Sunday Roundup: 3/4/12

You really can’t go wrong with an arcade classic for only a dollar. Albeit a poorly ported arcade classic. Area 51 is synonymous with arcade shooters. Seriously, if you walked into an arcade in the 90’s (or pizza place, restaurant with a game room, etc.) you probably saw this machine there waiting to eat your quarters. And for good reason: Area 51 features terrific arcade style shooting with gory graphics and excellent replay value. Oh, and this horrifying ending if you fail (AKA run out of money).

Nothing really to say about this one other than I bought it to finish my goal of owning every American released Dreamcast game. It was only 3 bucks and is in decent condition, something that’s getting hard to come by with these games. Believe it or not, 2000 was 12 years ago… I do remember playing the Army Men series on the N64 way back, and even as a kid I wasn’t that impressed with it.

Hunter the Reckoning is a pen and paper RPG similar to Dungeons & Dragons in that you roll dice, work with number, yadda yadda yadda. Where it’s different primarily is the setting, taking place in a more current day era and featuring demons and monsters with an occult feel. Hunter the Reckoning: Wayward is a PS2 title based on the tabletop game. My brother was very much into this game and the first game on the GameCube (Hunter the Reckoning) and I remember playing them with him and enjoying them. The game is a co-op oriented action/survival RPG. I do like how the first game was only on GameCube and Xbox, this one is only on PS2, and another sequel (Hunter the Reckoning: Redeemer) is only on Xbox.

Coming in as the best find in the lot, Point Blank 3 is a party-oriented light gun game. I’ve already gotten a nice hands-on with the game and I think it’s easiest to compare it to Wario Ware if every game involved shooting stuff. Here’s the best part: I saw the game prior to buying it about 3 months ago and passed on picking it up, thinking I didn’t really want it for that price ($20). Then I did some research and realized I REALLY wanted it for that price, but when I went back, of course it was gone. Then last week I see the box sitting behind the counter and I ask if it’s for sale and they said yes. So I bought it (still for $20). The box itself is in fantastic condition, with only small wear on the edges. The game and case I swear have never been touched before me, because there isn’t so much as a smudge on them. The orange GunCon is the same way. Mint condition PS1 game in big box with GunCon? I’m in.

I’ve yet to play any game in the Serious Sam series though they’ve intrigued me over the years. As stated before, I’m not the biggest FPS fan, but the game’s colorful art style and apparent gameplay similar to older style shooters makes it a game worth checking out. Or at least for $1 it’s worth checking out…

Just like Sarge’s Heroes, I solely got this one to further complete the Dreamcast collection. To be honest, I never liked the Tomb Raider games. I didn’t understand the hype around them: big boobs can’t sell me a game. Some history though about this one: It was this game that was the last relatively successful title in the series before Lara Croft fell off the good graces of consumers and started making crappy games. She still hasn’t received as much success as she did in her early PS1 games, but perhaps the upcoming series revival will change all that.