"Please leave your dignity at the front counter"

I’m not normally the type to buy accessory kits, but there are few things I “geek out” about as much as Mega Man. Originally, I was trying to win this kit (among other things) in a contest the nice folks at The Mega Man Network were throwing, but I didn’t end up placing. After a short, internal debate, I decided to go ahead and buy the kit.

The kit comes in both DSi and DS Lite variations and retails for $19.99. I picked up the DSi version since that’s what I’m using these days. The price seems a bit steep, but the package contains some legitimately useful things aside from unleashing your inner ten-year-old’s desire to trick out your DS.

One of the justifications for the price of the kit is that it comes with a 1GB SD card. You can get SD Cards pretty cheap online these days, though, so if that’s the only reason you’re interested, you’re better off looking elsewhere.

The protective casing is made of clear plastic and is thick enough to be quite durable without hindering the system’s ability to fit in my pocket. There are holes and flaps in all the needed sections so there is no access blocked to any of the DSi’s features. It definitely added weight to the system, but it still feels comfortable to hold. At first, I was a bit worried because my fingers were forced to be slightly further back to use the L and R buttons due to the added thickness of the casing on the top of the system. Thankfully, my worries were put to rest as I put in the most L/R button intensive DS game I know, Mega Man ZX, and found the controls to still feel quite comfortable.

"Put an outline on each insert? What? Do you think we're MADE of outlines?!"

I found it a bit strange that the lineart of the drawing is on the case itself while the colors are on the insert you select. Lining the insert up with the outline on the case proved to be a more difficult task than I had anticipated.

"This was my best effort in lining up the outline with the insert"

Though I decided to go with the insert that showcased the version of the game I purchased, the kit actually comes with six total. The cards themselves are very thin, but once they are in place behind the plastic, there is really nothing to worry about. Each of the inserts have a hole for the DSi camera and in my testing I failed to see any obstructions when trying to take a photo.

"Will you choose blatent flashyness or subtle colored patterns?"

The feature that really took me by surprise is the ability to store three DS cartridges and two SD cards under a locking flap in the back of the system. It adds more thickness to the bottom of the system, but for such a useful feature I think the sacrifice is worth it.

"Quite possibly my favorite feature"

If you feel compelled to have more than four games and 3 SD cards (including the ones in the system slots) on your person, the kit also comes with three plastic cases that can each hold a single game cartridge and SD card simultaneously. Personally, I probably will never use these as the only time I would ever want that many games on me at once would be when I would be using a much better game case already. Regardless, it’s a nice addition to the package.

"Never leave the house without 7 games and 6 SD cards!"

One of the “eye catchers” for me was the 8bit Mega Man attached to the wrist strap that functions as a screen cleaner. The Capcom logo is printed on the wrist strap so you can show off your fandom and the cleaner seems to work just fine.

"So majestic"

Finally, we have a light blue stylus. I couldn’t find any difference between the standard DSi stylus and the one contained in the kit aside from the color and the fact that the blue stylus didn’t have Nintendo’s logo engraved onto it.

"If you can find a difference between the 2 besides the color and logo, you get a cookie!"

Overall, I’m satisfied with kit. Having a convenient way to clean my often smudgy screen while being able to easily store a few games and SD cards on me feels legitimately useful. Though I’d rather see it priced somewhere around $15 (remember the 1GB SD card!), the $19.99 list price really isn’t all that bad and honestly, I expected it to be higher. You can check out the full gallery here. Now it’s time to boot up the game. So long, suckers!

Tags: 1gb protection kit, accessory kit, capcom, DSi, hardware, Mega Man, Mega Man Star Force 3, Nintendo

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Hardware, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.