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[-KRS-]

I'd never played Abadox before actually, but from what I played yesterday it was kind of brutally hard lol. Managed to beat the first level though and get to the downward scrolling one, but then I gave up because I had to see if the other games worked too. A big reason I bought it was because the music is made by Kiyohiro Sada, the guy behind the music in Contra and Bayou Billy. And of course the gameplay looked good as well so I thought it was a game I should have.

But it definitely is one of those games you need to learn the levels of to be able to beat. I'll give it another, longer try later today.

 

[Shining]

Natsume deserves more love. Seriously, 1989-1994 they were like the next best thing to Konami.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Apparently, Zelda II is now the first game to receive an Esperanto translation patch on RHDN.

Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its goal was to create an easy-to-learn, politically neutral language that would transcend nationality and foster peace and international understanding between people with different languages.

Estimates of Esperanto speakers range from 100,000 to 2,000,000 active or fluent speakers worldwide, including perhaps a thousand native speakers who learned Esperanto from birth as one of their native languages.

My reaction is equal parts "cool!" and "why?!"

 

[-KRS-]

Played a bit more of Abadox. Man I thought Gradius II was hard but this is just insane. Managed to beat the level 2 mid-boss but after that it became so hard I died about 40 times in the same stretch before giving up. At least there's unlimited continues I guess lol. Will have to look at some playthrough videos of that game I think.

Then I played some more Willow. Really liking that game. Beat the first boss and moved on to the Dead Forest where I died and gave up for today. At level 5 with the Battle Sword and Small Shield.

Apparently, Zelda II is now the first game to receive an Esperanto translation patch on RHDN.

My reaction is equal parts "cool!" and "why?!"

That's pretty cool. Though I wonder how many of those Esperanto speakers are even interested in video games, let alone interested in playing a translation hack of a 30 year old game. I guess it could be an interesting way of learning the language a bit though.

 

[RoryDropkick]

Natsume deserves more love. Seriously, 1989-1994 they were like the next best thing to Konami.

I often had wished games like Shadow of the Ninja and Shatterhand had used the MMC5 and implemented parallax scrolling like Batman ROTJ had. The backgrounds in those games really could have had that extra pop.

 

[Voliko]

Played a bit more of Abadox. Man I thought Gradius II was hard but this is just insane. Managed to beat the level 2 mid-boss but after that it became so hard I died about 40 times in the same stretch before giving up. At least there's unlimited continues I guess lol. Will have to look at some playthrough videos of that game I think.

Then I played some more Willow. Really liking that game. Beat the first boss and moved on to the Dead Forest where I died and gave up for today. At level 5 with the Battle Sword and Small Shield.

Yeah I never got too far in Abadox, it definitely requires some patience to get the levels down. I never knew the music was by the guy behind stone-cold classics like Contra and Bayou Billy, maybe I'll pop it in again...

 

[-KRS-]

Edit: Regarding the music in Abadox, I forgot to say that I noticed the pause sound is very similar to the Konami pause sound. It's literally the same notes, but they sound a bit different. Like someone tried to recreate it but couldn't get the particular sound just right. Pretty funny. And the music definitely has that typical Konami sound. My sister actually said "it sounds kind of like Contra" when she heard it which was funny considering it's by the same artist.

I often had wished games like Shadow of the Ninja and Shatterhand had used the MMC5 and implemented parallax scrolling like Batman ROTJ had. The backgrounds in those games really could have had that extra pop.

Maybe you didn't mean that Batman uses the MMC5 but it actually uses a custom mapper chip made by Sunsoft, the FME-7. It's the only licensed NES game released in the US that uses a custom mapper chip. It's unclear why they were allowed to do that since other developers, even the big ones like Konami, had to reprogram their games for the MMC chips. The PAL release of Gimmick! also uses the FME-7. Just some interesting trivia.

 

[DigitalDevil]

I think I'm going to have to finally give in and buy one of those new NES players. It's just getting too difficult to get my NES to play my games.

Any recommendations for the best one?

 

[-KRS-]

I don't know much about those clone systems, but have you tried to clean the connector inside your NES? Or you could simply buy a new connector as well. They're not very expensive. It's very easy to replace the connector since it's not soldered to the board or anything. You just slide it out. Another thing that makes it easier to get games to start is to disable the lockout chip in the NES, which is also very simple to do.

If you opt for cleaning the connector you might also have to re-bend the pins on it so they make better contact with the pins in the game cartridge.

 

[RoryDropkick]

Edit: Regarding the music in Abadox, I forgot to say that I noticed the pause sound is very similar to the Konami pause sound. It's literally the same notes, but they sound a bit different. Like someone tried to recreate it but couldn't get the particular sound just right. Pretty funny. And the music definitely has that typical Konami sound. My sister actually said "it sounds kind of like Contra" when she heard it which was funny considering it's by the same artist.



Maybe you didn't mean that Batman uses the MMC5 but it actually uses a custom mapper chip made by Sunsoft, the FME-7. It's the only licensed NES game released in the US that uses a custom mapper chip. It's unclear why they were allowed to do that since other developers, even the big ones like Konami, had to reprogram their games for the MMC chips. The PAL release of Gimmick! also uses the FME-7. Just some interesting trivia.

This is what I get when typing this out during dinner. Nah I'm well aware of the FME-7, just was talking with the wife while reading this thread *lol*

 

[Sixfortyfive]

I think I'm going to have to finally give in and buy one of those new NES players. It's just getting too difficult to get my NES to play my games.

Any recommendations for the best one?

What TV(s) do you intend to use with it, and what's your budget?

I'm pretty much always an evangelist for original hardware, but I'll admit that the options for getting the NES in particular to play nice with modern HDTVs are either limited or very expensive, and that's not even considering the issues with the console itself.

 

[lordmrw]

Played a bit more of Abadox. Man I thought Gradius II was hard but this is just insane. Managed to beat the level 2 mid-boss but after that it became so hard I died about 40 times in the same stretch before giving up. At least there's unlimited continues I guess lol. Will have to look at some playthrough videos of that game I think.

Then I played some more Willow. Really liking that game. Beat the first boss and moved on to the Dead Forest where I died and gave up for today. At level 5 with the Battle Sword and Small Shield.


.

I wrote my review of Willow a week ago but I haven't posted it yet. Very good game but I'll warn you that it becomes very grind heavy toward the end since you'll need to be at a specific level (13) to complete one of the main goals in the game. Also the final boss will require near perfect execution if you are under level 14.

 

[DigitalDevil]

What TV(s) do you intend to use with it, and what's your budget?

I'm pretty much always an evangelist for original hardware, but I'll admit that the options for getting the NES in particular to play nice with modern HDTVs are either limited or very expensive, and that's not even considering the issues with the console itself.

I'm using a 42" HD TV. I'd be willing to spend $100 if I had to.

 

[DigitalDevil]

I don't know much about those clone systems, but have you tried to clean the connector inside your NES? Or you could simply buy a new connector as well. They're not very expensive. It's very easy to replace the connector since it's not soldered to the board or anything. You just slide it out. Another thing that makes it easier to get games to start is to disable the lockout chip in the NES, which is also very simple to do.

If you opt for cleaning the connector you might also have to re-bend the pins on it so they make better contact with the pins in the game cartridge.

I haven't tried either of those things... Maybe I should go that route first

 

[Leonsito]

Yay!

 

[baphomet]

I'm using a 42" HD TV. I'd be willing to spend $100 if I had to.

If you're OK with emulation then the retron 5 is probably your best bet, but that's $140. If you want actual hardware you're looking at significantly more.

 

[-KRS-]

This is what I get when typing this out during dinner. Nah I'm well aware of the FME-7, just was talking with the wife while reading this thread *lol*

Hehe yeah I thought you'd know. That's why I prefaced it with "Maybe you didn't mean...". I just thought it was a good excuse to mention that bit of trivia.

I wrote my review of Willow a week ago but I haven't posted it yet. Very good game but I'll warn you that it becomes very grind heavy toward the end since you'll need to be at a specific level (13) to complete one of the main goals in the game. Also the final boss will require near perfect execution if you are under level 14.

Thanks for the info. I guess now I know what I'm getting into. But it seems worth it since the game is very fun so far. I suppose I might as well start grinding a bit already then.

 

[Teknoman]

More Famicom impressions time:

What do you guys think about Time Zone or Doki Doki Yuuenchi?

 

[RoryDropkick]

More Famicom impressions time:

What do you guys think about Time Zone or Doki Doki Yuuenchi?

I thought Doki Doki Yuuenchi was pretty fun. Nice little platformer.

 

[Teknoman]

I thought Doki Doki Yuuenchi was pretty fun. Nice little platformer.

Well i've only seen one on ebay for awhile now, and thats $39.99


But...i'm not sure if its actually hard to find in Japan, or if its just a domestic seller thinking it is?

Watched some videos of it, and it seems fun...music is catchy as hell.

This is the actual cover art right?

 

[RoryDropkick]

Well i've only seen one on ebay for awhile now, and thats $39.99


But...i'm not sure if its actually hard to find in Japan, or if its just a domestic seller thinking it is?

Watched some videos of it, and it seems fun...music is catchy as hell.



This is the actual cover art right?

It is. Whenever I'm not sure I use my Fami-Complete book to double check

 

[georgetheplushie]

Well i've only seen one on ebay for awhile now, and thats $39.99


But...i'm not sure if its actually hard to find in Japan, or if its just a domestic seller thinking it is?

Watched some videos of it, and it seems fun...music is catchy as hell.



This is the actual cover art right?

$15.57+shipping on Rakuten. That cart on ebay looks faded (edit: but the cart I linked looks abnormally bright--probably the scanner). There are several more on Yahoo auctions, but they don't ship internationally.

 

[Polioliolio]

Well i've only seen one on ebay for awhile now, and thats $39.99


But...i'm not sure if its actually hard to find in Japan, or if its just a domestic seller thinking it is?

Watched some videos of it, and it seems fun...music is catchy as hell.



This is the actual cover art right?

It's certainly not a cart you see in every shop, but I'm not sure if I'd call it rare.

 

[Shining]

I often had wished games like Shadow of the Ninja and Shatterhand had used the MMC5 and implemented parallax scrolling like Batman ROTJ had. The backgrounds in those games really could have had that extra pop.

I find Shatterhand to be a highly detailed game in general but yes, it could do with some parallax scrolling.

 

[Teknoman]

$15.57+shipping on Rakuten. That cart on ebay looks faded (edit: but the cart I linked looks abnormally bright--probably the scanner). There are several more on Yahoo auctions, but they don't ship internationally.

Ah thanks. International small packet shipping doesnt seem too expensive either, so that will work out great!

EDIT: I'll have to look into Fami-complete.

 

[sixteen-bit]

$15.57+shipping on Rakuten. That cart on ebay looks faded (edit: but the cart I linked looks abnormally bright--probably the scanner). There are several more on Yahoo auctions, but they don't ship internationally.

Surugaya ships internationally? I had head they'd stopped recently and eventually just cancel your order.

 

[Khaz]

Surugaya ships internationally? I had head they'd stopped recently and eventually just cancel your order.

They did that to me a few weeks ago. I'm not sure why they still advertise on global.rakuten . They told me it was only temporary but they didn't know when they would resume their overseas shipment. I asked them to keep my order and send when ready but they just cancelled it instead.

 

[Teknoman]

Surugaya ships internationally? I had head they'd stopped recently and eventually just cancel your order.

They did that to me a few weeks ago. I'm not sure why they still advertise on global.rakuten . They told me it was only temporary but they didn't know when they would resume their overseas shipment. I asked them to keep my order and send when ready but they just cancelled it instead.

Well that just took the wind out of my sails lol.

 

[SeventhSon]

I'd never played Abadox before actually, but from what I played yesterday it was kind of brutally hard lol. Managed to beat the first level though and get to the downward scrolling one, but then I gave up because I had to see if the other games worked too. A big reason I bought it was because the music is made by Kiyohiro Sada, the guy behind the music in Contra and Bayou Billy. And of course the gameplay looked good as well so I thought it was a game I should have.

But it definitely is one of those games you need to learn the levels of to be able to beat. I'll give it another, longer try later today.

Years ago, there was a GameSpot user blog video about Abadox and how hard it was. The guy had owned it for twenty years and never passed the first stage. He played and was yelling things like "stop ruining my life!"

 

[Teknoman]

Damn it people on Ebay. CLEAN YOUR GAMES.

Just got a Zen intergalactic ninja, which looked to be in good shape, albeit kinda dusty on the front. While cleaning the pins just in case, I notice some kinda brown gunk coming off on the qtips. Decided to look inside the bottom (not open the cart, but the connection side) and there is some kinda brown residue (dried coke?) all across the bottom.

Game better work.

 

[sixteen-bit]

yuck

 

[Teknoman]

Well the good news is that it worked. The bad news (for the seller anyway) is that their 100% rating streak is broken...and it could've been avoided by due diligence.

Anyway, i'll have to really get into Zen later, but damn the animations are smooth.

 

[ZealousD]

You gave them negative feedback before talking to them?

 

[riskVSreward]

No one knows how to clean nes games. To this day people still think you gotta blow in it. People still use rubber erasers to clean contacts.

Also I can't believe you would neg someone on eBay over it.

 

[El Pescado]

You gave them negative feedback before talking to them?

No one knows how to clean nes games. To this day people still think you gotta blow in it. People still use rubber erasers to clean contacts.

Also I can't believe you would neg someone on eBay over it.

Wouldn't you give negative feedback to someone that sold you an NES game that looked like it has dried cola on it?

 

[SeventhSon]

Wouldn't you give negative feedback to someone that sold you an NES game that looked like it has dried cola on it?

I wouldn't if it wasn't visible before cleaning and the game still worked. I'd contact the seller and see what his response is.

 

[Ignignort]

What do you guys think is an acceptable price for a good condition Twin Famicom? I've been keeping my eye on some auctions for the last week, all of them have a broken disc drive which is expected but more than likely it's just the band needing a replacement.

So what would you pay for a nice looking fami twin either red or black including shipping to your door?
Delivery seems to be one of the killers. most twins I've been watching have ended for about $60 but then postage is another $40

 

[Rydeen]

What do you guys think is an acceptable price for a good condition Twin Famicom? I've been keeping my eye on some auctions for the last week, all of them have a broken disc drive which is expected but more than likely it's just the band needing a replacement.

So what would you pay for a nice looking fami twin either red or black including shipping to your door?
Delivery seems to be one of the killers. most twins I've been watching have ended for about $60 but then postage is another $40

My advice? Don't buy import systems on eBay, s+h will always get you. Join a Famicom specialty message board like Famicom World Forum and enquire in their buy/sell/trade board about a Twin Family. It's how I got all of my Famicom systems for screaming deals, I think I paid $80 for a black Twin Famicom and that included the shipping. Digital Press or Nintendo Age might be good options as well.

 

[-KRS-]

Years ago, there was a GameSpot user blog video about Abadox and how hard it was. The guy had owned it for twenty years and never passed the first stage. He played and was yelling things like "stop ruining my life!"

Haha that sounds hilarious. I can definitely see how it could frustrate someone like that. But I actually cleared the first stage in relatively few tries myself. First stage is a walk in the park compared to the second part of stage 2.


Edit: Thought I'd post some pics of my NES collection so far. It's not the biggest but almost all the games are good games that I play from time to time.

Here's the NES shelf in my bookcase:

I like how the FC games look in those cassette tape holders, but they're not very space-efficient. I could probably stack those FC games in 1/10th of the space. I really don't like that bookcase btw. I mean it's nice looking and solid wood and all that, but since it's not rectangular it's not very suited for carts like this.

Here is where I keep my NES/FC game boxes:

GB boxes included as a bonus I guess since I keep them in there as well for now.
Oh and I know that the floor is hideous. But it's kinda retro so I guess it fits in.

 

[ZealousD]

Wouldn't you give negative feedback to someone that sold you an NES game that looked like it has dried cola on it?

Probably not. I might message them and see if they'd be willing to do a partial refund first. Always try to work things out with the seller before you neg them.

 

[Teknoman]

I gave them a neutral overall, 3star on description, 5 on the rest.

I mean it should have been obvious if you just look at the bottom of the cart. It could have been chocolate or something since it wasnt transparent.

Im not that harsh on people but c'mon. It wasnt a little bit either. The whole plastic space under the connector was that brown gunk.

 

[Polioliolio]

Haha that sounds hilarious. I can definitely see how it could frustrate someone like that. But I actually cleared the first stage in relatively few tries myself. First stage is a walk in the park compared to the second part of stage 2.


Edit: Thought I'd post some pics of my NES collection so far. It's not the biggest but almost all the games are good games that I play from time to time.

Here's the NES shelf in my bookcase:

I like how the FC games look in those cassette tape holders, but they're not very space-efficient. I could probably stack those FC games in 1/10th of the space. I really don't like that bookcase btw. I mean it's nice looking and solid wood and all that, but since it's not rectangular it's not very suited for carts like this.

Here is where I keep my NES/FC game boxes:

GB boxes included as a bonus I guess since I keep them in there as well for now.
Oh and I know that the floor is hideous. But it's kinda retro so I guess it fits in.

Looks great!

I love seeing things like this. And although those may not be your original collection, every time I see pictures like this I I feel pangs of regret for selling my old games. I took such good care, and now it feels like everything out there is beaten and smoked.

Say, what are those plastic cases you have your boxed games in? I could use something like that. Looks really effective in stabilizing and protecting the cardboard.




edit:

Thanks to Hal64 for the recommendation, I picked up this Sony Wega 27" CRT for 25 dollars.
I know it looks bad in the photo, but the image is gorgeous compared to any tv I've ever used.

It has a image rotation feature too, which I may not have used yet in this photo. It looks off center here for whatever reason, but it's not now. Looks great!

Thanks Hal64! Looking forward to using component with it!

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Im not that harsh on people but c'mon. It wasnt a little bit either. The whole plastic space under the connector was that brown gunk.

I don't know what the brown gunk is, but I see it sort of regularly on NES stuff. It's weird. I've seen it all around the edges and inside of carts before, meanwhile the outsides will look fine, including the labels.

Thanks to Hal64 for the recommendation, I picked up this Sony Wega 27" CRT for 25 dollars.

Something is up with your picture. Here it is:

 

[Shadowman16]

I'm thinking of expanding my Famicom collection and one thing I'd love to get is a Famicom Disk System. However what I'm apprehensive about is the reliability of the disks and hardware. Does anyone have one of these? Is it worth the investment to pick one up? I know the drive belt on the hardware can be a pain in the ass but I'm more concerned at how fragile the discs themselves can be. Any advice would be greatly welcomed.

 

[Rydeen]

I'm thinking of expanding my Famicom collection and one thing I'd love to get is a Famicom Disk System. However what I'm apprehensive about is the reliability of the disks and hardware. Does anyone have one of these? Is it worth the investment to pick one up? I know the drive belt on the hardware can be a pain in the ass but I'm more concerned at how fragile the discs themselves can be. Any advice would be greatly welcomed.

The disks themselves are fairly durable, I have about 20 to 30 Famicom Disk System games and they all work. What you need to be careful of is that the discs actually have the game data as advertised, because in Japan they had disk stations where people could re-write the game data on the disk.

 

[Shadowman16]

The disks themselves are fairly durable, I have about 20 to 30 Famicom Disk System games and they all work. What you need to be careful of is that the discs actually have the game data as advertised, because in Japan they had disk stations where people could re-write the game data on the disk.

Thanks for the info. Hows the quality of the FDS hardware itself? My plan if possible is to grab a refurbed one with a new(ish) drive belt if possible.

 

[baphomet]

I gave them a neutral overall, 3star on description, 5 on the rest.

I mean it should have been obvious if you just look at the bottom of the cart. It could have been chocolate or something since it wasnt transparent.

Im not that harsh on people but c'mon. It wasnt a little bit either. The whole plastic space under the connector was that brown gunk.

Given that you're buying a 25-30 year old you, you should expect stuff like that. Especially if you're buying from average Joe cleaning out their garage. Buying from a reseller, I would expect them to be cleaned fairly well.

I think neutral feedback was probably deserved in that situation. Only if it was really bad and from a reseller. Otherwise if you got a working game from a person who doesn't generally deal with video games, they held up their end of the bargain and I would leave positive feedback.

I thoroughly clean everything I buy inside and out, so something like that wouldn't even phase me as long as I got a working copy of the game.

 

[Teknoman]

Yeah im not a jerk. The only thing wrong was the gunk, im not gonna ruin someones rep based on that.

 

[-KRS-]

Looks great!

I love seeing things like this. And although those may not be your original collection, every time I see pictures like this I I feel pangs of regret for selling my old games. I took such good care, and now it feels like everything out there is beaten and smoked.

Say, what are those plastic cases you have your boxed games in? I could use something like that. Looks really effective in stabilizing and protecting the cardboard.!

Thanks.

Yeah the only game I know is from my childhood is Journey to Silius since I sold everything at one point but then bought back a NES and some games, including JTS, from the same guy I sold my stuff to. He had several NES units and duplicate games he sold me. I specifically asked him for JTS and it was the only cart of it he had, so that one is from my childhood.

The cases are called box protectors and can be bought from several places on the net. Here's one I saw linked in here recently. http://retroprotection.com/
I got mine locally from a guy I know so I can't say how good that particular store is, but other gaffers has apparently had a good experience buying from him.

 

[Rydeen]

Thanks for the info. Hows the quality of the FDS hardware itself? My plan if possible is to grab a refurbed one with a new(ish) drive belt if possible.

Fine as long as you don't jostle it around or drop it. If you have problems with it I'd recommend going to a used PC place that specializes in old PC hardware, because it is for all intents and purposes a proprietary floppy drive. Also try to get it locally rather than shipped, because no matter what the seller might do to make sure it's well packed, the postal service is sure to find a way to break it.