The History of the NES

NES

The Nintendo Family Computer, the Famicom or Nintendo Entertainment System, the NES in the US, was released in Japan in 1983. Having enjoyed success in arcades since 1978, with games such as Space Fever, Donkey Kong, Popeye and Mario Bros, the company decided to release a home console. The console was re-released in 1985, correcting several hardware errors and was also released in North America. The Famicom is considered the savior of the console industry, which had been in decline in the US since 1983.

NES Hardware

The console's hardware consisted of a 1.79 MHz Ricoh central processor, based on the MOS 6502 that was present in computers and consoles of the time, such as Atari, for example. It had five PSG sound channels and a PPU (image processing unit) also from Ricoh and support for 48 colors, with up to 25 simultaneously. It also had 2kb of RAM and 2kb of video memory. In 1986, the Master System came out, and given Nintendo's advantage with exclusive contracts with game companies, the Sega console was isolated, unable to compete with the Famicom. Despite this, SMS had its advantages over its rival, such as having a VDP video chip (which is superior to a PPU), support for 64 colors, with 32 simultaneously versus 48 and 25 of Nintendo's competitor, and its 16kb of RAM and 8kb of video RAM, versus 2 of RAM and 2 of video of the NES. Despite this, the Famicom had the advantage with its 5 sound channels versus the Sega console's 4 and had a central processor equally strong to that of the SMS. 

Famicom and Nintendo Disk System

Also in 1986, the Nintendo Disk System add-on was released, which was fitted below the console and allowed games to be played on 112kb floppy disks (a popular recording card in home computers at the time). The accessory came with 32kb of memory to store the disk cache, 8kb of RAM for games and an FM audio channel, greatly improving games on the console. Despite this, it had its disadvantages, such as being easily damaged, inconvenient to remove the disk from the drive and invert it in the middle of the game and easy to pirate. These difficulties were probably what prevented the support from being released in the US, which already had a slot for a possible version of the American NDS on its console (the NES). More than 200 games were released for the Disk System, most of which were ports or alternative versions of NES games and arcade ports. Only 17 games were released exclusively for the add-on, and they were from a wide range of genres, such as puzzles, platformers, educational games, shmups, RPGs, musicals and even anime. Returning to the Famicom and its cartridge games, the console was the first in history to start region locking, meaning that American games would not work on Japanese consoles and vice versa. In this case, the American cartridges, with 72 pins, were larger than the Famicom's slot. The Japanese cartridges, on the other hand, were smaller than the American console's slot, with its 60 pins. However, what prevented a Japanese cartridge from fitting into the NES was its short length, which prevented it from reaching the console's slot.

NES Games

Regarding its releases, several franchises had sequels on the console, such as Bomberman, Mario Bros and Donkey Kong, and many others were born on it, such as Metroid, Zelda, Contra, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, Megaman, Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dragon Quest and many others. Regarding its games, we separated them by style. Starting with the shmup, such as Gradius, Twin Cobra and 1942. Run And Gun, such as Gunsmoke, Smash TV and Contra. Puzzle, such as Solomon's Key, Dr. Mario and Wrecking Crew. Sports, such as Tennis, Soccer and Volleyball. Platform, such as Kid Icarus, Ghosts 'N Goblins and Shinobi. Racing, such as Super Off Road, Spyhunter and Chase HQ. RPG, such as Dragon Ball Z, Crystalis and Dragon Warrior. Anime, such as Dragon Ball, Captain Tsubasa and Yu Yu Hakusho. Beat'em Up, such as Mighty Final Fight, Double Dragon and Phantom Fighter. From Disney, such as Aladdin, Mickey (as Mickey III and Mickey Adventures) and Darkwing Duck. From Warner, such as Bugs Bunny, Road Runner and Tiny Toons. From DC, such as Superman and Batman (as Return and Return of The Joker). From Marvel, such as Wolverine, Spider-Man and Captain America and The Avengers. In addition to arcade classics, such as Dig Dug, BurgerTime, Bubble Bobble, Galaga, Galaxian, Gyruss, Ice Climber, Karate Champ, Pac-Man, Volleyball, Xevious, Rygar, Popeye, Arkanoid, Karateka, Duck Hunt and many others. The console ended its activities in 1995, and until that moment, even with the competition from 16-bits, it was considered the best-selling in history, being later surpassed by the PSX. The NES has sold 60 million units throughout history, and in 2022, it was the 8th best-selling console in history and the 13th best-selling among consoles and portables.

Shmup: Gradius, Fantasy Zone, Twin Bee, Defender, Twin Cobra, 1942, Blade Buster and Life Force

Puzzle: Yoshi, Solomon's Key, Tetris, Adventures of Lolo, Dr. Mario, Wario's Woods, Castlequest, Wrecking Crew and Pipe Dream.

Sports: Mike Tyson, Tennis, Ice Hockey, Soccer, Tecmo Soccer Bwol, Pro Wrestling, Baseball, Volley, Punch-Out!!, Baseball Stars, Excitebike and Double Dribble.

Platform: Ghosts 'N Goblins, Duck Tales, Megaman, Mario Bros, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Donkey Kong, Kirby's Adventure, Shatterhand, Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Rush'n Attack and Shinobi.

Run And Gun: Gunsmoke, Smash TV and Contra.

Racing: Road Fighter, Turbo Racing, Excitebike, Cobra Triangle, Rad Racer, Super Off Road, RC Pro-AM, Spyhunter and Chase HQ

RPG: Final Fantasy, Zelda, Dragon Quest, Dragon Ball Z, Crystalis, Dragon Warrior, Faxanadu and Destiny of an Emperor.

Anime: Dragon Quest, Dragon Ball, Captain Tsubasa, Transformers, Patlabor, Shin-Chan, Yu Yu Hakusho, Akira, Maruko-Chan, Doraemon and Hello Kitty.

Beat'em Up: Mighty Final Fight, Double Dragon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Phantom Fighter.

Disney: Aladdin, DuckTales, Mickey (Mickey III and Adventures), Chip and Dale, The Little Mermaid, Lion King, Darkwing Duck, Mogli, Screw Squadron, Donald Duck and Roger Rabbit.

Warner: Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Tiny Toons.

DC: Superman, Batman (Return and Return of the Joker) and Swamp Thing.

Marvel: X-Men, Daredevil, Silver Surfer, Wolverine, Spider-Man and Captain America and The Avengers.

Arcade: Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, BurgerTime, Bubble Bobble, Galaga, Galaxian, Gyruss, Ice Climber, Karate Champ, Pac-Man, Mario Bros, Volleyball, Xevious, Rygar, Popeye, Qix, Arkanoid, Commando, Gauntlet, Karateka and Duck Hunt.

 

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