thriftcrawler 08/04/05

08/04/05

01. Pocket Simon

Yup, Sherie and I made the patented Thursday Thrift Run to Red White & Blue today, and while she didn't find anything to her liking, I went home with 10 items - the first of which is this Pocket Simon from 1980. I'm just a sucker for anything I remember from my childhood, so this was a shoe-in at two bucks. Don't get me wrong, I don't go around buying everything I played with as a kid - it either has to be something I remember fondly or, as is the case with Pocket Simon, it has to appeal to me visually. I like PS's big bold primary colors, raised buttons and switches, and its Russianesque font. Plus, shiny, child-slicing metal isn't used enough in toys these days. The faceplate really does look good framed in that black plastic.

02. 9 NES games

Some guy named Nick Bussard (the name written on all of these carts) apparently decided that the old 8-bit NES just wasn't good enough for him anymore and dropped off about 15 games at RW&B. Thanks, Nick! Here are the nine I picked up for 95 cents each:

01. Rambo (Acclaim - 1988)
I remember playing this piece of shit on the display NES at the K-Mart near my grandparents' house with my friends one summer. Some days during those long hot summers we had nothing better to do than hang out in the stores surrounding the neighborhood, so we unfortunately ended up playing this one quite a bit.

02. Back to the Future (LJN - 1989)
Mediocre movie tie-in four years late.

03. Kung Fu (Nintendo - 1985)
The worst part about this very basic action game is the digitized laughter that mocks you whenever you die. Fuck you, digitized laughter.

04. Gyruss (Konami - 1988)
Awesome shoot-em-up that I originally experienced on my Commodore 64. In addition to the fun "Galaga in a tube" gameplay, the music (a hopped-up, digitized verison of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor") is just killer.

05. Tiger Heli (Acclaim - 1986)
I played this game at my cousin's house back in '86 before I got my very own NES, so no matter how shitty it was, I was bound to think it was tits. Well, it's not tits. It's boring.

06. Batman (Nintendo - 1989)
In 1989 (the year the first Batman movie came out) EVERYONE my age was hardcore into anything and everything Batman, and this game was no exception. It didn't hurt that it was actually a very good game. This is pretty much the exact opposite of what Atari did with E.T. back in '82.

07. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (Ultra - 1990)
Slick arcade translation. TMNT was another thing we were all into back in the day. Geek Fact: Donatello was my favorite.

08. Jackal (Konami - 1988)
Like your typical space shoot-em-up, but on land and in a Jeep - which means you get to run over people. Fun fun fun from Konami, makers of quality video games since 1982.

09. Castlevania (Konami - 1987)
For the three people who don't know about Castlevania, you play vampire hunter Simon Belmont in a side-scrolling adventure where you must kill bats, mummies, zombies, Frankenstein(?!) and Dracula himself. A bona fide classic.
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01.	Rambo (Acclaim - 1988) I remember playing this piece of shit on the display NES at the K-Mart near my grandparents' house with my friends one summer. Some days during those long hot summers we had nothing better to do than hang out in the stores surrounding the neighborhood, so we unfortunately ended up playing this one quite a bit.
02.	Back to the Future (LJN - 1989) Mediocre movie tie-in four years late.
03.	Kung Fu (Nintendo - 1985) The worst part about this very basic action game is the digitized laughter that mocks you whenever you die. Fuck you, digitized laughter.
04.	Gyruss (Konami - 1988) Awesome shoot-em-up that I originally experienced on my Commodore 64. In addition to the fun "Galaga in a tube" gameplay, the music (a hopped-up, digitized verison of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor") is just killer.
05.	Tiger Heli (Acclaim - 1986) I played this game at my cousin's house back in '86 before I got my very own NES, so no matter how shitty it was, I was bound to think it was tits. Well, it's not tits. It's boring.
06.	Batman (Nintendo - 1989) In 1989 (the year the first Batman movie came out) EVERYONE my age was hardcore into anything and everything Batman, and this game was no exception. It didn't hurt that it was actually a very good game. This is pretty much the exact opposite of what Atari did with E.T. back in '82.
07.	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (Ultra - 1990) Slick arcade translation. TMNT was another thing we were all into back in the day. Geek Fact: Donatello was my favorite.
08.	Jackal (Konami - 1988) Like your typical space shoot-em-up, but on land and in a Jeep - which means you get to run over people. Fun fun fun from Konami, makers of quality video games since 1982.
09.	Castlevania (Konami - 1987) For the three people who don't know about Castlevania, you play vampire hunter Simon Belmont in a side-scrolling adventure where you must kill bats, mummies, zombies, Frankenstein(?!) and Dracula himself. A bona fide classic. \|