On this retro hunt we head to the Super Game Shack in Leicester. The shop has an incredible selection of games and with vintage movie posters, a Tardis, multiple Gremlins, Blockbuster shelves and tonnes of merch, it's a super cool experience. I pick up some Nintendo classics and manage to strike off a couple from my wants list.
I'd been wanting to visit Vintage Gamer in Halesowen for a long time, but it always seemed just a little bit too out of the way for us. When the owner decided to sell his personal Megadrive UK full set collection, I knew it was time to finally make the trip. I was so pleased to pick up some Megadrive titles which had eluded me for years, but it was some awesome surprise pick ups which really made the trip.
We had stopped by Doorway to Dorkness in Doncaster once before and were incredibly impressed by the selection and condition of games and how well everything was presented. When they announced a move to a bigger location, I was incredibly excited. Join us as we visit the new shop and pick up some awesome Nintendo classics.
In this video we check out the stunning new shop Miso Retro Games, as well as the awesome Retro Hunter. We also stop by Nerd Base for a vintage toy nostalgia overload and get our arcade fix at Neon Knights.
I spent many hours playing Goldeneye with my housemates back in the day. For the first time we had an amazing first person multiplayer shooter console experience, it was way ahead of everything else. Friendships were lost, arguments were settled and lectures were occasionally missed. The game was incredible and became synonymous with that part of my life.
I was very excited to attend an evening at The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge celebrating 25 years of the classic N64 game. A talk was given by some of the original development team, Martin Hollis, Dr. David Doak and Brett Jones.
I took some games along from my collection and was really pleased to get them signed. A massive thanks to The Centre for Computing History for hosting such an amazing event. It’s time to dust off that N64 controller again and play some Goldeneye.
In this video we take a trip down to Revival Games, a relatively new shop in Plymouth dedicated to classic games, toys and collectibles. This was my first visit. The shop has excellent stock, and I managed to grab some awesome items. These include a game from one of my favourite franchises, which has been on my radar for a long time.
During the summer, artworks started appearing in towns on the east coast of England in Norfolk and Suffolk. After much excitement and speculation, these were confirmed as the work of Banksy, the world’s most famous street artist and became known as his ‘Great British Spraycation.’ In this video we take a trip to see them. We also check out a video game shop and a few arcades along the way, including an arcade with some of the oldest machines still in operation here in the UK. Join me and my two trusty sidekicks on a Great British retro hunt!
It’s that time again to show my pick ups from the last few months. First we have an awesome delivery from Japan.
The King of Fighters games for the PS4 were purchased from the SNK Online Shop and included some very nice extras. KOF 2002 Unlimited Match Complete Set came with a mini version of a Neo Geo stand which would have been displayed at Japanese game centers. The stand lights up, once I find a suitable button battery that is.
KOF XIV Ultimate Edition Complete Set came with a mini Neo SC-19 cab. The lower section has a door, and the internal space is designed to hold ten PS4 sized games. The stickers were a bit of a nightmare to apply, especially the screen, but it’s super cool and looks great in the games room. Also it’s roughly the same scale as the sign which is nice.
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future Limited Edition for the PS2 has been a title I’ve been meaning to pick up for years. It comes with the game, Gamest Mook game guide, a special DVD featuring replays and bouts and a 300 piece jigsaw. It’s in great condition, and I really love the Chun Li box art.
I was also pleased to get hold of a couple more coasters from a Cave event held at Tokyo Video Gamers Bar in Akihabara. To get these coasters you had to buy a drink, and they came in a sealed bag meaning the design you got was random.
Now from the far east to the south east! Here are some more pick ups from my awesome local game shop in Norwich, Last Level Games. They’ve been getting some very cool items in recently, and their prices are always very reasonable.
First up is a great little selection of Megadrive titles. I was especially pleased to find Castlevania: The New Generation, it was a real surprise to see one locally. Oddly enough I visited an old arcade Op the very same week and found a Haunted Castle board. It was a pretty awesome week for pick ups!
Next we have a nice little selection of survival horror, spanning across three console generations. My PlayStation collection is primarily Japanese, but I’ve been on the lookout for Pal horror titles recently as these are games I’d really like to play, but would prove very difficult for me in their native language.
Clock Tower is a pretty uncommon title. I also have the third instalment on the PS2, which got me thinking about the second game, as I couldn’t recall ever seeing it. It turns out the international release is actually the Japanese sequel. The first instalment was released on the Super Famicom in 1995 and later re-released for the Japanese PS1 in 1997 as Clock Tower: The First Fear and has never had an official release outside Japan.
These are my pick ups from the last few months. As much as I’ve tried to resist buying games for current gen systems, I find myself caving in more in more, especially with these cool limited editions. First up is this really nice collection of Switch games, plus a new Megadrive game. They are all from Japan, except for Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection.
The Capcom Belt Action Collection is the e-Capcom Limited Edition. I love my scrolling fighters, and this is an awesome collection of some of the best ever. The package includes postcards of the original arcade instructions, B2 posters for each title and player select screen cards. The CP System II kit box contains a hardback book featuring artwork from the games, plus CD soundtracks. I passed on this collection at first as I own most of the titles on other formats. However it really is fantastic, beautifully presented and is a must for Capcom fans. The only slight grumble is the absence of one of my all time favourites, Alien vs. Predator. I’m guessing it wasn’t included due to licensing issues.
Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection is from Limited Run Games.
I wanted this as it includes Samurai Shodown V Perfect, the ‘lost’ version of Samurai Shodown V Special, which only had a very brief location test in Japan. The story goes that SNK Playmore was never informed about this new version until the day it was on location test. It had only been on test for a couple of hours until people from the company arrived and seized the game. It comes in a nice reproduction MVS box under the slip cover.
The rest of the titles are all shooters! We have the following:
Aleste Collection Game Gear Micro Edition – this is an awesome compilation of Sega 8-bit Aleste titles, featuring Aleste / Power Strike, GG Aleste, GG Aleste 2 / Power Strike II, Power Strike II (SMS) and perhaps most interesting of all, GG Aleste 3. This is a brand new shooter created by M2, along with some former Compile staff, developed for the specs of the Game Gear. Also included in this limited edition package is a white Game Gear Micro, featuring all the games in the compilation, a Big Window screen magnifier and an Aleste history book.
Darius Cozmic Revelation Special Edition ‘Beep Store’ – another awesome Darius compilation, packaged in a Taito FX-1 reproduction kit box, so cool!
Cotton Reboot Limited Edition ‘Beep Store’ – I’ve enjoyed the Cotton games on the Super Famicom, PS1 as well as the original arcade release. I picked up the board on a Raid a couple of years ago, which was an awesome surprise as I’d never seen the game in the arcades over here. The package includes a teacup featuring illustration by Hideki Tamura, soundtrack CD and a reprint of the 1991 PCB arts, pop and instructions, which is pretty cool.
Darius Extra Version - a brand new Megadrive game and an awesome conversion of the arcade classic.
Next up we have even more shooters!
I’m really pleased to get Ibara again after slimming down the collection and selling it a couple of years ago. I already have the PCB, but its absence left a gaping hole in my Cave PS2 collection.
I’m also looking forward to playing Raiden IV x Mikado Remix Limited Edition. I’m a big fan of the early Raiden games as well as the later Raiden Fighters series. Somehow Raiden IV passed me by completely. It’s the Mikado connection which really piqued my interest, with a new soundtrack produced by Game Centre Mikado. One of the bands that features on the new soundtrack is Heavy Metal Raiden. The band performs heavy metal covers of Raiden tunes and was formed by Ikeda, the manager of Mikado. The limited addition includes additional game box inserts and a soundtrack CD. If the illustrations look familiar it’s because they’re drawn by Rensuke Ohikiri, of High Score Girl fame.
The glass and coasters are from a Cave event held at Tokyo Video Gamers Bar in Akihabara.
Now for something which you certainly don’t see very often. Here we have a Sunset Riders shelf display.
I love Sunset Riders. The Megadrive conversion was never released in Japan, and it was one of the main reasons I started picking up Pal games. This would have been sent out to video game stores back in the day and maybe Woolies to promote the Megadrive game. The seller says that these were a surprise warehouse find when he was sorting through some vintage magazine stock. They have never been used, and I think he found three.
My next pick up is from my local retro game shop in Norwich, Last Level Games. It’s a fantastic little shop and great to visit again following the easing of government restrictions.
Here are some pics of the shop.
I grabbed this lovely blue Game Gear, complete with McWill LCD.
The screen looks so good. Normally I’m all about keeping things original, but this upgrade makes it so much better to play. I never had one back in the day, so it’s a brand new console for me. In fact the only handheld I had was the Neo Geo Pocket, which I should never have parted with, but that’s another story! I’ve wanted one of these for a while and seeing as it was my birthday, I thought I’d treat myself. I also picked up several loose carts, including Alien3, Klax, Super Space Invaders and Wonder Boy. I think I’m going to stick to boxed Japanese GG games (I already had Mappy and OutRun) and loose UK carts.
I thought I’d share some pics of my recent gaming pick ups. First up are some console games from ‘Japanese Allan’, plus Sonic Wings 3 MVS from a Ukvac forum member.
The Super Famicom game is Gegege No Kitarō: Fukkatsu! Tenma Daiou, a nice looking platform game I first heard about on the KidShoryuken Youtube channel. We really want to go back to Japan, hopefully in the not too distant future, and I’ve started compiling a ‘wanted’ list. This game was one of those titles. The list is already quite long, so I keep an eye out for games on the list to try and keep it to a manageable level.
Sonic Wings 3 replaces my Japanese cart. I’m trying to go for English label carts, plus the Japanese exclusives. The cart is very clean and has a M.H.P. sticker.
Mo Patel is a long running Op and is still in business today as Videotronics. The number of boards and MVS carts I’ve had with M.H.P. inscribed on them is unreal. I must have had fifty odd M.H.P. Puzzle Bobble carts. A lot had M.H.P. written on the cart label, but fortunately in this case it has a sticker, and the label is unmarked. According to Mo, the boards were marked as board theft was rife back in the nineties.
This parcel of awesomeness was from Stefano / Retro Emporium.
Once again there are a few titles here I can strike off my wanted list. I’m especially pleased to get the Japanese version of Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64. I absolutely love the box art and it’s use of two-tone red and black, it’s so understated and stylish.
Here is a better look at the AstroCity Minis.
One is the Ebten DX Pack Sega 60th Anniversary Collector’s Edition. In addition to the Astro Mini, the set includes an Astro base, a commemorative medal set and acrylic display, ‘High Tech Land Sega’ desk mat and ashtray, and instruction cards.
The instruction cards are for the games featured on the Astro Mini. These are reproductions of the art and move strips which originally came with the PCB boards. This is a nice addition, especially as I have some of these boards without arts. Also I’m really happy with the ashtray and medals, I think they look fantastic.
I recently picked up a bundle of Megadrive games from a fellow collector. He had a full Pal set of Megadrive titles and decided to slim down his collection. Best of all he lives ten minutes down the road from me. I expressed interest in a number of titles he was parting with, and a deal was done.
There is a really nice mixture of games here, the majority of which never had a Japanese release. They’re all in great condition and complete, except for Lotus II missing the manual.
Interestingly Double Clutch was only released in Pal regions.
None of these blue spine titles received a Japanese release.
I’m really happy to add these
Marvel comic book titles to my collection.
Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge and Wolverine: Adamantium
Rage were never released in
I also picked up these titles
at Next Level Games and Regenerating Gaming in
Our base for the HoliRaid
wasn’t too far from
I always love visits
here. The shop is absolutely packed with
gaming goodness, and it takes several walks round to take everything in. There is a fantastic mixture of Pal and
Japanese gaming items. The owner has
been on trips to Japan, venturing off the beaten track to pick up some really
interesting items for his shop.
The impressive Sega wall.
There were some really nice titles in the glass cabinets.
The game theme specific and Godzilla cabinets were so cool.
My daughter absolutely loved the anime figures and has started a new collection!
Pick ups
Once again my pick ups had a definite Sega theme. I was really pleased to find the Sega Saturn Campaign Box Edition. This includes Virtua Fighter Remix and was released in Japan to celebrate the millionth sale of the console.
I’ve always been a fan of Sega’a mech combat series Virtual On, and these figures are so cool. It was the first time I’d seen them before and as a Sega nut I had to have them.
I’d actually been after Super H.Q. Criminal Chaser for a while. Chase H.Q. is one of my favourite games of all time, and I love picking up the console ports and sequels. I’m really looking forward to giving it a blast.
Sonic Compilation and Super Hang-On are nice additions to my Pal Megadrive collection. Both are in great condition. Interestingly Sonic Compilation was never released in Japan.
I don’t have much nostalgia for the Master System, and I’ve got most of the games I want, namely arcade conversions and OutRun titles. However I’m a big fan of Alien Storm, and it will be interesting to see how this port fares.
