A good few bits added to the collection this month.
Mortal Kombat 3 – Sony Playstation
Shao Kahn has won. The Earthrealm is no more. In order to revive his Queen Sindel, the emperor Shao Kahn used the Outworld Tournament from Mortal Kombat 2 as a diversion while his Shadow Priests revive his fallen Queen on Earth. Once enacted, the dimensional bridge between the two realms connects, allowing Kahn’s extermination squads to invade and destroy Earth, and enslave the population’s souls.
Mortal Kombat 3 brings new elements to the 2D fighting series: multi-level playfields, “Dial-A-Combo” attacks, a “Run” button to speed up the battles, and “Vs.” codes, which unlock new powers and abilities once both players enter a code sequence in pre-match-up screens. Also included are more stage fatalities and finishing moves as each warrior attempts to go one-on-one with the Centaurian enforcer Motaro, and Shao Kahn himself.
Mortal Kombat 3 is the last traditional one-on-one fighting game game in the series to feature motion-captured digitized graphics for its kombatants.
Rating – Boxed No Manual
Price Paid – £4.99 (Cash Converters)
Rayman – Sony Playstation
When a villain known only as Mr. Dark appears, trouble brews in Rayman’s world. Mr. Dark captures the Toons – source of light and Rayman’s friends. With no more light, evil creatures begin to roam, making the world unsafe for everyone. Its up to you, as Rayman, to free your friends and put an end to Mr. Dark’s dastardly schemes!
Rayman is a side-scrolling platformer starring the titular Rayman, a big-nosed chap with no arms or legs. Rayman can jump and use his hair to hover for a short period of time. He can also attack by throwing his fists, or winding up his fists for a more powerful punch. He can occasionally find special power ups that grant him unlimited flying power, giving him the ability to navigate through tricky mazes.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £4.99 (Cash Converters)
Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge – Microsoft Xbox
Three years after the original Crimson Skies, FASA Studio brings the game to the Xbox in an adapted version (not a port). Set in an alternate 1930s world of gunship diplomacy and sinister intrigue, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge lets gamers pilot aircraft against nefarious air pirates and behemoth war zeppelins.
You take the role of the daring air pirate Nathan Zachary, leader of the infamous Fortune Hunters. The high-flying adventure’s single player campaign is filled with escapes, defence/escort missions and dogfights. You can take on friends over Xbox Live! as well.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £4.00 (Cash Converters)
Street Fighter: Anniversary Collection – Microsoft Xbox
The Street Fighter Anniversary Collection celebrates 15 years of Street Fighter supremacy. This compilation brings you the best of the best, featuring Hyper Street Fighter II – a blend of five Street Fighter II games in one – plus the arcade gem Street Fighter III: Third Strike. Hyper Street Fighter II combines Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II Champion Edition, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, and Street fighter II Turbo! The vast selection of characters allows for your most extreme Street Fighter dream matches in this mix and match free for all. Included in Gallery Mode is a library of all the various introductions, soundtracks, images, and character background from all of the Street Fighter II series
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £4.80 (Cash Converters)
Selection Of Game Boxes
I acquired these game boxes to make some of my loose games complete. The games are,
Days Gone (Steel Book)
Grand Theft Auto V – Playstation 3
Grand Theft Auto V – Microsoft Xbox One
Dead Island: Riptide – Microsoft Xbox 360
Streets Of Rage Poster
Price Paid – £3.99 (Cash Converters)
Nintendo Game Boy Player
The Game Boy Player is a GameCube peripheral developed by Nintendo which enables it to play Game Boy, Game Boy Colour, and Game Boy Advance cartridges, allowing those games to be played on a television.
It connects via the high speed parallel port at the bottom of the GameCube and requires use of a boot disc to access the hardware. Rather than emulating a Game Boy system, the Game Boy Player uses physical hardware nearly identical to that of a Game Boy Advance. The device does not use the enhanced effects used by the Super Game Boy (a similar peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System).
All Game Boy Players have screws on the bottom to secure it to the bottom of the GameCube and also have an eject button on the right side of the unit for removing Game Boy Advance games. Game Boy and Game Boy Colour games stick out from the unit, as with the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP, so they can easily be taken out when the system is off or “Change Cartridge” has been selected from the menu.
Unlike some GameCube accessories, including the Advance Game Port, Game Boy Player is not compatible with the Wii directly. The Wii lacks the hi-speed port of the GameCube into which the Game Boy Player fits; in addition, the Game Boy Player matches the GameCube’s footprint. The Wii has a substantially different footprint, making direct compatibility too complicated to be included.
The Game Boy Player is region free, meaning the units will function on any GameCube system regardless of region. However, the boot discs are region locked and must match the region of the GameCube system.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £129.99 (Cash Converters Online)
Tiger Electronics Game.Com Pocket Pro Handheld Console
For more info please see page here
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £120 (Ebay)
Fighters Megamix – Tiger Game.Com
Fighters Megamix for the Game.com is a video game crossover of various 3D arcade blockbusters by Sega, including the cast of Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers. One good thing about mixing two games into one is that the game would include more selectable characters. Not only are there the 22 characters from Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers but there are also 10 other hidden characters that can be unlocked by playing well in the Saturn version, including two from the arcade-only Sonic the Fighters. There are only 4 characters from Virtua Fighter 2 and 4 from Fighting Vipers in the Game.Com version. It is one of two fighting games for the Game.com.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £0 (Came With Console)
Resident Evil 2 – Tiger Game.Com
The Game.Com edition of Resident Evil 2 follows much the same structure and story of its console counterpart. This version has the player control Leon by positioning him in the direction he needs to go and by having him move forward whilst engaging zombies. Leon can only be moved over three horizontal planes as in a 2D game with a side view, but with a pseudo 3D effect. Each non-scrolling location holds different zombies and once they are dead Leon moves to a new screen. He has access to an inventory to cycle between weapons. There is support for options such as touchscreen inventory menus, in addition to the game keeping track of the time the player has spent with the game.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £0 (Came With Console)
Nokia N-Gage Handheld Console
For more info please see page here
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £100 (Cash Converters Online)
Pandemonium – Nokia N-Gage
The young sorceress Nikki, the court jester Fargus, and his side-kick Sid the puppet are the three main protagonists of this 3D platform game. While attending a “Wizards in Training” seminar, Nikki accidentally casts a powerful magic spell, which results in a giant monsters swallowing the whole village. The three friends must now travel to a place called “Wishing Engine”, and be granted a wish to revert the world back to normal.
The characters each have a special movement to kill enemies with. The game uses floating camera angles through a vast Prince of Persia-style world. The goal of the game is to clear the various levels, avoiding spikes and enemies and collecting coins for extra lives.
Unlike most 3D platformers, Pandemonium offers only two-dimensional movement, rather than complete freedom of movement. The characters move along a curving 2D course within a 3D environment.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £9.99 (Cash Converters Online)
Red Faction – Nokia N-Gage
As Parker, a miner working in appalling conditions beneath the surface of Mars, you become caught up in a rebellion triggered by inhuman working conditions and a deadly plague. During the course of 12 levels, set across land, sea and air environments, you fight overwhelming odds in your quest to free Mars from the evil Ultor’s grip.
The first 3D first-person shoot-em-up for the Nokia N-Gage’ game deck, Red Faction was developed by Monkeystone Software, run by Doom and Quake legend John Romero.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £9.99 (Cash Converters Online)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater – Nokia N-Gage
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is a skateboarding simulation in which you control a famous skate star around 3D environments. Each game area contains a plethora of objects like ramps, rails, and half-pipes which can be used to perform tricks. Each trick you perform earns you more points for your score.
The game is divided into two types of levels. In the first, you skate around locations like a mall, a city street, or a warehouse. In each of these areas, there are 5 goals to complete. Some goals involve obtaining a high score, others smashing objects, and some collecting objects. For every goal you complete, you earn a video tape. By collecting enough video tapes, you unlock levels and skateboards for you to use. There are 6 levels like this. The second type of level is a competition. You get to make 3 timed runs through a skate park, and attempt to get the highest score possible. If you do well enough, you will beat the scores of the computer controlled skaters and win a medal. There are 3 levels like this.
There are nine real life pro skaters you can choose to play as, including Tony Hawk himself. Each skater has their own signature moves that earn you big points if pulled off successfully.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £9.99 (Cash Converters Online)
Tomb Raider – Nokia N-Gage
Lara Croft is a Tomb Raider, an archaeologist who explores ancient sites in search of valuable artifacts, who is hired to retrieve an artifact from a tomb in Peru, which turns out to be one of three parts of the Atlantean Scion. Soon betrayed by her employer, Lara Croft travels to Greece, Rome and Egypt to recover the other parts before this powerful device falls into the wrong hands.
Tomb Raider is a 3D action game with platforming and puzzle-solving elements, in which players control Lara Croft from a third-person perspective. The camera follows Lara as she climbs, jumps, and swims through detailed environs overcoming environmental obstacles and deadly fauna. Moving through levels often involves finding spots where Lara can climb, looking for spots where Lara can use her acrobatic ability, and sliding blocks and pushing levers to solve puzzles and open passageways.
Lara is armed with twin pistols with infinite ammunition, but she can pick up higher caliber weapons to take on deadlier human opponents. Lara also comes across restorative health packs and has a compass with which she can orient herself. Lara’s opponents include animals, gunmen, as well as primeval and supernatural beings. Careful explorers can also find secret areas and avoid traps.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £9.99 (Cash Converters Online)
Sonic N – Nokia N-Gage
SonicN is a port of Sonic Advance for the Nokia N-Gage handheld gaming mobile. The port was released in October 2003 in the United States, Europe and Australia as one of the handheld mobile launch titles.
Choose from Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, or Amy and take them through level after level of fast gameplay and ring collecting, dodging enemies in your path towards the final showdown with Dr Robotnik (aka Dr Eggman). Collect Chaos Emeralds along the way to transform into Super Sonic for added speed.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £19.99 (Cash Converters Online)
Asphalt: Urban GT – Nokia N-Gage
Race through modern city streets in licensed model automobiles in this high-tech racing game that can be played solo or against other competitors. Up to 4 players can race against each other in a selection of wireless multiplayer modes.
Speed through the metropolitan streets of New York City, Miami, Las Vegas, Paris and Tokyo. Or choose the palm lined streets on the island of Cuba, the airstrip at the Bagota Airport, the sandy terrain of Chernobyl in the Ukraine, or an unnamed USA Speedway.
Pick your car from numerous models: Aston Martin, Shelby Cobra Concept, Chevrolet Corvette, Ford GT, Hummer, Jaguar, Lotus Exige, several Lamborghinis and Volkswagen Beetle and more. Then choose how much to tweak it. Over 30 specs on your car can be fine-tuned for performance or just for looks.
Various screen views (aka “camera modes”) are possible besides full screen mode. The split screen mode has the full-color race action at the top, while the bottom shows the track map, your progress and other stats.
Rating – Boxed Inc Manual and Game (Missing N-Gage Info Sheet)
Price Paid – £9.99 (Cash Converters Online)
Crash Nitro Kart – Nokia N-Gage
Crash Nitro Kart is based on the console game of the same name. It features the same characters/teams and story as the console game, and has the same adventure mode as the console game. Tracks have the same names as their console counterparts but have been drastically redesigned to work on the portable screens. The game utilises 2D sprites as opposed to the console game’s 3D models, and also lacks the FMVs featured in the console game.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £19.99 (Cash Converters Online)
MotoGP Nokia N-Gage
MotoGP is a motorcycle racing game, based on PC and console series by THQ and international championship of the same name. There are several licensed real world teams with fifteen different riders and several motorcycles to choose from. Some are not available from the beginning and have to be unlocked by completing courses. There are totally seven of them, advertised as based on real circuits around the world.
Included game modes are Grand Prix, time trials, single races and, exclusively for N-Gage wireless multiplayer for up to four players using Bluetooth connection. Unlike earlier MotoGP for GBA, this one runs in full 3D, including both environment and bikes. The lap records could’ve been uploaded to the N-Gage Arena service and shared online.
Another unique feature to this particular version is a simple track editor, where you can construct new racing stages from scratch, using top-down view and various turns. Those custom tracks could be later accessed in the single race mode.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £9.99 (Cash Converters Online)
Sony Playstation 5 Console
For more info please see page here
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £558.96 (Came With Spider-Man Game and Extra Controller, Very.com)
Marvel Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Sony Playstation 5
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the follow up to 2018’s superhero game from Insomniac Games. In a much shorter story, players taken on the role of the newest Spider-Man on the block, Miles Morales, as he struggles to come into his own while defending his neighbourhood from threats.
The game builds on the same type of gameplay as the original game, offering a large open world that can be explored at a fast pace by running on buildings and swinging with web shots. Most of the Manhattan map is still identical to the one of the original game, as the game is more of a smaller contained follow-up than a full-blown sequel. It now has a different theme however as it is set around Christmas time. Various types of quests and missions are offered with a mix of fights against groups of characters or relying on a more stealth based approach.
Rating – Sealed
Price Paid – £0 (Came With Console, Very.com)