In the nominations thread, many of you recounted your experiences at Goodwill, and pointed out the great bargains you picked up, both through the online store and in brick and mortar stores. Of course, Goodwill isn't a game retailer, so not everything there is—or is even promised to be—in working order, or even checked to make sure they work, so you have to be careful.
That bargain at your local goodwill, or the N64 you see on the website may be at a great price, but you should be ready for it to not work, or require a little coaxing first. They're worth checking out. Read more in its nomination thread here. Their prices are more than competitive, especially in the face of huge used game retailers you may already have in your neighborhood, and they're well-loved in the community for offering great prices to buyers and cash or credit to people with old games or consoles to trade in.
They'll even reimburse your shipping for your trade-in. If you're local to their Virginia store, they throw open the back room every weekend for tournaments, events, and a convention-style person-to-person showroom where you can find all sorts of gems, direct from other collectors and video game fans. Those of you who nominated eStarland called out those latter points specifically in its nomination thread, and it's worth noting that if you do live in the area, you can pick up online orders at the brick and mortar store as well.
They host special events, and even if you're across the world, you can still take part in the bargains available in their online store or trade in your items. The company has a customer service and sales team that works with customers all over the globe. The nomination thread also noted that if you're a fan of video game collectibles, anime, artbooks, and other merchandise, eStarland has that in droves as well.
JJGames specializes largely in retro gaming and retro consoles, so expect to find tons of used NES and SNES consoles, or even a new Gamecube to play all those old games you just dusted off the shelf. Just because they deal in the classics doesn't mean that they don't pay attention to recent games—although you won't see current gen hardware like the PS4 or the Xbox One for sale—their listings stop with the PS3 and the Xbox JJGames offers free shipping on all orders in the United States, and incredible—seriously, incredible discounts on classic titles you may not have thought you could find elsewhere except perhaps out of someone's basement on eBay.
Plus, for each of their consoles, they have a library of games available to sell and ship within a business day or so. The company has been a labor of love since , is a small business with a handful of dedicated employees, and it's been chugging along, making both classic and modern game fans happy ever since. In its nomination thread, you highlighted the fact that JJGames specializes in retro consoles and games—and it only takes one look at the front page to see why. Still, we'll go out on a limb and note that their new stuff is modestly priced as well, and you should check it out if you're looking for a decent deal on a replacement console or some older titles.
Amazon is kind of an obvious contender here,. Their interface may not be the easiest when it comes to looking specifically for used games and consoles, but they do have them for sale from individual sellers and Amazon Merchants who are more than happy to offer great discounts over the same products new. DKoldies also has a ton of refurbished retro consoles.
It also has a convenient day return policy if anything goes wrong or if you just hate the game. It has a wide collection of used consoles, accessories, and even game guides. Each game comes with a description, as well as details on its condition. However, eStarland is also home to rare ones as well. Like most other shops on this list, the game always comes with a description of its quality. Related: The best TurboGrafx games.
The seller can leave little to no description of the item, and you might not get what you expected. Buying from one of the above reputable retro game stores ensures that your game will run perfectly. The simplified graphics and amazing music are only a couple of the reasons why I prefer retro games over new ones.
As opposed to most action titles filled with repetitive action with very little motivation to keep you going, Ninja Gaiden keeps you going with its deep story and amazing cutscenes.
Ninja Gaiden is a timeless example of what is possible with the limited resources of an 8-bit system if given the proper artistic direction. The NES sequels to this classic are even still quite affordable if you up for even more intense 8-bit challenges. For those interested, the Nintendo Wii also has a wonderful sequel that expanded on the concepts of the NES games and was, in my opinion, one of the coolest games in the Wii library.
It also served as a reminder how cool and charming this game concept was. The game felt very much like a natural extension of The Legend of Zelda and Dragon Warrior, but has more of a contemporary feel than the typical fantasy-style adventure games.
Star Tropics is much more linear than Legend of Zelda, but it has creative level design and a charming but sometimes odd storyline that keeps you entertained. There is a lot more dependency on solving puzzles and defeating enemies to progress and the difficulty level does ramp up more than many of its peers. Gaming Historian also had a great video about the game as well. If you are remotely familiar with 2D shmups, you are probably familiar with Gradius. The NES version actually help up relatively well to the arcade version.
Side-scrolling shooters were just starting to mature in the 8-bit era and Zanac on the NES is one of the best examples of more complex shooting gameplay in the dawn of console gaming. Developed by shmup powerhouse, Compile, Zanac eschews the usual wave-after-wave of enemy patterns. Instead, Zanac has an artificial intelligence that throws different kinds of enemies at you, depending on what weapon you are using. The game starts out similar to a traditional vertical shooter, but after a boss battle, you transition to a exploration of labyrinths.
Within these labyrinths, you have objectives to complete, weapons upgrades to find which can be used in both modes of the game , and must also find portals that take you to different parts of the planet.
Those portals transition you to more shmup-style sections to blast though while traveling to different sections of the world. For those of you not familiar with the series, the objective is to clear out all the enemies on a stage. At its core, the game is pretty simple and is a great game for kids to get started on, but like any great arcade title, the difficulty and fun ramps up as you progress to more complex levels. Here is another gem of a platformer from Capcom.
This sidescroller focuses on puzzle-solving and collecting a certain number of keys in a level to proceed. As you progress, you also get to obtain different powers from the animals you encounter — many of which are necessary for you to succeed in the game.
If this sounds like your type of game, you should jump on this value. Excitebike is a perfect example of a simplistic game that actually requires some skill and strategy to really excel. It remains one of the few 8-bit racers to still be especially relevant today.
Excitebike was a launch title for the NES and can feel limited, but games like this can really thrive on restrictions for those that enjoy quick pick-up-and-play games. Surprisingly, the its early release, there is a level designer that ads quite a bit of depth for those that are into it and makes for a good experience with friends. Speaking of relevant 8-bit racers, RC Pro-Am would definately fall into that category as well.
The animation is also quite impressive for the era. But this actually feels more authentic for controlling real RC cars. As you accumulate more power-ups and master utilizing in-track speed boosters, RC Pro-Am can become quite an addicting, adrenaline-pumping experience as you try to edge out the competition. Granted, this is far from the ideal port of the arcade classic, but for some, there are a number of cool aspects about having the NES port.
Some may have spent a handful of their younger years with this cart, but it is also cool to see arcade games shrunk down effectively to lesser hardware. The game itself itself is such an iconic experience especially for those that enjoy the TMNT franchise and should be a strong recommendation for those that enjoy beat ups.
If you throw away any preconceived notions of the title, you will find that this little gem is quite a decent fighting platformer that offers a entertaining and inexpensive alternative to the likes of Battletoads, Double Dragon, or Final Fight. If you enjoy action platformers like Mega Man and Bionic Commando, you might actually feel at home here. Street Fighter will also feed your desire for great boss battles instead of lots of filler. It is quite challenging though, so consider yourself warned.
Not that all those are getting a bit more pricey, Adventures of Lolo is one of the really good puzzlers that are still cheap. Lolo is a charming adventure of solving room puzzles to progress through a castle. Prepare yourself for lots of creepy pulsating walls, horizontally- and vertically-scrolling stages, and a stiff challenge that would do the original designers if not their lawyers proud. The arcade version of Double Dragon was one of the leading examples of the beatemup genre that became such a mainstay in the 2D gaming world and Double Dragon remains a timeless classic.
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