Introducing: the Famicart Art! tumblr

As most (all?) of you know, I'm a real sucker for anything related to the Nintendo Famicom.

Which means, of course, I've become a tiny bit obsessed with Walter Parenton's latest tumblr--he also maintains one called boygraphics--since I first became aware of it a couple of days ago.

The name of Parenton's new tumblog says it all, really: Famicart Art!

Here are a few examples of what you'll be able to ogle if you decide to follow the Famicart Art! tumblr:



The colorful cartridge above contains a Jaleco-made game called Ochin no Toshi Puzzle Tonjan!?



This spooky-looking piece of plastic, on the other hand, houses Yamamura Misa Suspense: Kyoto Hana no Misshitsu Satsujin Jiken, a Japan-only (duh) adventure game from 1989.



Finally, we have Pony Canyon's adorable Onyanko Town. This 1985 release has been on my "to buy" list for ages now. Maybe this write-up will push me to get off my butt and buy a copy of it.

While you wait for my inevitable slew of blog posts about Onyanko Town, you should head over to my Flickr photostream and check out all of the photos I've taken of Famicom game boxes, cartridges and instruction manuals.

See also: previous Famicom-focused posts

I'm going to publish my impressions of Awatama (DS) in just a bit, but in the meantime, let's ogle its beautiful box and cart-label art

Although I spent a good amount of time with the North American version of this game--called Soul Bubbles--shortly after it I got my DS Lite back in 2010 or so, the copy I cozied up to wasn't my own. (An acquaintance lent it to me.)

I enjoyed the game so much, though, that I vowed to buy my own copy at some point down the road.

Oddly, it took me until late last year to follow through with that vow--and even then I didn't buy the North American version. Instead, I bought the Japanese version, Awatama, which was released in that region in 2009 by a company known as Interchannel. (Eidos Interactive published it elsewhere the year before.)



After even a brief glance at this game's beautiful cover art, though, I'm sure you'll understand why I went with this iteration over the ones mentioned above. (For the sake of comparison, here's the Euro version's far less appealing box art.)

Awatama's cart label, showcased in the snapshot above, is similarly stunning, if you ask me. I especially like this game's deceptively simple, yet still surprisingly attractive, logo.



I'd be hard-pressed to call the art that covers the backside of Awatama's case stunning, but it's still pretty darn nice, right? After all, it includes a couple of unique illustrations along with the usual array of screenshots.

Have any of you played the European, North American or even Japanese version of this Mekensleep-made title? If so, what are your thoughts on its art style, its gameplay or any other aspect of it?

There's no such thing as too much Zombie Daisuki

Chunsoft's Zombie Daisuki may not have been all I had hoped for given its pedigree, pixel-rific graphics and its focus on the undead, but that doesn't mean I consider it to have been a complete waste of my hard-earned cash.

In fact, despite my rather ho-hum reaction to this import-only DS game (read all about it in my latest #ADecadeofDS post), I'm still pretty darn glad I picked up a copy of it some time ago.

Of course, how could I not feel that way when Zombie Daisuki's packaging is so cute? Seriously, check it out in the photo below:

The little zombie illustrations that parade across the game's cover imagery is awfully adorable, too, as should be obvious from the following snapshot:

Comparably, this game's illustration manual is a wasted opportunity, if you ask me. A few of the zombies from the box art pop up here and there, but for the most part it's your basic DS manual--a lot of text, a good number of screenshots and a select few illustrations or other embellishments. 

If only more designers had skewed things more in favor of the latter elements like they did in the "good old days."

At least it's "story" page (above) shows a few signs of life. Not that I can understand a word of it, mind you--well, aside from "story" and "zombie," I mean--but who cares when the imagery behind it is so whimsical? 

Zombie Daisuki's cart label features the same art--albeit in a slightly altered form. I have to say, I really like how the game's curvy, bubbly logo looks smooshed between the helicopter in the upper-left corner and the farm buildings that sit below it.

Have any of you played this Japanese curiosity? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Or, what are your thoughts on its box art, cart label, manual and more?

See also: my #ADecadeofDS post about Zombie Daisuki