NGPC Countdown #25 - Bust-A-Move Pocket

Bust-A-Move Pocket.....(complete w/box)



Pow! Zap! Kapow! Still jiving from all weekend 60's Batman Batfight marathon and busting serious moves all over the place! CRASH! Pam! Splat!

The idea of a top 10 Best Batfights is floating in my head. Good chance I'll work on that next after my latest video review.Though I'm seriously considering looking for the Neo Geo Pocket Dreamcast cable to showcase the nice bonus goodies. ;) Z-zwap!

NGPC Countdown #26

Shanghai Mini.........(complete w/box)

When it comes to video gaming, collecting is time-consuming, space-consuming, and more important, wallet-consuming. Let's face it, we're not all millionaires. At least, I know I'm far from that milestone. What's Shanghai Mini got to do with it? To answer, the game was one of a 6-game lot I bought to jump start my NGPC collection and touches a subject what I refer as lot buying.

Lot buying is group of games bought with a single purchase. Nothing special in it of itself but hold a few distinct advantages:

1. LOTS of games! (duh!)
2. Save money on games.
3. Save costs on shipping. (Yeah, I'll go into details shortly.)

1. The first good step in collecting, I believe, when it comes to getting all the games for a system is obtaining a good chuck in the first purchase. Saves yourself time in getting everything in fewer swoops as opposed going after each game individually. A great way to get to establishing a base and there's always something heavenly about a tonload of gaming goodness, like Christmas, except, it comes more than once a year. :D

2. Remember the old saying: "More is less." It's true for video games, in a monetary sense. Assuming Gamestop and the like are excused, half the beauty of lot buying is getting more bang for my buck. Whenever a seller has a game I like, I always check his/her other wares to pile on cause (and true for most conventions) they'll opt a better deal in your offer or gives you leverage to haggle.

At Too Many Games, a vendor was selling GB Megaman 2, 3, and 4 with manual plus Ninja Warriors for $70 altogether and managed to persuade him to sell $52 total. However, the "trick" won't work its magic every time but most, from my experience, don't mind trimming the bucks to get the sale, so it doesn't hurt to ask.

Ebay is another shining example as veterans know group lots tend to sell below what they go for individually. Back to Shanghai Mini, I paid $40 for that 6-game boxed lot plus the NGPC handheld, $6 per item! On that note, group auctions are always a good place to start for collectors, however, I dealt with resellers in the past placing high bids on these. So, don't go overboard.

3. Shipping is something when ignorantly overlooked will avoidably take a big bite out of your wallet, the same way a man believes a $30 game with $15 shipping is a better deal than buying $40 locally. To give you a better idea:

Let's say I want to get 100 NES games for as little money as possible and have narrowed it to two options. For argument's sake, one method is buying one game from 100 non-local people paying a penny each. The other is buying from one guy offering $150 for 100 NES games. Obviously, the former gives a LOT of bang for your buck, saving ya $149 in the process. But when taking into account shipping and handling fees, it's a whole new ballgame.

To give the best possible chance, let's say S&H is $3, $2.50 for bubble envelope and 50 cents for the stamp. (Yeah, stamps are 42 cents but things are simpler this way.) Add in the price of the game, that's $3.01 per item and for 100 people, the total comes to $301. (The math: 3.01 x 100 = 301) Unless the other guy's asking $151 for shipping, it's a safe bet lot buying 100 games from him is the better deal.

I realize my example has a snowball's chance happening in real life, but think about it, especially those who frequently buy their stuff online. Imagine if the cost was 5 or 6 bucks. X_x

It's something I always ponder in the back of my head as occasionally I've backed out cause S&H put the whole thing over my budget price.

With upside, there's downside. Lot buying looks like a money saver but requires to invest big all at once. It's really doesn't suit those with tight budgets. You're kinda stuck with what your bought until finance allows, but play your cards right, you'll come out like a bandit. Hope this helps. ;)

NGPC Countdown #27

Metal Slug 2nd Mission......(complete w/box)



Missions, machine guns, mayhem....and martians (cue 50's outer space music).

Remember that nonexistent pause button I said before. Well, I found it. Too bad it's the same one used to hurl grenades (the Option button). Oh why didn't SNK add a Select button? v_v

Neo Geo Pocket Countdown #29-#28

What's a countdown?

It's something I tend to do when aspiring to collect every game for a specific system, including manuals, boxes, and what not. Each entry countdown one by one to a complete collection. Right now, my eyes are set on getting all 32 games for the US Neo Geo Pocket Color library. The thrill of the hunt is so exciting!

Beware! My entries tend go off on tangents surrounding a quirky or unique trait than the game itself. Bear in mind, the NGPC countdown continues where I left off in the Digital Press forums. It's seems I'm skipping ahead, but they're covered later. Regretfully, it's been so LONG without any entries, best to leave with a double header.

Baseball Stars.....(complete w/box)


Neo Geo Cup '98 Plus.....(complete w/box)


The finishing touch....

Muramasa the Demon Blade: First Look

One word: Awesome!

Two words: Hell Yeah!

Three words: GET.......IT......NOW!!!!!

It took all summer, but the wait is finally over! Picked my pre-order copy from Gamestop recently and the few hours of great gameplay blew my mind. Vanillaware does it again! :)

For those unfamiliar, Vanillaware developed Muramasa as with other titles like Odin Sphere (my vote for best underrated PS2 game) and Princess Crown (if Atlus can find the code ~_~ ). Rarely do games come close to being artistically beautiful, but Vanillaware hits the bullseye every time. They create such aesthetically, stunning work, you can pick any random shot and frame it on the wall.

Muramasa the Demon Blade tells the tale of two struggling souls: Momohime, a feudal lord's beautiful daughter possessed by a demon and a master of the Oboro style and Kisuke, a rogue ninja stricken with amnesia hunted by his ninja brethren for a crime he doesn't remember. Both are selectable from the start and unlike Odin Sphere's diversified characters move, here the two characters gameplay are identical to one another.

Let's talk controls. First thing....no motion controls. Better yet, you can plug in the Gamecube controller or Wii classic controller. So, you can't complain about sore wrists. Let's concentrate on the Wiimote and nunchuk cause this is the setup I've played on thus far. Analog stick moves your character, while jumping is done by pushing the stick up and crouching with down. Awkward on paper but actually very intuitive. Pressing two buttons to move while jumping replaced by one motion of the thumb. It's works fluidly and becomes second nature for 2D no less. The advanced moves like dash slashing and parrying are covered extensively in the tutorial.

Battles are fast-paced, smooth, and intense thanks to the combo of kickass super sword with super attacks and wicked cool ninja moves. Overdoing the blade's special mojo drains its power and break it, forced to restore its power in its sheath or collecting souls lying about. I'm allowed to bring up to three blades into battle and can't swap them out, so caution is needed or be left in a boss fight with a bunch of broken swords.

Forging new swords requires certain number of soul and spirit. Spirits are gained from eating foods cooked by you or at restaurants (another trait delivered from Odin Sphere). A certain level of strength and vitality is necessary to wield them and requires level grinding but the game's fast action battle and EXP bonuses will feel like a breeze.

Boss fights should be one of three things: fun, memorable, or epic. Muramasa hasn't failed all three yet. All I can say is Momohime's Mountain God fight and nuff' said. ;)

One interesting note is with all my hours of play, not once had I seen "Now Loading..." or slowdown of any kind. Bear in mind, Odin Sphere was riddled with loading screens and heavy slowdown on a last-gen system. In Muramasa, a smooth. continuous, fast-paced motion like it was on a cartridge, except this is a CD game! Hopefully, the streak will continue for the whole game.

As for the visuals....well, you have to see for yourself. What are you waiting for? GO before I sick Momohime on you. ;)