For the twelfth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... the brand-spanking-new copy of Nintendo's Super Mario 3D Land seen in the photo below.

Oh, and a "flame red" 3DS system to play it on.

I know I went on and on in previous posts about wanting a coral/misty/pearl pink 3DS, but I have to say I'm more than happy with the shiny red 3DS I got instead. It looks like a giant cherry Jolly Rancher that plays games! How could I not be pleased with such a device?

Anyway, I've yet to pop Super Mario 3D Land into my system, so I can't say anything about it at the moment. I plan on playing it tomorrow, though, so look for a post about it on Tuesday (or sometime later in the week).

I'll also share some thoughts on the 3DS itself later this week, in case anyone cares.

In the meantime, I hope all of you have enjoyed this seasonal series of posts. If not, at least it's over today, right?

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the eleventh game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... Taito's PC Engine port of Don Doko Don.

To those of you who've never played this game, it's a single-screen platformer in the same mold as Bubble Bobble and Parasol Stars. Don Doko Don sets itself apart from those all-time classics, though, by featuring what appear to be hammer-wielding garden gnomes.

Sorry for the sort of awkward shot above, by the way. I didn't want this photo to look like nearly every other one I've taken of a PC Engine game, but the angle I ended up using makes it kind of hard to appreciate Don Doko Don's rather festive cover art, doesn't it?

If you'd like to take a better look at the game's case and HuCard, head on over to my Flickr photostream.

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the tenth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... a beautifully boxed copy of the Famicom version of Kirby's Adventure (known as Hoshi no Kirby: Yume no Izumi no Monogatari in Japan, which translates to something like Kirby of the Stars: Story of the Fountain of Dreams in English).

Honestly, I've never been all that interested in this game, although I couldn't tell you why. I'm guessing it's because it came out after the SNES was released; by then, my mind had moved on to 16-bit games like F-Zero, Final Fantasy II and Super Mario World.

That all changed, though, after playing Kirby's Return to Dream Land, which I enjoyed so much that I decided I just had to own the series' first console outing, too. So, I bought the copy seen in the photos below through eBay.

Anyway, I'm having such a blast with Hoshi no Kirby: Yume no Izumi no Monogatari--expect to hear more about that in an upcoming post--that I've already hit myself over the head a number of times (with one of those giant squeaky hammers) for passing on this magnificent platformer back when it was first released.

Oh, well, all that really matters is that I'm playing and enjoying it now, right?

By the way, if you'd like to see a few more photos of this game's beautiful box and cart, please check out my Flickr photostream at your earliest convenience. 

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the ninth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... a complete-in-box copy of the GameBoy Advance puzzler called Zooo.

Most of you likely know this game by another name: Zoo Keeper. For some weird reason, its name was changed to Zooo when it was released for GameBoy Advance and PlayStation 2 in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Also weird: Said ports were released only in Europe and Japan.

As for why I imported the GameBoy Advance version of the game and ignored the more-easily-accessible DS version of it: I've found (through playing both versions via emulation) that I prefer the increased difficulty present in the former iteration.

Plus, I'm on a bit of a GameBoy Advance kick at the moment, and I liked the thought of being able to play this game on that great little handheld.

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the eighth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... the PC Engine version of Jigoku Meguri (aka Hell Explorer or Bonze Adventure, depending on where you live).

Astute readers will recall that I discussed the change of heart I had in regards to this Taito platformer in this recent "Second Chances" post.

One thing I think I failed to mention in that post is that the PC Engine port of Jigoku Meguri admirably follows in the footsteps of a number of other Taito-published HuCards--including Don Doko Don, KiKi KaiKai, Mizubaku Daibouken and The New Zealand Story--as spot-on arcade conversions.



Another thing Jigoku Meguri shares with those games: It has a pretty slick instruction manual. (Expect to see it appear in an upcoming "Manual Stimulation" post.)

As is the case with most of these "12 Games of Christmas" posts, a few additional photos of this game can be found in my Flickr photostream.

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the seventh game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... the PlayStation version of Mr. Driller.

I've been curious about this kinda-sorta follow-up to Dig Dug, released throughout the world in 2000, for some time now, but I didn't bite the bullet on it until I found a complete (case, disk and manual) copy of it on eBay for just a few bucks.



I know I could have bought any of this series' more modern and recent sequels, but I wanted to start with the first one. Also, it's been a while since I've bought a game for my PlayStation, so this was a good way for me to kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes.

Should I enjoy my first Mr. Driller experience, though, I definitely could see myself buying, say, Mr. Driller A for the GameBoy Advance or Mr. Driller Drill Spirits for the DS down the road.

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the sixth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... the Famicom Disk System version of Ice Climber.

Why did I buy yet another version of this classic, confounding game? Because this version differs from the Famicom/NES version in a number of ways. (The main ones: It includes all-new stages that don't appear in its cartridge-based counterpart, some of which feature weather effects that make the game even more challenging than it was originally.)



Another reason I bought this version: The banana-yellow disk seen in the photo above. (One or two more photos of the game can be seen in my Flickr photostream.) Oh, and it was less than $10.

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the fifth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... the PC Engine port of one of Taito's best (or at least cutest) platformers, The New Zealand Story.

I bought this copy of the game through Jap-Sai.com, by the way. I mention that because, as you can see in the photos below (and on my Flickr photostream), it is in absolutely impeccable condition--something that can't always be said for the games I pick up off of eBay. As such, I'd highly recommend checking out the company's online store if you're ever looking to buy complete-in-box copies of old Japanese games.

Anyway, enough about the condition of this game's case and cartridge. How's the game itself? Although it's far from my favorite platformer, I greatly appreciate its quirkiness, its challenging nature and, of course, its cuter-than-a-box-of-kittens protagonist.

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the fourth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... a complete-in-box copy of Nintendo's Balloon Kid.

Educational aside: This GameBoy-based sequel-of-sorts to the Famicom/NES classic, Balloon Fight, was released throughout North America in 1990 and throughout Europe in 1991. For some unknown reason, it never received a proper, packaged release in Japan, although a colorized version of the game--called Balloon Fight GB--was released via the company's Nintendo Power service in 2000. 

For more information on Balloon Kid--which was produced, in part, by Gunpei Yokoi and Yoshio Sakamoto (Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka composed the game's perky soundtrack)--read these blog posts. 

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the third game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... a boxed copy of Nintendo's Clu Clu Land.

Note that I didn't describe this as a "complete in box" copy of this Famicom/NES classic. That's because the plastic tray that's supposed to cradle the cartridge (and protect the box) wasn't included. Oh, well.

Regardless, I quite like Clu Clu Land's box art. To tell you the truth, that's the main reason I picked up the copy seen in the photos above and below, as I'm not much of a fan of the game at this point.

I'm also a bit of a sucker for banana-yellow Famicom carts, it seems, as not only do I salivate over the one that contains Clu Clu Land's code, but I also salivate over the ones produced for the Famicom version of Super Mario Bros. and the GameBoy Advance version of Kid Icarus.

Fore more photos of yellow (as well as red, orange, blue and white) Famicom carts, check out this Flickr set.

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the second game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... NEC Avenue's PC Engine port of Fantasy Zone.

This version of Sega's surreal, pastel-filled shmup was released in 1988, by the way. It isn't an arcade-perfect port, but it's close enough that only the most anal Fantasy Zone fans would turn up their noses at it.

You may remember me saying recently (in this 'Second Chances' post) that I haven't always been a fan of this game. Well, my opinion of it has changed enough over the last few months that the complete-in-box copy of it seen above was one of the first things I purchased after my birthday.

Now if I could just get past the third or fourth stage.

Anyway, for anyone interested: Another photo or two of my copy of Fantasy Zone can be seen in my Flickr photostream. (Also, click on the ones above to take a closer look at them.)

See also: Previous '12 Games of Christmas' posts

For the first game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me ...

... Kirby's Return to Dream Land!

Full disclosure: I actually received this game as a birthday gift. Of course, I mentioned in yesterday's post that all of the games included in this series were acquired between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I guess there's no reason for me to apologize.

Anyway, its packaging is pretty spiffy, don't you think?



I've already beaten the game's main campaign, by the way, although that isn't really much of an accomplishment given its overall lack of difficulty. Of course, Kirby games generally aren't about presenting players with overtly challenging enemies and levels, are they?

No, Kirby games are all about having fun--or at least they are in my experience--and I certainly had a blast playing through this one. (My favorite part: Obtaining and using Kirby's screen-filling super abilities.)

Have any of you played Kirby's Return to Dream Land yet? If so, what did you think of it?

See also: 'The 12 Games of Christmas'

The 12 Games of Christmas

What do you do after you buy and/or receive as gifts a crapload of games between your birthday (which comes just after Thanksgiving) and Christmas? If you're me, you take photos of said games and then share them in a series of posts called "The 12 Games of Christmas."

The first of these posts will be published tomorrow morning. Another such post will be published on Thursday morning and then another will be published on Friday morning and so on and so forth until Christmas day.

Although I'm calling this series "The 12 Games of Christmas," don't look for that title when searching for the above-mentioned posts. Instead, look for headlines like, "For the first game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me..."

The games that will be highlighted in this series cover the gamut, by the way. Some of them are Japanese and some are North American, for instance. Also, some of them are older (yes, a few of them are Famicom and PC Engine games) and some are newer.

Anyway, tune in tomorrow to see the first one! And then, if you're at all interested, keep tuning in every day (yes, even over the weekend) until Christmas.