Hydro Thunder

Bought a buncha Dreamcast games from him, they were a great deal, shipped quick, packed well, and all played great. Big thumbs up, recommended to deal with! Super cool guy to boot.

I just rented this and am kicking it around. I'm still not entirely sure what to make of it, but it sure looks nice and has a cool feel to it, as well as being addictive. I'm a single-player only person (don't have Xbox Gold), so I found it odd to have other players milling about during your adventure. Sometimes taking down the enemies you're working on, very...different. I liked that they seem to have struck an artistic chord between Borderlands and Mass Effect, and the sweeping music and some other touches give me the slight sensation of Star Wars. It's definitely a fun game, but I am not sure whether it merits a purchase for me as a non-multiplayer guy. In all I am very impressed with how much outright fun it is, but also don't know that it really has drawn me in so completely that I am dying to press further. Like say, Halo 1, 2, and 3. I will also say, after watching comparison videos between PS4 / Xbone / PS3 / 360... I'm still happy with my 360. Not ripping on the new consoles, just saying I don't feel left behind at this point.

I was fortunate enough to be at the E3 before the Dreamcast Launch. They had footage of the DC Castlevania and it looked amazing (it was 3-d not like SOTN, think of the Soul Fighter but way way way better), but all the Konami guys there had these sniveling looks on their faces when you'd ask about it and they'd murmur something about "More like Cancel-vania". Such a shame. I'd take any unreleased Castlevania. As said above by nonner242, especially if it's like Bloodlines. My favorite Castlevania.

Awesome video, just loved it! Didn't know much about Alien Storm before watching this, but always enjoyed it (especially the whole Alien Burger bit). I am with Rasheed on the music though -_- Game might have been a bigger hit were the soundtrack more in the Streets of Rage area.

Is literally everything in Austin now? Criminy.

Thank you for the link Rex Dart! I never realized before reading that article that I conceivably could fool my Plasma Sword into playing through VGA by booting it up in S-video then switching after the boot to VGA (have to give that a shot tonight!). It's one of the few no VGA games for DC, and happens to be a personal guilty pleasure.

Just curious if anyone knows how this version of the Simpsons arcade game differs from the original. I've played it a fair ways in and not noted anything immediately different, but then I'm not all that versed in the original apart from that I love it to pieces.

I fifteenth the motion that this is a great deal. Someone jump on this and buy it to keep and enjoy. I would but I already have a couple of 5200s. The two working reconditioned controllers are worth more than $70 alone, I would posit.

I also like blue and dislike red lights. Just a personal preference. I have a blue digital alarm clock, and have a blue light bulb in the nightlight I keep on when I sleep. Red makes me think of a prostitution zone (which of course isn't all bad ), blue somehow just seems cooler to me. I'm also partial to green, and anti- orange and yellow lights. Whether it's "in" or not hip anymore never factored in for me whatsoever.

I agree with the person far up above who said that there's just nothing that draws me to the Xbone or the PS4. Not a thing. I figure it won't be too long before the 360/PS3/Wii will be considered "classics" and I can keep my Retro status. Things I love about modernish game systems: Wireless controllers, HD graphics, free demos. Things I dislike: too many to list. But just a sample: add on packs that get shoved down your throat, advertisements on menu screens, too much focus on online play (which I never play), poor reliability / crashing, overly grandiose production for mediocre games. So I very seriously think the Ps3/360/Wii will be my last generation of consoles. And I don't even know that I consider the Xbone / PS4 / WiiU generation to be game consoles in my limited definition anymore. They're much more media boxes that happen to play games, or so it strikes me. Yuck. Give me a damned Genesis any day over that nonsense.

Since I'm more player than collector, I have grown to frown on NIB and have gone full bore after really great condition CIB stuff. And not even because of what the guy in the video discovered, but now that's a factor too. NIB prices for anything remotely old are just outrageous anymore. Open it, play it, keep it in great condition and take care of it I say.

I have only once paid a large (relative) amount of money for a game, I won an excellent condition Tooth Protectors with Manual (2600) off ebay several years ago, the price was over $200 but under $250 if I recall right. I didn't even think to ask them to ship it in a box (much less to go the whole yard as icemanxp300 did above!!!), kind of expecting so. I expected wrong, they used a bubble mailer, and put no cardboard inside. The manual had (and basically still has despite my attempts to gently flatten it out) creases in the shape of the cart that it had bent around while packaged this way. I was so disappointed! I did get a partial refund from the seller, and admonished them to please please please use a box in the future for any sales of rare games / manuals. It's amazing what little care people take when shipping things. I have taken more care while shipping *broken* game controllers sold for free / cost of shipping before.

Fascinating and wonderful, thanks so much for posting!!

I'm with Torr on Road Rash for Sega CD. I've played the rest, Sega CD is the best. Doesn't hurt any that I'm completely obsessed with Soundgarden, and the rest of the soundtrack. When the game came out for SegaCD, I don't believe that SuperUnknown had yet been released. Hearing it while racing really makes all the difference in the world to me. And with Sega's 6-Button arcade pad, you've got the best controlling Road Rash, with the best soundtrack. Graphics a bit of a let down but as a whole package it is #1 in my book, no question.

GREAT video. I never played much of CK, it just never really appealed to me for some reason. But I've been curious about it (and why the sequel arrived SO quickly after the original), your video was wonderfully informative and well put together! I also got a Saturn early, I believe I got one of the two that arrived at my local Software Etc on launch day. The only games available were Astal, Daytona, Mansion of Hidden Souls, Panzer Dragoon, and Virtual Hydlide (with Virtua Fighter packed in). I don't remember when CK and the other early games showed, like Bug! and whatnot. But I picked up Panzer Dragoon and just played the crap out of it and VF. It was a big deal in May 1995

Bought a Tron 2600 controller from him shipped fast, packed nice, and super nice guy to deal with.

Crazy Taxi - Great video, it really captured the excitement about the game when it came out. As for Crazy Taxi 2, I would venture that not only was the timing poor, the game just wasn't as much fun as the first. It had barely any new conventions at all, and the maps / buildings were harder to figure your way through. I loved that one of the cabbies was "Hot-D", short for House of the Dead (if only he would have been G or a Zombie!) in the sequel, but other than that it wasn't fun for me. A strong recommendation for any Crazy Taxi fan: Simpson's Road Rage. I am not kidding, you should really check this one out for Xbox or PS2. It is a straight up Crazy Taxi rip off, but it does everything better than Crazy Taxi; it's basically what the sequel should have been. Not only are there a ton of cars/ characters to pick from, but the cars have very noticeably different driving properties (unlike all the cabs in the CT). As well, the passengers' comments are unique not only to the passenger, but between the character you're picking up and the person driving very often. They did TONS of work on the voices for this game, and the humor is everywhere as you would expect. It's fast, the graphics are excellent, the unlockable cars are completely awesome, and it's just a great great great game for fans of Crazy Taxi, of the Simpsons, or like me, both.

Altered Beast comments first - I've read some interesting writings about Altered Beast and it matches up with what was discussed. For some, it was too dark (for young kids especially), for some, too hard. It was a far cry from say, any of the Mario Games. But at the same time, you can't out-Mario Mario, so it was better for Sega to take a different path. They eventually got it perfect with Sonic; he was "cooler" than Mario but still acceptable for young kids. And then later Golden Axe. I think Sega took the attitude to be the console the teen / older brother had, and therefore the one that young kids wanted also. Later, the Playstation took this theory to work in the market. As for myself, I loved the style of Altered Beast, but I sucked at it, and it wasn't a big draw for me. I got my Genesis when Street Fighter II SCE came out, and got a 6-button arcade pad. I played it night and day. Sonic 2 was packed in, but I wasn't a platform guy so I just tinkered with it occasionally and let it collect dust. Rented Altered Best a time or two, enjoyed it but didn't need to own it.

Just a gentle bump, eagerly awaiting this fyne piece of work to reach completion. Many thanks for all of your efforts, guys!!

Spice is the man. I cannot quit playing this, Space Rocks, and Frantic. Keep up the great work, I can't wait to see more on this. Only a few arcades near me used to have Bosconian, and I would just go to crazy town playing it back in the day.

Off the cuff, I will go with my favorites being: 1. Pac-Man - no, this isn't a cop out, I really, really, really love the 5200 version. The style, the control, it is just simply wonderful to me. 2. Dreadnaught Factor - I just love blowing up those Star Destroyers er, whatever they're officially called. This one has elements of Xevious, good control, is challenging and fun. 3. Moon Patrol - Always loved the arcade game, and the 5200 has an excellent port of it. Love the bluesy music. 4. Space Invaders - Absolutely love the different aliens, the colors, the animations. I don't like arcade Space Invaders, but do like the 2600 version, and this even moreso. 5. Centipede - a wonderful arcade translation, plays fantastically both with the controller and with the trackball. Looks and sounds great, addictive as all get out. Honorable mentions to Mario Bros, Qix, Galaxian, Dig Dug and Miner 2049er.

I also am thinking whatever is up is a recent problem that I hope they get corrected. I've bought as well as sent in items to them for trade credit and had fair dealings. I don't think they provide as many pictures of the item they're selling as I would like (and prefer Tradengames.com on that basis), but their inventory is impressive, their prices reasonable, and generally they've been fairly quick to ship. So hopefully someone will find out what this recent trouble is and they will right the ship. I would hate to have one of my favorite sources suddenly start being a bad seller.

Kinda neither here nor there, but I am a huge Crossbow fan and _love_ playing the Mame version with a mouse. In case you've not tried it, it's much more accurate than the arcade light-gun was (partly because it was so wonderfully huge, it was cumbersome).

_NICE_!!! I am a huge brawler fan, and your dedication to your in-depth writeup is beyond impressive! I treasure that page, thank you so much for all of your efforts! If you ever endeavor to take on Golden Axe: The Return of Death-Adder in the same capacity, I will be first in line to read it! That and/or Captain Commando.