Dragon Quest

Dragon Quest Title Screen

Despite all of the genuine care that went into trying to make Dragon Quest successful in the US, it just did not sell as a $50 game. There were so many unsold copies that Nintendo eventually gave it away free with new $20 subscriptions to Nintendo power, further sweetening the deal with a strategy guide that contained a full walk-through and additional back story.

Hokuto no Ken

Hokuto no Ken Famicom Title Screen

Of course all of the game’s mechanics were detailed in the manual, but if you don’t have it (or access to the Internet, if you’re playing this in modern times) then you will probably never make it past the first stage.

Dragon Ball: Daimaou Fukkatsu

Dragon Ball Daimaou no Fukkatsu Title Screen

Akira Toriyama himself actually played this game with his wife over the course of two days. He commented in an issue of Weekly Shounen Jump that “It was pretty rough dying immediately from a game over, but it was faithful to my source material and I was very excited about the differences. They weren’t all that far removed from it, and I really liked Konpei”.

Ys

Ys Famicom Title Screen

…the Famicom port is not considered to be of very high quality when compared to all of the other Ys ports.