Zelda question

[jajaja]

I was wondering about the japanese releases of zelda for famicom and super famicom. Are they rare and hard to find? I tried to browse alittle on ebay, but not quite sure what to search for.
Anyone who can help me? :)

[Ed Oscuro]

Sure. Both original titles came out for the Famicom Disk System. Each should come in a plastic case that has diagonal striping on it (it's all transparent), if it's opened there will likely be part of the sticker seal; inside will be a manual (that doubles as the "box art") that takes up half the interior. The other half will be a transparent hard plastic case (of the sort that can snap or be scuffed up), and inside that most games (as both Zelda titles) will have a yellowish disk inside a paper sleeve. The disk itself doesn't have a metal covering for the window, hence the sleeve. Many games - especially Nintendo released ones - come with a page of stickers. Both Zelda games should have them (Zelda 2 does, I can warrant that; my original LoZ is an unopened copy.)

You can find all the Zelda games for Japan in the online rarity guide. That said, here's a rundown of the early ones for your convenience (partly because I'm killing time here).

- The Legend of Zelda, FDS, 1986. Subtitle is "The Hyrule Fantasy." There's some Japanese text as well but you can clearly read these other bits in English. Fun fun. Of course the game is in Japanese. Better know your LoZ well before tackling this version. Of note is that FDS disks can "die" (demagnetize, requiring the game data be rewritten to the disk, if possible that is) over time. I've had a Mac floppy from 1994 go bad on me rather quickly (before 2001) so don't expect these games to work forever. Same with C64 floppy games.

- Zelda 2, The Adventure of Link. Something like that. Text here is also in English. On both Zelda games look for Link on the front, it's that easy.

- Zelda no Densetsu 1. It's a green box with text along the side in Japanese followed by a 1. Besides that, the cover art is the same as the FDS version, there's just a green border all around and stuff is bigger. This is the 1993-ish (or was it 1992? Akumajo Dracula was rereleased in 1993 also) cartridge re-release. You can always pay $150 on eBay for it or for an importer to track down a copy, but watch out for it a while and you should be able to find it for MUCH less, even on eBay. It's been a while since I did a search for this one. $80 sounds about right.

Then there's Zelda on the Super Famicom; this is the counterpart of Link to the Past. This one's known on eBay as Zelda III/3. A year+ ago this was $45 from various importers in complete/good/well, really like new condition (knowing the sources, though...), so don't pay more than $55 for this game complete.

If you're just looking for loose carts, go crazy. They're cheap!

There's also Link's Awakening (Shura no Mon I think? Maybe I'm thinking of a different game), in both original and DX flavors. There's lots of these on Yahoo! Auctions Japan. Day and night, do a search for Game Boy and you'll see copies of these. A few copies of the original Dracula Densetsu games, Pokemon, Link's Awakening, and some odd Japanese licensed games - yup, that sounds like YAJ's GB section.

Hope that's helpful.

[jajaja]

wow.. thanks for all the info! :)
I also searched for the BS (Bandai Satellaview-X) zelda releases. How many where there? 2,3? Where can I get these, if possible.
I also seen Zelda - Wands of Gamelon factory sealed for about $50, good deal? This game came out for Phillips CD-I.
Rated 3 in the rarity guide here, but i think it is rarer.

[Ed Oscuro]

Satellaview games...you had to download them via satellite broadcast TV. There aren't many of these. Get an emulator and mess around with them. The BS-X Zelda remake of the original Zelda looks great, but it has a very constrictive time limit, sadly (at least the dumped ROM does). These go for BIG BUX. Don't get into Satellaview collecting or even think about it! It will drive you insane (much as Neo Geo collecting has done to this forumer...and all I've got are a few of the fighters!). We're talking multiples of $$$ here. The Satellaview has a number of great, underrated titles/expansions for games/other crazy stuff, but the price makes it a nearly unattainable goal for most common mortals.

The common CD-i titles are rare by the standards of a console like the SNES, but anybody who was a CD-i gamer should have at least one of them.

Okay, for the CD-i games:

Link: The Faces of Evil, comes in a jewel case with a protective cardboard sleeve. The game looks green overall. Discs of both games are the same color/scheme as the cardboard sleeve. Common. Try to go by what the guide says or even get it cheaper. I think you could manage to get this one for $20, maybe even shipped.

Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon is much the same as Link, the difference being that the protective sleeve is orange. Rarity and price? I'd say the same as Link. Both games seem to have been released very close to each other. I think Link: The Faces of Evil is first.

Zelda's Adventure is a top-down game, looks sorta FMVish. Haven't really liked the screenshots I've seen; judging from Hotel Mario I say somebody could've done a decent enough hand-drawn top-down Zelda had they been motivated. This is the expensive one - a while back I missed one that was hiding out in a $70 LOT of games that included a player. Well. This game goes for tons of money, and soon eBay will have it competing with Psychic Killer TAROMARU (sorry, always have to capitalize that last word - 'tis the law you see). We're talking closer and closer to $200 for a standard price (it's already hit that mark and exceeded it with some auctions I think) copy. It's already as expensive as Kaze Kiri...damn shame. European-only release; has a nifty jewel case with German text on the back (so the jewel case comprises most of the game's attractiveness, no doubt).

[jajaja]

I have never tried CD-I, or atleast not what i can remember.
So the BS systems are damn expencive eh? Doesnt suprise me hehe.
But the BS games, where they download only? No cartridges/discs ?

[Ed Oscuro]

CD-i does have a few gems in there, and as far as I can tell the Zelda games aren't among them. There are a few cool moments (I like the map screen in The Faces of Evil, pretty cool), but you need a special controller (argh, remotes, directional pad on my portable CD-i, trackballs...they do nothing! At least they don't allow Link to walk well) for the first two (I've no clue about the last game, as I haven't gotten it yet).

The Satellaview was/is a number of parts: a service (no longer offered, and then Japan-only of course; you'd download stuff at specific times only), a Super Famicom peripheral (uses the port on the bottom I believe), and the early 1990s equivalent of Flash Carts for the game. You'd download stuff onto these cartridges that look like regular Super Famicom game cartridges, they've just got a different label (far as I'm aware...should have the BS-X logo on a black background).

[jajaja]

Ok, thanks for all the info :)
Once again, what is your avtar? I asked before, but i have forgotten with topics i asked in, so i havnt been able to check if u answered or not hehe.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ah, it's a crop and downsize of TTLG's battlemutant.jpg; it's from a pre-release screenshot of System Shock 2 - the best humorous horror FPS ever made! Not much scare value but the feel of the game puts it right into a whole other dimension from your average FPS. The caption was "Battle that Mutant!" What you're looking at is a mutant with a lead pipe in his hand, behind him is a patterned steel ceiling and...well, that's it.

No, I don't have a big slug thing growing out of my head, and I believe my house is lead pipe-free, sadly LOL

[jajaja]

haha ok :)
I thought it was from a game, just wondered what game.
Again, thanks for the info :)

[Jorpho]

Satellaview games...you had to download them via satellite broadcast TV. There aren't many of these. Get an emulator and mess around with them. The BS-X Zelda remake of the original Zelda looks great, but it has a very constrictive time limit, sadly (at least the dumped ROM does). These go for BIG BUX. Don't get into Satellaview collecting or even think about it! It will drive you insane (much as Neo Geo collecting has done to this forumer...and all I've got are a few of the fighters!). We're talking multiples of $$$ here. The Satellaview has a number of great, underrated titles/expansions for games/other crazy stuff, but the price makes it a nearly unattainable goal for most common mortals.

You mean people are actually selling the Satellaview flash carts with the games on them?

[Richter Belmount]

Hell yeah they do , I been looking around for radical dreamers time to time on ebay.

[jajaja]

how much do the flashcards usualy go for? Same with the reader, how much?

[Ed Oscuro]

You mean people are actually selling the Satellaview flash carts with the games on them?
They aren't flash carts, though (in case anybody is thinking these are aka GBA flash carts - these are wholly official). I'm not sure they're rewritable, for that mater. It seems to be the case that you'll get the carts with the system - carts can't be written without a system, and it's likely very few people were able to write more than one copy of a game as the carts were expensive (I've heard they could be purchased seperately), and some stuff was likely broadcast only once. I've seen F-Zero (track editor and stuff), Zelda, and precious little else on eBay.

[importaku]

If your searching for japanese zelda games they all usually start with zelda no densetsu.

If you want to see what the boxes look like here is a link (no pun intended hehe) for everything zelda on yahoo auctions japan at the moment.

when you want to goto the next page the link is on the right hand side just above the pics it has the number 20 in it.

http://tinyurl.com/3qz6k

{edited for easy reading}

[Nature Boy]

This is just a friendly reminder that there is no such thing as a CD-I Zelda game. Do you hear me? THEY NEVER HAPPENED.

And now back to your regularily scheduled thread...

[WiseSalesman]

If your searching for japanese zelda games they all usually start with zelda no densetsu.

If you want to see what the boxes look like here is a link (no pun intended hehe) for everything zelda on yahoo auctions japan at the moment.

when you want to goto the next page the link is on the right hand side just above the pics it has the number 20 in it.

http://search.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/search?sb=desc&desc=%a5%bc%a5%eb%a5%c0%a4%ce%c5%c1%c0%e2&auccat=0&acc=jp&f=0x12&alocale=0jp&mode=1

Could you edit your post and replace your giant link with this one please?

http://tinyurl.com/3qz6k

They point to the same place, but the one you posted makes it very difficult to read the thread.

[jajaja]

This is just a friendly reminder that there is no such thing as a CD-I Zelda game. Do you hear me? THEY NEVER HAPPENED.

And now back to your regularily scheduled thread...

haha :) Sorry to "dissapoint" you, but there are 3 zelda games for CD-I.

- Link: The Faces of Evil.
- Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon.
- Zelda’s Adventure.

http://www.parnasas.com/PopArena/Articles/cdi.html

[Aussie2B]

Wow, this clears up a lot about the Satellaview for me. o_O I've been semi-interested in trying Radical Dreamers, but I always assumed that there was no way to physically own it and play it on a Super Famicom anymore. Still seems unlikely that I'll ever own it, though, and since it has no official packaging or anything, I may as well just cave in and play it on my PC.

[link1110]

There's also Link's Awakening (Shura no Mon I think? Maybe I'm thinking of a different game), in both original and DX flavors. There's lots of these on Yahoo! Auctions

Link's Awakening was "Yumne wo miru shima" (The Dreaming Island" in Japanese.

[Jorpho]

Wow, this clears up a lot about the Satellaview for me. o_O I've been semi-interested in trying Radical Dreamers, but I always assumed that there was no way to physically own it and play it on a Super Famicom anymore. Still seems unlikely that I'll ever own it, though, and since it has no official packaging or anything, I may as well just cave in and play it on my PC.

If you really are interested, there are people who might be able to help you make a physical "reproduction" of such a cart. I've seen such things discussed. (Besides, is your knowledge of Japanese really sufficient to carry you through the many pages of the untranslated version?)

[Ed Oscuro]

haha :) Sorry to "dissapoint" you, but there are 3 zelda games for CD-I.

- Link: The Faces of Evil.
- Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon.
- Zelda’s Adventure.
You learn well! However, Nature Boy is aware, he's just joking LOL


Link's Awakening was "Yumne wo miru shima" (The Dreaming Island" in Japanese.
YES. Now that I think about it, I believe Shura no Mon is the title of a TOTALLY UNRELATED Mega Drive game I bought recently.

Edit: found it. (o_O (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8149899283&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT) ...lol)

[Jive3D]

The Zelda CD-i games do suck. But I had fun with them, it's a CD-i thing I guess.