Excited about getting into the Famicom world and looking for suggestions.

[capnd77]

Hey folks, I just picked up a famicom recently.  Ive been playing retro games for the last 15 years and have been frustrated with the high price of NES games.  I could careless about how much a game is worth, I just wanna play great classic games.  This is the perfect alternative to have an official cart of the games I love at what is usually a cheaper price.  So my question is this, what are some Famicom exclusives I need to track down, or games that were released on both the NES and Famicom but the famicom has the superior version.  I'm aware of games like Contra and Castlevania 3 having enhanced visuals or improved music because of the additional sound channel.  But I'm looking for other examples.  Thanks

[P]

If we continue talk about games with expansion sound there are lists: http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/List_of_games_with_expansion_audio.

Some FDS exclusive highlights from that list (I didn't include lots of RPGs and adventure games that requires Japanese literacy):
Ai Senshi Nicol
Arumana no Kiseki
Eggerland
Nazo no Murasame-jou
Otocky
Super Mario Bros 2

There are also lists of Famicom exclusives: http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=468.0.
A few highlights (far from all):
Boku Dracula-kun
Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa
Dig Dug
Don Doko Don 2
Nuts & Milk
Getsu Fuuma-den
The Goonies 1
Ikki
Itadaki Street
Splatterhouse Wanpaku Grafitti

[Zycrow]

Lots of great stuff to choose from on Famicom, and yes, it's nice to see that prices for the system have generally stayed lower than the US counterpart. You will still pay out the nose for certain games on both consoles (Little Samson, I'm looking at you).

But some other great $100+ games on NES can be had on FC for less than $50, like Gun-Nac and Mighty Final Fight.

Welcome to the hobby!

[capnd77]

Thanks so much guys. I'm definitely gonna look into some of these titles.  Ive already watched a few videos on YouTube.  As for the prices, I'm stoked.  I see mighty final fight can be had for less then 30 bucks, versus the almost 200 bucks for the NES cart.  And yeah I'd eventually like to track down seirei densetsu lickle before the price becomes too crazy and it becomes unattainable.  I've heard great things about Gimmick, but have never played it.  Is it worth the high cost?

[northbydefault]

If you're looking for other FC exclusive games, I highly recommend Hebereke, Challenger, Wai Wai World 2, Samurai Pizza Cats, Binary Land, Joy Mech Fight, Yume Penguin Monogatari, and New Ghostbusters 2. Just to name a few.
If you're gonna spend the big bucks, check out Moon Crystal and Adventure Island IV.
If you want cheaper-than-NES counterparts, check out Final Mission (S.C.A.T), FC Genjin (Bonk's Adventure), Bucky O'Hare, and Bomberman II. Range anywhere from $15-$45 for those ones. Panic Restaurant is also much cheaper on the Famicom, but it'll still cost you 60-80 bucks or so.
If you want games that have superior versions on Famicom, look at Metal Storm ($$), Contra, Castlevania 3, and Ninja Ryukenden (Gaiden) 3.

Hope this is what you're looking for!

[P]

I guess Gimmick! also counts for both cheaper-than-NES-version and better-than-NES-version although it isn't exactly cheap. I only played it on my Everdrive (which means no expansion sound) and listened to the NSF. I love the music in the Famicom version and the graphics and gameplay are superb too (I only played a few levels though).

I've been thinking of making a repro with all new parts (using Inifinitneslives repro parts) but I think LET said sound is still not fully accurate using these new parts. Plus Infiniteneslives still haven't done Famicom versions of his repro boards.

My new hope is Kevtris' upcoming flashcart that he claims will support pretty much "every mapper under the sun" including all expansion sound chips (if its true it's like a dream coming true). It remains to see how accurately he reproduces expansion sound though.

[Nightstar699]

I know I'm repeating a lot of titles that others already mentioned, but my personal list of best FC exclusives would be:

Holy Diver
Mitsume Ga Tooru
Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima 4
Samurai Pizza Cats
Don Doko Don 2
Daiku No Gen-San 2
Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 2
Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 3
Armadillo
Choujin Sentai Jetman
Cocoron
Spartan X2
Time Zone
Kero Kero Keroppi No Daibouken 2
Wai Wai World 2
Robocco Wars

All were exclusive to the Famicom, all are action platformers (with the exception of Spartan X-2 which is a simple beat 'em up), and none require mastery of Japanese.

[capnd77]

You guys are awesome, thanks so much.  Any repeat titles mentioned just reinforces the quality of the game.  My poor bank account is not gonna be too happy with the list I'm accumulating of games I wanna target.  I already have Kid Dracula ordered, I'm a massive Castlevania fan.  I have all 3 on NES, but I still intend to get the 3rd on famicom for the music.  Looking forward to having a reason to play through it again.

[ImATrackMan]

...all expansion sound chips (if its true it's like a dream coming true). It remains to see how accurately he reproduces expansion sound though.

Well, he did invent the NSF format.

[zmaster18]

If you're a Konami fan, then I recommend Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, Yume Penguin Monogatari, Antartic Adventure, Parodius, Gradius 2, The Goonies, Twinbee, King Kong II Ikari no Megaton PUUUUNCH, and Ai Senshi Nicol.

[Zycrow]

If you're a Konami fan, then I recommend Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, Yume Penguin Monogatari, Antartic Adventure, Parodius, Gradius 2, The Goonies, Twinbee, King Kong II Ikari no Megaton PUUUUNCH, and Ai Senshi Nicol.

Also Crisis Force, Getsu Fuuma Den, Akumajou Special, and maybe Mad City (Bayou Billy with a more balanced difficulty level).

[capnd77]

Thanks for all of the suggestions folks! I'm stoked to slowly add many of these titles to the library! I have another question, what approach should I take? Do I attempt to purchase the more expensive titles first? My only concern would be that as prices escalate, some of these rarer titles may become unattainable if I want authentic carts, or should make a list of 20 titles and grab titles as they appear cheaply?