19th December 2012, 8:56 PM
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...
--
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...