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Used Game Stores, Sega Saturns, and other things


EC2151
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Used game/movie/music stores can be pretty neat places to browse, you know?

Whether it be a local Music Recyclery, a Play n' Trade, or a McVan's or what-have-you, you are usually capable of finding some cool stuff for relatively cheap in one of these places.

One of these used game stores is a place I've been into a few times called Disc Jockey or something like that. A lot of meh used movies, some Ok CDs here and there, and an ok collection of used games (GB, NES, N64, Genesis, and the like). Most of it is trash, like the myriad Wrestling games for the N64, and football games, God the football games.

But some of the coolest things they have on sale are old game consoles, for relatively cheap.

They have Sega Dreamcasts on sale there, including the cords and 1 controller, for 30 bucks, which in my view is not too shabby.

However, what they also got which piqued my interest is a Sega Saturn, cords, and controller for 50 bucks. They got two of them on sale, and subsequent controllers are 5 bucks a pop. Which in my estimation, is not too bad a deal.

I looked through their Saturn games, and they got some good ones for pretty cheap, like Panzer Dragoon Zwei and Darius Gaiden. And doing a little research, I find that a lot of good Saturn games can be found relatively cheap through a variety of venues.

So I'm asking any of you old Segites out there (for we know that of all the console fanboys that existed, Segites are the most eager to expound about the greatness of their systems) that might have had a Saturn:

1) think it's worth the purchase? Saturn games are honestly a bitch to emulate, and if you can find the good stuff for 20 bucks, it's honestly not that bad a deal

2) I've made a preliminary list of Sega Saturn games worth having, so if I were to go through with this purchase, i'd try to acquire some of these games. I am usually more of a single-player guy, so that's what I try to focus on. Some of these are exceedingly rare and expensive (Magic Knight Rayearth anyone?), so those I only hope to one day stumble upon in a podunk flea market somewhere. Anyhoo, this is my list:

Darius Gaiden

Panzer Dragoon / Zwei

Clockwork Knight 1&2

Dragon Force

Mega Man 8 and/or X4 (yeah they're on PS but I found them cheap)

Pandemonium (looks kinda fun)

Shining Force III

Snowball's chance in hell: Albert Odyssey or Magic Knight Rayearth

Street Fighter Alpha 2 (surprisingly cheap)

NiGHTS into Dreams

Silhouette Mirage

Anything worth adding? Like I said, some of those are exceedingly rare (like Dragon Force, Shining Force III, and the damned Working Designs RPGs. Don't even get me started on Panzer Dragoon Saga!).

Basically, I kinda want to expand my gaming palette (with relatively little expenses paid), being a Nintendo kid my whole life (except going to my best-friend's house as a kid to play his Genesis and him to mine to play the SNES), and want to get a move on some great games that never appeared anywhere else. I've heard from some of my friends who are very knowledgeable in games that the Saturn is a highly underrated and under-appreciated console. You think that's the case?

3) If you don't want to talk about my potential purchase of an old clunker, talk about any cool shit you've found in old used game stores. I just picked up Illusion of Gaia from a Play n' Trade about 20 minutes walking distance from my house, and can't wait for my older bro to bring the SNES back from his university so I can give it a whirl. I went into the Play n Trade looking for a copy of Mischief Makers, but alas, none to be found there. I was also looking for Terranigma, completely forgetting that it never came to the US. Durrr.

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Most of it is trash, like the myriad Wrestling games for the N64

YOU TAKE THAT BACK. WWF NO MERCY IS GOLD. The ECW and non-AKI-developed WCW games, however, are total garbage.

Anyway, I own a Sega Saturn, it's a real nice machine. Totally worth the money you're thinking of putting into it. My collection is very very small, however. Virtua Cop, Sonic 3D Blast, NBA Jam TE, Daytona USA CCE, and a handful of sports games. Get that Dreamcast, too.

I've got one of those used game stores a couple towns over from me called Video Game Xchange. They treat customers well there. I once bought a small stack of NES games like Startropics 1 and 2, Goonies 2, and Commando. The guy who owned the store threw in a standalone copy of Duck Hunt for free (he said it would "bad karma" for him to charge me money for it). On top of that, the guy opened every game, pulled out the ROMs, and scrubbed the contacts down, then tested them in an NES behind the counter before he rang them up. Good, good service.

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I've owned a Saturn for a good while (first one died, and on my second one now). I believe I'm one of the few people here who didn't own a Nintendo or Sony system growing up (Sega and Atari representin' yo!... or, something to that effect). But, I think the Saturn is certainly worth it, with games you won't find anywhere else. So here's a list of the games I've played that I think are worth it...

Amok (3D Action)

Assault Suit Leynos 2 (Action Platformer) *

Astal (Action Platformer)

Battle Garegga (Shmup) *

Blast Wind (Shmup) *

Christmas NiGHTS (3D Flying/Platformer)

Darius II (Shmup) *

Darius Gaiden (Shmup)

Daytona USA (Racing)

DonPachi (Shmup) *

DoDonPachi (Shmup) *

Dragon Force (Turn-Based Strategy RPG)

Dungeons and Dragons Collection (Hack 'N' Slash Compilation with Capcom's Tower of Doom and Shadow Over Mystara) *

Duke Nukem 3D (First Person Shooter)

Fighters Megamix (Fighting)

Galactic Attack (Shmup)

Galaxy Fight (Fighting)

Galaxy Force II (3D Shmup) *

Gradius Deluxe Pack (Shmup Compilation of Gradius and Gradius II) *

Guardian Heroes (Action)

Gun Griffon (3D Action)

Hyper Duel (Shmup) *

Kyukyoku Tiger II Plus (Shmup) *

Layer Section II (Shmup) *

The Legend of Oasis (Action RPG)

Mass Destruction (Shmup)

Marvel Superheroes vs Street Fighter (Fighting) *

Metal Black (Shmup) *

Metal Slug (Run 'N' Gun)*

Mystaria (Strategy RPG)

NiGHTS (3D Flying/Platformer)

Night Striker S (3D Shmup) *

Night Warriors (Fighting)

Panzer Dragoon (3D Shmup)

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (3D Shmup)

Panzer Dragoon Saga (RPG)

Powerslave (First Person Shooter)

Quake (First Person Shooter)

Radiant Silvergun (Shmup) *

Salamander Deluxe Pack (Shmup Compilation with Salamander, Salamander II and LifeForce) *

Samurai Shodown Best Collection (Fighting Compilation with Samurai Shodown III and Samurai Shodown IV) *

Sega Ages (Arcade Compilation with After Burner, Space Harrier and OutRun)

Sega Rally (Racing)

Sega Touring Car Championship (Racing)

Shining Force III (Turn-Based Strategy RPG)

Shining the Holy Ark (Dungeon Crawling RPG)

Shinobi Legions (Action Platformer)

Sokyugurentai (Shmup) *

Solar Eclipse (3D Shmup)

Sonic 3D Blast (Action)

Soviet Strike (Action)

Stellar Assault SS (3D Shmup) *

Strikers 1945 (Shmup) *

Thunder Force V (Shmup) *

Thunder Force Gold Pack 1 (Shmup Compilation with Thunder Force II and Thunder Force III) *

Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 (Shmup Compilation with Thunder Force AC and Thunder Force IV) *

Vampire Savior (Fighting) *

Virtua Fighter 2 (Fighting)

Willy Wombat (3D Isometric Platformer)*

X-Men vs Street Fighter (Fighting) *

*= Japanese import

To play a Japanese import, all you need is an Action Replay 4M Auto Plus cartridge (or something similar to it, like the Ultra Madness 4M Turbo Key). Just pop it in the cart slot on the Saturn and you're good to go. These will let you play imports, and play the Capcom and SNK games that use the 1MB or 4MB RAM expansion carts (the AR4MAP and UM4MTK have the 1MB and 4MB expansions built into them).

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An impressive list!

Thanks, I'll add some of those to my "look out for these" list.

I've heard that a genre that really excelled on the Saturn was the shmups, and that list certainly seems to indicate that!

I thought about getting an AR for the Saturn for some imports (like Silhouette Mirage, since i am a bit of a neophyte Treasure fan)...

I am glad to hear that the Action Replay also acts as a memory card of sorts- It wouldn't be that cool to buy both!

I'm really surprised you have a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga- I've looked everywhere and the cheapest that gets is like 200 bucks, usually.

@Murmelli:

Hey relax, I have that Wrestling game too :D

It's nice to get good customer service, too. The Play n' Trade guy I bought Illusion of gaia from was on the phone the entire time talking to some girl about another girl he knew, and to be honest, it was a little irritating.

Sometimes good customer service is that little extra piece that makes you come back to a store. Good to see you picked up a lot of cool NES games. I saw Mega Man 4 at the Play n Trade, but since I didn't have an NES anymore (and had played it several times on VNES.com/emus), I didn't feel the need to pick it up, despite loving 4 a whole bunch.

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An impressive list!

Thanks, I'll add some of those to my "look out for these" list.

I've heard that a genre that really excelled on the Saturn was the shmups, and that list certainly seems to indicate that!

It is. Even after the time that's passed, there are still exclusives and "best home versions" to it.

I thought about getting an AR for the Saturn for some imports (like Silhouette Mirage, since i am a bit of a neophyte Treasure fan)...

I am glad to hear that the Action Replay also acts as a memory card of sorts- It wouldn't be that cool to buy both!

Just be sure it's a 1MB/4MB compatible one (it'll say it on the cart/box usually). There are import carts that also have a boat load of extra game save memory to go with the 1MB/4MB expansion, which is handy too for when your Saturn's memory gets full. But you can buy a game save cart separately pretty cheap, so the main thing is the 1MB/4MB compatibility so you can get all kinds of great Japan-only Saturn ports that trounce versions on the PS1 (like Darkstalkers 3/Vampire Savior, the first two Street Fighter "vs" games, etc.).

I'm really surprised you have a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga- I've looked everywhere and the cheapest that gets is like 200 bucks, usually.

I got mine back when the game was released (been a Saturn owner that long), so it only cost me $49.99. Pre-ordered it at an EB.

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It is. Even after the time that's passed, there are still exclusives and "best home versions" to it.

Just be sure it's a 1MB/4MB compatible one (it'll say it on the cart/box usually). There are import carts that also have a boat load of extra game save memory to go with the 1MB/4MB expansion, which is handy too for when your Saturn's memory gets full. But you can buy a game save cart separately pretty cheap, so the main thing is the 1MB/4MB compatibility so you can get all kinds of great Japan-only Saturn ports that trounce versions on the PS1 (like Darkstalkers 3/Vampire Savior, the first two Street Fighter "vs" games, etc.).

I got mine back when the game was released (been a Saturn owner that long), so it only cost me $49.99. Pre-ordered it at an EB.

How'd you manage that price, Coop? I'd pre-ordered my PDS as well (from Software Ect...) and mine cost me 65 USD. To be fair it could have been S Ect... price gouging towards the end of the Saturn's life. Not complaining...its not like I paid 200 USD off of ebay, but I remember it being kind of rule of thumb that Saturn RPG games were priced comparable to SNES RPGs.

Sega's systems always seemed to suffer from the fact that mainstream audience always seems to tout the other system's libraries, but for those that bother to look, they find that Sega's systems had some true gems (and I'm not limiting that statement to Saturn).

By the way didn't notice this one mentioned, Mystara/Burning Heroes (SRPG). Its a bit clunky, but it was a pretty fun Shining Force style SRPG.

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Once some money transfers over into my paypal, I'm going to start amassing a small library.

Right now, I can purchase, not bid, on several good items that don't look like they're going anywhere, but I'm not holding my breath, at least not till Friday when the transfer happens.

But it's a pretty nice feeling to be able to snag a lot of good games cheap (like Mega Man 8 for 15 bucks, Bug! for 13, and Panzer Dragoon for 24).

And while I'm far from turning into a rabid Sega Fanboy (i love my SNES, N64, and GC too much for that to happen), didn't the Genesis technically sell more than the SNES during the 16-bit days? I say that because of the line "touting others' libraries" and all that. Though it is true that in the public's memory, the SNES had a lot more memorable titles, it might be the case that everyone in the 90s cared about BLAST PROCESSSSINGG

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How'd you manage that price, Coop? I'd pre-ordered my PDS as well (from Software Ect...) and mine cost me 65 USD. To be fair it could have been S Ect... price gouging towards the end of the Saturn's life. Not complaining...its not like I paid 200 USD off of ebay, but I remember it being kind of rule of thumb that Saturn RPG games were priced comparable to SNES RPGs.

Don't know. I preordered it months before its release, and was told $49.99. I paid half of it, and waited (impatiently) for it's release to pay the other half.

By the way didn't notice this one mentioned, Mystara/Burning Heroes (SRPG). Its a bit clunky, but it was a pretty fun Shining Force style SRPG.

Might wanna check my list again ;-)

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Don't know. I preordered it months before its release, and was told $49.99. I paid half of it, and waited (impatiently) for it's release to pay the other half.

Might wanna check my list again ;-)

Fair enough. I remember what they charged me because the sticker is still on the case, if you got it for 15 USD less, kudos. I did get my copy of Guardian Heroes from the same store for 15 USD.

My bad. Missed it in your wall'o'text. Still, worth commenting that it was also released under the name Blazing Heroes in North America.

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So, Sega Saturn was and is my favorite system. I still play it regularly (and have both a Japanese and American one, since that converter cartridge means I can't also use an extra RAM cart for Shining Force III).

Most of what I play is imports (hey that was half of my motivation for learning Japanese), and I'm rather RPG-heavy. Here is what I think is worth playing that I already have:

  • Lunar: Silver Star Story [RPG]*
  • Lunar: Eternal Blue [RPG]*
  • Magical School Lunar [RPG]*
  • Shining Force III, Episodes 1-3 [Tactical RPG]*
  • Dragon Force [Tactical RPG]
  • Dragon Force 2 [Tactical RPG]* (MAYBE - haven't played it yet)
  • Panzer Dragoon [shooter]
  • Panzer Dragoon 2 [shooter]*
  • Nights into Dreams [Action]
  • Magic Knight Rayearth [Action RPG]
  • Albert Odyssey [RPG] (at least for the music)
  • Grandia [RPG]*
  • Sakura Wars 1 [Tactical RPG/Menu-RPG]*
  • Sakura Wars 2 [Tactical RPG/Menu-RPG]*
  • Tokimeki Memorial [Dating Sim]* (YES I play dating sims)
  • Snatcher [Menu-RPG]*
  • Puyo Puyo 2uu [Puzzle]*

And my 'wish list' would probably add:

  • Panzer Dragoon Saga
  • Guardian Heroes
  • Silhouette Mirage

* = import, at least the version I have

I've always been a major fan of the Lunar series, so those games always go to the top of my list. Lunar: SSS and Lunar: EB are also available on the Playstation in English, and the original versions are on the Sega CD. Magical School Lunar isn't available in English, although I do have a walkthrough/translation guide up at LunarNET and GameFAQs (Google "Magical School Lunar walkthrough").

Shining Force III, Episodes 1-3, is something I picked up from Mad Gear a few years back. It's absolutely the best thing I've played on the Saturn (aside from the Lunar series) and by itself makes the entire system worth it (it's the sole reason I have a Japanese Saturn, since the cartridge made it impossible to carry your save to the next episode).

Dragon Force, Panzer Dragoon, and Nights are the kind of games that came stateside that really made the system worthwhile. Magic Knight Rayearth was great, but it was a real latecomer.

Albert Odyssey... okay RPG, absolutely incredible music.

I still haven't played a few of these, such as Dragon Force 2, Sakura Wars 2, and Grandia, and Panzer Dragon Saga since I don't even have that one.

Also, some games like Snatcher, Tokimeki Memorial, and Puyo Puyo 2, are really only fun if you like the genres that they're in. KF

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lol let's not bring up Sakura Wars. My bro and I had a very painful experience going through that 'game' on the Wii last summer.

oh God lol Sakura Wars.

And man I gotta say, I wish there was an english version of Grandia for the Saturn, but alas.

And Snatcher is a very over-looked game for the Sega CD. It has probably some of the best English voice-acting in gamedom.

This goes for another Sega CD game, Popful Mail.

I loooooooooooooooove Popful Mail's VAs.

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Even though it's been mentioned already, getting NiGHTS into Dreams is a must BUT try and get the analogue controller made specially for NiGHTS. It makes the game play soooo much more smoothly.

Also, Christmas NiGHTS may not have much in terms of levels (only 1) but the game was created to be a free gift to everybody who bought a Saturn back in 1997. They were literaly giving it away for free as a Christmas present. It comes with loads of extra goodies in there though.

I think if you can track down Burning Rangers then give that a look. That game doesn't get enough love, mainly because it was rare as hell when it came out. It's a rough little diamond in the Sonic Team collection.

Also, Saturn Bomberman is worth a looking in to. Bomberman games tend to be a hit or miss experience but the Saturn game was always praised VERY highly in reviews and it's got some solid fun old skool gameplay in there.

If you're in to the fighting game genre then you HAVE to look for a game called - Fighters Megamix.

Not only does it cross over characters from Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers but the unlockable characters are insane. You can unlock characters like Janet Marshel from Virtua Cop, japanese superhero RentaHero, Bean and Bark from the Sonic The Fighters arcade game and even the Daytona Hornet racing car can be unlocked as a fighter (yeh, you fight AS A CAR, lol). Fighters Megamix is like Nintendo's 'Smash Bros' series of fighting games only Fighters Megamix came out way before Nintendo's one did and handles more like a real arcade fighting game. It's got a whole heap of SEGA love in there and definitely worth looking for.

If you're into side-scrolling beat 'em ups like Streets of Rage/ Final Fight then look for a game called Guardian Heroes. It's a worthy title that sometimes gets overlooked as the side-scrolling beat 'em up genre was not too present in the Saturn catalogue.

Sorry for the walls of text, i was a Saturn owner back in the day so it wouldn't be right if i didn't give my thoughts to this topic.

Paramount game to get is NiGHTS into Dreams with that controller. NiGHTS was technically the mascot for the console so to have a Saturn without NiGHTS really would be like owning a Nintendo without Mario, lol.

tl:dr -

-NiGHTS into Dreams (with controller)

-Christmas NiGHTS

-Burning Rangers

-Saturn Bomberman

-Fighters Megamix

-Guardian Heroes

Have fun, as i'm sure you will :)

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It's a shame Saturn Bomberman is so darned expensive- I was looking at some videos and it looks really sweet.

Well, I spent about 90 bucks at this used shop, and I picked up

-A Saturn + cords + controller

-An extra regular controller

-Panzer Dragoon Zwei

-Virtua Racing

-Darius Gaiden (pretty much their whole selection of Sega Saturn games... the two other things didn't look that good).

This same store has a nice selection of Dreamcast games, like Soul Caliber and Daytona racing.

But that's what I got and am looking forward to purchasing some more come this weekend.

I'm kinda pissed because my sister shooed me into her car when there was twenty minutes left on my ebay bid of Mega Man 8 for the Saturn. I was so close to paying 13.00 for it... and some a-hole bid .50 cents higher than me and snagged. Fuck man. :x

Also, quick question:

2 controller ports seems like slim pickens. Is there a way to have more than that? I heard Saturn Bomberman allows up to 10 people at once, but I don't know what thing you'd need for that.

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It's a shame Saturn Bomberman is so darned expensive- I was looking at some videos and it looks really sweet.

Also, quick question:

2 controller ports seems like slim pickens. Is there a way to have more than that? I heard Saturn Bomberman allows up to 10 people at once, but I don't know what thing you'd need for that.

Yeh, Bomberman is definitely a good game. If you can find it going for cheaper anywhere then definitely scoop it up, it's one of the best Bombermans to be made.

Also, yeah you can get a Saturn multi-tap 6 player adapter. Here's one -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-SEGA-SATURN-Multitap-Multi-Tap-6-Player-Adapter-/370438002300?pt=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item563fd3567c

That's for the American region though, if you're from the UK like me then you'd need a PAL version.

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Man, finally playing it, I find out that I need a new battery for saving, since the one it came with is shot (it asks me to reset the clock every time i start it up, and it doesn't save anything, which is making playing Panzer Dragoon II a pain).

A new battery is cheap, but I kinda wish the action replay didn't cost 25 buckaroos.

And thanks for the link Digi.

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A new battery is cheap, but I kinda wish the action replay didn't cost 25 buckaroos.

Ah nuts, i knew there was something i forgot to mention.

Yes. Once the Saturn battery runs out you can kiss goodbye to all your internal saved files. Major design flaw back then.

Get yourself one of these - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OFFICIAL-SEGA-SATURN-BACKUP-MEMORY-BOXED-COMPLETE-/330517562742?pt=UK_VideoGames_VideoGameAccessories_VideoGameAccessories_JN&hash=item4cf461c576

Plugs in at the back of the console.

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Phew, I think I spent enough money (I put away roughly 120 dollars for building up my library with the intention of not going over).

This is what I managed:

Dragon Force

Shining the Holy Ark

Daytona Racing CCE

Street Fighter Alpha 2

Astal

Memory battery

Action Replay 4 in 1

My "to buy when I have more money" list looks something like:

Silhouette Mirage (JPN, the PS version I hear is fucked over in comparison)

Panzer Dragoon

Mystaria

NiGHTS into Dreams + Controller

Mega Man 8

Saturn Bomberman

Albert Odyssey

Those last two are super rare though, so I'm not holding my breath. Hell, Mega Man 8 is pretty darn expensive if you want the Saturn version (don't get me started about X4, but there's really no reason to get the Saturn version over the Playstation one).

The only thing is that these games go fucking fast online. I found a copy of Astal for 17 dollars complete, and I slept on it, thinking "well I'll buy it tomorrow." The very next day, it was fucking gone, so I decided to get the second cheapest, at $24.

There is an ebay auction for NiGHTS, plus a 3D controller, PLUS Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge, but the whole package is like $40, something I don't want to spend, even though I'd love to have the big plastic case version of NiGHTS.

But since I'm not that big into shoot-em-ups (aside from Gaiares and maybe Thunder Force), Darius Gaiden is pretty much plenty for me in that regard (unless I find a cheap import of TFV). That entire list is probably just about all I need in terms of games for the Saturn (because there's a lot of playtime in that little list right there).

And The Coop, is Legend of Oasis really worth it? I heard it was pretty much just an update from the Genesis game.

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Daytona Racing CCE

I strongly advise you to get the regular Daytona USA. Better music, better handling, but worse graphics. CCE may look better and have those two extra tracks, but it simply isn't the same. And since the regular Daytona USA can be found dirt cheap, there's no reason not to grab it.

Supposedly, the Japanese version of CCE called Daytona USA: Circuit Edition gives you the best of both worlds (all the tracks from CCE, all the music from CCE and the original game, plus added touches like evening and night racing), but I've not played it.

And The Coop, is Legend of Oasis really worth it? I heard it was pretty much just an update from the Genesis game.

Yes, it's worth it. It's a prequel to the Genesis game, so there are going to be similarities. However, it's not just an update.

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n64 wrestling games are the only good thing to come out of professional wrestling

Dude, how can you even say that when the classic wrestling songs are so damned great?

I mean, it's like the best video-game soundtrack... but for real life.

I mean,

,
,
,
,
...

Are you trying to say that watching these guys come in to kick-ass music was NOT worth it?

You're fucking crazy dude.

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