This week I scratched another game off my Famicom want list - Takahashi Meijin's Adventure Island 4!
It was released 24 years ago this month (June 24, 1994) which gives it a distinguished place in history as the last game ever released for the Famicom. This also makes it one of the hardest to find since it simultaneously falls into several categories that make it a high-demand item:
1. Late release with very limited sales/production making it a rarity
2. Game featuring a popular character
3. Game never released outside of Japan
4. Game generally well regarded as a game
I have wanted a copy of this since the earliest days of my collection. Its every Famicom collector's white whale since the existence of the other Adventure Island games (all of which are much easier to find and cheaper) in your collection constantly remind you of its absence. Its something about the numbering that plays on whatever elements of an obsessive compulsive personality lurk in your psyche - 1, 2,3.....where is 4? Its an itch I need to scratch!!!
So I am relieved to have this in the collection now, though once again I find myself regretting not having purchased it a few years ago when I had the chance. I distinctly remember holding my finger above a Yahoo Auctions BIN button for a nice loose copy at a price of 8200 Yen about five years ago and for whatever reason (hubris? arrogance? sheer stupidity?) holding fire in the mistaken belief that a cheaper one would magically appear. I paid just under 14,000 Yen for this one and counted myself lucky.
Very nice, glad to see you back at this Sean! Your quest and this blog were the inspiration for me to go for a Famicom full set. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot, how is the collection going?
DeleteVery cool. I didn't think they made games that late. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yup, it lasted for 11 years here from first release to last!
DeleteSeeing as I'm a new reader, not sure if this is something you do, but do you ever post gameplay? I'd be interested to see it.
ReplyDeleteOf course I could "Google" it, but just wondering if this is something you do.
Thanks, no I don't post game play (its complicated but I just don't have the time these days!)
DeleteAll good! I'll look it up.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHi Sean!! I also got this Takahashi Meijin 4 loose cartridge from Tokyo's Mandarake shop on last year's summertime. I grabbed it at 12000 Yen;-) I read your blog for more than a year but never comment yet. Your blog is truly knowledgable and inspirational to any famicom collectors worldwide. I just satrted collecting around 3 and half years ago and had 660 loose cartridges at this moment.(still far behind your collection) Cheers from Thailand!!
ReplyDeleteGreat, you got a good deal on it! 660 carts is very impressive after 3 and a half years!!
DeleteWow, believe it or not, I picked up Adv Island 4 loose from eBay, from a seller in Japan, for $85USD (9,500 JPY) 2 months ago. You might want to keep an eye on US eBay and sellers like Japan_4_U and yamatoku-classic* as you may be able to score a better deal than your usual Japanese outlets.
ReplyDelete* Yeah, that in italics seller. The one notorious for shill bidding his auctions. I don't know if it was a mistake but he's the one who sold me Adv Island 4 at that price. And then a month later, I got Moon Crystal for $95USD (10,620 JPY) from him. And both are real - not bootlegs. I'm hoping he coughs up a cheap Bio Miracle Upa cart, Recca or Gimmick soon...
Man, I can't believe how much the market has changed in the past few years. At the height of my collecting days (around 2010-2012) you could just take it for granted that any game you bought on Yahoo Auctions Japan or in most stores here was a steal compared to what it would go for on Ebay.
DeleteNow I'm actually hearing that Ebay has better bargains on FC stuff than Yahoo Auctions! Insane.