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Hey everyone! Been a while since I have posted about our eBay chronicles. I just moved back from Florida because the job market is very hard down there. BUT WHILE I WAS AWAY my brother kept on eBay shopping. For a purchase of $40.00 he bought 36 SUPER FAMICOM games in their boxes all but one is complete with instructions. Some of the popular titles would include Sim City Jr., P.T.O. II, Romance The Three Kingdoms III, Super Baseball II and some others. This collection is awesome and definitely adds to the great import collection we have started. The Super Famicom as is the SNES is one of the best systems ever made (Sorry Sega Fans) the system especially in Japan had hundreds of titles and our new addition is only a small percentage of games to come. Hope you all enjoy please leave comments and here are some pictures with some descriptions.
Also in another eBay purchase he bought two ULTIMA Famicom Games complete in Box!
Picture 1 - The Complete Purchase Part 1
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This is 34 out of the 36 games.
Picture - The Complete Purchase Part 2 & Ultima Games
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Picture 3 - Close Ups #1
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Picture 4 - Close Ups #2
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Picture 5 - Close Ups #3
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Picture 6 - Close Ups #4
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Picture 7 - Close Ups #5
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Picture 8 - Close Ups #6
[img width=700 height=526]http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab172/niceguy1283/100_2174.jpg[/img]
I am hoping at some point my collection posts get put on the front page of the website. Hope you all enjoy please post on and tell people about this blog and our others.
Here are the games that I hope to finish in the next several months:
1. Resistance Fall of Man-PS3
2. Ocarina of Time-3DS
3. Silent Hill Shattered Memories-PSP
4. Heavenly Sword-PS3
5. Tomb Raider Underworld-360
6. Bayonetta-360
7. Vanquish-PS3
8. LA Noire-PS3
9. Resident Evil 5-PS3
10. Bastion-XBLA
Several months back I intended to write here more consistently to help me get through my huge backlog of games. I haven't done very well actually blogging but I have done extremely well playing and finishing games.
In my previous blog, I mentioned it was my new year's resolution to actually finish games this year. I finished three games in 2010--Heavy Rain, Splinter Cell Conviction and Alan Wake. I have a big problem of starting games and then playing them a quarter of the way through and then starting something else. I really like to buy games as well. Whenever I find a good deal, I have to buy it if it is a game I am interested in(darn you Cheapassgamer!!). Due to these issues, my backlog has grown to well over a hundred current gen games, not including retro system games(I own pretty much all of them).
I have to say that I am quite proud of myself this year with the games that I have completed. Even though I haven't blogged here as much as I intended, I always new I would eventually and it has kept me focused on finishing games.
On to my completed games since my last update on March 3rd. The list is in no particular order.
1. Metro 2033--Xbox 360
I bought this for $10 at Sears on clearance and thought I would really love this game as it was an FPS with horror aspects. It was ok but I didn't find it very fun. I hated the fact that I always had to worry about my stupid gas mask. It annoyed me and I never felt at ease with the game. Maybe that was the point the developer's were trying to make. Who knows. I'm glad I only spent $10 on it. This is the only title I couldn't wait for the game to be over.
2. Silent Hill Homecoming-PS3
I love survival horror games. Love them. This got a lot of so-so reviews but I have to say with my 5.1 surround sound headphones on in the dark, this was an awesome Silent Hill game. If you like Silent Hill games, you will like this. I bought this the week it came out and just finished it!
3. Back to the Future Episode 1-PS3
I have a problem with PSN and XBLA games. They are very easy to buy but then I rarely play them as i feel like I need to finish my boxed games first. Anyway, this was short and a fun little diversion from all the FPS's I have been playing. Episode 5 just came out this week so I have a long way to go to finish the entire series.
4. The Darkness-Xbox 360
This is another game that I got right when it came out. It was in the early days of the 360 and there wasn't much out so I got this and enjoyed it for quite awhile but then got sidetracked. I really enjoyed it overall. The shooting aspects weren't the best but "The Darkness" powers were a lot of fun. I wanted to finish this up before The Darkness 2 comes out next year.
5. Chronicles of Riddick-Assault on Dark Athena-Xbox 360
I loved the original Chronicles of Riddick back on the original Xbox. I found this game at Target several years ago for under $10 and had to snatch it up. Most reviews said the games was average but I really liked it. It had great atmosphere. It also comes with an redone version of the original game but since I had beaten that already, I didn't play it.
6. Bioshock-Xbox 360
What a great game!! I loved the atmosphere! This is another game I bough right when it came out and just finished it. Finding Bioshock 2 for $5 new helped me want to finish it as well as the awesome looking Bioshock Infinite that is coming out next year. I have to say that I thought the shooting mechanics were't very good though.
7. Fear 2 Project Origin-Xbox 360
This is another FPS that is horror themed and unlike Metro 2033, I absolutely loved this game. Great atmoshpere and gunplay especially with bullettime! I knew I would like it as I loved the first Fear and will love Fear 3 when I find it cheap later this year.
8. Enslaved-Odyssey to the West-Xbox360
I needed a break from FPS games and this did the trick. This is an excellent third person action game with beautiful graphics. I got it at Gamestop new for $15 this spring and couldn't recommend it highly enough. It came from the same company that made heavenly Sword which is coming soon to a PS3 near me.
9. Crysis 2-Xbox 360
I very rarely buy full priced games but just knew I had to have this one. Awesome, awesome FPS with great graphics! There is something about bullet time that I really like in shooters.
10. Halo 3
I felt guilty about not finishing this one up a long time ago. I bought it the day it came out and played a lot of it but for whatever reason, put it aside. I loved it back then but when I went back to play it recently, I found the game seemed old in comparison to games like Crysis 2. I still enjoyed it and recently purchased Halo 3 ODST which I will playeeventually before picking up Halo Reach(hopefully before Halo 4!!)
11. James Bond Quantum of Solace-Xbox 360
I bought this on a whim from my local Pamida store for $10. I knew it would be a short romp and I had this desire to play a Bond game after watching the recent movies. It was just as many reviews stated at the time--an ok FPS. Nothing special and a bit generic.
12. Dead Space-PS3
I thought I would love this game as it was survival horror and I love survival horror. But then I realized that it wasn't really survival horror but an action game with horror aspects. Once I accepted that I enjoyed the game but still don't like where this generations survival horror is going--more action oriented.
13. Resistance Retribution-PSP
This was a really enjoyable game third person shooter on the PSP which will no doubt play a lot better on the PS Vita with two analog stick. Regardless, great game that got me back into playing Resistance 1on the PS3.
14. Pilotwings-3DS
[img width=285 height=250]http://www.thereticule.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Pilotwings-boxart.jpg[/img]
As I generally have to buy any new system that comes out right away(which as of today I am quite upset about as it is dropping to $170!!), I got the 3DS with this as it was the only game that really interested me. I also bought the Ghost Recon game which I really am enjoying more but need to finish. This game was a fun little romp that made me really start to like 3d. Once I beat it I got rid of it as I didn't see myself going back to play it.
So there is my very long list of games that I have beaten since March 3. Quite a list if I do say so myself. Now on to what I am currently playing:
Resistance-Fall of Man-PS3
Silent Hill Shattered Memories-PSP
Ocarina of Time 3d-3DS
At the beginning years of the Gameboy's reign, we'd see semi-ports of NES games like Megaman, Mario and Gradius, but Donkey Kong Land was the first to take a stab at the Super Nintendo.
[img width=196 height=200]http://i54.tinypic.com/yi9ft.jpg[/img]
Being released one year after their SNES equivalents, the Donkey Kong Land series seemed to successfully capture the lush visuals and easy flow of Donkey Kong Country. The plot, controls, and even the environmental setup were almost identical with each other, but the designs of the levels themselves were completely different.
Interestingly enough, I played Donkey Kong Country 2 for the SNES a few months before playing this. Sounds like the perfect time fooor:
:::Home to Pocket Comparison!!
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[img width=253 height=220]http://i52.tinypic.com/2hwobwm.jpg[/img] [img width=244 height=220]http://i56.tinypic.com/2aeph50.png[/img]
In the SNES version, sprites and backgrounds are very flush in color, giving an almost 3D feel during gameplay. The shape and animation quality of the sprites separate themselves from the traditional SNES sprite. On the Gameboy edition, sprites are monochrome, but the shading gives a nice touch. The shapes and animations give a similar flow, separating themselves from the average pixel-tastic Gameboy games. Controls feel very spot on, allowing a wonderful sense of flow during gameplay. They both give an extremely similar look and feel when played on their respective consoles.
Final "Home to Pocket" verdict? Take Donkey Kong Country 2, condense it, rid it of color, and completely shift all level designs into something brand new, and you have Donkey Kong Land 2.
Gameplay is kept very similar to DK Country. You complete a series of 5+ levels before fighting a boss. Environments range from the traditional platform jumper, to underwater levels, and even wall jumping at special points. Within the levels are various banana coins (used to save your game) 1-2 Kremlin Coins and one DK Coin: Collect all 48 Kremlin Coins to unlock a secret world where you face a handful of challenging levels before defeating K. Rool for the second and final time. Kremlin Coins are located in hidden bonus rounds while DK Coins (which reward you with nothing but 100% completion) are hidden in the level. Minus the secret world, there are 5 other worlds, totaling in about 30+ levels.
Much like every DK Country title, this game is hard. Hard, but completely fair. If you die after jumping off a rope above two moving giant wasps and run into the jumping Kremlin that you timed incorrectly, it is YOUR fault. The controls are spot on, and I couldn't repeat that enough. I would recommend avoiding this on the original's blurry green screen, since sprites will get confused with the background.
In some levels, you are given an alternate character used to play through the majority of the level, and they are a tougher than testicles Rhino, a Snake with lemur genes, an impact web shooting/platform making Spider, a pecan shooting Parrot, and a Swordfish. One minor disappointment is that you need to spend two Banana Coins whenever you want to save a game. Which, doesn't get all too ridiculous once you figure out how to spam exiting levels.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This game is incredibly fun to play and complete. Extremely rewarding once the secret world is unlocked and beaten. It looks and plays just like its Super Nintendo version, giving you all new grounds to cover, and still feeling very familiar to the previous home console installment. You are playing a SNES game on the monochromatic Gameboy. It is that awesome.
I got lucky on this one. The listing had been up on Craigslist for a few hours before I noticed it, but I was able to act quickly so jumped and ran to the guy's apartment to pick it up. Well, okay I drove there. But my feet didn't stop moving the whole time!
So here it is, a Virtual Boy lot. Everything is CIB, including having all the original plastic bags that the parts were wrapped in. The lot includes the Virtual Boy console with Mario's Tennis (some super glue needed to fix a usual problem with the stand's hinge, hence the rubber bands in the pic), AC Adapter Set, and the five boxed games are:
Red Alarm
Teleroboxer
Panic Bomber
Wario Land
Vertical Force!
Total price for the great lot, $50
[img width=700 height=623]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a241/EldredgeJ/Gaming/S7302912a.jpg?t=1311744487[/img]
Digital content is increasingly gaining ground, more affordable and more efficient support, but is killing the joy of collectors who cherish the good old box.
Do you agree with this change?
Leave feedback for prosperity ...
1) Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (360)
2) Metroid Prime (GC) ****************
3) Deus Ex: The Conspiracy (PS2)
4) Sonic Spinball (Gen)
5) Perfect Dark (N64)
6) Front Mission (DS)
7) Halo Wars (360)
8 ) Ico (PS2)
9) Kessen (PS2)
10) Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GC)*************
11) Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GC)***************
12) The Lion King (Gen)
13) Sonic 3 (Gen)
14) Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (xbox)*************
15) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (360)
16) Marvel VS Capcom 3
17) Portal
18) Beautiful Katimari
19) TBD
20) TBD
Ok...so nothing new done yet but the list warrants an update. Due to a disagreement with my little sister, the GC games are being pulled out of the SGC list (read: she took it into her room and wont let me play it because i wont let her play my 360) As for Max payne being removed...i remembered why i stopped the first time through....scratched disk. So, without further adieu, I present list 2.0:
1) Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (360)
2) Red Dead Redemption (360)
3) Deus Ex: The Conspiracy (PS2)
4) Sonic Spinball (Gen)
5) Perfect Dark (N64)
6) Front Mission (DS)
7) Halo Wars (360)
8 ) Ico (PS2)
9) Kessen (PS2)
10) Brutal Legend (360)
11) Fallout: New Vegas (360)
12) The Lion King (Gen)
13) Sonic 3 (Gen)
14) *****SEE BELOW*****
15) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (360)
16) Marvel VS Capcom 3
17) Portal
18) Beautiful Katimari
19) TBD
20) TBD
Red Dead, Brutal legend, and fallout: NV are all very close to the end...and i've been playing them instead of the rest of the games on my list while i argued with lil sis.
As for 14, im gonna let you guys decide, since i cant myself. Your choices are:
Banjo Kazooie
Zelda: OOT
Yoshi Story
gonna prob finish up read dead tonight if all goes well. Catch ya later and dont forget to let me know which one i should play!
~Neo
Official Backlog count: 209 (somehow O_o....don't even know what i bought)
Favorite Games: Part 1
Planescape: Torment
[img width=468 height=468]http://greatrumbler.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/planescape-torment.jpg[/img]
Now I've been a bit quiet on the blog front for awhile, mostly because my main series so far, 'Why Did I Play This?' has kind of dried up for the time being. It is not that I have not played bad games or remember playing bad games or games I believe are bad, more of a reason that I wish to review something that I freaking love! What better place to start than with the game that made me truly appreciate the power of the PC as an incredible gaming device?
The game I'm referring to is of course the one mentioned in the title. Planescape: Torment was developed by Black Isle Studios and published by the ailing Interplay, it was released in the holiday season of 1999 and was built off of Bioware's Infinity Engine; which is in my opinion the greatest engine ever made for top down, isometric RPGs. I can not give this game enough praise. If you are a fan of the D&D system and wish to visit one of its greatest campaign settings, which is sadly now dead, in the only video game to ever take place in it, there is no way that you will be disappointed with this game. If you love RPGs in general and wish to try a game that really shows off the strengths and weaknesses of the Western variation of the genre and its tabletop adaptations than this is also the greatest example one can find.
[img width=640 height=480]http://www.blogcdn.com/news.bigdownload.com/media/2009/01/pccombatfeaturejan148.jpg[/img]
Surprisingly this game's biggest weakness is the combat itself, going full combat is a viable strategy sure and hacking and slashing will make the game easier. Having a stronger physically based character makes the game much easier to get through and makes the endgame a cakewalk. However the developers famous for the first 2 Fallouts, New Vegas, Icewind Dale, Dark Alliance, and infamous for Alpha Protocol, Star Wars: KOTOR 2, and Neverwinter Nights 2 had a different goal in mind for the avatar of Torment. Their goal was to break as many established RPG conventions as they could, and since this was the era of total dominance of the Japanese console juggernauts such as Squaresoft, tri-Ace, and Enix, it would be an interesting experiment to see how their ideas were implemented, and easy to see what they picked.
[img width=300 height=428]http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/190/196849-so3_fayt_large.jpg[/img]
So what conventions and cliches did Black Isle pick to shatter for this game? Most console based RPGs starred some young boy who was just out of puberty and handled a sword (pause for audience to crack immature jokes and snickering), also most companions were put into cookie cutter archetypes and their personalities built up from there. In Torment only 2 swords exist in the entire game, and one belongs to one of your followers and cannot be unequipped! So that only leaves one sword for the player character to directly equip and control. Most of the weapons are instead things like knives, spears, clubs, axes, crossbows, fists, teeth, and magic; weapons that some will feel comfortable with but have usually taken a backseat for the massive 2,000 pound solid piece of steel. They also went with a unique armor system, characters have the ability to equip tattoos as their armor and stat booster instead of traditional pieces of armor for the most part. Which it is not a different mechanic and serves the same purpose this idea is interesting nonetheless.
[img width=473 height=472]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TnhAANHHKiM/TIQg1qbXQLI/AAAAAAAAAgw/I0pH4cVEI9I/s1600/planescape-torment_inlay.jpg[/img]
What really makes Torment special though is the main character, his dilemma, past relationships with some companions, and budding relationships with the others he has never met before. The player gets to take on the roll of a mysterious, heavily scarred, blue skinned human known as the Nameless One (Michael T. Weiss). His tale is one which shows immortality as much more of a curse than it is mentioned in popular media, after all, who does not wish for the ability to live forever? TNO's alignment is determined by the player and his actions throughout the game.
The Nameless One can also change class on the fly just by talking to a party member who specializes in whatever you wish to change to, basic classes being figher, mage, and thief. Without a doubt TNO is the most versatile character in the game, but to truly experience the full effect and brilliance of the story the player will want a high charisma and intelligence diplomat build, making mage one of the best classes for him. The game is incredibly heavy on the dialogue, and you can literally talk your way through most fights, even the final boss (voiced by the great Tony Jay) with a high enough charisma! Because of this fact and the philosophical quandaries put forth by this game it makes a diplomat by far the best character class even if you will be weak in battle.
However there is one major flaw with the logic of one being seperated from their own mortality, as is shown in the opening cinematic above. The Nameless One CAN die, just not for long, he wakes up and gets up with a wiped memory everytime that happens. Torment begins with TNO waking up in a mortuary, meeting his first companion Morte, a disembodied skull with a streak of rampant sarcasm and a sharp tongue somehow, wandering around, seeing an incarnation of a previous love who is voiced by none other than everybody's favorite FemShep. This sets the basic outline for what will be the rest of the game, Who is the Nameless One? Where has he been? What has he done? Why can't he remember anything? Why is he covered in amazing tattoos?
[img width=295 height=364]http://planescape.outshine.com/crap.planescape-torment.org/images/symbol/sym5.jpg[/img]
[img width=280 height=268]http://bnbgaming.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/mortepng.png[/img]
While I do not wish to spoil too much of the story for those who have never played it I will go into some detail about the companions and what makes them so unique when being compared to the usual army of cliched RPG followers. I've already mentioned Morte (Rob Paulson), who is a rogue skull with plenty to say who was once a part of an incredibly macabre tower of skulls which functions much the same way as the Internet does today. It is a collection of the best and brightest minds' skulls of all history and is regarded as the center of all knowledge. During his mortal life he was a monk, and then decided that making whoopee was too fun to miss out on so he left the monastic order. Morte's alignment is chaotic good. He attacks by biting which is good for a laugh and is the subject of some whimsical dialogue in the game.
[img width=281 height=441]http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/planescape/images/characters/dak'kon.jpg[/img]
The next follower who is recruited by TNO is a githzerai named Dak'kon (Mitch Pileggi). He is the companion that has the sword, which is known as a karach (chaos-matter) and is the last known one to exist, and in capable hands could destroy the multiverse. So now you see while he is incredibly reluctant to part with it. He fills more of a traditional archetype, resembling the samurai and their bushido as he pretty much just jumps into TNO's party due to past promises. His history goes back far with TNO and going too deeply into it would spoil pivotal plot points so I will just tell you to play to find out! His alignment rests logically at lawful neutral.
[img width=281 height=441]http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/planescape/images/characters/ignus.jpg[/img]
There are two more characters which can be recruited easily in the beginning of the game, Ignus (Charles Adler), and Fall-From-Grace (Jennifer Hale again). I'll start with Ignus, who is EASILY the strangest character in any game I've played. True to his name Ignus is inflicted with a curse which makes him a living conduit of the Fire Elemental Plane, and as such is constantly engulfed in flames. He is the best offensive mage in the game but is incredibly squishy as his flames do not allow for any armor or tattoos to be equipped on him. Because of his curse he is mentally unstable and suffers from constant insanity. His alignment is chaotic-neutral.
[img width=281 height=441]http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/planescape/images/characters/grace.jpg[/img]
If Ignus is the most bizarre character in the game then Fall-From-Grace comes in at a close second. Think about this for a minute. Celibate succubus, owner of a brothel, donning chastity gear, and is a Priest healing class. What? In true Black Isle/Bioware fashion she can ironically be romanced by the player who makes all the right dialogue choices. True to the name of the game she was once a slave to a master of her race's mortal enemies the baatezu, giant satanic demons basically. Using her cunning though she managed to win her freedom and is now in charge of her own brothel, all the while refusing to offer any special services to her loyal customers! Tease...
[img width=281 height=441]http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/planescape/images/characters/annah.jpg[/img]
Moving onto probably my favorite follower in the game, Annah-of-the-Shadows (Sheena Easton). She is the resident thief of the game and gives Morte a good run for his money when it comes to wise cracking! She is a tiefling (half human-half demon hybrid for those needing the education) and as such has been constantly ostracized through her life so far. Her sharp tongue and rough talking is an incredibly interesting design choice, she uses a type of language called Hive-slang don't worry its English, yet many of those slang words are based on working class British slang of the 18th Century. I do not know though what regional slang they chose, that would be the job for a good linguist. She is built to be the easier, default romance option for TNO, and if you're into chicks with tails you can't go wrong with her! She is chaotic neutral and wields punch daggers.
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The last 2 companions are entirely optional, and my first play of the game I missed one of them even! I did get Nordom (Dan Castellaneta) but missed Vhailor (Keith David). I know I know. I missed freaking Goliath but recuited Homer Simpson? How dare I! Of course both are interesting characters, as Nordom is referred to as a backwards Modron, a malfunctioning unit seperated from the Modron hive mind. Ironically Modrons are robots, and spell the word 'Modron' backwards and we get another example of the Alucard fallacy. Nordom is chaotic neutral and uses a crossbow as his primary weapon.
[img width=281 height=441]http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/planescape/images/characters/vhailor.jpg[/img]
Vhailor is a Mercykiller, an enchanted suit of armor that is meant to uphold order and justice. Strangely enough his weapon is cursed, so he can also be referred to as a malfunctioning unit even though most of his dialogue involves purging the guilty to protect the innocent. That and his mind seems to be intact for the most part. Because of his stance and the way he carries himself, the fact that he is a bastion of the Golden Age superhero makes him an amazingly well done character. In fact if you pull up dialogue about TNO's past he'll turn on the party! And believe me he's such a powerful fighter that you DO NOT want that as Vhailor can singlehandedly down the final boss if you go the combat route. Vhailor is lawful neutral and wields a massive axe.
I'm stopping here as revealing much more will unleash massive plot points.
In conclusion this game is an incredible feat of storytelling. This is one of the most well written, introspective, philosophical, tight narratives in the history of storytelling in my opinion. My first time playing the game about 7 years ago I was completely blown away by everything in the game. Every dialogue option can serve a purpose and slightly alter TNO's alignment and relationship with the character being talked to. Torment is originally Windows 95/98 compatible but for those wanting to play through my argument for why Bioware is NOT the king of storytelling (they do good work, but Black Isle/Obsidian do it better in my opinion) then you can pick it up DRM free and with full XP, Vista, and 7 compatibility on gog.com for the best $10 you could ever spend as a gamer.
Now go out and find just exactly What can change the nature of a man?
[img width=640 height=450]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/3/562623_45294_front.jpg[/img]
Ah... The Super Nintendo... Let's go back to the 90's shall we? What do you remember about the 90's? I'll tell you what I remember. I remember reading a lot of Nintendo Power, listening to rock 'n roll on cassette tapes, and playing video games. At the time there was a lot of talk about Donkey Kong Country, Street Fighter II... But none of that really mattered to me because I spent my time playing Harvest Moon.
The Harvest Moon series as most people know it today was incredibly different at its genesis. The game primarily focused on establishing and maintaining a successful farm while the social aspect took a backseat and only provided a way to take breaks from constant work.
Story
The story is about as basic as it gets. Your parents have left you the family farm and it's up to you to prove that you can be self-sufficient. You have 3 and a half years to scratch a living out of the earth and once time is up your parents return to evaluate your work.
Aaaand that's about it. The rest of the story is up to the player and the events that unfold are determined by what choices you make, what crops you raise, and who you eventually decide to marry.
...Marry? Yes, marry.
Marriage
This is the first game that I recall in which you can get married. There are a total of 5 eligible girls in the town. Each have their own personality, likes and dislikes, and their own side stories. Don't get too excited, though. Marriage doesn't provide any real in-game benefits minus getting special endings and giving you another character to talk to on the farm.
What's great about Harvest Moon on the Super Nintendo is that you can ignore the marriage aspect entirely and just focus on the farm. However, keep in mind the best ending requires being married and having two children. Oh, and while I'm talking about kids... Interacting with them is a waste of time and gets you nothing. Natsume didn't really develop any child-parent storylines for the first entry in the series so don't expect a child simulator. But let's not discuss children anymore. It's the farm that takes priority in this game.
The Farm
It wouldn't be Harvest Moon without some kind of farm involved. On your farm you get a tool shed, a cattle barn, a chicken coop, a stable, and finally your farm house. All these buildings are surrounded by your field. You're field is the area where you'll be growing your crops and your grass. Crops are a great way to maximize your profits early in the game. You have 5 crops available to grow on the farm. The first two are the Spring crops: turnips and potatoes. Then in the Summer you get tomatoes and corn.
There's one last crop: Grass. You don't sell grass. Grass can be grown from Spring and to the end of Fall and is used to feed your livestock. You only have two choices for livestock: Cattle and Chickens. Chickens cost less to startup but make significantly less money than cows.
Cattle is where the most money can be made, however, they require the most care. You not only have to keep cows fed but you also have to talk to each cow and brush them on a daily basis. Once you get a successful operation going you'll never have to bother with crops again unless you really want some corn or something.
Conclusion
(Gettin' hammered at the bar^)
This game defines what the Super Nintendo means to me. It is a very relaxing title and will remain a classic. If you want to check out this game you have many options. The first option is hunting down a cartridge. It is a very rare game and physical copies are very desirable and, as of this writing, prices hover around $75-90 for just the cartridge. If you can read Japanese, you're in luck. You can buy a Super Famicom cartridge for around $25. Your other option is emulation through your Nintendo Wii. The game is available on the Wii's Virtual Console for around $8. A fair price for a great game.
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Harvest Moon has left a legacy that spans across many different platforms and goes into different gaming generations. I am excited to bring reviews of this great series and I hope that my writings will encourage others to try out these games.
Next Review: Harvest Moon for the Game Boy Color.
Burned my brother some dvds and he gave me an xbox, starwars kotor 1 and 2,buffy chaos bleeds,growlanser heritage of war limited edition, 7 Stephan king books, Batman Hush hardbacks vol 1 and 2, and the legend of Drizzt book 1 comic.
Monday I orderd the giant AR card off club nintendo.
stopped at a yardsale today and a gameboy advance sp case ,little red riding hood for vsmile,Zayzoo an earth adventure for vsmile and rumble roses for ps2 for 4 bucks
All right everyone. After many delays and a lack of interest, I've found what I truly wanted to write about.
This blog will now feature reviews of Natsume's ever-popular farming-sim series, Harvest Moon.
The first review will feature my favorite game of the series: Harvest Moon for the Super Nintendo.
The review will be posted 7/25/2011.
Being that my last entry was on June 19th, you've all probably been wondering just where on Earth I've been for the past month. Well, here's the story...
My life took an unlikely turn recently. I won't bore you all with the details, but I will say this. That turn has kept me VERY busy. In case your concerned, there's nothing to worry about, as nothing bad happened. It's just been very busy around here lately. But as you can see, I'm still alive. (No pun intended.)
Anyway, I do plan to keep the Blog going, but a lack of ideas recently hit me, and with the recent announcement of Mega Man Legends 3 being cancelled, I've started to boycott everything Capcom. Your probably thinking, how does that keep me busy? Well, I've been supporting a group on Facebook that's dedicated to bringing it back, and that has kept me busy as well.
Anyway, I'm open to EVERYTHING Retro now (Atari 2600 - Playstation 1), so if any of you have any ideas to help me get back to writing, please shout them out in the Comments. Thank you.
P.S.
The Wizard is NOT a bad movie!
Duke Nukem Forever does NOT suck!
And to top it all off, the Power Glove is STILL cool! 
Picked up Arcade legends tetris, a atari plug n play, 3 tiger style handhelds and tigerwoods 99 for ps,nba live 99, madden 99, world series baseball 2k1 for dreamcast For $10.00 trade in credit a kidzone a consignment store here in my town.
And Ordered Both game and watch collections off nintendo rewards.
And my buddy gave me Spider man web of shadows for PS2.
Traded my buddy a tylenol for Big Game Hunter hunting unlimited for pc it was a good joke lol.
Got a Mini Fridge Saturday for my gameroom for $70
I went to yard sales today and got
Gameboy Advance Sp with headphones charger, ET and the cosmic garden, for $10.00.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team switch n carry nintendo ds case for $1.00.
For PS2 ATV off road fury 3, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Ben 10 Protector of earth, Superman Shadow of Apokolips, And Spongebob's Atlantis Squarepants for $10.00.
2 Plug N Play games for $4.00.
Su Doku handheld for 50 cents
Guitar Hero PS2 controller for $3.00
Cool Boarders 2 for 10 cents
Put my extra microwave in my game room.
Good news everyone! The drought is over, and even though it wasn't broken by a monsoon of deals, its still a break, and for that, I'm happy. The deals I got this past week were a little above "average" for me, but compared to what its been like for the past 4 weeks, it feels like some amazing deals.
And not only is that great news, but my GameGavel auctions are doing better than ever, despite all of last week's auctions being relists. The Genesis lot that didn't sell for $10, is now bid up to $20 for example, which is still a great deal IMO. Be sure to check out that auction and the others right HERE
Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2011 - #8
1. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii)
2. Vay (Sega CD)
3. Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
4. Wario Land (VB)
5. Battletoads/Double Dragon (SNES)
6. Panzer Dragoon (Sat)
7. Kung Fu (NES)
8. Gex (3DO)
9. FFVIII (PS)
10. FFXII (PS2)
In the last week was I able to finish off both Gex and Battletoads/Double Dragon.
Gex was more of less forgettable. It was slow, wierd and occasionally annoying. The save system was horrendous, but being a short and fairly easy game it turned out not to be to big of a deal. I dont really know what to say about it other than "meh".
Battletoads/Double Dragon on the other hand was a wonderful experience. It was a great blend of the two series in everyway. The battletoads themed levels with DD bosses and vice versa was a fun way to mash them together. The music was really great all around, there was a nice variety of levels (even including an Asteroids style level), and a good deal of quirkyness involved in the combat. My only complaints are the last boss/level was very anticlimactic and a little pathetic and the hover bike area was ridiculously easy. It you can finish a hoverbike ride on your first attempt without losing any lives its not a very good representation of a Battletoads hoverbike stage. Overall I really enjoyed it and will definitely play it again in the future, hopefully co-op.
Now for the bad news. I'm officially giving up on FFVIII after painstakingly reaching the final dungeon. I've been playing lots but progressing so slowly that I've lost all desire to play the game any more. Its not often that I give up when I'm so incredibly close to the end, but its gonna make me very happy to move on from this game sooner rather than later. So to round out a list of 10 again I've decided to include Chrono Cross in place of FFVIII. I also played Chrono Cross a long time ago (around the same time I first played FFVIII), and didnt seem to enjoy it back then. But after spending so many hours on FFVIII I have a feeling Chrono Cross is really going to shine this time around.
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