SuperNinTimeline

Reviewing all the super famicom and super nintendo games in chronological order!

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Populous

Introduction

Remember those times when you were a kid and decimated entire populations of ants, worms, and mites? Well now you can relive those moments from the comfort of your couch and do away with all those pesky ant bites and swelling. Populous marks the second PC port for the Super Famicom and the first big PC hit to get a port to the system.

Created by Peter Molyneux (who went on to develop Black & White, Powermonger, and the Fable series), Populous received universal acclaim on its release on the Amiga in 1989 and went on to win the Strategy Game of the Year form Computer Gaming World. Touted as the first "God Game", Populous gives the player god-like control over the environment, allowing his followers to expand into greater territory and destroy the Red or Blue team. Much like ActRaiser, you can cause natural disasters to wipe out your opponents  and manipulate the mountainous terrain to make room for settlements and castles. The popularity of Populous spawned a several sequels, as well as the form the basis for games like Black and White and may have influence over strategy RPGs like StarCraft and Warcraft. 

Conversion:

let’s cut to the chase. If I wanted to review Populous, I’d do it for the DOS version, so I will briefly review how the game faired as a sfc port. But first, let’s look to why a parent or child would want a port of a computer game, when you could just get the superior version for the PC. In 1989, the newest Commodore Amiga sold for $699.99 ($1345 in 2015) in late 1989, but was introduced in 1985 for $1795 (over $3k in 2015) with the monitor. The Super famicom, on the other hand, sold for 25,000 yen ($210) in 1990, the equivalent of $343 in 2015 dollars. Obviously, ports of computer games would be incredibly successful on the super famicom. 

Anyways, let’s get to the review. I played the super famicom version and the DOS version, and, honestly, there isn’t much downgrading. The most beneficial difference is the use of the mouse as a controller. On the plus side, the super famicom version has much better music. Additionally, extra scenarios were added to the console version, like a Candy map and a computer themed map. 

Gameplay

The game in itself, can be pretty entertaining. However, using a controller for every single command is really tedious. The goal of the game is always the same, either wipe out the good or evil team. This is done by raising and lowering the land around your people so they can build castles and increase their population. The more people you have, the more manna you gain, which will allow you to use more godly powers. It’s possible to wipe out the other team by god-made natural disasters like earthquakes or volcanos. That’s the much easier way, but it will deplete your manna. The best thing to do is to have your people create a knight and bring an army down to the enemy. 

I haven’t finished a complete scenario, but from what I can tell, it wouldn’t be that hard. The most difficult thing to do is balancing out your population growth and your destructive powers. There is a tutorial, but it shows you absolutely nothing on how to play it. I went to YouTube to find a solution, and I still had trouble following all the buttons around the screen.

I like the premise, I’ve always love god games and strategy games. Populous is like a poor man’s Civilization. Not quite as complex, but close in appearance. Play it on a PC for the best experience. 

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Released December 16, 1990

Published by Enix

Developed by Quintet

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ActRaiser

Introduction:

ActRaiser introduces a multitudes of first for the Super Famicom: the first simulation, hybrid-genre, instance of US censorship, and the first game from Quintet and Enix. ActRaiser has been critically lauded for its hybrid gameplay and symphonic soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro. As an early release for the system, ActRaiser situated itself comfortably among Nintendo's "console" games. In this era, Nintendo enthusiastically pushed for software that couldn't be played in an arcade or on a computer and was not simply a watered down port of either platform. As a logical step between computer simulation game and arcade platformer, ActRaiser couldn't help but become an instant Super Nintendo classic.

Rooted in Judaic mythology, the story of ActRaiser unfolds as The Master awakens after a long sleep in his sky palace to find the his world no longer believes in him after he was defeated by Tanzra and his six lieutenants. After Tanzra divided the world among his six lieutentants, The Master returns to his world to rebuild civilization, regain his powers, and defeat Tanzra and his lieutenants once and for all.

Development:

The three main contributors to the creation of ActRaiser were Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, as writer, Masaya Hashimoto, as director, and the Koshiro siblings, Ayana and Yuzo, as character designer and composer, respectively. Miyazki and Hashimoto, who were also the founders of Quintet, worked for Falcom on the Ys series as scenario director and programmer, respectively. Yuzo Koshiro also started at Falcom, beginning as a composer at the age of 18! Yuzo and Ayana Koshiro would go on to form their own game development company with their mother, Tomo, Ancient, which would go on to work on ActRaiser 2 and the much adored Shenmue.

ActRaiser was Quintet's first release and a predecessor to their much beloved Soul Blazer Trilogy on the SNES, which include: Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and Terranigma. The overarching conflict of the trilogy always features a conflict between a creator and destroyer entity, which one could say is present in ActRaiser as well with The Master (God) and Tanzra (Satan).

Published by Enix, ActRaiser shares the ranks with the most popular game series in Japan, Dragon Quest. Most now only know of Square-Enix, the two RPG publishing giants merged in 2003, but Enix was responsible for publishing not only all of the Soul Blazer trilogy, but also some of the most unique RPGs on the Super Nintendo like Star Ocean and EVO: the Search for Eden.

Gameplay:

As a hybrid god-game and platformer, ActRaiser gives each genre its separate space, allowing symbiotic exchange of events between the two. In other words, what happens in the God Sim affects the platforming levels and vice versa. Though this is not the extent modern games keep track of your decisions to screw you over towards the end of the game. Rather, the story flows linearly between acts (get it?) I and II of platform and simulation, so a certain goal must be reached to in one to proceed to the other.

ActRaiser has seven areas of the world to divide and conquer, each with two platforming and simulation sections each, except for the final stage. You start at each area clearing all the monsters from the land in the platforming stage and then rebuilding your civilization in the subsequent stage.

Platforming:

I hesitate to call these levels platforming since they are not built to challenge your platform jumping abilities, rather your hacking and slashing skills. It reminded me a bit like Castlevania in how jumping from place to place was much less important than surviving the enemy onslaught. Throughout the sim levels, you will attain more HP and magic through a rudimentary leveling system.  As you attain magic, you will be able to use it sparingly throughout levels according to your magic scroll amount. Using magic is less like casting a spell attack and more like a moment of invincibility and mass destruction. The fire ball is the most useless, damaging only enemies on your level, while the star and blue orb have a larger effect and can make boss fights very easy. In the first platforming stage, you will fight a mini-boss, while on the second stage one of Tanzra's lieutenants must be defeated. Bosses are quite easy and did not take me more than five tries to defeat. Slashing with the sword repeatedly while taking some damage is the best way to defeat most of the bosses. The boss I struggled with the most was the giant plant creature and its invincible moving vine.

Overall, I found the platforming levels do be much easier than other similar games like Super Castlevania. Jumping is not very fluid for platforming, but luckily there are not many tricky jumps. If ActRaiser were just these stages (which is what the arcade and sequel were), it would just be a sub-average hack-n-slash platformer. There is a level of difficulty across the six different areas which require higher experience levels, but there are no new skills to hone or weapons to use. Despite its simplicity, the levels were enjoyable and completely fair.

City Building:

After you complete the first act (by the way you aren't fighting as the Master, but as a statue controlled by him), a town will emerge with some people who will ask you to kill even MORE demons from the land. Once you enter the simulation act, you begin to control cupid to guide the spread of civilization and the destruction of flying monsters.

As cupid, you will do four things: kill flying monsters, guide the city growth direction, manipulate the environment, and use/accept offerings. Compared to NES computer ports which emulated mouse cursors with the control pad, controlling cupid to essentially do the work of a sluggish control pad cursor is actually quite amazing. Cupid, in essence, helps bridge the gap between the steep learning curve of a computer sim and the simplicity of a console adventure game. Additionally, Cupid provides a nice distraction for the player while the city grows (I wish I had something like that when I wait for 15 civilizations to take a turn in Civ5!).

While a game like Sim City or Civilization can have a multitude of variables and unpredictable AI, ActRaiser has only a fraction of that. In the first sim act, Cupid's main goal is to guide the city to close off demon portals in the area and manipulate the environment to increase city growth. Cupid can dry marshlands and snow with the sun, connect land masses with earthquakes, create arable land from deserts with rain, and clear forests with lightning. When all monster lairs are buried, the citizens find a bigger lair where the lieutenant is hidden. This is where the second platforming stage begins.

After a area is devoid of monsters, you can still increase city growth by spreading the city across all suitable land and introducing offerings to other cities. Moving across cities and increasing growth will increase your HP and magic power. In certain areas, your citizens will discover your lost spells. At this time, it feels like it gets complicated, but the cities will not change after they hit their maximum population. You never have to worry about a natural disaster or new demons terrorizing your towns.

While the city building simulation of ActRaiser cannot compete with Civilization or SimCity in its complexity, it does provide a very solid beginner's introduction to god games especially for a console gamer. It's very easy to learn and really fun to play around with Cupid as the city grows. The most annoying part of the city building levels is the annoying text sounds after you make Cupid do anything.

Once you have spread civilization across the continent, a mysterious volcanic island appears containing Tanzra and his lieutenants. I know you're asking yourself, "but I just defeated all those guys, what are they doing here?". Well, we all know how much the Super Nintendo loved boss rushes, well here's the first one for the system. Battling all the bosses again can be tricky, especially since you will have limited use of your magic. I have found spamming the first four bosses with your sword in the right place even while taking damage will allow you to use magic on the last two bosses and have at least one life left for Tanzra. The fight with Tanzra is not too difficult and shouldn't take an average snes player many tries to defeat him.

Conclusion:

ActRaiser's unique hybrid pedigree allows it to have great replayability value. Although taken by themselves, the sim and platform levels would be too simple and average for a console player. When paired together, the genres really begin to complement each other. Having cupid for the city building instead of a sluggish mouse cursor just adds to its replay value today. Just imagine playing Civilization 5, where instead of having quick battles on the map, you would descend onto cities into a game like Shadows of Mordor. That's what ActRaiser feels like.

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Released December 1, 1990

Published by Kemco

Developed by Mirrorsoft

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Bombuzal

Introduction:

Surprisingly, the third release for the Super Famicom was not a Nintendo developed or published game. The Black Box days were over, Nintendo developed only a handful of games during the first months of the Super Famicom. Throughout the entire 16 bit era, Nintendo  developed only 19 games and published 100. In other words, they published only 1% of the entire Super Nintendo library and published about 5-6%. Bombuzal marks the Super Famicom's first computer port and Western developed game (of course its an isometric game, what did you expect?). The game itself is a puzzle platformer where you must detonate all the bombs and land mines on each platform without dying. The game contains 130 levels. I got to level 52 before I realized I haven't seen anything new and probably won't in the future.

Development:

Bombuzal was created by infamous Commodore 64 programmer Antony Crowther and game designer David Bishop, two British programmers known for early Commodore 64 and Amiga games.  His most well known work as a programmer is Realms of the Haunting, a hybrid point-and-click adventure and first person shooter released in 1996. It has created a significant

cult following, its available for download here . David Bishop would go on to design games for Virgin Interactive including the superior genesis port of Aladdin, The Lion King, and the bizarre space-shooter Phobia.

Most recently, Bishop helped design the Android ports of Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled 3.

Bombuzal's creation is quite unusual. The game was created by the two gentlemen on their off-time from programming other titles for Mirrorsoft. The idea for Bombuzal came about in a flash one night according to Bishop. On his creation, Bishop stated, "I wrote it all down, and in the morning left all the notes with Tony. I came back to his place the following week and he'd prepared a playable demo already. He really is incredibly fast. He based the graphics on some sketches I'd done and that was basically it, the original C64 version of Bombuzal." Unfortunately, Bombuzal did not sell very well. In the very first issue of Amiga Power, a completely free version of Bombuzal on the Amiga is included with the magazine, suggesting the game has not made much of a dent in the gaming market even after three years.

After the Commodore savant duo finished the game, they presented the finished product to Mirrorsoft as a Christmas present. It's amazing to hear stories of games being given to a developer, much like many indie games now (Portal is a great example), instead of having years of development on a single game. Mirrorsoft began as an educational company, but became infamous for being the first developer to gain the rights to Tetris.  Bombuzal would be the only release on the system from the developer.

From my research, it seems that the SFC port of Bombuzal is straight from the Commodore Amiga, though the graphical user interface is much more SFC friendly. The biggest difference is the additional tunes throughout the game. The music for the original Commodore 64 and Amiga version was by someone named "The Wyvern" but it's hard to say for sure. The SFC music was composed by Hiroyuki Masuno, who also composed the soundtrack to Drakkhen. The music is catchy but repetitive as it is the only track for every level. This will be a repeating pattern for many computer ports which did not have level music.

Gameplay:

Imagine you are part of a military bomb squad, then pretend you are a blue potato who just didn't cut it for the Grimace auditions, and finally have really bad teeth. British game developers have a penchant for creating colorfully crude and simple game mascots and Bombuzal is no exception. Actually, he has a name, it's Malcolm.

In each of its 130 levels, you must detonate every bomb and land mine on the field. The game can be played in Isometric 3D view (above) or 2D view (my preference). The bombs can come in three different sizes (small, medium, and large) which determine how wide the explosion will be. A small bomb will detonate one square, a medium square will do two in each direction (a cross shape), and the large will detonate in a 3x3 square pattern. The biggest challenge to the game is chaining the explosions together to detonate the most bombs at once. Finding the correct sequence of bomb chaining is crucial. At times, detonating a bomb can leave you stranded or blow you up accidentally. Expanding bombs let you choose which size you want the bomb (small, medium, large) and the radio bombs will explode all other radio bombs. Finally, land mines can not be walked on (obviously) and can only be detonated by a bomb chain or a drone.

Besides the bombs, there are different tile types which will determine your path along the board. Ice pushes you toward the next tile, cracked tile breaks after you walk on it, warp tiles warp you to another area, solid tiles remain after an explosion, and Bubble and Sqweek (also a popular British dish of leftovers) tiles (i.e. the red ant in the picture) provide you with drones to explode mines (blue/Bubble) or bombs (red/sqweek). Switch tiles can change another tile on the board to another type. In most levels hitting every switch in the right order is necessary to complete the level.  Slotted tiles allow you to move bombs to different tiles and arrange them in a chain at times. on rare occasions, you will find a power temple which will absorb any adjacent explosion.

There are only two enemies, Sinister and Dexter. If you know your Latin roots, you may be able to guess that Sinister (the bouncing orb) travels through the level and turns left at corners, and Dexter (four rotating orbs on the ground) travels and turns right. These enemies are easy to avoid and can be destroyed via bombs, just make sure you pay attention to the sequence of bombs.

Regional Difference:

The only difference I could tell were the voice actresses who say, "Player One, Get Ready". I much prefer the Japanese version, it sounds a bit like BMO's voice from Adventure Time. The other voice just reminds me generic 90's voiceovers.

Conclusion:

After the first 15 levels or so, the basic gameplay and mechanics begin to repeat themselves, albeit in much more challenging ways. Later puzzles will focus heavily on finding the correct sequence of bomb chains or switches. Bombing certain levels reveal hidden messages, such as a llama taking a dump, though I haven't seen it. As the levels increase, the amount of time to complete each puzzle increases as well, making a complete playthrough to level 130 very time consuming. Puzzles can take upwards of 45 minutes to complete.

Overall, Bombuzal is a fun, challenging puzzle game at least for the first 20 or so levels. I lodge my only complaint at the sometimes rigid solutions to puzzles. At times, it feels like I was merely completing a task analysis, finding each necessary step until I found another one. Being creative is not allowed for the harder puzzles; there is a sequence that must be followed to complete the puzzle. I found this very frustrating, as I would find I missed a bomb somewhere out of sequence.

Give this game a try, but don't try to get to level 130 without a password, you'll end up ripping your hair out.

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Released November 21, 1990

Published by Nintendo

Developed by Nintendo EAD

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F-Zero (エフセロ)

Introduction:

F-Zero and Super Mario World made the perfect duo launch titles for the Super Famicom. One was a sequel to a much beloved Nintendo platformer, and the other was a fast-paced futuristic racer, a new standard for futuristic racing games disguised as a Mode 7 tech demo. Mode 7 allowed for raster graphic plane scaling, which provides the illusion of the 3D racing track in F-Zero. The "Pseudo 3D" holds up really well, never once did I feel like I wasn't in a 3D racing game. Although Captain Falcon was better introduced in Super Smash Bros and F-Zero X on the N64, he does actually get an introduction, not in the game but in the manual. Overall, F-Zero is a fast-paced adventure in frustration, euphoria, and bad memories about being stuck in the middle of a bunch of bumper cars operated by 8-year olds (who probably kicked dirt in your face on several occassions).

Origin and Development:

F-Zero is named after Formula One Racing because in the future there is no need to go forward, only backwards on numerical scales. Shigeru Miyamoto as producer and Takaya Imamura as Character and Graphic Designer. Imamura is best known for his work on Star Fox, the F-Zero series, and, most recently, Steel Diver. He was also a supervisor on the subsequent F-Zero anime. Many ties to Star Fox can be found throughout the F-Zero series, most notably James McCloud in F-Zero X (basically Fox McCloud out of his furry costume). I guess Imamura's love for recycling has leaked into his professional life, though I really love the idea of multiverses. The composers of the soundtrack, Yumiko Kanki and Naoto Ishida, created an amazing, atmospheric soundtrack yet only composed for a handful of other SNES soundtracks, Star Fox 2 and Super Scope 6, respectively.

Story:

It takes place in the future, there's hovercars and stuff, rich people pay to see hover car races blah blah blah. Here's the comic that was in the back of the manual, it'll clear things up.

Gameplay:

F-Zero is a short, but brutal racing game. You get to choose between three leagues in grand prix mode: Knight, Queen, and King, ranging in difficulty respectively. Before you enter the race, your choice of vehicle determines your destiny for the league. Do you want to go really fast but then explode right before you finish in first? Pick the Golden Fox! Withstand heavy damage but finish in 4th every lap? Pick the Pico! The Fire Stingray (Pink) is the best vehicle by far, able to withstand plenty of damage, maintain consistent speed, and navigate through tricky corners. The Blue Falcon is said to be for beginners, but I found it to be a good vehicle throughout most of the King League.

The goal of each stage is to finish in 3rd place or higher on the final lap. The first three have qualifications too (15th, 7th, 5th). If you place below the threshold, its game over man. Once you finish a league, you go to a records board. There really isn't a credits screen, unless you beat a league on Master level, which you unlock by beating a league in Expert level. I finished each league on beginner and even that took me several hours. Sorry, but I don't have a credit screen for you.

Controls are very fine tuned, but difficult to master. Using the L and R buttons, you can make sharp turns easier. It's not just the shoulder buttons, you must find the right time to accelerate so you don't skid out of control. After each completed lap, a turbo boost is given allowing you to maximize speed for a brief time. Using this at the wrong time can cause you to crash, or, even worse, turn the whole game into a round of bumper cars. The most frustrating levels have magnets which will pull your vehicle towards the bumpers if you do not steer away. The very last stage of King League, Fire Field, is very brutal, mostly because of its ridiculous turns.

Overall, I enjoyed every bit of F-Zero. Even when I continued to crash on a hard level, I didn't mind going back to the beginning of the league and starting over. In a way, repeating the stages is the best practice for harder stages. The Mode 7 never seems gimmicky or overbearing, it still lures you into the illusion that this is a 3D racing game. I was a bit disappointed that after finishing King League, there was no credit screen, no real payoff for that torture.

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Released inNovember 20, 1990 August 23, 1991 (US)

Published by Nintendo

Developed by Nintendo EAD

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Super Mario World (スーパーマリオワールド)

Introduction:

Released only 18 months after Super Mario Bros. 3 (It is subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan), Super Mario World gained momentum from its predecessor to  become the most quintessential game of the system selling 20 million copies worldwide.

Background and Development:

Super Mario World was developed by Nintendo EAD (Entertainment Analysis and Development) with Shigeru Miyamoto as producer and Takashi Tezuka as director. I'm sure you all know about Miyamoto, but Tezuka has been the game designer behind Devil World, Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros 1-3. As director, he was involved in Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Yoshi's Island. \

Riding on the dinosaur craze of the early 90's, T. Yoshisaurus Munchakoopas was introduced as Mario's trusty steed. Miyamoto wanted to introduce a dinosaur companion on the SMB3, but the hardware limitations of the system prevented this. Tezuka designed the raccoon tail and the frog suit as a replacement.

All of the koopa bosses are named after musicians like Iggy Pop and Trent Reznor. I find it interesting that these references made it into a game designed to be kid-friendly, when the musicians referenced have not-so kid friendly songs.

Koji Kondo, original composer for the Super Mario Bros series and The Legend of Zelda. Nearly all of the music is a variation upon the main theme except for Bowser's level, the credits, the title screen, and maps. It is a great theme, but it becomes a bit overbearing hearing the same variation for the entirety of the game.

Regional Differences:

I would say the differences are not that great. I haven't had a chance to play completely through the SFC version, but according to MarioWiki, there are quite a few changes. You can find  them here. The most amusing difference is that Yoshi can eat dolphins in the Japanese version. What did those dolphins do to you Yoshi?

Review:

Everyone reading this has probably played Super Mario World, so I won't go to in depth into the gameplay. I will confess, this was my first playthrough of Super Mario World, so this review will be from my perspective as a new player. I had Super Mario World when I was about 6 years old, but I don't remember playing much of it, I may have found it too hard. Having the system in 1995 allowed me to choose Donkey Kong Country over Super Mario World. Had it been 1990, I may have had more nostalgia for Super Mario World. I did a 101-103 playthrough of the DKC games recently, so moving from that to the Mario series is quite challenging.

Unlike DKC, you can't rush through a level without playing it a few times. You have to respect the level design and strategize your platforming. I could not stop myself from rushing through levels like I did in DKC, but it was nearly impossible at times since many enemies had random attacks and Mario's jumps had to be very precise. The key to finishing each level is to utilize power ups and memorization. Of course, if you have the cape, speeding through a level is a piece of cake!

Mario can get the fire flower, cape, and yoshi as his power ups. I rarely used the fire flower, but I used the cape regularly. Sadly, it wasn't until I beat the game that I realized I can press "back" to keep flying.

Levels were frustrating, but I never felt anything was unfair. Full exploration of each level is expected of each player. Levels with red dots on the map always have secret exits which link to more levels, fortresses and the star world. In a way, Super Mario World had two storylines. Finishing each secret level leads to a Fortress where you will defeat Reznor, a group of triceratops. Each fortress has the same boss, but the end of the alternate route leads to Bowser's back door, where you fight Bowser again at a harder difficulty (I didn't think it was much different, it seemed faster though). Completing secret levels leads to the Star World, which is basically a warp zone for the main world. Star world leads you to four stages with multi-colored baby yoshis. Getting the purple yoshi makes levels so much easier since this yoshi can fly when he eats any koopa shell. Finishing all the Star stages leads to the Special World, where the most difficult levels are contained. I loved the Special World, especially the names of each stage: Gnarly, Tubuluar, Awesome, Groovy, etc. The Japanese names are equally as awesome; Way Cool is called "Mario's staff is just as surprised" in Japanese.

Overall, Super Mario World is an amazingly complex platformer, guiding players through secret areas and providing incredibly diverse levels. Having this as a pack-in game is like packing Skyrim with the Xbox360 or PS3. I imagine many Super Nintendo buyers were satisfied with just the game and didn't bother to buy other games for a time. Super Mario World cemented Nintendo's dedication to the console platformer. Super Mario World didn't play like an arcade game like its predecessors; it allowed a save feature to encourage the player to explore each level, much like you would in Metroid or Legend of Zelda. It was a difficult game to get accustomed to as a non-Mario player, many cheap deaths were had.

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Introducing SuperNinTimeline!

This is a blog dedicated to the exploration of each and every Super Nintendo and Super Famicom game in chronological order. Very soon this blog will become a YouTube series much like the Chrontendo series which covers NES/Famicom games in chronological order. Much like Chrontendo, I will explore the history, gameplay, and significance of each game and give an honest review of each one. There are a total of 1767 Super Nintendo/Famicom games released in Japan, Europe, and the United States. According to my sources, Super Famicom games were produced from 1990 to 2000. That's 20 years worth of games! Even if I play and review 15 games a month, it will take me over 9 years! So let's hope I'm still doing this in 2024. In an effort to organize this mess, here are my guidelines and rules for each game review.

Rules and Guidelines

US releases must be played on original hardware, the SNES and original cart, unless said game is beyond rare or unaffordable. For Japan and Europe exclusives, I will use emulation for reviews or original software when possible (Super Famicom games are hard to buy online without buying from Japan). When using emulation, an SNES usb controller will be used.

When possible, boxes and manuals will be scanned and given a fair review.

An exploration of the history and creation of each game will be presented without exceptions. I will give each game a fair shot, regardless of how painfully terrible it is.

I will play each game until the very end, unless said game has no credit screen. If a game is painfully long, but most of the gameplay and elements have been seen, then ending abruptly will be acceptable.

When a game is just too difficult to complete, only cheats for extra lives or continues will be used (no invincibility

Translations will be played when my minimal Japanese knowledge fails me. If a translation has been ported to another console intact (no remakes), then said game will be reviewed (i.e. Final Fantasy V).

When no translation is present, I will ask my friend who is fluent in Japanese very nicely to help me translate. I plan on becoming more fluent in Japanese, so far I can read hiragana and katakana, so many of the more kid-friendly super famicom games I will be able to read

When a worldwide released game is reviewed, the US version will take priority unless there are significant differences between regions (i.e. Probotector vs. Contra).

If a game is a PC or arcade port, the ports will receive significant attention. Ports will be obtained via MAME or steam or GOG.

Season 1

The first 15 games to be reviewed were released in Japan between November 1990 and April 1991.

They include many SNES favorites and a few Japanese only games. The first 15 games are as follows (Japan Only are marked in red):

F-Zero (November 1990)

Super Mario World (November 1990)

Bombuzal/Ka-Blooey (US) (December 1990)

ActRaiser (December 1990)

Populous (December 1990)

Final Fight (December 1990)

Gradius III (December 1990)

Pilotwings (December 1990)

SD The Great Battle (December 1990)

Jumbo Ozaki no Hole in One/HAL's Hole in One Golf (US) (February 1991)

Jaleco Rally - Big Run: The Supreme 4WD Challenge (March 1991)

Darius Twin (March 1991)

Harukanaru Augusta (April 1991)

Ultraman (April 1991)

SimCity (April 1991)

This season has a very diverse set of games coming from the PC and arcade realms. Here is the genre breakdown:

Platfomers:

Super Mario World

SD The Great Battle

ActRaiser

Racing:

Jaleco Rally- Big Run: The Supreme 4WD Challenge

F-Zero

Simulation:

ActRaiser

Populous

Pilotwings

SimCity

Space Shooters:

Darius Twin

Gradius III

Sports:

Harukanaru Augusta

Jumbo Ozaki no Hole in One

Beat 'em Ups/Fighting:

Ultraman

Final Fight

Unlike the NES launch, the Super Nintendo launched with amazing games that are still loved today. While the NES did not have a specific technology to boast about upon release, the Super Famicom was all about the Mode 7. Launch titles like Pilotwings and F-Zero can be seen as showcase items for the technology. The Black Box launch titles for the NES are hardly memorable except for Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Excitebike, and a few others. With the Sega Genesis taking a bite out of the Nintendo monopolized game industry, the Super Nintendo had much heavier competition in the 16-bit era. In comparison to the first years of the NES, I'm predicting I will be reviewing more great games than poor ones (at least until I get to the Pachinko and Horse Racing games -_-).