My Top 30 Pick Ups of 2022!

[theflea]

Another Year has past and time to go over what I found was the best pieces I added to my video game collection in 2022.
List is based on anything from rarity to just something I got excited to add to my collection last year.
I'd love to hear your best pickups for the year, It don't have to be 30, just pick the top 5, 3, or even one.
It could be a rare game, a game you played the most this year or something you always wanted and finally got this year.

So lets start my list of the top 30 pickups I got in 2022.

30. Nintendo Switch OLED - Pokemon Scarlet/Violet Edition

I've been looking for an excuse to buy an OLED Switch and when I saw this Pokemon edition I broke down and picked one up.

29. B Team Metal Cartoon Squad

A fun shooter using the stylist on the DS, it was never released in the US. I highly recommend checking it out.

28. AV Mahjong Club

This is one of those rare "adult" strip Mahjong games. But these carts are not easy to find, especially in the states. I got it with another game on this list.
Not an exciting game but a rare game worth making my pickups of the year.

27. Bubble Bobble Revolution USA-1

This game was originally released bugged that you could not finish the game, they had a way to ship the cart back and get a replacement cart marked (USA-1) that fixed the bug. I found a loose cart at a random game store, at a great low price. I bought a normal version and have both versions in the case. There is a USA-1 case but I was lucky to find the cart.

26. Super Princess Peach

I found this NDS game at a garage sale this year for about $17 CIB. This was one of those games I've been hoping to find in the wild and was happy to get it from a garage sale for cheap. I found a loose cart years ago at a garage sale but it was a fake cart, so glad I finally got an original in my collection.

25. Valve Steam Deck (512GB)

I was on the fence if I should order one, I ordered one and I'm glad I did. While I'm not a huge fan of digital games, this is a nice way to play most PC games
on a handheld console. I mainly picked one up for my collection of handhelds but I was impressed on what it can do. I still not going to spend a lot of money on
digital games but if I see a sale on one that I can only play on PC, this in nice to have.

24. Analog Pocket with Game Gear Adapter

I pre-ordered this almost a year ago, when it finally came in the mail I was excited. It has a great screen to play all GB/GBC/GBA games. The other reason I wanted this was the Game Gear Adapter. (I also ordered the T16, NeoGeo Pocket and Lynx adapters) This is worth owning to play most retro Handheld games.

23. Robotrek

I love it when I find a retro game I don't own at a garage sale, I picked up a huge lot of SNES games and a few other systems and found this game in there.
A $100 game for about $2. I was surprised when I played this game and found out it was an RPG. (yes I know its says it on the box, but I only saw the cart and thought it was a space shooter)

22. Milky Princess

This game's name always gave me a chuckle. I like those odd Japanese games that have something funny about them.
Saw a complete copy for a great price and just bought it as the odd game in the Super Cassette Vision Library.

21. Treasure Cove

I'm close to a complete Bally's Astrocade collection, but the ones I'm missing are all those odd third party games that are not cheap. I saw this one appear
for a great price and jumped on it.

20. Muncher

I've always wanted Pac-Man for my Bally's Astrocade, They made a Pac-Man clone called Muncher. It might even be the last game released for the system.
Its not perfect but its better then the Atari 2600 version.

19. T-Mek

I don't find 32X games often in the wild, especially games I don't own. I found this game while doing some out of town game hunting. It was at a great price.
When I'm out at stores I don't go to often I always ask if they do deals, like package deals. (i had a few other games) They look up the game and see it goes for
much more and told me they couldn't because T-Mek was way under priced and if I didn't get it they would mark it up. So I had to buy it. lol

18. Sega CD model 1 CIB

I was out hitting garage sales with a friend and found a huge Sega CD and 32X lot for $100. I already own a Sega CD model 1 but it's a loose system.
This system was next to new in the box, it had everything in the box even the bags. The system looked like it was never used. I was so happy to get a
box for this.

17. Yokai Watch Blasters Cat Red

My local used game store got this in, but instead of just buying it, I put together a tub full of scrap games in my extras that are hard to sell and traded them in.
I got about $360 in store credit and used some of it to get this in my collection.

16. Nintendo 64 (ice Blue)

I've been looking for the different N64 colors and I'm trying to find them all in the wild. This year I found one I didn't own from a Garage Sale for $40. It had it's
matching controller too. I just need two more of the US colors now.

15. Tsukuda Original Othello Multivision

I love my odd game consoles, this is a Sega SG-1000 made by Tsukuda Original. Found a system with its original controller and all hookups for a great price.

14. Casio MX-10

I saw this for a great price with a couple games, MSX games are always expensive and hard to get. The system is a basic MSX1 with it's original controller and
a couple Casio branded games.

13. NEC PC Engine CoreGrafix II

I love different variations of systems, I picked this up with the next item on the list and a LCD screen that attaches to it.

12. NEC PC Engine Super CD-ROM2

Very early in the year I found a CIB Super CD Rom2 and of top of that a working one. This was a deal with the Core II system.

11. DACTAR Atari

I saw this for sale online for a decent price and It was CIB. The DACTAR Atari is the system from Brazil. I ordered it and when it came the system shell was
destroyed in shipping, the seller just tossed it in the box with no protection. The seller was good enough to send me a new shell and this time he packed it right.
So I replaced the outer shell and it looks great now.

10. GameBoy Color Tech Demo Cart

This is one of those random WTF finds, I stop at a random Game store out of state and see this in the case with other Game Boy games. I had a hard time finding
a Value for this, The price was good and the last cart I can find sold was close to over two years ago. I figured I better buy it or regret it, because I doubt I'll see
one again.

9. Tank Command

I'm not far from a complete Atari 7800 collection and this was the game that held me back from going for a complete set. The rarest game for the system.
I found a copy for a extremely good price and it's CIB, I think the reason I got such a great price for it was the box was water damaged, but the cart and manual
are in great shape. I pretty much got the game for what a loose cart goes for. In 2023 I might push to get more 7800 carts now I got this one off the list.

8. Tris

Someone contacted me about a lot of TI-99 games, I looked at the lot and saw one I've never seen before. Tris is a Tetris clone for the TI-99.
I lookup online for a price or any info on this game and found next to nothing on it. Only thing I found on it was on few TI-99 rarity lists and it was rated ER (Extremely Rare). I tell the seller I can offer $150 for the lot (the rest of the games where common worth about $50) and based that price on other ER games for the TI-99. I found other TI-99 ER rated games sold for about $100. He tells me he wanted to see if anyone else offers more and a week later he contacts me telling me he'll sell them to me at the price I offered. This might be one of the rarest games in my collection that no one cares about. lol

7. Nintendo iQue

This is a weird Nintendo 64 item, this was the only way to play N64 in China. It's a controller that hooks up to a TV and you download games to the
controller (system) and play them. I believe they released the N64 like this in China due to their laws and how China bootlegs their games.
I found a Loose system with everything it needs to play it for a super low price. An odd piece of N64 history.

6. Solatorobo: Red the Hunter

This was one of my top wanted NDS games, I finally found a CIB copy with the outer box and soundtrack CD for a good price.

5. Atari Karts

I've had this on my list of games to add to my collection for years. I finally see an open auction for a complete copy and got it for far less for what most
are asking for it. While it's no Mario Kart, its not a bad Kart game and for the Jaguar, its playable. lol

4. Miss Peach World

This is one of those WTF games, Looking at the box art you'd think this was a Super Mario Bros hack where you play as Peach....
But the game is hack of Menace Beach/Sunday Funday, but it's an "Adult" game. The character looks like Merlyn Monroe more then Princess Peach.
So I own the Trifecta of crappy Menace Beach games.
 
3. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel

I'm slowly trying to complete my SNES collection. I try to knock off at least one $200+ game off my list every year. I was able to sell off a bunch of extras
and used the money to get this game in my collection.

2. Shining Force CD

While traveling to game stores out of state, I see this game for under the current going value. I had to grab it. Must have been sitting on the shelf a while.
This is one of the games I always thought I'd have to pickup at a game convention and just pay full retail. 

1. Crusader of Centy

This game has been on my most wanted list for years, The price has been going up every year. I finally saw an open auction of one in the box.
I threw a bid and the last second and got it for several hundred dollars less then it can go for and finally got this great game in my collection.

That's my list, hope everyone had a great year of gaming and found at least one item your excited to get in your collections this last year.
May 2023 have more surprises and great finds to add to our collections. And I hope everyone has a wonderful 2023 not just in video games.

[telekill]

Those are some impressive collector's items. Congrats on the great gaming year!

[sworddude]

Have focussed less on collecting this year especially in the later half, that being said did cross some cool items of the list

As far as my picks go

Not always my best pickups of the year just my favourite ones.


30 Twinbee portable
29 Marvel super heroes gems snes box and manual no cart
28 Karnovs revenge
27 Twin hawk sega mega
26 Konami justifier ps1
25 Parappa rapper ps1
24 Advance wars 2 guide
23 Samurai champloo ps2 factory sealed
22 Mutant league hockey sega mega
21 Splatter master ps2
20 Disney’s magical quest 2 gba
19 Super bomberman snes
18 Operation logic bomb snes
17 Maximum carnage snes
16 Sega infra red controllers
15 Ogre battle ps1
14 Zero gunner 2
13 Nights into dreams controller
12 guardian heroes sega saturn
11 Ghoul patrol snes
10 castlevania double pack gba
9 Ultima IV sega master
8 Onimusha tactics gba
7 TMNT gameboy case
6 Biker mice snes
5 Beat the beat rhytm paradise wii
4 Macros scramble valkyrie super famicom  no manual
3 Pokemon emerald tin
2. Phantasy star IV sega
1 Chono trigger snes



Didn't expect to score chrono trigger. pretty nice to piece that one together in seperate deals for the box posters etc and find the cart seperately.

[ignition365]

I added fewer than 300 games total this year, so slim pickings to pick from, but I'll try

1 + 2. Steam Deck 512GB and Steam Deck Docking Station - I went out of my way to pay for this through alternative means.  I used GS rewards, Amazon rewards, Swagbucks surveys, and other means to get Steam gift cards.  My total out of pocket at time of purchase was around $60, but then I added another $100+ in gift cards in my account to get the Steam Deck Docking station for no out of pocket cost, and I still have steam funds left over, so all in all, I did a real good job getting this without having to use my bank or anything.

3. Thousand Land - This was the last From Software console game I needed to complete my set.  I had been keeping an eye out for this for a long while and it rarely popped up and almost never for a good price.  Managed to get it on ebay for around $30.

I won't make any numbers for the rest, but I found a lot of other imports (including other From Software games) and lots of stuff I found during clearance sales that were just a steal of a deal.

[wartoy]

I concentrated on retro games mostly,some of which I've been searching a long time for.

Nintendo

Conan
Chip n Dale 2
Jetsons
Last Action Hero
Sword Master

Super Nintendo

Ardy Lightfoot
R Type III
Space Megaforce
Swat Kats
Nosferatu

Sega CD

Shining Force CD
Lords of Thunder
Robo Aleste
Android Assault
Dark Wizzard
Eartworm Jim

Saga Genesis

T.M.N.T Hyperstone Heist
Mega Man Wily Wars Collector's edition

PlayStation

Gekioh Shooting King
Vanark
Strikers 1945
Silent Bomber

PlayStation  2

Graffiti Kingdom

Neo Geo MVS

Nightmare in the Dark
Cyber Lip
Viewpoint

Neo Geo AES

Crossed Swords
Sengoku

FM Towns Marty

FM Towns Marty (system)
Splatterhouse

[sworddude]

29. B Team Metal Cartoon Squad

A fun shooter using the stylist on the DS, it was never released in the US. I highly recommend checking it out.

Fun to see this title on the list, quite the lesser known fun title for the system.

[soera]

I have all but stopped buying anything other than new releases. With that being said, I did make one really great pick up.

3 games, 1 seller - Panzer Dragoon Saga and Albert Odyssey (Sega Saturn) and Popful mail (Sega CD). 3 giant ass late 90s titles all at once. Knocked out half of my wishlist. Complete and honestly in great condition.

[conduit]

Last year I really fleshed out my retro gaming collection. I also got some great retro hardware to go along with it. In no particular order here's a few highlights:

Software (all CIB):

Castlevania: Legends

I always wanted a complete copy of Legends for a while, but did have the funds to buy it partly due to purchasing other games in the series. As I saved up I scoured eBay for months searching for that one listing the I felt comfortable enough taking a chance on. I lucked out and found a near mint copy from a seller I dealt with previously. It's the only Gameboy game I have in an acrylic case. This game, and the series as a whole, is the corner-stone of my collection.

Hauting Ground+Kuon+Rule of Rose

I'm bunching these together, as they all fall under survival horror and rare PS2 games. Getting all three was a goal of mine when I started taking video game collecting/preservation seriously. The case for Haunting Ground is in noticeably worst condition of the three, but otherwise all three games are in great condition. I'm currently playing through Rule of Rose as of writing this post. It's a fun game with graphics that give off Silent Hill 2 levels of detail that you don't expect to see on PS2 hardware.

Vampire Killer

Toward the end of the year I started branching out to Japanese versions of Castlevania. Vampire Killer wasn't the first game I purchased on that path, but it's the one I cherish the most. The box art is great, I much prefer it over the NA version. Since Vampire Killer I've been buying more Japanese imports, a trend I don't see stopping in 2023.

Super Metroid

Speaking of imports, Super Metroid on SFC was another game whose box art I adore. I own a NA copy too. Once I got the Japanese version I started contemplating whether or not to sell said copy. This was compounded by the fact both the Japanese and North American versions of the game are functionally identical, a fact I didn't know at the time. Ultimately, I decided against selling it, primarily because I own every Metroid game up to Prime 2 Echos. It would of felt weird having that gap.

Hardware (no photos but will provide upon request):

Sony 14L5 PVM
I've owned a 20L5 since 2021. In 2022 I wanted to get its little brother. Both PVMs are relatively young as for as CRT monitors go, with manufacture dates in the early 2000s. I've wanted both models for a while. As with Legends, I got extremely lucky. An eBay seller in my state had one near mint. He was even willing to make the trip halfway across said state to deliver it personally, provided I pay for gas. He told me it came from a electronics lab they use to work for. They were upgrading and were simply planning to throw it away, before he intervened. To his knowledge its never been serviced but both the outside and internals look well cared for. All my Sega consoles display beautifully on its ~14in screen. It'll be my go to monitor for travel if I ever find a suitable case for it.

Sony PS1 with XStation ODE
ODEs were not my radar last year until early December when I started looking more into flashcarts. PS1 games are a large chunk of my collection and my previous PS1 gave up the ghost, I was compelled to give the XStation a try. So far it has yet to disappoint and does what it says on the tin. It was easy to setup, running all the backups I've tested flawlessly. Not hearing the disc drive spin was a surreal feeling, but one I got use to very quickly. If you are on the fence on whether or not an ODE is worth it, don't be. Irregardless how you get it installed you and your system will be better off with one.

Sony PS2 with Matrix Modchip and OPL
As with the PS1 I wanted to play games without the disc drive. Matrix and OPL accomplish this with a Fat PS2 intact via homebrew and a detachable HDD, whilst keeping the disc drive intact. It's not as streamlined as the XStation as certain games require some adjustment of OPL's default settings. You also need to have a compatable HDD and have it formatted in a way that the PS2 can detect. Small bump in an otherwise smooth experience. I got the system, hookups, and controller for ~$100. My previous Slim Model is worth roughly the same price so it evens out. Going deeper into 2023 I hope to nab even more hardware to future proof my setups and further persevere my collection!