thriftcrawler 11/01/05

11/01/05

7 NES games, 1 Playstation game and a Casio PT-1

Well, I think my first thrift trip since officially returning to New Orleans for good was pretty successful. My favorite thrift store (tied with ATS in Baton Rouge) Red White & Blue came through today with some hot 8-bit action, a universally lauded Playstation game and a new keyboard. Read on...

01. Rad Racer (Square Enix - 1987) NES
From the esteemed makers of the Final Fantasy series and other respected games comes this boring racing game that inexplicably gets pretty good reviews. When I was a kid, I bought this game for the same reason a lot of kids did - it came with 3-D glasses which promised to work in conjunction with the game and make it thoroughly rad. Well, they didn't work, folks. And with or without them, Rad Racer was completely unspectacular. Fanboys never mention these facts when verbally fellating Squaresoft with praise. They never mention the tears of a 9-year-old boy falling from behind ineffective red and blue lenses!

02. Wrath of the Black Manta (Taito - 1990) NES
Side-scrolling. Platformer. Ninjas. Throwing stars. Wacky bosses. Inappropriately cheerful music. Everything that made the NES great in this mindlessly fun game. By the way, as you may be able to make out from the above photograph, today's NES finds were 95 cents each.

03. Double Dribble (Konami - 1987) NES
Probably the first really playable basketball video game ever. Anyone else remember that sweet spot in the top corner where you could make every single 3-pointer you attempted?

04. Star Voyager (Acclaim - 1987) NES
Float around doing nothing in this so-called space simulator! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Let me also point out the swank Nintendo-branded video game rental cases the last four NES games came in. Nice!

05. Life Force (Konami - 1987) NES
The insanely hard sequel to Konami's much-loved horizontal shooter Gradius. Just try beating this thing without using the Konami code. You know the one.

06. Predator (Activision - 1988) NES
Crappy side-scrolling platformer featuring a future California Governor in a pink outfit.

07. Elevator Action (Taito - 1985) NES
One of the earliest NES games and a staple of dusty arcades since 1983. You probably know this one - run around shooting people in a static, multi-level building using several elevators for simple transportation, surprising enemies, and escaping from them as well. Pretty fun, but gets old quick.

08. Casio PT-1 keyboard (circa 1985)
While many people are aware that annoying synth-pop band TRIO used the PT-1's "ROCK1" rhythm for their song "Da Da Da", fewer realize that classic Manchester band The Fall had earlier used "ROCK2" on their song "The Man Whose Head Expanded" (whereupon frontman Mark E. Smith responds to it a few minutes in by demanding that someone "turn that bloody, blimey space invader OFF.")

I say this about a lot of things, but I've been looking for one of these for a while. They seem to be hard to find in the wild without missing battery covers or being totally broken. This one's in good shape, has a battery cover, and features:

¤ 4 Tones: piano, fantasy, violin and flute.

¤ 10 rhythms: march, waltz, 4 beat, swing, rock1, rock2, bossa nova, samba, rhumba and beguine.

¤ A 100-note sequencer.

¤ 2 "one key play" buttons.

¤ A traditionally cheezy demo song.

¤ An AC adaptor jack (or 4 AA batteries,) and a 1/8" output jack.

This, the latest addition to my ever-increasing stash of old keyboards, was $2.95 at Red White & Blue.

09. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Konami - 1997) PS1
Never played it, but it gets insanely good reviews. Maybe a reason to hook up my long-ignored PS2? $2.95 at RW&B.

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01.	Rad Racer (Square Enix - 1987) NES From the esteemed makers of the Final Fantasy series and other respected games comes this boring racing game that inexplicably gets pretty good reviews. When I was a kid, I bought this game for the same reason a lot of kids did - it came with 3-D glasses which promised to work in conjunction with the game and make it thoroughly rad. Well, they didn't work, folks. And with or without them, Rad Racer was completely unspectacular. Fanboys never mention these facts when verbally fellating Squaresoft with praise. They never mention the tears of a 9-year-old boy falling from behind ineffective red and blue lenses!
02.	Wrath of the Black Manta (Taito - 1990) NES Side-scrolling. Platformer. Ninjas. Throwing stars. Wacky bosses. Inappropriately cheerful music. Everything that made the NES great in this mindlessly fun game. By the way, as you may be able to make out from the above photograph, today's NES finds were 95 cents each.
03.	Double Dribble (Konami - 1987) NES Probably the first really playable basketball video game ever. Anyone else remember that sweet spot in the top corner where you could make every single 3-pointer you attempted?
04.	Star Voyager (Acclaim - 1987) NES Float around doing nothing in this so-called space simulator! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Let me also point out the swank Nintendo-branded video game rental cases the last four NES games came in. Nice!
05.	Life Force (Konami - 1987) NES The insanely hard sequel to Konami's much-loved horizontal shooter Gradius. Just try beating this thing without using the Konami code. You know the one.
06.	Predator (Activision - 1988) NES Crappy side-scrolling platformer featuring a future California Governor in a pink outfit.
07.	Elevator Action (Taito - 1985) NES One of the earliest NES games and a staple of dusty arcades since 1983. You probably know this one - run around shooting people in a static, multi-level building using several elevators for simple transportation, surprising enemies, and escaping from them as well. Pretty fun, but gets old quick.
08.	Casio PT-1 keyboard (circa 1985) While many people are aware that annoying synth-pop band TRIO used the PT-1's "ROCK1" rhythm for their song "Da Da Da", fewer realize that classic Manchester band The Fall had earlier used "ROCK2" on their song "The Man Whose Head Expanded" (whereupon frontman Mark E. Smith responds to it a few minutes in by demanding that someone "turn that bloody, blimey space invader OFF.") I say this about a lot of things, but I've been looking for one of these for a while. They seem to be hard to find in the wild without missing battery covers or being totally broken. This one's in good shape, has a battery cover, and features: ¤ 4 Tones: piano, fantasy, violin and flute. ¤ 10 rhythms: march, waltz, 4 beat, swing, rock1, rock2, bossa nova, samba, rhumba and beguine. ¤ A 100-note sequencer. ¤ 2 "one key play" buttons. ¤ A traditionally cheezy demo song. ¤ An AC adaptor jack (or 4 AA batteries,) and a 1/8" output jack. This, the latest addition to my ever-increasing stash of old keyboards, was $2.95 at Red White & Blue.
09.	Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Konami - 1997) PS1 Never played it, but it gets insanely good reviews. Maybe a reason to hook up my long-ignored PS2? $2.95 at RW&B.