Retrogen Review
There are plenty of Retrogen reviews on the internet and rather than repeat the same garbage of features and functionality of this awesome SEGA Genesis portable, I'll just give you the brass tacks...
BUY IT!
It's very inexpensive, has a better screen than the SEGA Nomad, and a better battery life. It feels solid and delivers an adequate SEGA Genesis experience when you need it. The audio isn't that great but who cares, it's cheap.
Game Collector Interview: Caztro72
Caztro72 (real name Anthony) is an avid "YouTuber" who often posts videos showing his video game finds from various thrift stores. With great enthusiasm he parades the items he's purchased, how much they cost him, and an estimate of what they are worth (from Digit Press). Clearly he has obtained a wealth of knowledge and experience thrifting so we've reached out to him to gain his insight and advice. Enjoy...
How long have you been using thrift stores for video game finds, and do you recall what the first gaming item that you found?
I've been using thrift stores as a means of finding classic video games since GameStop dropped the 8 and 16-bit bargain bins from their stores. This may have been 8 years ago! I believe the first thrift store game I found was Starship Hector for the NES.
How frequently do you visit thrift stores and do you have a specific routine in looking for items?
I usually visit a thrift store once a week, sometimes on a Wednesday morning or Thursday afternoon. I believe the middle of the week is the best time to search these stores as most product from the back rooms have been processed by then and are available for sale. I tend to check behind the main counter before I search the sales floor as most thrift shops consider video games too valuable to be left alone on the regular shelves.
What item are you most proud to have purchased from a thrift store and why?
Hmmm...tough question. I found a Namco Arcade Joystick for the PS1 for 7 dollars at the Unique Thrift Store (my main thrifting store). That was an unusual find. I don't know who would have donated that stick as they are uncommon and are compatible with PS2. Yes, I'm proud to have found that particular item! LOL!
What about regretful purchases? Do you have any of those?
Oh my! Yes! My collection has gotten to a point where I accidentally buy doubles of games I already own! Just recently I found Shadowgate for the NES at a Salvation Army Thrift. I purchased it thinking that I didn't own the game. Turns out that I did. Oh well! LOL!
Do you have limits on what you collect and why?
I tend to limit myself in terms of money. Collectors are usually frugal by nature. I try not to buy cartridges over 5 bucks. I also never buy PC games. I just don't find them collectible. I'm really just a console guy! (Sorry to all you PC fans out there! LOL!)
You seem to have a mixture in gaming tastes, from old to new. Do you have a preference of retro gaming over modern, or vice versa?
Great question. I have a preference for retro more than modern. I started going back to 8 and 16-bit games just as PS2, Xbox, and GameCube were leading the revolution. Long, drawn out story lines, and 3D graphics just don't make a game for me. I enjoy simple 2D gaming that you can pick up and play with not a lot of commitment. I also prefer the simple 8 and 16-bit ditties over today's orchestrated music.
What are your thoughts on classic games being re-released on modern consoles like the PSN? Do you feel it diminishes the collecting hobby?
Tough question. Well, I think retro downloads keep the classics alive. So in that respect I am in favor of Virtual Console and the like. And let's face it, many gamers aren't going to search out original hardware and software to play the classics when they can just download. True collectors will always search out the original carts no matter what. So these downloads are a nice alternative that I don't think hurt the hardcore collector.
If you had to pick just one what is your favorite all time video-game?
That is a tough one! I would have to go with Taito's BUBBLE BOBBLE. I think it captures the essence of what a video game should be. Simple play mechanics that require an amount of skill to master, coupled with dozens of levels, quirky game music, fun game play, and lovable characters!
What made you decide to start talking about your classic games collection and thrifting experiences on Youtube?
I had originally created a YouTube account to upload a video from my vacation in Europe. Then I started to see gaming channels that other people had created. Echo036 in particular had inspired me to start talking about my video game collecting habits. Love his channel!
What gaming websites do you frequent?
I'm not much for surfing the video game sites. I actually subscribe to Nintendo Power, Playstation Magazine, The Official Xbox Magazine, and Game Informer. I like print!! But when I feel like surfing I check out Digital Press' site and IGN.com.
Is there anyone you want to do a shout-out to?
Big shout out to Echo036! He was the first guy to comment on my earliest videos! And his channel inspired me to build mine! http://www.youtube.com/user/echo036
Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?
To all my subscribers out there I humbly thank you for all your support!! Happy gaming!!
I want to thank Caztro72 for sharing his time with us. Check out his YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Caztro72
Greatest SEGA Genesis & Master System Thrift Store Find Ever
Is this really the greatest SEGA Genesis & Master System thrift store find ever? Quite possibly, well at least for me it is. Let's see what we got:
So I go to the Goodwill thrift store near my house and first I find a complete copy of Yoshi for Nintendo NES. Then I find Alex Kidd in Miracle world. I head to the back of the store and I find a SEGA Master system with one controller and the arcade stick ($5). Then I find the phaser ($3), and then I find a SEGA Genesis with two controllers AND a mint Power Base Converter for $10!
I pay for this stuff put it in my car and go back inside. Then kablamoo! The motherload! All for SEGA Master System: Zillion, Rescue Mission, Shooting Gallery, After Burner, Black Belt, Great Football, Gangster Town, Ghostbusters, Great Soccer, and Hang On/Astro Warrior. But the story doesn't end there. The next day I go back and I find Transbot, with the game still in its case. I buy it for $2, open it in the parking lot to find TWO copies of the game in the box. SCORE!
All of the SEGA hardware must of came from the same person, as all of the cartridges have 'Cuco' painted on them in blue. Also, a hate crime obviously occured infront of these games. Look at Zillion:
What fool 'tags' a video game cartridge? Why couldn't they have abused Great Soccer and not Zillion? Shesh. I'm certain there is a circle of hell for what ever punk tried to ruin this SEGA Master System game. The good news is I'm already in the process of restoring it. Restoring it? How can I restore a game that has been this abused? Well, I guess we'll have to wait for the second part of this post.
Fatal Fury For SEGA Genesis
Fatal Fury for SEGA Genesis. I love Fatal Fury for a variety of reasons. Let's discuss the NEO GEO version first. The Neo Geo version in my opinion is a 'perfect game'. By this I mean the programmers got everything right. Some would argue this point, but consider the following: dynamic environments... the backgrounds change their lighting with every round providing the illusion of time passing. In some cases the weather changes. For example, Tung Fu Rue's stage has lightning and thunder during Round 1, then it pours rain during Round 2. The carnival on Raiden's stage lights up as evening comes.
Next is audience participation. The crowd on the stages cheer and whistle. It sounds authentic- unlike the silent background characters of Street Fighter 2. The monks clapped in Mortal Kombat, but the whistles and cheers sound like the real deal, as if it was sampled from a real street fight. Some scenarios will knock you into the crowd which the audience will go crazy and push you back into the street. I can't recall any other fighting game that does this.
Let's move on to the voice overs of the soundtrack. On Hwa Jai's and Richard Meyer's stage the background music has singing, in fact the Richard Meyer's stage has singing and instruments. The level (shown below in the SEGA Genesis version) shows the band which of course is present in the Neo Geo version, I swear the music is in perfect timing to the musicians... it might just be a coincidence, but even if its not, its pretty cool.
The backgrounds of Fatal Fury were also cutting edge and very detailed and 19 years later I still notice new things in them. Raiden's stage in particular has so many little things in it including the Merry-Go-Round, Pirate Ship, Carl's Jr. Star, Evil Tree, Roller Coaster, and a Ferris Wheel.
Duck King's stage featured subway cars going by in the distance and a hotdog stand that featured walking hotdogs that remind me of Burger Time. And this is why Fatal Fury became significant to me... I remember playing Fatal Fury for the first time on a Neo Geo 4 slot MVS at a greasy dive called 'Circus Burger' in downtown Las Vegas. This place was filthy, and attracted plenty of riff-raff. There were no tables, no chairs, just a four seat bar to order your burger, and the Neo Geo machine. The machine was loud and experiencing the game with the smell of the dumpy burger joint on Duck King's stage just seem to fit perfectly with the level design. To this day when I drive down that particular part of Fremont street, I can't help think of Fatal Fury.
Anyways, I could go on and on about Fatal Fury, but let's look at the SEGA Genesis version...
I bought it complete from the Classic Gaming Expo 2010 in Las Vegas this past weekend and I knew what I was getting into. I had rented the game many, many, years ago, and I knew it wasn't an exact port. But despite that I wanted it still. There are a handful of differences in this version (to the good) that I could almost say it's an enhanced version.
Being a port, there were some obvious graphical changes, but some improvements as well. For example, the women on Richard Meyer's stage were redrawn and look more proportional compared to the Neo Geo counterpart. Additional details were included like Billy Kane in the background which is absent from the original version (picture #3). One of the graphic cuts was the chandalier that Richard Meyers used to hang from and twirl his legs.
At random points in the game you'll start a fight and suddenly the other selectable players will 'join in' and challenge you. This was absent from the original game, but this actually makes it more fun as you have two additional fights to win in order to complete the game.
The computer AI is more difficult in the SEGA Genesis version. It almost seems that the programmer has the computer just doing random moves. The hit detection is slightly different from the Neo Geo version and it requires you to be much closer to the enemy to make contact.
The bonus stage with the arm wrestler is gone and is replaced with punching tires on Michael Max's Beach.
The voice of the announcer is different, and no longer will it say "Roooooooooooooooooound ONE!" Instead all it says is "Fight".
All in all this is a pretty excellent port. Its by far not perfect but retains the spirit of Fatal Fury, which compared to other arcade ports (Neo Geo in particular) that goes a long way.
SEGA Genesis Thrift Store Finds
Today I found more video game collecting finds from a thrift store. This time it was four SEGA Genesis games including Altered Beast, Super Monaco GP, Pat Riley Basketball, and Joe Montana. There was also a decent NES controller for fifty cents! Pat Riley and Joe Montana was found in the VHS section, which I've pointed out before are excellent places to find misplaced SEGA Genesis merchandise.
A few items I passed up were Madden '94 and X-Men for Genesis.
In the back of the store was a beatup original GameBoy covered in paint, a Nintendo Gamecube, Super Mario World for SNES, and a Star Wars game for N64.
Weekend Videogame Finds
It's been a good weekend for game collecting... Strider for SEGA Genesis complete for less than $3. CastleVania for NES fir $2 and original Donkey Kong and Kid Ikarus for $7.50.
Rambo III SEGA Genesis
I finally received Rambo III for SEGA Genesis. Actually I received it about a week ago, but I really haven't had much time to play it. I like the Rambo movies. Especially the first one, and it just so happens that the 3rd movie is my least favorite. Games and movies never work well together so I was ready to be let down.
In this case I wasn't let down at all. I actually enjoyed this game for what little I got to play of it. It's loosely based on the 3rd movie and even includes digital stills from it. It plays similiar to Ikari Warriors (which was obviously inspired by the 2nd Rambo movie) but resembles Heavy Barrel more and could be considered a precurser to Shock Troopers on Neo Geo.
Unlike many top-down war games Rambo III does have one feature that would have made those other games much more interesting: RAPID FIRE. Not only does Rambo have unlimited ammunition, if you hold the button down and leave the D-pad alone Rambo will start moving the gun back and forth, effectively spraying the bullets everywhere. THATS AWESOME!
You can also shoot arrows, which is very much Rambo-esq, but you can also set time-bombs, which I don't recall in any Rambo movie but I could be wrong. Now on to the best part:
The box art is beautiful. It isn't a promo picture from the movie either, or if it was, it certainly wasn't for the American audience. I'd like to believe it was unique for the game(s). The reason I say this is look at the Commodore version:
Notice anything missing? Where are his arrows and bows? It seems the Genesis version is unique to the arrows and bows, but it also proves that it must be a painting and not a still from the movie, because... what is holding the arrows and bows in the Genesis box art? Are they stuffed into his back pocket? Who knows, the point is that this is a good game for SEGA Genesis.
Results From The Video Game Thrift Store Adventure Spectacular
So what were the results from The Video Game Thrift Store Adventure Spectacular?
Well, let's see, the adventure started around 6:30 am in the parking lot of a Goodwill store that didn't open until 9:00. I decided that shopping for retro video games is best done with some breakfast fuel so it was over to Del Taco for their BreakFiesta. By then it was still early, not even 7:30 so I drove over to Frenchman's Mountain and studied the "Great Unconformity". After giving up on looking for fossils the video game hunt was ready to begin.
Location 1: Goodwill store (different from the one mentioned above): I've had minor success at this thrift store in the past. A few weeks ago I found a complete copy of Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Today there were a couple things included empty cases to Wheel of Fortune and Madden '95 for SEGA Genesis. But then in the display case was 8 Nintendo NES games. They were divided into two stacks of four games each and they wanted $12 for each stack. When the clerk opened the case all of the games were duds. Sure, there were a few I do not own, but being the proprioter of www.videogamepriceguides.com it would be foolish for me to purchase these titles at the prices they wanted: Rocketeer, The Goonies II, Fighting Golf, Double Dribble... so I passed.
Location 2: Salvation Army: I had some pretty good success at a different Salvation Army a week prior where I found copies of Vapor Trail and a few other Genesis games. This Salvation Army I had never been to before, and I shouldn't have bothered. Not only did I get there 20 minutes before they opened, I killed time and walked to a convinience store for a soda. When I returned the store opened and I found nothing. NOTHING! What a waste.
Location 3: Deseret Industries: Deseret Industries is a Mormon ran chain of thrift stores. They are always neat and tidy and rarely cluttered. This thrift store was a waste too. No video games. Nothing! It was quickly becoming a disappointing day.
Location 4: Goodwill Store (different from the two mentioned above): JACKPOT! This place had a bunch of games including Shanghai II, and Family Fued for SEGA Genesis for $9 each - PASS, several Nintendo NES games including Kickle Cubicle, Ultimate: Quest for the Avatar, Super Mario/Duck Hunt, Infiltrator, and Gremlins 2. In the display case they had a stack of Super Nintendo games including Choplifter III and a bunch of sports games. There was also a boxed copy of Road Blasters and Quack Shot for SEGA Genesis. Then there were two stacks of five SEGA Genesis games for $25 a piece. None of the titles were particularly impressive except for CastleVania Blood Lines which is worth at least $20. I mulled getting it but passed because 1.) it wasn't complete and 2.) the store had wrapped the stack of games in packing tape, and I was pretty certain that removing that tape was going to damage the labels. In my heart of hearts I know it was the right thing to do.
Location 5: Salvation Army (The one where I bought the SEGA Genesis games the week prior): After finding a copy of Madden '94 for SEGA Genesis I found a JACKPOT here as well: Complete in the box SEGA Dreamcast for $25. I currently don't collect Dreamcast games so I passed.
Location 6: Goodwill (the one I started at at 6:30am that wasn't opened). I've had plenty of success at this Goodwill. Multiple SEGA Genesis' and Nintendo NES's. What did I find this time? A complete ORIGINAL model SEGA Genesis with two controllers and Sonic 1.... in a SEGA Genesis Model II box! A cool $15, but Fridays are discounted if you have a previous Goodwill Receipt (which I did) brining it down to around $11.
All in all it was a pretty productive day. I hit up all but one of the stores I wanted to go to, and I didn't leave empty handed. After the SEGA Genesis is cleaned up you'll be able to purchase it if you are interested from the SalzMafia Retro Game store...
Vapor Trail SEGA Genesis
Another awesome SEGA Genesis find from a local Thrift Store. This time Salvation Army. You wouldn't believe the gall of some people. I found this copy of Vapor Trail, along with several other SEGA Genesis games hidden amongst a bunch of VHS tapes. This woman stood right behind me and made some sort of crass remark about how I was snatching them up. Shesh. Some people. Earlier that day I swore that same woman flipped off a fellow motorist.
Anyways my Video Game Price Guide reports Vapor Trail as being worth about $21. I only had to pay $2 for it. I also picked up Evander Holyfield Real Deal Boxing or some crap, and a Joe Montana Sports Talk '94 nonsense title. Why did the SEGA Genesis have to have so many sports games?
Thrift Store SEGA Genesis
Hands down it seems the best place to get any retro game hardware is the thrift store. In 7 days time I've witnessed a $3 Model 1 SEGA Genesis (with no cables), and then just yesterday at the same thrift store I found a $15 Model 1 SEGA Genesis with all of the trimmings (two licensed three button controllers, RFU adaptor, and licensed AC adaptor). It seems those AC adaptors are becoming more and more difficult to find, and used game stores don't seem to be aware that the original model Genesis is not compatible with the 2nd and 3rd generation adaptor. Some even think an original Nintendo NES AC adaptor will work because it fits and its the same voltage, but this couldn't be further from the truth.
You see the Nintendo AC adaptor spits out its power as AC and converts it to DC inside the Nintendo itself. The Genesis requires the voltage to be DC. A lot of the games stores assume it works when they turn it on because the light on the SEGA Genesis comes on. But the reason why it turns on is because of the alternating current. That red light is an LED (light emitting diode). It will only turn on if voltage is flowing in one direction (DC). If an LED is connected to a power source incorrectly it will not turn on. When its connected to an AC powersource it will turn on regardless of which wire is connected to which lead. The alternating current occurs so fast that the light appears to remain solid, when infact its actually turning on and off super fast.
With four diodes you can actually convert that AC current into DC, and theoretically the AC adaptor should work. The diagram below kinda demonstrates that. The red light indicates the + and the black indicates the -. Notice how the current alternates (red to black then black to red) the terminals on the right stay their same color (and therefore their same polarity). The diodes that turn gray are indicitive of the voltage being blocked.
So it might be possible with just four simple and cheap diodes make an adaptor (or a permanent modification) to an existing NES AC adaptor and convert it into one that is compatible with a SEGA Genesis. Sounds like a weekend project for sure.
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