GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Every Friday to Monday!

Cool Boarders is a classic, the sequel is probably my favourite - you get to play as an alien!

Yes... yes! We don't necessarily have to include good games in the Weekender; anything goes! Just as well here as Aliens Colonial Marines is infamous for bugs amd memes - but it had one of the best collector's editions around.

I pulled this one out from behind a cupboard and hadn't checked it out for quite some time. It really is, IMHO, very good indeed. I didn't get it at launch but a year or so later - just £12.99 new from Amazon. It was so worth it! Let's take a look.


^ The box is very well put together. A plastic cover is printed with the alien images and this is placed over the inner cardbox. It really makes for a nice effect.


^ Here is a closer look at the alien imagery on the outer plastic sleeve. The artwork is very detailed and looks great.


^ The back of the outer sleeve shares lots of information about the game and the additional items and game content included with this version.


^ I was surprised at how good the model is; it is detailed and well-painted.


^ A closer look at the alien attacking!


^ I decided to jump the alien and save the poor space marine!


^ An overview of al the additional items included in this edition.


^ The two patches are excellent; they're sewn rather than printed - very impressive.


^ The mission briefing is on actual old-school dot-matrix printer paper; you can even tear the sprocket holes off like the real thing! Being a collector, I would never do this, obvs :-) . The picture is great and gives the appearance of being a real photograph.


^ It doesn't show up very well in this photo but the details about the ship are on plasticky, blue-ish translucent paper - it's like a real blueprint.


^ The game version included is the limited edition.


^ And... I have the GAME-exclusive Exterminator Edition of the game, too - it has some different DLC included.

- - - - - - - - - -

I hope you enjoyed that look over the game packaging. I feel that it's a genuinely great collectors edition; it clearly had some time and care poured into putting it together. The game itself... maybe not so much! That's it for now and I'm looking forward to seeing what else crops up in this Weekender!

twitter.com/jawafour/status/1418924075154563088

^ Oh, and if you enjoy pottering about on Twitter, Doom and I are promoting #RetroWeekender there, too!

Wow I'm blown away by the submissions we've had so far! I apologise once again for not being too active on this thread. My current work/family/life balance is very busy and quite hectic at the moment!

I've absolutely loved having a ganders through these so far! It makes me genuinely happy to see others so passionate about retro gaming!

I feel like I need to up my own presentation game too as there's so many high quality posts!

Yeah, it has been great to see people popping by here, Doom. Chatting on Discord, I think one or two folk are planning to post entries next Weekender so that should be neat!

jawaX wrote:

^ An overview of al the additional items included in this edition.

This does look a good special edition to be fair - quite "gimmicky" (what would someone actually do with most of it - its not like an art book or soundtrack) but I can't help think the dot matrix paper and blueprint and faux-photo are all very cool! All in-keeping with the Alien universe too. It's a shame by most accounts the game itself doesn't hold up.

That's two for two Alien games from jawa with Infestation and Colonial Marines - what's coming next week?

My turn. This week, it's a lesser-spotted Gamecube sports title.


I was incredibly fortunate to get my hands on this one - Super Dragon 64 was planning to offload some games and knowing that I was building my own collection, he gave me first dibs!


The barrel mini-game pictured above was my absolute nemesis; it doesn't look hard, it probably isn't hard for most players but I had to fluke it each time.


Like with all my GC games besides two, this copy is the the UK version as denoted by the green triangle at the bottom of the spine.


Curiously, it comes with duplicate paperwork, but like everything else it's in as-new condition. eBay sold listings indicate that this is worth somewhere in the ballpark of £115-£125. It's a good game and there's fun to be had even if you aren't mad about baseball.

Drumstick wrote:My turn. This week, it's a lesser-spotted Gamecube sports title.

I was incredibly fortunate to get my hands on this one - Super Dragon 64 was planning to offload some games and knowing that I was building my own collection, he gave me first dibs!

The barrel mini-game pictured above was my absolute nemesis; it's doesn't look hard, it probably isn't hard for most players but I had to fluke it each time.

Like with all my GC games besides two, this copy is the the UK version as denoted by the green triangle at the bottom of the spine.

Curiously, it comes with duplicate paperwork, but like everything else it's in as-new condition. eBay sold listings indicate that this is worth somewhere in the ballpark of £115-£125. It's a good game and there's fun to be had even if you aren't mad about baseball.

I have this but I cant even remember if its Pal or USA lol , its a fun game though and im happy to own it. I saw this and Chibi Robo in a CEX recently side by side and its like wowsers they want a lot for these dont they (I have chibi robo its pal but with like German or French on the back of the box).

Drumstick wrote:My turn. This week, it's a lesser-spotted Gamecube sports title.

I was incredibly fortunate to get my hands on this one - Super Dragon 64 was planning to offload some games and knowing that I was building my own collection, he gave me first dibs!

The barrel mini-game pictured above was my absolute nemesis; it doesn't look hard, it probably isn't hard for most players but I had to fluke it each time.

Like with all my GC games besides two, this copy is the the UK version as denoted by the green triangle at the bottom of the spine.

Curiously, it comes with duplicate paperwork, but like everything else it's in as-new condition. eBay sold listings indicate that this is worth somewhere in the ballpark of £115-£125. It's a good game and there's fun to be had even if you aren't mad about baseball.

Awesome contribution Drum!

I completely forgot about this title! Never played it but would like to own it at some point! I'm still on the look out for Mario Strikers, another great game that's sadly being pushed up in price all the time.

OrangeRKN wrote:...That's two for two Alien games from jawa with Infestation and Colonial Marines - what's coming next week?

Hee! I don't think I have any more Alien games... hold it!!! I *think* I have a copy of Electric Dreams' Aliens: The Computer Game on the C64! ED was an Activision-owned publisher.

Drumstick wrote:My turn. This week, it's a lesser-spotted Gamecube sports title...

It's so cool to hear that you obtained the game through the legendary Super Dragon 64, Drum. Many folk here will remember Dragon from his former "Dark Dragon" days! It's a tough game to find now so it's great to see that you have a copy in such good condition shining brightly in your collection. Maybe we could see more of your GC gems in future Weekenders?

Drumstick wrote:Like with all my GC games besides two, this copy is the the UK version as denoted by the green triangle at the bottom of the spine...

Ah! The famous coloured triangles! There are a multitude of colours to be seen! As you say, Drum, most UK games have a green marking. If a game is a part of a special or collectors edition, the colour is usually purple (reflecting UK and Europe). Others occasionally crop up in the UK, too; occasionally a purple (pan-Europe) shade appears even though the game is a genuine standard UK release; and my copy of Transformers Prime on the Wii U has a yellow triangle - it's an official release for the UK but has some scandanavian language options.

jawaX wrote:

Drumstick wrote:Like with all my GC games besides two, this copy is the the UK version as denoted by the green triangle at the bottom of the spine...

Ah! The famous coloured triangles! There are a multitude of colours to be seen! As you say, Drum, most UK games have a green marking. If a game is a part of a special or collectors edition, the colour is usually purple (reflecting UK and Europe). Others occasionally crop up in the UK, too; occasionally a purple (pan-Europe) shade appears even though the game is a genuine standard UK release; and my copy of Transformers Prime on the Wii U has a yellow triangle - it's an official release for the UK but has some scandanavian language options.

The three letter code can be found on the back of the box too in the bottom right corner (at the end of a longer string), I've got mostly UKV green and a fair few purple EUR, but I also have an orange EUR (The Last Story Limited Edition), a lilac EUZ (Fate Extella), and a yellow-green UXP (The Force Unleashed). Interestingly that wiki link has no mention of EUZ and notes UXP as "Not for sale/supply/distribution in the UK".

Here's my Weekender "Submission"

Let's take a look at some wrestling games from the 90s and 00s, arguably the heyday of the genre!

GameCube

In this generation, the PS2 really did dominate the wrestling game market with the 'Smackdown' series which was then followed by the 'Smackdown Vs Raw' series. Sony had all the limelight!

Xbox had (I think) only one game, that was 'RAW' which as far as I'm aware didn't do very well...

Then we have the small, but mighty box from Nintendo and... well... It comes out swinging!

Wrestlemania X8 & XIX


Legends of Wrestling 1 & 2


Day of Reckoning 1 & 2

As you can see, the GameCube wasn't messing around! All these games offered something completely different, but we're all stupid fun!

Now, let's move on...

N64 & GBA

The N64 is home to some of the greatest wrestling games of all time! The GBA... well... It had some wrestling games too!


Attitude was ok, the GBAs Road to Wrestlemania was.. a game! But let's be fair, we're here for one game only, No Mercy! Considering the best wrestling game of all time by many! I would find it hard to disagree if one other game didn't exist, WCW/NWO Revenge, a game I'm planning to get a boxed copy of soon!

Nevertheless let's take a closer look at some boxed N64 game goodness!

That Cover Though...


The Rear


Almost Complete!


One Clean Cart!


That's One Clean 20+ Year Old Manual!


I miss the 90s!


I picked this up in CEX for the grand total of... £6!!


Now, let's get a closer look at that No Mercy cart!


Extremely clean and works absolutely fine!

While I'm here, here's the GBA Road to Wrestlemania cart!


I've played it and it's OK at best, it's a bit fiddly and bare bones but still good to have in the collection!

The Doom Spoon wrote:Here's my Weekender "Submission"

Let's take a look at some wrestling games from the 90s and 00s, arguably the heyday of the genre!

GameCube

In this generation, the PS2 really did dominate the wrestling game market with the 'Smackdown' series which was then followed by the 'Smackdown Vs Raw' series. Sony had all the limelight!

Xbox had (I think) only one game, that was 'RAW' which as far as I'm aware didn't do very well...

Then we have the small, but mighty box from Nintendo and... well... It comes out swinging!

Wrestlemania X8 & XIX

Legends of Wrestling 1 & 2

Day of Reckoning 1 & 2

As you can see, the GameCube wasn't messing around! All these games offered something completely different, but we're all stupid fun!

Now, let's move on...

N64 & GBA

The N64 is home to some of the greatest wrestling games of all time! The GBA... well... It had some wrestling games too!

Attitude was ok, the GBAs Road to Wrestlemania was.. a game! But let's be fair, we're here for one game only, No Mercy! Considering the best wrestling game of all time by many! I would find it hard to disagree if one other game didn't exist, WCW/NWO Revenge, a game I'm planning to get a boxed copy of soon!

Nevertheless let's take a closer look at some boxed N64 game goodness!

That Cover Though...

The Rear

Almost Complete!

One Clean Cart!

That's One Clean 20+ Year Old Manual!

I miss the 90s!

I picked this up in CEX for the grand total of... £6!!


Now, let's get a closer look at that No Mercy cart!

Extremely clean and works absolutely fine!

While I'm here, here's the GBA Road to Wrestlemania cart!

I've played it and it's OK at best, it's a bit fiddly and bare bones but still good to have in the collection!

If you like all those wrestling games then you need to try Wrestling Empire on Switch. The PS1 and N64 days were a real highlight for wrestling games

The Doom Spoon wrote:Here's my Weekender "Submission"...

It's DOOM time!


^ Actual footage of Doom Spoon entering the Weekender.

Some tremendous wrestling titles there, Doom. I know we've spoken on Twitter (#RetroWeekender, folks!) about these but it's great to see a more detailed look and commentary here in GRcade.

The Doom Spoon wrote:I miss the 90s!

He-he! This is so good; over the top and silly... and ace! "You gotta be rude, crude and in the mood to feud..." .

Well played, Doom. The Weekender is taking off and I reckon we'll start seeing more folk posting stuff in the coming weeks. GRcadians have a lot of cool gaming gear tucked away in their cupboards .

Good to see this thread still going. I don't collect any more myself, had a huge clear out in fact, but I've still a few odds and sods kicking about.

Gemini73 wrote:Good to see this thread still going. I don't collect any more myself, had a huge clear out in fact, but I've still a few odds and sods kicking about.

Doom Spoon and I recently re-launched the Weekender, Gem; this is the second week. Hey, dude, if you wanted to take part you could show off one or two of your "odds and sods" next time :-).

I'm pretty sure I've posted pics of it all before. Still, wouldn't hurt to re-post a few PSone titles I've got kicking around.

Gemini73 wrote:...wouldn't hurt to re-post a few PSone titles I've got kicking around.

Absolutely! You could consider just posting a couple... save some for future Weekenders :-).

Oh man, good wrestling stuff there Doom. I'll see if I can grab my N64 wrestling kit for next week!

Sorry I'm so late replying! I've been prepping for a job interview and so my focus has shifted to that!

kerr9000 wrote:If you like all those wrestling games then you need to try Wrestling Empire on Switch. The PS1 and N64 days were a real highlight for wrestling games

I actually have that game on Switch! I've played through the tutorial but haven't touched it since, I think it was bad timing when it comes to being a bit busy at the moment. I definitely want to give it a good crack though, the developer has put his heart and soul into this and constantly updates it. The career mode sounds awesome!

jawaX wrote:

The Doom Spoon wrote:Here's my Weekender "Submission"...

It's DOOM time!


^ Actual footage of Doom Spoon entering the Weekender.

Some tremendous wrestling titles there, Doom. I know we've spoken on Twitter (#RetroWeekender, folks!) about these but it's great to see a more detailed look and commentary here in GRcade.

The Doom Spoon wrote:I miss the 90s!

He-he! This is so good; over the top and silly... and ace! "You gotta be rude, crude and in the mood to feud..." .

Well played, Doom. The Weekender is taking off and I reckon we'll start seeing more folk posting stuff in the coming weeks. GRcadians have a lot of cool gaming gear tucked away in their cupboards .

Cheers Jawa! Looking back at these games I had forgotten just how good they are! I'll look forward to revisiting them one day!

I feel like Twitter and the forum pair themselves well! A different type of interaction on both platforms! The forum is great for going into depth and having proper conversations. Twitter gets you a wide audience and quick interactions!

Corazon de Leon wrote:Oh man, good wrestling stuff there Doom. I'll see if I can grab my N64 wrestling kit for next week!

Cheers man and I can't wait to see what you got planned for the next Weekender!

I have recorded some videos of more bits of my game collection to put up on TikTok , I'm going to put them up then post the links here over the weekend.