PC DD (Steam sale stuff from today)
--
Super Meat Boy - $3.74
Fortune Summoners - $5. Recettear is also $5, but I can't get myself to want to play a game about running an item shop... and I already have Chantelise from a past sale.
Thief Collection - all three games for $6.74. Though I liked the first one a lot, I don't actually own it... (my cousins did have it though) and I never got the other two either. I mean, apart from that as yet unplayed copy of the xbox version of the third one, but that's not the same as this PC version of course.
PC - DD Steam Sale (last day(s)!)
--
Satazius - $3 - indie shmup
Jamestown DLC - $1.80 - three more ships
Wizorb - $1.20 - indie breakout game with rpg features or something
SNES
--
Inspector Gadget - $6.50, cart in box (no manual) - Decently fun platformer from Hudson. It's not incredible, but it is fun. Okay graphics, and I like how Gadget has a bunch of, well, gadgets to use. The main negatives are that there's no saving (come on, include passwords at least, it seems to have infinite continues) and that the story is really stupid -- it's a super-generic "rescue the girl" plot about Penny getting kidnapped and Gadget rescuing her. I remember reading about that back when this game came out ('93) and thinking that that was really stupid, because that story isn't good, but also more importantly because that entirely goes against the nature of the series. I mean, in Inspector Gadget, Gadget's a borderline-incompetent fool. When he succeeds, it's by accident. He always thinks Brain in thin disguises is a MAD agent, but always thinks the MAD agents are goodguys. He never realizes that Penny and Brain are always helping him (and that he'd rarely have succeeded without them). Etc. But in this game... nope, just another rescue the girl plot. :(
The GBC Inspector Gadget game is better, conceptually -- you can play as all three characters and switch between them at will, so it's got a bit of a Lost Vikings feel to it. I don't know if it's quite as good gameplay-wise as this one, though... Hudson did do a good job with the gameplay at least. It is a decent game though.
Some final Steam purchases. Yeah, I got a lot this sale... :(?
PC DD
--
Death Track Resurrection - $3.50 - futuristic racing game
Ignite - $2.50 - arcadey racing game
Blades of Time: Limited Edition - $11.25- X-Blades' sequel of sorts, with its DLC
Choplifter HD - $2.50 - very cool to see this franchise return!
Hard Reset - $3.75 - FPS
PSX - $9 each, both complete. Good prices for both, for sure!
--
Bomberman World - isometric Bomberman game. I'd forgotten about this one... looks good though. Maybe better than the other, later PS1 Bomberman game, Bomberman: Party Edition.
Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix - I'm sure you probably remember this game's ad campaign, but the game itself is supposed to be good... the first one was alright, anyway.
There's a GSC/Team17 sale at GOG that ends in a few hours, and I ended up getting a few games.
PC DD - $3 each
--
Cossacks Collection - a friend of mine liked this game, back when it was recent...
Superfrog - 2d platformer
World Rally Fever - scaler-style racing game, looks fun
Also got this today from a store.
Sega Master System
--
Ghost House (My Card title) - $10, complete
From Gamestop
DS - $4 each, cards only
--
Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime - heard it's fun but short
Hoshigami Remix - strategy game ("srpg" type)
Ivy the Kiwi - interesting platformer
Wii
--
Dragon Blade - $3, disc in case - hack and slash...
PC - from Goodwill, $2, jewelcase only
--
4X4 Evo (truck racing game also on Dreamcast)
In addition... okay, so I got this a week ago or so, locally, but didn't mention it here. I now got some more games for it on EBay though, so I'll list it now. I got an Odyssey 2. Probably paid a little much for the system, but it seemed worth a little extra to get such an old system locally, so I can be sure it works and such... and indeed, it works perfectly. The system came with the power cord (controllers and RFU are hardwired) and six complete games. I just got a lot from EBay including seven more complete games; one I had already, so it's six new games. Complete is worth it here because the manuals are very useful, and because the coverart is amazing, some of the best around. Such cool, cool stuff. :) I'll make a thread to talk about the games in specific.
O2
--
Speedway! / Spinout! / Cryptologic! - have two copies, one from each group
Pocket Billiards! (came with system)
Bowling! / Basketball! (came with system)
Football! (came with system)
Alpine Skiing! (came with system)
Golf! (came with system)
K.C. Munchkin! (ebay lot)
UFO! (ebay lot)
Pick Axe Pete! (ebay lot)
Thunderball! (ebay lot)
Helicopter Rescue! / Out of this World! (ebay lot)
P.T. Barnum's Acrobats! (ebay lot)
It's a ... very primitive... system. Some of these games aren't very good, others are multiplayer only, others are like two minutes long... but a few are good, most notably UFO and KC Munchkin.
This one is from yesterday, I believe (or was it two days ago?).
PC DD (Ubisoft Uplay store)
--
Driver San Francisco - $1 sale. Yeah, I didn't get anything else in their 4-day opening sale, but I did get this one for sure...
All of this stuff was buy 2 get 1 free.
Saturn
--
Lunacy - $30, complete. This is a somewhat rare, and pricey, first-person adventure game for the Saturn. Published by Atlus. I actually got a good deal here, it sells for more on EBay I think. I don't know if I'll like it or not, but pricewise I couldn't resist.
Sonic 3D Blast - free, would be $3, disc in generic (small) jewelcase. I have this for Genesis and PC, but I've wanted to try the Saturn version too. It has the nicest bonus stages for one thing, and main-game graphics as nice as the PC version... and the PC version doesn't work on modern OSes. (Oh, yes, I do like Sonic 3D Blast. Good Genesis game.)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - $3, disc in generic (small) jewelcase. 2.5d platformer also on PS1. Haven't played yet.
N64
--
Rally Challenge 2000 - cart only, $4 - the fourth, and final, N64 racing game from the people behind MRC and GT64. Yes, I have low expectations. And yeah, it's got only three tracks again. (How their other one, Big Mountain 2000, actually ended up so good I have no idea, but the other three... yeah.) Still, I'm interested enough to want to play it.
Xbox
--
Phantom Crash - complete, free, would be $5. Mech combat game.
PS1
--
Sea-Doo HydroCross - free, would be $2, complete. The second racing game from the people behind the bland and generic Polaris SnoCross (PS1/N64), this game was under development for N64 before being cancelled in 2001 because the system was fading. I'm expecting it to also be bland and generic, but SnoCross was kind of fun despite being bland, so hopefully this is too.
PSP
--
Tokobot - $5, complete. 3d puzzle/platformer, we'll see if it's good.
Dreamcast
--
Tennis 2K2 - $2, complete. This is actually Virtua Tennis 2. The first one is great, I think this one is too.
Game Boy
--
Alfred Chicken - $3, cart only. Euro-platformer.
Mega Man V - $3, cart only. I actually mentioned how this is a $30 game, but he sold it to me for $3 anyway. Yeah, that's ... a really good deal. :D
Game Boy/GB Color (dualmode)
--
Jeff Gordon's XS Racing - free, would be $3, cart only. Handheld spinoff of the PC/PS1 futuristic racer.
Game Boy Color
--
Toki Tori - $3, cart only. I have this for the PC, but have been interested in playing the original GBC release as well.
Also it was my birthday yesterday, but we celebrated it today. I didn't get any games, though I did get some other stuff including new headphones and a PC wristrest (and $100).
Got $50 more for another birthday present. And bought a couple of games.
NES
--
Fester's Quest - $3, cart with sleeve in box (no manual). Got mostly because it did come with the box. Not so sure about the game...
PS2
--
Xenosaga III - $16, complete. Not cheap, but still well under EBay prices for the game. I have all three now.
All buy 2 get 1 free (from several places, but all b2g1).
Wii
--
SSX Blur - $2.70, no manual - Wanted to try this one.
Anubis II - free, would be $1.80, complete (another 3d platformer from the same team as Gingerbread Man and Rock & Roll Adventures; they're all pretty bad, but I found Rock & Roll Adventures amusingly so, so for this cheap I thought it'd be worth it.)
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip - $2.70, complete. Been interested in this one too.
Xbox
--
Moto GP 3 - $2, complete. Sim motorcycle racer. Probably boring, but for that price seemed worth a try.
PS1
--
RushDown - $2, complete. Looks bad, but i wanted to try one of the PS1 games like this at least, and this looks maybe less bad than the others?
N64
--
Duck Dodgers starring Daffy Duck - $10, cart only. 3D platformer from Paradigm. I've heard it's good, but have never played it before... hopefully it's a good find. :)
Game Boy/GB Color (Dualmode)
--
Turok 2 - free, would be $3, cart only - platformer. I've wanted to try the Turok handheld games.
Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver - free, would be $2, cart only. Yes, another probably mediocre GBC racing game.
Game Boy Color
--
MagiNation - $3, cart only. Western, somewhat Japanese-style RPG.
I'd love to comment on this, but most if not all of the games you've bought the past few days just don't seem all that good. I've already said what needs saying about the Xenosaga series.
I'd say they are of mixed quality, but I like both of the N64 games for sure at least -- Duck Dodgers is somewhat average but fun, and 6/10 average scores or not I definitely like Rally Challenge 2000. It's such a huge, huge improvement over Imagineer's first two N64 racing games, MRC and GT64... and with nine tracks it has by far the most courses of any of their N64 racing games too. Sure it has some issues, most notably that the championship mode is way too difficult (gah, car damage...), but still, not bad. I'm quite pleasantly surprised.
I've also played through the first championship in Sea-Doo HydroCross, and I like that game too. It's got good graphics for a PS1 game, fun course designs with secrets to find and shortcuts, and more. Sure, the game's not that long, with just two championships of eight races each, so just like the first game (Polaris SnoCross, which of course i have for N64) it's a short game, but I did enjoy that one, and I like this one too. Sure, it's average overall (C-grade game I think), but it's fun. The one problem I have is that I find it nearly impossible to do stunts with the analog stick; somehow they just never work. They are possible with dpad, but obviously normal control is much better with analog. Fortunately stunts are entirely optional, and the game's just fine without them. Overall, it's too bad that the N64 version of this (planned for '01) was cancelled -- it's a decent game, would have been nice to see. It even has some wave physics! Sure, it's no Wave Race, because the waves are all small, but... the waves have a little height, at least. That puts it above many other water racing games that gen.
Ivy the Kiwi is definitely good as well. So is Toki Tori (though I knew that of course, given that I have the PC remake already). World Rally Fever, though, isn't that much fun.
And of course, finding such a cheap copy of Mega Man V was pretty amazing...
PS1
--
Bravo Air Race - $3, complete. Plane racing game from '97.
PS2
--
Ninja Assault - $6, complete. Lightgun shooter from Namco that actually isn't Time Crisis? I was very happy to find this one!
The rest are from Gamestop, because Guild Wars 2 released yesterday and I picked up my prepurchase (wasn't in town for most of yesterday, so I had to go today).
PC
--
Guild Wars 2 - paid nothing now because I prepurchased a few months ago, but it's a $60 game. From what I've played of the betas and such it's a pretty good, and monthly fee-free, MMO. However, I am quite disappointed that it's not really a sequel to Guild Wars, and instead is just an MMO... it's probably one of the best MMOs ever, but Guild Wars 1 is better than any MMO! Even so, it's worth getting of course.
Wii - more stuff from their buy-2-get-1 free (for games $15 and under) deal. All complete.
--
Tournament of Legends - $5.50 - 3d fighter, it's cheap enough that I'll try it now.
Rygar: Battle of Argus - free, would be $4.50 - hack and slash beat em up game. Not sure if I'll like it.
Go Vacation - $13.50. Minigame collection from last year. Sounds like one of the Wii's most ambitious minigame collections (along with Wii Sports Resort), and this is from the We Ski team too; that game's decent. I've wanted to try this, but wouldn't spend this amount for the game unless it was in a b2g1 deal... well, now it was.
Didn't notice MMV up there. Yeah, that's an amazing deal, and actually it sells for higher than that on eBay.
PS1
--
Medal of Honor - $1, disc and manual only
Gauntlet Legends - $1, disc only - worst version of this awesome game, but it does have a few short exclusive levels.
PS2
--
Downhill Domination - $1.50, disc only - downhill bike racing game
I bought Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, played it a little, loaned it to a friend, and have yet to reclaim it. I really want it back because it's awesome.
Other than that, I mostly play Skyrim these days. I need to get back to some of my other games, particularly my Wii games (Skyward Sword, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong, Mario, Metroid: Other M). Oh, and Pokémon. I have lots of Pokémon games that I'd like to get back to. But... grad school and 30-hour work weeks... so, yeah.
PS1
--
JetMoto 2 -$2, complete
My friend Alex and I beat Donkey Kong Country Returns at last. It was a good game, but the ending was a huge letdown. I won't spoil anything for those who haven't played, suffice to say that the hidden final level is just... bad. Insultingly bad. Nevertheless, it was a fun and challenging game with many levels that are worth replaying just for fun once you've overcome the stress of collecting all the KONG letters and puzzle pieces.
Next, we're going to work on Kirby's Epic Yarn, and then New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and then Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II. We beasted Kirby's Return to Dreamland in two nights about a year ago. We like playing co-op on platformers, and we love that the Wii has brought some of Nintendo's franchises back to their basics in terms of classic platforming (Sega has done likewise with Sonic 4). The Nintendo 64 (and Dreamcast, in Sonic's case) did a good job for the most part of converting their classic sidescrollers into 3D, but then the Gamecube was sadly lacking in platformers. My only real gripe about these nostalgically themed platformers is the forced incorporation of motion sensitivity into them. It can be very unresponsive sometimes, and it's just plain unnecessary. Buttons have worked fine for decades; there was no need for an "improvement."
Dreamcast
--
Test Drive V-Rally - $3, complete. This is a modified port of V-Rally 2 for PS1. Hopefully it will be good.
PC - all jewelcase only
--
Blade of Darkness - $1 - third person action game
Gabriel Knight 3 - $1 - last game in the series, I do have the other two (didn't get any of them in the '90s)
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - $2 - not that good of a game, but it was cheap.
Darkened Skye - $2 - I have it for GC but not PC. This is the Skittles game, with somewhat Tomb Raider-esque gameplay.
JetMoto - $2 - hopefully it looks better than on PS1... (it does have 3dfx support, that's a good sign; I know this has no multiplayer, but I think it's otherwise okay
Army Men (no manual, jewelcase re-release ver.) - $3 - I got this mostly because I had an interest in it back when it came out in '97 or so, but didn't buy it because it didn't look quite good enough... but I have always kind of wanted to play more of it. People forget because of the mountain of sequels and spinoffs that quickly piled up, but this first one was actually a pretty original idea... it's a topdown action game with a little bit of strategy.
Geno, if you liked Sonic 4 (most people didn't it seems, and I can understand why), then may I suggest you pick up Sonic Generations? By all accounts that game is a much truer sequel to the old Genesis Sonic games than Sonic 4 or the Sonic Advance games were.
I liked Episode I okay, but I certainly wouldn't call it a favorite. Nevertheless, I'd like to give Episode II a try just because of the co-op play between Sonic and Tails, and what appears to be a much better team-up system than Sonic 3 offered. In Sonic 3, in order for Tails to tote Sonic around, you had to have a second controller, and preferably a second player as well. Playing by oneself, it was very difficult to make use of Sonic and Tails' ability to take flight together, causing most people to prefer just playing as Tails by himself. However, I did really enjoy that one boss fight when Robotnik shatters the ground beneath your feet and Tails (now with unlimited flying prowess) carries Sonic through the air for an aerial battle with Robotnik/Eggman/whatever-they're-calling-him-now.
I'd heard Sonic Generations was really good. I'd like to look into it. I liked the first Sonic Advance game, though I didn't care as much for part 2 and I never played anything past that. For the most part, I've been ignoring Sonic since Sega went third party. Almost all of their recent games tend to get negative reviews.
Game Gear
--
Donald Duck: Deep Duck Trouble - $5, cart in case. Decent Donald platformer from Sega. The levels are slightly more complex than the first GG Donald game (The Lost Coin), but the massive, constant slowdown makes this game somewhat tedious to play in comparison to that one. So yeah, it's another average GG platformer from Sega, I think. My expectations for GG platformers are low though, so it's actually not too bad. I like some of the level design elements in the first level. I just wish it was as fast as the first one, and not so slow.
PC
--
Fable: The Lost Chapters - $5, complete - I have this for Xbox, but not PC. Why not.
Also, for $9 I got a green Game Boy Color. I know I have a working clear purple one, but its speaker is detached and needs repair, and also this color is awesome... so yeah, I got it. If it wasn't green I'd probably have passed, but I couldn't resist. It's a beautiful bright green color, looks great.
Finally, for $10 I got a CD spindle full of discs. It's about 60% music and movies, 40% various random PS1, PS2, Xbox, etc. games. There's at least $7 worth of games here I think, not counting the movies... Many of the discs are scratched, so I do NOT expect all of the games listed below to actually work, but I'll just list everything so as to have it all down. I put asterisks by the games that I'm actually somewhat interested in and -- in front of ones that don't work correctly right now because of scratches (not added to ign list yet). # marks the games I've tested and added to the IGN list (because they work).
Xbox
--
--Lego Star Wars II
--*007 Nightfire
Dreamcast
--
--NFL 2K1
--Grand Theft Auto 2
Saturn
--
#Command & Conquer - NOD Disc only (yeah, it's one of the two discs of the game)
PS1
--
--*Allied General (added to game collection even though it doesn't work)
#NHL FaceOff 98
#*Largo Winch: Commando SAR
--*Sammy Sosa High Heat Baseball 2001 (added to game collection even though it doesn't work)
#*Die Hard Trilogy
Namco Museum Vol. 1 (already have this)
Heart of Darkness (disc 2 only; I already have the full 2-disc game)
#Syphon Filter
#WWF: In Your House
#*Interactive CD Sampler Disc Vol. 4
#NASCAR 2000 (EA Sports)
#*Atari Anniversary Edition Redux
PS2
--
NFL Gameday 2002
#*Lego Batman
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004
Knockout Kings 2001
--*Spider-man 2
Madden 07
--*Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero
PC
--
1602 A.D. - complete, $8. This is the first game in what became the Anno series. Very much like Settlers. Complete, good big-box PC game!
Sudden Strike 2 - complete, $3. Small-box game, but it's nice to see it complete. This is a WWII RTS/Wargame.
Fantasy Empires - jewelcase only, $3. D&D (Mystara world) strategy game actually made by Silicon Knights.
Rising Sun Gold - complete, $5. Talonsoft wargame; I already have West Front Gold, this is one of the other two (the last would be East Front II). This collection (game plus addon) doesn't have a manual in the box, just the jewelcase and tech-help card, but the card says that it doesn't include a manual, so it's pretty much complete I guess unfortunately. It is missing the warranty card and such, but I don't usually count those when mentioning if something is complete.
PC DD
--
Pandemonium! - $2.39 (GOG sale this weekend)
Darklands - $2.39 (GOG sale last weekend)
Desperados - $2.39 (GOG sale last weekend)
Sid Meier's Colonization - $2.39 (GOG sale last weekend)
Hexcite - this is actually from a few weeks ago, but I forgot to mention it. This is the PC DD version of Hexcite, on the Bigfishgames store. I think the GBC version is better overall, but this is well worth having too... $10.
GOG sale this week is Activision. Yes, that means Activision and Sierra games.
Odyssey 2
--
Casino Slot Machine - complete, $5. Yeah, it's pretty much nothing as a game, but it has an awesome box and is complete (and cheap enough), so I got it.
Genesis
--
QuackShot Starring Donald Duck - $6, complete - Popular sidescroller. It's got several different levels that you travel between, some items, and such, so it's not just a go-to-the-right game. It's good, but I like the Genesis Illusion games more, I think.
N64
--
NBA HangTime - $2, cart only. Yeah, finally picked up a copy of this one; it's the only 2-on-2 Midway basketball game I don't have a version of. NBA Jam TE is still my favorite one of them, but this one's good, and this is the best version of the game.
Black Falcon, you should put these billions you spend on games into the national debt, Obama would give you a god damn medal.. :)
Like that peace prize he's got propping up a table in the oval office? Bazing!
That GOG Activision/Sierra deal is in its final hours now, so I got some stuff. All games were $2.39 each.
PC DD
--
Return to Krondor
Zork Anthology (1-3, Begins, Zero, with the maps and stuff)
Space Quest 1-3
Zork Nemesis
Torin's Passage
Also, I got these from Salvation Army today.
PS2
--
We Love Katamari - $1.50, complete
PC
--
TrackMania Sunrise - $1.50, jewelcase only
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard - discs and map in generic case, $2
I am now in possession of Transformers: War for Cybertron (I finally got my Fall of Cybertron game back) and Batman: Arkham Asylum. I have already beaten the latter and would now like to purchase Arkham City. Asylum was good, but too short. Swinging on gargoyles and freaking thugs out is a lot of fun.
All PC. Darn you deals...
PC (some more from Salvation Army) - games were $3 for two, so it was $6 for all four.
--
Mafia - complete
Might & Magic VIII - jewelcase only
Might & Magic IX - jewelcase only
Betrayal in Antara - discs and jewelcase cover in generic case
PC DD - from Amazon deal ($10 for all eight titles below)
--
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution: The Missing Link DLC Addon
Hitman: Blood Money
Just Cause
Just Cause 2
The Last Remnant
Quantum Conundrum
Supreme Commander 2
PC DD - from GOG Ubisoft sale this weekend that just ended
--
Might & Magic 1-6 Collection - $4
Might & Magic VII - $2.40
Heroes Chronicles Complete (all eight chapters, 5 retail and 2 originally download-only) - $4
Speed Busters - $2.40
Crusaders of Might & Magic - $2.40
Battle Isle Collection (1-3 plus the two addons to 1, Historyline 1914-1918, and the addon to 2), Incubation, and its addon Incubation: The Wilderness Missions) - $4
The Settlers 2 Gold - $4
For $8 I got a transparent green N64 controller. It's bright green and see-through, so it looks completely awesome. The analog stick's in reasonably good shape, too -- it's somewhat degraded and has some white powder, but it is in better shape than two or three of my current N64 controllers' analog sticks, and is about as good as the best one I have (maybe slightly better), so yeah, that's nice -- it's not completely shot, like used N64 controllers often seem to be, and it does have the original analog stick. I couldn't resist getting it because of the color. :)
PC Steam - Halloween sale stuff I got
--
Orcs Must Die (complete) - $3.40
Orcs Must Die 2 (complete) - $10 - two third-person tower defense games where you can actually fight the monsters too, not just your defenses. Played the demo, seems pretty good. (I also tried another third-person-action/TD game, Dungeon Defenders, but I didn't like that one nearly as much, so I'm not getting it.)
They Bleed Pixels - $2.60 - hard platformer sort of like Super Meat Boy
Genesis
--
Battlemaster - $4, cart only. Action-RPG (Amiga port). It's got very basic graphics, a high difficulty level, horrifically choppy scrolling, and 74 (yes, 74!!) character passwords, but based on playing it a little, it seems kind of fun... I'll play this at least a little more. You can play as four different characters from each of four races, and explore levels fighting monsters, getting killed by traps or hordes of enemies, finding treasure and items, etc. You can control a party, not just one character.
Warrior of Rome 2 - $4, cart only. Real-time strategy game on an isometric square grid. This one has battery save, which is great. I don't think the first game did. Look like it could be good, once I figure out how to play it -- it's got lots of menus, as usual for an early '90s strategy game. I wish I had the manual... I'll have to look up GameFAQs or such.
Super Battleship - $4, complete (cardboard box version) It's got classic Battleship, but also a more wargamey version too that looks more interesting, with shooting at other ships, moving them around, passwords between stages, etc. Haven't played it yet though.
PS2
--
Heroes of Might & Magic: Quest for the Dragonbone Staff - $6, complete - This is, while it doesn't say so anywhere in the game or packaging, actually a remake of the original King's Bounty. I'd seen this game before but assumed it was just some probably not so great console port, but it's actually a PS2-exclusive remake of King's Bounty? That's pretty cool, the original King's Bounty looks interesting but is another one of those Genesis games with massively long password-only saving. Hopefully it's good.
PSP
--
Gungnir - $8, complete. Yeah, pretty good price for a recent release that I had been considering getting for the full $20... this one's a strategy game by Sting's Riviera/Yggdra Union/Knights in the Nightmare team. It's a Final Fantasy Tactics style "SRPG" strategy game), and it's the most straight FFT/Tactics Ogre of the games -- those three games were quite original, but unfortunately this one's much more conventional. I think KitN is a much better strategy game than any FFT/TO-style games, honestly, and Yggdra Union, while very deeply flawed, at least was original and unique. This... isn't really, which is part of why I didn't get it sooner, even though I'm a fan of the series. But still, it IS part of the series, so it's worth having at least. Now I have three of the PSP versions -- all I don't have is the PSP port of Riviera (which of course I have for GBA; I did get Yggdra for PSP, but that added more than Riviera PSP, which is mostly just a higher-res port with just a little bit of new stuff.).
PC DD - GOG weekend sale (last weekend it was EA's turn - all games were $2.40 each
--
Populous II
Populous: The Beginning
Wing Commander 1+2
Wing Commander 3
Wing Commander 4
Ultima IX
Lands of Lore 1+2
Starflight 1+2
I had strong interest in the two Populous games I got, and Lands of Lore 1, but the rest... I'm not sure if they were worth getting or not; I've always been underwhelmed by the Wing Commander games in comparison to other, better space sims like the Star Wars ones or Freespace, for instance. But at that price I couldn't quite refuse.
The below were from today.
PS2 (all games complete)
--
Super Bust-A-Move 2 - $4.50 - The second and last PS2 BAM game. Hopefully it's just as good as the first one! This is the only US release of the game, though the Japanese GC game is based off of this one (the US GC game is based off of the first PS2 BAM title, even though the two GC games, oddly enough, have the same title and are incorrectly listed as one game on GameFAQs).
Endgame - $2. Probably mediocre lightgun shooter, but at that price, why not give it a try? I do have the PS2 gun.
Gungriffon Blaze - $3 - Average-looking mech action game with cool reflective (Working Designs) cover.
Went to the mall for the first time in a good while...
PS2
--
La Pucelle Tactics - complete, $10 - I have the other three games like this, but this one I don't have. Hopefully I'll actually play it.
PSP
--
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II - complete, $11.25 - there's still plenty more for me to do in the first game, but this game's not that easy to find complete around here, so I thought I should get it when I can. Plus the first one is pretty good.
Jikandia - complete, $6.25 - Okay side-scrolling platform action/rpg game. It's not great, but it's alright.
DS
--
Polarium (DS) - $5, new - the GBA one's good, so I should get this too. This actually was released before the GBA game, but each has a different feature set.
Dokomodake DS - $4, card only - 2d platformer.
N64
--
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - $7, cart only - 3d action/adventure game published by Titus. My expectations are moderate at best, but it did get Bs and Cs, so maybe it's okay. I've been thinking about getting this one for a while, and finally got it.
Wii - all three of these are super-cheaply made shovelware games from Conspiracy Entertainment I got because I thought that hopefully they might be amusingly bad. $3 each, all complete.
--
Ninjabread Man - This one's the third of the three 3d platformer games published around the same time, along with Anubis II and Rock n Roll Adventures. Rock n Roll Adventures was actually amusing, I thought, despite being extremely short and easy and not having any kind of an ending, and hopefully this one is similar.
Billy the Wizard: Rocket Broomstick Racing - flying kart-style racer with harry potter knockoff characters.
Myth Makers Super Kart GP - Another surely bad kart racing game.
PC
--
Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns - $1.50, disc in generic case - this is the standalone addon to the original Kohan.
PSP
--
Persona 3 Portable - It's on sale in the PSP PSN store for half off ($10), so, with reservations, I got it. So far it's okay, though the dungeon crawler/visual novel cross style definitely is going to get boring after a while.
Not from the below sale (and from yesterday too):
PS1
--
2Xtreme - $1.50, no manual - I've always hated this series, but never actually owned any of them. I should at least try it again before going back to bashing the franchise, yes? :)
PC
--
Forsaken - $1, jewelcase only - I'd been wanting this PC version of the quality Descent clone. I like the N64 game, and had wanted to play the other version (PC/PS1) too.
For the rest of this, darn you, Gamestop B2G1 sales, and how you get me to spend...
GC
--
Army Men: Air Combat - The Elite Missions - $9, no manual - I'm still not clear on if this is an expanded version of the first game, or a port of the second... we'll see.
PS2
--
Growlanser Generations - free, would have been $13.50, Complete - Yeah, pretty awesome find! This SRPG collection was one of Working Designs' last releases and is the second and third games of the series.
Star Wars Racer Revenge - $5.40, complete - Sequel to the good but overly hard N64 game. I've heard it's nowhere near as good as the original, but should try it anyway.
Wii
--
Sonic Colors - $16.19, complete - Heard this one was good.
The Conduit - $9, complete - Meh, why not try it...
Bit Trip Complete - free, would be $16.19, complete - I'd wanted to play these, but hadn't gotten any in WiiWare. This way's a lot cheaper than buying them all there!
Death Jr. II: Root of Evil - $9, complete - The first one's fun, so I've wanted to try the sequel.
Rabbids Go Home - $13.50, complete - Fun platform/action game.
PSP
--
Growlanser (1): Wayfarer of Time - $22.50, complete - The first game of the series. Recent release, and not one I've seen much of.
MotorStorm: Arctic Edge - $9, complete - I kind of wanted this for PS2, but it's good on PSP as well...
DS (all games were card only)
--
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin - free, would be $9 - I need to play this one, given how much I liked 2 and DS...
Lux-Pain - free, would be $3
Sands of Destruction - $9 - RPG.
Mega Man Zero Collection - $16.19. The other DS Mega Man platformer (collection); I don't own any of these for GBA, because of how frustratingly difficult I found the first one from what I played of it, but I have wanted to try them, at least. I do like the ZX games, though they are also quite hard. We'll see about this.
Magnetica - $2.50 - puzzle game
Asphalt: Urban GT - $2.50 - I'm sure it'll be bad, but I want to try it anyway...
Civilization Revolution - $4.50
Geometry Wars Galaxies - $3.40 - I love the franchise and have been meaning to get this one.
Now I just need to get a replacement DS so I can actually enjoy those DS games, and the others I've gotten recently...
DS - I don't know if I'd mentioned the details, but my DS finally broke pretty much for good a few weeks ago. Sure, it already had a scratched-up touchscreen, only semi-functional shoulder buttons (R particularly rarely worked), and a broken hinge, but it still functioned so I used it... until the broken hinge started causing worse problems and the upper screen stopped working most of the time. Yeah, that was a problem, and probably not really a fixable one. So I've been looking for a new DS; I want a 3DS XL, but they're too expensive right now, so I decided to just stick with the original, because I do want a DS with the GBA port (for accessories that use that port, mostly), and don't think the Lite is better, really (smaller, sure, but the d-pad is better on the original, and I like that GBA carts don't stick out...). So I was looking for an original DS, probably, unless I found a pretty good deal on something else. However, I just wasn't willing to pay $50 or $60-something for one, so finding something took a while...
Until, today, in one of the Gamestops around here, I found, of all things, a Graphite Black original DS in very good condition, and for just $40. Now that's the price I was looking for! Now I knew I hadn't seen this color much, if at all, so that was cool... but looking it up now, it's actually a color only released in Japan! So yeah, this is a Japanese DS (which, of course, works fine with US games because it's region free). Not too common too, going by EBay, though they don't go for much more than the regular ones I think. Still though, that's pretty cool. And it really is in great condition; it's got some minor scratches on the outside, and a few marks, but overall it looks barely used. It even comes with the original graphite black Nintendo-branded stylus (my first Nintendo-brand DS stylus, actually; my original one came with a Gamestop stylus, and the other ones I got were no-name), yet another GBASP/DS charger (I have like four of the things now, several official and several third party...), and the original wrist strap too. Not sure what I'll do with that -- I've never used the things with handhelds myself, so I'll probably just remove it -- but it is neat to have, I guess.
So yeah, that was awesome. I've been looking in stores and online for an original DS for several weeks now, but everything I found was either $60 (for other ones I saw locally) or $50-plus for systems in clearly decent condition (on EBay). Well, holding out for a better deal paid off this time!
I didn't get any of the below games at that gamestop, I just got the system, but did get stuff from a few other stores today, which are the below titles.
PS2
--
Jet X2O - $1.50, complete
Wild Arms 5 - $21, complete (complete with outer cardboard box and artbook)
The below were all buy 2 get 1 free.
PS2
--
Primal - free, would be $5, complete
Saturn
--
Maximum Force - $13, complete - Lightgun shooter from Midway. It does actually sell for that much on EBay; this is a case of paying more for the Saturn version even though the PS1 version is a little better (it runs slightly windowed on Saturn), mostly just because I like the Saturn more, but eh... it's a decently good game, and isn't particularly common, so why not.
Soviet Strike - $5, complete - The fourth of the five Strike games, and the last on a Sega system. I haven't played this one, but I don't really like the three Genesis/SNES Strike games. I do kind of like the fifth one, Nuclear Strike, though, so we'll see about this one.
DS
--
Space Invaders Extreme 2 - $10, complete - I like Space Invaders Revolution for DS, the first of this gameplay style, and Space Invaders Extreme 1 (I have it for PSP), so I was wanting this one, and finally got it. Seems pretty good!
Xbox
--
Star Wars Starfighter Special Edition - $5, complete. I have the second game, so I've been wanting this one. The Starfighter games aren't anywhere remotely as good as the Rogue Squadron ones, but they're decently fun Star Wars flight combat games, anyway.
Genesis
--
Red Zone - free, would be $10, cart only - Very graphically impressive helicopter action/topdown run&gun game from the same team behind Sub-Terrania. Graphics might be better than the gameplay, but it's visually impressive at least, and plays okay. The helicopter parts almost look 3d, what they pulled off here is crazy...
Sega CD
--
Ecco the Dolphin/Sega Classics Arcade Collection [5-in-1] Dual Jewel - $2, case with discs only. This was a packin disc set with a later version of the Sega cD that came with Ecco (and maybe also Sonic CD, because they also had in a Sonic CD packin edition case that I didn't get because I own that game's regular release). I got this for Ecco, because Ecco CD is pretty good -- it's the Genesis game, with amazing CD music added in. I've played it, but it's great to own the game! As for the 5-in-1, it's the same as the 4-in-1 Sega Classics SCD disc I already have (from the SCD model 1 packin Sega Classics 4-in-1/Sherlock Holmes dual jewel), just with one more game tossed on the disc, so now it has Super Monaco GP included (Genesis ver.) in addition to the Genesis versions of Streets of Rage, Revenge of Shinobi, and Columns, and that weird with-CD-audio-but-no-two-player-mode CD edition of Golden Axe you only get in these two collections. I got this for Ecco, not this disc, that's for sure.
PS1 (both complete)
--
Roll Away - $4 - Another one of those rolling-ball-in-maze games.
Dare Devil Derby 3D - $4 - Micro Machines clone from Supersonic.
Genesis
--
Wiz n Liz - $4 - cart only - platformer with no fighting, just collecting stuff with a time limit.
Game Boy
--
Trax - $4 - HAL game.
Gamestop has a sale now where used Wii and DS games ar 10% off if you get 2 games, 20% off for 4 games, or 30% off for 6+ games, so I got this stuff (plus one game not covered in the deal). Going by the sticker prices this would have been $54, but after the card discount and this one, the total, for all 10 games, was $35.
PSP
--
Wipeout Pulse - $6, complete.
Wii
--
Rockstar Table Tennis - $3.14 - complete
The Kore Gang - $4.40 - complete (3d platformer I've been wanting to try)
Saint - $3.14 - complete (the followup to the quite bad Monkey King. Was very conflicted about getting this one, but I ended up doing so. I'll probably regret it, won't I...)
Spectrobes: Origins - $4.40 - complete (with outer cardboard case and book) - Heard this was an okay action-RPG. It was clearly designed for younger audiences, but who knows, it could be fun... and it was cheap.
DS (all card only)
--
Big Bang Mini - $3.14 - fireworks "shooter" game
Glory of Heracles - $3.14 - expecting mediocrity
Lost in Blue 2 - $3.14 - we'll see...
Lock's Quest - $3.14 - Interested in playing this one.
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble - $2.51
PS1
--
InuYasha - $6.50 - complete. 2d fighting game, very late PS1 release (2003).
SNES
--
Space Megaforce - $40, cart only. Aka the US version of Compile's Super Aleste. Yeah, pretty expensive. This game sells for $32-80 (cart only) on ebay, it seems, though, so this is at least under ebay's average price, for sure... and I like buying things locally when I can, when the prices are reasonable. And this is cheaper than any current copies available on ebay/amazon, for sure. And it's a Compile shmup, I love their games and really should own it. (Yes, I've played, and finished, it in emulation, but that's not exactly the same as having the real thing...) I'm not sure what I think of this one versus some of their other 4th gen shmups I have, namely Robo Aleste (SCD) and Blazing Lazers (TG16); I may like those more, but this is a great game too, and I do like how it has eight weapons; Blazing Lazers is great, but has only four. This one has more good weapons. It's not quite as hard as Blazing Lazers, with a bit lower difficulty level and infinite continues, but that game's last two levels are really frustrating, so that's not all bad. And it does send you back quite a ways when you die. Versus Robo Aleste I'm not sure; both are fun and I have finished them. Compile's other 4th gen shmups are the two Spriggan games for TG16 CD (both Japan-only releases). If/when I ever get that TG16 CD drive fixed up, I'll certainly buy them. And no, oddly enough, I never played much of either one in emulation... the first is very much like their other three 4th gen shmups (the last being the pricey MUSHA for Genesis, which I wish I had but don't; its prices make the amount I paid for Space Megaforce look cheap... that game starts at $60 for cart-only copies. And I don't think it's as good as Robo Aleste, Blazing Lazers, or Space Megaforce, either.), while the second Spriggan game is Compile's only ever side-scrolling shooter. It's got a lot of Japanese voice acting in it, though, which is annoying for those who don't know the language (like me) and have to keep sitting through the cutscenes...
Anyway, back to Space Megaforce/Super Aleste. I know that Japanese copies of this game cost $20-40, and I know it's easy to mod a Genesis to play imports, but somehow I'd rather have US releases when I can... Finally, the US/EU version of the game is slightly cut versus the Japanese original -- half of the intro, and most of the ending, were removed from the Western versions. The changes cut out the girl copilot/computer operator who's in the back of your ship from both the intro and the ending. Oddly enough though she's still on the cover of the box and cartridge, which is quite strange when they removed her from the cutscenes in the game, and the ocover art is new so it's not because they are just re-using Japanese art. In addition to removing her from the ending, they also cut its length significantly, and removed the extra scenes from the ending too. So yeah, the Japanese version is better... but what I really want to play on an actual SNES is the English-translated version (there is a translation patch for the game), not the version with Japanese text, so I don't know if the Japanese version is really worth it when I won't be able to read it anyway...
Dreamcast
--
Ooga Booga - $5, complete - multiplayer-focused 3d action game, with arena combat and such and an entertaining theme. It's just okay overall, but worth $5 at least.
PS2
--
The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match - $7, complete. I'd been wanting this one, since it's an SNK game and enhanced Neo-Geo port (and one of the ~5 6th gen US-released SNK games that I don't have), but hadn't wanted to pay the price I usually see it for, so this was a nice find.
PC DD (Steam sale) - got these two right at the end of their sale.
--
Ys: The Oath in Felghana - $3.74
Ys Origins - $5
PC
--
The Secret World - Christmas gift, good game!
Wii
--
Army Rescue - $3, complete - super low budget action/puzzle game from Conspiracy
Mad Dog McCree Collection - $3.50, complete - Three not very good live-actors FMV shooters for the price of one? ... Well, not really worth it from a quality standpoint, but at least it was super cheap! And Mad Dog McCree, even if it never was all that good, is a piece of early '90s history... this collection might be worth it, for a price this low.
PSP
--
Guilty Gear Judgment - $6, complete - includes the beat 'em up Judgment and a version of GGX2#Reload on one disc. I have the latter on Xbox, but the former is exclusive here. Hopefully it's better than that subpar DS Guilty Gear game...
Xbox
--
Otogi: Myth of Demons - $4, complete - hack and slash action game. Not sure if I'll like it or not, this genre doesn't always hold my interest, but it is from Sega...
WiiWare - Yeah, got some Wii VC/WiiWare stuff for the first time since May. Several of these are recent... yes, decent WiiWare games are still coming out, surprisingly.
--
Vampire Crystals - $10. This is a topdown twin-stick shooter. You'd think that there would be more of these on Wii, with how well pointer-and-stick works for the genre, but there aren't really, apart from the great Geometry Wars Galaxies. This just came out like a week ago, and has a demo too, which is great; doubt if I'd bought if I couldn't have played it. It seems decent, but not amazing. Good enough to play given that I like the genre. The graphical style reminds me of Warcraft (3), sort of -- it's cartoony 3d like that.
Driift Mania - $8. Top-down racing game in the Super Sprint/Super Off-Road style. I've been meaning to get this game for years, and finally did!
Drop Zone: Under Fire - $5. Cheap, low-budget rail shooter, pretty much, where you drop down while shooting enemies and dodging/flying through obstacles. Looks a bit like FreeFall 3050 on Nuon, or something, I guess; I imagine there are more popular games that also use this style (that Aaaaaah! game sort of does, but it doesn't have shooting, so the results are different... that's just dropping.), but I know that one does. Anyway, it looks decent, and was cheap enough that I thought it'd be worth trying either way. The game released a couple of months ago, and I think is actually Wii exclusive.
Also I got the last $5 worth of Mega Man 10 DLC, so I have Bass and the endless stage now.
Wii Virtual Console
--
Sin & Punishment - $12. Yeah, finally shelled out the money... probably worth it because it does have that English menu translation you won't find on the N64. Also it's a lot cheaper of course.
PC DD - Steam sale, lots of stuff expires after today!
--
KotOR II - $2.50. Got this when it was on sale a day or two ago. Steam was all messed up so I didn't think that the purchase had gone though, and didn't get an email receipt, but the game's in my Steam library now, so I guess it did. I will of course have to play it with the fan fixpatch. (The rest of the games, below this one, I got today.)
Perimeter 2: New Earth - $1.50
RAGE - $5
Drakensang 2: The River of Time - $5
Drakensang 2: Phileasson's Secret - $2.50 (expansion)
Nimbus - $2.50
Mostly buy 2 get 1 free.
Xbox
--
The King of Fighters Maximum Impact - Maniax - $10, complete
PS1
--
Motor Toon Grand Prix - $10, complete - good looking racing cartoony game from the team that went on to make Gran Turismo, oddly enough
Descent Maximum - $5, complete (small-case release) - port of the PC classic, with levels added. I've owned the PC game for a long time of course, but this is supposed to be a good port, and it does have exclusive content...
DS
--
Picross 3D (card only) - free, would have been $10
GC
--
Zoocube - $5, complete - puzzle game
Genesis
--
Zoom! - $3, cart only - obscure early Genesis arcade action/puzzle game. I didn't remember it, but thought it was worth the chance given the price.
SNES
--
The Combatribes - $5, cart in box (no manual). Beat 'em up.
GBC
--
Mr. Nutz - $3, cart only. Platformer, also on SNES and Genesis. The SNES version looks a lot better, but only the GBC version has (password) saving...
I also got some discs resurfaced. Five games that I bought but haven't been able to play at all since getting them because the discs wouldn't play now can be used -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Xbox), Serious Sam: Next Encounter (GC), Starwinder (PS1), Lego Batman (PS2), and MotoGP 3 (Xbox). Apart from Starwinder and Serious Sam NE, I hadn't added those other three games to my games list before because they didn't work; now they do, so they're added.
GBC
--
Duke Nukem - cart only, $2 - this original title is based on Duke II (PC)'s concept and setting, but the levels and such are new.
Wii
--
Super Paper Mario - $12, disc and case (no manual) (part of buy 3 get 1 free deal) - Yes, I finally got it.
PSP
--
Cube - $6, complete (part of B3G1 deal)
D&D Tactics - free, would be $5, disc only (part of B3G1 deal)
PS2
--
Rogue Galaxy - $5, complete (part of B3G1 deal)
Xbox
--
Phantom Dust - $5, complete
Unreal Championship 2 - $5, complete
N64
--
Rampage World Tour - $5, cart only (repetitive, but it does have saving here... should make it better than the arcade version of this game that I have in the GC Rampage game, that one is "play in one sitting" stuff.)
Hot Wheels Turbo Racing - $5, cart only (one of the few non-sim N64 racing games I still didn't have)
Prepare yourself... FOR CUBE!
Super Paper Mario is interesting, but lack a lot of the self aware charm the Intelligent Systems games have. Sticker Star returns to that a lot better, though it has a few of its own issues (namely, that ALL commands are now expendable items, meaning you have to continually stock up).
I've heard that Sticker Star's not that great... or rather, that some people who do like the first two games definitely don't like it. Super Paper Mario was sort of that way too, but even it got a better reception than Sticker Star seems to be getting...
As for Cube, yeah, it is a pretty interesting game. It's really cool that the levels are in full 3d, so you need to think about every side of objects, and not just the top like you would in most other games... good game. I can see it getting quite difficult though... and on that note, Picross 3D is already pretty hard, and I'm still in the Easy levels (yes, I've been playing it).