Notes

We were in Ueno Park and really wanted to eat okonomiyaki. While looking for a restaurant, I noticed the Hard Off store. After eating, we decided to stop by. I picked up the Time Crisis package, even though the game itself wasn’t included. But the black Guncon just looks great and goes well with the gray one I already had. Since the Famicom consoles here were quite a bit cheaper than they had been just a few days earlier at Mr. Potato in Osaka, I decided to pick one up after all. At the games section I was happy to find a boxed Shutokou Battle 2: Drift King which I had only found loose before, two PlayStation classics Krazy Ivan and Brave Fencer Musashiden, and I also picked up Super Donkey Kong 3 while waiting in line at the register.
Once I finally arrived in Akihabara, a visit to BEEP! was a must. The shop is truly legendary, and I probably should have gone there on the first day, when my wallet was still full. Then I might have picked up a few arcade games. But as a new Famicom owner, I ended up buying a surprise pack of games instead.
Akihabara was fascinating but also exhausting. Retro Game Camp Akihabara was too crowded for me. You had to squeeze through the aisles, and my mission was clear: grab two or three PC Engine games with interesting covers that weren't too expensive. Okay, I ended up with the Mahjong game because I only had CD games and also wanted to test whether the HU cards worked in my newly acquired Duo-R.
I also wanted some good Famicom games in case the surprise box was full of junk. So I also picked up Super Mario Bros. and Xevious. Because of the yellow cartridge, I thought it was Super Mario Bros. 3, but it was the first one – no big deal, that's fine too.

Afterwards, I tried to find the SNK Store, but Akihabara is very busy, so I gave up. The haul was very satisfying, though, and I'm glad I visited these legendary shops.