Recently I bought myself some more CEX Dreamcast games. I thought I’d just go through them one at a time and comment on the quality of each. It can be a bit of a gamble to buy games from the online CEX store. I have received items in the past that I just wouldn’t buy in person. And full disclosure, I bought these using credit I recently traded some things for.
What did I buy?
In total, I bought five items. The first two came in their own individual boxes, but the other three came together. For the most part, each one was wrapped securely, something I’ve noticed CEX seems to do well. I’ll start with the individual games and then finish with the multipack.
Box One
First I opened the box containing Sonic Adventures. Everything on the outside of the case looked ok. The cover and case were all intact. The disc was also ok, and it was held securely too. Sadly, there was a big sticker stuck to the booklet. Annoying, but not really something that would make me return an item.
Box Two
Next is Evolution: The World of the Sacred Device. Honestly, not a game I’d ever heard of up until seeing it on the CEX website. Overall, it was in a similar condition to Sonic Adventures. Everything except the booklet was in good condition. This time there wasn’t a big sticker, but rather the residue that is left behind when a sticker is taken off.
Box Three
The biggest box contained Power Stone, Crazy Taxi and the original Shenmue. Out of all three, both Power Stone and Crazy Taxi were the best. In fact, out of everything, they were the most pristine ones. A bit of gunk and sticker residue on the outside cases but everything inside seemed to be fine.
Shenmue was a different story though. The cardboard sleeve that held the two plastic cases together was incredibly battered. It had definitely seen a good amount of use. This wasn’t the worst part though. Once opened up fully, all four of the discs were loose. Most of the little teeth that held them in place had been broken off. Not great. I also noticed that the front panel of one of the cases had been snapped off too. And finally, one of the discs seemed to have a big weird chip taken out of it.
I’m really not sure why such a sub-standard product was in their inventory, to be honest. I’m 100% sure that if I’d gone to my local CEX with a game in that condition they wouldn’t have even accepted it. I suppose it just comes down to the individual store and person.
A pretty decent purchase
Overall, I’m fairly happy with my purchase. I know that people with higher standards would have probably returned the games with sticker damage on the booklets but I don’t mind that much. However, the beat-up edition of Shenmue is going straight back to my local CEX. Even my slightly chill stance on the games I buy from CEX won’t let me accept that broken mess. Hope you enjoyed this verbal unboxing of some CEX Dreamcast games.
If you want to watch the video that inspired this article, I’ve linked it below!
