Another Arkanoid 2 Controller

Yup, more Famicom stuff I bought. Today: Arkanoid II complete in box.

This was another Omocha Souko find. This wasn`t in the junk section, in fact it wasn`t even in the Omocha Souko I usually go to. This was in the other one way out in the east of town, which I only get to once every 3 or 4 months at best.

They were having a 50% off sale and this was usually 1200 yen, but marked down to 600 (about 8$), which I thought was too good to pass up.

Arkanoid II is a really good game to get boxed because when you open the box it has this:
The Vaus Arkanoid controller!

There are actually two versions of the Famicom Arkanoid controller. Way back in 2009 the subject of the second post I ever put up on this blog was about the other version of this controller, which is shaped a bit differently and blue.

I was never satisfied with that one though because it has this glitch in it that prevents you from moving the Vaus all the way to the right of the screen, making it effectively useless. So I was pretty happy to find this one complete with the box and everything for such a cheap price.
This controller is, incidentally, something that you really do need to play Arkanoid or Arkanoid II properly on the Famicom. You can play both games with the standard Famicom controller, but the problem is that you don`t get any differential speed on those. That means you can`t race over when the ball takes an unexpected bounce and you`ll find yourself constantly losing lives that could have been saved if you had the proper controller. Getting past about the third level is very difficult when Arkanoid is played that way.

Well, it is actually difficult to get past level three using this controller too, I haven`t quite gotten used to it yet. I still like it quite a bit.

Another thing I discovered with this purchase which will only be of interest to people who fervently collect Famicom games is that Taito seems to have released two versions of the Arkanoid II cart:
The one on the top is the Arkanoid II cart I`ve had for a while. The one on the bottom is the one I got with this boxed one. As you can see, they are different.

(light coughing heard in the distance, tumbleweed blows by)

Yeah, OK, not exactly an earth shattering discovery, but I still thought it was neat. I`ve seen lots of copies of the top version of the cart, but this is the first I`ve seen of the bottom version.

Related Posts
-Arkanoid Vaus Controller-Fukuoka Famicom Shops VII: the Other Omocha Souko

The Vaus Arkanoid II Controller

I was at a recycled goods shop the other day when I found an Arkanoid II controller for the Famicom in a junk pile where everything was 100 yen. I wasn't sure if it was still functioning but it looked pretty clean so I figured I'd take a chance. Its only 100 yen after all.

Turns out it does work. It is a pretty simple device, the green button on top is an all-purpose "start" button and the knob on the bottom is a steering device (the other button-looking thing next to the knob serves no purpose that I can devine).

I've been a huge fan of Arkanoid since I was a kid and my dad got me a copy of it for our Apple IIC. This controller takes some getting used to but it allows you to move Vaus at differential speeds, which the regular Famicom controllers do not. Thus far I haven't been able to get past level 3 on Arkanoid using it, but maybe with some practice....
The controller actually works on these 3 games, all of which are quite fun to play:

I understand that they also released a red and black controller to go with the first Arkanoid, though I don't know if it is any different from mine other than the colors. Damn good purchase for 100 yen.