FDS Rabi and Navi review
I received my copy of Rabi and Navi yesterday via EMS. I managed to be lucky enough to get one of the first run copies HSA Entertainment produced. There are a few outlets in Japan selling the game as well as the HSA Entertainment website directly. They will use Buyee to get the parcel to you if you do not live in Japan. I purchased my copy via GameShop 1983. I have a Japanese remailing address via Tenso.com. Via any website, I can ship purchases to my Japan address and Tenso will remail it to me. Similar to what other proxies do but the Tenso address is all encompassing.
The package arrived in about 5 days. Included was a Gameshop 1983 catalog, a bunch of other adverts and a towel. The copy of Rabi and Navi was wrapped securely in a bubblewrap.
WOW! The presentation is awesome! HSA uses a 3.5" floppy disk case (which are still readily available) for the disk. The case is slightly wider than a Quickdisk or FDS disk so HSA customized their disk card with a small shim built into the card. I have done something similar with a shim on the side but I much prefer their integration to the actual disk card.
The actual disk is amazing. The quality of the 3D print is unreal. It is so smooth and there are zero layer marks. I think HSA reused either Quickdisk or FDS magnetic media for their copies. The printing quality is out of this world. It looks offset print but it is definitely powder toner from a color laser. The quality is sharp and colorful! I am very impressed with the presentation and the quality.
The tyvek sleve is reproduced as well and HSA even printed on Tyvek! I thought that couldn't be done without solvent inks. This , to me, is very impressive.
The disk card is printed on a Bristol gloss cover. The printing is sharp and the black ink is solid.
The game loaded up right away. The gameplay is fun but slightly repetitive. I made it to the first boss then died. The game will save your high score and it can be erased with a key combo (hold the D-Pad up and press A+B when the white text appears when you first start an FDS game.
Overall, I am very impressed with the work HSA has done. This is an amazing accomplishment for the FDS in 2025. Hopefully, more will come of this and we will see even more games for the Famicom Disk System!
