Summary
Capcom was a big supporter of Nintendo when they launched their NES in 1985. Capcom made and published many exclusives, from Disney tie-ins toMega Man,Bionic Commando, and beyond. Some Nintendo consoles had better Capcom support than others. It was a rocky time when the PS1 came around, for example, as many Capcom games became exclusive to that console.
Exclusivity aside, Capcom has definitely made some stellar games on Nintendo consoles. In some cases, it’s a real knuckle biter, and everyone will have their favorites. But if players had to play one Capcom game on every console, it would be hard to argue against these choices.
With six games in theMega Manmainline franchiseon the NES alone, it can be hard to pick a favorite, butMega Man 3feels like the right call. The boss designs were more intricate, along with the levels, which were still challenging but slightly less brutal than before.
It was also the first game to add Mega Man’s trusty robot canine Rush to the franchise, which aided in new gameplay too, like a spring, water car, air jet, and more.
Gargoyle’s Quest 2was released on the NES in North America, but this Game Boy version is still trapped in Japan, translated thanks to dedicated fans. It’s a spinoff ofGhosts ‘n Goblinsstarring a villain from the franchise, Firebrand, and it was a blend between RPGs and classic 2D platformers.
Players could explore a world map and towns from a top-down perspective and then fight enemies with magical fire breaths and other skills in 2D platforming segments.
Street Fighter 2was a big hit in arcades, which helped popularize the genre for many to follow, and it was a huge deal on consoles too, across all of its iterations. SNES owners had at least one version in their homes as it was that popular, even to those without anyone to fight against.
It was the birth of a truly new genre, and everyone was there to experience themight of Ryu, the domineering presence of M. Bison, and the high-spinning kicks of Chun-Li.
Resident Evilbegan on the PS1, andResident Evil 2was Nintendo’s first gruesome taste of the franchise, which was a decent port of one of the most important entries.
This saw the debut of Leon S. Kennedyand Claire Redfieldas playable characters, along with Raccoon City and its many buildings, which was a change from the original one location: Spencer Mansion. The zombies were more intense, there were branching paths, more weapons, harder puzzles, and so much more, all contained within one cartridge.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of AgesandThe Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasonswere Capcom’s first attempts at making not one buttwoZeldagames, each with their own unique campaigns.Oracle of Agesused time for many of its puzzles, whileOracle of Seasonsused seasons.
There was a planned third game, but it was scrapped; the two versions could swap data to create unique experiences, giving players a reason to buy both.
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Capwas another Capcom entry, and this one was a bit more ambitious for Link as it served as a prequel tothe Master Swordand the reason why Link wears a green hat.
In his travels to save Hyrule, Link found a talking green hat, Ezlo, who was a cursed individual who gave Link to ability to shrink. Players could experience the world map like never before in two different versions, adding to the creativity of the dungeons as well.
Resident Evil 2may have been an afterthought for the N64, butResident Evil 4was built from the ground up as a GameCube exclusive, seeing the return ofLeon S. Kennedyafter many years. There was a new threat that plagued a vague European nation, the environment was more interactive, and Leon could customize his guns and his overall loadout.
The game was later ported to the PS2, and other non-Nintendo consoles, and even got a remake, but there’s no denying the revolution that this game was for the GameCube and the series as a whole.
Thanks to Steam, light novels, or visual novels, are very commonplace, but they didn’t used to be. One of the first big hits from Japan wasPhoenix Wright: Ace Attorneyon the DS, which was actually a compilation and remake of the first game, which was a GBA exclusive in Japan.
As the titular lawyer, Phoenix Wright, players had to look for clues outside of court to help build Wright’s cases, which sounds dull, but thanks to the music and beyond wacky characters, it quickly became a reason to own a DS.
Okamiwas released on the PS2 a month before Link made his debut as a wolf inThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Between the two wolf-centered adventure games, many foundOkamito be the superiorZeldaexperience thanks to the deep knowledge of Japanese folklore and the watercolor style.
This Wii port added motion controls, which helped players paint constellations better to gain new powers and solve puzzles, plus they could use it during combat like to draw bombs.
Resident Evil: Revelationsis still probably the best portable entry in the series, thanks to its decision to dial things back to a more horror-centric gameplay style. It saw thereturn of Jill Valentine, who began investigating a ship full of mutants, which later became a bigger global problem.
Jill wasn’t alone as she had a partner, plus Chris was playable too in different chapters, who also had a partner. It’s not the best use of 3D on the system, but it was still cool to tap on and off in certain scenes.
