Collector Stories - My First Boxed Super Famicom Game

I just got my latest eBay purchase in the mail. It's complete in the box Super Famicom game - that's the Japanese Super Nintendo, for any readers who don't know. I don't own a Super Famicom, but I do have a Super Nintendo with the two plastic tabs inside the cartridge slot removed, and that's the only modification you need to play a Japanese game on an American Super Nintendo. I'm not sure about European ones, but I'd imagine that it's the same process. There's no region lockout function on the Super Nintendo, making it very convenient for importers who don't want to spend $70 on a Super Famicom.

The game is SD Gundam GX. I am a huge fan of the Gundam franchise and I'm a sucker for buying games based on the franchise. In fact, I bought a PS3 when it came out because one of the launch titles was Gundam Crossfire, which turned out to be one of the worst games I've ever played in my life. But there are good games in the series, and this is one of them. It's a strategy game with some action thrown in, and while it isn't a particularly deep game, it serves it's purpose well for a Gundam fan. You control an army of mobile suits and battleships and blow up another army of mobile suits and battleships. But this isn't a review of the game. That'll probably come later. This is a review of the packaging for a boxed Super Famicom game. I've never even seen one of these before, so this is a first impression.


This is the second Super Famicom game I've bought, the first being the Japanese version of Pilotwings, but that was just the game itself, so I really didn't know what the box looked like.

It's about the size of a VHS, and it opens from the top. This specific box is in slightly shoddy condition, but it's acceptable. It's twenty something year old cardboard. You kind of have to expect that.

Shown for size comparison

The case contains a piece of plastic to hold the game in place, and if I remember right, the Super NES games only used a piece of cardboard, which is a lot less likely to survive for a couple decades.

The game itself rattles a little bit when I shake it, but it works. In fact, my copy of Pilotwings rattles as well. Maybe Super Famicom games rattle more than their Western counterparts. I've only ever had these two Super Famicom games, so it could just be these two specific carts and not a general thing among them. But they do look a little less well designed. They're closer to the shape of a Genesis cartridge, and those tend to have a little more rattling than Super Nintendo carts. Maybe they're just not as well designed.

Also, the game leaves a little bit of space in the cartridge slot of my Super Nintendo when I put it in. That's sort of obvious given the difference in shape between the cartridge and the cartridge slot, though.

The booklet isn't in great condition either, but again, it's almost twenty years old. It's a lot smaller than the American Super Nintendo booklets, but it feels like it's made out of the same kind of paper.

The manual itself

On top of the manual for Clayfighter for size comparison

Also, the manual has some pretty cool drawings of super deformed mobile suits in it.

One of my favorites, the Kampfer from Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket on the left, and the Double Zeta Gundam from it's eponymous series on the right.

And a recreation of an iconic scene from the original Gundam. That scene didn't take place in open space, though. I'm not sure why it does here.

Honestly, the wear and tear doesn't matter too much to me. I'm just glad to have this game in this good of condition. Collecting Super Famicom games might be my next collecting vice and there are a lot of people selling them in North America, which makes it easier for me than if I had to rely on a seller in Japan who I might not be able to communicate with if something goes wrong due to the language barrier, not to mention the huge shipping and handling price and the time it would take to get a video game from Yokohama to New York.

In any case, I'm going to sit down and play this game for a bit. Expect a review at some point.