Anyone into this? I'm starting to get a bit deeper into the Japanese GameBoy-world and it seems like not many gamers collect it, but how come? I think there were really GREAT games on the Gameboy and if you can live with the lack of color, they are perfectly similar to NES/Famicom in terms of design and complexity. This thread is about Japanese games in particular. For me, JPN GameBoy is a wonderful thing to collect because othern than with more modern platforms or even the Famicom, there are still so many gems we never heard about in Western gaming communities. I will introduce 2 games that I have been hunting for a long time, but I simply can't afford them. Chikyuu Kaihou Gun ZAS Developed by T&E Soft (probably most 'famous' for their Golf-game on Virtual Boy), this shooter is what Recca is to the Famicom. The graphics are absolutely ENORMOUS for a Gameboy-game, it's like Solar Striker on steroids. Sound is alright, definitely above average but not 1 in a million. I think most impressive are the backgrounds. The developers created sort of a "flicker" where two different backgrounds switch back & forth and due to the GB's slightly fuzzy display it appears as transparency. TRANSPARENCY... in a GameBoy-game with 4 colors! Crazy stuff. The catch? Complete copies are extremely rare and can cost $600 or more. Check out the gameplay right here: Trip World Trip World was only released in Japan and, for some reason, Germany. It's Sunsoft's spiritual successor to Gimmick for the NES/Famicom which, just like Trip World, features cute gameplay combined with amazing graphics and sound. This might be one of the best-looking platformers on the system and also one of the most expenisive (commercial) games. The PAL-version can easily go beyond $1000 in box and even the less rare Japanese version will cost $500 on Yahoo Japan. Gameplay-Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REtJqEMcdBQ Now I'll open the floor for further recommendations/discussion Please limit this discussion to GameBoy & GameBoy Color software ONLY. No GBA/DS!
I'm into all things Game Boy and have been a collector off and on since its release. It's my all time favorite gaming system, mostly for nostalgic reasons as it was the first I 100% owned and didn't have to share with my siblings. There are only two JPN games in my collection, YuYu Hakusho and Dragon Ball Z: Goku Hishōden. Since it's been a while, I might start actively collecting imports again.
A lot of people who collect games only collect them for money (look at prototypes as an example) ,they dont collect games for how fun they are. Japanese gameboy game dont go for a lot of money (on ebay,craiglist etc) like an rpg on the saturn,snes,playstation,this is why no one collects them/posts about them. As for the fun part most collectors arent japanese so even if they found them they cant enjoy them since they wont understand whats going on. Collecting japanese gameboy games are no-go. Like people who collect prototype games,they dont care if the game is fun or not. They just want money. The game could have 1 change at the title screen (and its a mispelled letter) and they would still go out and get it just so they can go and sell it on ebay for a jacked up price. So a lot of this so called "collecting" nowadays is about money and gameboy games dont sell a lot,much less japanese ones.
I personally think trip world isn't as rare as its cracked up to be (price wise) Not long ago about maybe a year and a half ago it was going for around $120~130 CIB. I have it myself but only cart and manual :/ ANYWAY going into what I think were great games were the Devil Children games on the Gameboy(color). Sadly I can't find a good gameplay only video so here's a random LP video of it... Video:
ZAS is definitely somewhat of a Gameboy holy grail... haven't seen a boxed copy for cheap, well, ever! That said, I wouldn't buy it even at around $50, even though it's a cool game, and possibly the best shooter on the GB. I'm collecting good boxed GB games with instructions, and that's proving harder than you would think.
Trip World is amazing, never had the chance to play it on an actual Gameboy, just on emulator. I've heard good things about Zas but never gave it a try. Looks amazing! Ave what JP Only GB games you have in your collection that you would consider rare/uncommon?
trip world has an amazing soundtrack, damn! gotta go and search for a GBS of it. also ZAS looks awesome... cant believe its on a DMG/CGB
