Thougoht it might be fun to talk about my pickups over the last few
weeks. Years ago (2008) as a poor lad with a large collection, I sold
most of it off when I moved to Kentucky. Over the years, as I've been gainfully employed, I've purchased some (but not all) of the games I
sold years ago. I have also started helping run convention game rooms,
so I've bought quite a bit of stuff on the pretense that "it's for the
con" to help myself feel better.

So here's what I've picked up over the past few weeks. (Just physical
games this time, maybe going forward I'll include digital releases too)

---GENESIS DOES---
Toaplan Shooters Volume (Genesis) - Retro-bit licensed Genesis
re-releases of Grind Stormer and Slap Fight. Given the known issues
with the Tengen carts of Grind Stormer, I'm glad to have this, even if I
had to pay full retail price for it. (Still beats the price of CIB
copies of the original!)

Undeadline (Genesis) - another Retro-bit re-release of a game that
regularly hit the 4 digit threshold on price. Pre-ordered and got at
retail, and scalpers can, and I quote, suck it.


---TOUCHING IS GOOD---
Dragon Dance (Nintendo DS) - this is a weird combination of Mahjong and Puzzloop (the game Zuma and Luxor ripped off). Japan only release, as
far as I know.


---SWITCH ON!---
TriggerHeart Exelica (Switch) - I already have this digitally for Xbox (backwards compatible 360 download, I believe), but my Xbox Series X
hasn't seen much use lately. I figured I might get some more time out of
it on the portable.

Fantasian Neo Dimension (Switch) - This was originally an Apple Arcade
game, I think, and since iphone/ipad gaming is for suckers, I didn't
partake back then. Now that it's on switch and was on a heavy sale
around Christmas, I picked this one up for my wife.

Super Alloy Ranger (Switch) - don't really know anything other than 2d
shooty. And it was very cheap so I thought I would give it a shot.

Castlevania Dominus Collection (Switch) - the one thing I really hated
about Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow was the forced touchscreen drawing of
"runes" to beat bosses. This apparently eliminates that. I already
have Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia on DS, so maybe I can sell
those off and just play them again here. They're the new style of exploraction Castlevanias instead of the better straightforward ones
like Bloodlines, but they're not bad overall.

Batsugun: Saturn Tribute Boosted (Switch) - since I'm unlikely to buy
the Saturn version at the prices people want for it, this is a nice consolation prize. Seeing decent Saturn emulation on the Switch is
pretty neat.


And for the lesser systems:

---UPSIDE-DOWN GRAY BOX---
Dragon Valor (PS1) - a classic Namco action RPG that I never got a
chance to play previously. Should be fun.

Dead in the Water (PS1) - the cover art has always stuck out to me, and
I got a good deal on it, so hopefully the gameplay is good.


---ROBOT BUTTCRACK---
Visions of Mana (PS5) - was planning on picking this up shortly after it
when it came out, until the news story broke about Square Enix
shuttering the studio before the game even had a chance to sell. So I
waited, and got it for less than half price a year later, and Square
gets nothing.


--
~ bestylus

(NO-SPAM is obviously not my email domain. You might try the Roman
version of Hera if you really need to email me.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

New games added to the library:

GENESIS DOES
Today, I received Twin Cobra for the Sega Genesis in the mail. When
Retro-bit announced they had to drop it from the Toaplan Collection 2
Genesis reprints, I wasn't too sad, because of the three games (Slap
Fight MD, Grind Stormer, and Twin Cobra), Twin Cobra was by far the
cheapest to pick up outside of the collection anyway. So I snagged an
ex rental copy for $20, which is probably about as good as anyone can
do, even if it has a little label damage.


WHAT NINTENDON'T
Yesterday's mail was Kaiju Boom Ball, a brand new NES game! It's a breakout/arkanoid style game where you are trying to defeat giant
monsters! It looked like a lot of fun, and the developer is on BlueSky
and is pretty cool, so I backed the kickstarter. Didn't take very long
to get either (I'm used to board games with ridiculous production times).

I purchased roms of some of the developer's other games on his itch.io
page, and liked them well enough to give this one a go too!


--
~~ bestylus ~~
Yes, this is the same benstylus who posted here from the late 90s to mid
00's.
NO-SPAM is obviously not my email domain. You might try the Roman
version of Hera if you really need to email me.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Pickups today are all on the Nintendo DS side of the equation.

I picked up Deep Labyrinth, which is a first person dungeon crawler
where you use the stylus as the sword. Looked fun and it's published by Atlus.

Next up is Tank Beat, a game published by O3 here in the US, but it's
actually from Milestone (the shooter guys, not the racing guys). So I'm looking forward to trying it out.

I also picked up the sequel (at least it was the sequel in Japan - they renamed it over here): Heavy Armor Brigade. It's definitely more Tank Beat!

--
~~ benstylus ~~
Yes, this is the same benstylus who posted here from the late 90s to mid
00's.
NO-SPAM is obviously not my email domain. You might try the Roman
version of Hera if you really need to email me.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Today's pickup is Zoo Quest: Puzzle Fun for the Nintendo DS! Featuring
the one and only Steve Irwin on the cover, and his Australian
catchphrase "Crikey!"" on the back.

It's a pretty simple puzzle game about grouping together animals, then
they disappear and more come into the board. You need to group at least
3 or more together. Simple doesn't mean it isn't fun though!
Definitely wouldn't have paid full price for this one back when it came
out, but for a few bucks it's not bad.


--
~~ benstylus ~~
Yes, this is the same benstylus who posted here from the late 90s to mid
00's.
NO-SPAM is obviously not my email domain. You might try the Roman
version of Hera if you really need to email me.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

New games added to the library:

SEGA SATURN, SHIRO!

- The Battle of Iron Chef: Kitchen Stadium Tour! It's less of a game
and more of a digital museum/toy, but I loved Iron Chef back in the day
so this one is purely a nostalgia purchase.

- Gale Racer! Otherwise known as Rad Mobile. This game is a pretty fun
game in the arcade. The home version is solid, but doesn't have quite
the same feel as a full motion arcade cab. It does have split screen 2
player though!

- Dodonpachi! One of the best shooters of all time, and the Saturn
version is the way to own it at home. I already had it digitally on PS3 (through the PS1 Classics), but this game deserves to be played on a
system that can do it justice. And the Playstation ain't it.

- Virtua Racing! Time Warner handled this port. It's not as amazing as
it should be, but it has a lot of cool stuff in it.

- Space Harrier! It's an all time classic, one of my favorite games of
all time. When I played Shenmue, I actually won it in-game from the
Tomato mart lottery. So it feels good to have it in real life too. Now
I just need to put a band-aid on my cheek.


GENESIS DOES
Technically Mega Drive this week. Nevertheless:

- Virtua Racing! Yes, again. I can't believe I've never owned this
game before on the 16-bit system. I used to own the 32X version back
when I still had a 32X, but it's neat to see the Genesis pushing polys!

- Tel Tel Mahjong! It's a mahjong game (surprise!) that used the Mega
Drive modem back in the day to allow for multiplayer. Sega fans have
been playing online for a LONG time. This one was even more fun because
the case is half the size of a regular MD case! It just fits the cart
so snugly!


WHAT NINTENDON'T

- Slime Mori Mori 3 for the 3DS! We got Rocket Slime on the DS, but
that was only the second one in the series. There were two others that
never got released here, and I gotta try em out!

- Slime Mori Mori for the Game Boy Advance! Remember the paragraph
above? Repeat that.


PC? WHO BUYS PHYSICAL PC GAMES ANYMORE?

- Sonic 3D Blast! After watching Jessica's Retro Lunacy do a fun patched-together playthrough of the Genesis and Saturn version, I
recalled that the PC version had yet another variant on the special
stages that isn't in the other two games. Plus, the CD soundtrack for
the Saturn version is pretty killer, and this is WAY cheaper than buying
the Saturn port in any region. So yeah. The game still isn't as good
as most other Sonic games, but it's a good listen!


--
~~ benstylus ~~
Yes, this is the same benstylus who posted here from the late 90s to mid
00's.
NO-SPAM is obviously not my email domain. You might try the Roman
version of Hera if you really need to email me.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)