Two games I am looking for...why so damn expensive?

[David J.]

Why is Outrunners so expensive? Sparkster? OK, Sparkster I can sorta understand but wow there is only one copy on eBay right now. I want to replace my copy of Trouble Shooter, but damn there's no copies.

There are like 15 games left I want to buy, but four or five I want to replace but wow it is getting expensive. Those few games and moonwalker. UGH.

[OldSchool]

I had Sparkster on my want list until I saw it in action on Youtube... what a crappy looking Sonic copycat.

Lol... bah, $20+ for that shite is funny. It's a $10 game at best (cart only).

[Mark Robert]

Sparkster is an awesome platformer well worth going through the trouble and expense to get. I actually have a factory sealed copy in addition to my play copy.

[Obviously]

I know how you feel. It's demand or rarity or sometimes both.

I don't think Sparkster got nearly the production run of the original Rocket Knight but it is pretty highly sought after since it's the sequel to one of the most popular Genesis games. People like Rocket Knight and they want Sparkster to go along with it but there's far fewer copies of it floating around. I like the original Rocket Knight more but I wouldn't sell Sparkster short as just a Sonic clone it's a great platformer in its own right. The prices it demands are a bit manic though.

Moonwalker has gotten pretty ridiculous, I've wanted to add it to my collection for a while now but the interest has sort of been waning over time. I just don't have the money to spend on a game I'm not even that fond of for collection's sake.

A few of the games in my want list are pretty crazy though I still have some cheaper ones to hunt down so I'm not feeling that strangled yet. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get back to collecting the way I used to.

Anyway just be patient. I managed to get MUSHA in box for 30 bucks by just biding my time and waiting for a deal. Try other forums and stuff instead of just your typical online retailers as well. You can sometimes meet people willing to sell things at a bargain price who don't want to go through the trouble of stuff like eBay.

But I'm probably preaching to the choir =P. Good luck hunting down your final wants.

[PHANTOM2040]

I had Sparkster on my want list until I saw it in action on Youtube... what a crappy looking Sonic copycat.

Lol... bah, $20+ for that shite is funny. It's a $10 game at best (cart only).

Agreed. The original Rocket Knight Adventures is better. If your patient enough, the $10 mark will happen if you keep looking around for it.

[QuickSciFi]

I've been looking at Trouble Shooter for the longest time too.

[The Coop]

My opinion? Ignore the nay sayers, and keep looking for Sparkster. It's worth $20. Is it as good as RKA? No. Is it a bad game? Not by a long shot. It's still Konami quality, and not even close to being a Sonic ripoff.

Also, keep an eye out for the SNES version of Sparkster. Same name, but the game is almost completely different from the Genesis version (like two different teams made each game). It's quite good as well, though a bit pricier.

Oh, and don't forget about half.com and Amazon.com. Both have several of the Genesis version, and "half" has a complete copy in Very Good shape for $16.50.

[QuickSciFi]

Of all the Sonic knockoffs said to be thus, Rocket Knight and Sparkster have NOTHING to do with Sonic, imo. I've yet to see the resemblance. Heck, if it's the ball he makes in the air, then why not add Revenge of Shinobi and Chakan to the mix.

[TidalTempest]

I'd say that Sonic ripped off the original Rocket Knight Adventures. Look at the addition of mid-bosses and cutscenes in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, which came out a year after RKA. Even some of the S3K boss designs are remeniscent of the bosses in RKA.

Still, that doesn't make them worse as games. I still consider them both must haves.

[Mr Smith]

Sparkster is a very fun game, however, I don't believe it to be worth twenty of your American dorrals. I never understood why it gets called a Sonic rip off - other than it's an enjoyable platformer.

[David J.]

I've played a lot of the games via emulators, but want to buy the real deal. I have a copy of Trouble Shooter but it looks like complete garbitch, and want to replace it.

So I really don't give to fucks about "this game is great, or this game sucks".

I'm sure I'm missing a few wants on my list, but they are cheap enough if I am missing any.

[havok666]

Just be patient with Outrunners and keep looking for an auction. The BIN prices are way too inflated. I know that the japanese version has been worth about $20+ complete.

[David J.]

I don't want the Japanese version, but thanks for the tip.

[Aarzak]

I personally wouldn't pay more than $20 for "Outrunners". Its a butchered port of the coin-op (whose main attraction was its beautiful 2D graphics), and shouldn't have been ported to Genesis in the first place (other games for System 32, which is the board "Outrunners" runs in, were ported to Saturn).

[kool kitty89]

Sparkster is a very fun game, however, I don't believe it to be worth twenty of your American dorrals. I never understood why it gets called a Sonic rip off - other than it's an enjoyable platformer.

Socket is more of a Sonic Rip off... or gets claimed as one often enough, and more often gets panned as a "bad" game as well, but it seems pretty decent to me. (I know TmEE likes it a lot )

Agreed. The original Rocket Knight Adventures is better. If your patient enough, the $10 mark will happen if you keep looking around for it.

As I recall, it generally goes RKA, then Sparkster SNES, then Sparkster MD in terms of gameplay/quality. (there's exceptions for those rankings, but that seems to be the consensus)

And it's not jsut a multiplatform/port quality issue, but the 2 are totally different games. (iirc the SNES game is much more like RKA)