Usagi
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Pre-E3 Blog
Added by Usagi on May 28, 2009
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This past week or so I went out to Sears and found some a few games at unexpectedly good prices! I know I said last blog that I wasn't going to get any more games for awhile, but when you come across these type of deals, you gotta go for it.

Folklore - $9.97
Timeshift - $9.97
Heavenly Sword - $14.97

TImeshift wasn't much cheaper than can be had from almost anywhere, but Heavenly Sword and Folklore are both  pricey.  Heavenly Sword and Folklore are always around $50-60 (new) and usually $35 (used).

On the playing games front, because of the release of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile for Wii, I decided I'd play though the original PS1 release again.  Still a completely awesome game that I really enjoy!  Since I don't have a Wii, I checked out someone's entire playthough of the new Wii remake on YouTube and I have to say it still looks like it is almost completely identical to the PS1 version outside of the visuals.  However, there are a few things that were changed from the original which seems stupid because they make the game even easier than it already was.  The biggest culprit is that you get five hearts of health in the Wii remake as opposed to only three in the original.  Regardless of those minor changes I wholeheartedly recommend the game no matter which version you choose, though I still prefer the original.

I also finally started playing Killzone 2.  I have been having a hard time getting motivated to play it because I was involved in the multiplayer beta back in November and I think it spoiled my enthusiasm I had for the game at that time.  I can say the same for Resistance 2, which is probably why I don't own it yet.  I'll likely turn down any future invites I get to betas because of these two revelations.  It is a bummer that I end up this way, but I can't help it for some reason.

Other games I played off and on recently: Tekken, Bleach DS 2nd, Ridge Racer, Mortal Kombat II, Tetris DX.

Somehow I got sucked into playing the original Tekken and the original Ridge Racer, both of which hold up pretty well considering their age.  Mortal Kombat II, on the otherhand, is way too basic of a fighter for my tastes nowadays, which is something I could say for the whole Mortal Kombat series with the exception of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

I am totally excited for E3 and am looking forward to the awesome announcements that are sure to come out of it.  I'll be twittering my thoughts on the press conferences as they happen, so if you'd like to follow me on Twitter to see those, check me out at twitter.com/usagi704!

Also, I have put up videos of my collections for a few of my game systems on my YouTube account.  Check those out if you are interested.  Later!

フォークスソウル
Related to: Tetris DX, Mortal Kombat II, Ridge Racer, Bleach: Dark Souls, Tekken, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, Killzone 2, Folklore, Heavenly Sword, TimeShift

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Last Acquisitions For Awhile
Added by Usagi on May 6, 2009
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Back at ya this blog with my last gaming acquisitions for awhile.  Some good stuff for some good deals have been picked up this time around.

It was good to find You Don't Know Jack for PS1 because playing my plethora of old Windows based YDKJ games hasn't been possible since I have moved to Linux, at least not without screwing around with something like Wine.  This particular version is very good with no noticeable loading and is very comparable to the PC versions.  Found Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for only $19.99 new, so that was a pleasant surprise, especially since most local used shops sell were still selling for about $26 used.  Picked up Nightshade and Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies used for cheap, $3 and $7 respectively.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters is a pretty good fighting game for the Super Nintendo especially since whenever Konami attempts a fighting game, things usually don't end well.

Tetris DX for Game Boy Color is easily my favorite Tetris ever and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest can be confusing if you don't know what you need to do or where to go, but otherwise is a pretty good game.

The last game I acquired is something I didn't have when I took the picture above.  That game is the excellent Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand for GBA.  This is actually a game produced by Hideo Kojima and has a few obvious Metal Gear-esque stealth mechanics even though stealth isn't a big part of the game.  Definitely check it out if you can find it!

エースコンバット
Related to: You Don't Know Jack, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Nightshade, Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, Deadly Arts, Castlevania Judgment, Tetris DX, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand

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Blazing Fire
Added by Usagi on April 3, 2009
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Big surprise, more games! :D

Picked up Dragon Quest V for DS since I wanted the arguably best game in the series.  I have always appreciated the Dragon Quest games, but I haven't ever been much of a fan.  I enjoy them every so often and I thought I'd pick this up.

Castlevania for NES was something I wanted since the Famicom cartridge version is about $100 and the only cheaper version is on the Famicom Disk System which is a system I don't plan on acquiring.  I play NES carts via an adapter and I actually finished the game for the first time ever and then finished it again with no lives lost.  Once you dismantle a game down to what you need to do to make it easy, even otherwise tough games like Castlevania are child's play.

Moon Crystal and Recca: Summer Carnival '92 are both NES reproductions that I had gotten from NES Reproductions.com.  Both are great games that never made their way to North America and are pretty rare.

I was at Best Buy earlier in the week and decided I'd pick up Killzone 2.  I participated in the multiplayer beta last November and enjoyed it a good deal, so getting KZ2 was a foregone conclusion for me.  I should start playing it really soon.

Shortly after I received my shipment of Famicom stuff a few weeks ago, I just decided I would finally see if I could find a copy of Contra and as you can see, huge success.  This particular version is great because of all of the extra animation in the stages like the trees swaying in the wind on the Jungle stage, the falling snow on the Snow Field stage, and, my favorite, the pulsating walls and ground of the Alien Lair stage.

Finally got my hands on King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match and Samurai Shodown Anthology too.  KOF98UM takes the greatness of the original KOF98 and makes it better by adding characters that weren't in the original and also added the ability to combine elements from the Extra groove and the Advanced groove to create the Ultimate groove.  For example, my main team right now is Geese/Eiji/Clark with the Extra groove's dashing (as opposed to Advanced having a run), Advanced groove's rolling (as opposed to Extra having a side step), and Extra groove's self-charged super meter w/ a single stock (as opposed to Advanced having a typical super meter with three stocks).  This makes for a more interesting game in that you might want to play certain characters differently from others with a different mix of options.

Samurai Shodown Anthology is really great because it includes all six of the main games in the series and all are perfect conversions from what I can tell.  I'd say this is SNK's highest quality compilation yet for the PS2 that is.  This compilation is also available for PSP and Wii, but I've heard those are of pretty poor quality, along the lines of the North American only release of King of Fighters: Orochi Saga.  If that is true, then skip those versions because the KOF: Orochi Saga release was full of sound glitches and was inexcusably bad.

烈火
Related to: Castlevania, Samurai Shodown Anthology, The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, Killzone 2, Summer Carnival '92 - Recca, Contra, Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

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