CoN 25th Anniversary: 1997-2022
Authorized Reproduction Cartridges

Posted: 30th September 2020 14:46

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SOLDIER
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So I have noticed a trend in games lately, of rereleasing games, and not just in the ways that you would normally expect, which is to say through emulation on and ports to other consoles. The classic edition consoles, alongside some home arcade cabinet are examples of that, but still not quite the original experience I would optimally hope to have. For all intents and purposes, the opportunity for that has come to pass, has it not? You'd have to play the game on the original console, and even though you can probably buy the console more affordably now than you could back in the day, the actual games are a different. They are generally treated as collector's items.

Well, as it turns out, the answer is that the opportunity may not have yet come to pass, because software is indefinitely duplicable and some games have been reproduced, and I am not talking about the ebay bootlegs or the unauthorized collector's editions, but copies of the games which have been authorized by the I.P. holder. I have wanted to make a thread about this for quite a long time, since it would be the most legitimate way of playing these games ever since anybody missed the opportunity to get them off of store shelves.

I have not in part because I have a chronic habit of intending to writing posts but never getting around to actually post them, but more importantly nothing seemed especially exciting. On the one hand, you have popular games that are not very expensive to get secondhand that were perhaps way too overpriced from i-am-8-bit. Their releases included Street Fighter II, Megaman 2, Battletoads and Earthworm Jim. Those cost around $80 each when they were available, but the commodity of these games is that to where you could buy them secondhand for about $20 each for the loose cartridge for somebody who just wants to play the game, and I feel like these sort of staple games are probably in the collection of anybody who would have wanted to play them on the original system anyway. In short, a simple gimmick. If you are wondering why I only included the Megaman 2 link, it is because that is the only one of those four games still available for purchase if you really want it, so the others would just be clutter.

Retrobit also had a few cartridges for sale, and those seem like a better deal because they are more reasonably priced ($34 M.S.R.P. and often discounted at an actual retailer's site), and better yet these are multi-cart offerings along the lines of Super Mario All Stars. However, the goldilocks problem sets in because while their offerings are better priced and not as likely to be in a collection, this is because they are of somewhat limited appeal. The Joe and Mac Ultimate Caveman compilation, and R-Type III and Super R-type for the S.N.E.S. are the most noteworthy and it drops off from there. The Magical Drop games in the S.N.E.S. Data East Collection, and the renamed localiizations of the Rushing Beat series in the Jaleco Brawlers collection are cult classics, but probably some of the last games anybody would mention in a discussion or consider must-haves. They also sold Holy Diver at some point, but it seems like they don't anymore.

The only retrobit cartridge Amazon themselves still has in stock is the Joe and Mac one which is discounted to $18: The others available on Amazon are sold by marketplace sellers.

Basically, there were no games I could feel really excited about mentioning, until now. Now represents the point in time wherein some of the rarer games with some level of mass appeal are becoming available at reasonable prices.

First off, the Turrican series is also along the lines of a cult classic, but unlike what Retrobit offered, most of the original games have become expensive collectors' items. You can buy Mega Turican for the Sega Megadrive or Super Turican for the S.N.E.S. on Strictly Limited Games' website. Up until rrecently, the cheapest way to get a legal copy of Super Turrican and Super Turrican 2 was as the built-in games on the Super Analogue NT, but details regarding the Analogue N.T. are a separate topic in my opinion


Retrobit is offering 4 Topalan games, which are shoot 'em ups on the Sega Genesis, and I feel as if at least two of them are noteworthy. Any of you who have watched Classic Game Room on Youtube should know that Truxton is Mark Bussler's favorite game, but more importantly Toplan is also responsible for Zero Wing, which is the infamous source of the "All Your Base Are Belong to Us" quotation. Each of the 4 games are available for $45, or you can get a boxed set of all four for $160. If you have a Sega Genesis and like shoot 'em ups this may be worth considering. They are available on Castlemania Games and Limited Run Games' websites, but neither website offers free shipping I would recommend getting them off of Limited Run Games because Limited Run Games is also publishing the next entry, allowing you to combine shipping, and this next game is the real star of the show in my opinion.

That game would be Shantae, which is the not-so-hidden gem and crown jewel of the Gameboy Color. Shantae is a game I had the opportunity to buy when it was new. I was considering getting the game when it was new, but initially declined a purchasee a purchase. I had limited funds and mobility factored into my purchasing decisions, I knew somebodyonline who played it and did not like it for whatever reason and the advertising did nothing to sell to sell the game other than show the scantly clad girl on the box, which made the prospect of a purchase both embarrassing and questionable, since I would presume a fun game would have screenshots in the advertisement or something. I figured if I change my mind, I could probably get it used for cheaper, but that was a mistake. I have since come to sorely regret. Apparently, nobody else wanted to buy it at the time either despite critical acclaim, which is often theorized to be because it was a gameboy color game released a year after the gameboy advance was released.

The poor sales meant Capcom never made a second run of the game, which made the 2002 release one of the rarest Gameboy Color games. By the time I decided I wanted to buy it years later as an entry point for playing the sequels, I saw that it was $80, and I thought that was too expensive, and that was right before interest in the series surged, raising the listings to at least $300, and a subsquent surge in interest drove it up even higher. I've seen listings on ebay priced at $1000 without much in the way of competition at times. I have difficulty imagining how the demand for a game could warrant that sort of price. Even right now the cheapest buy it now listing is $800 with 10 watchers, and the lowest price for the original Capcom cartridge is $415 with 4 bids and three days left for bidding, even though scalpers are already offering their preorders for the Limited Run edition Shantae on ebay. Sometimes I do not really understand what goes on in the mind of video game collectors, even though I consider myself one. I guess the Capcom and Nintendo logos are just that valueable, huh? As such I regret losing the opportunity to buy a copy of the game when it was new, since I did ultimately decide I should have bought it, but felt like the prices on offer for second hand copies were kind of rip-off prices. I mean the game originally cost $30 brand new, like almost every other Gameboy Color game and if I did not buy it for that price, well, of course I was not going to pay so much more.

Before I provide links to the game cartridge, it should first be noted that for people who want a legal copy, but do not necessarily care to have a physical copy that there is a $5 3DS e-shop release, but it should still be noted that you should get your copy sooner rather than later if you envision yourself ever wanting to play the game, because the 3DS itself has been discontinued, and you may not be able to purchase games from its e-shop forever. It took Wayforward until July of 2013 to release the game on the e-shop for the first time, which is over 11 years after the original date of release in march of 2002.

If you do want a physical copy to play on an actual gameboy though, this is probably the last chance to get the game at a reasonable price. Limited Run Games, as the name implies, only produces limited editions of games. It is $45 plus shipping for a simple boxed copy of the cartridge with a color manual, or $75 plus shipping for the collector's edition which also includes the original soundtrack, commerative coin, a special acrylic stand to display the game and a reversible poster. Limited Run games is also selling a number of Shantae collectibles, including a liimited editon Switch cartridge for the original game if for some reason you'd prefer to play an emulated copy on that console, and a separate limited edition switch cartridge for Risky's Revenge: The direct sequel to Shantae that was originally released for the Nintendo D.S.

Anyway, i suppose that is enough about Shantae in particular. I'd just be remiss if anybody else who may have wanted to buy it like I did missed this opportunity and felt even worse about their past purchasing decisions than I do now.

Do any of you have thoughts about this trend? Do you find it as exciting as I do, or feel like it is just a weird gimmick and that I'm at least just a little bit crazy? If you find it exciting, what games would you like to see on the original system catrige cartridge? I have a few other games on my wishlist that I would like to see sold at more reasonable prices, but I will not list them all since the one I would like most by this point is Pocky and Rocky 2. I did buy the original game, back when it was cheap and I loved that, so I would love to have the opportunity to play its sequel on my Super Nintendo.

This post has been edited by Tonepoet on 30th September 2020 16:00

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Posted: 10th October 2020 03:31

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Magitek Soldier
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Limited Run Games crossed my Twitter feed about a year ago, and I've been following them ever since. I think it's a neat concept, and I do think there's an audience for it. I like physical releases myself, though I'm not opposed to digital stuff. If I can afford a PS5 (doubtful) I'd probably go for the one with the disc drive because it's fun to be able to hold stuff in your hands.

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Posted: 10th October 2020 20:20

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Maniacal Clown
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It's kinda interested me, though such repro cartridges are generally out of my price range. I mean, 100 dollars for Mega Man X is a little much for me, even if I were a huge fan and lacked the cart.

I first heard about them when some people stuck The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds onto a cart. I've never really understood where they got the parts to make these things, though I imagine it can't be that difficult given that the SNES has been around for so long anyway. Though I've also heard that they reuse old cartridge frames from less popular games like the fifty million Madden releases or such.

I'm also aware of some games made for the Genesis long after the hardware's original run ended. These include games like Pier Solar and the Great Architects, as well as Tanglewood. These got some physical cart releases, I think. So did a certain NES game whose name escapes me at the moment. And relatedly, someone actually developed a virtual console, called the Pico-8, on which games can be made; I happened to pick this up along with various games made for it as part of the huge Racial Justice Bundle offered on itch.io earlier this year. This hasn't actually been made into hardware though, as far as I know.

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Posted: 13th November 2020 23:26

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Cactuar
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So I have managed to buy the original Super Famicom Final Fantasy IV, V, VI imported or buying at comic con in Chicago for a good low price.

Would I prefer reproductions? Yes! Most Famicom games will have batteries and parts that have failed. Thankfully if your on Japanese Market place you see the sellers will sometimes get the game fixed or battery replaced.

I want reproductions not really to play but to put on my shelves and look at. The orginal Japanese versions are wonderful.

For my SNES Classic I have exchanged the regular ROM for the Japanese Version (Which I own) and also add in the translation.

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