As an avid retro gamer, I love revisiting classic consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). This 8-bit wonder revolutionized home gaming with iconic series like Mario, Zelda and Metroid. But did you know the NES also delivered some shockingly good real-time strategy (RTS) games back in the late 80‘s/early 90‘s?
Join me on a nostalgic tour of the greatest NES RTS titles that still hold up remarkably well even today. I‘ll cover what defined the genre, how the NES hardware handled strategy gaming, then profile the 6 all-time best NES RTS games in fascinating detail. Let‘s relive Nintendo history together!
Understanding Real-Time Strategy Games
Before starting our countdown, let‘s quickly demystify real-time strategy games for anyone unfamiliar with the term. Unlike turn-based moves in tactics franchises like Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics, RTS games unfold dynamically in real-time without pauses.
These fast-paced games test your ability to balance competing demands simultaneously:
Resource Management – Harvest building materials like gold, oil or lumber to develop your military infrastructure and technologies.
Base Construction – Strategically assemble defensive/offensive structures, production facilities, supply storage, etc.
Unit Training – Manufacture land, air and sea units with unique offensive/defensive strengths once you build the necessary headquarters.
Combat Deployment – Directly control units in real-time to scout terrain, siege enemy bases, and leverage tactical advantages as battles unfold.
The above elements have defined seminal RTS franchises from Command & Conquer to Starcraft and Age of Empires over decades. But Japan actually planted the genre‘s seeds on Nintendo‘s 8-bit Famicom console over half a decade earlier!
The Surprisingly Capable Nintendo Entertainment System
Considering high-end PC‘s struggled running early RTS titles, you‘d never expect the humble Nintendo hardware to pull off the concept smoothly. But let‘s review why the NES could swing it:
Custom Picture Processing Unit – This innovative component powered smooth scrolling & sprites with 4x the colors of prior consoles at 52 total pallete options.
Tile-Based Movement – Using small character sprites over blocky staged areas kept unit action manageable versus taxing continuous world maps.
Co-Processor Expansions – Special chips like Konami‘s VRC2 added more graphics/audio processing power needed for certain game types.
Streamlined Gameplay – Keeping mechanics like base building simple and combat numbers low prevented slowdowns.
Of course the NES had clear limits only displaying 8 sprites simultaneously and max 5 channel audio with mono sound. Review my "NES RTS Spec Cheat Sheet" in the appendix to compare all console metrics against later systems.
But even lacking bleeding edge computing performance, clever NES developers worked within the constraints to produce some shockingly fun RTS titles leveraging Nintendo‘s pick-up-and-play ethos. Now let‘s highlight 6 all-time favorites!
#6. North & South (1989) – Fight for Union or Confederate Glory!
Kicking off the list we have North & South from Infogrames/Kemco placing us right in the middle of the picturesque but utterly chaotic American Civil War conflict. Choosing Union or Confederate allegiance, you control infantry, cavalry, naval vessels and limited supplies to capture the enemy capital in Washington D.C. or Richmond while defending your own.
Reviewers praised North & South in 1989 for smoothly adapting real-time unit maneuvering and statistics-driven combat to the console format. Battle encounters seamlessly transition to tactical exchange sequences. Here you input attack commands for each unit while factoring positioning and terrain variables like forests or rivers.
It certainly takes liberties with history, but directing regiments across Antietam or Gettysburg‘s hallowed grounds makes you feel invested in these seminal campaigns even with sprites and midi music. North & South‘s pioneering console warfare ethics influenced everything from early RTS franchises like Herzog Zwei (1989) to modern genre hybrids like the Total War series.
#5. Conflict (1989) – Hex-Based Console Combat!
If you enjoy the methodical grid-based movement of tabletop war games but not the turn-based down-time, Vic Tokai‘s ingenious Conflict brilliantly mashed real-time action with hex map strategy on the NES. Each player starts with an aircraft and ground vehicle military production facility. Managing money carefully, you steadily build up tanks, mobile artillery and jets to take out the enemy‘s stationary flag tank.
Navigating Conflict‘s islands and continents set the stage for tense cat-and-mouse skirmishes. Tanks pound targets at close range but air units can soften formations with extended attacks. Losing factories hinders construction until cities/airports are captured for repairs. Destroy all of an opponent‘s unit construction capacity and they‘ll struggle fighting your end-game arsenal! With easy onboarding but aggressive two-player showdowns, its addictive fun keeps veterans and newcomers battling for hex-grid supremacy.
#4. Bokosuka Wars (1983) – RTS Roots on the Sharp X1!
While North & South and Conflict pioneered console strategy titles, Japan actually planted RTS genre seeds years earlier with Bokosuka Wars for the Sharp X1 PC in 1983! This remarkably innovative release eventually reached the Famicom in 1985 which Westerners recognize as…the Nintendo Entertainment System!
Placing you in the role of king, Bokosuka Wars starts in primitive stone age environments where your goal is harvesting food resources and oil to expand territory across islands and ultimately construct the Tower of Babel first against other leaders. Unlocking technologies like iron weaponry pushes your empire into the later middle ages with more advanced military options.
You directly control worker, infantry and ship units in real-time while balancing economic supply chains. Military forces not only fight rival armies but also defend villages against aggressive wildlife encroaching on your imperial lands. Even tracking metrics like oil reserves and food stockpiles, Bokusuka Wars featured mechanics that modern franchises still integrate today. It was shockingly ahead of its time strategically upon release. Kudos to Sharp for planting seeds for the RTS genre later perfected on PC!
#3. Hanjuku Hero: Aa, Sekaiyo Hanjukunare…! (1988) – Square‘s Brilliant Genre Mashup!
Beloved JRPG publisher Square also tossed their hat into the real-time strategy ring with this Japan-exclusive Famicom title starring an cartoonish animal military squad. You control Officer Kibinoshin Den alongside his quirky but powerful animal warriors as they traverse grid-based island maps to reclaim stolen energy crystals from the Gyza Empire‘s forces.
The twist is that you balance base construction, army building, resource harvesting with simplified RPG story beats and turn-based combat. When squads engage hostile forces, battles transition to familiar JRPG menus. But otherwise you directly manage hero units in real-time to explore fog-of-war terrain, establish supply lines and construct facilities to unlock new soldier types.
Blending accessible empire management controls (thanks to the Famicom‘s controller innovation) with Square‘s talent for character design & charming storytelling widened Hanjuku Hero‘s appeal substantially. It succeeds straddling RTS and JRPG genres for a remarkably fun and original experience!
#2. Napoleon Senki (1988) – Marshaling the French Empire‘s Early 19th Century Conquests!
This shockingly complex simulation drops players into Napoleon‘s boots at the peak of his European campaigns to rewrite history in your favor. The side-view maps leverage the full screen real-estate to capture all major 19th century battles as you direct the legendary French leader‘s elite forces against coalitions of British, Prussian and Russian armies.
Napoleon Senki plays out more like a modern MOBA than traditional RTS. Each level starts you with established bases and unit types you must leverage to capture and defend key strategic points first. Napoleonic era details abound across beautiful landscapes where infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments clash based on historical attributes like morale, terrain bonuses, supply line access, and more.
Irem packed a staggering amount of strategic nuance into this humble NES cartridge while staying true to the era‘s events and technologies. Outmaneuvering foes across Europe to overcome the odds against Napoleon‘s overextended forces captures the grandeur of the age masterfully. Just don‘t meet your Waterloo prematurely!
#1. Supremacy (1990) – Rule the World or Die Trying!
While North America had to wait until 1993, European NES owners enjoyed the original PC release of this legendary game 3 years prior. But no matter where you play Supremacy, its compulsively entertaining gameplay never gets old! Technically an empire builder akin to Civilization, your goal as an unnamed superpower is complete global conquest achieved either obliterating every other nation or driving them into bankruptcy by turn 100.
The presentation leverages a hex-based playing field overlaying a miniature world map patrolled by ships, planes and armies. Players expand territory through annexation or conflict while balancing domestic policies, production priority, economic & environmental stability and other deep empire management facets. With over 60 hours of playtime across multiple paths to victory, Supremacy remains the NES gold standard for uncompromising strategic simulation against aggressive A.I. opponents.
Just don‘t rest easy when allies refrain from direct assaults since they‘re likely sabotaging your efforts subversively while building WMDs! Eternal vigilance is the price for undisputed worldwide supremacy in this remarkably polished NES port!
Preserving Innovation from Gaming‘s Early Pioneers
Jumping back to NES classics serves as a history lesson for modern gamers accustomed to cinematic graphics and orchestral soundtracks. The Nintendo Entertainment System conquered living rooms on raw innovations unlocking intuitive controls, smooth scrolling, and simplified real-time gameplay. These pioneering design principles enabled scrappy developers to establish beloved genres on shockingly underpowered hardware compared to average PCs of the mid-1980s!
It took creative visionaries overcoming technical limitations to transform the NES into a real-time strategy platform priming players for seminal franchises like Command & Conquer and Warcraft later that decade. Had fortune favored alternate trajectories, we may be referring to "North & South-craft" or "Supremacy & Conquer" today as seminal RTS franchises!
Hope you enjoyed this nostalgic tour through my favorite NES real-time strategy titles that stand the test of time through sheer fun factor alone! Let me know your thoughts on social media or in comments below! Just don‘t go silent too long lest I suspect you‘re secretly sabotaging my digital empire! Now if you‘ll excuse me, I have some global conquest business to attend to…
Appendix A – NES RTS Spec Sheet
| NES | Super Nintendo | Playstation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 256 x 240 | 512 x 240 | 320 x 240 |
| Colors | 52 | 32,768 | 16.7 Million |
| Max Sprites | 64 | 128 | 3,000 |
| Scrolling | Horizontal / Vertical | Yes | Yes |
| Audio Channels | 5 | 8 | 24 |
| Media Format | ROM Cartridges | ROM Cartridges | CD-ROM |
[2] "North & South (video game)" via Wikipedia
[3] "Conflict (video game)" via Wikipedia
[4] "Bokosuka Wars" via Wikipedia
[5] "Hanjuku Hero: Aa, Sekaiyo Hanjukunare…!" via Wikipedia
[6] "Napoleon Senki" via Wikipedia
[7] "Supremacy (video game)" via Wikipedia
