Rebuilding a game collection is hard.
I used to have quite a decent SNES collection. I think saying it was mine would be a bit of a misnomer; Some of the games belonged to my uncle, some to my older sister, but I'd say the vast majority of games we had for the console belonged to me. Back in 2004 or so, when PS2 and Xbox was all the rage and SNES and Genesis were all but a distant memory, my family decided to put stuff that was taking up space in storage. One of those things put in storage was the huge box of Super Nintendo and Genesis games we kept. It seemed like a good idea at the time: We keep the stuff someplace safe where it won't clutter up the house since no one is using it. Not a bad deal at all, right? Well, it wasn't at all, at least not at first.
Then, someone lost the key to the storage unit.
So somewhere in New York City, there's a storage unit that hasn't been touched for a while, filled with SNES greats like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy III, Mega Man X and lots more, just waiting for someone to claim them. I won't get into the specifics, but as of now, there's no feasible way to get in to the storage unit without paying serious cash. So with a good chunk of my SNES games gone when I started this retro gaming kick of mine this time last year, I decided I'd just start a new collection. It couldn't be too hard to track down some old SNES classics for cheap, right?
Boy, was I wrong!
Prices for SNES games are rising. More people have disposable income and want to relive their childhoods. This in return, is causing collectors to panic, and they end up buying what they can before the supply inevitably runs dry, not even knowing that they're contributing to the drought as well. Finding SNES games for a reasonable price has been something of an experience for me. I've found great deals, I've gotten bad deals, and I've even had unbelievable luck in a few cases. So why not detail the journey so far?
Pictured above is what I've managed to collect in a years time. Despite the EarthBound cartridge being in the picture, I haven't payed more than $20 for any cartridge in that picture. So, let's begin, shall we?
Donkey Kong Country (Rare, 1994)
Bought for: $15
Cartridge Condition: Good
If you've been following this blog from the beginning, you know that my very first blog post on this site was detailing my first experience with the game. I found this at a local Mom 'n Pop video game store for about $15. I had never played the console entries in the DKC series before, so I figured now would be a great time to start. The game itself is... okay. I don't like to use the word much, because it's generally used as an excuse to say "I hate this game but everyone loves it and they're wrong", but I find it to be a tad overrated. It's not a bad platformer by any means, but the game is kind of on the cheap side, as far as level design goes. There's a lot of trial and error involved, much more so than the Mario games. It has some great music, and decent (for it's time) graphics, but it always confuses me when I hear people put this onto the same pedestal as Super Mario World when it's nowhere near as well put together of a game as a lot of other platformers from that era, SNES or otherwise. Don't regret the purchase one bit, though.
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Super Mario All Stars (Nintendo, 1993)
Bought for: Owned from childhood
Condition: No save battery
Super Mario All Stars is a game I've had since I was a kid. It originally belonged to my sister, but when she turned over the SNES to me, I got this game with it, and I've had it ever since. It's hard to believe this cartridge is just two years younger than me (I'm 21 going on 22). Super Mario All Stars is a compilation of remakes of the Super Mario NES trilogy. It's claim to fame was that it had remakes of both versions of Super Mario Bros 2: the reskinned version of Doki Doki Panic which would end up being the US version of Mario Bros 2, and the Japanese Famicom Disc System release of the game, which would be referred to as Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels from then on. They're not exact replicas of their respective games (Both SMB and Lost Levels have noticeably different physics) but they're definitely quality remakes through and through. One of my earliest gaming memories is of me and my younger sister taking turns with my older sister in Super Mario Bros. 2. There's just so much personal history tied to this cartridge, and I can't help but smile every time I look at it. Unfortunately, I tried to replace the battery in the cartridge, and accidentally ripped out the battery tabs that were soldered in, meaning that the only way to get a new battery in would be to solder it in. Nonetheless, thanks for the memories, Mario.
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Breath of Fire (Capcom/Squaresoft, 1994)
Bought for: $20
Cartridge Condition: Better than when I bought it
Breath of Fire is one of the games I actually owned before putting it in the aforementioned storage location. Thankfully, it's not a hard game to track down at all, and I'm glad I was able to find it. The cartridge was pretty crappy when I first bought it, though. The game wouldn't boot up, and it was apparent why: Someone had spilled some sort of liquid on the contacts inside the cartridge, and as a result, they got a bit corroded. Some contact cleaner and some Q-Tips later, they were good as new. Recently, the save battery had died on me, so I opened up the cart and put a new one in today, which should last for the next decade or so, though I'll now have to start from the beginning again. It's an enjoyable game nonetheless, and I'm glad I got it for the price I did. A shame the superior sequel's a bit more expensive.
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Super Mario Kart (Nintendo, 1992)
Bought for: $15
Catridge Condition: Excellent
I bought this at another local store, along with three other games for a total of $25. SMK alone was $15. Super Mario Kart was another game that I used to own. Unfortunately, I sold it off a while back because I wanted to buy a new PS2 game and needed the cash. The game I ended up buying (Mega Man X7) turned out to be awful, so I regretted the decision even more. Super Mario Kart's the first game in the Mario Kart series. In spite of being over 20 years old, the game looks and controls remarkably well, even today. It does look a bit flat, considering the Mode 7 tech being used, but other than that, it's really not that much of a far cry from it's contemporary entries, mechanically speaking. Unlike the newer entries that have become more reliant on item usage over actual racing, Super Mario Kart is all about skill. If you take a turn wrong and hit a wall, you'll be punished. The game is actually pretty hard; the hardest in the series, I'd say. Despite that, I never feel like the game is unfair in any way. When I screw up, I know it's my fault, and not the fault of some unblockable Blue Shell that barrels in my direction because I'm in first place. It's definitely a solid game, and the multiplayer mode remains fun to this day.
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EarthBound (Nintendo, 1995)
Bought For: 65 cents
Cartridge Condition: Label's seen better days, but otherwise good.
Ah, yes. One of the holy grails of Super Nintendo collecting, EarthBound. EarthBound is a game that's been hard to obtain for a reasonable price for a while now. I've actually owned three copies of this game in my life: One that I've had since I was a kid (I sold it in high school to fund a date that I otherwise had no money for, long story), a complete copy of the game, box, strategy guide and all that I got from Gamestop when they were clearing out SNES stock in early 2002 or so, and this copy, which I stumbled upon at Goodwill for 65 cents. I was actually dropping off some old clothes at this particular Goodwill, and wasn't expecting to buy anything. But as I was leaving the store, a SNES cartridge caught my eye on a rack filled with PS2 shovelware and direct to DVD Disney movie sequels. It was EarthBound. It took every bit of fiber in me to not freak out in the store, or else the cashier would catch on to the fact that it's worth something and charge me more. In fact, the cashier asked me if the game was worth anything when she rung it up, and if I recall correctly, I replied with something along the lines of: "Nah, you can get this game just about anywhere these days."
EarthBound's a pretty unique RPG. It mixes absolutely brilliant writing with modern day setting and a Draqon Quest-esque battle system. A Virtual Console release of the game is scheduled to finally show up on Wii U sometime, so that might be a way to experience it if you have a Wii U. Otherwise, you'll be paying $150+ for the cartridge.
I also bought a Universal Game Case to store the game in. Universal Game Cases are plastic cases you can buy online to store SNES, Genesis, Super Famicom, Famicom and Nintendo 64 games in. They have plastic cover slips that allow you to print out box art to adorn your cases with as well. I did so with EarthBound, and the result was this:
It's not the same as a SNES box, but that's arguably a good thing, especially considering how flimsy the cardboard in SNES boxes can be. I'm currently planning to buy a few more cases so that I can house all of my loose games.
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Star Fox (Nintendo, 1993)
Bought for: $10
Cartridge Condition: Excellent
Star Fox is again, a game that I previously owned, but sold for some reason. It's not really that hard of a game to track down online, and to be honest, $10 is a pretty reasonable price. Star Fox is of course, the inaugural entry in the Star Fox series, and was among the first home console games to use 3D polygons thanks to the Super FX chip Nintendo developed for it. It's a pretty fun game to play through in an afternoon, though it's very janky these days.
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Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest (Rare, 1995)
Bought for: Free
Cartridge Condition: Excellent
I already mentioned that the first game didn't leave much of an impression on me. So how would the critically lauded sequel fare?
Better, I'd say. The series still isn't really my cup of tea, but the game is an improvement on the original game in almost every way imaginable. The settings are moodier, the physics and collision detection are a lot less jankier, the soundtrack is fantastic, the game is a lot less dependent on trial and error and more about platforming skill, and the bosses are actually decent. While DKC1 stands as a good, if somewhat overrated title to me, DKC2 stands as a legitimately great game that just isn't my cup of tea, though I can definitely see why the game gets the praise it does, and it really does deserve it. I actually got the game from a generous person looking to get complete boxed copes of the DKC trilogy, and and decided to give away the loose copies he owned of the games, and I was fortunate enough to get DKC2.
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Aladdin (Capcom, 1993)
Bought for: $5
Cartridge Condtion: Eh, it's okay
The SNES version of Aladdin is done by Capcom, and although it's short, it's definitely sweet. Whereas the Genesis version focused more on combat, the SNES version is all about the platforming. The producer of the game was Shinji Mikami, a Capcom employee that would go on to create games such as Goof Troop, Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, and GodHand, just to name a few. There's not much to say about the game. It's a short, snappy adaptation of the Disney movie. One interesting thing is that unlike the Genesis version of the game, which features chiptune arrangements of songs from the music, the SNES OST is almost entirely original music. The SNES version does have pretty nice sounding arrangements of Friend Like Me and A Whole New World
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (Konami, 1992)
Cartridge Condition: Better than a 20 year old cartridge has any right to be in
I've had this game since I was a kid, and it's really just a joy to play through, especially in Co-Op.
I've already gushed about the game enough here, so you can read that, if you're so inclined.
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F-Zero (Nintendo, 1991)
Bought for: $19
Cartridge Condition: New
F-Zero was a game that I actually never played on Super Nintendo prior to owning a physical copy. My first experience with the game was on a SNES emulator sometime in the mid 2000's or so. I later bought the game on Wii Virtual Console at some point and instantly fell in love with it, having already owned and loved the later titles in the series. F-Zero was a SNES launch title, and as such, many copies were produced. So much so, that buying a new, sealed copy of the game costs no more that $20 online! I ended up jumping on that, because hey, a complete in box SNES game! Don't see that much these days! It's a solid SNES single player racer that can get pretty brutal in later stages, but it's still pretty damn fun to play today.
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Final Fight (Capcom, 1991)
Bought for: $5
Cartridge Condition: Decent
Final Fight is a SNES port of the hit arcade beat em up. Unfortunately, the SNES port is considered to be butchered in a lot of ways. For one it's missing a character (Guy), an entire stage (Industrial Area), featured heavy censoring (No Poison or Roxy), doesn't have as many enemies on screen, and limited continues (Which makes the game harder than the Arcade release) Even with all of those faults, it's still a decent beat em up, and the hard to track down, but still great SNES exclusive sequels build on the foundation of this port.
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Well, that about wraps this up. Tomorrow, I plan on writing up a post analyzing some of the best designed boss fights in gaming. I won't bluntly reveal the subject of tomorrow's post, but I'll leave you with a big clue...
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