Friday, April 25, 2014

If it were possible, I'd probably marry my copy of Madou Monogatari A (Game Gear)

It's a good thing my husband never checks out this blog. If he did, he might be a bit turned off by the header that tops today's post.

I'm pretty sure he'd like the contents of this post, though; I mean, how could he not get the "warm and fuzzies" while looking at the photo below, which showcases the copy of Madou Monogatari A I recently picked up?


This is the fourth and final Madou Monogatari title to be released for Sega's Game Gear, by the way. The first, Madou Monogatari I, was released (in Japan, of course) in 1993, followed by Madou Monogatari II and III in 1994 and Madou Monogatari A in 1995.

All of these games are dungeon-crawling RPGs, by the way, and feature a cast of characters (and creatures) that would later show up in Compile's Puyo Puyo series.



Madou Monogatari A usually serves as the start of a second Madou Monogatari trilogy--with the first trilogy consisting of I, II and III and the second consisting of A, R and S--but for whatever reason A was the only one to get a Game Gear port.


Anyway, a funny little story about this pick-up: I'd had my eye on a particular complete-in-box copy of this game (on eBay, of course) for a couple of years, but its $40 asking price was a bit too rich for my blood. 

A month or so ago, though, the same seller switched the listing to an actual auction that started at a penny. I threw my hat into the ring for it, as the saying goes, and ended up walking away with the copy seen above and below for $4 (not including shipping).



That's a pretty sweet deal on such an adorable game, don't you think? I mean, the first page of this game's instruction manual (above) alone is worth about that much to me.


Speaking of which, I'm planning to devote an upcoming installment of "Manual Stimulation" to this game, so keep an eye out for it if you're at all curious about such things. Also, maybe I'll finally finish Madou Monogatari I soon and then write a "Great Gaymathon" review of it.  

In the meantime, have any of you played any of this games many releases? If so, which ones are your favorites?

See also: 'I don't get mad, I get Madou Monogatari'

14 comments:

Chief said...

I love my game gear I should probably start collecting for it. I pretty much play the games I've had since I got it as a present. I need to educate myself on the system's hidden gems. :D

thegaygamer.com said...

I may be a bit biased, Chief, but I personally think that, yes, you *should* start collecting for the GG--or at least you should pick up a few of its hidden gems. Click on the "Game Gear" tag of this post to see more info on a few of my faves--like The Berlin Wall and Magical Puzzle Popils.

Justin Difazzio said...

I'm calling the cops. That's a steal.

thegaygamer.com said...

I know, right? Granted, some folks probably wouldn't take the game if you gave it to them for free, but I'm clearly not one of those people!

Chief said...

...and the backlog grows bigger and bigger! XD

thegaygamer.com said...

Yours or mine, Chief? Or both?

thegaygamer.com said...

Wow, this is rally great, Tye! Great job, and thanks for letting me know about it.


I'll probably publish a post devoted to it on Monday, if you're OK with that, and then promote it via Facebook and Twitter.


Thanks again, and all the best to you!

Franggio Hogland said...

Sorry for the Necro but I like to come back in a discussion like this if there is room for it.
Anyway, yes, it seems as this is a game I'll skip. The "equal opportunity" naughtyness was apparently handled really bad and everything seems to be a mess. Trying to cash in on the "Persona"/"Crawler" niche on Vita and it does it bad is very disappointing. Should still be a game for those that actually like the light feel and thought Persona was to heavy and oh yeah to the "waifu" lovers :|

Nah seems Demon Gaze will be the only thing new I play this month.

thegaygamer.com said...

Thanks for following up about this, Franggio! I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on Demon Gaze as some point, as I've definitely heard interesting things about that one in the last few days/weeks.

Chief said...

I'd say both.

thegaygamer.com said...

And you'd probably be right :)

Lewis said...

Shame on you, Nintendo of America. They really are laughably out of touch on this one, although I can't laugh because I'm too annoyed. I shall be writing a lengthy rant over on A Most Agreeable Pastime...

Lewis

thegaygamer.com said...

Thanks for letting me know, Lewis. I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Franggio Hogland said...

Hi Bryan
This took a while :)
Anyway the game, while it's my favourite staple of gaming genre: Grid based dungeon crawler.
It misses out on a few aspects the game in itself and can't really scratch that itch. Game play wise is what you should expect from a old school crawler but with a difficulty that has been toned down way to much even on the highest difficulty but for those that are new to the genre perhaps it can be satisfying anyway. A different master servant system where you can command the fallen demon bosses you encounter in the dungeons you conquer. The demons you command in battle has some sort of a gauge which you can fill up through battle but will drain as soon as you summon them and if this "leash" is broken. Well They are demons they wont play nice with you :) Summoning station which you need to feed different stones depending on what kind of a reward you wish to receive if you win the coming battle, this was actually really interesting as the enemies you meet are randomized and you could upp the difficulty if you wanted a better reward.


And that is the only good thing I can say about the game :(

While the characters can be really cute it's filled with way to much pandering for my taste. Don't get me wrong I can appreciate fanservice(the so called sexy variation) but DG does it so bluntly and forced in your face it loses all it's value it could have had. It has a few interesting ideas but it falls short and it knows it itself and to fill up the gaps it seems they throw in a "sexy scene"(they aren't imo).


So no, every little idea they had, with potential seems to fall short. The logical one in me thinks it's because it's such a niche game the budget allocated for it was in the same realm, small and to try and catch perhaps a few more they filled it with fanservice :(


No, my itch isn't scratched but I hear Starfish and Ghostlight is once again working together to bring another Elminage title over to the west, this time on PC. And as I have really liked the earlier games that I have played I'm hoping for this one :)