Battletoads

 

Battletoads for the NES… ugh… do I ever have a extreme love hate relationship with this one.   For a NES beat em up it’s very well put together graphic wise and the level designs were all very unique… expect that you will never see most of them because most of the game is impossible.   20 some years this game has existed and more than three dozen some times I’ve attempted  I still can’t get by the third stage, the only reason I even begin to know what the other stages look like is because of the fact that we used to have a game genie when we younger that allowed us to skip levels.   This game is evil.

Fire Emblem Awakening

The first current generation game to enter my collection this year is Fire Emblem Awakening, for the 3DS.    I haven’t played it yet since I just got home with it, but as much as I like Fire Emblem, I pretty sure it will disappoint me little.

Chrono Cross

Time to start the year and collection count new once again, starting with a PlayStation classic, Chrono Cross.   Now I have a very weird connection with this game, mostly recalling how utterly confusing the entire plot was the very first time I played it.   As a result for a long time I wasn’t extremely clear on what exactly was going on or the whole point.   So even though I beat the game years ago I was still very unclear on a lot of the story being told.   I understand better now but it still creates kind of an odd perspective doesn't it?

Game Collection as of 1/1/2013

This is 1/1/2013 Collection display.    This year was probably the single largest expansion on my collection I’ve had yet.   Just a quick note before I start I did try some different things with the pictures this year and I’m not particularly happy on how they came out, so excuse the somewhat lousy quality.   This year I now have 235 games compare to last year’s 182.   So without any further word let’s start.

 

This is my ‘bookshelf’ as of 1/1/2012 prior to this year’s collection addition.

 

 

Here is this year’s new additions to the collection all displayed at once.   There are a total of 53 additions.

 

NES:

Adventure Island
Adventure Island III
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, Disney
American Gladiators
Batman
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Contra
Darkwing Duck
Gradius
Kid Icarus
M.C. Kids
Mega Man
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 5
Mega Man 6
Metroid
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Spy Hunter (Not displayed forgot to put this one out)
Startropics II : Zoda's Revenge
NES 2 (A/V Modded)

Sega Genesis:

Altered Beast
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Toejam & Earl
Sega Genesis (Model 2)

N64:

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Mario Party
Paper Mario

Gamecube:

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

PS2:

Final Fantasy X-2
Kingdom Hearts

Wii:

Frogger Returns (Digital)
The Last Story
Mega Man 10 (Digital)
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (Digital)
Xenoblade Chronicles

PC:

Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection Abyssea Edition (Digital)
Ib (Digital)
Custom Build (Antec 900 Tower) (Not Shown)

Gameboy:

Kirby's Dream Land
Kirby's Dream Land 2
Kirby's Pinball Land
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Metroid II: Return of Samus
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Tetris

Gameboy Color:

Dragon Warrior I & II
Pokemon Pinball

3DS:

Kid Icarus Uprising
Paper Mario Sticker Star
Tales of the Abyss

 

NES had the biggest single increase in any of my console this year going from 34 to 54 a staggering 20 titles.   So much that I’ve split the NES collection into four separate pictures.

Adventure Island
Adventure Island III
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, Disney
American Gladiators
Batman
Castlevania
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Contra
Darkwing Duck
Disney's DuckTales
Donkey Kong Classics
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Double Dribble
Dragon Warrior
Dragon Warrior II

                        

Dragon Warrior III
Dragon Warrior IV
Gradius
Kid Icarus
Kirby's Adventure
Kung Fu
The Legend of Zelda
Life Force
M.C. Kids
MagMax
Mega Man
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 4
Mega Man 5
Mega Man 6

 

Metroid
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Millipede
Nightshade
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Pac-Man
Popeye
Rad Racer II
Rampage
Rollerball
Spy Hunter
StarTropics
Startropics II : Zoda's Revenge
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2

 

Super Mario Bros. 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
Tiny Toon Adventures
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
NES 2 (A/V Modded)

 

There were actually no new SNES games this year still standing at 39.   Since I was trying to do pictures differently this year I decided to retake the pictures anyway and ended up with 3 separate pictures.   Games are listed as below:

Aero the Acro-Bat
Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
Captain America and the Avengers
Cybernator
Disney's Aladdin
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls
Earthworm Jim 2
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest
Kirby Super Star
Kirby's DreamLand 3
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse

 

Mega Man X
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Fighting Edition
Pac-Man 2
Rock 'n Roll Racing
Secret of Mana
Star Fox
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario World
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Metroid
Super Play Action Football
Super Star Wars
Super Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back

 

 

Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
Super Valis IV
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters
WWF Royal Rumble

 

3 new titles of the N64 were added raising the total from 10 to 13.  Games are listed as below:

Donkey Kong 64
GoldenEye 007
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Mario Kart 64
Mario Party
Paper Mario
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
StarFox 64
Super Mario 64

 

Sega Genesis is a new section of my collection and has been a bit slow to start but here are the games as listed below:

Altered Beast
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Toejam & Earl
Sega Genesis (Model 2)

 

Gamecube only went up by one title going from 5 to 6.   Games are listed as below:

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time / Master Quest
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Mega Man Network Transmission
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Tales of Symphonia
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom

My PC collection is kind of weird since most of the games on it these days are digital products but I still generally count them.    PC went from 11 to 13, games are listed as below:

Enchantasy: Quest for the Eternal Grimoire (Digital)
Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection Abyssea Edition (Digital)
Final Fantasy XIV
Heroes of Might & Magic III & IV: Complete
Heroes of Might and Magic 2 Gold
Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade
Heroes of Might and Magic III: Shadow of Death
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia
Heroes of Might and Magic V
Heroes of Might and Magic V: Hammers of Fate
Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East
Ib (Digital)
Might & Magic Heroes VI (Digital)
Custom Build (Antec 900 Tower) (Not Shown)

PS2 went up by two games this year going from 14 to 16.  Games are listed as below in two separate pictures:

Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2
Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3
Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Kingdom Hearts
Mega Man Anniversary Collection

 

Mega Man X Collection
Mega Man X: Command Mission
Mega Man X7
Sonic Mega Collection Plus
Soul Calibur III
Tales of the Abyss
Wild Arms 3
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses

 

No new games for the PSX this year, listed as below:

Dragon Warrior VII
Final Fantasy Anthology
Final Fantasy Chronicles: Final Fantasy IV / Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Origins
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
The Legend of Dragoon
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Megaman X4
Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories

 

Wii games have increased by 5 games though most of them were WiiWare games this year.   This has raised it from 18 to 23.   Games are listed on two separate photos as below:

Dragon Quest Swords: Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (Digital)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Frogger Returns (Digital)
Kirby's Return To Dreamland
The Last Story
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Link's Crossbow Training
Mario Kart Wii

 

Mega Man 9 (Digital)
Mega Man 10 (Digital)
Metroid: Other M
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (Digital)
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Paper Mario
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom
Wii Fit
Wii Play
Xenoblade Chronicles

No new DS title this year, games listed on two separate photos as below:

Chrono Trigger
Dragon Quest IV: The Chapters of the Chosen
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Fire Emblem
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness
Kirby Super Star Ultra
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals

 

Mario Party DS
Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team DS
Mega Man Star Force 2
Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus
New Super Mario Bros.
Phantasy Star 0
Pokemon SoulSilver
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Professor Layton and the Last Specter
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Tetris DS
The World Ends With You
Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus

3DS games have gone from 3 to 6.   Though I still find it strangely low for a Nintendo handheld, maybe it’s just the sign of the times regardless.   Games are listed as below:

Kid Icarus Uprising
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Paper Mario Sticker Star
Super Mario 3D Land
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
Tales of the Abyss

 

 

Also new for my collection Gameboy and Gameboy color games.   I decided the combine the two since there are not enough of them to warrant separate pictures. 

Gameboy:

Kirby's Dream Land
Kirby's Dream Land 2
Kirby's Pinball Land
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Metroid II: Return of Samus
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Tetris

Gameboy Color:

Dragon Warrior I & II
Pokemon Pinball

 

No new Gameboy Advance games this year, games are listed as below:

Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI Advance
Golden Sun
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Mega Man Battle Network
Mega Man Battle Network 2
Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue Version
Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun
Mega Man Battle Network 6: Greiga Version
Metroid Fusion
Pokemon FireRed

 

Console List:

Upper Right: Custom Build (Antec 900)

Upper Row: Wii – PS2 – N64

Middle Row: Sega Genesis – NES – SNES

Bottom Row: Gameboy Advance SP – 3DS

 

Controller and Accessory List:

Top Row: NES Dogbone Control – NES classic controller x2 – SNES controller – SNES third part controller – N64 aftermarket controllers x2

Middle Row: Nintendo Wavebird – Gamecube Controller – Sega Genesis 6-button Controller – Sega Genesis classic controller – Wii Remote (White) x2 – Zelda Remote (Wii Motion Plus) – Deluxe  Classic Control – Wii Nunchuck x2 – Classic Controller

Bottom Row: PS2 Dualshock (Blue) – PS2 Memory card x2 – PS1 third party memory card – GCN third party memory card – Xbox 360 Wireless controllers (Black) x2 – Wii Zapper – Wii Wheel – Wii Balance Board.

 

Finally this is my ‘bookshelf’ as of today 1/1/2013.

 

Last Minute Collection Entrees!

Gift card from Christmas means one last collection boosting before the year ends.  

 

Darkwing Duck for the NES, based on a cartoon show that Disney put out in the 90s.   I remember the show quite well from when I was a kid; however I only recently found out that there was an NES game for it.    Now much like many Disney games for the NES put out by Capcom during this time, is game is actually extremely solid for a shooting plateformer.   The animation matches the series pretty well, the controls are extremely solid, and it’s actually more fun then I was expecting.

Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest for the NES, now in general this game is known for being almost impossible to complete without some kind of walkthrough not really due to the difficult but the translations resulting in character dialogue that is extremely unclear and confusing.   Still I find myself enjoying the game a lot regardless of the games numerous flaws though a lot of this may be due to the fact that we did have a player’s guide for the game from Nintendo Power before we played the game so I guess we experienced less of the overall frustration.   

 

 

Batman for the NES, though only slightly based on the original Tim Burton movie, it is commonly viewed as a classic on the NES, though today was the first time I’ve ever actually played it.    I don’t really have much to say other then all of the good things people has said about it in the past are entirely true.   Though I can’t beat the first stage at the moment, NES hard, there is a reason this term exists. 

 

Adventure Island 3 for the NES, this was the game I was actually looking for earlier in the year when I accidently purchased the original.   Compared to the original I like this one much more and even when test playing it, I ended up playing it for much longer then I usually do with these kind of things.   One thing I will say, this is probably the best condition game I have ever purchased from a used game store such as Gamers, I see almost no flaws in the cartridge or even the labeling.   Though not really all that important considering the condition many of these kinds of games has, it’s always nice to see something in extremely good condition

 

Kingdom Hearts for the Playstation 2, even as an RPG fan I have not played any Kingdom Heart games at this point though I have been told many times by people I know that I must play this series at some point and now I shall.   Not much to say since I’m new to the series but here it is.   

So this ends the collecting for this year, in the next couple of days I’ll be putting up my 2012 collection album so please take a look when I do ;)

Time for One Last Major Collection Additions for 2012

 

Time for one last major collection addition before the holiday season and the end of the year!  Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for the Nintendo GameCube.   This game seems to get mixed perspectives from the Zelda fan community due to art direction and the general direction of the game at that point and time.   It is a very different kind of Zelda experience involving a great sea resulting in a different kind of world and place from the earlier games.  Regardless of these differences I completely tend to disregard the criticism of this game and consider it a great game in its own right.

 

Final Fantasy X-2 for the Playstation 2, this is kind of a hard game to discuss among Final Fantasy fans, though it does present some unique elements to it, it definitely does reek heavily of marketing and fan service with the game general ascetic and character design that sometimes feels a bit out of place.   I don’t really share the hate for this one like many do, I find it’s best to take it as it is and not try to read too heavily into it and it’s still an interesting game if nothing else.   Considering I didn’t pay very much for it’s still an acceptable collection addition if nothing else.

 

 

 Paper Mario Sticker Star for the Nintendo 3DS, to this day I will not ever understand my liking of the Paper Mario series, it a very odd concept when you think about it, but they are charming and enjoyable games even if they aren’t always the most in depth type of RPG.   I haven’t gotten a chance to start playing it yet but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. 

 

Spy Hunter for the NES, now to be honest this is a classic game though not anything particularly special, it was a port of an Arcade game being one of those games that is all about a high score and can’t ever actually be beaten it’s a fairly simple game, though all I ever seen to do is die within seconds of playing because the speed and control is a little funky at times.    I played this game for years on and off during visits to my grandparents when I was younger so it does have a bit of nostalgia behind it even it’s not really that memorable.

 

Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask for the Nintendo 64.   This is one of the few console Zelda games I have never played until now.   When we had a Nintendo 64 we lacked the Nintendo 64 expansion pak required to play the game so it passed me by.   I haven’t gotten a chance to play through it yet, but just from the short start… I will say it’s one of the creepiest Zelda games I have ever witnessed.   A lot of elements and imagery is just kind of creepy.  I intend to play further into it, but it’s nice to finally take a crack at it.

 

 

Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64, this was the original Paper Mario game that started that particular sub series.    I seem to be focused on this today it seems like, as I said with the new one, I still am not sure why I like the series as much as I do but I will take it for what it is. 

Recent Collection Additions

To those that are new here I am a video game collector specialize mostly in 80s and 90s era games. Though I generally post my new entrees mostly on Facebook I'm going to start publishing them here as well.



Had some eBay Bucks to spend so here we are, Mike Tyson's Punch Out! for the NES. What can I really say about this one? Gotta love the gameplay, the blatant stereotypes, and the fight theme in your head that never ever goes away and cartridge in pretty decent shape as one can expect.



After three failed attempts with original NES consoles due the design flaw of the original system getting worse with age I decided it was time for an Upgrade for the NES2. The NES2 was a model released some time after the release of the SNES, but due to the decreasing sales of the NES they were quick to disappear. The sleeker model and design were already an improvement but what is drastically different is what's inside. This version corrected the design flaw of the original NES hardware by removing the lock-out chip and by it being a top loader resolving the vast majority of connectivity problems by being a top loading console. There are some flaws of course but this is no normal NES2 console, take a look at the next picture to see the difference.



Yes, this NES 2 is a modded console. The original NES2 model lack the A/V ports on the back that the original NES had, as a result the NES2 had a poor image quality overall then the original. But thanks to this mod, this console support A/V connections for sound and graphical quality comparable to the original console. Where did I buy such a thing? I bought it from here: http://nintendorepairhut.com/