Friday, February 10, 2017

Manual Stimulation: Bubble Bobble (Famicom Disk System, Limited Edition)

A few weeks ago, I published a post about the manual that came with copies of Bubble Bobble bought from Japanese Famicom Disk Writer kiosks back in the late 1980s. (I also published a post filled with photos of that version's packaging.)

The booklet you see here was stuffed inside of an adorable plastic pencil case along with a copy of Bubble Bobble's surprisingly adept Famicom port. I refer to that release as a "limited edition" in the headline above, although I have to admit I'm not entirely sure it actually was limited in quantity.

Regardless, it helps differentiate this Bubble Bobble package from the previously mentioned Famicom Disk Writer one, so I'm sticking with it unless otherwise corrected.


At any rate, this Bubble Bobble Famicom instruction manual is similar to its Disk Writer counterpart with two major exceptions: the former is a lot larger than the latter (in fact, it's probably the biggest Famicom manual I've seen to date) and it's also in full color rather than in just pink and green.


The size of the Bubble Bobble Limited Edition's booklet is to blame for this post featuring single-page scans rather than double-page ones, by the way. My scanner just isn't big enough for me to capture entire spreads, so I was forced to go with what you'll encounter throughout this write-up.


In the end, some of you may consider that to be the preferred option, as it allows you to focus on the beauty that is this particular version of the Bubble Bobble Famicom manual.


And it is pretty darn beautiful, wouldn't you agree? OK, so the first few pages aren't mind-blowingly amazing or anything like that, but they're still packed with both big and small details that make them decidedly appealing--or at least that's how I think of them.


Take the adorable little illustrations that can be seen above and below. If you can't quite make them out, click on the scan in question and you'll be able to take a much closer look.


My favorite components, though, are the more substantial pieces of art, like the massive Super Drunk--or Super-Drunk as the back of this booklet proclaims--situated in the lower-right corner of the following page.


Monday, February 06, 2017

Nice Package! (Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu DS+, DS)

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon was one of my favorite Wii games. (You can read my succinct review of that title here, if you're curious.)

As such, I was keenly interested when I heard--some time ago, of course--Square Enix was prepping an enhanced DS port of the game that was known in Japan as Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu.

For whatever reason, though, I didn't actually buy this portable roguelike until recently. This despite the fact that it hit Japanese store shelves all the way back in late 2008 (just under a year after the Wii version was released).



How does the DS port, which allows you to play as that old Final Fantasy standby, Cid, as well as the titular Chocobo, compare to the Wii original? I wish I could tell you. Unfortunately, I've yet to even pop the cartridge shown in one of the photos below into any of my DS or 3DS systems.

I brought said cart with me on sabbatical, though, so expect me to at least start my way through its dungeon-crawaling adventure sometime in the next few months.



In the meantime, let's ogle the packaging produced for this surprising DS game (called Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu DS+, in case you missed that earlier).

I'm pretty fond of its cover illustration, I've got say--even with that brown band of text obscuring its bottom fifth.



Does anyone know what it's trying to convey to potential buyers, by the way?

I see the word "dungeon" in there a few times, but that's about it. I know this port doesn't contain 1,000 dungeons, though, so what does that figure refer to--the number of weapons in the game? Enemies? Facial expressions made by Chocobo? Any help here would be greatly appreciated.



As for the instructional manual that accompanies complete copies of Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu DS+, I'm fond of it, too.

That shocks me a bit, if I'm to be honest. Why? Because I find most DS manuals to be disappointing. Sure, they offer up a couple of nice visuals, but other than that they're usually filled with text.



Although that's largely the case here, too, there are enough brilliant illustrations (like the one above) to make the whole shebang appreciably impressive--to my eyes, at least.

Have any of you played this updated version of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon? If so, what do you think of it?

Whether or not you've played Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu DS+, what do you think of its outer case, cartridge and manual? As always, share your thoughts in this post's comments section.

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts