Crossing Things Off the List…

I’ve always been the type of collector that has endless patience when it comes to buying games. I’m never really in a rush since I have a lot to play already, so if the price isn’t right or the game isn’t in the condition I want it in, waiting for another opportunity has generally paid off.

I was lucky enough to catch wind of a friend downsizing his absolutely gorgeous video game collection. He had some really interesting and hard to come by games that I’ve been looking for, and I finally pulled the trigger since I knew they were coming from a good home. This post will feature those games as well as a few stragglers from other online purchases I’ve made over the past few weeks.

To start out, this Trophy Figure from the Legend of Zelda was a gift from my friend that he included with my purchase. It’s the Link Fights the Head of Gleeok edition, one of six possible ones to collect from the time. If you know me even a little, you’ll know how meaningful the first Legend of Zelda game for NES is to me. It’s amazing to have this to add to the shelf.

I also picked up three NES games from him, and the first is Felix the Cat. This is a fun platformer with a medium amount of challenge that I have never, ever seen available for a good price at conventions back when they were happening. Sellers always told me that someone would pay the price they wanted if I wouldn’t, but I’m finally a proud owner of this delightful game! It’s in excellent condition as well (all of these are!) Next is Day Dreamin’ Davey, a game I only know from its corresponding Angry Video Game Nerd review, but something I’ve always been interested to try out. I grew up loving Nightmare on Elm street and the idea of media that takes you into dreams has always felt intriguing to me. This one might turn out to be great after all, and I’m ready to find out for myself. Lastly, I got Gremlins 2: The New Batch. I’ve seen a few people play through this over the years and have always thought it looked great, so here we are. Three more NES games to add to the shelves. I was out of room for NES a long time ago…

There aren’t a ton of games I’m still looking for when it comes to Virtual Boy, but Jack Bros. was one I was thrilled to procure. The English version of this one is astronomically priced, and while the Japanese release isn’t too far behind, my friend’s price for this was definitely reasonable compared to what I’ve seen over the years. The box has a few scuffs along the edges as you might expect from long-lived cardboard media, but the game and the other materials are pristine. I am so excited to finally be able to play this after searching for so long!

For the Sega CD, I picked up a game called Dark Wizard. It’s apparently a tactical strategy RPG, and even though I still haven’t played a single game in that genre to date, I’m happy to have it to look forward to. I’ve checked around a bit and it’s supposed to be a pretty good game, albeit not very well known or talked about very often. It has an incredibly thick manual and I’m curious to see how it’ll compare to other well-loved games like it.

Linkle Liver Story is a Sega Saturn action RPG with a translation patch available for it online. While I might not play this actual disc when the time comes, it’s nice to have this and the reading materials… and no, they’re not in English. It’s a rare opportunity to play a 2D game on a console that was filled with 3D ones, and I can never say no to that.

Pier Solar and the Great Architects is something that’s always been on my radar, but I had initially heard about it for the Genesis. It was released for that console sometime in the 2000s and finally saw a Dreamcast release a couple of years ago. The graphics are stunning and from what I’ve read, it’s been very well-received around the internet as far as I can tell. It’s a traditional turn-based RPG and I think this version offers the ability to play in higher quality graphics or the traditional 16-bit ones from the original release for the Genesis. I hope it meets my expectations when the time comes. It’s also nice to have another RPG for the Dreamcast to look forward to since there were so few initially released for the console.

The allure of the Sega Master System called me like a siren among the rocks… I ended up picking up Alf! The only time I’ve seen this game played was by someone who adores Master System games, and he spent his entire stream swinging at bats in a cave with a salami. I can’t wait to have that experience myself some day, and yes, I mean that. Rocky is also a fun addition to the collection. Deep down I secretly wish every boxing game ever made was like Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, but there are always new gaming skills to hone and develop. I also think it’s funny seeing Sylvester Stallone on the front of this game when lots of other Master System Box art was far less… realistic?

The last thing I picked up from my friend was a copy of Zaxxon 3-D, a game that requires the use of the 3D glasses peripheral for the system. Well guess what? He also sent me a pair of 3D glasses! I am so excited to jump into the small 3D games library for the console. The glasses have one missing arm at the moment so I am looking for a replacement, but they still function beautifully from some brief testing I did the other day. Zaxxon 3-D is pretty fun. There’s a lot more depth than I was expecting from 8-bit 3D so connecting bullets with enemies is tricky, but they always seem to find me without too much trouble. I call shenanigans.

The rest of the items here were bought online from various places, and the first one is Space Gun for the Sega Master System. This has one of the most compelling backstories I’ve ever read for a first person shooter game, and as can be said for many PAL Master System releases, the box art is spot on. I always need more reasons to take the light phaser out for a spin, and this and the next game coming up will help to scratch that itch. I originally thought I’d been scammed since the manual’s ink is black rather than the usual purple you’d see for Master System games, but it feels legitimate? The paper’s definitely not out of someone’s printer. There’s also a smidgen of cartridge label peeling but nothing major. It’s otherwise in excellent shape.

Assault City is another light phaser-requiring title that came to me in worn condition. The manual’s obviously torn and the case art is fraying/damaged along some of its edges, but it’ll be fun to rain down some bullets on otherworldly invading jerks. I think I might now own all of the light phaser games for the system, but I can’t say that definitively yet… it’d be a cool milestone to hit though!

Randomly, I bought a game called Salmon King: The Big Catch for the Sega Genesis. This was completely an impulse buy since I was purchasing a bunch of Nintendo Game Pack card packs from the same site and decided to get this too. On the topic of the cards, I made a video showcasing opening and reviewing 49 packs of them if anyone is interested, but as for the game, I’ve heard it has some RPG elements! Fishing RPGs are a pretty random twist on that old formula so I’m curious to see what this one’s all about.

Last up is a first-person dungeon crawler called Towers: Lord Baniff’s Deceit for the Game Boy Color. I can’t recall where I first heard about it, but after completing Shining in the Darkness for the Sega Genesis over the past couple of months, I’ve been hungry for more of this kind of action in my life. From what I’ve been able to see of the gameplay online, it has some exceptional introductory sequence graphics and all the elements of a good game in principle. Now it’s just a matter of giving it a try sometime down the line. I’ll add it to my very long list.

I think that’s all I might have here for a little while. I don’t have anything else coming in the mail at the moment, and I’ve spent quite a bit on the contents of the last few updates. I’ll get back to scouring for more interesting things to buy in the coming weeks and hopefully have more for you here soon.

May your collecting endeavours be fruitful in the meantime!

Thanks for reading!

-GG