Painfully Priced Wishlist

This one holds a special place in my heart. I probably rented it enough times to have bought it, and I would have, if I ever could have found a copy for sale. Now it easily commands $75 to $100, and I just haven't been able to convince myself to fork it over.

Why I haven't bought it yet:
Were it a more polished game, I would probably break down and give in. Unfortunately, the brutally unfair boss-fights can get controller-chunkingly frustrating and a few of the mechanics are a bit unintuitive. The complete lack of invulnerability time after being hit can lead even the weakest of enemies to juggle you to death if you're caught unaware or unlucky. It's still a unique and entertaining game, flaws and all. Maybe just not $100 entertaining.

I once had a copy of Earthbound. Where it has gone to, nobody can say. Maybe I traded it out of some belief I'd never play it again. Maybe foul play is to blame. Whatever the case, I want it back.

Why I haven't bought it yet:
When I owned Earthbound, I beat it. I beat it in a weekend (a long, blurry-eyed weekend that didn't involve much of silly things like eating or sleep). With so many RPGs out there in the world that I have not yet completed, it is hard to rationalize picking one up that I only want to run back through for nostalgia purposes.

Not every rare and expensive game is actually good. Sometimes, the collector and the gamer inside of you are at odds. It's the collector in me that wants Contra Force.

Why I haven't bought it yet:
Were it actually a good game, I might consider it. Were it actually a Contra game, rather than a bad import which had the Contra name slapped on it to make it sell, I'd give it a further glance. And were it not $50+, it might make me think on it harder. Unfortunately, it is none of those things, and so it gets shuffled to the bottom of the want list.

Dragon Warrior III and IV are easily two of the best RPGs of the NES era. They had a charm and style that broke them free from their generic roots. It's a pity they're also two of the rarest titles on the system.

Why I haven't bought it yet:
I've noticed the price of DW3 inch down over the years. I believe the Gameboy Color port likely had something to do with this, which I can get for about half the price. Unfortunately, my love of the low-story, high-grind open world feel this game innovated on so well has waned in tandem. It will still end up in my collection, and I still look forward to playing it through. I'm just not in that much of a hurry.

If only I could read Japanese, I could have this pricey classic for a few bucks.

Take all of the ideas and quirks thought up in the first three games, sheer away some of that "generic, class-based characters wandering around aimlessly" with a bit of meaningful characterization and story and you've got this true classic.

Why I haven't bought it yet:
There is a DS remake out there. Sadly, it didn't impact the price of the original that much. DW4 can easily go for $60 or more. I consider it entirely worth it, but I'm worried it will ruin any hope I have of completing the prequels. Thus, I have to tack on the price of DW2 and DW3. Now it's getting expensive.

Mega Man 6 isn't a bad game (quite the opposite, it's actually pretty bloody good), but by this point, the formula was finally growing tired. Nintendo knew this (Capcom decided not to publish in North America at all, so it was actually Nintendo that saw to that). Not near as many carts were produced, to fit the dwindling demand of both Mega Man games and NES games in general.

Why I haven't bought it yet:
Since I own two versions of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, I am not lacking for ways to legally play this one. That means it's up here mostly for collector's value, which isn't that high on my list. My collection exists primarily to be played. Even the bad games.

Oddly enough, Capcom had little reason for producing as few of this cart as they did. The game was rushed, and they weren't exactly stoked with the previous year's sales, so they just assumed they had a flop on their hands and made way too few.

Was it a flop? It'd say it was decidedly average. The presentation was good with some nice nostalgic moments, though the rush job shows in a few of the levels. The final boss is also intentionally designed way more difficult than the rest of the game, which was just frustrating. It's one of the few Mega Man games I've never beaten. With persistence, I probably could, but a challenge should motivate you to keep trying, and this one does not.

Why I haven't bought it yet:
The same reasoning as Mega Man 6, plus about 30 more bucks.

For whatever reason, I never cared for X2 and X3 near as much as I did the original Mega Man X. Oh, they were great games, but they didn't really improve enough on the series to catch my eye.

The musical scores, while still the usual Capcom greatness, became overly enamored with the synthesized electric guitar sound. It was used as multiple instruments in most of the tracks and dominated the sound of the entire game. It wouldn't be until X4 that they broke the mold and experimented with other sounds again.

Why I haven't bought it yet:
It's yet again the same story. I also own the Mega Man X Collection, which makes this one more of a trophy.

Here's another title Capcom shipped very little of because they thought they were sitting on a dud they couldn't unload. It was the waning years of the SNES, so they can't be wholly blamed this time. You'll find a lot of the same with any console. It also offered a fairly identical experience to X2, though that's hardly a bad thing.

This one is a bit more of a collector's item, however, since this version of the game is not included on the Mega Man X Collection compilation. I actually prefer the 32-bit remake included on the collection (primarily because the rearranged soundtrack does away with the distorted guitar being used as every single instrument), though the differences aren't game-changing.

Why I haven't bought it yet:
Still have the collection, still a very expensive piece of plastic. The novelty of owning a slightly different version isn't enough to offset the sticker shock.