Happy Family Day everyone!  Hope you took some time today to spend time with your family, I spent time with my husband and little Tiger so I didn’t have time to play any games yet but I thought I would post a picture of an interesting game I got in the mail today.

The front shows a frog and a ninja which is cool but not the really cool part.  Flip the cart over and you see…

On the back of the cartridge is a little screenshot and instructions on the controls.  This is so handy, especially it you had rented this or bought it without the manual.  Wonder why other companies never did this, seems like a cool idea to me instead of a bunch of warning stickers…

See it’s true, I have the badge to prove it

Unfortunately I have to fess up and admit that this isn’t a badge that I have earned myself.  At my last job we had a computer company that would come in and work on our server almost every week.  The one guy that worked there noticed my cubicle was full of Nintendo posters and memorabilia.  He asked me if I wanted some more posters and books, and since I can never have too much Nintendo stuff I gladly said sure!

So the next week when he was back he brought with him a bag full of goodies for me.  Probably the single item I was most excited about was this awesome badge.  I had never seen anything like this one before, but after doing a bit of research I found out that when Super Mario All-Stars came out on SNES Nintendo Power had a little challenge going on in the magazine.  If you could make it to World 9 in The Lost Levels, without using any warps, and were lucky enough to get a clear picture to mail in they would send you this awesome patch.  Now this is not a simple feat, I have almost accomplished this but I’m currently stuck on level 8-4.  I have to give him props for earning this badge!  So now I really have some motivation to sit down and finish off this game then I can claim that I’ve earned this badge myself.

Thought it would be appropriate to declare my love for the Mario franchise considering it’s Valentine’s Day today.  I own every version of Mario 1 and 3 that is available (including the Famicom versions), just because they are such awesome games.  My life would definitely be different if I was never introduced to him, not as fun that’s for sure!  Though I have to say I’m very excited to get my Valentine’s gift from my hubby in the mail.  I have the Famicom and Game Boy versions of Parodius Da! on their way here.  I’m so lucky to have an understanding husband  As soon as the games arrive I will have to do a special mail opening feature so look forward to that.

Sorry I didn’t have a chance to post this weekend but I was busy playing a few games.  With a little 1 year old running around I don’t get tons of time to play games so when the chance arises I have to take it.  I tried out Boku Dracula-Kun for the Famicom and finally started playing Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals for the SNES.  Figured I would give my first impressions of the two games.

First off was Akumajo Special: Boku Dracula-Kun, aka Demon Castle Special: Kid Dracula.  I have heard a lot of good things about this game from Nathan at videogamesarerad.com (check out his site he has lots of cool retro stuff on there).  Wow, it definitely did not disappoint!  It is like the perfect mix of Castlevania and Mega Man with cute chibi characters thrown in.

You play as Kid Dracula who is the self proclaimed Demon Prince.  He has awoken from a long sleep, and discovers that he has been challenged by Garamoth an evil dinosaur-like creature.  Of course he accepts the challenge or else we wouldn’t have much of a game :p

I took a quick picture when I first started the game.  You start with 3 lives and 3 hearts of health.  On the left hand side you see what weapon you currently have equipped and as you get more you can use the select button to switch between them.   As you go on through the level you collect coin type items and can earn more hearts of health.  The controls are tight and precise so you always feel totally in control of what you are doing which is great for when you are trying to jump on platforms that fall and shoot bats at the same time.

When you get to the levels final boss you fight a little ghost looking monster, after you hit him 3 times he runs off and you think the fight is over until he brings out what looks to be his dad….

lol, I couldn’t believe this, I had to take a picture.  Apparently he’s not a ghost or if he is he’s a KKK member.  Maybe that’s why the game wasn’t ported to the NES.

After you defeat him you complete a mini game then you are congratulated with a victory dance.  3 girls dancing in front of an audience and they gave me a 1Up.

I’ve only completed the first level but so far it’s a fun and quirky game that you definitely have to check out.  There is also a version for the Game Boy that is a remake of this game and a sequel too.  I saw that Arino from Game Center CX plays this game, but I won’t watch it until I play a bit more of the game so I don’t ruin anything for myself

The second game I’ve had for almost 4 years now.  Wow I can’t believe it’s been that long.  I picked it up while on a trip to Vancouver at a used game shop that was run out of this guys house.  He had tons of stuff but when I spotted Lufia II I had to get it.  Cost me about $80 but wow was it worth it.

I remembered playing the original when I was younger and I really really enjoyed it.  I couldn’t pass up on the chance to figure out how Maxim, Selan, Guy and Artea got into the huge battle with the Sinistrals that you play through at the start of the original Lufia game.  This game takes everything that was awesome about the original and adds to it.

The one change that I was excited to see was when you are in a battle you target a bad guy you wanted to attack, problem was if one of your team mates killed it you would just attack an empty spot.  Thank goodness that has been changed now, it was so frustrating before.  They have also added some new features that seem to be from Legend of Zelda in there.  You now slice down bushes with your sword, pick up pots and set them down and push statues around to sit on buttons to open doors etc.  You also usually have to find a key to open the door at the end of the cave or dungeon you are in.  Oh and I have to  quickly mention the IP meter that fills as you are attacked then you can unleash special attacks depending on what armor and weapons you have equipped.

The other totally new change is the addition of capsule monsters.  I only have one on my team so far, Foomy, but I will tell you what I do know.  Once he joined my team the first thing I had to do was feed him.  Thing is he doesn’t eat normal food, he eats things like weapons and armor.  So I had to feed him a long sword and by feeding him the items he wants you help him level up and change classes.  He levels up just like everyone else does, but the awesome part is he doesn’t have a health bar so you don’t have to worry about his health.  When he does take a lot of damage he disappears for the rest of the fight but he comes back to life for the next one.  Foomy attacks whoever he wants, but the extra help is much appreciated.  Especially when you only have a couple people on your team.

So far I’ve only played for about 4.5 hours, but I have Maxim, Tia and Guy on my team so far.  I can’t wait to see what happens between Maxim and Tia, because Maxim seemed to hook up with Selan at the beginning of the first Lufia game so I’m curious to see what happens to get them to that point.

Oh and I’m at level 18 or so, not just at 5 like in the picture :p

Happy Friday!  It’s been a long week but we have finally made it

Today I’m going to be posting about something a little different based on a request I got from my friend Erin.  She wants me to talk about the Game Center CX show.  Which I will gladly do as it is my favorite show ever I think :p

First thing I have to say is if you are a fan of classic games you have to watch this show, especially if you are one of those people, like me, who enjoys watching other people play games and get frustrated sometimes.  Maybe I’m a little evil but it’s nice when you see other people have trouble with games you had trouble with too. It may sound like a boring concept, but this show has a great mix of comedy, drama and extremely tense moments.

The star of the show is Shinya Arino.  On the show he is known as the Kacho which means Section Chief and depending on how good he does at his challenges he can either get promoted or demoted.  Arino is a comedian and child at heart who will be 40 this year, and has 2 little kids at home.  He played Famicom and Super Famicom games back in the day, but he isn’t a professional gamer by any stretch of the imagination.  He makes up with this with his perseverance, this guy is very determined and won’t give up easily.  He will do whatever he can to entertain the audience and not disappoint them.  To help him on his quest he has Assistant Directors.  An AD is someone that will help Arino through a tricky part on a level, give him hints, or a strategy guide when he gets stuck.  The AD’s usually play through the game right before filming so if necessary they can help him out.  I almost forgot to mention the awesome narrator, he narrates and makes funny comments about what the Kachou is doing throughout the show.  He helps guide the episode along.

Every episode Arino is given a game (usually Famicom or Super Famicom) that he is required to beat in a certain time limit.  So Arino sits in his room with his white board behind him, and his table full of snacks to give him energy through out the day.  He is also never without his cooling head pads.  When he gets really frustrated or tired he slaps one of these on his head to refresh himself and give him a burst of energy.  On a side note I’ve tried these and they work great if you are having a long gaming session.

The show is an hour long is mixed with footage of Arino sitting there playing the game, his great reactions, and in game footage of him playing.  Throughout the show there are different segments that are tossed in.  Some like You Should Visit this Game Center Sometime where he takes trips to arcades and game centers that viewers suggest he goes to or Moshi Moshi where Arino is playing a difficult game and calls viewers for their help.  Mix this with short Game Collection segments that show a collection of Famicom games that came out in a specific year (ie. 1985) and it never gets dull.

This show is so popular that it is on it’s 15th season in Japan.  So far Arino has challenged 135 different games.  Some games that we haven’t seen as they are Famicom exclusive but a lot that we have. There are a few groups out there that have taken it upon themselves to translate and subtitle episodes like Something Awful and TV-Nihon just to name a few.  If you do some searching it won’t be hard to find.  Kotaku even had the rights to air a few episodes on their site last year, but they subbed over the narrator parts which got pretty annoying.  Even if you check youtube they have some if you want to get a taste of the show. Here’s some episodes for games I’m sure you’ve played before. Super Mario Brothers 3, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Mega Man 2. I can’t wait until they subtitle the Battletoads episode, that game is evil!

If you like the show be sure to check out Retro Game Challenge for the DS which is based on this show.  You won’t be disappointed!  Check out my post in January for more information on it.

Figured I would share a crazy game that somehow made it’s way into my collection.  I think I got it a few years back when I ordered the Ultraman game for the Super Famicom and this came with.

It’s an Ultraman game for the Game Boy.  According to my research it’s called Ultraman Club: Teki Kaijuu o Hakken Seyo.  The cool thing is that Nintendo handheld systems before the 3DS were region free so you can import games and know that they would work.

Chibi Ultraman looks super cute so it’s definitely worth a try.

Popping it into my gba this is the first thing you see

There’s a 1 Player mode and a Versus mode.  I’m not too sure what the versus mode is but I can try out the single player.  Sorry about the glare from my flash!

Based on the little bit of Japanese I do know ( I can read it just don’t have the vocab to know what it means, but that means I can use a romaji to english translator) this is a map type selection screen.  Uchu (the first selection) means space, the second is Toshi which is city or urban, and the last is inaka which is rural.  Lol yay Japanese class paid off a little :p

I think I chose inaka which is the rural map here.  You have a bunch of little character icons (like 14) you place on the board in any spots you choose.  Then once you are finished the computer takes a turn.  Looks like a strategy type game.  If the computer tries to take your spot, you have a one on one battle.

Here’s a pic from Game FAQ’s of the battle, the picture I got wasn’t very clear…
There’s a choice of four attacks to use, one is punch and one is kick, I’m not too sure what the other two do though.

From what I’ve played it seems like it would be pretty fun, just have to do some research and find out what exactly I should be doing, and how I win the game.  Yay for random import games!

Now I have the Ultraman theme song from the 60′s tv show stuck in my head.  It’s a pretty cheesy yet awesome show, you should check it out if you can!

Wow, there is nothing more exciting than getting something in the mail that isn’t junk mail or bills!  Especially when it’s something you have really been looking forward to getting.  My Tuesday got instantly more awesome when I saw this big box sitting outside of my front door, though seems a little odd they just left it sitting there but at least I don’t have to go to the post office today to pick it up.

Anyways, lets move on to the fun part, the opening of the box

Everything is packed nicely, even with egg carton style packing cardboard on top

Removing the cardboard we see all the awesome stuff that came along with the NES.  For $50 I got the console, 2 controllers (both in good shape), the zapper, all the connections,  instruction manual for the console and the zapper (which was a total surprise), 13 games – 3 with manuals, most in sleeves 3 are in hard game cases and a game genie.

The games included in the lot.  Surprisingly enough I don’t have them other than the Mario ones and Tetris.  The awesome thing is they all worked even before a cleaning.

The games that came with instruction manuals

NES is in pretty good shape still

My new used NES in action, it’s awesome when everything works on the first try.

Figured since I have a little bit of free time I would post again really quick.  Thought this would be a cool item some people would find interesting.

It’s a Mini Famicom with the Super Mario cartridge inserted.  Now it’s a lot smaller than it looks in the photo here, so I took another shot for a comparison

It’s about half as tall as a bottle of water.  The really cool thing is if you open it up there is some Famicom designed paper inside

I’m such a nerd, I find this so awesome lol.  I love the design of the Famicom so I had to have this to add to my collection.  Now if only my real Famicom was in as good of condition as this little paper holder that would be awesome

Figured today I would show off my Nintendo themed Pez collection.  This is the full set that was released in 1998.  We have Diddy Kong, Mario, Yoshi and Koopa Troopa.

I got these guys off of eBay a few years back and I think it cost me like $10 if that.  Based on the research I did today they sell for $50 loose here at the Pez Museum http://www.burlingamepezmuseum.com/store7.html

They are pretty neat, I especially love the Koopa Troopa  It would be nice to have them on the backing card, but I wouldn’t be able to use them.  I don’t collect stuff to resell it, just to enjoy and display so they are awesome just the way they are!

I guess a set of Mini Pez characters has been released, in this set instead of Diddy Kong they have Donkey Kong along with Toad and Wario.  I’ll have to keep an eye out for these ones.

This weekend I decided to be adventurous and give my new (to me) working Famicom a much needed makeover.  The new Famicom works great but as you can tell in the photo it is very yellowed compared to my other non working Famicom.  Excuse the bad photos but I just used my cellphone :p

So I figured I would try to switch the cases between the two consoles.  Soon after I started unscrewing the Famicom’s I realized that the controllers on my old (and more white) Famicom were in much better shape, so they had to be switched over too.

Once I had them open it was pretty cool to see the differences between the two systems.  The one on the left which is the working one, has A/V inputs  and was made in 1984.  The one on the right is the non working one that uses the RF switch and was made in 1989.

First thing I did was remove the controllers and give both systems a cleaning.  After that I connected the controllers that are in better shape to the proper board and move the whole thing over to the whiter Famicom case.

The working Famicom after the switch to the new case, and new controllers.  Just have to screw everything back into place.

Looks much better, just have to test it out now.  I hope it still works! lol

Trying it out with the new Splatterhouse game I just got.  Works great!  And it has controllers that aren’t worn and are way more responsive too.

Figured it would be kinda cool to post a picture of some of the most awesome toys to ever be included in a McDonald’s Happy Meal

These are all the original ones I has when I was a kid, except for the Koopa Troopa and the extra Goomba they came from eBay.

I could explain what they all do, but I think this commercial for the toys explains it all