Pulled From the Shelf #1: Bandai Super Barcode Wars (1992)

The handheld that turned your business cards into monsters.

Gundam, Godzilla, Dragon Ball Z, Mega Man.

There were a lot of themed cards made for Bandai’s odd little 1992 handheld. But I don’t have any of them. So instead, I just used business cards. Fortunately, Super Barcode Wars will read almost anything you pull through the slot that runs above its relatively small segment LCD.

My business card is actually a 12,800-hit-point fighter with a defense rate of 100 percent and a hit rate of 100 percent. Swipe it again and it’s a 120,200-hit-point fighter with 100 percent defense and hit ratings.

It turns out that while Super Barcode Wars can seemingly accept anything slideable as a fighter, what you get isn’t always the same, even if the card is.

You can read the full story, which was first published Nov. 3, on Game.