Super trading with the SegaDude! :D

August 1, 2014 by stopXwhispering

Once again I’ve made a trade with Eric The SegaDude and this time we shipped A LOT of games across the atlantic ^___^

I found some games here in Sweden that Eric had laid eyes on, so I grabbed them for him to trade with some doubles he had that I didn’t have in my collection :) This is what I got:

Rampage is a classic game, I had it for a few other systems, but not for Sega Master System ^_^ The cover artwork is really cool and the box was in great condition, unfortunately lacking a manual, but I don’t really care about that :) This game is fun and you can play two players just wrecking buildings together :D

Dead Angle was complete and in great condition ^_^ This game makes use of the Sega Master System’s lightphaser. I have a lot of games for the Master System now that requires the lightphaser, I get the feeling that Sega was better at making use of their accessory than Nintendo, however Duck Hunt was a total hit ;D

I already had The Ninja, but mine was in really awful condition, the box was basically falling apart :/ So this was a nice upgrade :D The Ninja is just that, you play as a Ninja throwing ninja stars at enemies trying not to get killed by other ninjas ;D

Speedball is a kind of sports game, much like soccer, but futuristic. It kind of sucks ;D haha! The controls are unresponsive and I couldn’t quite figure out how to pass or how to shoot or tackle.. >-< I don’t like sports in general though, but still it’s complete and in great condition so a nice addition to the collection ^__^

I enjoy Space Harrier, and I have it for several different systems. I didn’t have it for the Sega Master System though so I couldn’t pass this one up ^_^ Even though it’s lacking the manual, it’s in excellent condition :)

I’m not really into RPG’s, but since I didn’t have it it can still join my collection, I bet I have a friend or two who would enjoy it ;D Noticeable is that the music is not nearly as good as it is on the japanese version that I recently got for Eric :) And it’s still completely different than the Famicom version :) It was also complete and even had a huge map! (not pictured..) ^__^

I had Dynamite Dux before, but that one was completely littered with a German child’s drawings and stickers.. >_< so I’m happy to have a clean version of the cover ;D Unfortunately it was without manual so I had to complete it with the other manual filled with doodles ;D lol

This is also not really my type of game, not enough action and too much reading ;D But I’m happy to have it in my collection ^^

Cloud Master was a bunch of fun! ^_^ It was also complete and in great condition :D It’s a cute shooter with a boy on a cloud :D I have the Famicom version as well, it’s called Chuuka taisen :)

Apart from all these Sega Master System games I also got a few japanese Sega Mega Drive games :D

Maou Renjishi (or Mystical Ninja) is a really cool beat ’em up in japanese style! I hadn’t tried it before and I was stuck playing through the first 4 bosses until I died ^_^ I enjoyed it a lot :D

I also didn’t have Ghostbusters for the Mega Drive before, this is a really cute platformer, but i got stuck on the first stage. I couldn’t get past a room with a ghost head that shot fireballs at me >_<

I also got this one :D Garou Densetsu is a fighting game, I don’t know much about fighting games since I don’t play them that often, but it looks decent ^_^

Eric also threw in a loose NTSC Sega Genesis cart of Sonic Spinball so that I could try whether I would be able to play NTSC games on any of my systems!

Unfortunately…. This is what it said when I started it up on my PAL Sega Mega Drive.. and when I started it in my japanese Sega Mega Drive the system just wouldn’t power on :( But at least we know for sure now!

A pleasure as always doing trades with The SegaDude! :D Thank you Eric! ^_^ And let me know if you want the Sonic Spinball cartridge back ^^

(make sure to check out his awesome Sega Collection!!)

Retro Rumble 2014!

July 13, 2014 by stopXwhispering

Retro Rumble is back! Yesterday I had a retro gaming get-together with a retro gaming quiz and retro game competitions in my game room ^_^ I was very happy to have GamingGrannar visiting me for the weekend, they arrived already Friday to make a video of my retro game collection. Keep an eye out for the episodes that will show up on their blog soon :) They stayed and took part of Retro Rumble on Saturday as well. There was a lot of gaming this entire weekend! :D

For the competition I had chosen 5 games:
Ninja Hattorikun for Famicom – First leve, 1 life, best score
Soldier Blade for PC Engine – Caravan mode (2 minute score attack)
Super Monaco GP for Sega Mega Drive – Free practice Japan, Super A-class, 1 lap, best time
Panel de Pon for Super Famicom – Score attack mode
Jigoku Gokuraku Maru for Famicom – First stage, 1 life, best score

Out of the 12 contestants 4 went on to play in the semi-finals :) DAVE, Murazor, Mensflickan & Mattias :D

Here they got to play Super Bomberman 4 for the Super Famicom and then Harapeko Bakka (Hungry Dinosaurs) also for the Super Famicom.

We did not continue on with the third game since it was already clear which two players would continue on to the finals, namely DAVE and Mattias ^_^ They went on to play Rakuga Kids for the japanese N64:

And then also Combat for Atari 2600! :D

It was a fun and exciting competition, and I think everybody had a great time ^_^ All the competitors were also divided into teams, and I had prizes for the both the best team, the best player and player 2 and of course the Quiz Master! And here are all the winners!

DAVE was no.1 in the competition ^_^

Mattias came second, but he won the Quiz which makes him Mr. Quiz Master! ;D

And here’s the A-team!! :D

Here’s the RETRO RUMBLE QUIZ questions, how many correct answers would you have scored? ;D

1. What does NES stand for?

2. Who was SEGA’s mascot before Sonic?
X. Pacman
Y. Flicky
B. Alex Kidd
A. Opa Opa

3. Contra is a famous game from Konami, it’s also called Probotector and one other name. What is the third name?

4. In Zelda 2, The Adventures of Link for NES you encounter a man in the village of Ruto, what does he say?
X. Go West
Y. The Cake is a Lie
B. I Am Error
A. Take this Potion

5. Which game is this song from?
X. Megaman 1
Y. Megaman 2
B. Megaman 3
A. Rockman 4

6. What is the Konami code?
X. Up, Up, Down Down, Left, Left, Right Right, A, B
Y. Up, Up, Down Down, Left, Right, Left Right, A, B
B. Up, Up, Down Down, Left, Right, Left Right, B, A
A. Up, Up, Down Down, Right, Left, Right Left, B, A

7. What is the name of this game system?

8. On what stages can you go down tunnels and warp to stages later in the game in Super Mario Bros?
X. 1 – 1 & 3 – 5
Y. 1 – 2 & 4 – 3
B. 1 – 3 & 4 – 2
A. 1 – 2 & 4 – 2

9. Sony’s Playstation was original intended to be a CD-ROM add-on to which 16-bit console?

10. What is the resolution of an NES?
X. 260 x 310
Y. 256 x 240
B. 460 x 840
A. 356 x 255

11. Which Japanese company created Pacman?
X. Konami
Y. Taito
B. Bandai
A. Namco

At the end of the evening we ended up playing a lot of Utsurun desu. Ka wa uso hawai e iku. A really strange japanese game for the Famicom, but so very very very entertaining! :D I recommend anyone with a Famicom to try this one out!

Here’s what the chubby-legged guy in a beaver suit looks like when he’s jumping:

And here’s some other moves (the gentle wave of the hand is his main attack.. he can also dance and cast out some dance flames) ;D

Thanks to all of those who came and played, and watched, and laughed, and enjoyed some retro gaming goodness ^__^ And to all of those who didn’t make it I hope to see you next time!

The Vectrex

June 16, 2014 by stopXwhispering

The Vectrex has always been a mystery to me, I haven’t really read up on it or anything, but it has crossed my path of hunting down retro games all over the web more than ones. I’ve always been intrigued and thought many times about whether I should get it on eBay or not. It was always pretty expensive, and I had no clue if I would be able to play it or not (because of power outlets and such). I didn’t even know what to expect from it, but it sure looked cool! :D Recently though a friend found an ad in Sweden from a guy who was selling one! I got so excited I rushed to buy it instantly! I might sound like a total n00b, but I actually prefer not knowing about games and even systems until I get them in my possession, that way I can experience them the same was as I would if they were new, the only thing I basically research when game shopping are the prices so I don’t overpay ^^

This one was originally sold in Sweden (I didn’t even know it was released here!!) and it had a bunch of games and extras :D

The first problem I encountered was how to turn the Vectrex off?! It started immediately when I plugged in the power cord.. but I didn’t wanna change cartridge or move it until I figured out how to turn it off first! I had to google for about 40 minutes before I found out! I discovered an old original users manual for the Vectrex as a PDF that someone had scanned in (THANK YOU!!) and finally read my way to understanding that the volume lever IS ALSO the on/off button. At first I didn’t believe it, because I kept turning it to max and the minimum but nothing happened, but like with any old machinery you have to be patient! After turning the volume knob all the way to the left (turning the volume down) until you hear a click, just leave it there for a little while, the system will power down after all the juice has run out of it! Haha, this was trippy >.<

It has a cartridge slot on the right side of the screen, and that’s where you insert the games. It comes with one built in game as well called MineStorm :D

The system has two controller ports, I got two controllers with the system ^_^ One controller can be folded into the front of the system so it’s not lying around :D The controller is kind of awkward when used though. It’s big and bulky, not really comfortable to hold so the best way to play is to put it in front of you on a flat surface in my opinion.

On the above picture you can see the controller folded into the bottom of the system, it’s got the logo on the back of it :)

I also got 19 games with it, they were:

Armor Attack	Art Master	Bedlam	Berzerk
Blitz!	Clean Sweep	Cosmic Chasm	Flipper Pinball
Fortress of Narzod	Hyper Chase!	Rip Off	Scramble
Soccer Football!	Solar Quest	Space Wars	Spike
Star Hawk!	Star Ship	WebWarp

When I added them to my collection on retrocollect.com it said I had all the games for it, but I haven’t researched it any further. Perhaps there are more games that came out in North America? Then again, I’m not sure whether this system is region free or not…

Every game that I got had it’s overlay! Overlays are a colorful transparent plastic cards that you put in front of the screen to give the illusion that you’re playing in color ;D Since every game displayed on the Vectrex is white on black it sure provides some variation :) My favorite overlays are Bedlam and Scramble:

Here’s some other really pretty ones:

Another amazing accessory I got for the system was the Light Pen! This is used together with the Art Master program. You can Sketch, Connect or Animate ^^ It works amazingly well! :D

If anyone knows if there are more games released for it that I don’t know of, please enlighten me :D

All my Famicom pickups from Tokyo game shops

June 15, 2014 by stopXwhispering

Finally updated the Famicom Collection Library, and also the Famicom Collage with the 103 Famicom carts I acquired in Tokyo :)
It was not easy getting it all back home with a weight limit of 23kg for the suitcase and 10kg for the carry on, I had to send home 7 packages (all weighing less than 2kg, because then it will count as a “letter” and be muuuuuch cheaper) ;D

Now I’m up to 868 unique Famicom carts (986 in total counting doubles..). It’s getting hard to find stuff I don’t already have for the system…

Here’s the thumbnails of all the 103 games I got in Tokyo!

Retro game pickups in Tokyo

June 9, 2014 by stopXwhispering

Finally I’ve had some time to go through all the games that were already on my desk before leaving for Japan, and also the 117 games I bought while in Tokyo!! :D

On this trip to Tokyo I mainly focused on Famicom, I just went through every shelf of every retro gaming store and picked up anything I found that I didn’t already have! This concluded in a few really rare and expensive titles, but also a lot of junk like baseball games and unplayable mystery solving games and RPGs, but I’m really happy to finally have Gimmick!, Over Horizon and Snow Bros in my collection :D

Snow Bros wasn’t as fun as I had hoped. Kind of like Bubble Bobble, but not as cute :/

Over Horizon is a great shooter! The visuals are so pretty ^_^

And Gimmick! was also a lot of fun! So adorable, but yet difficult! ^_^

I also found Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers in pretty condition and Gebara (or Guevara) which I’ve only ever encountered once before and it was too expensive that time. Below is also a game called Jigoku Gokuraku Maru. I had never seen it before but the cover art reminded me of Genpei Toumaden so I assumed it was good ;D and it was! But it’s just a sidescrolling action platform where you play as a red-headed girl :)

Guevara is a fun Commando-style shooter where you can team up with a friend (who then plays as Fidel Castro) ;D

I found a Famicom cartridge copy of After Burner, I’ve never seen that before either.. I have it for Sega Master System and Mega Drive though.. Also got Cross Fire and Guardic Gaiden (Guardian Legend).

Cross Fire was kind of fun, very much like Dead Fox (Code Name Viper) but not quite as good.

I’ve been looking for Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World but it’s been awfully pricey on eBay, in Tokyo however it was much more affordable ^_^ The middle game is called Pyokotan no Dai Meiro and it’s kind of like a maze game but with various mini-games whenever you open chests and stuff. It was interesting :) I also found Moero Twin Bee on a cart! I’ve only ever seen it for the Disk System, I didn’t think it existed on a cartridge, but I was pleased to find it ^_^

Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World was OK, kind of easy and childish though.

In Moero Twinbee you can play three players simultaneously! This blew my mind ^___^

These were just a few of all the Famicom cartridges I got (103 in total!), but I also scored a few Super Famicom Games:

And some PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive games:

Now this was a few of the pickups, I will make another post soon with all the rest of the Famicom carts when I’ve uploaded them to the Famicom Collection Library :)

Arcades in Akihabara, Tokyo

May 10, 2014 by stopXwhispering

Tokyo is full of arcades, they’re everywhere! :D And they’re a lot of fun!

Personally I prefer playing the music and rhythm games. Here’s a funny video of one of Sega’s newer games Maimai:

You can also find 4 player mario kart, where each get their own steering wheel and screen, and fun games like Taiko no Tatsujin where you hit on giant drums in time with music ^_^

I personally love this music game with all the buttons ^_^ I don’t know the name of it though :/

Most of the arcades are at least 4 stories high with the first two floors filled with U.F.O catchers.

When it comes to U.F.O catchers, I recommend the ones with three claws, because the ones with two claws are extremely weak. Don’t forget to check machines for something that is about to fall over that somebody else has already been nudging around ^_^

I got pretty good at these machines during our trip ^_^ It is also extremely addictive, I don’t know how many 100 Yens I put into these, and I don’t wanna count ;D Here’s a picture of how excited I was whenever I got to play though ;D

And I actually won this, after having put in a bit over 1000 Yen in this machine, trying to pin holes into the little paper holding the thing up. Eventually there wasn’t much left but it still wouldn’t budge. So I asked the personnel to nudge the box a bit so the entire weight was on platform (since it was a bit crooked and leaning on the plastic bar against the glass), then the guy started fiddling with the paper instead and the thing fell down, I just assumed that I won it and he gave it to me ^_^ YAY

I also won this cute Rilakkuma bear for myself and I won this other cuddly plushie for my friend ^_^

Most arcades will mainly have modern games and maybe a few machines with classic street fighter. I went and took some pics during mid-day on a week day so it was pretty empty. After 5 though it is always crammed with people. There’s mostly fighting games or strategy games. Some new ones even have touch screens.

I found an arcade located in between the two SEGA buildings (you can find the directions in my guide to Akihabara game shops) in Akihabara that had mainly retro game arcade machines! A whole floor of just 16-bit shmups! ^_^ It was called HEY (Hirose Entertainment Yard).

This place was awesome ^_^ I wish this was my living room! haha

They also had these special 2-player machines with Darius and Ninja Warriors ^_^

Also if you wanna find retro arcades you can find some on the fourth floor of Super Potato (directions can be found here). They have more than just shmups, for example Puyo Puyo, Bomber World, Ghosts n’ Goblins, Final Fight, Pac-Land etc.