I just won a Japanese slim PS2 on ebay after like 2 weeks of trying to get one for under $180 with shipping. Now I need some games. I know of yesasia.com, lik-sang.com, and play-asia.com. Yesasia seems to have the lowest prices and free shipping, but not as much of a selection. Could anybody recommend a good site with new Japanese games for under $60 and possibley with free shipping? Also, anyone have suggestions for what to get? It’s kind of between KOFXI, Neo Geo Battle Colliseum, and Mark of the Wolves. And one more question: Anyone know of some good scrolling shooting games, or just some games that are mostly in english?
www.playasia.com is my favourite, but if you’re looking for cheaper, might I suggest eBay? I’ve seen Japanese games sell there for fairly cheap (30-40 dollars.) If you have access to Yahoo! Japan auctions I would recommend that too.
Side-scrolling shooters, eh? Well, Gradius Gaiden is a must. You’re spoiled for choice though. Psyvariar Complete, Psyvariar2, Ibara, Homura, Salamander Deluxe, Gradius Deluxe, Espgaluda, Dodonpachi, Mushihimesama, Gradius V (Ok, thats been released here, but it still rocks.) There are MUCH more as well.
For shooters DEFINITELY get DoDonpachi Dai Ou Jou and ESPGaluda.
The only thing I could suggest is Ebay and that’s if you’re very lucky. Play-Asia is a good place to get imports. Shipping is usually around $3, it takes 1-2 weeks to arrive. Also, after a few purchases they start sending you discount coupons ($5 off). That’s probably the best option. There is no cheap way when it comes to buying imports.
Here’s an interesting question related to the topic of importing games. Where do you guys import European games from? I know of plenty of places that I can get Japanese games from, but what about European releases?
Europe :wgrin:
Truthfully, the best place seem to be eBay for me if I’m ever looking for a European release - tons of sellers so prices tend to be low. I considered Amazon.co.uk in the past, as well.
Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate the suggestions.
Good recommendations. If you like those, also check out Mushihime Sama and Ibara too. Be warned - Ibara will send you home crying. It’s a tough title (but so’s DDP-DOJ).
Radilgy (Radirgy) got a PS2 release lately also, but isn’t my cup of tea.
E.S.P. Galuda is my pick of the bunch. Easy for shmup newbies, fun, and great music and visuals.
http://www.shmups.com for heaps of reviews and recommendations via their forums.
You are quickly becoming my favorite poster. Took the thoughts right out of my mind. ESPGaluda is must.
or in SRK lingo: QFT
i like NSCX better i like their fast shipping got my Naruto NH for PSP in 2days
ESPGaluda is your best bet. It’s very challening, but not way too hard.
Dodonpachi Daioujou, Ibara, and Mushihime-Sama(at times) are ridiculously hard.
You also might want to check out Giga Wing Generations and Chaos Field(the former is also extremely difficult while the latter is fairly easy and consists almost exclusively of boss fights). You might like the Saikyo Shooting Collections as well.
And last, but definitely not least:
Shooting Love: Trizeal
The music for the first stage nearly brings tears to my eyes. There’s also a special “bonus” if you destroy all the purple ships towards the end of the first stage.
Also, keep in mind that most of the games being suggested here aren’t your normal Gradius-style scrolling shooters, they’re “manic shooters” or “bullet hells”, so be prepared for the screen to be almost completely covered in enemy bullets about 95% of the time.
“i like NSCX better i like their fast shipping got my Naruto NH for PSP in 2days”
I totally forgot about NCSX - www.ncsx.com They’re a fantastic site, and shipping is both quick and cheap 'cos there kit is all in North America.
manic shooters are what im looking for.
i wish i’d known about ncsx.com last night, I ordered KOFXI and G:MOTW from play-asia and it’ll probably be 2 weeks before I get them. my jap ps2 will be here within the week. normally i dont get too excited about new games, but my girlfriend is out of town and im working too much to build any new sticks, so im just kinda bored out of my mind.
dondonpachi games look ridiculously sweet, and ESPgaluda looks amaaaazing. too bad these games are like $70. I don’t know if I wanna pay that much right now, I just dropped $300 for the ps2, garou, and kofxi. the game i really can’t wait to get is Sega Ages: Dynamite Deka. Die Hard Arcade is with Streets of Rage 2 for best beat-em-up ever.
Yea man, I’m sorry I forgot to mention NCSX before. Though truthfully, Play-Asia is pretty fast. I’ve had packages arrive within three days on the normal shipping before.
If you like manic shooters, you might want to pick up a Dreamcast and a Saturn that can play Japanese games.
Batsugun(Very difficult. Sometimes I think Toaplan didn’t want anyone to actually beat this game.)
Donpachi
Dodonpachi
Mars Matrix
Giga Wing
Giga Wing 2
Gunbird
Gunbird 2
I have a Sega Saturn and an ST-Key for Firepro Wrestling S. I’ll look for some Donpachi-ish stuff for that. Maybe someone can help me out here, I used to have a game that was kind of like a vertical scroller, but with tanks that could rotate turrets, and you could drive in all directions, but the levels were still completely linear, just not always moving up. One of the weapon power ups was like a yo-yo that blew shit up. I can’t remember for the life of me what the game was called, but it was awesome, and I want it again. Anyone have any ideas? It seemed like the word Battle was in the title… And I had Mars Matrix for DC, but someone sold my DC for crystal meth and I have yet to get a new one. Don’t let meth heads borrow your games, no matter how long you’ve known them. I learned that lesson so you guys wouldn’t have to. (DC, 30 games, 4 controllers, 8 memory cards, 2 light guns… gone)