Messages

1

General / Re: Top Pick Ups of 2025! (Up to 30)

« on: January 14, 2026, 07:27:03 pm »

Most of my best hauls were sealed JP Saturn games. I wasn’t explicitly looking for them sealed, but at prices comparable or less than the CIB rates on PriceCharting I’d be stupid to ignore them:

- Arcade Gears Vol 4 - ImageFight & Xmultiply
- Shienryu
- All three scenarios of Shining Force III
- Shining the Holy Ark
- Shining Wisdom

ImageFight & Xmultiply in particular was a steal. I never see sealed copies dip below $500, paid $267 before fees and shipping. Besides those I was happy to finally get these in the fold after searching for a good while:

- Energy Breaker (Super Famicom)
- Boktai The Sun is in Your Hands (Game Boy Advance)
- Gun Nac (Famicom)
- Bakuretsu Muteki Bangai-O (Nintendo 64)
- Ex Ranza (JP Sega Mega Drive)

2

General / Re: October 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: October 11, 2025, 12:41:48 pm »

It's been awhile since I last posted new pickups, so here's all of them since my last recently purchased post. Main focus is still on shmups but I've been scratching an RPG itch as of late. Finally found and modified an original Xbox too with a few specific games to add to the fold:

Gameboy Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Gamecube NTSC-U/C
Soulcalibur II

PlayStation 2 NTSC-U/C
Contra: Shattered Soldier
Neo Contra (Sealed)
Soulcalibur II

PlayStation 2 NTSC-J
ADK Tamashii (Sealed)
Psyvariar 2 - Ultimate Final (Sealed)

Playstation NTSC-U/C
Jumping Flash! 2
Jumping Flash! (Long Box Rigged)

Sega Dreamcast NTSC-J
Trizeal (Sealed)

Sega Dreamcast NTSC-U/C
Grandia II

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Arcade Gears Vol 4 - ImageFight & XMultiply (Sealed)
Grandia Memorial Package
Guardian Force
Metal Black
Sexy Parodius (Sealed)
Shienryu (Sealed)
Shining Force III Scenario 1: Outo no Kyoshin (Sealed)
Shining Force III Scenario 2: Nerawareta Miko (Sealed)
Shining Force III Scenario 3: Hyouheki no Jashinguu (Sealed)
Shining the Holy Ark (Sealed)
Shining Wisdom (Sealed)
Time Bokan Series Bokan to Ippatsu! Doronboo Kanpekiban
Wolf Fang SS: Kuuga 2001 (Sealed)

Super Famicom
Energy Breaker
Seiken Densetsu 2
Seiken Densetsu 3

Xbox NSTC-U/C
Gunvalkyrie
Ninja Gaiden Black
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Soulcalibur II

3

General / Re: June 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: June 07, 2025, 11:03:33 am »

Good haul since last month. Finally found complete copies of Gunstar Heroes Advance and Gunners Heaven, listings for either have been scarce compared to the rest.

Gameboy Advance NTSC-J
Gunstar Heroes Advance

PC-Engine HuCard
Graidus
PC Denjin: Punkic Cyborgs (Sealed)

PlayStation NTSC-J
Gunners Heaven
Raiden DX

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei

Sega Mega Drive
Dynamite Headdy

Super Famicom
Axelay

4

General / Re: May 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: May 03, 2025, 08:13:43 am »

Made some solid pickups. Chouyoku Senki Estique was a nice surprise. Ordered it last December and it finally shipped in April, arriving a few days ago.

Famicom
Chouyoku Senki Estique

Gameboy Advance NTSC-J
Gradius Generation

PlayStation NTSC-J
Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Vandal Hearts: Ushinawareta Kodai Bunmei (Sealed)

Super Famicom
Contra Spirits

5

General / Re: April 2025 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: April 05, 2025, 01:00:22 pm »

Here's what I've snagged since my last post in January. I've been focusing on sallow spots in my collection like Dreamcast, Famicom, PC-Engine, etc. Most of the best deals I've seen the last few months were for Saturn and Playstation games, hence the disparity.

Famicom
Gradius
Gardius II

PC-Engine CD
Gate of Thunder (Sealed)

PC-Engine HuCard
Dentana: TwinBee
Winds of Thunder (Sealed)

PlayStation NTSC-J
Biohazard
Biohazard 2
Biohazard 3: Last Escape
Ecsaform (Sealed)
Rakugaki Showtime

PlayStation 2 NTSC-J
Hippa Linda (Sealed)

Sega Dreamcast NTSC-J
Mars Matrix

Sega Mega Drive
Alien Solider

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Clockwork Knight Pepperouchau No Fukubukuro (Sealed)
Grandia (Sealed)
Grandia Digital Museum
Konami Antiques MSX Collection
Rockman X4
Thunder Force V Special Pack

6

General / Re: Your 2025 Gaming and Collecting Goals

« on: January 12, 2025, 04:51:07 pm »

I want to enforce stricter goals for 2025:

Collecting Goals
-Constantly evaluate and trim down my wishlist.
-Primarily focus on STG and games developed by Konami/Treasure.
-Address the shallow spots in my collection. If a system I own has <10 games, it'll take priority.

Gaming Goals
-1CC more STGs/arcade games than last year. Only had a couple in 2024. I'll be happy with at least five in 2025.
-Play more genres I like but seldom touch, mainly survival horror and RPGs.
-Stick with two games max to prevent burnout and lack of direction.

7

General / Re: Top 30 Pick Ups of 2024!

« on: January 07, 2025, 07:59:20 pm »

Made some great pickups in 2024, especially for the Mega Drive and PC Engine. Came across plenty of sealed games too. Here are some highlights listed below:

PlayStation NTSC-J
Rakugaki Showtime

This one defo one I want to score someday. very interesting game

It sure is. It was on my periphery for a while but most listings online were either overpriced, in questionable condition, or both. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I saw a listing on Yahoo Auctions that checked all the right boxes, so I had to jump on it.

OG Konami, and by extension Treasure, are one of my all time favorite developers. I always prioritize their games when I'm on the hunt.

8

General / Re: Top 30 Pick Ups of 2024!

« on: January 04, 2025, 11:15:11 pm »

Made some great pickups in 2024, especially for the Mega Drive and PC Engine. Came across plenty of sealed games too. Here are some highlights listed below:

Famicom
Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti

Gameboy Advance NTSC-J
Guardian Heroes Advance (Sealed)

Gameboy Advance NTSC-U/C
Klonoa Empire of Dreams (Sealed)
Klonoa 2 Dream Champ Tournament (Sealed)

Gameboy NTSC-J
Parodius da!

PC-Engine CD
Gate of Thunder (Sealed)

PC-Engine HuCard
Winds of Thunder (Sealed)

PlayStation NTSC-J
Gensei Kyokou Seirei Kidoudan - Elemental Gearbolt (Sealed)
Rakugaki Showtime

PlayStation NTSC-U/C
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile

Sega Dreamcast NTSC-J
GigaWing 2

Sega Mega Drive
Rocket Knight Adventures
Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Hyper Duel

Super Famicom
Sonic Wings

I want to tackle the weaker spots in my collection going into 2025 such as Famicom and Gameboy games. Even things out to prevent owning a disproportionate amount of games per console and for variety's sake.

9

Modern Video Games / Re: The Game Awards 2024

« on: December 15, 2024, 08:48:56 pm »

Haven't played much Ninja Gaiden, but Ragebound had me hooked knowing The Game Kitchen is the developer. Blasphemous I and II has been my go to metroidvania games as of late, can't wait to see their take of Ninja Gaiden come to fruition.

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General / Re: December 2024 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: December 04, 2024, 08:35:21 pm »

Made a good haul to end the year on. Broke into Japanese Gameboy and Gameboy Advance collecting with Parodius da! and Guardian Heroes Advance, respectively. Grabbed one more Saturn and PSX game to top off those collections at 40 games each. Swooped in on a few auctions and nabbed some Super Famicom games as well.

Imports will still be my main focus going into 2025, specifically Konami and Treasure developed games to fill the shallow spots in my collection. We'll see where the winds blows.

Gameboy Advance NTSC-J
Guardian Heroes Advance

Gameboy NTSC-J
Parodius da!

PlayStation NTSC-J
GUNbare! Game Tengoku: The Game Paradise 2

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Kyūkyoku Tiger II Plus

Super Famicom
Hagane
Sparkster
Sonic Wings

11

General / Re: FPS, RPG, SIM ... where are you "at home"?

« on: December 02, 2024, 07:31:19 pm »

As a kid I played whatever I could get my hands on that appealed to me. Which mainly consisted of platformers and horror games with an occasional RPG. Teenage me got hooked into first/third person shooters and fighting games. I love the fast game play you'd typically see in both with the execution/mentality required to play either genre competently. I put in way too much time trying to get that competitive edge. In adulthood that competitiveness is still there. I still play shooters and fighting games, just infrequently. Shrinking free time really puts your priorities into perspective.

As this moment my "at home" genres would have to be shoot'em ups and platformers. Shoot'em ups share subtle parallels with fighting games and I've enjoyed learning them. While a good platformer is easy to sink time into at your own pace. Horror and RPGs are on the periphery if the mood strikes.

12

Classic Video Games / Re: Konami vs Square Enix (Squaresoft) You can only keep one.

« on: November 29, 2024, 03:41:30 pm »

Konami if we're strictly talking about them pre-7th gen. I got nothing against Sqauresoft, but Konami's output in the 20th century was insane. They set the standard for many of the genres I enjoy outside of RPGs. Post-6th gen Konami has fallen so far down I treat them as a separate entity entirely. To my knowledge Square has retained a better reputation over the years, even after the Enix merger.

Both have a strong and lasting legacy that is well deserved.

13

General / Re: November 2024 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: November 05, 2024, 06:12:13 pm »

Alisia Dragoon and CD Denjin finally arrived after an extra month of waiting. Elemental Gearbolt and House of the Dead should arrive in the next few weeks.

PC Engine CD
CD Denjin: Rockabilly Tengoku

Playstation NTSC-J
Elemental Gearbolt

Sega Mega Drive
Alisia Dragoon

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
House of the Dead

14

General / Re: October 2024 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: October 05, 2024, 06:47:45 am »

Here's my pickups since August. Been filling out my Mega Drive collection, scored my first Famicom game, and got a few PSX and Saturn games I've been eyeing for a while. Alisia Dragoon (Mega Drive) and CD Denjin (PC Engine CD) should arrive soon. USPS keeps shuffling them between two sorting facilities for whatever reason, one of those facilities is literally an hour from my house. Will update this post if they're successfully delivered this month.

Famicom
Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti

PlayStation NTSC-J
Robbit Mon Dieu
G Darius

Sega Dreamcast NTSC-J
GigaWing 2

Sega Mega Drive
Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2
Splatterhouse Part 2
Thunder Force II
Thunder Force III
Thunder Force IV

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Guardian Heroes
Purikura Daisakusen
Sonic Wings Special

15

General / Re: How do you prefer your Sonic games? 2D or 3D?

« on: September 01, 2024, 08:31:10 am »

I grew up playing Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Adventure 2 on Gamecube constantly. Same goes for the Sonic Mega Collection and the Sonic Advance games. All of which I have, regrettably, relinquished ownership of throughout the years. If younger me had the foresight to hold onto them all I would have, especially the Sonic Advance games.

2D Sonic would be my go to, without question. I've never felt compelled to play most of the non-SA entries. That's not to say 3D Sonic doesn't have its place despite its inconsistencies, like so many other 2D-centric games that hastily stumbled into the third dimension.