10 Retro Games That Were Popular in Nepal During the Early 2000s

Nepal entered late in the technological race and needless to say this was the case even back in the early 2000s. This applies to all the platforms including games as well. While the world was slowly moving towards the platforms like the PlayStation Nepal was still stuck with the Super Famicom or SNES games and that was the main mode console to play video games. 

Back before the time of PSPs, the most popular handheld game console was the Gameboy Advance (GBA) and even that was a rare thing so if you had a GBA back in the days you were the star kid of your area. This article is going to be about the retro games that were well known in that area.  The reason for the popularity of the games varies but needless to say that if you grew up in the early 2000s and owned a gaming console or had a gaming arcade which was known as “Video Game Parlour”, you would have come across this game sooner or later. 

1 Pokémon Red and Blue

Platforms – Gameboy Color (GBC)
Release date – February 27, 1996

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This is a retro game that almost everybody knows about. Even if you did not grow up in the early 2000’s there are enough channels on YouTube that are fully dedicated to Pokémon’s that talk about these games. While Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue are two separate games the reason why we have included both of these on the same number is because these games are basically the same with a few alterations. 

The graphics of these retro games as you may have guessed are not the best when compared with the modern ones but back in the days, these games were the bomb. Being among the first ones in the long line of the Pokémon series and having anime released in the one and only cartoon channel at that time made it a legend. 

2. Super Mario Bros.

Platforms – Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/ Famicom
Release Date – July 14, 1983

Arguably one of the most popular retro game franchises of all time Mario is a game that everyone recognizes to this date. Just like Pokemon was the game for those who owned Gameboy, Mario was one of the games that everyone who owned an NES console played at one point or another. NES console was the primary gaming console back in the early 2000s and one of the most available games as well. 

No one can forget how good it felt to defeat the last boss bowser at the end of this retro game and rescue princess peach. With the catchy sound, some hard levels, some powerups, and simple but addicting gameplay this was the best platform game at that time and one of the most well-known in the Mario series as well. 

3. Snow Bros

Platforms – Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/ Famicom
Release Date – April 1990

This is again one of those retro games of the early 2000s that was played widely by those who owned NES gaming consoles. One of the main reasons why this game was popular was because two players could play at the same time on the same screen which, although not rare, was a big thing when it was released. Another reason is the insane and random power-ups that you can get and the variety of enemies that you can defeat. This platformer was among the hardest retro games to fully complete and we can bet that a lot of you who did play this game have never faced the final boss. 

The reason for this is because of the difficulty and the length that was taken to reach the final boss. Although you can virtually continue this game till you reach the final boss, the levels are insanely numerous, and even for a hard gamer back at the time, it would have taken the day just to reach the final boss. Let’s not forget the annoying spinners who become immune to our shots when they start spinning. 

One more thing that made this game is so popular was that while this was available in the SNES it was somewhat of a rarity as well. This was fixed as it was available in the arcades but since you had to pay per set of lives, it made people extra careful and talk about this retro game a lot.

4. Contra

Release date –  February 20, 1987
Platform – Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/ Famicom/Arcade game system

Also named as one of the hardest and most frustrating among the retro games on the NES system, this game is more infamous than famous. The reason for that is because this shooting platform game gives you only a limited number of lives to play with and you lose it with a single shot from the enemies. 

While this would be okay if the enemies were less in number or died with our single shot as well, this retro game gives you tons of enemies and a lot of them are more tanks and choppers than humans that can take quite a few hits and still not die. While you can continue virtually forever as long as you have time, dying every 2 minutes can get frustrating. If you are skilled enough you can last for a bit but regardless of your skill level, you won’t make it past a level without losing lives. 

5. Street Fighter II

Platform – Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)/ Super Famicom/Arcade game system
Release Date – February 1991

Who can forget the classic Ryu and Ken who started the whole Hadooken craze in Nepal? This retro game series was most likely the first fighting game that went viral in Nepal. As most people had SNES as their main gaming console and there was a lack of good fighting games with interesting characters available in Nepal, this became one of the fan favorites. The main reason for this was the variety of characters and their unique abilities. Now there were fighting games available like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle but four of the 6 characters in that game were basically the same with slight modifications. 

This game had a whole roster of characters with all varied abilities for the most part. The few who shared the same abilities had different combo sets and that was something which attracted kids of the early 2000s. Who can forget the famous Hadouken by Ryu and Ken and the electric shock of green beast Blanka in this game? While simple in concept as the main goal was to basically beat the enemy till their health point is 0, due to the option to use combo hits, this game went viral back in the days. 

6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) II 

Platform – Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/ Famicom
Release Date – December 7, 1990

Now as mentioned in the previous one, the fighting game of this brand was not as popular as a street fighter but what was popular was the platformer beat-em-up game of the same franchise. Not only could you beat your enemies with your base weapon but you could also break the items and use some of them as your weapon and throw your opponents when they close as well and as a bonus, each of the four playable characters got their own unique power move as well. 

The selling point of this game was the multiplayer option where both of you could play corporate to beat the levels at the same time. Although not as varied as in the snow bros, the enemies were varied as well. This all combined to make this retro game popular and no one can forget the funny face your character makes when you stay idle for a long time and those small humorous phrases pop out in dialogue boxes right beside you.

7. Captain Commando

Platform – Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)/ Super Famicom/Arcade game system
Release date –  December 20, 1991

While this was a game made for SNES it was never released in Nepal in large quantities so only a few people had it. Most of the people played this in the arcades which used to be called video game parlors back in the early 2000s. While the game concept is more or less similar to that of the TMNT, because this retro game was exclusive to the game arcades, this was a well sought out after game and almost every arcade had this game. You play as either captain commando, mack the knife, baby, or Ginzu the ninja and complete the levels by beating the enemies. 

One thing that does set apart this game from the TMNT is that each character has got a different set of moves and some movement bonus as well which was lacking in the TMNT. Add the fact that you had to spend real money to pay for the coins for each set of lives and this game was something like a treasure back in the days and people were careful not to be reckless while playing this game. 

8. Pacman 

Platform – Arcade
Release Date – May 22, 1980

This is among those retro games that people still know to this date. The game is widely popular as this game is simple to play and hard to master. The concept is rather simple as all you have to do is eat all the yellow dots while avoiding the ghosts that chase you. The reason why this game is hard to master is that to fully master this retro game you will have to know the movement pattern and style of each color of ghosts. 

While saying this is easy on paper it is hard to master as one type of ghost chases you, one ghost type intercepts you, one type of ghost guards a certain area by patrolling and one type of ghost is just random. Saying this it is not impossible to complete this retro game though but you would have to invest a lot of time to know it. 

As it was available only in the arcade, this was a game that was booked with players and well sought out after like a rare treasure. So if you wanted to play this retro game that has stood the test of time to your heart’s content, you had to either be really good or have money. 

9. Duck Hunt

Platform –  Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/ Famicom/Arcade game system
Release Date – April 21, 1984

This retro game is similar to the contra as it is more infamous than famous and the main reason behind this is that it was ridiculously hard to figure out how to play this retro game. For those who don’t know how this game works, you get a gun attachment along with the NES console, and all you have to do is point shoot. What made it hard to figure out how to play was that there was literally no way to configure the gun attachment and that there was no aiming system as well so all you had was your natural aim and the default configuration which lagged overtime. 

Not to mention that annoying dog that gave us mocking laughs each time we failed a mission. But once you get past all these this was a pretty fun game as you could press a real trigger instead of some buttons on a joystick. 

10. DOOM II

Platform – MS-DOS, Mac DOS, PC-98. Game Boy Advance
Release Date – October 10, 1994

If you love FPS (First Person Shooter) games then you can say that this was the treatment for these people back in the days. DOOM II was among the first FPS games out there. Back in the days when people rarely owned computers and the concept of using a mouse for games was not really all that popular this retro game made people know what it was like to see and kill the enemies from the perspective of the shooter. 

Needless to say, the graphics when compared to modern times are terrible but back in the early 2000s when all the games were pixelated, this gave people a sensation of new awe. While available to just a few people who owned The Game Boy Advance as GBA became more and more common mode of gaming this retro game rose in popularity. The main reason for that was of course the FPS gameplay but along with that people could for the first time see somewhat of a 3d version of the monsters and move and aim in a 3d. 

Ending thoughts !

Retro games lack graphics but what it doesn’t lack in are stories that it tells and the fun we can have on it. If you want to, you can still find the games on the internet and although few in numbers, the consoles do still exist.

If you are not into retro games and more into mobile games you can check out our list of “The top 10 Best 2020 mobile games” as well as “10 Free and Low Space Consuming Games That You Can Enjoy“