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..

Playing Hockey With A Monkey

Another one to add to the LCD pile.

Direct from 1984, come on down Donkey Kong Hockey!

I picked this up in Shinjuku. I found this one by searching Rakuten, an online shopping mall.

Although I checked Google Earth for the location, it was a little tricky to find, being in a shop amongst residential housing. I was circling the area for ages before finding the small office/warehouse.

This one's in good condition, and it came with the original box and instructions.

The box is intact with a slight crease impression on the top, but all the flaps are ok. To me this is unimportant, but collectors are kind of anal about these things.

There does seem to be a few "water-like" marks in the LCD, and what looks like a tiny bit of hair under the glass (but it doesn't affect the game at all). I didn't notice when I looked it over. It was a little dark in the office. All the sprites are clear and the controls are good. There are no scratches and it's quite a fun game.

With a second controller, two can play! The controllers wind up inside the actual case. The battery cavity's a little tricky to get to. It's not one where you'd want to swap batteries all the time.

Basically it's Mario against Donkey Kong hitting a ball to score goals, while a referee appears to block and reverse play, and "crazy spots" (as they are referred to in the instructions) make the ball go in unexpected directions.

In a box I've seen this one go for large amounts of money. It's not too common to find. I think I was quite lucky to get hold of this one.
It was listed for around 5000 yen online, but I managed to get them to give it to me for 4000 yen. I'm pretty happy about that.

I had a really busy day today.

Another part of my mission was to go to the ward office to let them know of my visa extension, and update my gaijin card.

Unlike the Immigration Office, it was done in no time. I dropped into HQ to let them know my visa's good for another three years.

Finally, the last part of my mission was to search for good, yet inexpensive sunglasses.

Apart from one store devoted to sunglasses, it's a bit difficult to find them. Most of the department stores and smaller shops only had a few high priced pairs.

I chanced on one that I liked in Don Quijote in Kabuki-chō. They are "Men's Club" brand made in China.
They're polarised, and for 2000 yen it was easy choice. They have blue lenses, and are nice and dark (10% light transmission).

I didn't really get a chance to test them out seeing there wasn't much sun at all today but here's hoping they will do the job.

For what I paid it won't be a big loss if I don't like them. I think they were 99.9% UV protection. I just hope that 0.1% doesn't wreck my vision.

I got my headphones back today too, fixed from Yodobashi Camera.

For dinner we had Yoshinoya.

I picked up four cartons of mango nectar from YaMaYa, and TWENTY "Azuki Milk" from Marusho. They were on sale for 189 yen each. Crazy, that's like $40.

It's official, I'm insane.

Donkey Kong Jr's Come Home

Look what I have here!

This is Nintendo's Donkey Kong Jr (Panorama Screen). The memories from so long ago are slowly being reconstructed.

Out of the Panorama Screen series I think it's the best one.

It has the full directional pad, so the most control out of the lot. (Maybe Snoopy or Mario's Bombs Away would be others worth getting).

It's actually pretty hard to find. I DID see it in Nakano Broadway for 12,600 yen, but I baulked at paying so much. It's almost as much as a DS! These models get crazy prices up to 30,000 yen! I think it's easy to see why. The main difference to the usual Game & Watch series, is that these have vibrant COLOURED LCDs.

I bought it at Friends for 7,500 yen. It was 8,000 yen, but I managed to talk the sweet lady into giving me a bit of a discount. I gave it a go and it was like a shot in the arm taking me back to 1983!

The game was rated a C in condition by the store. It looks slightly yellow on the back (very slight), bottom half but apart from that everything looks great. Bright LCDs, no scratches and the controls are solid. What more could you ask for?

I was still racked with guilt for spending so much. Less so now that I'm writing this post though. She threw in the batteries in the "bargain".

Only a few more now to get. I'm sure my parents think I have lost it by now.

Arriving back home I found the postcard from the Immigration Office saying to come in for my visa renewal. Great News!

Finally, the Wonka chocolate has been opened for our enjoyment. There is some unwritten rule that things unopened will stay that way until upon opening, it will finish in no time.

Strange.

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.

Neko Don Don!

Ok, you guessed it (or you probably didn't), but I got a new 80's LCD game.

This time it's Neko Don Don! from a little known company called Takatoku Toys (I've never heard of them).

While it wasn't on my initial list of must haves, I tried the windows simulator here and had a great time. (It says you need some dll files, but it ran just fine extracted from the zip file).

Comparing the simulator to the real thing, the programmer did a great job. I just had a go now and the game-play is very similar, so if you're on a windows PC (or virtual machine) give it a go.

The example I bought was in absolutely mint condition, still in the box with all the inserts and instructions with strong LCD blacks.
I suspect the original owner left it in a cupboard for twenty six years without playing it at all, which maybe from a collector's point of view is justified, but to not play the games borders on criminal.

After station beers® with T & N, I couldn't wait till tomorrow and bought the required LR44 batteries to run the game from the 99 yen shop. (Actually 104 yen each for two. Apart from false advertising I was pretty pleased not having to wait until tomorrow). 

This is one really FUN game. I'd say it's even better than the Bandai ones I have. So why did I buy it instead of just playing the sim? 

 
I'm a big fan of old school things, and LCD is about as old school as it gets for computer games. Sure, if it was able to be played on my DS I probably wouldn't have got it and I'm definitely not going to power-up my laptop on the train just to play this.

So, for a night of beers this seems like money well spent.

Just to finish off, I want to thank the mothers for the sweets I got for teaching their kids. Yes, I work harder for food, AND I got notification for the special something from Yahoo Auctions.

Come to daddy..

Take It From Behind

Another day, another Akihabara moment. I know this isn't really bad English. I just read innuendo into everything.

I know it wasn't all that long ago but coming here is like a pilgrimage to me.

There was a store I was determined to find that I missed last time. It's called "Friends", and wouldn't you know it, the name is written in Japanese, not English.

The easiest way to find it is from the station head towards the Club Sega (you can't miss it), cross to that side and walk right along the road to the next major intersection.

Cross the road and you'll see a red Segafreda cafe. To the left you'll see a blue sign with 260 yen clearly displayed. On the RIGHT of that there's a small door leading up a stairway.

Here you'll find a treasure trove of old Nintendo goodness. It's like a small version of Super Potato.

Strangely, an old woman was in charge here. One thing you'll notice in all these retro "Famicon" shops is the endless sounds of 8-bit bleeping game music (it's an easy way you'll know you're in the right place). How anyone could stay sane listening to that all day is beyond me.

From there I went to Retro Game Camp.

It's not a large shop, but they have plenty of Famicon (Nintendo/Super Nintendo) and other carts for Sega etc.

Notice Super Mario Bros from the NES on the TV screen?

It's running on a "Famulator", a small licensed NES clone.

There's also a "Famulator lite", to hook it up to a Nintendo DS, but according to reviews it ain't that good.Moving right along, I made my way to the king-size building of Mandarake.

Here's the view from the top, looking down towards Akihabara station.

Eight floors of manga, toys and video games. The "Game & Watch" offerings here are surprisingly light.

What they did have, like all the other Akihabara shops were overpriced examples of a few classic titles.

While I'd like this place to be my favourite in Akiba, it lacks the character of the other places.

Maybe it's the over abundance of comic books and not enough retro games for me, but the elevator has a particularly nice shade of yellow.
Finally I just want to mention it was SO hot today. For the first time I went out without any kind of jacket. This is the kind of weather I like. Time to bring out the T's.

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.

One's Junk Is Another's Treasure

With a bit of extra time on my hands, I decided to get that Bandai LCD solar powered game I saw in my secret shop.

Kyofu No Mujintou (Shark Island) was only 1050 yen and the gameplay is very similar to the one from my childhood. I figured I sometimes spend that much at the catchers, and leave with nothing, so why not?

I did see Nazono Pyramid on Yahoo Auctions Japan for 2000 yen last night. I was too late to try for it as I wasn't even registered to use it yet.

I may still keep one eye out for it. Anyway, it prompted me to finally get this one.

While I there I picked up a Hello Kitty® watch for 210 yen. I tried once for it at the catchers so I thought I should buy it. It's cheap.

It was a good way to kill a bit of time before work.

After work there was another session of "station beers" with just T and myself. We had a good D & M conversation. There was a bit of music from some buskers, and for some reason we seemed to be attracting some japanese kids to where we were standing outside the Diamond complex.

Sure was some nice eye candy walking around.

Look for a Bandai review coming to this blog real soon. Somehow I don't think it'll be my last.

Very Very Thanks!

As long as the Japanese don't hire English proofreaders for their advertising campaigns and shop names, I will always have some great english to take photos of.

This one is in the CIAL complex of Yokohama station.

This is how I feel every time I find myself "trapped" in an amusement arcade.

Of course today was no different.

I managed to flee Yokohama before succumbing to the siren's call of the arcades (ok, I looked at a few BEFORE work).

Thinking that maybe just a quick peek in Shibuya couldn't do any harm, is where the trouble starts.

Being a "100 yen a pop" day doesn't help either.

To cut a long story shorter, I picked up my first grey Gloomy^® murder bear for 300 yen after watching another guy's moves on the machine. The second was a 100 yen give away when the staff girl let me have the money shot (NO, not that one).

I missed a few other potential prizes later, but being my good hearted self I helped some young japanese win their very own Gloomy^®
These bears have a battery that shakes it's victims around (It looks more like he's masturbating but that's what gf thought, not me). Nothing to write home about. Better than one that does nothing I suppose. Here's a video demonstration.

I also went to my secret shop. I was looking for some Bandai solar games and only saw Kyofu No Mujintou (Shark Island).

I had a quick play of it. I couldn't work out the controls. It's not my long lost video game, but 1050 yen isn't too bad a price as long as I read the instructions first. There're a few simulators on this link too that you should try. Not exactly perfect, but it brings back some memories.

You'll notice in the left side of the picture is Airport Panic for 2100 yen.

Decisions, decisions. I saw a Nintendo DS secondhand for 12,800 yen. Tempt. If I stop spending money I'll probably save some good money one day.

One interesting thing I saw outside Yodobashi in Yokohama, was a Fiat Barchetta.

I haven't seen a Fiat, let alone their convertible in Japan at all. I saw this car in Italy many years ago and hoped it would one day come to Australia, but that day is still yet to come.

I'm happy with my little Mx'y. Pity I don't have it here. I miss driving, that's for sure.

80s Handheld Simulators!

Following on from a previous post, I found a great site with a heap of game simulators, mainly Nintendo "Game & Watch" titles.

The simulations are excellent. If you have a windows PC, or a mac running a Boot Camp or virtual windows machine, I strongly recommend you try some out here.

The memories will come flooding back.

The tabletop handheld I had that I thought was Galaga was actually Astro Wars, also known as Galaxy II.

The look and feel is very similar to Galaga though.

Try it out on that simulators page. All the sims have a GUI that looks exactly like the handheld. Extra cool points for that.

Another one that I forgot that was my brother's toy was Condor from Time & Fun.

Even though it has very simple left and right buttons, it's quite a bit of fun to play. Similar to the "Game & Watch" Snoopy Tennis.

Another link for 80s game sims can be found here.

I had a ball playing my old Donkey Kong Jr "Game & Watch"(Panorama Screen) simulation and even Tomytronics, Tron.

Some of the prices the actual vintage units are selling for in Nakano are way overpriced. I guess nostalgia costs as much as your memories are worth.

Room For The Memories

A place in Shibuya has brought back a lot of memories.

Growing up in the early 80's was a interesting time for me, probably never to be repeated.

When computers were still new, Nintendo brought out a whole range of small LCD "Game & Watch" handheld games.

Like many kids of the time I had quite a few of them:

Donkey Kong Jr "Game & Watch" Panorama screen: The screen flipped open where the actual screen you played from was a colourful LCD reflection in a mirror.

Donkey Kong Hockey:
This one was different. Unlike most of the "Game & Watch", you could play an opponent or the computer and it had wind-up controls that fit inside the unit.

I had a solar-powered game made by Bandai Electronics:

Invaders Of The Mummy's Tomb, also known as "Pharoah's Pyramid" is called "Nazo No Pyramid" here in Japan.

Now THIS has a bit of a story. I had this one for not as long as I'd hoped.

Way back in 1982 my brother was just a little baby and my mother wisely thought it'd be a great idea to give it to him to play with. I pleaded with her, saying that he'd break it.

In an instant the little s**t snapped it in two. I was CRUSHED. No, they didn't get me a new one.

This may be the time to get it back. I recall seeing a few Bandai games in the shop.

From what I remember it was a pretty cool game. Look here for a 1982 magazine advert describing the game play.

I had an arcade-looking handheld of Galaga that was really cool, and also a handheld electronic bowling game, (the controller was a bowling ball) but trying as hard I can, I just can't find any pictures. Sorry.

So back to 2008.

At the shop I saw quite a few of the Nintendo and Bandai handhelds:

Remember this? Donkey Kong

And Oil Panic? I saw this one for about 3000 yen.

What about Green House? Another classic.

With my recent fixation of the Nintendo DS lite that the gf's friend's 10 year old daughter lent me, I tried a "Game & Watch" collection on the DS that features all three of these classics.

I had a go of them and I think I'm in trouble. The gameplay is still as addictive as I remembered it, and the LCD ghost images ups that retro cool factor.

This cart is very rare as it was not offered for sale to the public (only to Club Nintendo members, and only in Japan), so it's very tempting.

To finish off, I think I'll share a treat. One of the 80's handhelds I used to like (but not own), was Tomytronics Tron. I managed to find a very playable lightcycle game online. Download it here.

Imagine the game Snake, but with 3D graphics and more than one "snake". Addictive is the word.