So, what exactly is the big deal about non-greatest hits games?

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I understand people like to have the black label games more because they look better on a shelf, but beyond that, I don't know why people are so anal about this. Lotsa my PS1 games are greatest hits, and I don't think they're worth any less then the black-label versions. Plus, they're the EXACT SAME GAME. I don't get it.

There's actually a collector on Youtube going for a complete PS1 greatest hits collection, and as a kid I remember trying to get games that were greatest hits, cuz chances are those were the best games. I just don't see why people are so hung up on this.

[The Adventurer]

Closest thing to a 'first print run' vs 'reprint' distinction video games have. Its a bit dumb I agree, and in truth many Greatest Hit releases can be rarer then their original counterpart (I think a game had to sell at least 1 million copies for a 'greatest hits' release anyway. So there are a few copies out there)

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

Closest thing to a 'first print run' vs 'reprint' distinction video games have. Its a bit dumb I agree, and in truth many Greatest Hit releases can be rarer then their original counterpart (I think a game had to sell at least 1 million copies for a 'greatest hits' release anyway. So there are a few copies out there)

Final Fantasy 7 greatest hits is rarer then the black label.

[ProjectCamaro]

I think people like them better because of how they look on the shelf. I personally don't care unless the greatest hits version comes with all thE DLC on the disk in which case I will purposely look for it.

[Edmond Dantes]

There's at least one case I've heard of--Gran Turismo 2--where the GH is actually superior because it corrects bugs that were present in the first release.

Some others also include additional content. Later releases of Resident Evil 2 (and, on the PS2, Silent Hill 2's GH includes the Restless Dreams scenario) for example.

I can understand wanting black labels for aesthetic or nostalgic reasons, but if your intent is to play, then get whatever you can find.

[Blitzwing256]

People like having the original version, same with Re-releases on the nes,snes and genesis, the majesco releases are next to worthless for snes/genesis. GH,PC and Classic series are great if you just want to play the game, but I totally get it from a collecting point of view, you want the first version, which tends to be harder to find and mean more to most people. me? I collect all variants and am pretty happy with any, but I prefer the first releases every time.

Funny enough the GH version of SOTN is inferior, the two removed familars are completely unobtainable in the GH version, where you could use a gameshark to access them in the original release.

[Aussie2B]

If I happen to end up with one of each by chance, I'll typically sell off the GH version, unless there's a gameplay difference. Packaging-wise, original looks nicer. That said, I don't go to any effort to replace my GH versions, so some are still around. I still have the same old GH Symphony of the Night that I bought back in '99.

[ZeroCool]

I wasnt aware FF7 GH is more rare.
For me it doesnt really matter considering the prices of games these days

[SparTonberry]

I also am doubting FF7GH is rarer. I recall FF7 was one of the GH "launch" games, a few months after the original release.
And it was still available in many stores before they stopped selling PS1 games in 2004. (got mine the Christmas before that with a PS2)

Majesco SNES games, though I can see wanting to avoid those. Cheap B&W manuals and really cheap labels that tear easily.

[Tanooki]

When I had PS1 stuff I'd never take a green label, but it's the same reason I don't like a gold seal (snes) or the ugly red PS3 cases -- they stand out as eyesores in a lined up stack of games. Also while sure, a few do fix bugs and other issues, many of them are straight reprints and it has been noted on stuff you see lesser quality labels, art, stickers, black and white/cheaper quality paper manuals, minimalist or lower quality ink on the CD tops. I just personally want nothing to do with it as I'd take durability over a measly tweak.

[mailman187666]

I think there were some releases such as Final Fantasy Anthology, Chronicles, and Tactics that either had low print runs or sold few copies. It drove the values on those games up pretty high, so the greatest hits versions were made because there was still high demand for them. I think they did that with Disgaea as well.

[Rickstilwell1]

I'll chime in to say that in my experience, the Greatest Hits on PS1 also have another issue - less durability. Because the disc is just that smooth silver, it is more easily damaged than a normal disc with a printed label side. The label side is easier to scratch on a shiny smooth silver disc than one that has actual art and a rougher, tougher label side. The same rings true for audio CDs. If you want to store some disc only games in a travel case, don't go for Greatest Hits.

On PS2, PSP and PS, Xbox, Xbox 360 or any Nintendo systems, Greatest Hits, Platinum Hits, Player's Choice etc is only a cosmetic difference but if you don't like the red, silver or yellow colorations and gold ribbons as much as the original art then you tend to shy away from those.

[Flojomojo]

The Greatest Hits version of Jet Moto 2 is superior, it contains all the tracks from the first game an unlock -- with a better frame rate and analog controls.

Nasty green labels is the reason that collectors don't like them. Now that we are almost twenty years on, and much of the catalog is available for download, it's likely that only the collectors care.

[Manhattan Sports Club]

If its a particular series, sometimes its nicer to have them all with the same label like Final Fantasy or Sly Cooper for instance. That could also mean an all-GH set. But I wouldn't go out of my way for it if there's no difference game-play wise (i.e.; Virtua Fighter 4 vs Evolution). As a gamer who only collects what he likes, it doesn't mean a whole lot to me honestly whether or not it is black label or no. But I would take it into consideration when selling the game.

I also doubt that the GH FF7 is rarer. That thing was on the store shelves for a longass time at Best Buy whenever I went there and they still had PS1 games. Same for the other FFs.

[Gentlegamer]

For me, it's just "OCD." For instance, I have one Player's Choice GameCube game, and the yellow label amongst the black just annoys me to no end.

As has been noted, sometimes the GH of a game is better due to bug fixes or extra content; I'll seek out that version if I know about it and deal with the OCD later.

[SparTonberry]

I think there were some releases such as Final Fantasy Anthology, Chronicles, and Tactics that either had low print runs or sold few copies. It drove the values on those games up pretty high, so the greatest hits versions were made because there was still high demand for them. I think they did that with Disgaea as well.

I have GH Anthology and there are definitely update file dates on the disc.
I want to believe they fixed the infamous FFV save menu graphics corruption bug as I never saw it, but I'm not certain. (but I saw the bug right away on the PSN release :( )

[Tanooki]

I'll chime in to say that in my experience, the Greatest Hits on PS1 also have another issue - less durability... or any Nintendo systems...Player's Choice etc is only a cosmetic difference but if you don't like the red, silver or yellow colorations and gold ribbons as much as the original art then you tend to shy away from those.

Actually the Player's Choice games for their cartridge systems are of poorer quality. By the time they started doing them is when they started to cheap out on their stickers removing the laminate and using cheaper ink. Often you'll find thumbs on the stickers will rub them bald (most notable on GB games) and if you try and clean them with anything other than water the ink will go watercolor all over the place. They're just cheapouts with Nintendo too, it's not just superficial gold ribbons. I won't be caught dead with those and wouldn't have it when I was grabbing up stuff a few years ago every week unless it was just thrown in with a package deal so I did have a GB game or two and one SNES game with the gold ribbon.

[Daria]

They're ugly. I don't mind rereleases or best sellers in general, I just hate the Playstation Greatest Hits line because they're a fugly eye-sore on the shelf.

[CRTGAMER]

For me the extra content and bug fixes are the best reasons to get the Greatest Hits version. I don't mind the extra color band on the case cover knowing this, besides the initial "black label" is more common in most cases. There are quite a few Greatest Hits games that have extra content including adding a soundtrack disc. I prefer the Greatest Hits version since there might be unknown at time of purchase extra content.

On the other hand though rare, there are games that have REMOVED content from the initial release; the "Hot Coffee" content in the early Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for example. The one area that the initial release might be better is the thicker cover inserts (Fatal Frame series) and color versus black and white pages (some Gamecube and PS2 games) in some game manuals.

Special Edition Games Game List - http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=398591#p398591

[RARusk]

GTA: Vice City has *THREE* PS2 versions:

Original Version (V1.4)
Double Pack Version (V2.0) - This came with a copy of GTA III and also had some bug fixes and removed the Tear Gas Grenades.
Haitian-Friendly Version (V3.0) - This had a couple of additional tweaks but also altered the game script that removed references to Haitians due to protests within the Haitian-American community.

My FAQ (http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/561545-grand-theft-auto-vice-city/faqs/28209) over at GameFAQs goes into more detail about the versions.

As for GTA: San Andreas, in addition to removal of the Hot Coffee sequence they also fixed numerous bugs including the infamous Supply Lines bug (PS2) and the Off-Map Glitch (PC and Xbox).

I prefer the Double Pack version of Vice City and the Second Edition version of San Andreas.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I totally get the whole thing about greatest hits looking bad on a shelf, but at the end of the day is really that important? Do u get games to play or to look nice on a shelf? I mean, I'll pick up a black label game over greatest hits, but if I see a game thats real good, that I've been wanting to play but its a greatest hits, is the different label that important? I used to be about everything being uniform on a shelf, but in the end, I kinda regret not buying particular games just cuz of the stupid label.

[Emperor Megas]

Do u get games to play or to look nice on a shelf?I'd wager most collectors get them to do both, and they spend a lot more time being viewed as shelf pieces than actually being played. You can only play a game as time allows, but they're ALWAYS visible (assuming you display your games).

[Rickstilwell1]

Greatest Hits don't look too bad on a shelf as long as you keep them separated from the non GH stuff. If you really like a particular game you're probably going to want to collect the different versions of its release too.

[Tanooki]

You know in those few rare cases where the PS1 2 or 3 game in GH form may have added stuff or a critical fix, it's not that much of a stretch to eventually track down a spare case/spine(or cover) art and just stuff the 'GH' style disc within. No eye sore, no bugs. Problem is you can't do it with Nintendo stuff as it has been on the sticker in the cart days.

[SeberHusky]

To put it short and to the point...it's rarity.

Has nothing to do with what is "the best", how it looks , etc.
Greatest Hits titles are released 1 to 2 years after the original game. If the original game sells well, they make more copies of the games, millions more. Thusly, the original run of the game had a smaller number of pressings for it compared to a Greatest Hits title. Because of that, that makes the black label rarer than the greatest hits title. Now, sometimes they do patch certain glitches or things or add extra content for greatest hits titles, but not all the time, and most don't care about that. (I personally collect for neatness due to my OCD, so seeing all those green borders messes me up.)

The best case I know of this happening is with the Spyro series. People will pay double the price of a Greatest Hits title for the original title (including myself). One example is trying to find the original Spyro: The Dragon as a black label, it's considerably harder to find it compared to the Greatest Hits version.

Back in May 2014, I paid $53 to buy back all the Spyro PS1 games I used to have, complete. I paid $20 each for Spyro 1 and 2 as a black label, but didn't have enough left for the black label of Spyro 3, so I had to cheap out and get the GH version.

[Tanooki]

Rarity is obvious, look at Rage Wars (Turok) on the N64. The non-color (gray) version fetches over $100 while the normal one is a dollar dumper. That gray game not only being overpriced, but it is one of the few that fixes a bug, a critical one no less that jacks the game up if you hit it too.

[FieryReign]

I'd wager most collectors get them to do both, and they spend a lot more time being viewed as shelf pieces than actually being played. You can only play a game as time allows, but they're ALWAYS visible (assuming you display your games).

Because we spend a good portion of our lives staring at a damn shelf....

[genesisguy]

It really shouldn't matter.

My copy of Revenge of Shinobi is from the "classic series" or whatever Sega called those rereleases of some of the original games. I don't care what it looks like on a shelf. For one, I have some games on a shelf and some in drawers so I really don't have a shrine that I stare at. Secondly, I collect Genesis games and there are a lot of weird colored boxes so there's really no uniformity.

My goal has always been to play the games. When I start caring what the carts or boxes look like then I need to find something better to do with my time.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

Rarity is obvious, look at Rage Wars (Turok) on the N64. The non-color (gray) version fetches over $100 while the normal one is a dollar dumper. That gray game not only being overpriced, but it is one of the few that fixes a bug, a critical one no less that jacks the game up if you hit it too.

Well, this is only rare for a particular reason, cuz to get it you would have had to beat the 2-player mode, which not a ton of people do, and you would have had to encountered the glitch where the game is unbeatable, and called up Nintendo asking for a refund, for which they'd then offer u the fixed game on the black cart. That's why it's rare.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

Rarity is obvious, look at Rage Wars (Turok) on the N64. The non-color (gray) version fetches over $100 while the normal one is a dollar dumper. That gray game not only being overpriced, but it is one of the few that fixes a bug, a critical one no less that jacks the game up if you hit it too.

Well, this is only rare for a particular reason, cuz to get it you would have had to beat the 2-player mode, which not a ton of people do, and you would have had to encountered the glitch where the game is unbeatable, and called up Nintendo asking for a refund, for which they'd then offer u the fixed game on the black cart. That's why it's rare.

But, I have zero interest in collecting these cart variants, it's pretty ridiculous. I'd like to maybe someday procure a complete N64 set, but this and the other cart variants on the system are just totally unnecessary in my opinion. Especially for the ridiculous prices. These should be sold for maybe $20 more than the asking prices.

They may be pretty up there in rarity though, I'm not sure, but it sounds like they could surpass Sculptor's Cut in terms of how few there are.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

To put it short and to the point...it's rarity.

Has nothing to do with what is "the best", how it looks , etc.
Greatest Hits titles are released 1 to 2 years after the original game. If the original game sells well, they make more copies of the games, millions more. Thusly, the original run of the game had a smaller number of pressings for it compared to a Greatest Hits title. Because of that, that makes the black label rarer than the greatest hits title. Now, sometimes they do patch certain glitches or things or add extra content for greatest hits titles, but not all the time, and most don't care about that. (I personally collect for neatness due to my OCD, so seeing all those green borders messes me up.)

The best case I know of this happening is with the Spyro series. People will pay double the price of a Greatest Hits title for the original title (including myself). One example is trying to find the original Spyro: The Dragon as a black label, it's considerably harder to find it compared to the Greatest Hits version.

Back in May 2014, I paid $53 to buy back all the Spyro PS1 games I used to have, complete. I paid $20 each for Spyro 1 and 2 as a black label, but didn't have enough left for the black label of Spyro 3, so I had to cheap out and get the GH version.

I totally get ur point, but the black label Spyro games are not rare. Sure they're a little more difficult to find then the Greatest Hits, maybe, but this is probably because so many collectors are holding on to the black labels now, and the greatest hits all end up on the shelves of retro game stores. I understand they look better in black, and if given the choice I'll always choose the black label for that reason, but I think it's gotten out of hand with the black label obsession. I have a lot of greatest hits in my PS1 collection, mostly from games I originally owned in the 90s, but I have no interest in re-buying these games like Crash and Spyro and Metal Gear which are all around the $15-$20 range, just so they look nicer. I'd rather just buy more good games I don't own yet.

Spyro games are common, they're everywhere, really. I have the first 2 but I'm missing the 3rd, and mine are greatest hits, and I don't care. They're not any more rare then say, Ape Escape, and I've seen both the Greatest Hits and black label selling for the exact same price in one shop. So what if they're maybe 15% rarer? People throw around the word rare way too much, I think. To me, if you can find it on Amazon or Ebay, it's not really that rare. Suikoden 2 is rare. Spyro black label is definately not rare. I guarantee u there's prolly just as much copies of Spyro out there as there are Super Smash Bros carts.

[Tanooki]

Wasn't it figured out there were maybe a couple thousand of the gray Turok Rage Wars made to how many ever hundred thousand(?) copies of the black cart? That's why it goes for stupid money. I had one I picked up for $5 and got well over $100 for it which was madness. I agree with you though that the variants shouldn't cost more when it's just a stupid piece of colored (or not) plastic with the same interior contents. I don't like having random colored carts unless it's 100% unavoidable (DOOM-SNES) so when I was bothering with N64 I always kept an eye out for a gray Hydro Thunder with no luck. It was like $10 for blue and $30 for gray and I wasn't having it.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

Wasn't it figured out there were maybe a couple thousand of the gray Turok Rage Wars made to how many ever hundred thousand(?) copies of the black cart? That's why it goes for stupid money. I had one I picked up for $5 and got well over $100 for it which was madness. I agree with you though that the variants shouldn't cost more when it's just a stupid piece of colored (or not) plastic with the same interior contents. I don't like having random colored carts unless it's 100% unavoidable (DOOM-SNES) so when I was bothering with N64 I always kept an eye out for a gray Hydro Thunder with no luck. It was like $10 for blue and $30 for gray and I wasn't having it.

Fair enough. I actually like the different colored N64 carts, my collection, I have about 700 something games on 2 huge shelves, and I think the N64 color variants look cool. A colorful collection can be cool lookin. Idk, I'm weird about it too, I do like the uniform black PS1 games, but like I said it's not a huge priority of mine to weed out every greatest hits I own. I started really collecting games about 2 years ago and I already had about 30 PS1 games from the early 2000s I got when the PS2 was released, and I, for some reason, liked buying greatest hits games.

I can see why the grey Rage Wars cart is more, cuz it is rare and there's a certain story behind it, even tho it's not cool like the NWC cart, but why it has to be sooo much more, is beyond me. There are other cart variants on the N64 that are rare also and also sell for hundreds. Which, to me, is just stupid. But I like the random blue and yellow and gold carts in the stacks of N64 games, I think the different colors look good, and I kinda wish they weren't predominantly grey

[Tanooki]

I don't think it's hard to understand. You have a game let's say on the low end was produced with 100000 copies that sold in black. People discover a bug and complain, so a run of them are made, and so far to this point at least, it's known that there's maybe a couple hundred of them out in the wild, most out of a single box found by this one dude selling the 'new' in the plastic bag they shipped in while thrown in a larger box.

100000 vs 200~? That's why one game is $5 and one is over $100. The other stuff like Aidyn's Chronicles, Hydro Thunder, Army Men, they were largely produced in both colors, not an even split by any means, but having a 1:3 or 1:4 odds versus 1:10000 makes the difference. I don't like it, but that's how it is when people want to run the price up the flagpole on stuff, they find an excuse that works.

[o.pwuaioc]

I don't think it's hard to understand. You have a game let's say on the low end was produced with 100000 copies that sold in black. People discover a bug and complain, so a run of them are made, and so far to this point at least, it's known that there's maybe a couple hundred of them out in the wild, most out of a single box found by this one dude selling the 'new' in the plastic bag they shipped in while thrown in a larger box.

That guy sold them for next to nothing. The very next day all the resellers that bought them listed them on ebay for $$$$$$.

Fucking leeches.

[Tanooki]

Yup parasites alright. The same thing has now occurred with Retro City Rampage DX for PS4. The company made just 2000 physical releases of it, and it went for $25+4 shipping (I got one.) There are jerks online now trying to harm people who wanted it they cut them out of by selling it on ebay and the desperate are paying between $130-200 for it new with the pack-in fangamer zip bag with the extra little goodies. It's despicable.

[Gentlegamer]

I expect to see copies of the Targa repro that were sold through NA show up on ebay for $$$ soon.

[Tanooki]

Oh no doubt, that's how it goes with NA. They engineer a numbered release just for the entire purpose alone of having status and money behind it. There's no rational reason to limit the money you can make other than to prop up the value of a bootleg (which is what protos are, they're stolen goods often enough) so others will want it too and they'll pay to get whatever number they can down the road. The sleaze of old gaming behavior just widens as the years go in this decade. Eventually it'll implode.

[BlastProcessing402]

Some others also include additional content. Later releases of Resident Evil 2 (and, on the PS2, Silent Hill 2's GH includes the Restless Dreams scenario) for example.

RE2's additions came before the GH version, there was just a thing on the cover mentioning Dual Shock support or whatever.

RE Director's Cut did add the DS support when the GH version was released. Maybe you're conflating the two.

I'm going by American releases, it's possible it was different in other regions.

[Rickstilwell1]

All this talk about alternate cart shell colors has me wondering... what was the production split between blue carts and black carts of Bible Adventures for NES? I've had both but have no idea if one is more or less common than the other. I also have no idea which was the earlier print run or if they were simultaneous.

[bb_hood]

All this talk about alternate cart shell colors has me wondering... what was the production split between blue carts and black carts of Bible Adventures for NES? I've had both but have no idea if one is more or less common than the other. I also have no idea which was the earlier print run or if they were simultaneous.

I think with those 3rd party blue/black (color dreams, etc) nes games, the black cart shells are the rarer of the 2.

[Tanooki]

I think they went from blue to black, but where you need to look is on a per game basis because some would have been run with more of one or the other. I remember that coming up before off site.

[Zap!]

Two reasons. One is some of us just have to have first runs of certain things, such as games and books. It's like first-printings on books. Same as systems and games. When I was looking for a PS1, I posted here asking what was the original box. I didn't want a variation.

The second reason is that many will correct bugs. I want to see the original game the way it was when it was released, bugs and all. Making a few tweets and calling it a "Greatest Hit" is like all the special editions George Lucas did to the original Star Wars trilogy.

[SparTonberry]

I don't think I'd compare bugfixes to a George Lucas Special Edition.
Bugs usually aren't part of the intended gameplay. :P

[Zap!]

I don't think I'd compare bugfixes to a George Lucas Special Edition.
Bugs usually aren't part of the intended gameplay. :P

Well, imagine if they took out all the bugs in Super Mario Bros. with a "Greatest Hits" version on the NES. It would have ruined many amazing parts about the game. I know that's an extreme case of cool bugs, but still.

[Gentlegamer]

Oh no doubt, that's how it goes with NA. They engineer a numbered release just for the entire purpose alone of having status and money behind it. There's no rational reason to limit the money you can make other than to prop up the value of a bootleg (which is what protos are, they're stolen goods often enough) so others will want it too and they'll pay to get whatever number they can down the road. The sleaze of old gaming behavior just widens as the years go in this decade. Eventually it'll implode.

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=140067

[Rickstilwell1]

Donkey Kong Country for SNES had the map screen warp cheat taken out in its Player's Choice release. The one where you tap B when walking between two levels when the shape of the dots form an angle instead of a straight line.

[Tanooki]

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=140067

Bingo. If anything their crap is predictable (including going after the euro for freedom of expression.) Thanks to that being a numbered scam, you're better off just getting Rendering Ranger which says a lot since it's not cheap.


I don't think I've heard of the map jump thing on DKC before.

[Gameguy]

It really shouldn't matter.

My copy of Revenge of Shinobi is from the "classic series" or whatever Sega called those rereleases of some of the original games. I don't care what it looks like on a shelf. For one, I have some games on a shelf and some in drawers so I really don't have a shrine that I stare at. Secondly, I collect Genesis games and there are a lot of weird colored boxes so there's really no uniformity.

My goal has always been to play the games. When I start caring what the carts or boxes look like then I need to find something better to do with my time.
With Revenge of Shinobi there's a bit more than just box variants, they altered the game a few times with changing various sprites for enemies and bosses. The original version of the game is quite different from the later releases. For actually playing the game, it makes a difference to which version you own. Personally I haven't found the original version yet, I'm still hoping to come across one eventually.


Yup parasites alright. The same thing has now occurred with Retro City Rampage DX for PS4. The company made just 2000 physical releases of it, and it went for $25+4 shipping (I got one.) There are jerks online now trying to harm people who wanted it they cut them out of by selling it on ebay and the desperate are paying between $130-200 for it new with the pack-in fangamer zip bag with the extra little goodies. It's despicable.
Just wait 20 years, with only 2000 copies made this title could eventually be worth 2K monies like Magical Chase and other games of similar rarities. Especially if the game is actually decent to play and not shit.


Two reasons. One is some of us just have to have first runs of certain things, such as games and books. It's like first-printings on books. Same as systems and games. When I was looking for a PS1, I posted here asking what was the original box. I didn't want a variation.

The second reason is that many will correct bugs. I want to see the original game the way it was when it was released, bugs and all. Making a few tweets and calling it a "Greatest Hit" is like all the special editions George Lucas did to the original Star Wars trilogy.
There's more than just experiencing bugs and glitches, I would think more like Ocarina of Time where the later releases changed some music and graphics in the game. With bugs, I'd rather game crashing bugs to be removed in most cases.

[Tanooki]

Oh it's a decent game if you're into 80s spoofing and an overhead view kind of GTA like game. I think it'll help keep the price up due to the teeny print run. I didn't know you could even order a run that small for the PS4 and get a license to do so.

[Rickstilwell1]

Bingo. If anything their crap is predictable (including going after the euro for freedom of expression.) Thanks to that being a numbered scam, you're better off just getting Rendering Ranger which says a lot since it's not cheap.


I don't think I've heard of the map jump thing on DKC before.

If you tab B at the right timing while going between the first two levels on the map screen, you will skip all the way to Vine Valley. There are a couple other warps that if I recall correctly don't take you as far. Only works in the non-Player's Choice version.