Wednesday, May 29, 2019

World's Rarest Games ~ Official Super Mario Bros 2 Lost Levels Variant ~ Blue Skies

Today is a great day to go outside and look at the blue skies or maybe not. Why not play Super Mario Bros 2 on an AV modded Famicom and Disk System? Let's break out some fun time!

Famicom Disk System games are notoriously common and usually are yellow. Several most popular Nintendo franchises started on the system including The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus. A handful of blue disks were released with metal shutters offering minor protection from spilled coffee and other hazards.

The Famicom Disk Writer was a kiosk that Nintendo set up in Japanese stores allowing customers to rewrite their disks at a fraction of the price than standard retail complete games. Usually a sticker was provided and slapped over the old game. Other offerings included an option flyer printout of the game's instructions which were very simplistic paper. Blue disks were not allowed and even prevented from being written by the kiosks itself as the shutters were a physical lockout mechanism. It is unclear why Nintendo disallowed store owners from rewriting the blue disks, but I'm sure a few slipped by the detectors, as I've seen a less than ten blue disks (Vink on Famicom World had a blue Kid Icarus disk in his store!).

Keep in mind that piracy was rampant and is one of the shortfalls of the console itself. From examining the rest of the blue disk games I own, the build quality seems like a legitimate disk. I could be wrong and that's entirely possible making this post a balls-grade curiosity at best.

Nintendo knew that people who resided out in the country were unable to access stores due to their locale but Nintendo cared and provided a service of mailing in their old disks and Nintendo mailed them back to their owners for a small fee. I guess it is possible that Nintendo relaxed their policy of not accepting blue disks over time and it was very late in the service's era (it ended in 2003!) but I do not believe this was the case as there are almost no blue disks with other games written to them from what I was able to research.

However, as I mentioned prior, a few blue disks slipped into the mix and eventually made their way into a Japanese retro gaming store that sold me my copy of a blue Super Mario Bros 2! Galaxian was also an unusual surprise on the flip side. Both games function flawlessly and the labels are not indented by way of fingernail handling or beavers nibbling at it. Unfortunately I do not know what game was overwritten and I am not peeling back the labels because that would inevitably, irreversibly lead to damage for such an exceedingly rare item that probably only exist in the margin of eight or less.















Goomba stomping sound effects (for good measure I'll toss in a coin or two!)









Aim! Steady! Fire! B-2-You sunk my spaceship!








An array of fighters have set their marks and this is your last chance to captivate them by surprise!











Famicom disks will eventually demagnetise or infest with mold over time, rendering them a cooler coaster than your old AOL CDs; especially prone to the latter if they are improperly stored. A cool, dry plastic bin sealed away from bugs, dust and other elements is ideal. Famicom Wiorld user retrospectives offered various personal experiences with Famicom Disk Writer kiosks and store clerks who rewrote his disk, and he is even an original contest winner for a gold punchout!

indicates that the best way to prevent your loss of games is to store them in a cool, dry area preferable sealed. The Famicom Disk System belt is poses a whole host of issues. Luckily I had my belt expertly installed so it should last a few more years of without stopping Dead Zone in it's tracks. Actually, since I own an FDSStick it should last way longer and I'm not limited to my game selection.

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