Saturday, January 07, 2012

Five more retro games and systems I'm looking forward to playing in 2012

Yesterday, I wrote about five retro games and systems--like Chack'n Pop for the Famicom and the Sega Game Gear--that I'm looking forward to buying (if need be) and playing in 2012. Here are five more:

1. Kaettekita Mario Bros.--To those of you wondering what the hell Kaettekita Mario Bros. is: It's an updated version of Nintendo's arcade classic that was released, with the help of Japanese food company Nagatanien for the Famicom Disk System back in 1988. The main reason I want to own and play it: Honestly, I like that it's a somewhat-rare oddity. There are other reasons, too, though, such as that the graphics and music in this version are a smidge better than those seen and heard in the Famicom cart release and that the titular Mario brothers (finally) can change direction in mid-air.


2. Madou Monogatari--This is the other "holy grail" PC Engine game I eluded to in my last post. Unlike the first one, this one is a CD-based dungeon-crawler that stars a doe-eyed little girl and a slew of characters that later appeared in Compile's Puyo Puyo series. The only reasons I haven't already acquired a copy of Madou Monogatari: It's awfully expensive (copies go for well over $100 on eBay, plus it requires an Arcade Card, which tends to go for about $40) and it's entirely in Japanese.


3. Pier Solar--The good news about this game's inclusion on this list: I already own it. The bad news: I can't currently play it, as I don't have access to a Genesis at the moment. I actually own one, but it's sitting in a closet at my childhood home. I hope to have it shipped to me soon, though, and as soon as it arrives on my doorstep you can rest assured I'll check this Lunar-esque RPG off my "to play" list as quickly as possible.


4. Sega CDX--If I had to guess, I'd say this is the least likely of all of the items on this list--and this one, too--to be added to my collection in the coming year. (The pricey Madou Monogatari is a close second, in case you're wondering, while the similarly expensive Coryoon is a distant third--mainly because it's a cute 'em up, and I have a major soft spot for those.) That's too bad, because I've wanted one of these slick-looking systems--which were known as Sega Multi-Megas in Europe--since they first hit store shelves back in 1994. (True story: I used to rent one on occasion from the local grocery store.)


5. Shining in the Darkness--I see that side-eye some of you are aiming in my general direction. I'll admit that this early Genesis RPG is kind of a weird choice given the rest of the games included in these last two posts, all of which are decidedly more "exotic" than this one, but I've been thinking about it for a while now--ever since I began obsessing about owning a Sega CDX, in fact--plus I figure I should mention at least one easily obtainable title on this list. If it'll make some of you feel better, though, I'll add that I also want to buy and play copies of the also-created-by-Climax trio of Shining Force, Shining Force II and Landstalker at some point in 2012.

See also: Five retro games and systems I'm looking forward to buying and playing in 2012

10 comments:

Zigfried said...

This is the year that you make it happen! Bring the CDX dream home! (With a copy of Shining in the Darkness to celebrate)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Are you teasing me, Zigfried? Well, even if you are teasing me, I *do* hope to finally bring a CDX home this year. They're so much nicer to look at than the regular, bulky Genesis systems :P

Also, not only will I bring home a copy of Shining in the Darkness with it, but a copy of Lunar, too, I think.

Motherplayer said...

Well if you have trouble finding Shining in the darkness, you could always get the ultimate genesis collection which also has the other two shining games on genesis. Unless you want the original cart.

Mark Ayala said...

Wow! I never heard of the Mario Bros. version or of Madou Monogatari! The latter looks particularly beautiful! It still amazes me a 16-bit machine can produce graphics of that quality. Plus it's Compile which can do no wrong, right?

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Motherplayer! Truthfully, I do want the original cart. I figure that if I have a Genesis, I may as well have some games to play on it, too. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yes, Mark, Madou Monogatari is quite beautiful. It'd be nice if I could understand a word of it while playing it, but you can't always have everything, can you? :P Oh, and, yes, Compile can do no wrong in my eyes!

Unknown said...

Well, Madou Monogatari looks awesome! And characters from Puyo Puyo appear in it?? Sign me up! That reminds me, I haven't even cracked open my copy of Puyo Puyo 20th anniversary yet... (what a bad gamer I am)

Do you plan on picking Madou Monogatari up someday, Bryan, or is it just a pipe dream? (it is pretty expensive...)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Anne! Yeah, some of the Puyo Puyo universe's characters appear in Madou Monogatari. That's a big reason I'm interested in it, too :)

As for whether I plan on picking it up someday: Yep! Really, I'll pick it up later this year if I can swing it, but I'm not sure at this time if that will happen. Fingers crossed...

Zigfried said...

You'll actually see a LOT of Puyo characters in Madou Monogatari -- because Madou is the series that inspired Puyo Puyo! It's one of those weird situations where the spin-off became more popular, but I love them both. I just wish Compile had made a shooter based on it... they could have called it Puyo Arleste.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Zigfried: Oh, a Puyo shooter would be great! And if they'd called it Puyo Arleste: Even better :P