Video Game Pickups: Last Half of July 2014

The lastest game pickups to round out the month of July. Some pretty cool stuff, but not much in volume. The video ends with a game that I've wanted for years(see previous blog entry). And I may have actually left out a few games from the video: Boom Blox and Wii Music for Wii, and Mega Man X7 for PS2. So here she blows....
Video Game Pickups: Last Half of July 2014

Many Unexpected Things: When Fantasy Becomes Surreality

Castlevania: Dracula X, a game that has long eluded me. For years I waited for the inevitable “good deal” or “fair price” that I was bound to find. I knew it was extremely unlikely that I would find the game in the wild, and even if I did it would probably be over-priced in a retail store. But there is always craigslist, ebay, and other online avenues to take. I’ve probably never sought a game as hard as I have Dracula X. Some games come and go and come and go cyclically through my “gotta find it” mindset, but Dracula X has been at the forefront for years now. I never lost focus on it, never gave up. A few times I almost pulled the trigger on ebay, but I have a hard time paying $100+ for any game. To this day, I’ve yet to spend anything close to that. I kept kicking myself for not pouncing on Dracula X back in December 2012 when the game inexplicably dropped down to the $90 range. It was dropping in price after all these years…it’s bound to keep dropping, right. Fast forward to present day and it’s never been so expensive, consistently averaging above $150 for copies in halfway decent shape. So what’s a Castlevania nut(who doesn’t emulate) to do?

For some time now I have been reading about all the great games that were released in Japan, but never made it to North America. The NES, SNES, N64, Saturn, DreamCast, among various others, all had some killer looking games that never made it stateside. So I began to explore importing, looking into what systems were region-free, what it took to mode N.A. consoles, and so on. Since I am not at all handy or knowledgeable with electronics, region-free or options like the Action Replay for Saturn seemed the best route for me.

Then I read something about the good ol’ SNES, a system that, despite having an amazing library had an even deeper roster of games in Japan. The SNES can be “modded” by removing two plastic tabs inside the cartridge port. That’s it!?! That’s the region lockout? That’s so simple…I could do it. And that’s exactly what I did. Now here’s the rub: many Super Famicom games are significantly cheaper than their SNES versions!

Even though I’ve only dipped my toe into the Super Famicom pool, each time has been well worth the effort. First up was Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie. A Japan-only shmup that may just be my favorite shmup of all time. It really blew me away that much. I’ve written a text review of it here, on Gamefaqs, and  made it the subject of my very first video review on Youtube. Next up was R-Type III, a game that has gotten progressively more expensive the last few years in North America. A little patience and shopping around on ebay and I got the Super Famicom version for

roughly half the price that the North American version goes for. It was is a really awesome game and was worth every penny. Then there was Dracula X. It’s still rather expensive to get the Super Famicom version, but after scouting a few listings on ebay for a while I finally found it at the right price. I ended up paying about 40% of the standard cost of the SNES version. How bout them apples?

So did it live up to the hype? Well, first of all the hype was just in my head and I knew that. I’ve read plenty about it through the years and knew it didn’t meet the excellence of others in the series, particularly my personal favorite: Super Castlevania IV. But I’m not one of those people that thinks every sequel HAS to be better than the last game. A good game is a good game and good games are what I like. So in that sense, yes it did live up to the hype. I was able to finish it within a few hours and enjoyed the heck out of it.

It’s always a somewhat surreal experience when you finally get to play a game you’ve waited years to play. We all have experienced that at some point, especially with modern games that we often have to wait a good 2 years to see release after it is first revealed. But there is something different when you play a really old game for the first time, one that you’ve wanted for years. When this is the case, you won’t be playing a game that is pushing the envelope with it’s tech. Nor will you be playing a game that is using all of the latest trends, aping motion pictures, and is turning itself inside out in order to be “cool” or “edgy” or, heaven forbid, “gritty”. Not that older games were immune to that sort of silliness, but they certainly didn’t seem hell-bent on proving just how damn cool they are and everyone, by gum, is gonna know it. Often, they are just games. Simpler, less self-aware, and existing only as a gaming experience.

So it was actually pretty strange to play Dracula X. It felt great seeing the game boot up. It felt exciting to press start, see the mini-intro, and think “here it comes”. Then the actual playing began. At first, I began to familiarize myself with the controls, then the feeling set it: “I’m actually playing it”. It’s that weird feeling you get when something you have visualized and fantasized about so many times for so long finally goes from being a thought in your mind to a reality you are experiencing. Not that they are the same thing, or even totally relatable, but it’s somewhat like when you actually have your first kiss, or take your first step on that vacation you’ve been waiting all year for. You’re almost outside yourself, watching yourself like some out of body experience. How strange. It really reminds me of being a kid again, back before your imagination was blunted and watered down to nothingness. Do you remember that? When playing could excite your mind and senses so much, it’s like you were in another world? I remember that feeling so well. And to wrap up this aimless, stream of consciousness, here is a quote from the one man who has probably gifted me with that feeling more than anyone else.

“What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it is really a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things.”

-Shigeru Miyamoto

Macross: Do You Remember Love (Sega Saturn) - Video Review

So here is my next video review. I kinda enjoyed the first one and wanted to do another, so I chose Macross: Do You Remember Love for the Saturn. I think it's a pretty good game and I had recently played it and uploaded a playthrough of it, so it seemed like the right choice. It's a pretty cheap import, so check it out of you're interested.

Macross: Do You Remember Love for Sega Saturn

Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie (SFC) Video Review

So here is my first attempt at a video review. Even though it's a rather low-tech affair, I'm a pretty tech-limited guy. I hope to do more in the future, but I was kind of torn as to what game to make my first video review on. I really wanted to do Scrambled Valkyrie, as it's became an absolute favorite of mine. I'm also aware that if I do continue making video reviews, that in a year or more, when I look back at my first video review, it's likely that I will be very unhappy with it. But you gotta start somewhere. So here is my VIDEO review of the classic Super Famicom shmup, Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie.

Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie Video Review