It\u2019s like finding the recipe for Big Mac sauce on the Internet, and you try to make your own two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickles-onions on a sesame seed bun.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019ll probably turn out pretty good, but it\u2019s just not quite as good as when McDonald\u2019s makes it for you.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"Authenticity](\"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/big_mac.jpg\")
<\/a>Authenticity on a bun.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Because of that, roms just don\u2019t cut it for me anymore.\u00a0 Although the Wii and Wii U\u2019s Virtual Consoles are nice, it\u2019s just not the same.<\/p>\n
That being said, there are times I wish I was okay with the cheaper option\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/a>$200 cartridge only.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
As you’ve probably guessed, Power Blade 2<\/em> is the sequel to the number 90 game on my Top 100 list, Power Blade<\/em>.\u00a0 I enjoyed the original quite a bit and rented it often, but I only rented this one once and didn’t get to play it all that much for some reason.<\/p>\n If this game reminds me of anything, it\u2019s that a Nintendo Power<\/em> article\u2019s unique drawings could go a long way in determining whether or not I wanted to play a game.<\/p>\n In the article for Power Blade 2<\/em>, there was a lot of emphasis on the different suits Nova could wear, as well as the special abilities each suit gave him.\u00a0 I honestly could not tell you which suit did what without looking it up, but I remember thinking \u201cWHOA \u2013 the first game only had a silver suit, and this one has one that\u2019s red, one blue, one yellow and one green!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amazing how mere colors could hook you into playing a game… <\/p>\n I guess the main reason for this game being so expensive these days is the same as a few others \u2013 it probably didn\u2019t sell all that well, so it being uncommon means that as more and more game collectors pick it up, the more they\u2019re able to charge when a sucker like me goes looking for it!<\/p>\n Maybe someday, Nova\u2026\u00a0 maybe someday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anywhere between $265 and $340 cartridge only.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Of all the valuable games in this post, Bubble Bobble Part 2<\/em> (ignoring Rainbow Islands<\/em> completely, apparently) is the one I played and enjoyed the most growing up.\u00a0 It\u2019s more or less the same idea as the first game, but with more vibrant and detailed graphics \u2013 at the expense of the frame rate, unfortunately.\u00a0 There are also a few levels that actually take up more than one screen (side-scrolling in a Bubble Bobble<\/em> game???), and more frequent boss fights.<\/p>\n The main reason this game is harder to find these days is that it was released quite late in the NES\u2019 lifespan, a full two years after the Super NES was released.\u00a0 Many folks had already moved on to the newer console, so quite a few 8-bit games flew under the radar after 1991.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Like at the end of the first game, seeing a HUGE version of a regular enemy was amazing.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n So, after losing my baby teeth, my primary teeth came in pretty crooked.\u00a0 It was pretty obvious I was going to need braces, and in Grade 4, I went in for my first (of three) appointments to get it all done.\u00a0 After getting only 4 of my top teeth done the first time around, I went back again later to add four more on the bottom, and then one final time to have them put on every tooth.<\/p>\n On the same day as that last appointment, we also put my cat Fluff down\u2026\u00a0 that day sucked.<\/p>\n Anyway, there were 4 years of countless appointments at the orthodontist to tighten things up \u2013 a little tweak here, a little tweak there\u2026\u00a0 it was a lot of work to get my teeth into the position they\u2019re in today, and I\u2019m incredibly thankful to have gotten all that work done.<\/p>\n To get at this point was incredibly painful, however.\u00a0 I definitely realize there are many more painful things a person can go through \u2013 seriously, cancer patients deserve all of the fist bumps \u2013 but I can\u2019t stress how much of a wimp I was as a kid.\u00a0 Still am, actually.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019d take my mind off the pain by playing tons of games\u2026 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In any case, it was the day of one of these check-ups that I rented Bubble Bobble Part 2<\/em> for the first time.\u00a0 My teeth were absolutely throbbing by the time I got home and started playing it\u2026\u00a0 and that is quite literally all I remember when I think of this game;\u00a0 dental pain.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anywhere between $274 and $400 cartridge only.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Also lost in the late shuffle of NES releases was Panic Restaurant<\/em>.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have much to say about it except for the fact that I\u2019ve never played it. \u00a0It\u2019s about a chef whose restaurant becomes infested with living food and kitchen supplies, and it\u2019s up to him (you) to bash them all into oblivion with his (your) frying pan.\u00a0 Sounds like fun!<\/p>\n If you ever find a copy of this game in your travels for less than a hundred bucks, it might be a good idea to pick it up (if only for the re-sale value).<\/p>\n Aside from the unlicensed carts,\u00a0Stadium Events<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Nintendo World Championship<\/em>\u00a0carts that fetch a ridiculous amount of money (we\u2019re talking four and five digits-worth), these next couple games are some potentially fantastic flea market finds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anywhere between $550 and $750 cartridge only.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Little Samson<\/em> is another one of those NES titles that was released after the Super NES hit stores, and sales for the game suffered because of it.\u00a0 It\u2019s pretty hard to find due to being deemed a failure and subsequently being pulled off the shelves, but the crazy prices can also be attributed to the fact that it\u2019s quite fun to play!<\/p>\n You can control four different characters at the touch of a button, and each which have their own unique abilities to help explore different parts of the game map.\u00a0 Like Mega Man<\/em>, you choose the levels you want to play and can re-visit them after completion to get stuff you missed the first time around.<\/p>\n While it definitely seems like the kind of game I\u2019d enjoy, I doubt I\u2019ll ever have an income high enough to justify purchasing it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This episode of The Game Chasers is a few years old and the game is worth more than that now, but Shady Jay definitely (to quote the show) caught this flea market vendor slippin’.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n The final part of this post is dedicated to another sequel to yet another underappreciated game.\u00a0 The Flintstones<\/em> had themselves a pretty solid platformer with the fairly common Rescue of Dino and Hoppy<\/em>, but decided to take a rather interesting route for the sequel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anywhere between $650 and $1,000 cartridge only.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Back when Blockbuster Video was the king of video store chains, it would be fairly common for them to get certain titles a while before hitting retail store shelves.\u00a0 This exclusivity helped boost Blockbuster\u2019s numbers, as well as help companies garner extra hype for their game ahead of the actual release date.\u00a0 It was a win-win situation!<\/p>\n Surprise at Dinosaur Peak<\/em> was one of these exclusive rentals.\u00a0 Due to its late release in the NES\u2019 lifespan and lack of popularity as a rental, the game never actually made it to retail stores for regular sale.\u00a0 In fact, the first people who can claim to have owned the game relatively early on probably picked it up when their local Blockbuster store liquidated its NES game inventory for one reason or another.<\/p>\n It\u2019s one of the hardest-to-find games in the NES library, but don\u2019t lose hope!\u00a0 You could get lucky!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n These guys certainly did.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Well, I hope you\u2019ve enjoyed this look at one of my favourite gaming companies.\u00a0 For all I know, this could be the tip of the iceberg!\u00a0 The blog\u2019s downtime has given me time to think of a few ideas for the site, and I intend to expand beyond the regular \u201cchildhood memory\u201d posts\u2026\u00a0 y\u2019know, just to switch it up a bit.<\/p>\n Until next time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve often been asked why I bother going to countless flea markets, yard sales and pawn shops looking for old games.\u00a0 In this day and age where the majority of older games can easily be playable with emulators… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-taito"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3110"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3140,"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110\/revisions\/3140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
Also, I guess this explains what the suits do.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>
but boy, did I ever need that pain.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>