The Madou-ness continues

This is my last Madou Monogatari-focused post, I swear.

At least for the foreseeable future.

Regardless, all of you Madou Monogatari haters (if such people exist) should be happy to hear there are no other Madou Monogatari Game Gear ports for me to pick up and photograph.

Sure, there's the PC Engine Arcade Card port of this series' first game, but given both its rarity and eye-popping price tag I'm unlikely to buy it anytime soon.

So, the games I've talked about here, here, here and, yes, here (with this last "here" referring to this particular post) will be the extent of Madou Monogatari collection for some time to come.

I have to admit that this latest acquisition--of the 1994 Game Gear port of Madou Monogatari III--hasn't always appealed to me. For starters, I've long thought of its cover art, below, as being inferior to the cover art produced for Madou Monogatari I, II and A.

I've also never been much of a fan of this entry's older in-game protagonist.

Both of the above-mentioned criticisms should help explain why I held off purchasing this one until recently, when I came across an absurdly cheap copy on eBay that I just couldn't ignore.

Now that I've had a chance to reflect on things a bit, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that my previously dismissive attitude toward this game has softened quite a bit.

Why? Well, the crazy looking frog that's featured on the box art helped move things in the right direction, oddly enough. 

Madou Monogatari III's wacky and wonderfully colorful instruction manual (see above and below for a couple of particularly awesome examples) hand a hand in my change of heart, too.



In fact, upon closer inspection, pretty much every physical aspect of this portable pick-up is well worth swooning over--in my humble opinion, of course.

Look, even the back of its box showcases adorable illustrations:



Does this mean I'm now going to push aside my current, meandering playthrough of the first Madou Monogatari Game Gear port aside so I can enjoy this iteration? No, I don't think so.

In fact, my current plan is to play the four Game Gear titles in order, with each completed playthrough capped off with a "Great Gaymathon" review.

As such, you probably shouldn't expect to read my impressions of Madou Monogatari III for at least a few months (and that's me being generous).

In the meantime, though, those of you who have any interest in this Compile-developed and Sega-published series may want to keep an eye out for "Manual Stimulation" posts devoted to the crazy instruction manuals that were included with each of these titles. I'll also do my best to chat about my playthroughs in my "Shall We Do It?" posts.

See also: previous Madou Monogatari-focused posts