The head of our department asked us to look over our July Signature Sale and write about three or four games we’d love to add to our personal collections. As you might imagine, it was tough to boil down our choices to fewer than a handful of titles, but we did just that. In addition to working with video games, we’re avid gamers and collectors as well, and we love a good trophy piece as much as the next video game fan.
What games in this auction would you like to own? Let us know in the comments!
Brett Weiss’ Picks
Q*bert’s Qubes
Back in the early ‘80s, I was a huge fan of the original Q*bert arcade game, playing it at my local Putt-Putt Fun Center for many hours. I enjoyed the home ports as well. Unfortunately, I never even saw Q*bert’s Qubes in the arcade as the sequel to the coin-op classic was a rarity. The Atari 2600 version was obscure and elusive as well, despite being published by Parker Brothers. I’d love to finally add this beauty to my collection.
Video Life
While I’ll probably never achieve a complete set, I’m always looking to fill holes in my Atari 2600 collection. I’ve got well over 200 games for the console, but Video Life is not one of them. In fact, very few collectors can stake claim to a copy because fewer than 20 were created. The game was only available via mail order to owners of CommaVid’s MagicCard programming tool, which I had never even heard of back in the day.
Justice League Task Force
I own a CIB copy of Justice League Task Force for the Genesis. It’s a fun fighting game in the style of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II. I’d like to snag the similar Super Nintendo version as well since I’m such a big fan of the IP. I grew up watching the Super Friends on television and later reading the classic Justice League comic books and am still heavily into Batman, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, and the gang. The near-mint copy of Task Force we’re offering is ideal for display and would look fantastic on the shelves with my graphic novel collection.
Evan Masingill’s Picks
Ristar
The Genesis is my favorite game console, and titles like Ristar are the reason why. I was thrilled to find a loose copy at Retropalooza 2013, and it immediately impressed me with its colorful graphics, great music, and innovative gameplay. The character design of Ristar definitely shares similarities with Sonic, but the game has a unique identity.
Gradius
If you’re into shoot-’em-ups like I am, then you’re definitely familiar with Gradius. It’ll frustrate some because of its difficulty, but once you find a good weapon loadout and memorize the enemy patterns, you’ll be looping the game in no time. I adore this game, and we rarely see sealed copies, so this one piqued my interest.
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger is unquestionably a masterpiece, and it’s my favorite game and soundtrack! Whenever I hear its music, it immediately takes me back to the summer when I found a loose copy at my local thrift store. The game was so captivating on my first playthrough that I couldn’t put it down! I’d love to own a complete copy one day.
Cierra Caballero’s Picks
Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Adorable mascot with a sailor’s mouth, I’m disappointed that I never got to play this rebellious game! Then again, I was probably too young at the time… Now that I’m an adult with my own Jungle Green N64, adding this raunchy rascal’s game to my collection would sure make it a Good Fur Day! I’ve heard rumors of Conker using a katana, and that’s just bonkers that a game of this stature isn’t in my collection!
Tekken
I have fought my way through the Tekken universe at the local arcades, but despite being a fighting game fanatic, I never owned the original Tekken! To add this rare and quite tactical-esque longbox would bring my fighting game collection to new heights. But, with only two of this variant on the Wata pop report, there won’t be much of a cliffhanger to the question of if I’ll ever own it.
Mario’s Early Years: Preschool Fun
What better way to learn spelling and numbers than to wake Luigi up to show him how smart you are!? I’ve always had a penchant for point-and-click games, and to add one that stars my favorite Bros. to my collection would be F.U.N! If only Time World could take me back in time because now the game is the opposite of common! There are only three on Wata’s pop report, and if my math is right, that’s not enough for you or me.
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
I am a tried-and-true Sega Genesis Kid! However, the fact that I had “zero” experience playing this game is just nuts! The idea of a Squirrel with ninja stars has me sold. Most of my Sega Genesis collection comprises platformers and fighting games such as Ristar and Street Fighter II, so this rare game would fit nicely on my shelf; thankfully, my shelf was not built by Zero’s enemy lumberjack Jacques Le Sheets.
