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Hey all. I'm looking for original Famicom Game suggestions. I have plenty of Super Famicom Games, but I'd like to start playing original ones too. All I currently have is Super Mario Bros. 3 and Legend of Zelda 1. My knowledge of Japanese is pretty basic, so if possible, please suggest games with minimal to no language barrier, or games with walkthroughs on the net. Thank you!

Kunio Kun series - great series of games

Moon Crystal *expensive - prince of persia vibes

Gorby's Pipeline - compile made puzzle game.

Star Wars Namco (Worth playing for the oddity of it all)

Akumajou Special (Kid Dracula)

Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa *expensive - fun platformer

Holy Diver - enough said

Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru - Was released as Yo Noid in the states

Lupin Sansei Pandora no Isan - Worth it if you like the Lupin Anime

Over Horizon - Great shooter

Pizza Pop - Great platformer but short

Parodius - fun shooter

Quest of Ki - good platformer and prequel to Tower of Druaga

Spartan X 2 - Good sequel to Spartan X (Kung Fu) Watch some youtube clips to see if it interests you first. Can be pricey.

I had plenty of fun thinking up games to recommend.  In addition to your guidelines, I tried to pick games that are still relatively cheap to get and that I have played myself.

Mad City: Yes, we did get this on the NES as Bayou Billy, but the Famicom release is, well, playable.

Ninja Ryuukenden 3: Again, we got this here as Ninja Gaiden 3, but the Famicom release eases some of the fake difficulty of the American version's bonkers continue scheme.

Devil World: While it would be hyperbolic to call this Miyamoto's lost masterpiece, it is a fun dot-munching maze game.  I've never been a big Pac-Man fan, but I love this game.

Goonies: A fun, innovative platformer by Konami that never got an American release outside certain PlayChoice arcade cabinets despite it's movie license.  It's worth noting that this game is much more straightforward than its sequel.

Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graphitti: A cutesy platformer based on the more typical Splatterhouse games.  A fun, wacky game with solid gameplay.

Thexder: Cult hit on computers of the time, this is a unique, if flawed, exploration shooter.  Upside? It's very cheap.

Transformers: Convoy no Nazo: Blisteringly hard and of dubious quality, it's another unique title that can be had on the cheap.

Karateka: A technical marvel by Jordan Mechner. Large sprites, fluid animations, and complex gameplay. It's amazing that this game was released for the Famicom in 1984!

Crazy Climber: A port of the arcade game that makes up for a lack of arcade perfection with some expanded gameplay.  Even without the control stick add-ons that came boxed with it, Crazy Climber's dual-controller, building scaling action is tons of fun.

Daiku no Gen-San: AKA Hammering Harry. A fun platformer with cartoony sprites and simple but engaging gameplay. If I had a hammer...

Dragon Buster: A simple fantasy action game where you bust some baddies with your sword, some of which are dragons. Plus, it comes in an attractive shiny gold cartridge.

Metro-Cross: Hard to explain. You play a jumpsuit wearing man running through scifi hallways dodging and leaping obstacles while collecting Coca-Cola cans. Yes, really.

Holy Diver: I'll second this choice. It's pricey, but if you want a game that looks like Castlevania with a blistering difficulty level, it's not a bad pick.

King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton Punch: Technically a game based on King Kong Lives, it ends up being a fun romp where you play as King Kong exploring and smashing your way through various locales to find your ladyfriend.

Pac-Land: An interesting early platformer starring Pac-Man and his jaunty hat. Cheerful and Bright graphics and music.

Additionally, you can get Famicom versions of expensive games at a marked discount! I would recommend..

Mighty Final Fight

Dragon Fighter

DuckTales 2

TMNT 2 (TMNT III: The Manhattan Project in the U.S. The Japanese TMNT games are numbered differently).

I hope these recommendations help.

The suggestions above are great. I'll add a few more:

Akumajou Densetsu - Amazing upgrade to an already amazing soundtrack, also Grant can throw his daggers
Antarctic Adventure - Cute, simple penguin racing gaem
Armadillo - Fun platformer
Binary Land - simple looking arcade game that turns into a real brain teaser
Bio Senshi Dan - Increaser tono Tatakai - Was supposed to come out here as Bashi Bazook, decent action platformer
Cosmic Epsilon - If you like Space Harrier, you'll like this
Crisis Force - Holy crap, why are you still reading this? Go buy Crisis Force!
Donald Land - A competent McDonalds game
Door Door - Cool single screen arcade game
All the Nekketsu/Kunio-Kun games
Fantasy Zone, Fantasy Zone II - These are from Sunsoft, not the Tengen game
Galaxian - The classic
Gimmick! - Just in case you have plenty of cash
Gradius II - More Gradius goodness
Salamander - Not exactly the same as Life Force
Hebereke - Pricey, but cool
Hi no Tori - I'm a sucker for Konami games
Insector X - Cute shooter
Joy Mecha Fight - Great Nintendo fighting game
Kyatto Ninden Teyandei - Samurai Pizza Cats!
Layla - Simple action/platformer
Mappy - The original arcade game
Mappy Kids - More Mappy fun
Mitsume ga Tooru - Pretty cool action platformer you don't hear much about
Moai Kun - Neat puzzle game
Motocross Champion - Like Excitebike, except an oval track
Pooyan - Fun arcade game
Quarth - Reverse Tetris with a spaceship?
Shufflepuck Cafe - Air hockey against aliens
Space Invaders - Because Space Invaders
Tetrastar: The Fighter - Another psuedo-3D shooter
TwinBee and Twinbee 3 - The ones we didn't get
Wai Wai World and Wai Wai World 2 - Konami character mix-ups
Yie Ar Kung-Fu - Another arcade classic
Yume Penguin Monogatari - Cute platformer/shooter mash-up

Sweet Home - Horror RPG, in a way a precursor to Resident Evil.

I seem to remember some one asking this question not too long ago as well.  I agree with all of the suggestions above and will go through my collection and list them out.

I have also created a "List Your Favortes: Famicom" thread so that members can list their favorites and we can direct future inquiries to the link. For those of you who have responded, please cut and paste your suggestions into the comments on the new link. Thanks!: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=15767.0

had a 110-in-1 pirate cart as a kid in the early 90s, got to play a ton of famicom titles noone else had heard of.

some favorites. most aren't that obscure:
Antarctic Adventure
Battle City
Dig Dug
Goonies 1
Karateka
Mappy
Nuts & Milk
Penguin-Kun Wars
Sky Destroyer
Twin Bee

also seconding Spartan X 2, the sequel to the already excellent Kung Fu.

Gegege no Kitaro: Youkai Daimakyou - fun and weird little platforming game.  Initially my favorite part was trying to figure out the game play, but after it became the amount of variety this game appears to have.

Final Fantasy III - I don't care what anyone says, this is my favorite version of FFIII.  That being said you might only want this one if you can patch it (ala Retron 5 or the Retrode).  I'll admit with my little understanding of Japanese (and zero of the written language) it was a ton of fun to play it with translation notes, a rough guide, and menu notes back in the day, but who has that kind of spare time anymore?

Again this may not be your thing, but Famicom games had this Wild West feel to them pre-1989, what many out here in the west call "Fami-weird."  Not to say that there were not quirky games released after '89, but the majority (and the majority on the above posters' lists) are from that wonderful time period.  Also, if you have the resources I strongly recommend a FDS system of some kind.

EDIT:  Oops.  Just noted SB's instructions above.