Sunday Roundup: 1/25/15

While perusing Amazon I noticed this game was priced relatively cheap at just $5 brand new. Surprisingly, there were some other cheap PSP games on the site, but I only bit for this one. Hot Shots Tennis is a spinoff of the Hot Shots Golf series, which has been around for decades now. I likely won’t play this one, but if it’s similar in style to the golfing sim (which I assume it is), then it’s likely a great arcade game of tennis!

I’m really not sure what happened here. I think either there was a pricing error and Amazon listed this one for just $26 and kept Alpha Sapphire at the full $40 price, or some retailer that was selling through Amazon decided they needed a boost in sales/traffic. Either way, I swooped in a scooped up this newest Pokemon game for what I believe to be the cheapest price it will likely ever be. This might also be a Pokemon game I keep sealed, as there are a lot of other games higher on my playlist now than another adventure with Pikachu and pals.

Someone happened to return this game to Target when I was working, and instead of sending it out to be donated, a coworker convinced the guest service team to mark it down and put it on the shelf. It just so happened to be a day I headed into the Electronics department to see what was new, and naturally that meant I was going to buy this ridiculously marked down game. I would never be caught dead buying a Call of Duty game, but for a sealed special edition at just $15 I had to pick it up. Special thanks goes out to Max for helping hook me up with this deal. Thanks buddy!

After an unnaturally fast visit to the DMV I decided to hit up Goodwill to see what was new in their gaming section. After a successful trip to the Santa Clara Goodwill (keep reading to find those games) I decided to go to the Mountain View Goodwill as I hadn’t been there in quite some time. I was hoping to keep my streak of exceptional Goodwill visits going, and thankfully the streak is alive and kicking! CyperTiger here is a more arcade style of golf than the traditional golfing sim he is more known for, but this one is a fun find. And at just two bucks it’s a great price!

Spider-Man happens to be one of my all time favorite superheroes. Spider-Man the video game also happens to be a game I already own (albeit on the Nintendo 64), have beaten, and remember as being quite fun. It’s the webhead at his best, maybe only topped in my experience by Maximum Carnage on the SNES, but even then these two games are hard to compare. Spider-Man is actually quite worth your time, and even more if you like the comics/movies.

I’ve been on a real THPS kick as of late, and the strange occurrences continue. First up is the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater for the PS1, the system it was first released. I have very fond memories of this game on the Nintendo 64, as many gamers do because this game launched Tony Hawk into superstardom. Though not an icon now, the Tony Hawk franchise would only get better with the subsequent installments.

Speaking of subsequent installments, it would appear someone did something very similar to the Xbox owner a few weeks back who donated his near complete collection of Tony Hawk games to Goodwill, as there were almost all of the PS1 THPS games at this particular Goodwill (only Pro Skater 4 was missing). If I’m gonna buy one I’m gonna buy them all, so naturally I had to pick up this one. Fun fact, THPS2 is my least favorite of the first four games, but it is in many aspects considered to be among the best.

My money is on Pro Skater 3 as the best in the series. Everything about it was spot-on: the music was wonderful, the mechanics were refined to perfection, and the levels and objectives were all much better. The hidden characters were varied and fun, and there was even a create-a-skater mode. Or perhaps that was only in the next-gen versions. Oh yeah… speaking of that.

Take a look at that cover. Though I’m incredibly skeptical, that would appear to be Tony Hawk’s signature on the box. I’ve looked up his signature online: this is pretty damn close. I wouldn’t have bought the game if this signature wasn’t on the front because the disc is in terrible shape. But for just $2 I decided to take the risk. You never know: what if this is an authentic signature? Then it’s an incredible find that only adds to the value. So… possible score?

By the time Proving Ground came out the Tony Hawk franchise was ruined. It wasn’t because of faulty mechanics or anything like that (although I’m sure some thought it could have been), but after nearly 10 games with very similar gameplay, gamers were likely over the thrill of doing kickflips and 900s. The developers tried something new for each game, forcefully injecting storylines and character development to spice things up, but I, and again like many others, were done. Still though, I have to add this game to the collection if I’m going to say I have the complete THPS series, which I damn near found all of today!

The SSX series has been around for a long time, and a lot of people like it. Laura and many others seemed to have gotten into the series with SSX Tricky, which I do remember renting and playing, but I never really enjoyed too much. But that hasn’t stopped me from picking up a couple of games in the series over the past few months, with SSX 3 here being the newest. There are a couple of sequels beyond this one, but for as acclaimed a series as SSX is/was, we haven’t heard much from it.

While all of the games this week are wonderful additions to the collection, only Twisted Metal: Black is a game I’d consider a highlight piece. The game has been hard to come by, but I have seen it before. As an early PS2 title, Twisted Metal: Black is still considered one of the best in the franchise. It was even included as a downloadable bonus game with the PS3 reboot of the franchise. Also of note, there is a separate game on the PS2 called Twisted Metal: Black Online which, as you might guess, features online gameplay not seen in the original. I believe this version was free if you had Black, and was later bundled with the Greatest Hits re-release.

I’m definitely in the minority here, but I never really liked the Grand Theft Auto series. I played the most of Vice City on PS2, and while I enjoyed by time destroying the city and doing basically whatever I wanted with a plethora of cheat codes at my disposal, the gameplay and story were never really my thing. Still though, I can recognize a good deal and a good game when I see it, so I didn’t hesitate to swoop in a pick up this great looking copy of the final game in the PS2 trilogy.

Though not the same console, this week I actually managed to pick up the entire GTA trilogy between PS2 and Xbox. When the Xbox version here released in 2003, Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City were already released for the PS2. They were exclusives for Sony’s console until a deal was struck with Microsoft and this dual pack was released. Featuring slightly improved visuals and audio, the Xbox versions were largely identical to the PS2 counterparts.

Besides the sweet packaging, nothing else really changed on these versions. Here’s another fun fact: this is the dual pack, bundling GTA III and Vice City into one. After the release of San Andreas, there would eventually come a Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy package, which would bring together all three games. This version is interesting because it is the version of San Andreas which does NOT include the “Hot Coffee” controversial minigame seen in the original game. Though I’m not sure how to tell which version you have for sure, I’d assume there would be something on the back of the box designating it was part of a trilogy, such as a “Not for Resale” image, or dates being later than the original.

What can I say, it’s Halo 2. When I saw the game behind the glass I thought I already owned it. After checking my app and discovering I somehow didn’t own what I would consider to be the best game in the series (or at least the one I spent the most time with), I had to take the dive. At $6 it’s pretty close to market value for it, but even that price is a decent one for one of, if not the, best games on the original Xbox.

My cousin swears by Silent Hill 2, often calling it better than Resident Evil. I’m sure many would agree with him. And from what I hear, Silent Hill 2 is one of the best in the survival horror series. The Xbox version, Restless Dreams, includes bonus content not seen on the original PS2 release (although the Restless Dreams game also saw release on Sony’s console), including bonus missions and playable characters. I’m not up to date on the Xbox collection scene, but I feel like this one might stand out as a better find.

Chalk this one up to me having no room in the apartment: I bought this game a few days after Christmas and kind of forgot about it. But anyway, here it is, Medal of Honor: Warfighter for a measly $4 sealed. The game was marked down in the clearance section of Target, and thanks to a nifty little employee discount I got it even cheaper. Though not particularly expensive on the resale market, it’ll be a nice sealed game to have in the collection for years to come.

Hahaha! Apparently there’s a Where’s Waldo video game, and now I have it. I read (?) the Waldo books growing up and always thought they were kind of cool. Even after finding the guy in each page, I would go back and totally forget where he was. And I remember that stupid one where everyone was freaking wearing red and white striped shirts so everyone looked like Waldo. Well anyway, there’s a video game on the Wii which is actually based on the television show of all things. At just five bucks I decided I had to have Waldo in my collection. Fun fact, Waldo always reminded me of one of my friends from high school!

Squeeballs Party has been in pretty much every bargain section at every GameStop I’ve been, but only this week did I finally decide to buy. It looks like a pretty bland puzzle game using some type of rudimentary physics. What I think is funny (besides the ridiculous faces on the balls (Squeeballs?)) is that there are promotional plushies which released with the game which fetch higher prices than the actual game. Also worth noting, there’s a DS game as well, which makes it very clear via box art that it features far less minigames than the Wii version.

Laura and I were at this particular GameStop a few months back and I saw Kid Adventures: Sky Captain and was vaguely interested. After doing research and finding pretty much nothing online about the game, I decided to let it go,. We ended up going back to the GameStop a few weeks ago, and it was still there. Curious still, I picked up the game and debated heavily whether it would be worth it. But alas, I set it down again and walked away. And then this past week, I actually went in, determined to buy it, and… walked away again. But before Laura and I got back to the car, I decided I was for sure going to buy it. And much to my surprise the game wasn’t $10 as advertised on the sticker, but $3! Huzzah!

Man, DDR has totally fallen. I knew the series was dying by the time I got out of if in the later years of the PS2, but these new games are so foreign. Having picked up the second Hottest Party at Goodwill some months back, I have since been looking for the other two games fervently. I usually come across the first game frequently, but always in really bad shape (i.e. no box, damaged disc, etc.). This week found me a great looking copy at a good price so I picked it up. The third Hottest Party seems to be the hardest to find, as I’ve only ever seen it once or twice out and about. So the hunt continues!

There are copies of this game and the DS version flying around everywhere, but it was only until this week I decided to actually look up what the game was all about. Spectrobes: Origins is the third (and final, as of writing) installment of the series and the only game released for the Nintendo Wii (all others being on the DS). Featuring action RPG gameplay and collection elements, Origins actually received positive reviews, being praised for fun though repetitive gameplay. I’m all for cheap RPGs!

I’ve somehow managed to buy most all games in the Tenchu series, even coming across a Japanese version of the PSP game, but I’ve never actually played any of them. I like ninja games, with their general mix of stealth and action, but I never seem to play them. Anyhow, Shadow Assassins is a Wii  Tenchu game, using the motion controls to move and fight with your katana. Unlike many other motion-based action games on the Wii, Shadow Assassins received average reviews (as opposed to below average), which was enough for me to give it a shot.

Nice! Pokemon Trading Card Game is the only Pokemon game on the original Game Boy/Game Boy Color that I didn’t previously own (though Laura had a copy). I did, however, play the game when it was first released, having borrowed my friends copy of the game for a few days. And for that matter, I was a HUGE player of the physical card game, playing every Saturday at Toys R Us in a “League”. Though slow, this portable version is a great adaptation of the card game, and was recently released on the Wii U Virtual Console.

Yeah, I really only got this one because it was there. The price isn’t even that good for it, as it is usually around $4 or $5 online. But I was there. It was there. So I bought it. It’s a skateboarding game that came out right before the rise of the Tony Hawk series, which would completely and utterly destroy 720 and any other skating game before/after it.

Every now and then I make a purchase that isn’t a good one, and this week I can include Dexter’s Laboratory: Robot Rampage to that list. At $6 loose the game was overpriced, selling for a few bucks less online. But like 720, I was there and thought I’d grab it. Granted, it’s not likely I’ll every see another copy of this game in the wild, but for titles like this, buying loose is almost always the only option, and buying them in general will almost always come from specialty stores or online. So, lesson learned.

Lastly, we have yet another copy of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, but this time for the Game Boy Advance. Since the GBA was incapable of recreating the visuals and didn’t have the processing power of the PS1, this version features vastly different gameplay than the console version. The isometric viewpoint was a big difference, but it did feature the same style of gameplay. What I really want to find is the Game Boy Color version, which incorporates 2D side scrolling gameplay and visuals, yet somehow manages to be a decent translation of the THPS formula. Online sites frequently reference how Pro Skater 2 on the Game Boy Color is vastly superior to the original Pro Skater on the Game Boy Color. I wonder what was so wrong with the first?