29th December 2019, 11:03 AM
Surprisingly enough, the GBA version of Monkey Ball is... actually good? Wait, what? Sure, it's far worse than it is on GC because you're stuck to a dpad, but it plays well. This makes that N-Gage version I have look even worse... that one controls abysmally!
Anyway...
First, I saw a few weeks ago that I had not found any Sega Master System games this year, and that's a system I have bought at least one game for every year since I bought it, so I decided to get some online. After some looking, I ended up with getting these four from a US seller, and they showed up a bit ago. Prices are decent but probably not the best.
Sega Master System
--
Penguin Land - $22.50, complete (a good puzzle-platformer)
Taz-Mania - $23.50, complete (European import game; this is entirely different from the awful Game Gear Taz game, it's decent and is much more like the Genesis one.)
Alien 3 - $24.50, complete (European import game; similar to the SNES/Genesis game, but downscaled a bit. Some people prefer it to this 16-bit versions.)
Donald Duck: The Lucky Dime Caper - $24.50, cart and box (no manual). (European import game; this game I have on Game Gear ,but SMS versions of games also on the GG are way better here in most cases due to greater screen visibility, as the resolution is much higher on SMS. The Lucky Dime Caper is totally playable on SMS, but still this version definitely benefits. This is one of the better GG platformers, and it's also good here.)
Next, I got these a few days before Christmas, from one of the area Gamestops. They had a 'buy 4 $5 games for $10' sale so I got stuff. These eight games were two sets of 4 for $9 games, after the (soon to be cancelled as Gamestop circles the drain, but not quite done yet) Pro discount. Original prices were between $3 and $5.
Xbox 360
--
Way of the Samurai 3 - complete
Shadowrun - complete
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission - complete
History Great Battles Medieval - complete
Wii
--
The Bigs 2 - complete
Wii U
--
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition - complete (with Gamepad enhancements)
Batman: Arkham Origins - complete (this one's just a straight port)
Nintendo DS
--
Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle - cart only (this is a shmup, not yet another licensed platformer)
also:
PC DD
--
Obduction - $10.50 - I got this one thing from the Steam sale so far (the latest game from the Myst people). Probably will get more later.
Then for Christmas, I got a game (wasn't really expecting it, but I got one)!
Nintendo Switch
--
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - new
Then after Christmas, I'd heard that the Gamestop in the Maine Mall is closing, so I went there to check it out. And yeah, it's closing. They said stuff about "the rent is too high", but the Maine Mall is mostly doing fine, it's only companies that are struggling that are moving out... like, obviously, Gamestop, a company that clearly keeps edging closer and closer to bankruptcy. So, the other two area stores are staying open for now, but the most prominent one will be gone. That's not good for Gamestop, but probably will be good for Best Buy (as the only store left at the mall that sells videogames)... oh well. I'll miss it.
Anyway, when I went, used games were 40% off and new ones less. Only 20% off for new games on Nintendo platforms. On top of that then I still have that 10% Pro discount. So, I got this stuff:
Xbox One
--
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst - $6, complete
Resident Evil 2 (2019) - $18, complete
State of Decay 2 - $16.80, complete
Warriors Orochi 4 - $12, complete
Playstation Vita
--
Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd - $9, complete
Nintendo 3DS
--
Fire Emblem Echoes - $18, complete
Nintendo Switch
--
Neo Atlas 1469 - $21.50, new (half the discount here from the other ones)
And finally, and in some ways most interestingly for me, at Goodwill I found... a original Game Boy light magnifier, High Frequency branded, for $5. And after putting batteries in the thing, it actually still works, the bulbs are still good! I wasn't really expecting that, that's cool. It definitely brightens and expands the screen, which is kind of cool.
Anyway...
First, I saw a few weeks ago that I had not found any Sega Master System games this year, and that's a system I have bought at least one game for every year since I bought it, so I decided to get some online. After some looking, I ended up with getting these four from a US seller, and they showed up a bit ago. Prices are decent but probably not the best.
Sega Master System
--
Penguin Land - $22.50, complete (a good puzzle-platformer)
Taz-Mania - $23.50, complete (European import game; this is entirely different from the awful Game Gear Taz game, it's decent and is much more like the Genesis one.)
Alien 3 - $24.50, complete (European import game; similar to the SNES/Genesis game, but downscaled a bit. Some people prefer it to this 16-bit versions.)
Donald Duck: The Lucky Dime Caper - $24.50, cart and box (no manual). (European import game; this game I have on Game Gear ,but SMS versions of games also on the GG are way better here in most cases due to greater screen visibility, as the resolution is much higher on SMS. The Lucky Dime Caper is totally playable on SMS, but still this version definitely benefits. This is one of the better GG platformers, and it's also good here.)
Next, I got these a few days before Christmas, from one of the area Gamestops. They had a 'buy 4 $5 games for $10' sale so I got stuff. These eight games were two sets of 4 for $9 games, after the (soon to be cancelled as Gamestop circles the drain, but not quite done yet) Pro discount. Original prices were between $3 and $5.
Xbox 360
--
Way of the Samurai 3 - complete
Shadowrun - complete
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission - complete
History Great Battles Medieval - complete
Wii
--
The Bigs 2 - complete
Wii U
--
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition - complete (with Gamepad enhancements)
Batman: Arkham Origins - complete (this one's just a straight port)
Nintendo DS
--
Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle - cart only (this is a shmup, not yet another licensed platformer)
also:
PC DD
--
Obduction - $10.50 - I got this one thing from the Steam sale so far (the latest game from the Myst people). Probably will get more later.
Then for Christmas, I got a game (wasn't really expecting it, but I got one)!
Nintendo Switch
--
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - new
Then after Christmas, I'd heard that the Gamestop in the Maine Mall is closing, so I went there to check it out. And yeah, it's closing. They said stuff about "the rent is too high", but the Maine Mall is mostly doing fine, it's only companies that are struggling that are moving out... like, obviously, Gamestop, a company that clearly keeps edging closer and closer to bankruptcy. So, the other two area stores are staying open for now, but the most prominent one will be gone. That's not good for Gamestop, but probably will be good for Best Buy (as the only store left at the mall that sells videogames)... oh well. I'll miss it.
Anyway, when I went, used games were 40% off and new ones less. Only 20% off for new games on Nintendo platforms. On top of that then I still have that 10% Pro discount. So, I got this stuff:
Xbox One
--
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst - $6, complete
Resident Evil 2 (2019) - $18, complete
State of Decay 2 - $16.80, complete
Warriors Orochi 4 - $12, complete
Playstation Vita
--
Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd - $9, complete
Nintendo 3DS
--
Fire Emblem Echoes - $18, complete
Nintendo Switch
--
Neo Atlas 1469 - $21.50, new (half the discount here from the other ones)
And finally, and in some ways most interestingly for me, at Goodwill I found... a original Game Boy light magnifier, High Frequency branded, for $5. And after putting batteries in the thing, it actually still works, the bulbs are still good! I wasn't really expecting that, that's cool. It definitely brightens and expands the screen, which is kind of cool.