Rare Pokémon Retro Game Hunting in Japan

there's no sound quite as satisfying to my ears a sound I'm sure is just as nostalgic to a lot of you watching this video and every so often I get an itch to replay the classics of my childhood with games like Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga Kirby and the Amazing Mirror Zelda Minish Cap and my personal favorite Pokémon Emerald the GBA is full of Classics I constantly want to revisit and I'm sure it's the same for people that grew up with the original Game Boy or even DS and 3DS for most games this is pretty easy thanks to the Nintendo switch online service but for Pokemon good luck every time a new Nintendo Direct rolls around fans pray that they'll bring classic 2D Pokemon games to Nintendo switch but year after year we end up disappointed and with the sometimes ridiculous prices of retro games and consoles that only keep skyrocketing it feels like the only reliable way to play classic Pokémon games is with emulators and while emulation has come a long way with even DS games being easily playable on phones nowadays there's nothing quite like experiencing it just like you did back in the day on the actual Nintendo Hardware so what's a classic Pokémon fan to do if they want to relive The Nostalgia of their childhood for a reasonable price fly to Japan duh welcome to Akihabara I am of course joking but if you ever happen to visit Japan you might notice that retro video games here aren't nearly as expensive as we've come to expect in the west and while you'll need a Japanese console or handheld to play some of the region lock titles those aren't too pricey either but if you're just looking to collect you might be shocked at just how easy to find and affordable some of these hidden gems can be so join me as we venture to the heart of otaku culture Akihabara on the hunt for rare Pokémon games in Japan considered by many to be the heart of otaku culture akih Habra is a must visit shopping district in Japan if you're into video games anime manga or retro Electronics although sometimes a bit pricey compared to secondhand shops you might find outside of Tokyo akih Habra is undeniably the easiest place to find retro games with literally hundreds of shops dedicated to gaming and Anime products but before we step into Akiba there's one shop or or rather chain of stores found throughout Japan I need to mention first with over 800 stores across the country bookof is without a doubt the most popular secondhand store in Japan but today we're going to this particular book off because as you can see from the name it is a super book off and I've had a bit of better luck finding vintage retro games at the super location so let's check it out despite its name you'll often find a lot more than just books here clothes kitchen utensils cameras music equipment more clothes plushies toys action figures and of course new and used video games they have the days though they just more the one in the background because they're mainly secondhand stores that means their stock is limited to whatever people bring in and sell so it's not always guaranteed you'll find any particular game but the prices are almost always unbeatable but we're looking for Pokémon unfortunately I'm not seeing much I think the only one right there is fire red for 3600 and although that price isn't bad I'm mainly looking for box copies of the Game Boy or Game Boy advanced games which unfortunately this book off didn't have but they did have a lot of the DS Pokemon titles for extremely good prices thankfully this is far from the only bookof in Japan in fact bookoff even has several spin-off stores like hobby off super bookof bookof Bazaar and my personal favorite hard off okay maybe it's not my favorite but the name just cracks me up every time so if you ever see a book off I would definitely recommend just popping in cuz you never know what you might find Pokemon trading card game for the Game Boy Color sealed for 1,500 are you kidding me oh that's pretty sick also just noticed this Pokemon Coliseum disc the celab that's 18,000 Yen why is that so expensive turns out this is a bonus disc you could only get by pre-ordering Pokémon Coliseum in Japan that would get you celab in game but this one didn't have the original packaging so I decided not to get it welcome to Akihabara also known as the electric town you can probably see why there's quite a lot of electricity around here a lot of lights a lot of movement and a lot of video game stores so hopefully we have some better luck here and find some of the stuff I'm looking [Music] for as I mentioned earlier there are a lot of game gaming and just general nerdy culture stores in akih Habra so I decided to make a list of 10 retro game stores that had the best reviews and recommendations from various websites so as not to get distracted by the many anime figurine shops oh God he's already in one isn't he must resist I've been collecting figma ever since I was able to make my own money so a good smile popup shop come on but anyway it's finally time to hit up our first Retro Game Shop beep Akihabara and it's closed not going to lie after seeing those book off prices and now the store I most wanted to go to is closed I'm feeling a little discouraged but we must go on so the second store on my list is retro gamecam which thankfully was open and playing on the TV right at the entrance was Pokémon red and blue literally right as you enter there's a wall lined with pretty much every single game boy and Game Boy advanced Pokémon game and even a few box copies although the prices are a bit pricey for lack of a better word I also found this curious little bit of merch which I believe is a cloth to clean your Game Boy screen but the real Treasures of this store are hidden up on the second floor this are I spotted box copies of heart gold and soul silver with the Pok Walker as well as the elusive Pokémon XD Gale of darkness which I learned in Japan has an even more ridiculous name sealed Pokemon Diamond 3500 that's not bad we got Pearl got black and white black and white too oh my God wait it goes all the way I will say it's a little tight in here though like look at this arm space barely any arm space here I won't be revealing what I actually bought until the end of the video so you'll have to stay tuned but for now we're moving on to the third shop Trader headquarters this store is massive with I believe five floors and two of them being dedicated to just video games the other floors are full of figurines from all your favorite shows and other things but the Highlight is definitely the second floor here you'll find tons and tons of retro games for pretty much every console and handhelds in pretty good condition like these original game boy with some Unique Designs I'd never seen But as impressive as some of these Rarities were they wouldn't come close to what I felt when I finally saw the Pokémon section have all in here no way even Crystal they literally have them all in the whole collection as tempting as it was having the holy Grill of Pokémon right in front of me I just couldn't bring myself to buy them for those prices some weren't that bad compared to what I'd seen earlier but Pokémon green being more than five times the price I found it at bookof just made me feel like I could find a better deal elsewhere so I reluctantly returned to the first floor where they mainly sell newer games but that includes DS and 3DS and this is where I spotted something quite interesting what is this a little Pokemon keyboard what is this this is a game called learn with Pokemon typing adventure and it was actually never released in the US so it's no wonder I had no idea what I was looking at there is an English version of this game but it only came out in Europe and Australia so I'd say this is quite a rare find overall I would say Trader headquarters had the most impressive stock of Pokémon items so far but when it comes to prices they tend to lean a bit more towards overpriced so I would recommend comparing prices online to determine if it's worth it for you as tempted as I was I'm going to hold off on buying them because I feel like I might be able to find them at another book off for a similar price and better quality even cuz at least the Pokémon Emerald I found was a little bit scuffed but the journey in akih Habra is far from over and our next stop might just be the most famous Retro Game Store in all of Japan While most known for their impressive collection of famicom games super potato has become as much a museum for retro games as it is a store and a must- visit destination for any gamer visiting Japan even if you don't plan on buying anything I knew I was getting close to the shop when nostalgic tunes of Gaming's past started humming in the streets and as I stepped inside the Shop's tiny hallway I was immediately blasted with nostalgic bits of gaming history there are three floor to this super potato with the top one being home to a vintage arcade and a traditional little shop selling Japanese treats the other two floors are chalk full of pretty much every type of retro gaming memorabilia you can imagine and of course actual games for sale as far as Pokémon goes though I wasn't able to spot much that pequ my interest besides this Pikachu themed Game Boy Color but it wasn't actually for sale and the stuff that could be bought was about as pricey as the previous store but there were a lot of cool collectibles from other franchises like this vintage Zelda strategy guide with the most interesting artwork of link I think I've ever seen and a ton of unique consoles and handhelds that I was definitely tempted to get even if I had no idea what they're for but as I mentioned the highlight of super potato is definitely their unique famicom or NES game collection and the decorations littered throughout the store that give it a Vibe you just have to experience in person so with that I wrapped up my first night of retro game hunting in akih Habra since the other stores I wanted to visit were closed probably shouldn't have come here on a Tuesday so we're back in Akiba I really hope beep is open today but there's also another book off that I want to check out and there's one more store that I didn't get to go to yesterday let's see if we have some good luck aih Habra during the day is an entirely different vibe going from a cyber Punk future escape to something I could can only describe as disney-esque with all the vibrant colors and tourists but our first stop on this day trip is another huge multifloor complex known as mandarake or Mandrake I'm not really sure this building is similar to a few others in akuba with each floor being dedicated to a different niche of nerd culture and of course video games are all the way up on the sixth floor no the video game floor boasted an impressive collection of classic games from pretty much every era including some I'm assuming super rare ones considering the price tag besides video games though I noticed this store had an interesting collection of old DVDs I mean Leonardo decapria is very popular in Japan right oh yeah they love them here why is he almost $300 I don't know but I couldn't spot anything Pokémon the complex itself definitely gives an 80s Vibe and perhaps even older judging by the displays outside so maybe Pokémon's just a bit too modern for this place which means we're moving on to the next next door and the one I've been most excited for yes it's [Music] open needless to say I was excited for beep and as I stepped inside this retro dungeon I was not disappointed by its aesthetic which is definitely helped by the catchy tune that plays throughout the store their selection of games wasn't bad either and particularly noteworthy was their collection of video game soundtracks which I don't think i' seen at any previous stores but of course I'm on the hunt for Pokémon and that's when I finally spotted them this was by far the cheapest I'd seen any box Pokémon game granted this was mainly due to the condition of the box but still that's pretty good though a bit smaller than I expected beep was full of so many little details and decorations that made exploring every inch of the store really fun definitely recommend checking it out if you're ever in Akihabara but now it's time to head into what would eventually become perhaps my favorite store in all of Japan sudu gaaya similar to bookof this secondhand store has many locations throughout the country but specializes more in the sale of figurines plushies Collectibles and of course video games I first went to the one in Yokohama and was surprised to find one of the rarest Pokémon games ever just sitting there on the shelf for about $40 if you don't know the English version of this game easily sells for hundreds sometimes thousands of dollars but I had no idea at the time so I kind of just left it there so I'm hoping to find another one here at suda's akih Habra location where immediately I was drawn to their massive collection of GBA games the only problem was most of these games were sealed together with another game and you could only see the side logo which just says Game Boy Advance which made it kind of difficult to tell what anything was without actually pulling the case out so I spent almost an hour looking through each and every one of these GBA containers hoping that maybe there would be something rare when suddenly oh jackpot and almost right after that I spotted Pokémon pinball rubyan Sapphire for 9,000 Yen and this is when I noticed they had even more GBA games unboxed but these were bundled with even more games which made it even harder to find anything specific still definitely worth looking through all these as I actually managed to spot Pokemon Emerald among the chaos their DS and 3DS section is also pretty good and thankfully a lot more or organized and I was able to easily find Classics like Pokémon Conquest Pokemon Dash and Pokémon Art Academy man it's been forever since I played that just as I was about ready to head out something quite peculiar caught my eye I had heard of Pokemon Puzzle league on the N64 but had no idea this Game Boy Color puzzle game ever existed Unfortunately they only had the box and manual unless the game was in a different section but at this point I've been in the store for over an hour and was in desperate need of some fresh air but suddenly The elusive Pokemon box has been spotted again but as expected it was more expensive than the one in Yokohama still I left suduaya pretty happy with my other finds and began the journey to the Final store on our list but first it was time for [Music] lunch not too far from akih Habra station you can find this stall that sells Magikarp taaki which is a popular fish-shaped Japanese pastry and boy who are they delicious I believe the shop is called kurukan but you can just Google Magikarp taaki and it should pop up so if you're a Pokémon fan and happen to be an akuba make sure to stop by and our final stop on this journey is none other than bookof specifically the super Bazaar located in Tokyo bay and the reason we're coming all the way out here is because I actually came here once before during my business visit to the Tokyo bay Pokémon Center and found the greatest Pokémon collection of my whole trip look how many copies of Pokémon they have right here what the heck the DS Pokémon games here are definitely the cheapest I've ever seen them and same goes for the GBA games at least without the boxes they even had Pokémon Coliseum for like half the price I bought it at sudu GAA which is a bit of a bummer but what can you do you can also find pretty good deals on consoles and handheld since at least GameCube games are region locked so you'll need a Japanese one to play Japanese games but Game Boy and BS Games should work just fine they also had a special cabinet for sealed Pokémon games and sitting right there was a box copy of the original Pokémon Red for 6600 Yen but that was 2 weeks ago and when I returned to see if it was still there no somebody bought the Pokemon Red Bro they had Pokemon Red here not that long ago to rub salt in the wound the store has like this announcer on the PA and in English literally said if you see something you like the best time to buy it is now yeah I wish I did that 2 weeks ago so with that I wrapped up my retro Pokémon game hunt and head back home feeling a bit defeated about the Pokemon Red situation but I'm still in Japan for another month and a half and you can bet I'll be checking in on every single bookof and sudu GAA I see from now on cuz you TR never know what you might find so here is the final haul we'll start from the top and just work our way down so we got this little Kirby game that I mainly bought for my wife just cuz I thought it was cute but we found out is actually a rare gyroscope Kirby game which I didn't even know the game boy had so that's pretty cool we got Pokémon green which was a Japan exclusive and I've actually been playing through it in Japanese which has been pretty fun trying to figure out what everything is then we have Pokémon Emerald which had a save file already on it so let me know if you'd be interested in seeing what that save file had it could make for an interesting short then we have the Pokemon trading card game video game for the Game Boy which I just noticed has these weird tapes on it I might have to open it and find out exactly what those are but I also found out they made a sequel for this trading card video game that only came out in Japan so that would be pretty interesting to find then we have the dynamic duo Pokémon Coliseum and XD for the GameCube fun fact XD might be the only Pokémon RPG I have never played so uh future playthrough SL stream then we have Super Smash Bros melee which I'm actually not sure why I even bought but I mean it does have Pokemon characters in it so I think it still counts then we have a box copy of Pokemon Platinum which I definitely found for cheaper later on but it's my favorite Pokémon game of all time maybe tied with Emerald actually which is why I'm still looking for a box copy of emerald but had to get the goats these two I didn't actually show in the video but yo-kai watch one for Nintendo switch and yo-kai watch 4 neither of these ever came out in America so when I saw them I just had to pick them up and I'm actually excited to try playing these even though I don't read Japanese then there's this set of Nintendo hanafuda cards if you didn't know this was actually the first product Nintendo ever made not literally this one I'm assuming this is just like a re-release to call back to the nostal is still pretty cool little piece of history and last but not least we've got Pokémon learn to type I'm actually tempted to open this up and play it but I'm probably not going to it's just such a relic that must be preserved let me know which of these you would have purchased as well which one's your favorite and if there's anything else you saw in this video you would have bought I'm of course still on the hunt for the original Pokémon red and blue box Japanese copies you didn't think I for got about Pokemon box did you I went back and got it thank you so much for watching don't forget to hit that like button if you guys enjoyed And subscribe for more Pokemon content and I'll catch you in the next [Music] [Applause] video

Channel: MunchingOrange

Views: 71,944

Keywords: Pokemon, Rare Pokemon Games, Japan Vlog, Pokemon Japan, Akihabara, Retro Games, Retro Game Hunting, Old Pokemon Games

Id: TyNlIVxpsfM

Length: 20min 23sec (1223 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 26 2023