Arcade influence on NES games

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Bregalad
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Arcade influence on NES games

Post by Bregalad »

Let's face it, NES games are very influenced by arcade:
  • Many of the great NES classics are more or less direct ports of arcade games: Donkey Kong, Gradius series, Contra, Double Dragon
  • Games that aren't ports of arcade games are still parts of franchises that started on arcades: Mario, Battletoads
  • Games that weren't ports of arcades games still contains elements of arcade games, such as High-scores and sometimes even three-letters entries (Rare, Ltd. seems fond of that). Games uses "credits", something that was normally bough with real money on the arcade. I could sear some games go as far as to have "INSERT COIN" written somewhere, although I might be wrong since I couldn't find any game that does that anymore.
What other influences arcade games had on the NES? How to make a NES game that is more "arcade-like"? On the other hand, how to make a NES game that is NOT "arcade-like"?
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by tepples »

"Credits" were used to pad gameplay with repetition so that a short game cannot be completed on the first night.

Any game long enough to need battery or password save is not "arcade-like". (See Skyrim comic.) Nor is any game that's generous with extra lives, such as Super Mario Bros. 2 (Bonus Chance) and Super Mario Bros. 3 (the 1-Up factories in 1-2 and 1-Fortress). In fact, Super Mario Bros. had to have the "turtle tipping" trick patched out in its Vs. System port.
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DRW
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by DRW »

Bregalad wrote:I could sear some games go as far as to have "INSERT COIN" written somewhere, although I might be wrong since I couldn't find any game that does that anymore.
I'm pretty sure no NES game ever did that, apart from the actual arcade games from the VS series.
Bregalad wrote:What other influences arcade games had on the NES?
One thing that comes to mind is the attract mode.

Furthermore, the second playthrough at a higher difficulty level, even if the game has a definite ending. ("Castlevania" doesn't even go back to the title screen first. It loops automatically.)
Bregalad wrote:How to make a NES game that is more "arcade-like"?
I guess any infinitely-looping highscore game feels arcade-like by default.

Also, single screen games feel arcade-like.

Otherwise, make the game ridiculously hard, but still allow to continue on the spot. (Like in "Final Fight.")

By the way, the perfect example for an arcade game that was never in the arcades is "Nuts & Milk".
Bregalad wrote:On the other hand, how to make a NES game that is NOT "arcade-like"?
That would probably be a very long list since this includes the majority of the games in existence.

For a start, big, epic games like "Zelda" don't feel arcade-like at all.

Level select should be pretty uncommon in arcade games as well.

Anything with exploration where you spend a lot of time looking for something without being in real danger of dying.
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psycopathicteen
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by psycopathicteen »

One-way scrolling makes the game feel very arcade like.
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by rainwarrior »

Bregalad wrote:...franchises that started on arcades: Battletoads
Battletoads started on the NES. The arcade game was the last Battletoads game made, not the first.
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by Pokun »

Most action games, table games and many puzzle game (especially tetris-clones) may be considered arcade-like. They don't necessarily have to loop endlessly (but if there's still credits left when the game ends the player needs to be able to use them).

RPGs and Adventures are usually not arcade-like.

Some games that may seem arcade-like may not be suitable for arcades and thus I guess they aren't very arcade like. Eggerland games are originally computer games an may be considered way too long for arcades (100+ puzzles). On the other hand Solomon's Key and Tower of Druaga are arcade games.
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by jaek_3 »

Bregalad wrote:Let's face it, NES games are very influenced by arcade:
That's like saying that the LOTR movies are influenced by the books. Obviously!
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DRW
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by DRW »

jaek_3 wrote:That's like saying that the LOTR movies are influenced by the books. Obviously!
Not really. This comparison would only fit if the original poster had referred to actual arcade ports like "Donkey Kong" or "Ghosts n Goblins". But the statement is pretty valid for games like "Super Mario Bros." or "Nuts & Milk": They're not actual arcade games. They originated on the console. But they still have a pretty arcade-like feel.
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Memblers
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by Memblers »

It's an arguable point though, clearly Balloon Fight is a remake of Joust. Wild Gunman existed as a mechanical arcade game by Nintendo (1971 hardware!) long before the Famicom was made, they actually used a film projector for the video, pretty interesting stuff. But it also seems clear that the Atari 2600 and Colecovision helped inspire the creation of the Famicom/NES.
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DRW
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by DRW »

Memblers wrote:It's an arguable point though, clearly Balloon Fight is a remake of Joust. Wild Gunman existed as a mechanical arcade game by Nintendo
And none of these games are the ones that I mentioned, so my point still stands.
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Termingamer2-JD
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by Termingamer2-JD »

I can't believe no one's mentioned the FONT that is used on nearly all NES games, it's similar to early arcades correct?
Also, the lack of save battery in many games on the system, don't forget.

Then, the PlayChoice-10 basically an NES-like arcade unit, with compatible PPU so that says it all. We only had arcades back then and a few consoles, it was the NES that saved the industry's arse.

(and look how modern 14-year-olds are, sitting on THEIR arses playing that trash all day called FIFA, when we like to do more productive stuff in gaming)
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DRW
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by DRW »

Termingamer2-JD wrote:I can't believe no one's mentioned the FONT that is used on nearly all NES games, it's similar to early arcades correct?
Also, the lack of save battery in many games on the system, don't forget.
The font is a valid point, but the lack of a save battery as an arcade influence is nonsense.
They surely didn't say: "You know what arcade games don't have? Save batteries. Let's not do them either to make our games more arcade-like."
Not having a battery is the default position. Including one is an active design decision, not lacking one.
Otherwise, I could just as well say that NES games not having network capabilities to play with up to 500 other people is an arcade influence since arcades didn't have that either.
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Pokun
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by Pokun »

Either way the golden arcade era is an important part in the development history of video games. Things like lives/continues and score are things that works well in such games, and there was no reason to change that when they started to make home versions of the arcade systems.
The font looks like it does because, how otherwise would it look like? Consoles was had low graphic resolution just like everything else.

Genres like RPG and adventure games originated on PCs/consoles though I guess.
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by tepples »

Termingamer2-JD wrote:I can't believe no one's mentioned the FONT that is used on nearly all NES games, it's similar to early arcades correct?
True, but I'd dispute 'nearly all'. Here's "how otherwise would it look like":
Image

With CHR RAM, yet another "otherwise" is possible as well, though the possibility wasn't used in commercial NES games that I'm aware of until the 2010s:
Image
DRW wrote:Not having a battery is the default position. Including one is an active design decision, not lacking one.
Which didn't change until the Nintendo DS, when Nintendo stopped charging extra for a 4 kbit serial EEPROM to hold saved data and expected developers to save at least something.
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dougeff
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Re: Arcade influence on NES games

Post by dougeff »

Re:the fonts are similar

I've only been making stuff for NES for a year, and I've made like 6 different fonts. It seems to me that most NES games have unique fonts to match their styles. Some of them 16 pixels high, some of them colored differently top to bottom, some scripty, some blocky, a few narrow fonts, etc.

By the way, nice variable width font, tepples

Edit: looking through your font list, the Balloon Fight through Metroid are the exact same font (except for a small dot in the O for Metroid). Talk about phoning-it-in Nintendo.
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