Nazono Pyramid

Today I can finally forgive my brother. Why?

Because I have finally got that elusive game that he broke when he was a baby. Yes, Nazo No Pyramid (aka. "Invaders Of The Mummy's Tomb").

I was in that big toy shop other people call Akihabara.

The gf wanted to go to Shinjuku but something was calling me, and I really didn't feel it was a day to go to Shinjuku. A damn hot one though. I was sweating like crazy.

So doing my usual rounds, I almost lost a heartbeat when I saw it. The sales clerk confirmed it was in fact, the game I've searched for months to get.

There was actually two of them as well! They were both in much the same condition, except one had a bit of the lines and writing rubbed off, but was still in really clean condition.

Everything worked great so I just got that one. I was tempted to get the other one as well as a backup, but I decided to leave it there (for now). I was also lucky enough to use the two vouchers I had for a nice little discount.

So how is it to play? Fantastic!

In my opinion I think it's the best handheld Bandai has made. Definitely the best of the solar-powered series. Like most LCD games the gameplay is a touch repetitive, but this one's quite a bit of fun to play.

What makes these Bandai's stand out (other than being solar-powered), are the two screens of play.

On the first "level", you are out in the desert and you have to move left and right to stop the ascending snakes and scorpions from attacking the camel.

When you are next to the deadly creatures you automatically kill them with your knife.

If you get 500 points, you can move to the far left and.. enter the pyramid to the "second" level! In here your enemies are mummys (of course), and a spider.

The idea here is to move to the right to get as much treasure as you can avoiding the mummys that come down from the top and the spider than moves up and down stopping you from taking too much of the loot.

Sometimes your buddy will appear at the entrance where if you're quick enough to give him the booty, you get a whole lot of points.

If the bad guys get you in here you don't lose a life, you just get kicked back outside again.

I had my first proper play in Macca's while I was scoffing down a McPork. It's not a difficult game, and playing long enough it's pretty easy to get square eyes, but "I'm lovin' It".

So.. what else did I do in Akky?

Well at Friends, they had Bandai's Dr Dental and Rush Hour.

I'm warming a little towards Dr Dental, but I still didn't buy it.

For the life of me I couldn't work out how to play Rush Hour. It does have an amusing idea of trying to catch a Tokyo train in the peak time. I think it does that pretty well.

This is a pretty cool anime robot outside one of the many figure and robot toy shops along the main drag.

Inside this place they had some pretty cool stuff.

Along with a big selection of Transformers robots there was a G-Force Phoenix, Gundams, a Voltron (missing two lion heads though), and of course lots of hentai dolls.

I asked a sales assistant to let me see a car Transformer. I wanted him to show me how it opens up to become a robot. He just opened the car doors. Not what I meant. I just gave up.

Speaking of hentai dolls I had to take this picture in Mandarake.

(They have notices to say "prohibited to take photos", so slap my wrists).

It's the box packaging for a Transformers toy. Nice attention-getting marketing for kids!?

"More than meets the eye" indeed.

I like walking around this shop. For some reason today I happened to notice all the otaku in here. WHAT A BUNCH OF GEEKS. Oh, I hope I don't come across looking like them.

Maybe I do? Oh..

Bandai Zaxxon

Ok, I can finally let you know what I bought from Yahoo Auctions. I'm sure it's a big surprise to tell you I got another video game.

What we have here is Bandai's version of Zaxxon.
If anyone remembers the original, it was a bitch to play because of the isometric, pseudo 3D view. This one's even more difficult because it's also in LCD black.

I guess I should thank Japan Post for actually delivering my mail this time. I guess it must've helped when I went into Shinjuku last week and registered a change of address from Tomioka.

I've heard stories of them not delivering mail because the name didn't match, even if it was just a middle name on the envelope and they just had it registered only first and surname!

Just remember if you move house here, let Japan Post know, or expect a lot of return to sender.

Anyway back to my review.

First impression out of the package was, "This looks kinda old".

Lately I've been spoilt by immaculate condition 80's games that are as pristine as they must have looked in 1982. While not as bad as some examples I've seen, this does have scratches on the screen as well as the back.

Not bad enough to effect play, but slightly disappointing. To be fair though, I paid a fraction of what a boxed, in great condition one would cost. What surprised me most was that this thing is pretty big compared to a Game & Watch that's for sure.

On the positive side, the controls work great and the LCDs are perfectly clear. All sound, although annoying, comes through loud and clear. 

How is it to play?

Well, at first it felt like I was playing a game on a pocket calculator! Only one shot can be fired at once, so it's a little frustrating for it to actually hit something or fade away. Bombing does the same thing. You have to be on the ground level to fire them.

Having said that, after playing for bit longer now, I'm actually enjoying its quirks, and a space shooting game is a refreshing change from the usual, dare I say "samey" offerings of the other handhelds. An exemption, Neko Don Don, is my current fave.

What's truly impressive about this one is that there are two screens that gives a pretty amazing representation of a moving three dimensional environment. My favourite being the second "Death Star" canyon level. I didn't feel like posting a video. but you can see someone else playing it badly from here.

  

Now that I've tried Yahoo Auctions once successfully, I might have a new addiction on my hands.

Tengoku to Jigoku/Akuryo no Yakata Review

As you can see from the picture, my Bandai Solarpower games collection is coming right along nicely.

As usual I was on the lookout for "Invaders Of The Mummy's Tomb" (Nazo No Pyramid) but unfortunately, no such luck.

I have a feeling that it will turn up sometime soon though.

Instead, before me in Shibuya was Tengoku to Jigoku ("Escape From The Devil's Doom"), and Akuryo no Yakata ("Terror House"). Both were 2625 yen each and still in the original boxes from 1982!

Not only that, but both games look brand new with the original instructions, inserts and wrappings. They look in much better condition than Kyofu No Mujintou I bought before.
So how is the game-play?

Great! As I remembered from my childhood, they give a nice little challenge.

In Akuryo no Yakata, the aim of the game is to attack bats in a graveyard, then go inside the haunted house fighting monsters to finally get to a coffin.

I remember when I got my original game, Tengoku to Jigoku was out at the same time.

You start off in a boiling pot in hell, go left and right to avoid demons and bats, then ascend a rope into heaven. Here, you have to catch falling feathers from an angel.

If you want to get an idea of what its like you can go here to download the PC simulations. Just click the download link on the left to get to the sims.

While the quality of the simulations are not up to the standard of MADrigal's simulators, it will give you a basic representation of the games.

If only my mother hadn't given my game to my baby brother to break all those years ago..

That's my excuse.

Kyofu No Mujintou (Shark Island) Review

Before I went to buy the game yesterday, I was looking for some online reviews of it.

Unlike the more well-known Nintendo Game & Watch series, detailed Bandai reviews are little low on the ground, especially in English.

The few that I did find were quite low on comments about the game-play.

So, since that's the case, here's my rundown of the game!

Everyone I showed the game to, from young to old were piqued with curiosity about the new toy I held in my hands. First comment I got was, "That looks old!" Yes, it does. In fact, this game is circa 1982. Some people weren't even born yet!

I guess it gives away my age a little to admit I grew up with these things. It was an exciting time to be a kid. Those were the days. Having said that, even the young 'uns wanted to have a go at it.

Probably the one thing that stands out the most is the solar power. No Batteries! As far as I'm aware, Bandai were the only company releasing solar-powered games. These are all the others that were released at the time.

Another thing that stands out is that unlike the Nintendo releases, the single screen has two changing states of play instead of the usual one static screen of the first single screen of the first Game & Watch's.

The first screen shows your plane crashing into the sea. The aim of this part of the game is to simply dodge the sharks by moving left and right in the three positions available.

It sounds really easy, and to begin with it is, but I was surprised at how many times I made careless moves into their hungry jaws.

Once you reach about 100 points, the screen will display an island to which you hit left to go to the second part of the game.

The second part is a little more entertaining.

Once on the island you get to use a BIG STICK to bash the sharks coming up towards the island over the head repeatedly while avoiding the falling coconuts from the tree. Big fun!

Get caught by the sharks or concussed by the coconuts, then it's back to screen one.

What separates these games from the ones today, is that the graphics are basic LCD sprites, and sound is nothing more than blips and beeps (I prefer to have the sound off).

There aren't really "next levels". The whole aim of this era is to get points until you finally die of exhaustion.

There is definitely a Bandai feel to the games, like I think Nintendo has a certain quality. I don't think the quality of games is any worse than a Nintendo title. Still, I don't think they have a truly great classic game like Donkey Kong.
Just like Nintendo, the game-play between different game titles can be quite similar. It does bring back strong memories of my short-lived Invaders Of The Mummy's Tomb.

It doesn't really replace a Nintendo DS. Children today would probably get bored of it in 20 minutes, but "big kids" like me can't get enough of it.

While there isn't yet an official collection of Game & Watch titles on the Nintendo DS (apart from the Club Nintendo giveaway), Nintendo has slyly added four (Ball, Flagman, Manhole and Judge) of the classic games in their Rakubiki Jiten (Japanese and English dictionary).

A great bonus as the dictionary is an excellent alternative to a standalone electronic dictionary.

A DS cookbook, Shaberu! DS Oryōri Navi has a hidden Game & Watch Chef game.

Finally, it's possible to run Gameboy Advance carts like Game & Watch Gallery 4 on the DS for some classic Nintendo old school gaming.

I have to say that getting the required stars to unlock the extra games is a BITCH.

Another great thing about the DS is that you can run old school games like Quake using homebrew.

This is also the method for using the great Project JDS kana practice program I mentioned in an earlier post.

So after all that, was Kyofu No Minjintou worth getting? Hell yes! I feel refreshingly more hip than the guys sporting their DS's when I'm on the train, and for the equivalent of $10, you can't go wrong.