Joe and Mac 2

I picked up a complete copy of Joe and Mac 2 for the SNES about a week ago.  It's complete in box.

This is somewhat of a rare game, and the value is really starting to climb, so I decided to get it now before the price gets any crazier.

I had played the original Joe and Mac as a kid, and I really enjoyed the two-player mode, so I decided to pick my own copy last year.  I felt that I might as well get the sequel too while I was at it (it also has a two-player mode).

Return of the Motion Controlled Racer

The Joy-Con Wheels were finally released today to coincide with the release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.  I didn't get Mario Kart (not going to either until Mario Kart 9 eventually releases), but I did get myself a pack of the official wheels.

I'll be using these for FAST RMX and any other racing games I pick up.  I used Wii Wheels for the Wii and Wii U, so it's good to be back in true form.

Now let's just hope that the motion controlled FPS genre returns as well.

Super Double Dragon - High Quality Poster Scan

I recently found out that Office Depot could scan large posters, so I had them scan my giant, incredibly rare Super Double Dragon poster.

This is my gift to the internet.  Enjoy.

Nanostray and Mario Paint

I finally bought a new DS game after several years.  I had thought about getting Nanostray for a few years now because I'm into vertical-scrolling shooters, but it wasn't a priority compared to the older retro games I wanted to buy.  Now that I have most of the retro games I want, I went and purchased a new copy of Nanostray for a decent price.  I look forward to playing this one.

In addition, after I purchased my replacement SNES system box, I decided to replace my Player's Choice version of Mario Paint as well.  Not only was my Player's Choice box beaten up, but it was covered in tape that couldn't be removed without damaging the box itself.  I decided to replace it with an original release version of the game.  I found a decent copy on eBay for a good price.

Gifts

My mother gave me a fishing game for the Wii for my recent birthday, which was really nice.  I haven't played a fishing game since Bass Hunter 64 on the Nintendo 64.  I used to be really into these games during the SNES era (I played Super Black Bass and owned Bass Masters Classic), but my interest in the fishing genre faded during the N64 era.  It should be really fun playing this game with the motion controls.

Also, Keet sent an amiibo triple pack as a belated Christmas gift, but due to the timing, it feels more like a birthday gift.  Thanks Keet!

Super Nintendo System Box

Some time last year I discovered that I had the wrong type of system box for my SNES.  You see, I managed to keep all of my system boxes from my childhood, except for one: the SNES.  For some reason my family threw the box out right after we opened our SNES.  Since I received my SNES for Christmas of 1992, I thought maybe I had received the launch version, so I picked up a launch version box off eBay a few years ago to make my box collection complete.  I thought I had the right box when I bought that one:

Well, it turned out I was wrong.  By late 1992 Nintendo had revised the system box for the SNES.  It was now labeled the "Super Set" and it included a triangular-shaped label in the top right corner letting you know that it came with Super Mario World.

After months and months of searching, I recently found a pristine SNES box on eBay that matched my requirements.  Here it is in all its glory:

Now, at this point you might be wondering how I discovered which type of box I needed.  Did I manage to do a ton of research on retro forums?  Am I some sort of living Nintendo encyclopedia?  Well, it's neither of those.

I went digging through some old family pictures and found this photo from Christmas of 1992:

That right there answered everything.

Wario's Woods

There are tons of sealed copies of Wario's Woods floating around eBay, so I went and got myself one.  I guess stores had a ton of unsold stock that eventually made its way to the secondhand market.  As I recall, this was the last game released for the NES, all the way in 1994.  I look forward to trying this game out.  It's the last major puzzle game I was missing on the NES.