Classic Game Project – Possible Game Comments

	A	B	C	D	F	G	H	I	J	K
1	Title	Difficulty	Comments	ROM	NES Emulators	macOS	Windows	Linux	Web	Notes

2	Adventures of Lolo 2	3/5	I couldn't get this to run at anything better than 0.1 frames per second in the emulator. I did play Adventures of Lolo 1, and I think it would be a fine project to do. You can re-use the grid move code from Dungeon Delver to help.		OpenEmu					The BEST emulator I've ever seen. Open source for macOS
3	Balloon Fight	5/5	This probably has a lot more AI in it than you might think, and I think that the physics of movement will take some time to get right.		All of the following are recommendations that I found online. I have used very few of them
4	Battle city	NO 1/5	This game is very simplistic and the AI seems to just move randomly.		RetroGames.cc					This site allows you to play MANY NES games in your browser Note that browser emulators are not always as good as PC ones
5	Bosconian	3/5	This game looks very cool. Seems like you could bring in some parts from SpaceSHMUP. My favorite version is the Sharp X68000 (1988) here: https://youtu.be/R-5MFSCj88Y?t=754		Nestopia
6	Burger Time	3/5	This arcade game has several moving parts. Be sure to look into coding ladders early. Also, note that enemies on ladders don't collide with the player unless the player is also on a ladder.		Mesen
7	Castlevania	4/5	I have seen some very good Castlevania projects. It is a 4/5 because Simon has several different weapons and the game includes stairs that are somewhat difficult to code. I do provide some stairs code now, which would make that easier.		FCEUX
8	Celeste Classic	4/5	This is a great game that has let to several excellent Classic Game Projects.
9	Centipede	3/5	This is an arcade classic, and I think it's worthy of doing. I'd recommend tracking things on a grid rather than using Unity Physics to determine whether the centipede hits something when moving across the stage.		ROM Sites					I have very little experience with any of these
10	Dig Dug	5/5	With the digging of the ground, the physics on the rocks, and the AI pathing of the enemies, I expect that this would be a challenging (but good!) project.		https://www.consoleroms.com/roms/nes
11	Donkey Kong	3/5	This is a great game to implement for this project. You only need to make one of the three levels to qualify, but you need to have everything correct in the game. The ladders and the barrels can be tricky.		https://romsplanet.com/roms/nintendo
12	Donkey Kong Country	NO (6/5)	Donkey Kong Country includes very complex movesets and precise platforming. It would take far too much effort for this project.		https://www.emuparadise.me/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_ROMs/13
13	Doom	4/5	I would be okay with you recreating this game. It's pretty far from the standard for this project, but I think it's doable as long as you stick to 3D Quads instead of trying to do it with 2D Sprites.		https://www.romnation.net/srv/roms/nes.html
14	Dr. Mario	NO (2/5)	Like Tetris, you need to code your own grid movement to create this game well, but it's a pretty easy one.		https://mattmakesgames.itch.io/celesteclassic
15	Duck Hunt	NO (2/5), too easy	Getting the Duck's movement right could be tricky, but I feel like the rest of the mechanics for Duck Hunt are fairly simple to remake. Duck Hunt is fun and unique and would give you a chance to work with simple enemy AI and the sequencing of a level.		https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NOAB1iwzxScWxVD-G-a0tKD9BOXHJ4Rr
16	Earthbound (mother 1)	3/5 or 2/5	This 3/5 is just for the battle system OR 2/5 for just the overworld and conversations. Doing both would be at least 5/5. If you do this one, please skip a lot of the text, text, text, and walking at the beginning of the game.		https://archive.org/download/nes-roms
17	ExiteBike	2/5	Excite Bike is very different from other games, but it has a lot of cool stuff going on. You don’t need to implement the track builder, of course, but you do need to make things—like the leaning forward and back—work properly.		https://www.emulatorgames.net/
18	Fire Emblem	NO (6/5)	Fire Emblem is definitely too complicated for the small amount of time though. However, you might be able to do a very limited version of the game, like the basics of combat. The AI is definitely far too complex to consider for this project.		https://romsfun.com/
19	Frogger	2/5	This is a simpler game, but it’s still worth doing. Students have had trouble in the past with the turtles going under water.
20	Geometry wars	NO	This is too different from the requirements of the assignment.		Sprite Sites
21	Ghosts 'n Goblins	NO (4/5)	This game is so hard to play that you’ll have a terrible time testing it. I’d recommend something else. From this genre, I would highly recommend Metroid or Mega Man 2.		http://spriters-resource.com					The best site I know of for maps and sprites from NES-era games
22	Ice Climbers	3/5	I honestly don't like this game. It's control scheme is terrible, and it's not very fun. It's a 3/5 because of things like the enemies replacing floor tiles, but it's just no fun to work on.		https://opengameart.org/					Lots of free 2D and 3D game assets created by people like you
23	Karateka	5/5	Nobody asked, but this game is awesome! It was created by Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia. Great combat and graphics for the time. AI could be a bit complex (hence the 5/5). There is a fantastic recent release of it: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1163060/The_Making_of_Karateka/
24	Kirby's Adventure	5/5	Kirby's Adventure includes not only ramps and more complex movement states and mechanics (sucking in air to float, etc.), but also Kirby can inhale enemies and steal their powers, leading to many more move and attack states.		https://adamatomic.itch.io/					Adam Saltzman, founder of Finji, creates a lot of free 2D sprite sheets
25	Kirby's Dreamland	3.5/5	Easier than Kirby's Adventure. Great choice if you're worried about slopes and power-ups (there are none). Biggest challenges with this game are the enemy attacks and Kirby's movement states.
26	Kung Fu	4/5	This is a great game to do. Be careful of how you manage the different moves that the player has and the different enemy attacks.
27	Legend of Zelda	NO	Because Legend of Zelda is so similar to the Dungeon Delver project, it’s actually not allowed for the classic game project.
28	Mario Bros.	NO 2/5	The first Mario Bros. game was a single-screen game with turtles and other enemies entering from pipes at the top of the screen and trying to make their way to the bottom before the Mario Bros. stopped them. This game has the ability to knock the ground up from below, which means it probably won't work with Unity's built-in 2D tile engine.
29	Mega Man 1-3	3/5	This is a great game for this project, though I do recommend Mega Man 2 instead of any of the others because the level design is so very good in 2.
30	Mega Man X	NO	This is too complex for this project. I would recommend Mega Man 2 instead.
31	Metal Gear	5/5	Character movement is not very complex, however, the enemy AI has a lot to it for a game from this era (have to create an A* type system with perception, etc.) and creating the inventory is more work than one would think.
32	Metroid	4/5	This is one of my very favorite games for this project. The most difficult element is the Zoomers, which are the enemies that crawl along platforms and walls, but you can accomplish this using four Physics.Raycast() calls (or Physics2D.Raycast, if you're using 2D). Because Metroid isn't divided into traditional levels.
33	Missile command	1/5	Don’t try to correctly implement the ways that the pixels of the explosion destroy the pixels of the incoming missiles, but do make sure that you implement the speed and timing of everything properly and that you implement splitting incoming missiles and the jets flying overhead.
34	Mortal kombat or Streetfighter	NO	Fighting games are notoriously difficult to implement and require precise timing as well as good enemy AI.
35	Ms. Pac-Man	4.5/5	This is essentially similar to Pac-Man with the few changes mentioned in this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms._Pac-Man#Differences_from_the_original_Pac-Man
36	Ninja Gaiden	4.5/5
37	Pac-Man	4/5	I've seen both good and bad Pac-Man projects. The main issues with it are: – People tend to try to use Unity physics, which doesn't work for Pac-Man. If you do Pac-Man, you need to code up a grid and base everything on grid movement rather than relying on the physics to guide the characters through the grid. – Each ghost has its own AI. Without this, Pac-Man would be too simple to make. There is a very good discussion of the ghost AIs here: – https://gameinternals.com/understanding-pac-man-ghost-behavior – https://web.archive.org/web/20190831113638/http://gameinternals.com/understanding-pac-man-ghost-behavior – https://web.archive.org/web/20190907105329/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132330/the_pacman_dossier.php – https://pacman.holenet.info/
38	Pokemon Red	3/5 or 5/5	If you just implement the battle system, it’s 3/5 . If you also implement some of the overworld, it’s 5/5. Just be aware that the battle system has a LOT of menu options and a lot of underlying math for the attacks, defense, etc.
39	Qix	5/5	Qix is a lot more difficult than you would expect. While the game is pretty basic on a pixel-based game engine, it would be difficult to replicate in Unity. 5/5
40	Raiden	2/5	Though Raiden is pretty similar to Space SHMUP, I will allow you to do it if you implement several new enemies and a complete level.
41	Rally-X	3/5	Looks like 1 enemy AI type but also has double roads and scrolling.
42	Retro Snaker	NO	This is a modern rip-off of the classic game Snake, and Snake would be far too simple for this project.
43	Sinistar	3/5	Similar to Time Pilot and Bosconian but scary as hell!
44	Space Invaders	NO	In order to work, Space Invaders requires the bullets from the aliens to destroy parts of the shields near the ground, which would be very difficult to accomplish in Unity. (Note: The version in the video is the first video game I ever played!)
45	Spy Hunter	4/5	This is basically a SHMUP game, but on the ground. You need to deal with waves of enemies, a scrolling background, and how various obstacles (e.g., oil slicks) interact with the player and enemies.
46	Super Mario Bros.	NO (4/5)	A true classic with more going on than you might think. You need to make sure that the movement and jump is just right, and the blocks you can destroy from below are a challenge as well. The destroyable and movable blocks won't work as part of a Tilemap, so you'll need to code them as Sprites with BoxCollider2Ds instead.
47	Tetris	NO (2/5)	Definite NO for Spring 2024 as we implemented this in class. This is an easier game to make, though you do need to manage everything on a grid rather than relying on Unity's physics. We've unfortunately had more plagiarism issues with Tetris than any other game, so it is banned. If you're looking for something similar to do where you need to manage your own grid, try Dr. Mario.
48	Time Pilot	3/5	If you implement the enemy AI and various kinds of weapons (e.g., tracking missiles), this is a good choice.
49	Wario's Woods	4/5	This is an uncommon but great choice. It includes both elements of Tetris/Dr. Mario and those of platformers, and I'd love to see more students do this game. Despite what the video says, I'm pretty certain it's an SNES game.
50	Zombie Shooter	NO	There is no classic NES game named Zombie Shooter that I can find.
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