Sunday Roundup: 9/21/14

Taking my own advice about purchasing video game lots, I happened to score Again for just under $10 total with another game here on this list. Again is an FBI detective/mystery store that has you turning the DS on it’s side and using it as a sort of book/memo pad. I’m hoping the storyline is interesting enough to hold my attention, and I’m comparing all of these types of games to the Phoenix Wright and Professor Layton series in terms of quality. So a lot to live up for, Again!

I wrote about all of my garage sale finds a few days ago, so you can read all about those awesome exploits after this! I was very surprised the gentleman at this garage sale let the game go for just $4. I mean, it had a $10 sticker on it, and all I did was ask if it was also $4 despite the sticker. Ask, and ye shall receive, right?

When I walked into this GameStop with Laura I literally said, “I’m probably not going to buy anything, this GameStop hasn’t had anything worthwhile in a long time.” And then of course I found like, five great games at wonderful prices. The Conduit 2 was the first of those games, and while I’ve seen it many times before around and about, I’ve never seen the “Limited Edition” version sitting on the shelf. It has a nice, shiny cover, and comes with an art book and special in-game items. Sweet! And the price was right! Series complete!!

The other half of the lot with Again. I’ll likely never play this one, and just used it as leverage against other buyers to get Again at a cheaper price. Maybe I’ll give it to my niece or nephew, as it’s more in their gamer range.

Hot damn, twenty cents! And this game was originally released on my birthday! Haha, awesome. Jet Grind Radio was a pretty killer Dreamcast game, but the Game Boy Advance version is interesting in it’s own right, but not as good.

The game that started the eBay craze of the last two weeks. I needed to buy Kirby: Canvas Curse for two reasons: 1) I really wanted to play it, and 2) I needed to get my hands on the game before it became even harder to track down after the pseudo-sequel Kirby and the Rainbow Curse releases on the Wii U. Honestly, $25 is a fair price for the game, but a far cry from what I really would have wanted to get the game for. But I’ll take it: the game has been seen to sell for more than that, and I’m hoping that value will increase. On the plus side, the game’s in excellent condition!

I’ve been looking at this game for a long time and never thought it right to buy. This week, however, I took the plunge. It is a marble based puzzle game, which I’m thinking looks a lot like the Super Monkey Ball games. It’s quirky, probably somewhat simple, but it’s a game that I’m willing to try.

Easily, easily the best find of the garage sale day, Metroid: Zero Mission is not only an excellent remake of an already stellar game, but it’s an absolute steal at twenty cents. Though loose, the game regularly sells for well over $20!! Seeing as this is my second copy (my other’s complete, too!), I might toss this one up for sale and use it to grab a few other games.

A port of a remake of a classic game, Sid Meier’s Pirates! isn’t really a game for me, but it’s a collector’s item for me. The game has you playing as a swashbuckling pirate on the high seas? Or… something like that? Honestly, the only thing I really know about the game is that it’s a port of a classic title. Hopefully at $5 my investment will grow and it’ll be worthwhile.

I spent about 15 minutes playing this game to make sure it worked (which it did), and I found a pretty damn beautiful Game Boy Color game. The colors were great for a late GBC game, and the animations were smooth and exciting. My only issue was I totally got my butt kicked by these flying hawks or birds or something. I dropped thugs on rooftops like nobody’s business, but these birds of prey annihilated me! Hawks are Spider-Man’s bane.

I already have a copy of this game, but for the price I would pretty much buy an unlimited number of copies of games. While testing this one out real quick I noticed the game’s controls are a little wonky: it’s hard to get your hands around how to move and how to jump and attack all from the get-go. Maybe there’s a tutorial later on, but just an observation. Sadly though, this game isn’t too valuable loose.

A buck! One of the Xbox’s only worthwhile games and it’s mine for only a dollar! I’ve only completed three games on my original Xbox: Halo, Halo 2, and the original Knights of the Old Republic. Though I’ve heard the sequel here isn’t nearly as memorable, it’s just as fun and just as good gameplay-wise. Plus, this series lead up to the massive successful and wonderfully awesome Mass Effect series!

From what I have heard from my friends, The Force Unleashed series is entertaining, but painfully short. One friend said he completed the first game in under 5 hours, and another said pretty much the same thing about the second. A past coworker of mine absolutely loved the series and wished they’d make more! Well, we haven’t seen a third game in the series in awhile, but there’s still a chance I suppose. If the Force is strong in all gamers’ hearts, it’ll come to be.

Oh man… SUCH an awesome game. Check out my full review of the game, which I’ve already devoted over 20 hours of my life to. I’ll gladly donate more, because the sheer amount of music to play through is ridiculous. Some highlights include improved “Quest Medley” sections, an expansive soundtrack including random spinoff Final Fantasy games, and perfect sound. If you played and liked the original, buy this one. If you like Final Fantasy music, buy this game.

Of the gentleman’s garage sale games, Wave Race was the only game I truly wanted to add to my collection. It’s a classic series, and the game came out over 20 years ago. Obviously it’s not complete, but being that old you’re not going to find it complete too often, unless you’re looking at a specialty store. I dabbled in the game when testing it, and it kind of reminded me of Micro Machines on the original NES: simple courses with simple controls, but brutally challenging computer AI. Haha, it was fun, and I’m happy to say I finally have it in my collection.

When I brought this game up to the counter, I was a little saddened that it didn’t include the manual, but I’ve been looking everywhere to find a copy that didn’t look like it was eaten partially by a dog, so I decided I’d give this one a go. And then, the clerk pulled out an even better copy of the game, WITH a manual, and gave that one to me without me even asking! It’s like he knew. Anyway, Wii Music is what I consider to be the biggest flop Nintendo released on the Wii: it just isn’t that fun, and it came out when Guitar Hero and especially Rock Band were HUGE! Still though, it’s a Nintendo developed game, and something I needed to have.

Before you ask, no, sadly this game does not come with the included 3D glasses. I was on a sort of Wii shooter binge a few weeks back, and since then I’ve had a few games on my radar to pick up. As luck would have it, this particular GameStop had Wild West Shootout for a few bucks, so I grabbed it. It looks like a pretty lame budget game (it’s by Zoo, afterall), but if it features two-player simultaneous shooting then I’m game. And really, for the price I can’t miss.