The Internet Giveth

The classifieds in my area seem to be drier than a desert these days, and consequently many of my purchases have come from various online sources instead. Let’s go!

First up are some loose Sega Master System games.  Tom & Jerry: The Movie was something I took a bit of a gamble on knowing nothing about it before buying, but it does seem like an interesting game.  It’s a weird puzzle platformer where you have to keep Tom out of the way of terrible obstacles that Jerry can easily avoid.  I’m not sure if you’re trying to catch Jerry or what since I haven’t had a chance to track down and read the manual yet.  Arcade Smash Hits was intriguing, and it has Breakout and a few other arcade games on it!  It has what I’d consider a great soundtrack too… very club/techno vibes, which was surprising.  Breakout was one of my favourite games to play for the VIC 20 growing up, so it was really fun playing through a few levels when I was testing this game out.  Marble Madness is another game I don’t think I own for any other system, so it’s just about time I give it a whirl.  I’m pretty sure I died almost instantly testing it out.  Marble Madness was definitely in the worst shape of the three with a bit of label damage, but nothing too major.

I also rolled the dice on this copy of the PAL-exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Master System.  It was dirt cheap and in beautiful condition, but from what I understand, not all variants of this game will play on an NTSC system.  I was overwhelmed with relief trying this one out, and it also came with the manual too.  It’s in absolutely wonderful shape.  I’m very happy with it.  I’m pretty sure it’s the same as the Game Gear version.

Rampart for the Master System was not something I ever thought I’d go out of my way to get.  I own a copy for the NES, and I wasn’t sure what drew me to this other version apart from it being available at a price I couldn’t pass up on, and now it lives in my house with me and all the other Master System games I’ve snatched up lately.  It was pristine in terms of its condition.  It looks like It’s never been played.

After having luck getting my hands on a copy of Strider a post or two ago, Strider II magically came up complete in box not too long afterward.  The cover is way cooler than the first game’s and Strider II seems like an interesting adventure.  I played for about 20 minutes and found myself mostly jump-floating between battles in my leotard.  I’m sure it’ll make for a great time when I can give it some more attention.

World Class Leader Board is one of my very favourite golf games.  I used to play the heck out of the DOS game when I was little, and seeing that they kept the draw-in of trees and other things on the courses for the Master System version made me grin from ear to ear.  What a delight it will be to play through this again after all these years, even if it’s in a different format.  I’m anxious to see if there are any voice clips too. I want to hear all about tree hitting and people saying “awwwww” when I miss a putt from less than 12 inches away.

A friend was extremely generous and sent me two Master System manuals that I was missing!  I have Action Fighter with the box and game and just a loose copy of Space Harrier, so it was very nice to be able to make my collection slightly more complete through his generosity.  He mentioned he’s had these for over two decades, and I’m honoured he thought of me to give them both a good home.

I was also able to make a fantastic Sega Genesis purchase through a friend I’ve met through streaming.  We made a really nice deal on Dynamite Headdy, Castlevania Bloodlines, Truxton, and Wings of Wor.  I never thought I’d own Truxton or Castlevania, and now here we are!  I was really excited to try them all out a little while back, and Wings of Wor, a horizontal shooter, was certainly a captivating surprise I wasn’t expecting.  I hope to sit down with it again soon!

While sitting in on a stream of Wonder Boy in Monster World a few weeks ago, someone in chat casually mentioned Chiki Chiki Boy, a game that is aesthetically similar.  I had a look online to see if there were any copies available and ended up getting one for myself.  It looks really unique and quirky, but most of all, it’s a gorgeous game.  I can’t get over how bright and colourful the graphics are.  The cartridge itself isn’t in the best of shape, but at least it was well-loved.  I’m happy to give it a place on my shelf.

When I was ordering a few games off of a website I’ve been frequenting, I saw a copy of Incoming for the Dreamcast for a few dollars.  I know absolutely nothing about this game but I’ve barely bought any Dreamcast stuff over the past few years except a handful of games and couldn’t pass up on a deal like this.

I’ve also been rounding out more of my Game Boy collections.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Game Boy Color looked so funny when I watched some game footage.  Essentially you flip all over the place and beat up vampires with kicks and punches to wear them down, and then stake them to turn them into dust.  It’s also full of these cutscenes from the show, which make for some good comedy.  I’m not super familiar with the television series, but I know who the characters are at least.  Maya the Bee was also a welcome purchase.  It’s a platformer that was only a few dollars, so why not?  Monster House (which I’ve written out as Ghost House at least three times so far) is touted as being a great little hidden gem of sorts for the Game Boy Advance.  I’ve heard it mentioned by several people around the internet, and it was also dirt cheap. Tiny Toon Adventures: Montana’s Movie Madness was a sporadic buy for me.  I just picked up Looney Tunes for Game Boy not long ago and I hope this one’ll be at least as good as that.  And finally, Batman!  I’ve been waiting for ages to find it and snagged a great deal on eBay.  Batman is adorably small and this game is way less realistic than most of the other games for various consoles.  It’s very charming!

I dove in and finally got myself a copy of black box NES Golf.  This seems like a pretty golf-centric post, but I swear I’m not a video golf convert yet… I’d rather stick to real life mini-putt, even though I’m bad at that as well!  Also, Cocoron finally arrived in the mail!  It’s a Mega Man-like game for Famicom that I’ve been wanting to buy for a long time.  It has always been really expensive, but I scooped it up for a pretty decent price.  I’m going to have to check into what the first few menus in the game mean, but apart from those, I don’t think there’s much that requires knowing English.

Since I finally bought a new laptop through eBay recently, I had a little stash of eBay bucks hanging around to spend out.  I was strong-armed into picking up not one but two fairly expensive NES games, Kick Master and Gargoyle’s Quest II.  These were games I never dreamed of owning because of their price point, but when they came practically free to me, it was a really nice feeling.  Now I just have to buy more laptops so I can get more free games I guess.

One more NES game here is Slalom, complete with the Ned Flanders “nothing at all” butt you get to stare at all the way through this game.  Its majesty is not even remotely captured in the label art here.  I actually watched a video about some NES winter sports games from a great channel called NES Friend, and this person is also responsible for making me aware of Kickle Cubicle which I also bought recently.  Slalom was definitely the best looking game of the bunch from that video.  Its condition is a bit rough with a really stuck-on-there sticker and writing in permanent marker on the front and back, but the label is very nice overall.

I’m also finally the proud owner of Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams for the Wii U.  I had an Amazon order ready to go but needed to buy something more to get an add-on item, and this was the winner!  I’ve been wanting this game for a long time after hearing The Deviot talk all about it pretty endlessly over the past few years… it’s about time!  He did some wonderful streams of the game, so if you’re not following him on Twitch, you can do that here.

Last but not least, I picked up a Street Fighter II manual for the PC version.  I had no idea this game existed on PC, but the manual was among a bunch of books at the thrift store and was priced at fifty cents.  Unfortunately they put the sticker right on the cover art and part of Blanka’s arm got torn away when I was trying to remove it, but the book is still in pretty great shape overall.  I’m glad I found it!  I haven’t found much locally in a long time so it was mildly thrilling.

I’m really glad with how the Master System collection has been progressing, and I’m also quite happy with how I’ve been able to round out some more NES stuff too.  Hopefully I’ll be able to start getting a list together for the spring swap meets.  They’re already right around the corner!  I’m shocked at how fast time is flying, but in the meantime, stay warm out there.

Thanks very much for reading!

-GG