pick-ups

At last! This is some good closure for me 🙂
Since about 2001 I’ve had a mint copy of Kuhga (Vapor Trail) case and manual… but no game! I bought it from a local store for $5 knowing (hoping), that one day I will find the cart and complete this little gem. I didn’t know it would take me 12 years but the day has come.

This game is expensive. For a long time I have seen it on ebay for about $50 or more complete. I never want to spend that much on Genesis or Mega Drive games (although on occasion I have) specially when I was already sooo close to a complete copy. And I never ever saw just the cart online. I felt stuck, until recently when I found a lone cart for sale. So even though it cost me $28 after shipping I bought it. Bringing my Kuhga Operation Code Vapor Trail total cost to $33. Not a super deal but I felt good to finally complete this bugger.

The cart isn’t mint, there are some scuffs on the plastic and one nick on the top of the label but it’s good and the rest is perfect. So I’m happy to say the whole unit is in Excellent Condition.

Kuhga Gameplay by the SegaDude

The best part is that Vapor Trail is a really good game. It must have been 10 years since I played it last and I found that it’s still as fun now as it was then. This one has really stood the test of time. The graphics aren’t amazing but they are good and there is a lot of variety. The stages have layers and depth and they look very different from one to the next. Even on a single stage you’ll find a lot of environmental changes. As well, you have three fighter jets to choice from and you can even change to a different one from the continue screen. The weapons and power-ups are nicely varied and the same is true for the enemies and bosses.
And on top of it all it’s a two player game as well. And it really does shine when playing with a friend. Tons of fun.

Vapor Trail is not hard but the challenge is enough to keep you fully engaged.

I also have the Genesis version of Vapor Trail and it cost me $15 at a flea market (purchased about 1 year ago). The game is identical but as usual the Mega Drive versions art work is much nicer.

In the clip above I was playing it on Easy and it was a bit easy. I felt like a was plowing through the levels. So for my Genesis version Gameplay video below I set the difficulty to Hard (There are only two settings) to compare the difference. At first the difficultly felt about the same. Then slowly I realized that I wasn’t getting anywhere! But the Hard setting does feel like the right choice to get the best experience and value from this game. Even though I was getting smoked I was still enjoying it.

Vapor Trail Gameplay by the SegaDude

This game gets a SegaDude Nod of Approval. If you like top down shooter add this one to your retro collection.

So I busted through my regular price target for this one. I couldn’t resist the condition of this title. The sellers pictures were pretty detailed and it looked so perfect. When I finally got it in my hands I was very happy to see that is was in Excellent Condition. I also really like the cover artwork. And who doesn’t love Superman?!

Superman Gameplay by the SegaDude

The game itself is OK. It feels similar to Sunsoft’s Batman but it’s not as good. Everything falls short by comparison. The graphics are pretty close in quality but not quite, the action isn’t as solid or as fun and the music really gets clobbered by the Batman sound track. Compare the two and let me know what you think.

It could be that I just haven’t spent enough time with Superman yet. Back in the day I played the heck out of Batman and I could beat it pretty easily. It took me a bunch of tries just to past level 1 in Superman and I do look forward to giving it a more proper session sometime.
Regardless, it’s a great find even though it cost me $27 including shipping.

I already had Sunsoft’s Batman and I decided to take a picture of it too. I didn’t realize that I don’t have the manual for this one 😦

Batman Gameplay by the SegaDude

I also have the Japanese Mega Drive Batman. My original copy had the awesome chunky Sunsoft cartridge (Note: All Japanese carts only fit in a Japanese Mega Drives unless you mode your Genesis). But my more recent version is the typical Japanese Mega Drive cart. At first I thought it might be a knock-off but someone told me there were many localized version of games for Asian markets (like Hong Kong) that were in English and came in the standard cartridge case. And my Japanese/Asia Batman does apear to be in English in game while all the packaging and manual is in Japanese.

Batman Gameplay by the SegaDude

I’m stilling keeping an eye out for the Sunsoft chunky cart version. I just need the cart alone and I’m hoping it will show up someday for a nice price.
*And I’m also looking for a cart for the Japanese Mega Drive Vapor Trail. I have a mint copy!… minus the cart. 😦
Update: Found a Japanese Vapor Trail Cart for $28.

While I’m talking about Batman I’d like to give it a SegaDude Nod of Approval. It’s a really excellent game. If you enjoy platfomers you really should get Sunsoft’s Batman.