here to say this. #4 is unique in that it took the gameplay and visual style and created a metroidvania style game out of it. Also the first one didn't even have a map and reused level layouts, likely due to the small storage space available on carts at the time.
Ducktales 2 is on the disney afternoon collection which frequently goes on sale for $5. Includes ducktales, ducktales 2, chip n dale, chip n dale 2, talespin and darkwing duck.
Here's another fun sequel they didn't bring to the US. Anyone ever hear of Othello for the NES? I believe the sequel to that might be Othello World for the Super Famicom.
SMB2/Lost Levels is also unlockable in Super Mario Bros Deluxe for the GBC. If memory serves, you have to run up the score over 300k to unlock it. If you're willing to sacrifice screen real estate, it's basically a direct port.
I remember playing Gradius II aka Vulcan Venture in an arcade near me way back when. It would have been nice to play it at home though- I did have both Gradius and Lifeforce. While not the Famicom version I think, I read that it did eventually get a worldwide release in 2006 on PSP via Gradius Collection, and also on Wii Virtual Console (PC Engine version). In case you didn't know, Ducktales 2 can be had on Steam via the Disney Afternoon Collection (with five other games)
It's a good game, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece by any stretch. Back in the day my friend had it on Famicom (which we thought was a "Chinese Nintendo" since his aunt bought it for him in Hong Kong) and I was playing Gradius 2 at the same time as Life force, I much preferred Life Force. Gradius 2 just seemed old compared to it.
Late to the comments section but duck tales 2 also come out for the Gameboy really close to the nes version especially if you use the super Gameboy. Sells for under $20
Legacy of the wizard actually has ties to Faxanadu, and the Xanadu / Dragonslayer franchise in general, as its actually a sequel in the "DragonSlayer" games, which Faxanadu / Xanadu has a sequel of sorts in "Xanadu Next"
I never heard anyone call it Gradius 2, it was obviously similar but my Chinese friend had a Famicom and he had Gradius 2, so I knew Lifeforce wasn't Gradius 2 even back then. I always just thought of it as kind of an offshoot game. Lifeforce (from what I can remember from playing them 30 plus years ago) was much easier than Gradius 2. My friend and I beat Lifeforce the first time we played it (using the Konami Code, natch).
Oh damn, Eggplant Wizard comes from Adventure Island 4. I always wondered what game he came from when watching that old Captain N - The Game Master cartoon that used to come on with The Mario Bros. Super Show back in the day
In the Adventure Island 1-3 games, the eggplant was a "power-up" that drained your life meter, so there's that, too. Kid Icarus was released in Japan in December 1986, and Adventure Island was released in Japan in September 1986, so Adventure Island was actually doing the eggplant thing first, but not the "wizard." The Eggplant Wizard from Kid Icarus was the one used in Captain N, though. The one in Adventure Island 4 isn't the same Eggplant Wizard, because it has two eyes, and the one from Kid Icarus/Captain N only has one eye.
Well it's years after the NES, like this late comment I guess... But I remember being surprised about the origins of a game on PS2 called "Shadow Hearts". It later got it's own sequel, and I didn't play either that much, but a friend let me know it was connected to a PS1 game called "Koudelka" we had both played. Apart from the dark and supernatural themes, there's not much to connect between the games, but apparently some character connections and references made it a legit follow-up.
There was an arcade game in Canada called Wonderboy that was very similar to Adventure Island. I think it was around 1985 or so, I spent a lot of quarters on it.
Wonder Boy could be played it in arcades in the U.S. too, or anywhere in the world really. Hudson Soft was going to port it to the Famicom, but Sega bought the rights to the Wonder Boy title and character before Hudson could release their game, so they had to change the character art, title, and story.
The Gradius games are here now! I have played through all of them on my Core Grafx Mini. They're absolutely excellent and the Mini not only includes Gradius and Gradius 2 it also has Salamander (Life Force) plus the arcade versions. Mario 2 was so damn hard I have never finished it. I got it originally for my Snes. You likely already know this but in case you missed it the Snes featured a 16-bit remake and it was great. They also did an excellent repackaging of the first 3 Ninja Gaiden games on the Snes as well. I always love your content as it's so well done. I knew about many of these games but it's always nice to see your take on them. Blaster Master was very strange on the Sega Genesis. I have a rare sequel for you...Target Earth for the Genesis which was either a prequel or a sequel to Assault Suit Leynos...that I think was on the Super Famicom. They did a remake of sorts that's not bad for the PS4. The original Street Fighter was an interesting find for the TG-16 CD Rom. Okay, if you're looking for rare...look up Ogre Tactics 64. I have never seen a real copy out in the wild but I heard it was an amazing game. If it's anything like the original Playstation game then it has to be great. Fun Fact: Tactics Ogre actually first released on the Super Famicom in Japan and was originally ported to the Playstation. It runs on the same engine as FF Tactics I believe if not they're very similar. At any rate, check them out you will likely love them.
The reason why Gradius II was never released in the US is because of the VRC4 chip they developed. It would have taken too long to convert to a different chip. Also it didn't help that they basically had mentioned that Life Force was the sequel to Gradius. Really the advertising and review said that.
Ancillary to that in Japan, Life Force had a tie-in Anime OVA under it's original name Salamander that features lots of references and nods to that game as well as Gradius. If they dedicated the time and money to something like that in those days, that's probably all the more reason to accept Life Force as the real sequel rather than Gradius II. Might not even be much of a loss if it's just more of the original game, Life Force was actually a solid step forward design-wise.
I know it seems odd, but back in the day i had no idea they made a sequel to star tropics. Also, chip and dale rescue rangers 2 (i got the capcom saturday morning collection which had it)
It's not that forgotten, but Bomberman II is pretty cool. It features a 3 player multiplayer too! Unfortunately it's really expensive if you're not looking for the Famicom version, which is cheaper. The US and European release goes for about $150. As where you can get the Famicom version for around $8.
Blaster Master 2 rocks on the genesis. I've owned it for years only issue its insanely difficult. The Nomad's lazy screen makes it hard to see when sprites shoot at you. Even through emulation the codes do not stay active once going from side scrolling to top-down in tank view mode. The PlayStation version is more 3rd person but has its own merits that I adore.
I feel if you had included Super Mario Bros Special and Vs. Super Mario Bros. in addition to The boring Lost Levels thing, it wouldn't have felt so done to death
Blaster Master 2 was horrendous!!! >:( It broke my heart when I finally played this sequel. It felt nothing like the original. Fortunately the later Blaster Master games redeemed this title. By the way if you never played the Blaster Master Zero series definitely play them! I was really blown away by the appreciation of the makers that did the Zero series. Thanks for your time.
The NES had the most impressive graphic jump ever... Look at something from 1985 like Ghosts n Goblins, then look at Mega Man 5 6 or Mighty Final Fight... Its almost unreal IMO
Not sure if this qualifies but there was a sequel to Forbidden Forest for the Commodore 64 called Beyond The Forbidden Forest. Cool game. I didn't know it existed until much later in the C64's life.
My memory was that life force was a sequel to gradius on the NES (1989 maybe?). Had great graphics and sound and the konami cheat code up up down down...ect. gave you like 30 lives.
I had super Mario that was the classic Mario made for gameboy color. It was a pixel perfect representation which was good but you couldn't always see where you were jumping as the gameboy resolution was different then the TV. Anyway that version of Mario had extra features and one was to play the original super Mario bros 2. It still had the original music and everything. I don't think it had the ability to play as Luigi but it was great I was able to play it. I'm sure it was even harder with the pixel perfect resolution like the first.
@Friday Night Arcade @3:09 The game name is actually pronounced GrAdius, as in the word "grade" but with the "ius" at the end. There are reasons for this, mostly stemming from Japanese culture where the game originated. Also, have to disagree with you on Super Mario AllStars, for me at least, having played all of those games in the original incarnation, the SMAS versions are highly more desirable over the originals. The game mechanics are identical, down to all the pixel-precise tricks and glitches that can be done. The graphics, soundFX and soundtracks and so much more refined on SMAS that it simply isn't a competition.
TheCaptain actually, like many Japanese games of that era, there are several valid pronunciations in circulation. In this case, the game’s name was intended to be “Gladius” after the Roman sword, which is an excellent name for a warship. Due to l/r issues that Japanese has with liquid consonants, it was transliterated as “Gradius.” So, short A is perfectly valid.
@@jasoncote341 Actually, in an interview with the creators they stated that the name was meant as metaphor for ""Gradient" because the difficulty level went up at a steady incline, or gradient. Thus Gradius.
TheCaptain I have also seen those quotes from Nakamura, although always out of context and without citation. This seems like a face-saving explanation after the fact (a la Iwatani) for something that can be explained by a very common translation issue. One explanation makes a whole lot of sense, and the other is a bit of a stretch. One is an English word that was popular in Japanese games at the time as a word for sword with which the audience of boys with limited English proficiency would be familiar and would make a nicely aggressive title (to attract sales), while the other relies on engineering argot to make a sorta-pun that would be entirely unclear to the main audience. I call bs. We can each believe what we want to, however. The point I wanted to make was that more than one pronunciation has been common since release and, after decades of use, they both are valid currency...unless one is being pedantic.
@@jasoncote341 No need for the passive-aggressive nonsense. You're the one looking like he's trying to save face, but whatever. we can agree to disagree.
I never owned it but I remember seeing it for sale at Toys R Us back when you had the little flip up things with a photocopy of the game box and had to take a ticket up to the front to get the actual game. It looked like a Punch Out ripoff to me, which is what I thought it was. I never knew it was supposed to be a sequel to Punch Out and I remember wondering where the hell Power Punch 1 was because I had never heard of or seen it.
Gradius was the first game i got for the NES apart from duck hunt and giro mite! My dad even got in on gradius for about 2 weeks! Thats the only game he liked! Funny how a game can bring back them feels!
Hey, I also didn't care that much for Super Mario All-Stars! The music just wasn't the same, and the environments weren't nearly as weird, especially in Mario 3. I mostly agree about DuckTales 2, but some of the stages had really neat hidden secrets, like the symbols and that weird mirror in Egypt. Blaster Master 2 was one that I enjoyed, mostly for how weirdly not Blaster Master it was. Adventure Island 4 is excellent! It's very different from most Adventure Island games, though; 1, 2, and 3 on the NES, as well as Super on the SNES, and New Adventure Island on the TurboGrafx-16 are fun, but brutal 1-hit kills Platformers, and that's the norm for the series. 4, like you said, is more of a Platventure, and so is Super Adventure Island 2 on the SNES, which curiously features a lot of things that Symphony of the Night gets credit for contributing to the genre, like weapons (swords and otherwise), armor, shields, a spell library, healing rooms, a shop, and 2 different methods of fast travel. Oh, and "Adventure Island" on the TurboGrafx-16 is actually Wonder Boy 3: Dragon's Trap, which, while good, doesn't technically have anything to do with the Adventure Island series... there's a lot of history between the two.
Want to play Duck Tales 2 legally? It's not too expensive, and is included with 5 other classic NES Disney games in one package. It's on Steam called "The Disney Afternoon Collection" . As of right now, it is still for sale. $26.99 CAD. Maybe $20 USD?
I didn't know about Power Punch II, and I guess I didn't miss much. I agree Duck Tales 2 is not as memorable as the original one, but it's still good on its own, and the European version is not so expensive (like 50€ for a loose copy).
the eggplant wizard was king hippo's partner in the captain n and the video game masters cartoons. its weird that he was in adventure island because he was also the main badguy in kid icarus
Did you guys ever get into the “is it Grah-deeyus or Gray-deeyus” debate with your friends back in the day. 😂😂 Gamers always stick to their first pronunciation with a passion.
You could talk about River City Ransom not getting an official part 2 until the Japanese exclusive Wii virtual console. And a part 3 on the 3DS. But then you might just want to do a video listing the weird history of River City Ransom and Super Dodgeball and the spin-offs of this crazy franchise.
There quite a few games in that series that also includes Nintendo Cup Soccer, Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge and Renegade. They are all part of the Kunio-Kun series. The game Renegade is the beginning of the series.
@@FridayNightArcade rewatching some of your videos. Saw my old comment. Saw your reply. Never saw that you replied. TH-cam is weird about notifications sometimes.
Doki Doki Panic was originally a sequel to SMB that got converted into a licensed game, then got converted back into an SMB sequel because SMB2 Japan just wasn't that great of a game, later SMB2 USA was released in Japan and the people over there also agreed that it was a much better SMB sequel. The difficulty thing is a myth although there were Japanese games that had their difficulty spiked in America, again not because Japanese people are better at video games but because Japan had no rental market so they just assumed that games should be made more difficult in America, not yet realizing that this mostly just made them less playable. Some West-made games such as Battletoads were also easier in Japan for some reason.
I cant find "Uhhhhh" from japan game looks fun though.
It's called "Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima IV" and there is also a english translation patch available online... (It's a really awesome game)
If you've heard of, or played, StarTropics, you may not know there was a sequel. It was called Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II. The Blockbuster employee I asked, BITD, had never heard of it.
StarTropics was one of my favorites. Did a video on it several years back....... Wasn't crazy about ST2.
@@FridayNightArcade yeah, they screwed up the gridlocked jump mechanic.
Those sun flare effects were awesome on the Famicom Gradius.
Duck Tales 2 was released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One under the Disney Afternoon Collection. Also on that collection was Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers 2, which, a lot like Duck Tales 2, is a game that was released super late in the NES's life cycle, so the cartridge is kind of rare.
You deserve more views, you're a solid writer and presenter
Also: "Power Blade 2" is amazing
-The fourth adventure island is on lots of readily available affordable NES multicarts, it is by far the most advanced game in the series, with much more 'game' on offer , you should get it...
That's kind of you to say... thank you.
Yeah, it looks amazing. I really want to get into the series deeper at some point.
Thanks for watching!
@@FridayNightArcade the cart still on sale on amazon , "super games 143 in one" has it , and among other awesomeness it has the sweet home ROM hack English trans... and so much more , it's like 35.00, and it's the nicest one I've had , prolly won't be around long...
After your previous comment I Googled into that. I had no idea those multicarts were a thing... I know about Everdrives and those are awesome, but I didn't realize people were just outright selling mutlicarts with all the games built in. They look like nice quality. I'm guessing those won't be around long though with the Big N going scorched earth on ROMs. It's too bad too because it's the video game companies own fault for not preserving the history better. ROMs and emulators are for some folks the only way to play these games and see what they were like back then, especially with the original hardware slowly dying or getting harder and harder to find due to collectors and such. If the companies did more to preserve the history and make these titles available in virtual console form (even for just a few bucks each), that would be better than nothing. And a lot of those companies from the 80s went out of business so the licensing to even sell a lot of those extinct games officially gets murky. Okay I'll stop ranting now sorry lol.
Star Force is a top down shooter we got on NES. But there was a sequel in Japan known as Super Star Force. It looks like a good game with variety. It begins as a top down shooter, but there are parts where you get out of your ship and you have run and gun levels with an overhead view.
The NES was not compatible with on-cart chip addons like the Famicom was. This is why Dracula's Curse for the NES had a completely new soundtrack mixed for it while Akumajou Densetsu had richer audio due to its custom chipset.
Truth. My mind was totally blown the first time I heard the Famicom version.
Don't forget that Nintendo being Nintendo put the Expansion Pak under the Gray NES System instead of on top like they did the Famicom System.. I will never understand why Nintendo limited the West Nintendo Entertainment System like that..
I own Beyond Shadowgate. Actually got it in early 1994 by calling TTI and asking if I could buy it from them since I couldn't find it. Spent my senior year OBSESSED with it. Took me months to finish it. Was worth it. I still own a pristine copy.
Ducktales 2 was truly amazing
True, and thankfully, it is part of the Disney Afternoon Collection on Xbox One and PS4, making it affordable.
Gradius 2 looks a lot like Life Force put out by Konami in the US. The Konami code sure made it easier to play.
Life Force was the American sequel to Gradius. It originally was a spinoff game Salamander, in Japan. Kinda like Doki Panic is the US version of Mario 2.
There was another Blaster Master sequel for the PS1 called Blaster Master: Blasting Again. They changed it to a 3D type view which made navigating the caves incredibly hard. Plus I remember the load times between screens to be excruciating.
I honestly found it soooooo much easier.
Blaster Master 2, obviously made by a European developer for Sunsoft. It has the look and feel of a Euro game. Especially when it contains the very Euro game feature of having killer water drops.
I suspected as much.The background art looked like a Psygnosis game and the water drops did damage, it had to be from Europe.
@@robintst I think some people who used to work for Psygnosis actually worked on this game.
And if I remember correctly they also made that game Puggsy or whatever it was called.
Didn't they also make the 3D Sonic game for the Megadrive/Genesis?
Traveller's Tales I think their studio was called.
I life this channel. Somehow makes me feel like a kid again watching these episodes.
Solstice has a sequel on the SNES: Equinox.
Ruudos it’s actually really cool! I’m working on Equinox now on my emulator!
@@robertsaurer6431 working?
Equinox was great!
Equinox was awesome. Had that game back in the 90's. The boss fights really add to it. It's definitely a lot harder than Solstice (but thank god it has a save feature). I like the music in it, as it really adds to the background.
They even left in that funny sound that played when you died in Solstice. My brother in-law HATED that sound lol.
Gaplus/Galaga 3. A 1984 release that flew under the radar because of the video game crash.
awesome! would love to give it a go. the nes one is my fav due to its music and atmosphere, 64 was fun because it was quite a challenge (absolutely NO guide), was disappointed when rising was cancelled :/ it's such a good series.
Ducktales 2 was the first game i ever beat so it holds a special place.
It was dejavu on the nes for me took me about two months to figure it out
well, i want to play that shadowgate 2 now
!
I remember Power Punch 2! We used to rent it from the local video game place, and for years I was convinced it was a Punch Out sequel that everyone seemed to have forgotten.
To be fair, Blaster Master 2 deserved to be overlooked because Sunsoft passed it to a different developer and they did sucky job.
This comment is 100% approved for accuracy.
I think the graphics are spectacular tho.
@@Krystalmyth Good graphics, alone, make not a good game
Rock N Roll Racing.
No doubt, you remember that game on the SNES. If you don't; check it out, it's fun as hell.
It had a sequel that went under the radar (at least, in the US): It was called Red Asphalt.
Outside of the US, it's called, "Rock N Roll Racing 2: Red Asphalt". In the states, it's just, "Red Asphalt".
It was published by Interplay for the PlayStation. Great soundtrack, great gameplay, gripping difficulty as you progress, and a strict anti-cheating feature. It looks a bit like Twisted Metal, just more futuristic, and it's an actual race.
Seriously: Check the game out. I still play it every now and then.
Whoa, I'll have to look for that one. I remember Rock N Roll Racing although didn't play it much. Had no idea there was a sequel. Now you have me curious. This is what I love about this channel. I learn just as much (and usually more) from you than the other way around. Thank you for taking the time to share this.
Funny thing is I originally learned about Blaster Master with the sequel on the Genesis at my buddy's house. Had I known the original was on the NES I probably would have checked it out when I was a kid.
there's the Kid Icarus sequel on the original gameboy. never hear anyone talk about that one much
I guess I knew this in the back of my mind. Thanks for the reminder!
Fun game I used to own :(
Another relatively unknown series/sequel:
Soul Blazer's sequel was Illusion of Gaia, and there was a third that never made it to the US called Terranigma.
The Turbo Grafx 16 was not that expensive. It was priced to compete with the Sega Genesis. I chose tje Sega Genesis in '89 (parents got it for me Christmas of '89). The Turbo CD was expensive but not really any worse than the Sega CD. I loved my Sega CD and was a really big deal when I got it. I believe both the Sega CD and Turbo CD were $299.00.
You do know that Super Mario 2 (Japenese version) came out as for the Snes in a compilation cart complete with updated graphics (I got it Christmas when it was new...I don't remember the year). I actually came close to beating that bastard of a game on the Snes...I want to say '92.
I don't really count Super Mario 2 / Lost Levels on the SNES ... I can't remember which video I explained it on, but the 16-bit versions of the NES Mario games in that All Stars cartridge never sat well with me. I realize that's totally bass ackwards lol. I loved Super Mario World but hated 16-bit Super Mario Bros. 1-2-3/Lost Levels. I think it's just because I was so used to the NES versions in look, feel and sound that the 16-bit versions never felt "quite right." The 8-bit versions were too seared into my brain.
The TG16 was expensive as hell, when it came out it was about 100 more than an NES. The CD add on was expensive too, you were looking at around $500 for both and when you consider that the TG16 just didn't have that many good games (in the US, yes I know about the PC Engine) it just wasn't worth it.
I mean how can you say $500 dollars in the early 90s wasn't "expensive"? Add to that the fact that you only had 1 controller and if you wanted to add more you had to buy the Turbo Tap, the controller and tap would have set you back another 40-50 bucks.
I owned a TG16 but I only ever knew 1 other kid who owned one. Most kids had never even seen one outside a store. I got more and more frustrated with it because it had no games compared to the NES and Genesis. And it ticked me off that TG16 games used freaking passwords and some of them were HUGE. I mean the NES had had battery backup since Zelda but in 1990 the TG16 was still using passwords.
As much as everyone now acts like they loved the TG16 back in the day in my experience that certainly wasn't true. Most kids were busy playing Genesis and NES and then SNES and a big reason for the TG16's failure was the price and an even bigger reason was the lack of games.
@@FridayNightArcade As someone who grew up with the all-stars pack, I discovered many years later that the originals do play better. They've tighter controls and the brick busting isn't as wonky. So, I don't think it's just nostalgia bias on your part for preferring them.
Wait a minute...I thought the Gradius sequel came out on the TG-16. I know you can play it on the PCE/TG-16/Core Grafx Mini and it's freaking great.
I owned several of those Worlds of Power books as a kid. F.X. Nine was a hack writer but he definitely had a lucrative thing going with those books.
I love Ducktales 2! I actually prefer it to the first one. I have both games boxed :)
Adventure Island is related to Wonder Boy. So you have that to consider, too.
Yep. There is definitely a story behind that. Short version is Sega owned the Wonderboy visual assets while Hudson owned the gameplay. Their partnership ended, and Wonderboy became a completely different game in sequels while Hudson created new assets for their sequels that played like the original.
I was disappointed in Blaster Master 2. It looks and feels like one of those quick cash grabs that Psygnosis pooped out like the Bram Stoker's Dracula game.
With Fred Fuchs?
Pretty old video but worthy of a comment: Adventure island 2 is the best of the series. Actually the earlier one aren't metroidvania style games but rather have a SMB style level progression on a world map.
Came here to say this. #4 is unique in that it took the gameplay and visual style and created a metroidvania style game out of it. Also the first one didn't even have a map and reused level layouts, likely due to the small storage space available on carts at the time.
And now Blaster Master Zero 2 is a thing...
"My video game backlog is piling up."
I felt that.
Ducktales 2 is on the disney afternoon collection which frequently goes on sale for $5. Includes ducktales, ducktales 2, chip n dale, chip n dale 2, talespin and darkwing duck.
Man, I really like your channel. I'm glad I found it. Makes me happy.
Hey thanks!
Blaster Master 2 was the only one I knew, and I had a similar reaction to it. Good ones!
Here's another fun sequel they didn't bring to the US. Anyone ever hear of Othello for the NES? I believe the sequel to that might be Othello World for the Super Famicom.
I bought Othello when I was a kid for $7
nintendo power did a big spread about adventure island 4 in one of their issues back in the day
Roll out,lol.
SMB2/Lost Levels is also unlockable in Super Mario Bros Deluxe for the GBC. If memory serves, you have to run up the score over 300k to unlock it. If you're willing to sacrifice screen real estate, it's basically a direct port.
I unironically love Shadowgate 64. It's a very weird, very slow game, but it just oozes atmosphere. Definitely not for everyone, but I love it.
Cool. I rented it once but couldn't figure it out (no manual). Want to go back and revisit it at some point for an episode.
I remember playing Gradius II aka Vulcan Venture in an arcade near me way back when. It would have been nice to play it at home though- I did have both Gradius and Lifeforce. While not the Famicom version I think, I read that it did eventually get a worldwide release in 2006 on PSP via Gradius Collection, and also on Wii Virtual Console (PC Engine version).
In case you didn't know, Ducktales 2 can be had on Steam via the Disney Afternoon Collection (with five other games)
Gradius 2 is incredible, the first level is unbelievably hard but once you pass it the game evens out and is just a masterpiece.
It's a good game, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece by any stretch. Back in the day my friend had it on Famicom (which we thought was a "Chinese Nintendo" since his aunt bought it for him in Hong Kong) and I was playing Gradius 2 at the same time as Life force, I much preferred Life Force. Gradius 2 just seemed old compared to it.
Late to the comments section but duck tales 2 also come out for the Gameboy really close to the nes version especially if you use the super Gameboy. Sells for under $20
I grew up on Super Adventure Island. That game was pretty great.
The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak was a very rare sequel for the NES. It was released in late 94.
Legacy of the wizard actually has ties to Faxanadu, and the Xanadu / Dragonslayer franchise in general, as its actually a sequel in the "DragonSlayer" games, which Faxanadu / Xanadu has a sequel of sorts in "Xanadu Next"
I recall Lifeforce always being pitched as Gradius II on the NES. It certainly played the same.
I never heard anyone call it Gradius 2, it was obviously similar but my Chinese friend had a Famicom and he had Gradius 2, so I knew Lifeforce wasn't Gradius 2 even back then. I always just thought of it as kind of an offshoot game. Lifeforce (from what I can remember from playing them 30 plus years ago) was much easier than Gradius 2. My friend and I beat Lifeforce the first time we played it (using the Konami Code, natch).
Oh damn, Eggplant Wizard comes from Adventure Island 4. I always wondered what game he came from when watching that old Captain N - The Game Master cartoon that used to come on with The Mario Bros. Super Show back in the day
He actually came from Kid Icarus.
Adventure Island 4 didn't even exist when they made Captain N.
@@Ruudos Really, ok thanks
@@imyanigmw Yeah, don't you remember getting turned into an eggplant in KI?
In the Adventure Island 1-3 games, the eggplant was a "power-up" that drained your life meter, so there's that, too. Kid Icarus was released in Japan in December 1986, and Adventure Island was released in Japan in September 1986, so Adventure Island was actually doing the eggplant thing first, but not the "wizard." The Eggplant Wizard from Kid Icarus was the one used in Captain N, though. The one in Adventure Island 4 isn't the same Eggplant Wizard, because it has two eyes, and the one from Kid Icarus/Captain N only has one eye.
Not sure how I missed blaster master on the Genesis. The graphics look fantastic!
Over here in Brazil we have the opportunity to play Gradius II on unlicensed "clone nes system" cartridge.
Nice video, I hadn't heard of some of them before. Maniac Mansion also had an sequel on the PC called Day of the Tentacle.
Well it's years after the NES, like this late comment I guess...
But I remember being surprised about the origins of a game on PS2 called "Shadow Hearts". It later got it's own sequel, and I didn't play either that much, but a friend let me know it was connected to a PS1 game called "Koudelka" we had both played. Apart from the dark and supernatural themes, there's not much to connect between the games, but apparently some character connections and references made it a legit follow-up.
Now I want to checkout that version of Shadowgate, it looks good. Thanks for sharing!!
There was an arcade game in Canada called Wonderboy that was very similar to Adventure Island. I think it was around 1985 or so, I spent a lot of quarters on it.
Wonder Boy could be played it in arcades in the U.S. too, or anywhere in the world really. Hudson Soft was going to port it to the Famicom, but Sega bought the rights to the Wonder Boy title and character before Hudson could release their game, so they had to change the character art, title, and story.
Gradius II did indeed push the Famicom to the limits. Or so it seemed until Konami used the VRC4 on the shooter Crisis Force released in 1991.
"Or as it was called in Japan...uuhhh" 😂
The Gradius games are here now! I have played through all of them on my Core Grafx Mini. They're absolutely excellent and the Mini not only includes Gradius and Gradius 2 it also has Salamander (Life Force) plus the arcade versions.
Mario 2 was so damn hard I have never finished it. I got it originally for my Snes. You likely already know this but in case you missed it the Snes featured a 16-bit remake and it was great. They also did an excellent repackaging of the first 3 Ninja Gaiden games on the Snes as well.
I always love your content as it's so well done. I knew about many of these games but it's always nice to see your take on them. Blaster Master was very strange on the Sega Genesis. I have a rare sequel for you...Target Earth for the Genesis which was either a prequel or a sequel to Assault Suit Leynos...that I think was on the Super Famicom. They did a remake of sorts that's not bad for the PS4. The original Street Fighter was an interesting find for the TG-16 CD Rom. Okay, if you're looking for rare...look up Ogre Tactics 64. I have never seen a real copy out in the wild but I heard it was an amazing game. If it's anything like the original Playstation game then it has to be great. Fun Fact: Tactics Ogre actually first released on the Super Famicom in Japan and was originally ported to the Playstation. It runs on the same engine as FF Tactics I believe if not they're very similar. At any rate, check them out you will likely love them.
Has anyone ever told you that you have some serious Wallace Shawn cadences?
Donkey Kong on the Gameboy is a true sequel to the original. Really fun game that people should play.
Some great games here. I didn’t know about Blaster Master 2 in Sega. That’s a new one for me!! Thanks for the great video.
Hey thanks Reagan, glad you enjoyed this one.
how awesome is it that the people who made space jam totally got the idea while boxing aliens as mark tyler?
The reason why Gradius II was never released in the US is because of the VRC4 chip they developed. It would have taken too long to convert to a different chip. Also it didn't help that they basically had mentioned that Life Force was the sequel to Gradius. Really the advertising and review said that.
Ancillary to that in Japan, Life Force had a tie-in Anime OVA under it's original name Salamander that features lots of references and nods to that game as well as Gradius. If they dedicated the time and money to something like that in those days, that's probably all the more reason to accept Life Force as the real sequel rather than Gradius II. Might not even be much of a loss if it's just more of the original game, Life Force was actually a solid step forward design-wise.
Blaster Master 2 were good for it's time, not today. Loved it as a kid.
used to love the gradius which was the one I ever tried that u could play during half-time on blades of steel hockey on nes
I LOVED the point and click games on NES !
I know it seems odd, but back in the day i had no idea they made a sequel to star tropics. Also, chip and dale rescue rangers 2 (i got the capcom saturday morning collection which had it)
3-D Woldrunner has a sequel only released in Japan.
Gradius 2 wasn't localized because the special chip wasn't compatible with the NES. It only worked with the Famicom.
It's not that forgotten, but Bomberman II is pretty cool. It features a 3 player multiplayer too! Unfortunately it's really expensive if you're not looking for the Famicom version, which is cheaper. The US and European release goes for about $150. As where you can get the Famicom version for around $8.
Blaster Master 2 rocks on the genesis. I've owned it for years only issue its insanely difficult. The Nomad's lazy screen makes it hard to see when sprites shoot at you. Even through emulation the codes do not stay active once going from side scrolling to top-down in tank view mode. The PlayStation version is more 3rd person but has its own merits that I adore.
Gradius II has a striking resemblance to Life Force for the NES
I feel if you had included Super Mario Bros Special and Vs. Super Mario Bros. in addition to The boring Lost Levels thing, it wouldn't have felt so done to death
Blaster Master 2 was horrendous!!! >:( It broke my heart when I finally played this sequel. It felt nothing like the original.
Fortunately the later Blaster Master games redeemed this title. By the way if you never played the Blaster Master Zero series definitely play them!
I was really blown away by the appreciation of the makers that did the Zero series.
Thanks for your time.
The NES had the most impressive graphic jump ever...
Look at something from 1985 like Ghosts n Goblins, then look at Mega Man 5 6 or Mighty Final Fight...
Its almost unreal IMO
Not sure if this qualifies but there was a sequel to Forbidden Forest for the Commodore 64 called Beyond The Forbidden Forest. Cool game. I didn't know it existed until much later in the C64's life.
My memory was that life force was a sequel to gradius on the NES (1989 maybe?). Had great graphics and sound and the konami cheat code up up down down...ect. gave you like 30 lives.
9:41 continually blasting the shit out of bosses after they die, fun times.
I had super Mario that was the classic Mario made for gameboy color. It was a pixel perfect representation which was good but you couldn't always see where you were jumping as the gameboy resolution was different then the TV. Anyway that version of Mario had extra features and one was to play the original super Mario bros 2. It still had the original music and everything. I don't think it had the ability to play as Luigi but it was great I was able to play it. I'm sure it was even harder with the pixel perfect resolution like the first.
The Japanese version is on the Plug and Play release, which is only available until the end of March.
I'm surprised you didn't mention Super Mario Bros Special. That is a much lesser known sequel to SMB developed by Hudson for Japanese computers.
@Friday Night Arcade
@3:09 The game name is actually pronounced GrAdius, as in the word "grade" but with the "ius" at the end. There are reasons for this, mostly stemming from Japanese culture where the game originated. Also, have to disagree with you on Super Mario AllStars, for me at least, having played all of those games in the original incarnation, the SMAS versions are highly more desirable over the originals. The game mechanics are identical, down to all the pixel-precise tricks and glitches that can be done. The graphics, soundFX and soundtracks and so much more refined on SMAS that it simply isn't a competition.
TheCaptain actually, like many Japanese games of that era, there are several valid pronunciations in circulation. In this case, the game’s name was intended to be “Gladius” after the Roman sword, which is an excellent name for a warship. Due to l/r issues that Japanese has with liquid consonants, it was transliterated as “Gradius.” So, short A is perfectly valid.
@@jasoncote341
Actually, in an interview with the creators they stated that the name was meant as metaphor for ""Gradient" because the difficulty level went up at a steady incline, or gradient. Thus Gradius.
TheCaptain I have also seen those quotes from Nakamura, although always out of context and without citation. This seems like a face-saving explanation after the fact (a la Iwatani) for something that can be explained by a very common translation issue. One explanation makes a whole lot of sense, and the other is a bit of a stretch. One is an English word that was popular in Japanese games at the time as a word for sword with which the audience of boys with limited English proficiency would be familiar and would make a nicely aggressive title (to attract sales), while the other relies on engineering argot to make a sorta-pun that would be entirely unclear to the main audience. I call bs. We can each believe what we want to, however. The point I wanted to make was that more than one pronunciation has been common since release and, after decades of use, they both are valid currency...unless one is being pedantic.
@@jasoncote341 No need for the passive-aggressive nonsense. You're the one looking like he's trying to save face, but whatever. we can agree to disagree.
@@thecaptain2281 Dude....everyone in the US pronounced it "Grodius", not "Gradeous".
Wow never knew about Shadowgate on the NES.
Heart of the Alien is a sequel to Out of this World. It's only on SegaCD that I know of. I used to love that game
I remember trying to play Uninvited as a 5 year old kid... IT SUKKED
I owned Power Punch II as a kid. I didn't know it was supposed to be a sequel to MTPO at the time... But I did know I wished I never bought it.
I never owned it but I remember seeing it for sale at Toys R Us back when you had the little flip up things with a photocopy of the game box and had to take a ticket up to the front to get the actual game. It looked like a Punch Out ripoff to me, which is what I thought it was.
I never knew it was supposed to be a sequel to Punch Out and I remember wondering where the hell Power Punch 1 was because I had never heard of or seen it.
Beyond shadowgate was released for the TURBO DUO ....if you didnt have a turbo duo but you had the tg cd you needed the super system card
Gradius was the first game i got for the NES apart from duck hunt and giro mite! My dad even got in on gradius for about 2 weeks! Thats the only game he liked! Funny how a game can bring back them feels!
That PC box for Uninvited is so stylish.
I've always liked the NES one but the PC version is just awesome and probably better.
Mario 2 is sadistic. If you're going to play that one do the 1-up glitch at the start to get into the game.
Hey, I also didn't care that much for Super Mario All-Stars! The music just wasn't the same, and the environments weren't nearly as weird, especially in Mario 3. I mostly agree about DuckTales 2, but some of the stages had really neat hidden secrets, like the symbols and that weird mirror in Egypt. Blaster Master 2 was one that I enjoyed, mostly for how weirdly not Blaster Master it was. Adventure Island 4 is excellent! It's very different from most Adventure Island games, though; 1, 2, and 3 on the NES, as well as Super on the SNES, and New Adventure Island on the TurboGrafx-16 are fun, but brutal 1-hit kills Platformers, and that's the norm for the series. 4, like you said, is more of a Platventure, and so is Super Adventure Island 2 on the SNES, which curiously features a lot of things that Symphony of the Night gets credit for contributing to the genre, like weapons (swords and otherwise), armor, shields, a spell library, healing rooms, a shop, and 2 different methods of fast travel. Oh, and "Adventure Island" on the TurboGrafx-16 is actually Wonder Boy 3: Dragon's Trap, which, while good, doesn't technically have anything to do with the Adventure Island series... there's a lot of history between the two.
Adventure Island's Japanese name is Takahashi Meijin no Boken Jima, or Celebrity Takahashi's Adventure Island.
NGL, beyond shadowgate looks amazing for 16bit.
Want to play Duck Tales 2 legally? It's not too expensive, and is included with 5 other classic NES Disney games in one package. It's on Steam called "The Disney Afternoon Collection" . As of right now, it is still for sale. $26.99 CAD. Maybe $20 USD?
I didn't know about Power Punch II, and I guess I didn't miss much. I agree Duck Tales 2 is not as memorable as the original one, but it's still good on its own, and the European version is not so expensive (like 50€ for a loose copy).
the eggplant wizard was king hippo's partner in the captain n and the video game masters cartoons. its weird that he was in adventure island because he was also the main badguy in kid icarus
Not the main bad guy in kid icarus, just one of the enemies in castles
@@ZBR_ProXP I just meant its a kid icarus character
Did you guys ever get into the “is it Grah-deeyus or Gray-deeyus” debate with your friends back in the day. 😂😂 Gamers always stick to their first pronunciation with a passion.
A friend of mine swore Guile’s name in Street Fighter was pronounced Goo-lee.
You could talk about River City Ransom not getting an official part 2 until the Japanese exclusive Wii virtual console.
And a part 3 on the 3DS.
But then you might just want to do a video listing the weird history of River City Ransom and Super Dodgeball and the spin-offs of this crazy franchise.
Excellent suggestion - thanks!
There quite a few games in that series that also includes Nintendo Cup Soccer, Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge and Renegade.
They are all part of the Kunio-Kun series. The game Renegade is the beginning of the series.
@@FridayNightArcade rewatching some of your videos. Saw my old comment. Saw your reply. Never saw that you replied. TH-cam is weird about notifications sometimes.
Doki Doki Panic was originally a sequel to SMB that got converted into a licensed game, then got converted back into an SMB sequel because SMB2 Japan just wasn't that great of a game, later SMB2 USA was released in Japan and the people over there also agreed that it was a much better SMB sequel. The difficulty thing is a myth although there were Japanese games that had their difficulty spiked in America, again not because Japanese people are better at video games but because Japan had no rental market so they just assumed that games should be made more difficult in America, not yet realizing that this mostly just made them less playable. Some West-made games such as Battletoads were also easier in Japan for some reason.
Faxanadu was part of an entire series we never saw.
That's cool to know, my cousin's had faxanadu and I never got very far past the first town but I always remember having fun with it anyway.
I loved playing Adventure Island 4 on my chinese nes knockoff console ❤️