Acquisition Time with The Gay Gamer™: Pizza Pop! (Famicom)

No one's ever accused me of having an altogether level head with it comes to buying games--especially Japanese ones from the 8-, 16- or 32-bit eras.

Case in point: the recent-ish pick-up seen in the following photos.

The pick-up in question is Jaleco's Pizza Pop! for the Famicom, of course. While most people consider this side-scrolling platformer to be of questionable quality (at best), it's always held a special place in my heart.

Why? I'm not entirely sure. Yes, I like its "totally '80s" graphics, and I'm also pretty darn fond of its colorfully cartoonish packaging, but I'm not sure that tells the whole story.

Regardless, I like the game quite a bit--which is why I nabbed this particular copy as soon as I came across it on ebay a few months ago.

I've only popped it into my lusciously red Twin Famicom once since then--mainly so I could make sure it's in full working order--but I'll return to it sooner rather than later, there's no question about that.

In the meantime, I invite you to take in the photos published throughout this post and the walkthrough video that can be found here.

The photo below highlights a particularly interesting part of this game's box, by the way--specifically, the advertisement that appears on its top "flap."

Have any of you played Pizza Pop! before--either using a real cartridge and Famicom or via emulation? If so, what did you think of it?

See also: previous posts about the Famicom

Nearly five minutes of awesome Pokémon doodles

Early last week, I posted a video that consisted of three-and-a-half minutes of awesome Animal Crossing doodles, each of which were produced (using black pencil and acrylic paint) by YouTube user surrounded78.

Well, while perusing the other 90 videos surrounded78 has uploaded to his (her?) YouTube channel in the last seven or so years, I came across the one below, which includes just under five minutes of awesome Pokémon doodles.



As amazing as surrounded78's Animal Crossing creations are and were, I think these Pokémon creations may be even more so thanks to the ones shown at :16, :21, :36, 1:05, 1:42, 1:59, and so on and so forth.

See also: 'Three-and-a-half minutes of awesome Animal Crossing doodles'

In case you're wondering, the text in this Japanese TV ad translates to: 'Bryan, get off your lazy ass and play Contact for Nintendo DS'

While writing up this blog post earlier in the week, I came across the following commercial for the Japanese release of Grasshopper Manufacture's dual-screened RPG, Contact.

For all sorts of reasons--the first glimpse of "the Professor," the Mother-esque graphics, the music--it got my heart pumping.



It also prompted me to slap myself--solidly and repeatedly--for failing to even pop the cart into my trusty DS Lite (true story: I don't like to play DS games on my 3DS) despite the fact that I've owned a copy of the Euro release since January.

I'm going to do my best to change that soon (possibly as part of my "Baby Got Back(log)" series), though, as I have a feeling it's going to blow me away just like another long-overlooked DS title, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, did a few months ago.

Let's Play: 'Which Box Art is Better?' (New Super Luigi U edition)

After seeing the adorably (some might say overly) green box art for New Super Luigi U, I couldn't help but dedicate a "Which Box Art is Better?" post to it and its Mario-branded predecessor.

Before we get to our verdicts, though, I probably should point out that the digital version of New Super Luigi U will hit the Wii U eShop on June 20 (in North America) carrying a price tag of $19.99, while the boxed version will follow on Aug. 25 and cost $29.99.

Is the retail release's packaging worth an extra $10? I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I'd certainly go so far as to say I find it pretty darn appealing.

That said, how does it compare to the cover art produced for last year's New Super Mario Bros. U? Fairly well, I think.

Don't take that to mean that I unquestionably prefer New Super Luigi U's box art to New Super Mario Bros. U's. In fact, at the moment, I think I slightly prefer the latter to the former--mainly because it seems brighter and more colorful.

Do you prefer one to the other? If so, which one do you prefer?

See also: previous 'Which Box Art is Better?' posts