2 Players on Famicom

[Hongou]

I'm new here so here's a noob question. So you have a Famicom original version no controller 2 has no start or select. How do you do 2 players in Battletoads or other games with no player select screen? Furthermore, how do you bring your guy back and continue if your player 2?

[133MHz]

I guess you don't, unless you use an external controller plugged into the Famicom's 15 pin expansion port, set to player 2.

I remember that the US NES manual stated that the start & select buttons only worked on controller port 1. I've always thought that it was a hardware limitation instead of a software one (Famicom legacy).

[Vikingo70s]

It's just a software limitation, no hardware. In some of games the player 2 's start button works ok (for exmple, Battletoads and Narc) in Battletoads double dragon you can also pause with player 2. Some early games don't allow you to use player 2 start (like Super Mario bros) but later games do.   

[NintendoKing]

I have a nice Expansion port controller.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Yeah, I always wondered why they did it that way for old games & thought it was a dictation of power-type deal: Player 1 can pause, but Player 2 can't because Player 1 is the first player, hence, is more responsible.

But now I guess it was just laziness.