I love buying old games more than life itself. Here are my most recent acquisitions:

Final Fantasy IV – Super Famicom

FFIV is my favourite in this long-running series, and though my Japanese skills have waned with misuse, I still love these games as pure collector’s items. Super Famicom games in general are pretty magical; their perfect boxes, like VHS tapes, with minimal branding and lots of room for artwork and flavour, makes them pure joy to collect and display. FFIV’s box art is unique in that it doesn’t use Yoshitaka Amano’s usual gorgeous character art, but instead these renderings of the game’s pudgy sprites.

F-Zero – Super Famicom

Purchased for an upcoming game night, F-Zero is a beautiful, simply designed and highly replayable racing game that was clearly created to kick-start a new gaming brand for Nintendo. Though never as popular or as well known as Mario Kart, its focused use of the hardware and fascinating obsession with story (told completely outside the game itself; the manual includes a complete English-language comic book) give it a unique personality. Even the cartridge label includes story elements! It reads:

This is the first adventure of
our new hero, “Captain Falcon”.
Little is known about him, except
that he was born in the city of
“Port Town” and has become the
Galaxy’s greatest prize hunter.

Twilight Syndrome – Playstation

I mentioned this game on the C&G Monthly podcast; it’s a Japanese horror game—more of a visual novel, really—with great 2D animation and some really unique (if limited) gameplay. This is the Special pack, which contains both Twilight Syndrome: Tansaku-hen and Twilight Syndrome: Kyumei-hen, the first two games in the series. If you’ve never heard of this series (I don’t blame you), here is a great overview of the first game.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons – Intellivision

Ah, now here is a real gem! Also known as “Crown of Kings,” this was the first licensed AD&D game for Mattel’s unique pre-NES system. Despite the limited technology of the time, this is genuinely a brilliant game. Random maps and dungeons, fantastic sound design and a genuine sense of fear make this a surprisingly gripping adventure. Check out this game in action, and hear those wonderful purring dragons here. The unlicensed “Crown of Kings” version can be purchased as part of the DS release, Intellivision Lives!