PekoTAS' Quest to collect the GBA NES Classics Series CIB.
This thread started out as a place to show off my lousy purchases that nobody gave a crap about. Now I'm re-packaging it as a thread to keep track of my progress in my new collecting goal.
Obtain complete in box copies of the GBA NES Classics series.
Why would you want to collect these games? Just get the NES versions!
I actually did have some of these games in NES cartridge form, but through a spring cleaning disaster most of my NES library got donated. So I figure rather than re-buy the expensive cartridges, I'd buy the NES classics versions CIB for roughly the same price with the added bonus of Game Boy Micro functionality. Plus it allows me to go for a complete set NintendoAge award that is actually obtainable on my limited budget.
Why collect them if you've already played them? You should move on and try new games instead!
This is the beauty of this idea. Many of these games I've actually never played before. In all my years playing games, I've never played Excitebike, Donkey Kong, Ice Climber, Bomberman, or Metroid. This gives me a chance to play some of these classics for the first time!
Surely you've played Super Mario Bros, Zelda and Castlevania though, right?
Indeed I have, but even those games I have unfinished business with. I've never attempted the harder second quest of Super Mario OR Zelda, and I've still never been able to beat Castlevania. As for Xevious, I can't even get past the first stage. That damn onslaught of bullets at the missile base always kills me.
Sounds like you've got a good idea going. Will you keep me updated on how you're progressing?
I sure will! Just read the posts below to keep up to date on how the collection is going!
Obtain complete in box copies of the GBA NES Classics series.
Why would you want to collect these games? Just get the NES versions!
I actually did have some of these games in NES cartridge form, but through a spring cleaning disaster most of my NES library got donated. So I figure rather than re-buy the expensive cartridges, I'd buy the NES classics versions CIB for roughly the same price with the added bonus of Game Boy Micro functionality. Plus it allows me to go for a complete set NintendoAge award that is actually obtainable on my limited budget.
Why collect them if you've already played them? You should move on and try new games instead!
This is the beauty of this idea. Many of these games I've actually never played before. In all my years playing games, I've never played Excitebike, Donkey Kong, Ice Climber, Bomberman, or Metroid. This gives me a chance to play some of these classics for the first time!
Surely you've played Super Mario Bros, Zelda and Castlevania though, right?
Indeed I have, but even those games I have unfinished business with. I've never attempted the harder second quest of Super Mario OR Zelda, and I've still never been able to beat Castlevania. As for Xevious, I can't even get past the first stage. That damn onslaught of bullets at the missile base always kills me.
Sounds like you've got a good idea going. Will you keep me updated on how you're progressing?
I sure will! Just read the posts below to keep up to date on how the collection is going!
Comments
Current Collection:
Games Remaining
Super Mario Bros.
Dr. Mario
Xevious
Pac-Man $15.00 (MostlyMusic)
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link $30.00 (MostlyMusic)
Castlevania
Bomberman
Metroid
Donkey Kong $30.00 (Press Start)
Ice Climber
Excitebike
Zelda II Complete!
Pac-Man Top Score
Price: $30.00
Store of Purchase: MostlyMusic
The Good: Was in better condition than expecting
The Bad: Made me want to collect nice condition copies.
Zelda II is the first NES classics game I obtained, but not the first I bought. I ordered Metroid CIB online before I bought Zelda II, but I'm not crossing Metroid off the list until it's in my hands.
Zelda II was one of my favourite NES games that sadly got accidentally donated during spring cleaning, so I was very happy to see that one of our retro game stores had a CIB copy of this version. I didn't ask about the condition, so the whole hour long transit trip I was expecting the worst since MostlyMusic tends to have pretty ugly copies of games. Much to my surprise it not only looked great, but it had all of the original inserts.
Going by the prices I see on ebay for this game CIB, I got a pretty fair price. Some of the lowest sold copies on ebay are priced at 30 dollars, but cost more due to shipping. I'd say I got a pretty good deal for a copy this nice. I had a real blast playing Zelda II on a Game Boy Micro, and it cemented the idea of going for the whole set in my mind.
CIB NES Classics Pac-Man purchased!
Price: $15.00
Store of Purchase: MostlyMusic
The Good: Great quality CIB copy for below the original $20.00 budget price.
The Bad: Had to go all the way to the store in the pouring rain two days in a row.
After I had played Zelda II and decided I was going to collect the set, I had to go all the way back to MostlyMusic on transit to pick up the CIB copy of NES Classics Pac-Man that they also had. I saw it when I bought the Zelda II, but I just wasn't sure at that point if I was going to go for it and collect them. Wish I had just done it, because it's a real hassle to get to that store, and doing it two days in a row is something I hardly ever do.
Thankfully it's a really nice copy that also has all of the original inserts, and all for cheaper than the 20 dollars it originally retailed for 10 years ago!
While Pac-man is just as fun as it always has been, I gotta say that the controls in the NES port don't work quite right, which is something special to eff up the controls in Pac-Man. Sometimes Pac-Man just won't turn the direction you want him too, usually when trying to go up or down. I've played the arcade version on a Game Boy Micro thanks to the Pac-Man collection, and it genuinely works better.
Despite the iffy controls, the fact that I can actually save my top scores on a portable version of Pac-Man totally makes up for it. Maybe I just didn't know how to do it on other releases, but I'm pretty sure this is the only handheld port of Pac-Man that actually allows one to save the score. Don't know why Namco thinks it's a feature we wouldn't want for flippin' Pac-Man, esspecially a version you can lazily play on the bus. >_>
Two games out of twelve obtained.
Price: $30.00
Store of Purchase: Press Start
The Good: Discovered a great new store, went on an adventure and went home happy
The Bad: Had a hard time finding the place.
Here's our first genuine update that was purchased today. It was a lot of work, and overall gave me blisters from walking too much, but I'd say it was well worth the trip.
There's a retro game store within transit distance that I've never been to before, and I felt like today was the day to go try and get there. I didn't call ahead to ask if they had any NES Classics games because it would have been a no win situation if I did. If they didn't have any, I wouldn't have gone. If they did have some, I wouldn't know when to give up and go home if I got lost or tired. Game collecting brings out the most stubborn parts of our brain. *sips wine snootily*
Anyhoo, in typical PekoTAS fashion I got off the bus a stop too early and started walking in the wrong direction. It happens every single time I go someplace new on transit, and I've come to expect it now. Thankfully I had my fancy Blackberry Z10 my brother got me for Christmas to help me out with directions. Gone are the days of me getting so far off course and having to call home from a pay-phone for directions, now I can just go on the Google Maps and have it point me in the right direction. Even with the map I'd have turned down every single wrong path possible if not for the little icon that showed me which way I was walking. It's almost like gaming and real life have mixed together, as I literally have a map screen showing me which way I'm going in the form of a little blue dot.
After much walking I stumbled into the store, and I was quite impressed. They said they were low on stock since they had just gone to a couple conventions, but they still had some pretty nice stuff at much lower prices than the other stores I go to. I asked if they had any of the GBA NES Classics games CIB, and the guy goes into the back for a bit. He pulls out one box with a spine that read...
"Pac-Man"
I was really disappointed, and I guess he could see that since he continued to look around until he found one other NES classic tucked away in a box with a spine that read...
"Donkey Kong!" (Though thanks to NintendoAge I genuinely thought it said "Dankey Kang" at first glance)
I bought the game, the guy gave me directions for a FAR easier way to get to his store and back home, and he gained himself a new customer. Next time will be much easier.
Three out of twelve games obtained! We're already a quarter of the way there!