NES Games You Didn't Know had Sequels in Japan

[@JohnRiggs]

I talk about 10 NES games we're glad we rented back in the day kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGXXcq2Md7OngNU

[@EvaFull]

More Famicom games is always a good thing.

[@Thrakus]

Some games are like the best game ever but the worst ever once you understand how to play it. No one has done a list like that. Such as Roger Rabbit being like gta 5 on the nes best game ever until you play it the right way. some rom hack roger rabbit gta!

[@jst25]

How about a video on the NES prequels that we never got in the states. Goonies can't be the only one, can it?

[@jswets5007]

Just to be that anorak... Final Fantasy... We didn't get half of them 😂 love the channel

[@scottlemiere2024]

I call Kung-Fu "The adventures of Captain Cockpunch," and crouching punch everything.

[@samholdsworth3957]

🐓🥊

[@DieHardGamerBros]

Great video! Gradius II was released only in Japan, for a time I thought Lifeforce was the sequel to Gradius until I saw in one of the video game magazines that Gradius II was coming to the states but never did.

[@markm4033]

I'm not calling you out but there's one game that's the opposite. We got the sequel to the Goonies, which is The Goonies 2. While most of us thought it was the sequel to the movie, it's actually a sequel to the Goonies 1 that was only released in Japan. Weird huh.

[@shingotink5062]

It was released in American arcades though as VS. Goonies

[@markm4033]

@@shingotink5062 I did not know that. Thanks for that info.

[@seanmyster6]

Didn't there also used to be a rumor that The Goonies II was based on a cancelled movie sequel, or am I just misremembering things?

[@forcedfeedbackclassicgamer5499]

Gradius II definitely comes to mind. The Famicom port has some of the best visuals ever produced for the system.

[@Peter_Morris]

As an unofficial emissary of the the planet Gradius, I couldn’t agree more. It’s a shame we never got that awesome game.

[@adrian53080]

We never got New Ghostbusters II on NES, they had a Famicom version and Gameboy.

[@goatbone]

And PAL NES release.

[@EsmeAmelia]

There's also Gradius 2. I always thought it was weird that we didn't get Gradius 2 - especially since when Gradius 3 came out on the Super Nintendo, it was still called Gradius 3, as if we'd gotten both the previous games.

[@tetsuoshima2314]

Awe man, Gradius 2 for the PC Engine CD is amazing if you ever get the chance

[@pungisotu]

Life force was pimped out as the sequel by Nintendo Power so Gradius III without 2 didn’t seem weird back then. Sort of like The Lost World: Jurassic Park giving way to Jurassic Park III didn’t seem weird to anyone. Or Rambo: First Blood II followed by Rambo III.

[@robart1979]

Final fantasy 2 and 3, Gradius 2, kid Dracula, 3d world runner 2, Hudson bug honey adventure, basically any technos game starring kunio we didn't get here either, too many to name

[@pungisotu]

We got plenty of the Kunio games just localized to be unrelated.

[@SquarePegs]

Awesome video! I LOVE Destiny of an Emperor, so I'm absolutely grabbing that translated ROM!

[@joshgreever7678]

Loved the video as always Mr Riggs. Didn't know there was a sequel to Kid Niki or that there was an Adventure Island 4. I collect famicom, so those are new targets for me. Hopefully my friend and I will see you at the St Louis gaming con tomorrow.

[@cax1175]

Thanks for talking with me and the pics John at the MO Game Con!

[@Peter_Morris]

I’m going to join the chorus of voices and lament that we never got Gradius II on the NES. Discovering it in emulation in the mid-90s was pretty awesome.

[@goatbone]

Japanese box is very cool too.

[@OldMan_PJ]

Kid Niki was one of my favorite games. Spent hours with friends alternating turns to see how far we could get.

[@mjcook3922]

Great video! I've never had much of an interest in seeking out Japanese famicom games but this video sparked my interest. I could go for some of these game sequels or look them up to see if I have them in my rom library

[@koba687]

New Ghostbusters 2 is the game that wasn't released in the US but it was released in pal regions

[@Projectwolfie21]

Great video. FYI, all of these sequels have translation patches. Including Adventure Island 4!

[@landeny65]

Heyyy after we finally get the non-black box Nintendo title ranking, I’d love to see a 1993 & 1994 NES ranking list. Cant get enough late gen NES!!

[@shingotink5062]

I never understood why Bomberman was not the mascot for the TG-16 and the pack in title. Even though Hudson was highly invested in the TG-16 I guess they didn't want to affect their NES sales.

[@KeithPhillips]

Pretty sure they wantrd to make bank selling it. :)

[@TheMultiGunMan]

This was a great video John. Thank you very much.

[@uninvolvedthirdparty]

10:50 "not very creative, very generic" immediately revolver-headed enemies appear on screen.

[@KeithPhillips]

I used to be "blown away" (lol) by those pistol enemies in the gaming magazines. I wanted a TG-16/TurboDuo so bad. :P

[@demonic7610]

Destiny of an Emperor was sweet, I love the tails of the 3 kingdoms of China which its about, tricky thing is learning the tactical advantages.

[@brucemckinlay9739]

The BEST game on the NES!

[@supertwillson]

Was lowkey disappointed that John didn't drop in the "And me Frank" clip in the Keith Courage in Alpha Zones footage.

[@themax4677]

It's the only reason I knew this game existed.

[@dono42]

When the NES Mini (Japanese version) came out in 2016, my Japanese wife was excited to see "Atlantis no Nazo". I had never heard of it which surprised her. Apparently it was really popular back in the 80s in Japan. We played it for a few weeks and it was pretty good. Personally, though, my biggest disappointment was that Final Fantasy 2 and 3 were never released in the US for the NES. (Same with FF5 for the SNES.) That is what got me started with learning Japanese and eventually playing through the Japanese versions in the early 90s.

[@CaptRobau]

Hi John. Were there GB sequels for NES Games? Might be interesting video

[@neurath2638]

You mean like Metroid 2 or the sequel to Ballo in fight?

[@TheRandomDuck99]

I just love Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 3, it is one of my absolute favorites on the console, along with Adventure Island 4, Super Mario 2 and 3.

[@HiNRGboy]

you like the 3rd Kid Niki? wow i thought it played awful.. like the programming and gameplay.. what did you like about it? i think if it was fixed up a bit better it woulda been fun.

[@TheRandomDuck99]

@@HiNRGboy I really like Kid Niki 3, I enjoyed the main character's skills, the level design, the bosses and even the music. It might not be a perfect game, but as I said, it's one of my absolute favorites on the console.

[@HiNRGboy]

@@TheRandomDuck99 Ok, I'll probably go back and play it some more see if I still feel the same ^^

[@dmitrysmagin9867]

I remember "Spartan X 2" sold as "Jackie's Dragon 2" with Jackie Chan on the cartridge box...

[@kremmell]

In romania i had the same game for the ending man terminator 2 console and it was a cartridge with bruce lee wrote on it and the picture from tekken 2, lol.

[@UnknownDataEntry]

Hey John!!! Great video!!!!! I just got a Famicom and over 40 games From a giant lot on eBay, can’t wait to collect for this system too!!!

[@samuelallen2831]

The character design in the Destiny of an Emperor games looks an awful lot like the designs used in the beat em ups Dynasty Wars and Warriors of Fate, also from Capcom. Gotta love it!

[@braselthegamer]

Very cool video topic dude. Loved the info.

[@ahirunakamura9592]

I ain't Pete, but I loved Super Pitfall when I got it back in the days... I was 5, and next to the few games I had when we got the NES (Ghostbusters, Pac-Man...) Super Pitfall was my favorite... Prior to that of course the original Pitfall on the Atari 2600 was also my favorite game (I believe I started gaming when I was 3) so I'd love Super Pitfall regardless of how bad it was gonna be, I guess... Worth noting there's a Super Pitfall rom hack that overhauls the entire experience and it is quite fun actually!

[@HiNRGboy]

i don't think it's a bad game, just sloppy programming/gameplay.. but i've enjoyed playing it some. Could never beat it.

[@lostfan5054]

How am I feeling? I am feeling great because, unlike others, I got John Riggs here.

[@paperluig1up480]

Dude! I loved Kid Niki growing up! Never hear people talking about that game. No clue there was a sequel, here, there or anywhere. Thanks!

[@chrisgoetz544]

Great episode, Riggs is really good at introducing me to games I never knew of. There is an English rom put There of rainbow silk road that we never got an official release of which I would call a must check out for you fans, the merchant aspect is like dragon warrior 4's merchant chapter on steroids, truly unique twist. He is the reason I heard about the new TMNT game and the zelda like game for GBA and soon NES.Great content!

[@eddiemidnite]

Super Star Force was one of those games advertised but never released, it was pretty good.

[@brettdulaney697]

Mr riggsim ashamed I ignored your video for22 hours!?!? I was so busy and couldn't start it and finish so I just waited until now, love your show bro!!

[@danielespeziari5545]

I know it's flawed and many people hate it, but I quite like Atlantis no Nazo. Maybe it's because it's one of the Famicom cartridges I bought during my trip to Japan six years ago and it reminds me of those beautiful times.

[@soulden77]

I know it’s not a sequel but I feel like you could put Kid Dracula on this list :). One of my faves!

[@cliffjumper1984]

Nope Thats a spinoff. Totally different

[@soulden77]

@@cliffjumper1984 Well, to be fair, John included at least one game that is definitely not a sequel. I was taking the same liberty ;P But you are correct, not a sequel.

[@kintozero3169]

Kung-Fu arcade version also got an arcade sequel, that was finished, prototyped, and canceled before release (this game is totally different from Spartan X2). There is actually ONE prototype in the world, and video footage of the game in action exists on KZbin. Sadly, the game was never dumped to Mame, and the game has is now broken. Some French collector owns it. Hey John, I think a good video idea might be, games that were ruined for the western release, like Ninja Gaiden 3 removing continues or Bayou Billy getting a difficulty spike.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

I discovered for myself that Blaster Master and Totally Rad went from unlimited continues in Japan to 3 continues in America and Europe! Seems that was a common difficulty tweak.

[@duhmez]

I love this video and hope to see more. Not just the fact they are sequels, but showing off English friendly games that are decent,but the best part is how you showed on screen how to spel out the rom so we can actually find and try the game out. I'd love to see more Japan games that English can play eitth the actual game name listed likee this, and of course any o others that have translation patches makign them English friendly. One example of how I have seen this done pporly, a person would name the new English name of a game, but not spell out the actual japan rom name so iI could not find a rom to patch or even whatg to look for. bravo!

[@AnthonyRiddle]

Please make a series on this. This is very cool and very interesting

[@NateB1976]

Keith courage in alpha zone a.k.a the intro to Frank on Flea market madness.

[@MiamiSunrise]

John I just need to say that I am so ecstatic you brought up Destiny of an Emperor by Capcom. I feel like its one of the most underrated RPGs in that era, if not the most with how good I thought it was and how challenging it could be. I always liked the auto battle feature in it too since a lot of RPGs in that day didnt have that feature at all. It helped keep the game moving. It is basically a high energy Romance of the Three Kingdoms game and I was so unhappy when I found out they made a sequel and we didnt get it. Again, thanks for covering this gem!!

[@peir77]

I loved Super Pitfall. It's charm for me was how weird and creepy some of the areas and characters were. The glitchyness just added to it. I would play this game for hours.

[@genghisbunny]

The final fantasy series was what immediately came to mind when the title came up in my sub feed.

[@RetroRubbish]

How about Super Mario Bros 2? I guess everybody knows about that one so it's not that interesting. But there's also Final Fantasy 2 which I think a lot more people are oblivious to so that could be an interesting game to chat about. Great video bud!

[@JMFSpike]

Nah, everyone and there mother knows about FF2 & FF3.

[@Tomsteron]

I'm feeling good Mr. Riggs, thanks for asking!

[@yannikpetulla4300]

I actually love collecting for Famicom games

[@m.3.3.w]

That Mashin one is a Gaiden just for clarification and yes you can find it on Romhacking which is nice! Great video as always!

[@sidneyvandykeii3169]

Destiny of an Emperor introduced me to Lu Bu. When I saw Lu Bu for the second time in Dynasty Warriors 2, I was happy as a clam. I never played the Romancing games but, Destiny of the Emperor was my FAVORITE RPG on the NES.

[@arunca190]

Looks like that new camera is being put to work! Nice!!

[@UCanBeatVideoGames]

Spartan X 2 looks sweet. I'm sure you can get to Adventure Island 4 in another one of these videos. Gradius 2 is awesome, just doesn't work in toaster Nintendos (it does work on my top loader , though). There's Super Mario Bros 2- that's FDS, but probably counts.

[@ihateapplebeeswa]

Yeah I loved Destiny of an Emperor. Some of the same guys as from some of those Koei games like Lui Beu and the invinsible Lu Bu etc but more like a RPG. Cool stuff. Love your videos my friend. Keep up the good work.

[@joshuarobinson1689]

Little Ninja Brothers had a Japanese only sequel called Super Chinese 3. It crushes my soul that we never got this game. I loved Little Ninja Brothers so much.

[@psyhodelik]

Thanks for discovery ^^

[@brucemckinlay9739]

Destiny of an Emperor is the best game on the NES and one of my favorite games ever. It has tons of sweet fan made mods as well.

[@dennismcdonald2607]

Man! I played the HELL out of Kid Niki!! Must play 2!!!!

[@jeffm5056]

This is sort of the other way around, but we got Goonies 2 here in America on the NES, but the original Goonies was only released on the Famicom, as well as the Nintendo Vs and PlayChoice 10 arcade machines.

[@pkgympkgym907]

Love your videos. Keep it up 👍🏻

[@erwinekkel9676]

When I was younger I never knew there was a adventure island 3 and now you tell me there is a part 4.....

[@Wyrdwad]

I, too, unironically like both Super Pitfall and Deadly Towers! I feel like both games, while flawed, are actually pretty fun once you get the feel for them. I never did beat Deadly Towers, but I DEFINITELY beat Super Pitfall, multiple times, WITHOUT a guide. I figured that whole game out on my own, and I ENJOYED it, dammit! ;) It was a terribly programmed game with terrible controls, but the thing is, the level designs were actually PRETTY GOOD, and kind of fun to explore! Deadly Towers is a game I'm even more surprised gets so much hate, because unlike Super Pitfall... there's really nothing wrong with it, other than its unbalanced difficulty! It's a perfectly well-programmed, polished game with great graphics and music and a lot of really fun places to explore. It IS overtly difficult, but... I mean, so were a lot of games back then! So I can't really hold that against it. So, yeah... your friend had the right idea! ;) As for other games you're missing, I can think of two off-hand: Japan got a Spelunker 2, randomly, though it... really didn't have anything to do with Spelunker. If anything, it felt more like a Pitfall game! But it was called Spelunker 2, and it was actually pretty cool. Japan also got the second Spy vs. Spy game, The Island Caper, on Famicom -- and I believe it was slated to come to North America, too, according to Nintendo Power, but that never happened for some reason. A bit of a pity, as The Island Caper is a decent follow-up to the original Spy vs. Spy! Not AS good, but still very much worth playing. (This game did originate as a Western-developed title, however, and was released in most English-speaking territories for a variety of microcomputers back in the day; just not for the NES!)

[@keithswiniarski7766]

Kinda funny that the honorable mention was the first game that came to my mind.

[@QunMang]

Even thought it isn't, I've always considered Vigilante to be the sequel to Kung Fu Master.

[@HiNRGboy]

spiritual sequel ;)

[@traviswhite589]

The fist of the north star game for nes had a sequel for the famicom, which was the 3rd game in the series for famicom and the one we got was the 2nd game in the series.

[@EvaFull]

Always looking for more Famicom exclusive games.

[@dashalpha]

ah, Adventure Island IV, at least you remembered it after and mentioned it. If you hadn't by the end of the video we'd all be like "No Adventure Island IV!?!?" lol

[@Mystemo]

I love Spartan X2! Adventure Island 4 is awesome too. I really wish we got them on the NES, though us Europeans didn't even get Adventure Island 3.

[@ericriggsbee]

Kid Nikki was my first NES game. I still have it.

[@savingstumps]

omg, I loved destiny of a emperor back in the day. when I had finished it, I was upset there wasn't more to the game. I'll have to look at the sequel.

[@evilash570]

I always thought Vigilante was the sequel to Kung Fu

[@KJM321]

Fantasy Zone 2, Super Mario Bros. 2 (Lost Levels), New Ghostbusters II (in the US at least). Then you have some reverse cases where we got the second and not the first like The Goonies and Dig Dug

[@Midlife_TimeCrisis]

I'm gonna go backwards but I always wondered where "the Goonies" was because I had Goonies 2. The first game stayed in Japan. I have it now, but I was angrily confused as a kid, lol

[@fobiabathory5851]

I recently discovered Spartan X 2... and man, it's such a great game!?!?! Can't believe we didn't get it out here in the States... 😕

[@yannikpetulla4300]

Can’t wait to watch this one🤩

[@michaelpecoraro486]

Some more not mentioned in the video: Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Gradius 2

[@danielespeziari5545]

Yes, those are big ones (I actually own a Famicom cartridge of Gradius 2)

[@indangerdogg637]

Nice Hat..!!🤠👌✔

[@thethewestexit]

Sticking with the Keith Courage angle, I know it's not Famicom related, but Wataru PC Engine does in fact have its own (sort of) sequel called Grand Zort for the Supergrafx.

[@samholdsworth3957]

Bruh, I am subscribed lol

[@Jussi.Ihander]

I don't know if many of you knew this, but there was a sequel to River City Ransom as well. And I think it was better than the first one. Also longer. I played it through using a english patch. It didn't continue from where the first one left off though. It was located in ancient Japan with the same looking characters again and had the same kind of playstyle. Wish I could remember it's name. Nekketsu something maybe? And there is also a sequel to Nintendo World Cup! I think that was called Kunio Kun Nekketsu Soccer League. It's a blast as well

[@retrodad3792]

Dude i love ur content bro thank u

[@oldirtydawson]

Destiny of an Emperor is an all time favorite. Every couple of years, I go back through it. I just discovered the sequel last month, and I've started playing it. So far there's going back and forth between parties, like Final Fantasy VI. I'm not sure that I like it, but it's interesting! I can already see why it didn't get an American release. Google Destiny of an Emperor 2.0. A fan made an updated version of the first game. It's tougher, but there is more optimization. That's a ton of fun. I'm 90% through it, but it's very challenging!

[@JacobLucasSorenson]

I loved super pitfall back in the day because it was all one giant level , and i liked most games like this on the nes

[@nicholas982]

Destiny of an Emperor is one I actually played through multiple times and still love, and I remember playing Kung-Fu at my friend's place, i can't even remember if we beat it haha.

[@RetroMitch]

Like Pete, I also love some Deadly Towers.

[@mr.milehi9883]

DEVIL'S CRUSH for mega drive? Yep it's out there. Also, really love your channel thank you.

[@raul3133]

Nice video. How about a follow up “bad sequels to good games” (like power punch 2) or sequels that differ from the first game (zelda 2)

[@RealSuperNintendan]

John.. the SNES game The Firemen had a sequel on the PS1 called The Firemen 2: Pete & Danny. So if you ever make a video like this for the SNES, remember to include that, since it was only available in Japan (if you don’t include the Western PS Vita release).

[@chrisgoetz544]

I LOVED destiny of an emperor! Ive beat both 1 and 2 (roms) . its like dragon warrior mixed with romance of the three kingdoms, rotk is a game I also love, but admittedly is for unique tastes, sort of like Le emperor.

[@fusedtoebones3890]

lol i been playing rotk2 all week, one of my go to games for last 30 years lol

[@Kara_Kay_Eschel]

10:40 So this is the game that pat the nes punk uses to introduce frank for flea market madness.

[@darktetsuya]

huh didn't realize that rpg was technically a keith courage sequel! thought I saw a bit of it on one of the twitch streams... yeah my pick might be gradius 2 but I don't think it's that obscure, at least not nowadays.

[@brettdulaney697]

Dude I been gaming for years and didnt know gradius2 wasnt life force, when I finally played gradius 2 I was blowed away

[@zackschilling4376]

I like Keith Courage, but then again Im like your friend Pete and I think Deadly Tower isnt that bad of a game. But I never knew that there was a sequel on the Famicom. Wasnt there somewhat of a sequel or a game that had something to do with Keith Courage or the anime released for the Supergrafx? Maybe Im thinking of something else.

[@HiNRGboy]

i'm totally like this Pete guy too lmao.

[@zackschilling4376]

@@HiNRGboy Its a flawed game, not a bad game.

[@StewedEarth]

Always been curious about Super Xevious, which was Japanese exclusive on the Famicom.

[@michaelsegal3558]

Oh and there was a sequel to Lode Runner that we never got that stayed only in Japan called Lode Runner Championship

[@beeqool]

John, do you know an rts game from early 2000s with robots and gathering crystals and maps with big mountains? i cant find it anymore.

[@knightimusprime25]

i remember seein in a nintendo power magazine i forget now what issue it was they had a walkthrough for adventure island 4 and in it ya fought some aliens at the end of the game as a final boss

[@knightimusprime25]

nm i stand corrected

[@blue_ex3852]

Awesome video !!

[@doublebass1985]

at 2:13 in kid niki 2 lol im guessing those are mcdonalds fries, but with the M upside down

[@jwill7998]

Adventure Island IV is solid fun.

[@justinmohan7103]

These would be perfect for Limited Run Games to do or some other company that does physical stuff.

[@JonGee420]

Life is like Kid Nikki....You never know what kind of sequel your gonna get

[@michaelsegal3558]

There was a Famicom sequel to Arkanoid that we never got in North American but I have the Famicom cartridge of it the two sequels of Arkanoid we got I believe were the SNES one and the Nintendo DS one