Latest Game Purchases #11

I didn't get all of these in the same day or even in the same week. Well OK, most of them I did get this week, but I had some extra cash and ended up buying more games than usual and rather just make multiple posts, I decided I'd wait til I was finished shopping and do a single blog post.

Donkey Kong Country Returns. I own the entire SNES Donkey Kong Country trilogy and invested sometime into Donkey Kong 64 before I stopped playing it (too much collect-a-thon stuff for my tastes). When I heard Donkey Kong Country Returns would be a return to form, I was very excited. Not only would it be a side scrolling title like the SNES games, but much like those games, it also brought with it a Nintendo Hard difficulty, maybe even moreso than all the SNES games combined from what I've seen and heard. Anyway, K-Mart was having a sale and I picked this one up for $34.99! I could not believe that price because the game is selling for the standard $49.99 everywhere else. I'm sure Donkey Kong Country Returns will be a Nintendo Selects title someday, but since the day has not yet come, I consider what I paid for it a bargain.

After spending  alot of time with the DS version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, I wanted to play the console version even more. K-Mart had a few copies months back for $20 but I always passed on it and when I did decided to buy it for the Wii, they were all gone. Lucky, GameStop had a used copy for $17.99. It was't complete, missing the instructions, but it's an easy game to play and I already know about drifting and tricks so I'm good to go. I played some of it last night and it's every bit as good as the portable game. Kinda makes me wanna buy Mario Kart Wii now. Yo, Nintendo, how about putting that on Nintendo Selects and saving me $50, huh?

Wario World. How many times did I pass on this game when I saw it at numerous GameStop stores? Not this time. They had a used, complete copy for $9.99. This is another game by Treasure. I love me some Treasure games and while it probably won't be on the same level as a platformer made by Nintendo I'm still very intrigued to see Treasure's take on Mario's fat rival.

On Wednesday I was killing time before work, talking with one of the store clerks and she told me they had Metroid Prime 3: Corruption used for $9.99. I was like "Seriously? I didn't see it anywhere." So she pointed it out to me and it turned out to be in a generic GameStop case, but she said they might still have the original case. Not only did they have the original case, but they had the instructions as well. So I finally have the entire Metroid Prime trilogy in my library. I just need to sit down and play them all someday.

While picking up Metroid Prime 3, I also got NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, used and complete for $4.99 This is my second time buying this one as my first copy had a manual that was in really awful shape. Yeah, I know that sounds insanely petty getting the same game to with a manual that looks brand spanking new, but the game was dirt cheap. I still haven't finished the original NiGHTS or even played Christmas NiGHTS so I gradually work my way to Journey of Dreams.

My trio of shrink wrapped $9.99 games, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves and Shadow of the Colossus all came from K-Mart. It took me forever to finish getting the Sly Cooper trilogy and I may have to pick up another copy of the original Sly. The last time I tried playing it, the game disc couldn't be read. I know from my good friend Lucas Stephens that Shadow of Colossus is an awesome game because it was all he could talk about when it released in 2005. I got my brother-in-law a copy months ago and watched him fight the second colossus. Words fail to describe how beautiful the game looks and the colossus bosses more then live up to their namesake. Nice to have a copy of this game for myself. I'll probably grab ICO if I see a copy. I wonder if I'll ever be finished buying PS2 games. The system has so many awesome games.

Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1 is one of my absolute FAVORITE compilation games. I played it on a regular basis when it released years ago. Console access to Final Fight (my favorite beat 'em up) is just too good. Of course it has a lot of other great games too like Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (even if it is unfathomably hard), Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Commando, Mercs and more. I let a friend borrow this game, he moved and I never got it back. Thankfully, video game Heaven had a used copy for $7.99 and it was complete.

And speaking of video Game Heaven, they had a bin of used PS2 games for $4. In that bin, I found Jak & Daxter: The Precurssor Legacy, Jak II, and Destroy All Humans. I've yet to play any of the Jak games but have always wanted to give them a go. Years ago I played a demo of Destroy All Humans and loved it. $12 for 3 PS2 games even if Jak & Daxter and Destory All Humans were missing manuals is a steal in my book.

I can't remember the last time I bought a Genesis game but I do remember beating my friend's copy of Thunder Force III back in 2006. He loaned it to me and I spent some quality time with what I consider one of the greatest SHMUPs on the Genesis. There was a used copy in Video Game Heaven for $7.99 and I knew I had to have it. With that, I now have all three Genesis Thunder Force games.