The BovineDevine Box – Yes, I’m Late, I Know

I’ve been completely blessed in my journey with retro gaming. Over the many years I’ve been playing games on the internet and making videos about them, I’ve met a lot of really nice and wonderful people that are like-minded about this hobby. BovineDevine is one that is the most passionate, knowledgeable, and extremely giving in terms of sharing the hobby with others, and goes out of his way to help people in any way he can. Earlier this year, purely out of the desire to see some games get a new home and get some playtime, he sent me a truly enormous box with a ton of stuff inside that I’ll share here with you. I’m always so touched when someone feels that I would be a good new owner, and I’m really honoured that he sent me so many wonderful things. I can’t thank him enough for this gift! ( I know you’re reading this after a million months of waiting for this post, so seriously, THANK YOU!)

If you’d like to check out BovineDevine’s streams, you can find them over on Twitch. They’re a rare treat where he plays games in his collection, shows off recent pick-ups, or tours conventions. And he has adorable emotes. Definitely someone worth checking out if you love original hardware and game collecting!

The first thing here is an Atari 7800! This is a fantastic console that’s backwards compatible with the entirety of the 2600 library, with a little extra crispiness in terms of its video output quality. Some games were also included as well as a controller. I actually love the look of this system since it mirrors the Atari Jr. rainbow stripe on the front, though to be honest, I’m not sure if the Atari Jr. came out before the 7800. The games are a fantastic selection of high and low intensity experiences, with my personal favourite being Food Fight. I’ve always wanted to be able to give that game a try, and it was an absolute joy getting to play some of it. If you’ve been around my channel or streams for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me talk about playing Choplifter for the first time on the Commodore Vic 20 and falling in love with it, so I really enjoy taking in any other versions of the game I come across. The 7800 version’s quite good! The others are Dark Chambers, Karateka, and Winter Games. All excellent choices and titles I’m looking forward to diving into a little deeper!

A single Famicom game made its way into my collection, and it’s Dragon Fighter! The NES version’s heinously priced these days, and while the Famicom game’s not nearly as pricey, it’s still not exactly a screaming deal either. It’s a platformer that has some neat mechanics where you can transform into a dragon. It actually looks really fun to play and while I don’t know the ins and outs of how the game actually plays since I haven’t checked the manual out, I’m definitely looking forward to more NES/Famicom goodness. I finally got a new adapter to be able to play Famicom in my front loader NES, and this is high on my priority list to play.

There were also some Game Boy and Game Boy Color games in the box. Firstly, I had absolutely no idea that Perfect Dark was on the Game Boy. If you’d told me that before I’d seen it with my own eyes, I definitely wouldn’t have believed it! I’m really curious to see how it plays, though if I’m being completely honest, I haven’t tried the N64 game out for more than a few minutes, and it went exactly how you probably expected it did. I’m also really excited to play Pokemon Pinball! I really enjoy video pinball, and I don’t think it’s possible to go wrong with something like Pokemon in that form. I’m not familiar with the Sabrina or Harry Potter games, but I’ve read a bit about them, and they seem pretty cool. The Harry Potter game is a turn-based RPG, and you know how much I like my RPGs!

Sticking with the handheld theme for the moment, I now own seven new Game Boy Advance games. They are Warioland 4, Urban Yeti, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Iridion II, The Ant Bully, Medal of Honor: Infiltrator, and Turok Evolution. Of this bunch, I’m actually only familiar with Warioland 4 since I’ve played some of the others that come before it in the series, but I’ve always been curious about what the fourth game is like. I actually passed up on it a few years ago when it was at a thrift store for $8 and have had some serious regrets ever since! With respect to the rest of the titles here, I’ve been assured that Urban Yeti has lots of fun in store for me. I’m also extremely curious to see how a Medal of Honor game plays on a tiny screen. So much fun to come!

I was also the lucky recipient of a Game Boy Advance release of the Famicom version of Super Mario Bros. This was part of a set of games released for Mario’s 20th anniversary, and the first in a lineup of 30 total games that came out in this format. I actually had no idea that this set even existed, and it’ll be cool to play this on my Mario Anniversary Game Boy Advance Micro sometime, just for fun. I love the presentation of this packaging and I’d love to see if I can find some others to add to the collection in the future.

On the Nintendo DS, I welcomed Rhythm Heaven, as well as Trauma Center: Under the Knife. I had heard such amazing things about Rhythm Heaven in the past but had never been able to find a copy for myself. After playing a few levels and seeing what all the fuss is about, I can definitely agree that it’s very fun, but having been berated by the music judges so often, I’m not so sure I’ll ever be able to beat this. I’ll sure as heck keep trying though! The Trauma Center games are also highly praised, and prior to getting Under the Knife, I only had one game on the Wii in the collection. It’ll be interesting to see how the game incorporates touch controls, though I can already imagine all the slicing and dicing I’ll get to do. It’ll certainly beat the prospect of using motion controls!

Even though this got a little bit squished in transit, this is a really cool little collector box that I still haven’t opened! I love these sorts of things and that they can contain a mix of many different baubles to display or wear, but there’s also something fun about not yet knowing what’s held inside. Maybe I’ll open it up on a stream sometime and see what poster’s in there! I can always use more art for my game room!

Knowing my love of Master System games, BovineDevine sent over a pristine copy of Paperboy for the system. I’ve only ever gotten to try this one out on the NES, and for some reason, this game always cracks me right up. There’s something about beaning people with papers and smashing all of the windows in a neighbourhood that makes me feel like such a hooligan.

And what a crispy and clean copy of Black Belt for the Sega Master System! This is one of my very favourite box art images for the console right alongside Pro Wrestling, where there’s a man holding his own head. Something something remake of Fist of the North Star? I can’t remember the details despite how many times I’ve been reminded of them, but as a dual mode game where it’s a sort of “run and kick” that converts to a one on one fighter, it’s very fun. I hope with enough practice, I’ll be able to get through it someday.

And here is the holy mother load of Sega Genesis loose cartridges! Lots of these games have scuffs, tears and sticker residue on the labels, but to me, those kinds of things don’t really matter when it comes to playing physical games. As long as they work, that’s the important part! Since receiving this glorious game box, I’ve played through a couple of these including Hook, Quackshot and Animaniacs. Quackshot was definitely a favourite, but I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that Hook was exactly the same as the SNES version. Animaniacs was actually so difficult for me to wrap my head around. I think I was imagining the SNES version when I first saw this as part of Bovine’s pile of games, but it’s a completely different game. This one’s actually similar to The Lost Vikings where each of the three Warners have different abilities needed to get past certain obstacles. I recently tried to get through Chuck Rock II to no avail, and the baby character is very weird. There’s still an absolutely solid pile of stuff to enjoy here like Exile, Splatterhouse 3, Dragon’s Fury, Warsong, Arcus Odyssey, Jewel Master, Shadow Blasters, Death Duel, Pirates! Gold, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Growl, Sorcerer’s Kingdom, Beavis and Butthead, Target Earth, Gargoyles, Rolling Thunder 2, Skitchin’, and Theme Park. I’m looking forward to exploring many of these titles that I hadn’t really heard of prior to actually owning them here, especially the RPG/adventure games in particular.

There is also a plethora of new Game Gear games in my collection. Within the last year or so, my husband successfully modified a Game Gear for video out so that I could play some games on original hardware on my livestreams. I’ve been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to play more from that system, and this wonderful pile of games will make experiencing more Game Gear a reality. Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, Ninja Gaiden, Tempo Jr. and Dynamite Headdy are some of the ones I’m looking most forward to playing eventually, but Arena Maze of Death also has an intriguing title. Bovine also sent along a modified Game Gear, and apparently he had this planned long before we modified ours. So, now I have two different mods to enjoy (the one he sent has the McWill mod). It’s amazing to have a backup in case one of them stops working, and as Bovine put it, I might be the first person to be able to compare different video out mods for the system. Either way, some great games here that were in great shape overall.

Staying in the Sega lane here, a single Sega CD game called Kids on Site was included. I have no idea how to feel about this one and I’m not sure how much of a game it actually is, but I do look forward to the shenanigans that will undoubtedly ensue some day when I get around to trying it.

I actually cried when I saw this in the box. I have very few Saturn games simply due to their extreme prices and typically less-than-nice condition when I’m out shopping for them. I absolutely adored Shining in the Darkness on the Sega Genesis and have been itching to play more in that style, and Shining the Holy Ark is apparently bigger and better than Shining in the Darkness in virtually every way. I nearly bought a copy of Holy Ark a few years ago that had a few pinholes in the foil, but after unsuccessfully trying to get the price down because of the gamble on whether or not the game would even work, I left it behind. I had been regretting that decision pretty hard ever since, and I can’t say how surreal it is to finally have a copy of this on the shelf. This was completely unexpected and shocking to find in with all the other goodies, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to not only play this game, but share it with others too.

And as if Shining the Holy Ark wasn’t enough of a surprise, there was an entire Panasonic 3DO in the box. A whole console with a controller just tucked into the bottom that was completely unexpected. I’ve never even really considered looking into this library much at all since I never thought I’d find a system to buy in good working order, but it turns out that there’s actually quite a lot of interesting titles to try out. This is the front-loading model and it’s in virtually perfect condition. I actually love how it has a faux marble top layer. We recently picked up a CRT that has a similar pattern on it, and I’ve been wanting to take a photo of them both together. It also has a noisiness that reminds me of the Sega Dreamcast, though it’s not nearly as obnoxious or loud.

Along with the 3DO came seven games in total, some of them with their boxes and inserts with a few of them loose. I love how every single 3DO box is different somehow, whether it’s a cardboard box with a lid, one with a side-snap to seal it up, or a box with flaps on either end a la Nintendo. The games here were The Need for Speed, Jurassic Park Interactive, Star Control II, Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, Phoenix 3, AD&D Slayer, and Killing Time. These are all so vastly different, and I didn’t even recognize Mark Hamill on the front of Wing Commander. I did get to try each of these out on a variety stream, with Slayer and Killing Time leaving some very strong first impressions. Wing Commander also looks really interesting to me, though I’m tempted to play more of The Need for Speed just to get all the naysayers out in full force about how it’s such an inferior version. I had fun, and that’s what matters! I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing what else exists for this system since it’s really not something I’ve looked into very much prior to actually having one in my possession.

And these were only the games. There were also some great snacks included, some stickers, among other very thoughtful things that bring me great joy every time I see them in the game room. Words can’t really express my gratitude for this gift, nor does it really feel possible to convey the correct amount of emotion in writing here. I just feel incredibly lucky and blessed to know great people who love retro gaming as much as I do, and who enjoy sharing the hobby. Not only do I get to play these games on the streams and share them with other people through my lived experience, but I also get to rehome some ugly cartridges that others may not have really given much of a chance for their shelves.

Seriously Bovine, thank you so much.

And to all of you reading, thanks as well!

-GG