Retro Review: Adventure of Link (NES Classics)
I recently obtained a copy of Zelda II: Adventure of Link, which is part of the NES Classics line for the GBA. In case you've been living under a rock, the NES Classics line emulates a single NES game onto the GBA. The price is usually a bit high (20 bucks for a 20 year old game), but I was able to snag it for pretty cheap at Target. Anyway, I've played far enough into it to find that it's the exact same game you either loved or hated back in 1988. Using a different perspective on the action, the game uses the traditional top down view for the map screen, while using a side scrolling method to fight battles and explore dungeons. Some declared it to be an evolution to the series, while others cried out for the return to the original Zelda. As for me? After all these years, I'm still undecided. But you can't deny it added new things to the Zelda universe that we couldn't imagine playing without nowdays, such as the magic system.
The only updates to the GBA version is a system menu you can access to either reset or put the game into Sleep Mode. You can also immediately saveand end the game, which is the same as losing all your lives, though you have to press Select and Up on the system menu to do so. Why they just didn't add a Save option to the system menu is beyond me.
But hell, if you're reading this, then you've probably already played through and beaten this game YEARS ago. So if you're feeling nostalgic, and your NES is all dusty, and you didn't get that Zelda Collection Disc, be sure to pick up Adventure of Link.
Black Friday
You know, Black Friday isn't nearly as bad if you know how to do it properly. My first tip? Instead of heading out at 6 in the morning, go out at 6 in the EVENING. Much more relaxed. Despite the fact I wasn't part of the morning mob, I STILL managed to get exactly what I set out to get. I got the excellent (though Joe probably disagrees) Aladdin: Special Edition for a mere twelve bones, I scored the last copy of Adventure of Link for the GBA for less than fourteen bucks, and I obtained Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life for the cube, at the standard price of $20, but I got a free stuffed cow, which I plan to give to my cow-crazy mom for Xmas.
Anyway, if you were too scared to go out before, there are sure to be plenty of stuff left over. Target's extending the sale until the end of tomorrow, so you'll have plenty of time to take your time and find some good deals.
Buying Videogames
If you're like me, you've always got your eyes out of the latest retro game deals. What you wouldn't give to fix a boxed Tengen Tetris, or gold Nintendo World Championship cart, at a garage sale, marked for only a buck. Well, wake up, it ain't happening. But we do have a tool available to us that wasn't available a decade ago. And you're using it right now.
No, not that tool. You sick little monkey. The internet. It's become an invaluable source for collectors out to add to their collection. However, if you're thinking about eBay, you are MUCH better off elsewhere. Seriously. Getting an item off any auction site is always a big risk. You might end up getting something that is amazingly rare and in good condition, but for the most part, you'll end up bidding on what you hope is a Star Fox Competition cartridge,only to find it's a normal Star Fox game that looked like it had been sitting in the toilet of a chili-dog fan for half a century.
Small, privately owned on-line game stores are an excellent source of both older and new generation games. Since they normally operated by people who are hardcore gamers themselves,you know that you'll be getting a carefully cared for product. It might actually cost a bit more than using an auction site, but the fact that you won't end up in a bidding war or having to deal with a seller who might ignore you for weeks, it is more than worth an extra dollar or two.
One site I'd like to highlight is Game Addiction (www.egameaddiction.com). Run by pure gamers,they operate by the philosophy of "What you see is what you get", which means, they don't use stock photos. They take a digital picture of each product and put it on the site, with a full detailed description of the game, right down to such facts as if the manual has a dog-eared page or if the back of the box has a marker line through the bar code. I ordered the import only N64 game Sin and Punishment, and it arrived in exactly the condition they advertised.It's also a great place to find near complete games from the 8 bit and 16 bit era. Looking for a complete copy of Secret of Mana? Bam! They got it. Castlevania 3 with everything right down to the dust sleeve? Boo yah! They've got it. They're also always adding to their inventory weekly, and you can check out what's new on the front page of the site.
If on the other hand you're looking for deals for today's generation of games, look no further than Byte Size Deals (http://www.bytesizedeals.com). Basically just a discussion board, you can find forum after forum of great deals on not only video games, but DVDs and other products as well. This is the site that broke the big Toys R' Us clearance deal weeks before the storeseven knew about it.
Tune in next time as I explore the phenomenon that is the "Dirt Mall" and learn how to make a working TG-16 out of chewing gum and common household items.
