Interesting read. I do share in the befuddlement over why some players limit themselves to just the US releases. I think the person is missing out even if he or she isn't going for a full set, but it's all the more confusing when you're really going out of your way to collect a lot of hard to obtain stuff, not to mention a bunch of crappy stuff. If someone just has a small collection of fun games, I can think "Okay, he just can't be bothered in put in the extra effort to import", but a full set collector can't use laziness or lack of funds as a reason to ignore PC Engine releases. Even if you don't feel like modding or getting an adapter, there's no reason to skip quality Japanese disc-based games that have little text in them, assuming you own a Duo or Turbo CD add-on. If you ONLY own a TG-16, then, well, you're missing out in lots of ways, and you'd be better off putting your money toward opening up your playing options than collecting the crappiest TurboChips just because you feel that's all that's left available to you.
As for expensive games like Magical Chase, I think there is a lot of weird psychological stuff going on with these very rare, very expensive games, and they seem to draw out the most anal-retentive, OCD types in gaming. I think human beings naturally try to justify everything they do to themselves, and while many things are indeed truly justifiable, sometimes it's a matter of self-delusion. With the super fans and the hyper-critics of Magical Chase, I think you'll most often see that the people who pump the game up to extreme levels are those who paid a ton for it, and you'll most often see that the critics are those who don't own the game, try it out via emulation, and tear it down in order to feel comfortable about the fact that they can't afford it or justify paying the going rate. I do think there would be WAY less discussion of the game if it wasn't so expensive, from both sides of the opinion spectrum. It'd probably be in a similar position as other "cute 'em ups" on the system, like, say, Detana!! TwinBee, in that it'd have some fans and some others who are indifferent or don't like it that much, but most people wouldn't give it much thought.
