Top 100 Famicom games – as voted by the Japanese

[Sketcz-1000]

Cross-posting with the blog.

In 2003, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Famicom, Famitsu magazine in Japan conducted a nation-wide poll to find the country’s 100 all-time favourite Famicom titles. I translated the list for an article on NTSC-uk many years ago, but since being rebranded as Bordersdown all their old articles have been lost. In light of the Famicom’s 30th anniversary next year, and the fact that several HG101 staff have been reading France’s La Bible NES almanac (chronicling every Famicom game ever), I thought it time to repost the list. I’ve made several translation corrections, plus there’s commentary.

Like all voted for lists, this won’t necessarily represent the zeitgeist. I’ve no idea how many people took part, how the voting criteria worked, or even who the intended demographic was (current readers, old people, everyone?). When Famitsu was running it I browsed their website and looked through the set-up. It seemed fairly standard, and I’m pretty sure I was able to vote, though they were obviously missing western exclusive titles.

Regardless, with Famitsu being the largest magazine in Japan, and because it was run in conjunction with Nintendo, plus there was a DVD released featuring interviews and commentary, this list stands as Japan’s official statement as to what they regard as the top 100 (or rather 120) games for the system.

Mostly though it’s absurd, baffling, and actually rather dreadful. It re-affirms my belief that democracy as a concept is fundamentally broken, and the general populations of the world are unthinking sheep, utterly incapable of critical thought and in desperate need of a stern authoritative hand to mould them. I also think there’s far too much Dragon Quest in the list.

The list is based on Famicom cartridge games and Disk System titles. There are likely some errors due to my poor translation.

Let’s begin...


1) Dragon Quest 3
2) SMB
3) SMB 3
4) Final Fantasy 3
5) Dragon Quest 4
6) Dragon Quest 2
7) Dragon Quest
8) Legend of Zelda
9) Mother
10) Mario Bros (not SMB)


The top 10, that hallowed realm of debate and contention. Nearly half the list is Dragon Quest, a whopping 40%. There is though a Dragon Quest clone in the form of Mother, effectively filling half, with DQ’s main Final Fantasy filling the list with another turn-based RPG. And Mother is the only one which is remotely interesting. Then there’s a action-RPG in the form of Zelda, effectively making 70% of this list an RPG of some form. The remaining three games are all Mario-based platformers, with no.10 being that horrible single-screen title with the POW block.

As the crowing titles for the list, this is not a great start and highlights the obsession Japan has (or certainly had) with RPGs and Dragon Question in particular. As HG101 once stated though, in a Crank Gamer’s entry, all the Dragon Quest games are garbage. Yes, I said it, and yes, I went there.


11) Final Fantasy
12) Kirby
13) Downtown Special - Kunio Kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugou! (Kunio in Feudal Japan)
14) Downtown Nekketsu Koushin Kyoku: Soreyuke Dai Undoukai (Kunio sports)
15) Spartan X (Kung-Fu)
16) SMB 2 (Lost Levels)
17) Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball Club (Kunio Dodgeball)
18) Final Fantasy 2
19) Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken
20) Sanma no Meitantei (visual novel)

21) Xevious
22) Ice Climber
23) Spelunker
24) Akumajou Dracula (Castlevania)
25) Gradius
26) Goonies
27) Captain Tsubasa
28) Konami Wai Wai World
29) Metroid
30) Takeshi no Choujin (Takeshi “Beat” Kitano kusoge)


The list starts to get interesting from 11 onwards, with several beat-em-ups and sports titles, especially those by Technos which are excellent, plus a lot of great games which would probably make the top 20 of a US-based list. There’s a couple of choices, like the awful Spelunker, and super kusoge Takeshi no Choujin, but maybe some older people were feeling nostalgic. Unfortunately entry 31 reminds us that this list is ridiculous by featuring the compilation cartridge of FF 1&2, despite FF1 coming in at 11 and FF2 coming in at 18. Whoever collated the votes should have found a solution so as to omit this. Either by compiling FF1 and FF2 votes into one, ignoring all compilation votes, or perhaps collating them separately and then splitting them evenly between FF1 and 2.


31) Final Fantasy 1+2 (compilation cartridge)
32) Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Yuji Horii visual novel)
33) Nekketsu Kouha Kunio Kun (Renegade)
34) Bomberman
35) Ganbare Goemon
36) Wizardry
37) Donkey Kong
38) Okhotsk ni Kiyu - Hokkaido Rensa Satsujin (visual novel)
39) Pro Yakkyu Family Stadium (baseball game)
40) Twinbee

41) Dr Mario
42) Metal Gear
43) Excitebike
44) Fire Emblem Gaiden
45) SMB USA
46) Dai 2 Ji Super Robot Taisen
47) Tetris
48) Rockman 2
49) Kunio Kun no Nekketsu Soccer League (aka Nintendo World Cup)
50) Rockman


The top 50 is rounded off with further Technos games, proving just how popular the company’s Kunio series was. I’m pleased to see this, because all of the Kunio games, with the exception of Renegade, were incredibly awesome. The big surprise of course is that SMB USA ranked 45, despite in fact being a sprite reskin of Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic. Who says the Japanese don’t like American games, hey?


51) Captain Tsubasa 2 Super Striker
52) Ikki
53) Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match (aka M.U.S.C.L.E)
54) Star Soldier
55) Dragon Ball Z
56) Tower of Druaga
57) Dragon Ball Z II - Gekigami Freeze!!
58) SD “Gundam” Gachapon 2
59) Dragon Ball Z Gaiden Saya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku
60) Takahashi Meijin no Boukenjima (Adventure Island)


Man, that’s a lot of Dragon Ball hovering around the 60 mark. It makes me question the score tallying. Did a few guys all submit 100% Dragon Ball lists? How many people voted? What explanation could there be for such a close grouping of similarly themed titles? The Dragon Quest stuff in the top 10 I can understand, because everyone would have voted for them. But a grouping so low down the list would imply... Those who studied Statistics in college, post in the comments section.


61) Ghosts 'n' Goblins
62) Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
63) Hatori Kun
64) Metal Slader Glory
65) Lode Runner
66) Waganland
67) Balloon Fight
68) Famicom Tantei Club 2: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shoujo Kouhen (visual novel)
69) Valkyrie no Bouken - Tokinokagi Densetsu
70) Momotarou Densetsu: Peachboy Legend


I just want to point out, Momotarou Densetsu (70) is entirely different to Momotarou Dentetsu (73). The first is an RPG, the second a board game. The fact two such similarly named titles are clumped together makes me think very few voted, and those that did must have all put them together on their list.


71) Akumajou Densetsu (Castlevania III)
72) Zelda 2: Adventures of Link
73) Momotarou Dentetsu (board game)
74) Contra
75) Meikyu Kumikyoku: Milon no daibouken (Milon’s Secret Castle)
76) Rockman 5
77) Rockman 3
78) Hanjuku Hero
79) Dragon Ball Z 3
80) Famista ‘89 – Kaimaku Ban!!

81) Famicom Tantei Club 2: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shoujo Zenpen (visual novel)
82) Kaijuu Monogatari
83) Famicom Wars
84) Family Jockey
85) Rockman 6
86) Dragon Ball
87) Rockman 4
88) Ganbare Goemon 2
89) SD Gundam Gaiden: Knight Gundam Monogatari
90) Legend of Kage

91) Sweet Home (pseudo-prequel to Biohazard)
92) Famicom Jump
93) Yoshi no Tamago (Yoshi’s Egg)
94) Dragon Ball 3
95) Famicom Tantei Club: Kieta Koukeisha Kouhen
96) Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star)
97) Famicom Tantei Club Kieta Koukeisha Zenpen
98) Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu (4p brawler)
99) Gundam Z Hot Scramble
100) Gradius 2

And there we have it. The final lot included most Megaman games, plus quite a few visual novels, plus another Technos Kunio game. For whatever reason, they also decided to include an unnumbered “Select 20” list. I’m not entirely sure of the criteria for including them, but they were originally in Japanese alphabetical order.

Atlantis no Nazo
Baseball
Challenger
City Connection
Clu Clu Land
Devil World
Digdug
Donkey Kong Junior
Galaga
JuJu Densetsu
Kanshaku Tamanage Kantarou no Toukaidou Gojuusan-tsugi (1)
Mappy
Metro Cross
Mighty Bombjack
Nuts and Milk
Pacman
Route 16 Turbo
Skykid
Star Force
Yie are Kung-Fu



The entire list is odd, with many strange additions and many even stranger omissions. There wasn’t a single Ninja Gaiden (Ninja Ryukenden) title in the list. Did no one have any fondness for the series? What about Legacy of the Wizard (Dragon Slayer IV)? And why are there so many crappy first entries in a series listed, such as Bomberman, despite the sequels being so much better?

This represents roughly 10% of the entire Famicom back-catalogue. That’s one in every ten games represented. And remember, the Famicom was the foundation of Japanese console gaming even more strongly than the NES was for the US. Production of the systems lasted for nearly two decades. Some of the biggest franchises started on it. The word Famicom itself became synonymous with the idea of home video games. Well, obviously NEC’s home computer ranger was also important to Japan, but for consoles the Famicom wasn’t so much king, as rather Zeus himself.

Do the Japanese have bad taste? It’s hard to say – they had more games than the US, but the US also had many exclusives the Japanese did not see, such as Jurassic Park and GI Joe, both of which were pretty great. Each country was conditioned towards specific games and types of games by availability and the marketing push of publishers. Because of region specific exclusivity, I’d argue that the countries best suited to make judgement on the best games were actually those which existed solely on bootlegs from all regions – where one had access to almost everything.

More importantly, readers of Hardcore Gaming 101, what do you think of the top 120 as chosen by Japan, to represent itself? The list may be out of date by 10 years, but if they were to revote for the 30th, I don’t think there’d be that much change.

[megatronbison]

Whilst there are some extremely dubious games in the list (man, some real drek) - I find it hard to justify the idea of putting the shitty Jurassic park game in the top 100.
Final Fantasy or the original Dragon Quest games aren't interesting? Maybe they don't play too well nowadays- but the influence they had was massive- regardless of your own preferences

[ReyVGM]

So the Japanese also have sucky top 100s?

[Sketcz-1000]

Feb 18, 2012 13:39:33 GMT -5 @megatronbison said:

I find it hard to justify the idea of putting the shitty Jurassic park game in the top 100

Fight, fight, fight!

In all seriousness though, why don't you like it? It may be nostalgia, but I recall spending many an hour enjoying it, even though I had other better games such as SMB3.

[azul120]

Gradius 2, Gryzor/Contra and Akumajou Densetsu deserved much, much better. They were easily 3 of Konami's best games on the system. Ditto Life Force/Salamander, which was completely shut out.

Zelda II also deserved to be much, much higher.

Disagreeing with the Dragon Quest series assessment here. 1) If you're grinding in any of the later entries, you're doing it wrong, and 2) to say the characters are nothing but low-pixel blobs is utterly reductionist, as many of them have their own interesting lives.

[Narushima]

Why and how do you get upset at a list, Sketcz ?

[mpx]

Feb 18, 2012 13:39:33 GMT -5 @megatronbison said:

Whilst there are some extremely dubious games in the list (man, some real drek) - I find it hard to justify the idea of putting the shitty Jurassic park game in the top 100.

LOL is funny to see croatian word drek

You know that drek is shit in croatian?

[nickz]

Nothing by Compile? Not even Zanac? I'm sad now.

[megatronbison]

mpx - I dunno where I picked up drek! I think it might have been from Judge Dread or Shadowrun, I knew it was supposed to be rude but I didn't know it meant that- awesome

Sketcz - I remember playing through it on the GB, NES and the SNES as I loved the film but man, I just found all of the titles to be utterly bland. Asides from hiding behind the girl in the T-rex section I thought it was just a bland overhead shooter to be honest! To each their own though - I think I would have some dubious NES choices in my top 100 - all mainly due to Nostalgia which is what I imagine was going on a lot in this list. I mean could anyone REALLY say they prefer the crappy NES port of Donkey Kong or Mario Bros to Castlevania 3?
I doubt many sane people would- then again I love Double Dragon 3 as I had it as a kid and it's pretty horrible in most peoples eyes nowadays. Never underestimate the tint of rosey glasses!

[lanceboyle94]

Man, I know that Dragon Quest is like crazy huge over there, but come on. Couldn't they have had something else on the top ten instead of almost 50% Dragon Quest? It's like those many, many top something NES lists that ALWAYS have either SMB1 or 3 at the top of the list.

And aren't those DBZ Famicom games terrible? Were the votes just out of nostalgia?

[Sketcz-1000]

Feb 18, 2012 16:20:04 GMT -5 Narushima said:

Why and how do you get upset at a list, Sketcz ?

It's not so much upset as disappointment. A nation steps up to the podium to declare the games that defines them... And it's rubbish.

If this represents the national gaming identity of Japan, based on those who could be bothered to vote, what does it say?

In 2003 the Japanese games industry was strong. I can't help but look at the list they made then, and look at the industry now, and somehow see some vague connection of no one really being able to appreciate quality over there.

It's almost as if Japan was giving us a warning sign of some kind.

As megatronbison said:

Maybe they don't play too well nowadays - but the influence they had was massive - regardless of your own preferences

At the time maybe Mario Bros with the POW block and Dragon Quest blew people's minds, but the list was compiled 20 years after the system's launch. I would have hoped anyone who could be bothered to go online and vote would have had time for their views to mature and for the list to be a little more... diverse.

If you have a major love for DQ, then surely you're going to choose your favourite, or the best. Are you are really going to submit a top 10 list and put them all on there? Really? I like the Mega Man games, but I'd only put one on my list.

[Gendo Ikari]

Do the Japanese have bad taste?

No, they have tastes different from yours. It'd be interesting if you dug out some western "best" lists from around a decade ago and make a similar analysis. The conclusions should be even more bleak.

[Sketcz-1000]

No, I recall an EGM Top 100 lists from around a decade ago (2002 maybe? Or was it their 1997 issue? They've done a few), and that list was pure awesome from start to finish. The gold standard of Top 100 lists. Having a quick google it seems it was their 1997 issue, which puts it 6 years behind the FC list, but still, if this list is meant to represent the USA in terms of gaming taste, then you guys know where it's at.
kisrael.com/vgames/powerlist/egm100.html

Admittedly it was all console exclusive, but it's clear the editor's took great care picking the best. Heck, even a 3DO made the list. This is what it's about. Balance.

They also interviewed several developers and got their top 10 lists. Which was amazing. I recall Vic Ireland had a bunch of stuff I'd never heard of before.

[derboo]

Feb 19, 2012 3:31:11 GMT -5 Sketcz-1000 said:

Admittedly it was all console exclusive, but it's clear the editor's took great care picking the best. Heck, even a 3DO made the list. This is what it's about. Balance.

But that's a staff-compiled list, which will always make more sense as a popular vote. It's not necessary that everyone voted for the entire Dragon Quest series. Depending on how this was counted, it's enough to crowd up the list when everyone just puts their favourite DQ game on the top spot. Remember, half of the top 100 in our overall VGM music poll was Final Fantasy and other Square games.

[Sketcz-1000]

Feb 19, 2012 5:14:58 GMT -5 derboo said:

But that's a staff-compiled list, which will always make more sense as a popular vote. It's not necessary that everyone voted for the entire Dragon Quest series. Depending on how this was counted, it's enough to crowd up the list when everyone just puts their favourite DQ game on the top spot.

Precisely. The same thing happened at Retro Gamer when we had votes for the top 100 games of all time. So many people put Mario Kart at number 10 on their list, which garnered the least points, but enough did so that it ended up in the no.1 spot.

It's why I don't like voting systems and I'd much rather have seen Famitsu staff sit down, debate and compile a carefully considered list of FC games. Which were the most significant? Which was the most fun? The most evolutionary? The most inventive? Get past editors involved. Have the experts define what was significant, not those who don't know anything beyond their small sphere.

In my experience, anything vox populi turns out to be worthless. In fact it's sometimes less than worthless - I'd argue vox pop can be downright dangerous, for reasons that would turn this forum post into a long cascading wall of text. If aliens came down and were given this list, their view of what existed would be badly skewed.