Games

SMS – New Addition, Running Battle

Posted by Sega Dude on January 4, 2013

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Sega Master System. Tagged: collection, master system, picture, runnging battle, sega, sms, video game. Leave a comment

It’s been so long since I’ve added a Sega Master System game to the collection I decided to hunt one down. I’ve actually been looking for a long time and it’s been difficult. I have so many Master System games that it’s been hard to find one that I’d want to add to the collection.
Did I want to add Running Battle to the collection? Not really. Not after playing it but it does have a few things going for it.

First, it’s complete and in Excellent condition. Second, it’s an action game (beat’em up/shooter). It even has a cool little back story but… Despite having reasonably good 8bit graphics it falls short on some key things. It looks isometric like Double Dragon or Golden Axe but it’s actually only 2D; there is only left and right and jump. And it has poor hit detection. Shooting an enemy with a gun is easy, no problem. But for a lot of the game you fight hand to hand and it’s really hard to hit someone and not get hit back. It feels inevitable that you’re going to lose some health anytime you try to duke it out. Often it’s safer and easier to just jump over an enemy and let him run away. However, I will admit that the player in the video below is playing better than I did.

Running Battle

Running Battle – $20 plus $4 shipping

Two Genesis Games – New Additions (Dino Land…)

Posted by Sega Dude on December 28, 2012

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Genesis (North America). Tagged: collection, dynamite headdy, mega drive, nadia the secret of blue water, picture, rolo to the rescue, sega, video game. 7 Comments

Well, I’m sure of it now. It’s definitely getting harder to find complete, good condition Genesis games for a low price. This is in comparison to my Japanese Mega Drive shopping experiences. I’m guessing that on average us North American’s have been a lot harder on our Genesis games than our Japanese counter parts. Or maybe Japan had received a lot more copies of games?
I’ve also noticed a difference in how items from Japan are packaged better and extra consideration is noticeable for little things like easily removable stickers and items being very clean. I do believe that for the most part the Japanese take better care of their stuff.

Below is Dino Land for the Sega Genesis. It’s from a US seller and despite my impressions above it is in very good condition. Ever since I discovered Devil’s Crush for the Turbo Grafx-16 back in the day I’ve always looked forward to other pinball video games. Dino Land is definitely not as good as Devil’s Crush but it is OK.

Dino Land

Next up is Dynamite Duke for the Genesis. Despite having an interesting concept for boss encounters (which is melee combat in a shooter) Dynamite Duke is also just OK. My first experience with this joystick controlled cross-hair mechanic was with Global Defense for the Sega Master System and it did a very good job at putting me off this style. But the control for Dynamite Duke is fluid and easy to use and the game can be entertaining. This copy for the collection is in Excellent condition.

Dynamite Duke

Dino Land – $17 plus $4 shipping
Dynamite Duke – $15 plus $5 shipping

I find it interesting that Dino Land shipped from a US seller and Dynamite Duke shipped from a Japanese seller and the price and shipping for these games is almost identical.

In the image below we have the Mega Drive cover art for Dynamite Duke and on right the Genesis version. What happened here?
In the Mega Drive version we have the hero of the game looking like a butt-kicking cybernetic Ivan Drago. In the Genesis version Sega decided to feature what looks like a nobody minion. It looks like Sega was short on time and just used a screen grab from some Chuck Norris movie.

Dynamite Duke Mega Drive vs Genesis

Did you know? When Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone he had already missed three calls from Chuck Norris.

Sunsoft Mega Drive Games – New Addition (Tel Tel Stadium) and Roger!

Posted by Sega Dude on December 6, 2012

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Community, Games, Mega Drive (Japanese). Tagged: flashback, hit-japan, mega drive, mini case, roger, sega, sunsoft, tel tel stadium. Leave a comment

A little while back a fellow collector, Roger, gave me a heads-up on a few Sega Mega Drive games by Sunsoft. When he told me there were a total of seven Sunsoft games that came in mini cases I got inspired to collect them all.
Some times it’s fun to have small side goal for a collection and this felt like a good candidate. I immediately went looking for the three I was missing. One was inexpensive and the two… not so much.
Below is my latest addition and my fifth Sunsoft mini case game; Tel Tel Stadium. The game is complete and in excellent condition. The video clip is pretty much just the introduction and shows off very little of the game. Looks like it might have been good baseball game for its era.

Tel Tel Stadium

Tel Tel Stadium cost $12.60 with shipping (it arrived with a few other games). Actually it cost more. It arrived damaged and Hit-Japan was more than willing to replace it but the additional cost of returning and sending another copy put this Tel Tel Stadium at about $24 all in. I should have just bought another copy. I wasn’t thinking.
While I’m talking about Hit-Japan I have to say they are great. Hit-Japan is my favorite ebay seller for Japanese Mega Drive games.

At the same time Roger set out to complete his set of Sunsoft mini case Mega Drive games. He was only missing Flashback and he picked it up for $60. That’s $20 cheaper than the best price I’ve ever seen and passed on. Below you can see his complete set of seven. I think they look great.

Roger’s Complete Sunsoft Minis

Is anyone noticing all those boxed NEO GEO games in the background? They’re stealing a lot of Sunsoft’s thunder!

Roger’s Consoles

And here’s Rogers console setup. That’s a good number of systems! On the bottom shelf I can only identify the Super Famicom. I’m not sure what the other three are. And I don’t know what that is under the Genesis and Sega CD. The mystery makes his setup all the more impressive 🙂

But in truth we haven’t yet even touched on Roger dedication to Retro Video Gaming.

Arcade 1

Arcade 2

Check this out. Is that Roger hang’in out in the arcade? Hells no! That’s his garage. Most people waste their garages on cars. Roger knew better. And I’m impressed.
Someday when I have the space (and money) I’d like to get a few arcade boxes if I can find the right ones.

You might have noticed that I published this post before it was complete. It’s not the first time I’ve screwed up like this. I pulled it and then finished editing and now here it is!.. again 🙂

Three Mega Drive Games – New Additions (Nadia…)

Posted by Sega Dude on November 30, 2012

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Mega Drive (Japanese). Tagged: collection, dynamite headdy, mega drive, nadia the secret of blue water, picture, rolo to the rescue, sega, video game. 7 Comments

I’ve wanted Nadia The Secret Of Blue Water for a while now. Can’t say why. It’s just a JRPG that I cannot play. The RPG was my favorite genre back in the day and I’m sure that has a lot to do with it. Not only does this title looks like it might be a good one it also has interesting artwork and it’s complete and in Excellent condition. I’m guessing it was a cartoon back in Japan.

Nadia The Secret Of Blue Water

I never knew of Dynamite Headdy back when it was new but since then I’ve often heard that it’s a very good platformer. I don’t particularly like the cover art. It’s a bit busy and plain at the same time. But the game itself does look like it could be good. The graphics are impressive for color, details and the amount of stuff these developers managed to get on the screen all at once. And I also like how the first level looks like a stage set. It seems to have a lot going for it including being complete and in Excellent condition.

Dynamite Headdy

Rolo To The Rescue is another decent looking platformer. But… I hate pink. Nothing against the color but on old games like this my first thought is that the game has suffered some sun fading. Pink stresses me out. But fortunately in this case the pink is actually pink. And even though this is an EA title with their yellow tab cart and a fat case it is complete and in Excellent condition. I say this even though there is a sticker on the outside of the case. I can’t read it but it does look like it might be an original retail label from when it was new. Not something from the store it was sold in but from EA. If that is the case I’m OK with the label being there. Can anyone read it for me? 🙂
So for better or for worse, chalk up another cute video game for the collection.

Rolo To The Rescue

Nadia The Secret Of Blue Water – $25
Dynamite Headdy- $24.00
Rolo To The Rescue- $23.00

Plus $22 for shipping for all three. Which is close to $31 per game. I don’t know what happened here… These games are not so exciting as to merit this price. For the life of me I can’t remember why I decided to go ahead with this. But what’s done is done.

And don’t forget the Pier Solar HD Kickstarter campaign is still running and it’s now fully funded! There is still time to get this excellent RPG 🙂

Oh Mummy Genesis

Posted by Sega Dude on November 23, 2012

Posted in: Community, Games, Genesis (North America), Mega Drive (EURO), Mega Drive (Japanese), New Release (Hardware). Tagged: 1985alternativo, genesis, mega drive, oh mummy genesis, remake. 7 Comments

Oh Mummy Genesis Banner

This is almost becoming common… Oh Mummy Genesis is a newly released game for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. What great news! 🙂

It’s actually a remake of a very old computer game. And while it looks like it’s true to it’s original version it does look entirely remade. It’s a puzzle game with very nice graphics and a really excellent sound track.

Oh Mummy Genesis

Doesn’t that case look really nice? Don’t you just want it for your Retro Video Game Collection?
I know I really want it. Very much so.

Have a look. It really does look good. And it is in English despite the fact that it appears its creators first language is Spanish.

I’ve already ordered it! At least I think I did. http://www.1985alternativo.com is in Spanish and when I tried to translate the page it broke the sites ability to process an order. So I studied the English translation and then untranslated it and tried my best to create an account and purchase the game.

I spent €36.95 EUR ($48.46 CAD) for something from the PayPal user general@fasebonus.net. I really hope it’s Oh Mummy Genesis! 😛 If you’d like to try visit www.1985alternativo.com to order your copy.

And head over to Retro Collectfor a few more details about Oh Mummy Genesis.

The Pier Solar HD Kickstarter is still running strong with 12 days to go and it’s so very close now to being successful! Pier Solar is an excellent modern 16-bit RGP. Don’t miss out!

Three Mega Drive Games – New Additions (Art of Fighting…)

Posted by Sega Dude on November 16, 2012

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Mega Drive (Japanese). Tagged: art of fighting, chibi maruko chan, collection, mega drive, picture, sega, toe jam & earl, video game. 10 Comments

Yes, very nice. All three of these new additions are complete and in Excellent condition.

First up is Art of Fighting. This is a very good fighting game. And even though the case cover is simple I think it looks gorgeous. Very polished, stylized and crisp. And did you notice? The cartridge label is sporting different artwork than the case. It’s such a small detail but I really love it. It feel like they put just a little bit more effort into the game when I see this.

Art of Fighting

I’ve heard good things Toe Jam & Earl but I still haven’t tried it out myself. As crazy as it sounds, sometimes knowing a game is good is enough for now. The queue of games to try is so long it’s really very hard to get to them all. At some point I would love to sit down with this game and see what it’s all about. However, from the video clip I am a bit skeptical.

Toe Jam & Earl

Look, I know. You don’t have to say it. In addition to awesome retro game I also buy garbage games too. Chibi Maruko Chan is in great shape, complete and in Excellent condition… and no one will ever see it tucked away somewhere in the back row of my shelf. The video below doesn’t even really show off the game. It’s just the intro. Don’t click play. *You’ve been warned.

Chibi Maruko Chan