Tuesday 22 April 2014

Super Famicom Imports


Man in Japan inspired many dreams of Japanese arcades

Super Play - more exciting than Action Force comic coming out each week
Star Wars the film come to life
Perhaps too much green tea is bad for you, but Genki was thinking about the early import years. With no net, the fabulous Super Play and its peers kept early adopters up to speed with their Man in Japan's update on the import world. Adverts would appear in the back from importers offering their wares in print form, possibly with the odd photo. So often a game would be bought on little more to go on than its name. Exciting stuff with a big chance of the gamble not coming off. Like buying pick and mix with your eyes shut. But for every bad 'un, there was the good chance of getting a Beer Flavoured Pint Pot sweet: the likes of Plok, Adams Family, Super Star Wars, Syo the Seal, Xandra's Big Adventure brought much import joy and happiness.

Initially weighed in at around
100 sheets. Jinkies!
Genki still recalls a local shop having Super Star Wars running and the amazing look to the game backed up by that familiar soundtrack. Unfortunately lacking the credentials or kudos with the shop manager, Genki had to make to with watching others enjoy this piece of pure gaming based on a film that actually worked as a game too. Still no complaints were made: seeing was believing. Even if few could step up to the seventy Pound price mark.

The lack of supply did unfortunately mean some importers would try and take advantage of your much maligned gamer. Of course Genki would never partake in such malarkey. And the advent of the net means many more importing options such as our own humble store. Making for the days of plus one hundred Pound Street Fighter II or seven hundred Pound Playstations over. Even if sometimes the afore mentioned mystique of the import experience has been devalued. Heavens – even an unboxing can be witnessed these days.


A huge part of the package was indeed the package. With no need to tailor the art towards a mass market,
Jelly Babies or unsung platform hero
and good family man?
game box art produced some exquisite examples. Perhaps Xandra's Big Adventure did look like a bunch of jelly babies on the box, but the feel of the art was new and fresh. Super Play enjoyed some inspired covers as a result with the talents of Wil Overton opening Western gamers minds to expect more than Conan the Barbarian meets Lord of the Rings Hobbit style box art. Not that there is anything wrong with Conan vs Hobbit of course, if that's what the game inside actually is...

Happy Gaming.

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