I’ve always enjoyed buying bootleg Famicom multicarts; you never know what you’re going to get. You’ll almost certainly never get the number of games listed on the front (this one had about a dozen unique games) and rarely will the pictures represent them properly either. Today I thought I’d try out a 64 in 1 and see what delights lay in store (excuse the photo quality, I couldn’t be bothered with proper screen captures)…
Judging by the fact that Harry’s leg is actually behind the pillar, I assume he must be some kind of giant
First up is ‘Harry’s Legend’, a Harry Potter rip-off, er, homage. Now, having never read a Harry Potter book or seen any of the films, I do now at least know that they seem to be about Harry kicking the crap out of fat people…
Kick ‘im down the stairs, ‘Arry
Next up.. Pokeworld II…
Being able to draw Pikachu was clearly optional here
which is re-skin of Adventure Island II, so at least it was a decent enough game…
Then came Digi Monster II..
Looks harmless enough, despite the odd thing on the right
After starting the game, you’re informed that the first level is ‘Infant School’…
The stuff of nightmares
which is basically several floors of flying octopuses and escalators. Oh and the whole place is on fire and you have to dodge the rising flames. Personally, I went to a comparatively tame school it seems.
Next up.. Poke Mareo…
What the bloody hell is that?Oh.. it’s another badly-drawn Pikachu
Losing the will to live, I thought I’d try one more – ‘City Fighting Jacky’..
If your title screen is only legible from ten feet away, you’re doing it wrong
Thankfully, this turned out to be…
“Excuse me. Have you seen my knives?”
Kung-Fu Master. Finally, a game worth playing. At least till I got to the level one boss and died in seconds.
Nearly a year between blog posts. I’m getting the hang of this.
Had a bit of a tidy-up early and found my Game Theory Admiral box (the console itself is around here somewhere.. damned if I know where). Judging by the back of the box, the documentation wasn’t a top priority…
Prolific blogger that I am, I decided to do a post for the first time in ages and notice that it’s been a year and a day since my last post. Anyway, as I’ve got the week off from work, I thought I’d catch up on the backlog of stuff I’ve had in the post of late. Today was the turn of the 3DO I had a month or so ago. The plan was just to give it a test.. make sure it loaded up, the pads worked and all that, stick it on the site and tidy it away.
I particularly like the way the pads daisy-chain onto each other. Mind you, it does mean the cables are ridiculously long too.
A couple of hours later and I’m still sat there playing Need for Speed.
FIFA was pretty forgettable as you’d expect, but Road Rash Was was up second. Played it before plenty of times on the PS1 and PC but rather enjoyed getting stuck into it again. Then I put Need for Speed on and despite its cringeworthy FMV and a menu screen that doesn’t explain a thing, I got stuck into it and was rather enjoying myself. I do rather miss those days where games could be picked up in minutes and they weren’t all about complicated combos, unlockables, DLC and numerous controls to memorise.
Three EA games in one day and a general positive experience from them all. How times have changed.
Following another tale of gloom at Game, you have to wonder how they managed to let the company get into such a state. Obviously the poor economic climate doesn’t help any business, but they always seem to be pinning their hopes on the next big console release, which seems a risky strategy, particularly with the increasing popularity of mobile gaming.
However, it’s no real surprise that they’d run into problems eventually – when Electronics Boutique took them over in 1999, you’d often find a Game and EB store a stone’s throw from each other. At least then though there was still a marked difference between the two shops and the games they stocked. When it was all re-branded to Game, they should have taken the opportunity to merge some of those branches and cut some costs. Even now in Hanley, there are two Game shops a mere escalator ride from each other, neither of which ever seem to be particularly busy. There’s little point in visiting both either as they stock virtually the same games at the same prices – the only variation being in their pre-owned stock and considering how many games get released for each console, you’d think that they could stock a wide variety of back catalogue games, but that’s rarely the case.
A Game shop - could be anywhere, frankly.
Things didn’t get better when they took over Gamestation in 2007 – they sucked any individuality from those shops too, so no more retro sections (admittedly, it might just be folk like me who appreciated those sections) and one shop being much like the next.
If Game and Gamestation were to go under, it’d be interesting to see what would appear in its place. It’d be nice to see more independent retailers popping up on the high street, but I guess they’d struggle against Supermarket prices. However, if they were to target back catalogue games and niche titles, then maybe they could find some success. Or maybe the more savvy games just buy everything online anyway and the casual gamers can just pick up their Fifa of Duty games with their weekly shop instead.
