Five more overlooked Famicom games you need to play as soon as possible

I've published a bunch of "overlooked games you need to play as soon as possible" posts over the last year and a half.

One focused on oft-ignored PC Engine games. Later write-ups focused on Japanese PlayStation, Game Gear, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, DS, and 3DS eShop games.

And of course another, which first went live all the way back in November of 2016, focused on overlooked Famicom games.

A recent Twitter conversation prompted me to take another look at that last post. Afterward, I thought of a few more great Famicom games people tend to pass on and so decided to chat about them here.

Don Doko Don 2--I know the Famicom is home to a ton of wonderful platformers, many of which do more to impress than this 1992 release. Still, I've long had a soft spot for it due to its adorable cast of characters, candy-coated visuals, and surprisingly appealing backing tunes. OK, so Don Doko Don 2's gameplay isn't as unique as it probably should be considering its protagonist wields a variety of hammers as weapons. It's loads of fun regardless, and for me that's more important than--or at least as important as--all of the above-mentioned bells and whistles when it comes to side-scrolling platformers.

Flying Hero--I've never been much of a fan of Arkanoid, Breakout, or any of the copycats and pretenders that have followed in their wake over the last four or so decades. The lone exception to that rule is this Aicom-developed title. It switches things up just enough for the bat-and-ball gameplay at its core to feel refreshing. Usually, you control some sort of oval or rectangular "ship." Here, that's replaced by a pair of firefighters holding a net. With most Breakout clones, a ball bounces around the screen and destroys blocks or bricks. In Flying Hero, a third fireman ricochets across each stage in an attempt to rescue people from burning buildings. Combine those aesthetic updates with settings that include castles, forests, and even outer space, and you've got a great way to spend a chunk of your free time.

Hello Kitty World--A lot of people probably turn up their noses at this game because of its Sanrio connection and its childish, saccharine graphics. Well, those folks are missing out, as Hello Kitty World's basically a re-skinned remake of Nintendo's magical Balloon Kid. I hold that GameBoy side-scroller in high regard despite its disappointing brevity. Although I don't consider Hello Kitty World to be quite the gem that Balloon Kid is, I still think it's well worth checking out if you've got a Famicom (or some way of playing Famicom carts). This title's graphics and music are a step or two down from those showcased in Balloon Kid, but the gameplay's almost exactly the same. Still not convinced? Maybe my Hello Kitty World review can sway you to give it a chance.

Kiki Kaikai: Dotou Hen--I'm guessing a lot of people ignore Dotou Hen because they assume it's yet another home port of Taito's original KiKi KaiKai quarter-muncher. In fact, it's a completely unique offering despite its familiar visuals. The biggest difference here: the o-fuda scrolls Sayo-chan sends at oncoming enemies are no longer unlimited. So, unlike every other KiKi KaiKai (or Pocky & Rocky) game in existence, you can't just spam the shoot button while playing this Famicom Disk System release. That adds a welcome layer of tension and even strategy to what can otherwise seem like a brainless overhead shmup.

Onyanko Town--Truth be told, Onyanko Town has its issues. Its protagonist, the apron-wearing mama cat showcased in the screenshot above, often moves like her paws have been slathered in molasses. Its soundtrack is grating and shrill. And its visuals, well, the best you can say about them is they get the job done. Still, the overall experience is intriguing enough that I return to it rather frequently. I guess it's because Onyanko Town, which tasks players with tracking down a delinquent kitten while avoiding prowling dogs and fishmongers, tweaks the formula made famous by Namco's Pac-Man just enough to feel enjoyably unique.

See also: all previous blog posts about overlooked games you should play as soon as possible

My most popular posts of 2017

Before I start cranking out forward-looking content for 2018, let's take one last look at 2017.

Specifically, here are this blog's 12 most popular posts from last year (arranged in order of most views to least). If you see a headline that doesn't look familiar, check it out. Who knows, you may have missed a real gem.

1. Five overlooked GameBoy Advance games you need to play as soon as possible

2. Ten questions with the guy chiefly responsible for the English fan translation of Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love



3. The best 3DS eShop games you've never played (or, 10 overlooked 3DS eShop games you need to try as soon as possible)

4. Nice Package! (Mizzurna Falls, PlayStation)

5. If Nintendo put me in charge of a GameBoy Classic Edition, here are the 30 games it would include

6. Five favorites: Famicom leading ladies



7. A few thoughts on Golf Story for Switch now that I've put about eight hours into it

8. Five overlooked Nintendo DS games you need to play as soon as possible

9. Nice Package! (Bubble Bobble, Famicom Disk System)

10. Don't mind me, I'm just completely obsessed with Nintendo's Mother at the moment



11. In honor of the 28th anniversary of GameBoy's Japanese release, here are a handful of my all-time favorite GB games

12. My 10 Most Influential Games: Balloon Kid (GameBoy)

I'm not finished with my "most influential games" series, by the way, although I did forgot about it for a while. The same is true of my "Welcome to WonderSwan World" series. Look for new entries for both to be published soon.

See also: my most popular posts of 2016

My 10 Most Influential Games: Kid Icarus (NES)

Although a number of its initial releases lured me and my older brother to the NES in the year following its North American release, none had a more powerful pull on us than the pair of Nintendo-made "Adventure Series" games known in the West as Metroid and Kid Icarus.

I was especially drawn to the latter title, which was made by Gunpei Yokoi, Satoru Okada and Yoshio Sakamoto, among others, and which first hit store shelves here in July of 1987. (Just a month before Metroid and The Legend of Zelda, in fact.)

There are all sorts of reasons for that, of course. A rather stupidly superficial one is that, right off the bat, I was a fan of Kid Icarus' magenta logo. (Hey, I've never been shy about my love of the color pink.)

Also catching my eye early on: the cover art's depiction of Pit. I was keenly interested in Greek mythology back when Kid Icarus was released, so a game that allowed me to play as an angel who has to traverse a world full of crumbling stone pillars, fantastic creatures and even goddesses--Medusa among them--quickly commanded my attention. (Speaking of the creatures that populate this game, you can see illustrations of all of them in the Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami GameBoy Advance instruction manual.)

And then there were the write-ups in Nintendo Power and elsewhere that showcased Kid Icarus' colorful locales. Purple bricks and stone, red-checkered floors, pink and green clouds--my younger self thought the game looked like a dream.

I know most folks today don't think Kid Icarus plays like a dream, but I thought it did back in the day. (Hell, I still kind of think it now.) After all, Pit controls pretty darn well, if you ask me. Specifically, he's easy to maneuver--except for when you find yourself on one of the icy ledges that pop up in a number of the game's levels--and he reacts quickly to commands. (I can't imagine anyone describing Kid Icarus as floaty or sluggish.)

Is that why I consider it to be influential? Not really. One aspect of Kid Icarus that did help shape my taste in video games, though, is its difficulty. Admittedly, it's sometimes (some may say often) "cheaply" difficult, but in general I think it just asks a lot of those who decide to play it. In some cases, that means perfectly timing jumps and arrow shots; in others, it means memorizing stage layouts (refer to this site if you need help) and enemy placements.

Regardless, Kid Icarus--along with its silver-box, "Adventure Series" sibling, Metroid--made me realize that while I like my games to be at least somewhat cute (or even simply colorful), I also like for them to be at least somewhat challenging.

Kid Icarus also prompted me to realize and embrace that I prefer action-platformers that dare to be a bit different to those that toe the line. Straightforward efforts that ape Super Mario Bros. are all well and good, but this game took that classic's basic components and built upon them tenfold. Rather than having stages scroll almost exclusively from left to right, Kid Icarus offers up ones that scroll up, down and all over the place. It even features maze-like dungeons that sprawl in all directions and need to be conquered at the end of each four-level world before you can move on to the next one.

Another of Kid Icarus' unique quirks that helped set the tone for my love of platform games that veer from the beaten path: the bow and quiver of unlimited arrows Pit uses to dispatch foes. For whatever reason, that's always struck me as far more interesting and thrilling than, say, Mega Man's "Mega Buster" or Simon Belmont's whip.

Unfortunately, despite all of the above, and despite the fact that Kid Icarus was chiefly responsible for shaping my taste in video games (oddball platformers, in particular), I've barely experienced it and its brilliant Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka soundtrack in the last couple of decades.

Truth be told, that's mostly because I'm now slightly terrified of it. The last time I attempted to work my way through its technicolor worlds, I struggled to complete its third stage.

Still, I've never been one to shrink away from a challenge, so I'll do my best to boot up some version of the game in the coming days and weeks. Here's hoping this playthrough will be more successful than the quickly aborted ones of the not-so-recent past.

See also: previous 'My 10 Most Influential Games' posts about The 7th Guest, Balloon Kid, Bubble Bobble and Final Fantasy V

Manual Stimulation: Bubble Bobble (Famicom Disk System, Limited Edition)

A few weeks ago, I published a post about the manual that came with copies of Bubble Bobble bought from Japanese Famicom Disk Writer kiosks back in the late 1980s. (I also published a post filled with photos of that version's packaging.)

The booklet you see here was stuffed inside of an adorable plastic pencil case along with a copy of Bubble Bobble's surprisingly adept Famicom port. I refer to that release as a "limited edition" in the headline above, although I have to admit I'm not entirely sure it actually was limited in quantity.

Regardless, it helps differentiate this Bubble Bobble package from the previously mentioned Famicom Disk Writer one, so I'm sticking with it unless otherwise corrected.

At any rate, this Bubble Bobble Famicom instruction manual is similar to its Disk Writer counterpart with two major exceptions: the former is a lot larger than the latter (in fact, it's probably the biggest Famicom manual I've seen to date) and it's also in full color rather than in just pink and green.

The size of the Bubble Bobble Limited Edition's booklet is to blame for this post featuring single-page scans rather than double-page ones, by the way. My scanner just isn't big enough for me to capture entire spreads, so I was forced to go with what you'll encounter throughout this write-up.

In the end, some of you may consider that to be the preferred option, as it allows you to focus on the beauty that is this particular version of the Bubble Bobble Famicom manual.

And it is pretty darn beautiful, wouldn't you agree? OK, so the first few pages aren't mind-blowingly amazing or anything like that, but they're still packed with both big and small details that make them decidedly appealing--or at least that's how I think of them.

Take the adorable little illustrations that can be seen above and below. If you can't quite make them out, click on the scan in question and you'll be able to take a much closer look.

My favorite components, though, are the more substantial pieces of art, like the massive Super Drunk--or Super-Drunk as the back of this booklet proclaims--situated in the lower-right corner of the following page.

Manual Stimulation: Bubble Bobble (Famicom Disk System)

As promised in my last post about the packaging produced for the "Disk Writer" version of Bubble Bobble's Famicom Disk System port, here is that Japanese release's instruction manual.

Something I've got to say right off the bat is that I'm sorry if the scans offered up here seem overly pale. The fact is, they pretty accurately depict the real-world product.



Thankfully, they look a lot better when you click on them and blow them up a bit, so I'd highly recommend doing just that as you work your way through this write-up.



Anyway, the first real page of Bubble Bobble's Famicom Disk Writer booklet (below) shares the game's rather simplistic story--rescue Bub's and Bob's girlfriends from the "Cave of Monsters"--complete with an abundance of exclamation points.



The next page, as you probably can make out, explains Bubble Bobble's wonderfully straightforward controls.



The couple of pages that follow (see above and below) attempt to expand that education by sharing a few more advanced strategies that can be employed while playing this classic single-screen platformer.



It isn't until the 10th and 11th pages of Bubble Bobble's Famicom Disk Writer manual that we get to the really good stuff. In this case, that means bios of the game's protagonists (the aforementioned Bub and Bob, or Bubblun and Bobblun in Japan) and chief antagonists.

Nice Package! (Bubble Bobble, Famicom Disk System)

Last fall, I published a post in which I asked folks to help me solve the "mystery" of Bubble Bobble's many Famicom Disk System releases.

Or at least I thought Taito's classic single-screen platformer had earned a number of FDS releases. In reality, it appears it earned just two: a limited edition that offered buyers a copy of Bubble Bubble's Famicom port plus a larger-than-normal instruction manual and the version that's showcased in photos throughout this write-up.

The second iteration could be purchased for a nominal fee from one of the many Famicom Disk Writer Kiosks (learn more about them at famicomdisksystem.com) Nintendo installed in game stores across Japan from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s.

This "Disk Writer" version of Bobble Bobble has long intrigued me thanks to its two-tone, watermelon-colored manual.

I mean, anyone who has ever visited my Twitter or Tumblr pages knows I'm fond of pink things. Of course, I'm also fond of adorable things--and how else would you describe the cover imagery that's highlighted below?

To be honest, I'd probably have sought out a "Disk Writer" copy of Bobble Bobble's Famicom Disk System port even if its instruction booklet's paper was the color of pea soup thanks to its "lucky cha-cha-cha wow!" tagline.

Thankfully, it's not. And as is hopefully plainly evident in the snapshot below, this booklet's pink-and-green palette looks especially great when employed on its interior pages.

Speaking of which, this particular page of Bubble Bobble's manual highlights some of the game's many point items. My very next blog post will be filled with scans of this manual, by the way, so keep an eye out for it if you get a kick out of stuff like that.

In the meantime, here's one last look at the contents of the "Disk Writer" iteration of Bubble Bobble for FDS. 

It has to be noted that Japanese Famicom owners bought this particular version (with the game written onto "brand new" disks, as Nintendo referred to them at the time) for somewhere between 2,600 and 3,500 yen. 

Bubble Bobble could be "rented" via a Famicom Disk Writer for just 500 yen, too, but folks who went that route had to provide their own blank disks (2,000 yen a pop). Also, rather than receiving a glorious, dual-color booklet like the one that's on display here, they got a folded piece of paper with the game's instructions and accompanying illustrations printed in simple black text.

If you'd like to take a closer look at Bubble Bobble's game disk, you can do so here. Or you can check out its colorful cover slip here. 

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts about City Connection, Otocky, Pizza Pop! and Rainbow Islands

Help me solve the mystery of Bubble Bobble's many Famicom Disk System releases

When the NES port of Taito's classic quarter-muncher Bubble Bobble hit North American store shelves back in late 1988, its PCB and ROM were packed inside the standard gray cartridges that are now considered iconic.

The game's Japanese release, however, was quite different. First, it happened a year earlier--just before Halloween in 1987. Second, the game wasn't sold on one of the brilliantly colorful carts that defined Nintendo's Famicom on that side of the pond. Instead, it was sold on one of the banana-yellow diskettes that defined the Japan-only Famicom Disk System.



That's just part of the story, though. How so? Well, most people who have any interest in Bubble Bobble or Nintendo's 8-bit consoles know that Taito offered Japanese consumers an undeniably fabulous limited edition version of the game.

This LE, showcased in the photo below, included a copy of the game and a larger-than-usual instruction manual--both of which were stuffed within a soft plastic pencil case that featured the Bubble Bobble logo and adorable depictions of main characters Bub and Bob.



But that's not the only version of Bubble Bobble that was made available to Famicom Disk System owners. Another was included in a thick plastic case (it's nearly twice as thick as the typical FDS case) and came packaged with a manual that's smaller--and, uh, pinker--than the one made for the above-mentioned LE.

The mystery I'm looking to solve here is this: was this last version of Bubble Bobble FDS released alongside the LE as that region's "standard edition"? And if so, why do copies of it rarely pop up on auction sites like eBay or even in online photos?



In fact, I've come across so few of them over the years that I've long assumed they were bootlegs. I'm now pretty sure they're official, but that doesn't answer the questions I posed a couple of paragraphs ago.

Is it possible more limited editions were produced for Bubble Bobble's Famicom Disk System port than standard ones? Or is there some other explanation to all of this?

If you have an idea--even just a guess--as to what that may be, please share it in the comments section below.

This video of Super Mario Maker's adorable Ice Climbers costume just made my week

I don't own a Wii U. I also don't own a copy of Super Mario Maker. I wish I owned them, though, because if I did, I'd be all over both when the Ice Climbers costume showcased in the following video  is added to the latter.

That's supposed to happen later this week in Japan, by the way. Most folks think it won't be long until it's made available to Super Mario Maker players in other regions, too.



In the meantime, you could do worse than spend some time reading up on the Famicom (or NES, if that's more your kind of thing) game that inspired this drool-worthy bit of DLC. Here's my rather pithy review of Ice Climber, for instance, and here are a couple of photos of (as well as a few thoughts on) that same title's gorgeous Japanese packaging.

If you're still begging for more, check out these write-ups about the Famicom Disk System version of Ice Climber: 'For the sixth game of Christmas, the UPS man brought to me...' and 'Reason #401 I could be considered an eccentric (aka bat-sh*t crazy) gamer'

See also: 'I think I've changed my mind about Ice Climber'

Why didn't someone tell me Square worked to port its Aliens MSX game to the Famicom Disk System and that the ROM had found its way on line?

Anyone new to this blog may not yet know this bit of oh-so-interesting news, but I am an absolute Alien nut.

Both Ridley Scott's 1979 film and James Cameron's 1986 sequel (called Aliens, naturally) are among my all-time favorite pieces of cinema.

Combine that with my love of video games, and you've got a situation where a person (that would be me) scours the globe in search of quality games that were inspired by the above-mentioned films.

Sadly, that lifelong search has turned up only a few worthwhile possibilities, such as Konami's side-scrolling action game from 1990, 1994's Aliens vs Predator title for the ill-fated Atari Jaguar, WayForward's Aliens Infestation for the DS and last year's Alien: Isolation for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Is the awkwardly named Aliens: Alien 2, made by Square for the MSX computer platform all the way back in 1987, another example? I've never played it, so I have no idea, but videos such as this one certainly make it look like a contender.



I share all of this because I just--well, a couple of days ago--became aware of the fact that the fine folks at Square worked on a Famicom Disk System port of Aliens: Alien 2 at some point in time.

For whatever reason, though, the company's higher-ups weren't happy with the effort and scrapped it before it could be released.

Amazingly, some wonderful person got his or her hands on the game's not-quite-finished prototype and leaked its ROM onto the Internet in 2011--another piece of news that only recently reached my ears.

If you, too, are an Alien buff and this is the first you're hearing of the Famicom Disk System port of Square's Aliens: Alien 2, you may get a kick out of the footage included in the video above.

Personally, I prefer the more minimalist aesthetic of the MSX original, although the FDS version is far from unappealing. What do all of you think?

Calling all gamers who know of box art featuring toys or figures instead of drawings or renders

Yesterday morning, game developer Hayden Scott-Baron (he's had a hand in Lostwinds, Tumbledrop and Zoo Tycoon, among other titles) asked me on Twitter if I could recommend any game box art that uses photos of toys or figures instead of drawings or renders.

An example of what he was looking for, he said in a later Tweet, was the cover made for the packaging of Monster World IV, a rather lovely action RPG that was released for Sega's Mega Drive back in 1994.

Sadly, that prompt didn't help a whole lot--at least at first. In fact, the only piece of cover art I could think of was the one that was produced for the Japanese version of Advance Wars: Dual Strike, which was known as Famicom Wars DS in that territory.



Later, though, a few others came to mind, such as Teketeke! Asmik-kun World (aka Boomer's Adventures in Asmik World) for the GameBoy and HAL Laboratory's Eggerland (part of the series that later became known as Adventures of Lolo) for the Famicom Disk System.

The Eggerland box art (below) is among the most delicious things you've ever laid eyes on, right? Don't be shy--admit it.

The only other example I've been able to think of, by the way, is Atlus' Totsugeki! Valetions (see it here), which also is a Japanese GameBoy title. (Its name was changed to Spud's Adventure when it was brought to North America in 1991.)

I don't suppose any of you can think of examples of game cover art that showcases toys or figures instead of drawing or renders? If you can, please let me know about them in the comments section of this post.

Who's that (ASCII) girl?

Did you see yesterday's post about the completely awesome--not to mention complete-in-box--copy of Otocky that I picked up recently? If not, check it out here.

And if so, would one of you--those of you who know Japanese, especially--be so kind as to help me figure out the identity of the girl shown in the photos below?

The first photo is of the front of Otocky's outer box, while the second is of the back of its box.

I'm guessing the second photo, and the text that accompanies it, will be more helpful to those of you who are willing to come to my aid, but what do I know?

Also, I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that the girl in question won some sort of competition held by ASCII, or that she was one of those "idols" the Japanese seem to be so fond of.

Acquisition #146: Otocky (Famicom Disk System)

My initial idea was to begin this post by saying, "I have no idea why I recently bought this game." I thought that because, truth be told, although I own a rather wonderful Twin Famicom system--a cherry red one; here's a photo of it, and here's another--I rarely play it or the many cartridges and disks I've acquired for it thus far. (Yes, that means I tend to play said games via emulation these days.)

As such, picking up yet another Famicom game--especially a disk system one, as I play them even less than their cart-based counterparts--seemed to me to be a waste of money at best.

So, why'd I go through with this particular purchase? Well, beyond the fact that this game--ASCII's Otocky, which was released in Japan in 1987--is completely awesome, I went through with it because I'd never before seen a complete-in-box copy of it for sale and I was worried I'd never come across one again.

Before I move on to some of the photos I snapped of this acquisition, I probably should share a detail or two about Otocky with those of you who've never heard of it. The main thing you should know: It was conceived and designed by the great Toshio Iwai, who later made Electroplankton for the Nintendo DS.

Otocky is every bit as experimental as the aforementioned DS game, although I personally find this one--which conceals its musical aspects within the confines of a side-scrolling shmup--to be both more accessible and more fun. (To catch a glimpse of the game in action, check out this gameplay video.)

With all of that background information out of the way, let's get to what most of you likely clicked on this post to see: Otocky's packaging. Here's the front of the game's box:



And here's the back of its box:



The game's box is larger than most Famicom games, by the way. In fact, I'd say it's nearly the size of a PC game box. Why? Don't worry, I'll get to that in a second.



The photo above shows off the case that contains the Otocky disk. Sure, the art is the same as what was used on the game's outer packaging, but it's so cute and colorful I'm not going to complain.



So, here we get to the reason for the outer box's girth: Otocky's manual. If someone were to tell me that it's the largest instruction manual to be included with a Famicom game, I wouldn't bat an eye. Not only is it large in terms of dimensions, but it's also large in terms of number of pages. It's 72 pages long!



Thankfully, it's not simply 72 pages of text. In fact, it includes a number of completely adorable illustrations--one of which can be see above, and one of which can be seen below--that are nearly worth the price of admission all on their own, in my opinion.



I also really like the pages shown in the photo below, which shine a light on a few of Otocky's enemies.



If you somehow haven't gotten your fill of Otocky information in this post, head on over to my Flickr photostream to see a few more photos of its outer packaging and its disk.

See also: Previous 'Acquisition #123' posts

Which systems can you spot in this drawing?

I stumbled upon the illustration below (and here), produced by artist Aaron Kraten, while perusing Flickr yesterday afternoon.

It features a Famicom (stacked on top of a Famicom Disk System, no less), an NES-101 (or NES 2, if that's the verbiage you prefer) and a TurboDuo (or is it a PC Engine Duo?), so of course I had to share it here.



I also see a Dreamcast, an NES, an Xbox 360 and a Wii in the drawing above. Can you spot any others?

For another example of Kraten's abilities, check out "My kind of art."

Five more retro games and systems I'm looking forward to playing in 2012

Yesterday, I wrote about five retro games and systems--like Chack'n Pop for the Famicom and the Sega Game Gear--that I'm looking forward to buying (if need be) and playing in 2012. Here are five more:

1. Kaettekita Mario Bros.--To those of you wondering what the hell Kaettekita Mario Bros. is: It's an updated version of Nintendo's arcade classic that was released, with the help of Japanese food company Nagatanien for the Famicom Disk System back in 1988. The main reason I want to own and play it: Honestly, I like that it's a somewhat-rare oddity. There are other reasons, too, though, such as that the graphics and music in this version are a smidge better than those seen and heard in the Famicom cart release and that the titular Mario brothers (finally) can change direction in mid-air.

2. Madou Monogatari--This is the other "holy grail" PC Engine game I eluded to in my last post. Unlike the first one, this one is a CD-based dungeon-crawler that stars a doe-eyed little girl and a slew of characters that later appeared in Compile's Puyo Puyo series. The only reasons I haven't already acquired a copy of Madou Monogatari: It's awfully expensive (copies go for well over $100 on eBay, plus it requires an Arcade Card, which tends to go for about $40) and it's entirely in Japanese.

Reason #401 I could be considered an 'eccentric' (aka bat-sh*t crazy) gamer

Let's make this one simple, shall we? Thanks to my recent acquisition of the Famicom Disk System version of Ice Climber, I now own three copies of this Nintendo-made platformer.

Why on earth do I need three copies of one game? Well, I wouldn't say I need them, for starters. Also, all three copies aren't exactly the same.

That said, two copies of the game are pretty much the same. You see, the first copy I bought was a "loose" one--consisting of just the Japanese Famicom cart. The second copy, picked up in early November and detailed in this previously published post, on the other hand, is of the "complete in box" variety.

The third copy (seen at right), though, is of the Famicom Disk System version of the game. That makes it different from the others in format, of course, but did you know the disk version differs from the cart version in other ways, too?

For instance, the FDS iteration features an animated intro screen--seen at the start of this video--that shows Popo and Nana chipping the words "Ice Climber" out of a block of ice (or something like that). It also includes a stage-select screen, level layouts that differ from those found in the cartridge version, occasional weather effects (wind and snowstorms that impede your progress through a particular stage) and more. (More info on the differences between these versions can be found in the description of this YouTube video, by the way.)

Does all of the above make me any less bat-shit crazy for owning three copies of a game I used to despise? Probably not, but I don't care. Now please forgive me while I attempt to get past this version's fifth stage...

See also: Other reasons I could be considered an 'eccentric' (aka bat-sh*t crazy) gamer and previous Ice Climber 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

Famicommercials

I've rarely met a Japanese gaming commercial I didn't like. Retro ones, especially. I think it's because so many of them are equal parts earnest and, well, bat-shit crazy.

The one below, for the Famicom Disk System version of Metroid, is a good example, although it's definitely more serious than silly.



This ad was nabbed from the recently launched tumblog known as FC.CM ("a collection of commercials relating to the Nintendo Famicom"), by the way.

If you decide to pay it a visit (and I sincerely hope you will), be sure to check out the commercial for the Korean version of the Famicom/NES (called the Hyundai Comboy).

Let's Play: 'Which Box Art is Better?' (Bubble Bobble edition)

Most of the "Which Box Art is Better?" posts I've published over the years have focused on current or upcoming titles. Today's is going to focus on a classic: Bubble Bobble.

Fukio Mitsuji's single-screened platformer has been ported to a number of home systems since it first made a splash in arcades around in the world in 1986. Among the systems to receive said ports: The Sega Mark III (aka the Master System), the Game Gear, the FM Towns and the Famicom Disk System. (It was released in cartridge form for the NES).

For some strange reason, the game was re-titled Final Bubble Bobble when it was released for the Sega Mark III. Here's that version's box art:

Every other home version of the game retained the original title. Only the Famicom Disk System's cover, however, made use of the original concept art (as seen in the cover art below).

The NES version's packaging (below), for instance, featured art that was less precious and more cartoonish than its Japanese counterpart.

The art that graced the cover of the Game Gear port of this popular quarter muncher was created using a similar style.

As unique as the illustrations above are, they pale in comparison to the imagery that was created for the cover of the FM Towns iteration of the game.

Which do I prefer? I hate to say it's a tie, but that's what it is for me--with my two top picks being the FM Towns and the Sega Mark III box arts. Anyway, that's just my opinion on the matter. What's yours?

See also: Previous 'Which Box Art is Better?' posts