Retro Megabit

Almost a year ago I took notice of the game Beyond Oasis for the Sega Genesis at a local retro game store called Game Swap. This Complete Beyond Oasis was priced at $100 CAD. Unfortunately the original cardboard case had been cut up so that the cover would fit in one of Sega’s hard plastic clamshell cases. I was actually just after the manual to complete my own Beyond Oasis. Understandably the owner of the store did not want to break up the set which would make what was left harder to sell.

Speaking of cutting up original cardboard Sega Genesis cases to make them fit into the more popular plastic clamshell cases… don’t do it! Unlike in the 90’s there is no longer a need for this. If you feel compelled to convert a cardboard case into a plastic clamshell case print a custom cover and leave the cardboard box intact.

Where can you get these ready to print covers from? Right here:

https://www.mediafire.com/?5gm45wyxr3xvv#5gm45wyxr3xvv

Check out this beautiful replacement cover for Beyond Oasis.

A big thanks to djshok for all this amazing work!

But I digress…

I considered buying the whole game for the manual and then reselling the game and case but I was guessing it would take a long time to resell and the manual would end up costing me a lot of money. I was ready to give up on it when the owner told me of a new store policy that he now offers.

Visit GameSwap on your birthday and you’ll get 25% off your purchase that day. That is a very generous offer. And everyone in range of Game Swap should take note (store addresses at the bottom of this post).

So, very slowly the months ticked by until the better part of a year had passed and it was my birthday. I went back to see if Beyond Oasis was still there. Now with 25% off buying the game to harvest the manual and reselling the cart and case became much more feasible.

Regardless if Beyond Oasis was still there or not I brought some games to trade with. I was making the trip and I wanted to come home with something.

I actually brought a lot of stuff with me. What you see below is pretty much the last of my miscellaneous games that I’ve been sitting on. Two complete game gear games, two loose game gear games, a loose Gunstar Heroes, a loose NES Rush ‘n Attack, two complete Genesis/MD games, one complete Sega Mark III game (Double Target), one complete Doom for the original xbox, case and manual for Sonic Spinball and a loose Sega Master system Altered Beast  manual.

I also brought the last of my Neo Geo Pocket collection. Eight complete games and the NGPC communication link; used to make the NGPC wireless for two player gaming.

Before we got down to wheeling and dealing I asked about Beyond Oasis and it was still there. Things where looking good. But what I didn’t realize is that you’re not allowed to combine the birthday discount with store credit. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to spend any actual cash.

We had a good time talking about these games and the owner enjoyed seeing so many obscure items that don’t often come his way. I got a kick out of how much he liked my complete Double Target for the Sega Mark III. I also really like it too. And when we were able to find the North American version called Quartet (for the Sega Master System) in his own inventory he was amazed at the difference in the cover art. The Japanese version is so much better! See them side by side here. *Despite being a little stiff Quartet is a good game.

Then the basic math (which felt complex) began. We started to discuss what I would be willing to take in store credit for all the different games that I brought with me. Between us we had a good idea of value for most items and others were a bit trickier to assess. I wish I could remember all the fine details but for the most part these games were valued at roughly $5, $10, and $20 each.

Once everything was finalized I wanted to revisit the possibility of using my new found credit in conjunction with the 25% birthday discount. I did not even have to engage the puppy eye look and my wish was granted. I think the cool factor of some of the games I bought in helped a lot.

And after about 45 minutes of hardcore nerding out Beyond Oasis was mine! I took out the manual, handed the case and cart back and said “how much would you give for this?”. I had found a loop hole for breaking up complete games (sort of)! I said I would take $20 in credit for the game which was now missing the manual but instead I was given $60 credit. He’s really very generous. So the $100 game minus 25%, minus $60 credit leaves me with the manual for $15.

Below is my now complete Beyond Oasis for the Sega Genesis.

Something that will not surprise any Sega Genesis and Mega Drive fans is that the cover art for Beyond Oasis is much nicer for the Japanese version.

Despite GameSwap having a large stack of complete Japanese Mega Drive games the only other game I picked up this trip was Mortal Kombat 1 for the Genesis for $25. I saw it and thought to myself “Yes! That’s the one I need!” I got it home only to find that I had Mortal Kombat 1 and was missing Mortal Kombat 3… However, I did discover that I didn’t have the manual for Mortal Kombat 1 but I do now and that helps take the sting out of buying a double.

And thus, the miscellaneous pile of video games starts anew.

So by the end of my visit to GameSwap I came away with Mortal Kombat, a Beyond Oasis manual and $130 CAD in store credit.

Nintendo Joe gave me the loose Gun Star Heroes that I traded in so some of this store credit will go to him.

If you’re in the neighborhood check out GameSwap for some retro goodness!

GameSwap:
1601 Birchmount Rd, Scarborough, ON M1P 2H5
and
715 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON M4J 1L2