For those that don't know I collect SNES games. Or I did. The problem is I've collected almost all the ones I'm interested in so I later gave Genesis collecting a go (not so interesting) and recently took up NES collecting (very interesting). However there were a few rare games that I had not yet obtained a copy of.
My general sort of rule is that I have to find these things out "in the wild" at a flea market or used game store. eBay is kind of like cheating. The thrill of the find is a big part of the experience. A store I typically frequent is a video store called Willow Video. Lately I have been popping by once or twice a week to check out NES games. I still check out the SNES section, of course, for the odd title I still need.
On Friday they had Mega Max X3! This is a pretty damn rare SNES game so I was overjoyed. The clerk behind the display case asked what I wanted and I replied like this:
"I'll take Mega Man X3, it's in this row and.... HOLY ****! And Mega Man X2! I'll take that one, too!"
I had completely failed to notice that X2 was also there right below X3. X2's cover art doesn't stand out as much as X3's so I kind of glazed over it probably assuming it was X1 (which I've had since I was a kid). And yes I did say "holy ****" to the clerk. Usually I am more polite but I could not help myself.
These two games have been at the top of my want list since I started. I was especially excited because I was going to my parents and was going to have dinner with my brothers. I had once, about ten years ago when I first started collecting, seen X2 at this store and ignored it, not quite understanding how rare it was and my youngest brother, Eric, in particular had been on my ass for years because of it.
I decided to surprise him by hiding each game in a pocket of my coat. So I go in the house and start talking with him and mention "oh, want to see what I found at Willow Video today?" and I show him X2 and he is just thrilled. So he pops it in the SNES and starts playing it. Meanwhile our other brother phones to tell him he'll be a bit late. Eric tells him "hey Ian found Mega Man X2 today! Isn't that awesome!" At this point I have not revealed X3 so I thought that was pretty funny as it allowed me to surprise my other brother as well without even trying. So I wait until Eric has finished the intro level and then just subtly reach in my pocket and hold X3 in front of his face. He was blown away! That's what really made it exciting. Not just that I found some games I wanted for a while but that moment of surprising my brother.
So that leaves Chrono Trigger, R-Type III and Harvest Moon as the remaining missing pieces for my SNES collection.
Topic: SNES collection - big find (Read 5183 times)
