As of writing, I'm down to the last two games on SNES Online's launch library. Before we get to those, let's talk about game #17 here. BACKGROUND:
Though arguably more popular than F-Zero or Earthbound, I actually never heard of Star Fox until I started playing Smash. What's stranger is that despite my love for sci-fi shit, I never got into the series afterwards. I watched a ton of videos on Star Fox 64 and all that, but for whatever reason, I never thought of emulating the game back when I used to do that a lot. Most of my knowledge going into this playthrough is based on what I've pieced together from playing Smash and what I've seen from Let's Plays and speedruns of various Star Fox games. SUMMARY: Fox McCloud is the hero of our story here. He's the ace pilot of the mercenary team Star Fox (go figure), and along with his teammates Falco, Peppy, and Slippy, they've been enlisted by General Pepper to take down the evil Andross before he conquers the Lylat system. To aid them on their mission, the general provides them with cutting-edge fighter aircraft called Arwings. With these fighters at their disposal, it's up to Star Fox to make their way through the Lylat system and get to Andross to thwart his schemes. The story is what it is, but as I will elaborate later on, I don't mind it being rather basic. Besides, it's a sci-fi setting with lasers and spaceships and talking animals. The inner nine-year-old in me is satisfied. Star Fox is a 3D rail shooter where you control Fox's Arwing in a mostly third person perspective. You'll be taken on a ride across the game's various levels, and as you do, you can maneuver the Arwing to avoid the obstacles and enemies that you're moving toward. In terms of movement, you have full command of the x and y-axis, the ability to perform rolls or knife (i.e. tilt 90 degrees) the Arwing to dodge things, and access to brakes and boosters that allow you to control the speed at which you move through the level. Of course, it's not all flight; the Arwing has access to a decent arsenal. You have access to laser blasters as your main attack, and while it's not the most efficient weapon ever, it's good enough to get the job done. You also have access to ion bombs, which deal a good amount of damage over an area, though these come in limited supply. Aiming takes a bit to get used to in third person, as there's no reticle of any kind to indicate where your shots will hit. However, you are able to toggle a first person view that simulates the Arwing's cockpit, and while this option does have a reticle, your ability to pilot the Arwing itself is slightly hindered as you won't see the entirety of the screen. I personally found third person more comfortable after taking some time to adjust myself to the controls. On the subject of adjusting to the controls, you can select from one of four control schemes before you start the game. In addition, you can also go through a training course where you can learn to handle the Arwing in a stress-free environment. I didn't really fuck around with the other control schemes, but I did appreciate the training area. Enemies are generally easy to avoid or take down, and the challenge mostly boils down to when there are dozens of them onscreen at once, and you're trying to avoid all the horseshit projectiles they're throwing at you. Bosses pose more of a challenge, as not only do you have to contend with their various attacks, you can only damage them at certain weak points, and hitting small areas while also trying to avoid getting hit is easier said than done. Throughout each level, you can pick up power-ups that you see along the way. These range from temporary invincibility, extra ion bombs, rings that replenish your shield, and more. Power-ups are either located in treacherous or otherwise out-of-the-way areas you have to fly through, or can occasionally be dropped by enemies. Health is particularly important, as it is incredibly easy to take a ton of damage simply by flying carelessly and smashing into things. While Fox's teammates aren't full-on AI companions, they are pretty prominent in gameplay. Often, one of them will fly in front of you, calling out that an enemy is on their tail. If you succeed in taking out said enemy, they'll express gratitude in some form, and even help take out a few enemies later on. If not, they take damage, and if they die, they're out for the rest of your run. It's a novel way to make the other characters a substantial part of the game, and the interactions that occur add a lot to their personalities. They even chew you out if you hit them with friendly fire (which, to be fair, doesn't damage them), which is an awesome little touch. The game gives you three possible paths to reach Andross, and each path features a unique set of levels, locations, and bosses. While a playthrough is rather short, you have three for the price of one here, and what's more, each path also doubles as a difficulty setting. Not only do you have the option to pick how challenging you want your playthrough to be, that difficulty has its own unique set of levels instead of being the same shit three times in a row. Each level also has a scoring system, determined by how much shit you've killed and how well you and your team fared in terms of taking damage. While it's mostly for the leaderboard chasers of arcades past, earning score does give you extra lives, so it's not completely arbitrary. Although this game isn't as impressive to look at now with its rather low-poly, textureless models and occasional frame rate hiccups, I still have to give it to the devs for doing a lot with a little. Most things look janky, sure, but they were able to come up with some neat designs that make sense visually (i.e. it's not just a garbled mess of polygons). They even manage to somehow put together cinematic set pieces that evoke a lot of the space battle portions of the Star Wars original trilogy, by playing around a bit with dynamic camera angles in certain sections of the game. Definitely not bad for a 3D game from 1993. VERDICT: Star Fox isn't the biggest Nintendo franchise out there, but this first game spawning an entire franchise that's still getting the occasional game should speak to the impact this game had. Its 3D graphics were absolutely revolutionary at the time, and coupled with engaging, fast-paced gameplay and a modicum of personality via its characters, and it's no wonder this game gave birth to a series. I'd say that this is an "essential" title worth playing at least once given how it helped pave the way for 3D graphics in games (and it certainly is), but Star Fox is honestly worth playing for its sci-fi shmup action alone. I actually played all three difficulty settings in quick succession just because I enjoyed it so much. This is a definite recommendation either way. - end -
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If you're wondering why there has been a precipitous drop in SNES Online blog entries, it's because the games I planned on playing through later happen to take a while to beat. Today's blog entry is one of those games. BACKGROUND:
This was another one of those games that I had no idea existed. I'm pretty sure I said something to the effect of "the fuck is Breath of Fire" upon seeing it in the SNES Online library. SUMMARY: In this high fantasy medieval world, there are two warring factions: the Light Dragons and the Dark Dragons. These are humans capable of transforming into powerful dragons, and they're fighting over the favor of the goddess Tyr, who has the ability to grant wishes. The war raged on to the point where the world was almost destroyed, until one Light Dragon imprisoned the goddess using six keys, effectively ending the war. Fast forward to present day (relatively speaking), and the Dark Dragons are still on the hunt for their Light Dragon enemies. As it happens, the last of them are living in a secluded village called Drogen, and are doing so in peace. That peace is upended when Zog, the Dark Dragon Emperor, attacks the village and burns it to the ground. Ryu, our protagonist, is a resident of the village, and in the aftermath of the siege, sets off on his quest to defeat Zog and prevent him from freeing the goddess. The story is your usual fantasy setting + hero's journey + macguffin hunt + fuck up the evil shithead monarch combo meal, so you won't really get any award-winning writing here (especially not from most of the villains). That said, there's no damsel-saving, and that's good enough for me. After you're treated to the game's exposition and opening scenes, you are thrown out into the overworld, Dragon Quest 1 style. From there, it's off to your journey in this RPG. For the early game, progression and exploration is linear, but as you go along and your access to the world expands, your quest will have you moving to and from the decently massive world in short order. Most of the objectives and sub-quests aren't too hard to figure out (given that you talk to all the NPCs), but there are a few "how the fuck was I supposed to figure that out" moments where you might wanna have a walkthrough handy. Once you're far along into the game and you've seen how large the world is, you'll be pleased to know that there are plenty of secrets and hidden areas to check out once you have everything. There are some locations that are inaccessible until you've reached a certain point, and even treasures in previously-conquered dungeons that you can't get until you have the thing to access that section of the dungeon. Exploration and backtracking are rewarded fairly well in this game, and that pleases me. On Ryu's journey, you'll meet allies who will enjoy your party. They're pretty diverse species-wise, as you get at least one representative of each race in the game (majority of which are anthropomorphic animals), and each have their own niche in combat. However, I found that character development for party members can be hit or miss. Some get a bit of an arc (with a few getting solo missions where you control just them), while others just kinda show up and join your squad for whatever reason. I wish those others got some extra screen time, but for the ones that did get a bit of a story, I found their development mildly interesting. You also don't really get a sense of the relationships between the characters, but that's beside the point. Your combat is the typical turn-based RPG action you've probably encountered in some form. You get into random encounters, and you're thrown into the battle screen, where you can select actions for each party member (attack, defend, cast spell, or use item) or perform other actions (flee, toggle auto-battle, check stats, switch members, etc.). If you've played a turn-based JRPG before, this isn't really any different. The party members fill a very specific role that leaves little room for experimentation. Ryu is your damage dealer, while other party members fill other roles such as support (healing and buffs), mage (who has access to offensive spells), a slow but beefy tank, a glass cannon, and more. Some characters are more useful and interesting than others (Ryu, for example, can transform into a fucking dragon), and unless you take the time to get everyone the best gear and grind, there's a good chance you'll have one lineup for most of the game. Outside of combat, certain party members get to shine, as they have what I can describe as the equivalent of HMs (from Pokémon) at their disposal. One character, for example, is able to traverse through typically impassable forests, while another is able to break rocks and cracked walls to access other areas. It's a great way to get everyone to shine, even if it's only in certain situations or in small sections of the game. Each character has their own signature weapon type, and can vary from one-handed and two-handed (a nuance that I found interesting). You can also equip armor, helmets, shields (can't be equipped if you have a two-handed weapon), and special accessories, which boost stats (mostly defense). All this gear has an assigned weight value, which affects your speed in combat, so it becomes a balance of being able to act first vs. the ability to tank more hits. Other than that, gear is pretty straightforward (with very few pieces granting unique effects), and you'll get by just buying/picking up the ones that give you the biggest numbers. Spell variety is hit or miss, thanks to the characters having a specific role. Ryu's "spells" are essentially the dragon transformations (which turn his attacks from physical to magic), the support character gets almost exclusively support spells, and only the mage gets the bulk of the exciting offensive elemental spells. Other characters either get a limited pool of spells or nothing at all. Some spells are also incredibly situational, so you may beat the game without having using certain spells at all. Enemies come in various shapes and sizes, and can range from complete pushovers to "can one-shot your entire party if you aren't careful." While the monster designs are generally interesting and well-made, there aren't any in particular that I'd say are standout. Some monster concepts (like the Ameblob, which is this giant protozoa-looking things) are more memorable than others, while a few are pretty much derivative (there's a boss that straight up looks like the Dragon Quest golem, and you can encounter blue slimes and red slimes, too). Bosses are a bit more exciting, though not by much. Most boss fights take a bit to get through, as these assholes are quite the damage sponges. For the most part, however, not many of them pose an actual threat unless you're being careless. They also have this mechanic when once you whittle their HP down, they go into this "last gasp" mode. It's a cool idea, but it basically does nothing other than function as a second health bar. I wish they went all in and made it a proper "second phase" where the boss fucks you up with more powerful attacks or something. Every town each has a unique vibe or aesthetic to them, and sometimes that "vibe" has a connection to the story, which I found neat. Boiled down to their essentials, however, most towns function pretty much the same, with inns to rest in, shops to buy/sell goods, save points, and a vault to store all your extra shit in. Dungeons are the same way; each have their own look to them and feature all sorts of gimmicks, but the goal is the same: get all the treasure and get to the end. The game looks pretty good, with well-designed sprites for characters and overworld elements. I think the best showcase of Breath of Fire's graphics is in battle, where you see your party and the monsters in all their glory. They all get a decent amount of unique animations, with your party even changing attack animations depending on what weapon they have equipped. The battle UI opts for a less verbose approach, leaning more towards the use of symbols and animations to denote actions, but you do get plenty of text in places like HP/AP indicators, spell selection, or when shit happens like crits or dodges. You also get health bars for both your party and the enemy, and having played JRPGs like FFVII (which doesn't show enemy health unless you cast Sense), I really appreciated this. The one pitfall I have to point out with the game's menus is the occasional lack of information it presents. As I mentioned, spell names are truncated to the point that you're not even sure what it means, and this extends to items as well. The game gets around this by having a function that allows you to inspect items (subsequently telling you its function), but sometimes the description can be vague, and you're left with more questions than answers. Annoyingly, this function is not present for spells, but I did get some enjoyment from throwing out spells on weak enemies to see what they did, so it's not all bad. The game also doesn't tell you what certain stats mean, though one can easily piece that together through playing the game. Perhaps the bigger issue is the EXP counter, which is virtually useless, as it only tells you how much you've earned in total. As far as I know, there's no way to tell how close you are to leveling up. As frustrating as these menu woes can be, I wouldn't really classify my observations as critiques. This is just how games were back then, and the fact that modern games are much more informative is something I really appreciate. I only point these things out for players who aren't quite used to older games that don't tell you a lot. While the only buttons you need are A and B (confirm and cancel), plus the D-Pad, the game gives you the option to set submenu shortcuts to the remaining buttons. I suppose it's useful if you want quick and efficient navigation, but I personally found no real use to this feature, other than map the main menu to X (which is what I'm accustomed to). VERDICT: It's not the most unique or groundbreaking JRPG out there, but I still enjoyed my 20 hours of playtime with Breath of Fire. The presentation (especially in combat) is great, and the gameplay, while not the most complex the genre has to offer, was engaging enough to keep me hooked. This is a decent entry-level RPG, in my opinion, so I recommend it for people who are fairly new or unfamiliar with the genre. Keep a walkthrough close by just in case, though. If you're a seasoned RPG veteran, I don't think this game will impress you, but I'd still suggest checking out the game, because I feel that it's still a solid experience despite not being a revolutionary title - end -. I'm getting to the home stretch of playing everything in SNES Online's launch library, and today, I take the time to talk about yet another game. I would have written this sooner, but I went out of my way to get 100%, and that took quite a bit of time. BACKGROUND:
Most of my familiarity with Yoshi comes from playing Super Mario World (a game I'll be talking about here in the future) and Yoshi's Island DS, but having seen gameplay of the recent ones, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect from a Yoshi game. I was quite excited to play the game where it all began. SUMMARY: A stork tasked to deliver Baby Mario and Luigi to their parents was attacked by Kamek/Magikoopa, resulting in the latter getting kidnapped, and the former falling into an island populated by Yoshis (Yoshies?). After figuring out the situation, the dinosaurs have resolved to work together to reunite Baby Mario with his brother and help bring them both back to their parents. It's a straightforward tale, but it's no "rescue the princess", and that's good enough for me. After the game regales you with its story (presented with impressive-looking cutscenes), you are dropped off into the world map, where you go across six worlds (with eight levels each) in a relay race, passing off Baby Mario to the next differently-colored Yoshi once a level is beaten. I enjoyed the concept of the relay race a lot, and it was a great way to showcase Yoshi in different colors. Each individual level is your good, old-fashioned 2D platformer goodness, with wacky mechanics and strange enemies galore. Yoshi's Island focuses less on precise platforming and combat and more on solving puzzles and acquiring collectibles, making the game decidedly less stressful than other games within the genre. Though there are certainly levels that lean more towards the challenging aspects of platformers (e.g. autoscrollers, boss encounters, etc.), most of your time will be spent exploring levels at your own pace. Yoshi still retains his classic "eat" move from Mario World (where he uses his tongue to devour enemies or certain objects), but it has been expanded to interact with certain stage elements, and to change Yoshi's properties when you eat certain objects (e.g. eating a watermelon makes Yoshi fire seeds as an attack). Most importantly, eating most things grants him the ability to perform what has now become one of Yoshi's many signature abilities: laying eggs. These eggs are perhaps the most important tool in Yoshi's arsenal, allowing him to dispatch enemies, activate/interact with stage elements, collect hard-to-reach collectibles, and more. There are two control schemes in the game that accommodate different egg firing methods (one is the default, where the reticle moves automatically, and the other is a rapid fire mode that shoots the egg immediately). The eggs ricochet off of terrain and other surfaces like walls, and many puzzles take full advantage of this. In addition to the egg throw, this game also debuted a couple other now-signature Yoshi abilities, such as the flutter jump (which allows Yoshi to stay aloft in the air for an extra second and get a little boost) and the ground pound (self-explanatory). The former is a very useful tool that allows for a wider margin of error when platforming, while the latter is an admittedly situational move that only sees use in certain puzzles. There are also special power-ups in some levels that transform Yoshi into various vehicles (including, but not limited to: a helicopter, a submarine, a train, and some sort of mole-looking subterranean drill thing), and one that's the equivalent of the star where you get to run around as an invincible Baby Mario. Though a bit hard to control, these sections are quite fun. In every fourth and eighth level in a world, you have to beat a boss to proceed. These bosses are often souped up versions of regular enemies, which I found amusing. Although each boss is graphically impressive and they're generally fun to defeat (thanks to some fairly unique gimmicks), none of them pose a serious challenge, so it was kind of a bummer to see a lot of them die in less than 30 seconds. While there are many hazards that kill Yoshi instantaneously, most enemies/hazards will result in Baby Mario getting trapped in a bubble and floating away. Once that happens, a timer appears, and you have a limited amount of time to catch Baby Mario until the timer hits zero and you die. When this happens, Baby Mario also makes what is perhaps the most annoying sound in the observable universe, which really incentivizes avoiding damage. You can extend the timer by collecting tiny stars found throughout the level, and get 1-ups by collecting 100 coins, so most setbacks won't be too punishing. At the end of every level, you get a chance to take part in a bonus challenge. These bonus challenges are minigames where, if you succeed, you're rewarded with more 1-ups or special power-ups you can use from your pause menu. Though you can get by without using these power-ups, some of them are quite handy in a pinch or are quite valuable in 100% runs. There are also bonus minigames found in locked huts in certain levels, and while finding the key is often out of the way, the potential rewards may be worth the trouble. Each level has three completion criteria: finish the level with "full health" (i.e. collect enough stars such that your Baby Mario timer is at 30 seconds), collect all 20 hidden red coins, and collect the five flowers. The latter two criteria can be quite tricky to satisfy, because while you'll encounter many red coins and flowers just going through the levels normally, some of these collectibles require some serious sleuthing to collect. There are many instances where they'll either be in a well-hidden spot, become unobtainable one way or another (e.g. in an autoscroller, or in a branching path that you can't backtrack to), or require a bit of skill to obtain (this usually falls into the realm of "well-positioned egg throw"). Getting 100% in all eight levels of a given world nets you a "Perfect", and unlocks an extra level plus the ability to play one of the bonus challenge minigames whenever you want. Completing absolutely everything doesn't really get you anything, however. This game's art style is absolutely fantastic. Its striking lines and overall crayon + chalk aesthetic help it stand out as one of the best-looking SNES games ever. Plus, it has a bunch of impressive (for the time) visual effects such as level elements that move in the z-axis, dynamic foreground/background elements, and more. Plus, the music is great to boot. In any conversation about old games that aged well visually, Yoshi's Island belongs at the very top of the list. VERDICT: To me, Yoshi's Island is close to perfect. The phenomenal presentation, the charming (albeit basic) story, and low-stress but still fairly engaging gameplay all come together into an excellent package. Sure, Baby Mario's screaming is annoying as shit, and the bosses are pretty much pushovers, but those are minor gripes compared to the absolute fun I had playing this game. Even the seemingly arduous task of completing the game 100% didn't feel like much of a chore, and despite not having a tangible reward at the end, I still had a blast going for that full 100%. I highly recommend this title to mostly anyone, but I think Yoshi's Island will be especially appealing to more casual players, people who are just getting into games, or anyone who's looking for a relatively stress-free experience. Some levels will get challenging, but majority of the game is lenient enough that most people can beat this at their own pace. - end - Now that I'm done playing my newly-purchased games, it's time for me to continue my SNES Online playthroughs. I've got another one to talk about for today. Shall we begin? BACKGROUND:
I've seen a Let's Play of the first Joe & Mac somewhere, so I have a vague familiarity with the IP. As for this specific title, I've never seen it in my life, so this is another blind playthrough. SUMMARY: The evil caveman Gork has stolen a magic crown belonging to the village chief, and as the duo of Joe and Mac (or just Joe if you're playing single player), it's up to you to take it back. To do so, you must scour the world for seven Rainbow Stones, which will allow you to reach Gork's island. What is it about rock collecting and the early '90s? Joe & Mac 2 is another of many side-scrolling platformers from this era. You walk, dash, and jump your way to the end, avoiding obstacles in your path. You'll also encounter a variety of prehistoric enemies, and for that, you can swing your trusty club to clobber their asses. Each level is decently long, with every one split into three sections, all culminating with a boss fight (usually against dinosaurs). Other than the occasional dinosaur buddy that you can ride to easily traverse certain areas, this is your garden variety platformer, and you won't encounter too many wild and wacky mechanics, any sort of branching paths or secrets, or particularly difficult combat (most of the bosses are pretty easy to kill). Most enemies (even bosses) can be dispatched with little difficulty with your default club, but you can also pick up better weapons that give you a ranged projectile. You can also eat food that won't just restore your health, but also do things like make you stronger or give you a temporary projectile attack. The game's levels are spread out in a small world map, and you can clear most of them in any order you wish. There are only a few levels, so while the freedom to choose is nice, it doesn't really make a difference in the end. It's not like Mega Man where the order you clear stages can affect how you play through later areas. You can also collect currency in the form of stone wheels when you go through levels. You can spend this in the one shop in the game, RPG-style. It's mostly pointless, as the only thing you can really spend money on is the option to redecorate your hut and shit that will help you romance a woman. I didn't care enough to spend money on more than two things, and I assume doing everything in the shop does nothing more than slightly change the ending. One thing that stood out to me about this game are the sprites. Characters are decently detailed and animated, and they make all sorts of exaggerated facial expressions. The pseudo-Stone Age setting is charming enough, but the great pixel art adds an extra layer of personality to the game. VERDICT: Joe & Mac 2 is a short, simple, and easy game, but that didn't prevent me from having a good time playing it for the one hour that I did. If you want a more robust or challenging experience, you may want to pass on this, but the game is great if you're looking for a quick, low-stress romp through a completely inaccurate Stone Age that somehow has dinosaurs. - end - In the SNES Online launch library, there are a few games whose names I have never seen before in my life. I play one of the games from that category today with Demon's Crest. BACKGROUND:
I did not know what the hell this game was until I saw it here on SNES Online, so I am experiencing this game completely in the dark. However, I do know who the protagonist is, as Firebrand is a prominent enemy in the Ghosts 'n Goblin series (he's in fact one of the most annoying ones to kill). He's also a playable character in the more recent Marvel vs. Capcom games. SUMMARY: Demon's Crest is an action platformer where you play as the demon Firebrand, and your quest is to defeat the actually-evil demon Phalanx and free the Demon Realm from his tyranny. To do so, you must collect the six Crests, which are magical jewels that control a particular element. It's totally not the plot to Infinity Gauntlet. Firebrand's standard abilities are fire breathing (his main attack), the ability to cling to walls, and his hover that allows him to fly across gaps or hazards. As you go along, you can acquire items like extra HP, talismans, and more that power up Firebrand substantially and give him more skills. For the most part, you can get by with your default abilities, but once you encounter certain enemies/bosses and challenging segments, you'll need something extra to tip the scales in your favor. Defeating certain bosses gives you one of the aforementioned six Crests, and acquiring these grants Firebrand the ability to transform into an elemental gargoyle. Not only does this change his standard attack and aspects of his movement, but it also unlocks a special ability that allows him to open up previously-inaccessible areas in levels, Metroidvania-style. While this game isn't a Metroidvania, the idea of revisiting levels is an important part of this game, as a lot of good or important items can only be unlocked if you have the specific Crest that allows you to reach them. In between levels, you fly around in a world map where levels and other locations are strewn about, which I thought was neat, though I see it being intimidating for new players (don't worry; it's not as large as the game makes it look). This game also has a few RPG elements to it. You can earn currency as you play through, and you can spend these in shops to buy single-use spells and various potions, among other things. It's nothing too complex, but the ability to equip yourself further is a nice option to have, even if I didn't personally use it that much. What's cool about this game is that there are multiple endings. It depends on how many of the Crests and talismans you acquire before taking down Phalanx, so if you want the best ending, you'll want to get all those things. These multiple endings help balance out that a single playthrough is actually quite short. VERDICT: Demon's Crest is a short, but sweet platformer experience with an occult, eerie vibe, elements of Metroidvanias and RPGs in its gameplay, a bunch of fun abilities to play around with, and multiple secrets and endings worth exploring. It's not particularly difficult (at least, I didn't think so), and as I said, it's not a terribly long game, so this is a solid game to play if time or difficulty are an issue. - end - My next SNES Online playthrough is a rather steep escalation in difficulty compared to what I've played before. Today, I give my hands a workout with Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts. BACKGROUND:
I played Ghosts 'n Goblins for the NES (via NES Online) a while back, and it is an incredibly difficult platformer that definitely isn't for everybody. While I do appreciate the game for what it is, it isn't something I'd replay regularly on the account that its difficulty borders on unfair in some sections. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is the third game in the Ghosts 'n Goblins (I thought it was the second — I was incorrect), and is actually the game I knew about first. I think I've only ever seen this game in Let's Plays and speedruns, and I don't recall ever emulating it, so this is pretty much my first time playing this. If you don't think you know this game series at all, you might be familiar with the knight whose armor falls off ends up in his underwear when he gets hit. He's Sir Arthur, the protagonist of this game, and you've probably seen him as a playable character in the more recent Marvel vs. Capcom games. SUMMARY: Much like Ghosts 'n Goblins before it, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is a challenging platformer with devious level design and relentless hordes of enemies. You play as Sir Arthur, who is once again off to rescue the princess from a bunch of evil bastards. Welcome to video game stories from before 1999. Arthur can be hit twice before dying as long as he has armor. If you get hit while you have armor on, the armor falls apart and Arthur is left in his underwear, and the next hit will kill you. Thankfully, there are occasional armor pickups throughout the game, and some even give you upgrades like better firepower and a projectile-blocking shield. Your main method of attack comes in the form of various weapons that manifest themselves as projectile attacks. These range from the lance (a straight projectile), the bow and arrow (a spread shot that's angled upward), the torch (an arcing projectile with a lingering flame), and more. These weapons function differently enough that your strategy when dealing with enemies/bosses changes rather significantly, so you'll either want to get good with most of the weapons or stick to one you're really good at. You can switch up your weapons via pickups, and as mentioned, can even enhance them via a particular armor upgrade. The difficulty comes from the onslaught of enemies (who are tough to deal with on their own) and their sneaky placements throughout the level, the somewhat finicky controls (jumps and double jumps are a bit tough to get right), the time limit that discourages waiting, and horrific platforming sections like hellacious autoscrollers and punishing vertical segments. Paired with each of the seven levels being rather long, playing through this game is quite the ordeal. I definitely don't blame you if you use the SNES Online emulator's rewind feature, because this game is as trial-and-error as they come. As grueling as the levels are, I actually found the bosses at the end much easier to deal with and a lot of fun to beat. Sure, they're all grotesque-looking motherfuckers, but they actually have rather simple attack patterns, and once you figure those out, killing them becomes a breeze. You can adjust certain options before starting the game, such as the difficulty level and the number of lives, which can either mitigate the challenge or make it more punishing, depending on your preference. I find it important to note that "Normal" is already pretty challenging. This game impressed me from a graphical standpoint, with its liberal and creative use of the foreground, and certain sections with some cool effects, like the tower section that looks like it's rotating as you move through it. One gripe I do have with the game is how easily affected it is by slowdown. If there's too much happening on the screen at one time, the game's performance tanks hard, and some could find that uncomfortable to play with. I wish they could have found a way to optimize the emulation a little bit, but for the most part, it's not enough of a common occurrence that it bothers me. Oh, and you've never played Ghosts 'n Goblins before, seeing the ending when you first beat the game might piss you off. I won't give away why. I want that to be an (un)pleasant surprise. VERDICT: If you're looking for an arcade-difficult platformer that will really test your patience, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is the game to play. Its myriad of annoying enemies and sinister level design are no joke, but getting to the end of each stage and laying the smackdown on the freaky-looking bosses makes the journey more than satisfying. This is certainly a game that belongs in any conversation about classics. If my talk of difficulty is worrying to you, don't feel bad about knocking down the difficulty or using emulator functions such as save states or rewind. This is definitely one of those games where I can't really judge you for taking some shortcuts on the account of how tough it is. However, I do encourage you to try and beat this game fair and square and see how far (or not far) you get, just so you can appreciate its difficulty. - end - Of all the sports games in the SNES Online launch library, this is easily the one I like the most, and it barely registers as a sports game. BACKGROUND:
Though I'm not too enthusiastic about real life golf (unless it's minigolf), I do enjoy playing the occasional golf game. Something about the sport just seems more fun to me in video game form than the real thing. One thing I enjoy more than playing golf games is, strangely enough, watching Let's Plays of other people sucking at golf games. There's just something about them that lends itself well to hilarious fuck-up moments and fantastic reactions from the players (especially in ensemble settings). Some of my favorite examples are Achievement Hunter's many golf Let's Plays (including, but not limited to: 3D Ultra Minigolf 1 and 2, and their Fore Honor series), and Markiplier playing Golf with Friends. The reason I bring the above point up is because my familiarity with Kirby's Dream Course comes from a Let's Play. The Game Grumps' versus series of the game is perhaps one of their most enjoyable playthroughs to watch ever, and was so popular that fans created a romhack of the game just for them (which they played on the show, too). I'm thrilled to finally get to play this game after years spent watching the Grumps go toe to toe in 2P mode. SUMMARY: On the surface, Kirby's Dream Course seems like "golf, but Kirby" and nothing more, but there's more than enough twists to the gameplay that it almost doesn't feel like a golf game at times. The core objective is pretty much the same as any golf game: get the ball (who is represented by Kirby himself in this case) into the hole. However, in Kirby's Dream Course, the hole isn't accessible at the start of the course. To unlock it, you must clear the field of enemies, which you do by hitting the Kirby-ball into them. Once you've done that, the hole will appear, and you proceed from there. It sounds tough, but the impressive amount of control you have when hitting the ball more than makes up for it, as you can adjust both the angle and the spin on top of the power to pull off some sweet trick shots. Courses have all sorts of elements to figure out, from a decent variety of enemies, a cavalcade of hazards to navigate around (e.g. spikes, vents that blow wind, water that slows you down, etc.), and a host of other bizarre mechanics (like warp tiles). They were able to mix and match these components into an impressively wide assortment of courses, coming in at a whopping 96 holes (single player has 64 holes and two-player mode has 32 holes). The fact that you have to kill everything before sinking the ball into the hole makes course layouts a tad more challenging than most other golf games, because instead of just aiming for the hole, you have to make the rounds and find the most efficient path to hit all the enemies. What's more, the order you kill the enemies determines where the hole will be on the course, which is another thing to think about. There's a lot more strategy here compared to other golf games, and I like that a lot. If you think that's a lot, there's more. Hitting certain enemies can give your Kirby-ball special abilities, much like how Kirby acquires Copy Abilities in the regular Kirby games. These abilities range from things like a high jump that launches the ball upward, the wheel ability (which boosts you forward), the stone ability (which stops you in your tracks) and more. Many holes are built around these abilities, and your mastery of them is the difference between a game over and a good score. To make things more challenging, your Kirby-ball has health points. Every time you make a shot or take damage from certain enemies/hazards, you lose HP, and is restored for every enemy you kill or when you sink the ball into the hole. In single player, your HP falling to zero will take one life, and losing all your lives results in a game over. In two-player, losing all your HP causes you to lose your next turn (which can give your opponent an advantage). It's a novel spin on the usual "stroke limit" mechanic, and it makes you think less about getting a good score and more about actually surviving the hole. Getting the least strokes still matters somewhat in single player, as there's a scoreboard for each course that awards you medals depending on how well you do. In two-player, it matters little, as the objective is to get more points than your opponent (done by killing enemies and collecting stars throughout the course). Now, all this information may seem like too much, but the game is nice enough to provide a Demo Mode, which is essentially the game's tutorial menu. Here, you can look up everything from basic controls to individual Copy Abilities, and it's presented in a helpful instructional video format. VERDICT: Kirby's Dream Course is a delightfully fun twist on golf, combining both gameplay elements and the signature charm of the series with the sport to create a surprisingly challenging yet highly entertaining game. Whether you go through the many single player courses or battle a friend in two-player, this game's got more than enough mechanics to keep you engaged all throughout. If you're not into the more realistic golf games, but still enjoy getting holes-in-one, this may be worth checking out. It's also an enjoyable spinoff game if you're a fan of the Kirby series. - end - Thanks to the power of SNES Online, I get to experience another sport I am woefully below average at. Let's... ahem... kick things off, shall we? BACKGROUND:
Unlike tennis, which I don't usually follow, I actually enjoy football in a very casual sense. I'm not any good at playing, and I don't really keep tabs on shit like the Premier League, but I do appreciate the sport. In terms of video games, the only football games I've played were the NES Soccer game (which, like most NES sports games, I felt indifferent about) and Mario Strikers Charged for the Wii (an incredibly fun and wacky game, much like most other Mario sports games). I haven't played any of the more modern games like EA's FIFA games or Pro Evolution Soccer. SUMMARY: Again, it's the sport of football in video game form. If you understand the basic objective of "kick the ball into the other team's goal", you'll survive. There are two modes: Tournament, which is your single player campaign (but you can play it in co-op mode with a friend), and Exhibition, where you can play either a regular football game or face off in a penalty shootout against either CPUs or a second player. That's pretty much it, but really, what more do you need for a game like this? You can play as one of 16 national teams, each with their own stats. A quick Google search of the 1990 FIFA World Cup results reveals that some of the ratings seem to be based on the results of said World Cup (e.g. Germany, who won the World Cup that year, has the best stats, Argentina is the second best, etc.). I wasn't around then, so that's as much as I can say on the matter. Before you get into a game. you can select the formation of your team, which will dictate their positions on the pitch as you play. You can also switch out the starting players' positions (who each have individual stats, and set whether the goalie acts automatically or manually. It's not a lot, but the number of possible formations and player configurations lends itself well to a decent amount of experimentation. The game's kind of tough to get a hang of at first, and I had a lot of trouble maintaining possession and getting passes right. The other members of your team also move rather erratically as they constantly alternate between CPU control and manual control, which doesn't help at all. Games take a decent chunk of time, with each half lasting five minutes. Those five minutes feel like a goddamn eternity when you're struggling with the controls, and I strongly suggest you figure out the controls with a friend instead of frustrating yourself with a CPU match. VERDICT: Super Soccer is a little challenging to get into, but once you get a hang of it, you have yourself a decent football video game with a lot of pre-game options to mess around with. Again, I'll probably stick to the wackier football games, but I did really enjoy the penalty shootout mode, so I may return to this game regularly just for that. - end - I'm halfway through SNES Online's launch library, and for game number ten, I'm going into some sports. BACKGROUND:
Well, I know what actual tennis is in real life, so I don't think I need an explanation in that respect. In terms of tennis video games by Nintendo, I've played the NES Tennis (which I didn't care for), Wii Sports Tennis (really fun), and a few Mario Tennis games (including the latest one: Mario Tennis Aces, which I talk about here). My familiarity with this Super Nintendo edition of tennis is limited to a single Let's Play by Game Grumps, which gave rise to one of my favorite (though not exactly PC) bits from their entire history. Watch that here at your own risk. SUMMARY: It's tennis. What do you want me to say? You serve, you hit the ball, you try and score on your opponent. If you even have a vague understanding of the rules, you know what you're getting into here. You have the choice of playing singles, doubles, or going through a tournament mode against a gauntlet of CPUs. In the former two modes, you can choose to take on the CPU, or play with a second player (either as an opponent, or in the case of doubles, as a teammate). It's pretty much all you need for a tennis game. Once you've selected either singles or doubles, you can choose from a wide variety of male and female characters (which affects nothing gameplay-wise), the court type (which affects the ball's bounce), and the number of sets (which affects how many games you have to play to win). It's a decent amount of options, certainly much more than NES Tennis. Other than that, there really isn't much to say. The game plays fine (though it's rather challenging to hit the ball at times), and the characters show a tiny bit of personality when someone scores via exclamations (i.e. the words "YEAH!" or "NO!" sometimes appear on the players who score/get scored on). VERDICT: Super Tennis is a decent video game version of tennis with all the necessary options to make it an all-encompassing experience, and a variety of modes that allow you to enjoy the game in single player or with a friend. If you like good, old-fashioned tennis, but can't play the real-life version for whatever reason, this is a passable substitute. Personally, however, I prefer the wackier tennis games like Mario Tennis, so this particular tennis game, while it is solid, doesn't really appeal to me. - end - You thought I was done talking about Super Nintendo games? Foolish child, we have only just begun.... BACKGROUND:
I may have seen a Let's Play of this game at one point (one of the levels looked pretty familiar), but other than that, I know jack shit about it. SUMMARY: Brawl Brothers is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up in the same vein as titles like Double Dragon, River City Ransom, Streets of Rage, and more. If you've played anything from the genre, this game won't feel foreign at all. You face off against wave after wave enemies, you kick their asses, then you move forward. Nothing too out of the ordinary. You can choose from five playable characters, who each have their own properties and moves. These moves range from basic strikes, various wrestling moves, jump attacks, and even dash attacks like dropkicks. There aren't really any complicated maneuvers or combos, and the movesets are honestly rather shallow, but hitting enemies with piledrivers is pretty satisfying, so I can't really complain. Depending on who you select at the beginning, the remaining unselected characters will serve as the bosses for the end of each level, which I though was a cool idea. Beating the boss "unlocks" them for use in your campaign, and you can choose to switch to them in between levels. Though there are only a handful of levels, they're rather lengthy, and it'll usually be a while before you get to the end and face the boss. Some of the levels can become frustrating, with at least one being an annoying maze, and another featuring pits you can fall into (which happens a lot if you perform a lot of throws/get hit a lot). For what it's worth, the backgrounds are rather diverse, so it's not boring to look at. The enemies aren't too varied, as many of them are just palette swaps of the same five character sprites, but combat-wise, they're decently challenging. Once you figure out how to get past their more annoying attacks, you'll get by just fine. The bosses are a tad tougher, but only because they take longer to beat. As you go along the levels, you'll encounter various items you can pick up and use. These range from healing items, melee weapons, and even shit like shotguns and grenades. These weapons do decent damage and can help even the odds, but I personally find taking enemies to Suplex City way more fun. You can choose to adjust various settings before you start playing a game, such as the game's difficulty, your controls, the number of lives/continues, and more. Notably, you can also toggle Angry Mode on and off. Angry Mode is a special ability that activates when you have low health, and grants you stronger attacks and invincibility for a short period of time. VERDICT: Brawl Brothers is a decent beat-'em-up with simple, yet fun combat, and a small but charming roster. I'm honestly not that much of a beat-'em-up guy, so while I did enjoy what I played, I felt like I had my fill not long after. I much prefer playing games like these in co-op mode with a friend, and I imagine I'd have more fun that way. For now, though, my one playthrough will suffice. - end - It's been a little over a week since SNES Online arrived on the Switch, and according to my play activity, I've put in around 20 hours in it already. Today, I continue to pad out that play time with a new game. BACKGROUND:
I vaguely remember hearing the name "Earth Defense Force" somewhere, but I don't know anything about it other than it's some sort of sci-fi game franchise. This game is my first experience with the series. SUMMARY: In the same vein as games like Gradius, Super EDF is a horizontal shmup where you pilot a spaceship and shoot down aliens and shit. It's not a revolutionary premise, but hey, it's a classic. Though the gameplay is mostly similar to other games in its genre, Super EDF has a few elements that set it apart from the rest. For one, your ship has access to "shields", which serve as an extra hit (an uncommon thing in shmups, where "get hit once and you die" is the usual practice). You start out with three shields, and can earn more by earning lots of points. This helps mitigate the hellacious difficulty of the game, but not by much (especially not against the bosses with terrifying bullet hell patterns).. Another thing that makes this game stand out is the ability to switch out weapons. Before each level, you start out in a menu where you can select one of eight weapons. Each weapon behaves wildly different from the others, and going through levels feels like a unique experience every time due to this variety. There's also a rudimentary leveling system in the game, where killing enemies gives you XP. Leveling up enhances your currently equipped weapon, and it's usually worth going out of your way to get. You also have access to a small selection of alternate firing modes, which, when toggled, deploys two small cannons that detach from your main ship and shoot your equipped weapon in varying formations (rotating around your ship, following behind you, or flying up to enemies). In these modes, your main ship defaults to a regular shot that doesn't do much damage but helps a little bit while your cannons do the heavy lifting. VERDICT: Sci-fi shmups are nothing out of the ordinary, but Super EDF manages to make a name for itself with a good variety of weapons and a few other mechanics that aren't seen too much in the genre. If you can stomach the game's difficulty, this is a great shmup to get into. - end - Another day, another Super Nintendo game beaten. For this blog entry, I take to the skies with a little game called Pilotwings. BACKGROUND:
Again, this is a Nintendo IP I'm only familiar with because of Smash, thanks to its small but meaningful representation as a stage and as an item in the more recent games. Other than that, I know jack shit about it, so I'm basically going in blind here. SUMMARY: You are a trainee in the Flight Club (not to be confused with the club we don't talk about), and your objective is to go through and pass a series of training exercises presented by the club's various instructors. Each exercise has two to four activities you must complete, each having you take control of a different aerial vehicle each time. In order to succeed, you must earn a specific amount of points, which is determined by how well you perform in each activity. Doing so will unlock the next training exercise. The first activity has you pilot a biplane, and the task involves you flying through rings, and then landing on the stage's runway. Controlling the plane is tougher than it looks, and landing on the runway is a serious challenge. Points are awarded depending on how many rings you pass through, how quickly you clear the level, and how well you stick the landing. In the second activity, you go skydiving. As you descend, you'll have to try to pass through rings, and once you're low enough, you must deploy your parachute and land in a specified target area on the stage. Maneuvering yourself in order to pass through all the rings is quite difficult, and I often found myself missing rings anyway no matter how hard I try. Sticking the landing is also a challenge in itself, because some of the landing areas are small (especially the ones that are worth more points), and it is rather easy to accidentally fall into the water. Next, you get to take control of a rocket belt (AKA a jetpack). It works rather similarly to the biplane level in that you fly through rings and shit, and also has the landing area objective of skydiving. The key difference from the other two activities is the full range of motion the rocket belt grants you, as well as the easier to handle controls thanks to the different levels of thrust. This is my favorite level of the bunch. The fourth level has you controlling a hang glider and taking advantage of thermal currents to launch you upward. Again, you have to fly through rings and land in a specified area, but what makes this stage different is the glider's ability to make sharper turns and its dependence on thermal currents to generate lift. If you earn enough points in a level, you may be able to play a bonus stage. These levels are strange and feature wacky characters. One of them has you try and maneuver a penguin and have it dive into a pool, and another has you play as a man in a chicken suit and launch yourself as far as you can. I wish you could play them outside having to earn a lot of points. Passing all the training exercises unlocks a special mission in which you pilot an attack helicopter. These missions take you out of the innocuous setting of the regular game and drops you in a literal war zone, because your objective now is to survive getting shot down by surface-to-air missiles (which, by the way, you can shut down with missiles on your own) long enough to land on a helipad and rescue a bunch of people. I was taken aback by how quickly the story escalated and how suddenly I was dropped into the thick of it, but I enjoyed playing the mission nonetheless. Completing the helicopter mission unlocks Pilotwings Expert mode, where you go through harder versions of each training exercise in unique stages with different weather conditions, plus a second helicopter mission. Getting through Expert mode is the end of the game, but thanks to the game's password system, you can revisit missions at your leisure. The graphics of this game are quite impressive given when it came out, using the same background effects you see in F-Zero and Super Mario Kart to achieve 3D-looking graphics. The backgrounds themselves look great to boot, and they get a good variety of locales for you to fly through. VERDICT: I'm not really huge on flight simulators, but I did enjoy playing Pilotwings. While the level objectives themselves weren't too varied (it's just 31 different flavors of "fly through hoops"), the variety and challenge the different vehicles provided was enough to satisfy me. There's not much in the way of a story, either (other than the out-of-left-field helicopter missions), but that's not really a dealbreaker, in my opinion. If you're looking for a flight sim that (mostly) isn't combat-focused and is more on the casual side, I feel like this is a good place to start. - end - I'm only a quarter of the way through SNES Online's launch library, so if you're already sick of this blog series, I'm really sorry, but it won't be over anytime soon. In any case, today's entry revolves around one of my all-time favorite games ever. BACKGROUND:
Of all the games on SNES Online right now, this is one of the three games I've actually put some serious time into beforehand. Metroid is one of my favorite Nintendo franchises, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I have played through Super Metroid extensively. The last I played this was around the time I bought it for Wii U Virtual Console, and that had to have been close to two years ago. When the SNES Online service was announced, I was quite excited to revisit this game. SUMMARY: Super Metroid is a sci-fi action platformer where you play as Samus Aran, a bounty hunter with a badass Power Suit. The story of this game is a direct follow-up to her adventures in the first two games: the original Metroid for the NES, and Metroid II: Return of Samus for the Game Boy. In the first game, Samus went to Planet Zebes in order to stop the Space Pirates from weaponizing the creatures known as Metroids. In Metroid II, Samus heads to SR388, the Metroid homeworld, and commits what is essentially alien genocide, exterminating all but one of the Metroids. She takes this Metroid to a bunch of scientists, and when those scientists are attacked by the Space Pirates from the first game, Super Metroid's story kicks off. The gameplay is simple on the surface: run, jump, shoot. Sounds easy, right? While there is certainly nothing complex about the basic player functions, the excitement comes from the massive (at the time) open world. It's not like Mario where you keep going right and you'll get to the end of the level; Super Metroid's world is an intricate network of passageways that are meant to be explored. Throughout your journey, you'll find some power-ups that will aid you on your quest. These range from weapon upgrades like missiles and modifiers to your regular shot, extra health tanks, and special items that help you progress. Majority of these items (including some of the weapons) fit into the last category, as a lot of areas are locked off until you acquire a specific item that allows you to proceed (e.g. you need missiles to open pink doors, Power Bombs to open orange ones, etc.). Given how large Planet Zebes is, navigating the world may seem daunting at first, but thankfully, you have a map at your disposal that'll keep track of where you've been. This is a remarkable improvement from the first two games, which were a pain in the ass to figure out unless you memorized the layouts or had a walkthrough handy. Playing this after going through the first two games felt like night and day, and instead of 100% completion feeling like complete suffering, trying to collect all the items felt doable, if not significantly easier. While you can beat the game just fine going through the critical path, exploration is rewarded handsomely, as you can often find extra upgrades that are usually worth your trouble. Item collection is tracked at the end of the game, so if you want that tasty 100%, you'll have to leave no stone unturned. The task sounds daunting considering the large map you have to comb through, but you can always save item collection for the end, when you have all the necessary items to make your quest faster and easier to accomplish. It's not just items strewn about the Zebesian landscape; you'll encounter an onslaught of alien baddies that are varying levels of difficult to kill (including a handful of challenging bosses), and hazards galore like lava and spikes. Combat and platforming will seem like an insurmountable task when you start, but as you collect more and more upgrades, you'll feel the difference, as terrain that was once treacherous becomes a breeze to traverse, and annoying enemies that do a lot of damage die in one hit. As terrifying as all that sounds, Zebes isn't completely hostile. You'll occasionally encounter a helpful location as you go along, such as save points, health refill stations, missile refill stations, and map data stations. Knowing where these are will help tip the scales back in your favor. And whenever you're in a tight spot, you can alway return to Samus's gunship for the complete package of ammo refill, health restoration, and saving. Don't be intimidated by all this information; the game does a good job of nudging you in the direction of important items, and with the map, you need not worry about getting lost. And given how much backtracking you'll have to do, forgetting where something is will become less and less of a problem the more you play. Speaking of the Zebesian landscape, it is as alien and eerie as an alien planet can get. The terrain looks absolutely bizarre, the biomes feel hostile, and combined with the wide variety of alien enemies that inhabit the place, you can't help but feel lost and alone in this terrifying place. Couple that with the atmospheric music and you have yourself an otherworldly experience that rivals even the most immersive of modern games. "Isolation" is a word that's thrown around a lot when discussing Metroid games, and this game is rather effective at making you feel that way. It would be a great disservice to this crown jewel if I didn't discuss the impact of this game. Though one can argue that games of this nature existed before, Super Metroid's focus on open worlds, exploration, and backtracking pioneered what is now known as the Metroidvania genre. Games like Hollow Knight, The Messenger, Axiom Verge, and many more probably wouldn't have existed if it weren't for Super Metroid laying the foundations. Another incredible legacy this game left behind is how it helped jumpstart the speedrunning community. When you beat Super Metroid, it tracks how long you've been playing, and depending on how fast you beat it, you get a different win screen. Along with this feature being tied to the then-bomshell reveal that Samus was a woman, the idea of beating the game as quickly as possible left an indelible mark on gaming history (and the community at large). I don't think events like Games Done Quick and entire speedrunning communities for thousands of games would have existed if Metroid didn't plant the seed first. VERDICT: Even after replaying this game for what might be the 500th time, Super Metroid is still an amazing experience. The presentation aged remarkably well, exploration is still satisfying, combat's still fun.... it just never gets old for me. Whether I try to go for the fastest time or do a 100% run (or both), there's surprisingly plenty of ways to play through this game that every run feels like a different experience. And even with this game being over 25 years old, I've still yet to learn and do everything I can in the game, thanks in no small part to all the incredible work speedrunners of the game have put in to establish new strategies and continuously optimize playthroughs. I would argue that this title is an "essential" video game, i.e. a game that should be played at least once. The legacy that this game left behind should be enough to merit giving this game a try, and the fact that it's still a fantastic experience over two decades on is a welcome bonus. Whether you're out to play every "important" video game. looking to get into the Metroid franchise, or want to become a speedrunner, Super Metroid is the place to start. There is a reason this game is revered, and you owe it to yourself to find out why firsthand. If you want to check out the first two Metroid games, I would still suggest you start with this one, as it's the quintessential 2D Metroid experience. Although those first two games set the stage for what Super Metroid became, they did not age as well as their descendant. I'd advise playing through the remakes instead (Metroid: Zero Mission on the GBA is Metroid 1's remake, Metroid: Samus Returns on the 3DS is Metroid II's remake), but if you really want to check out the originals, please spare yourself the frustration and pull up a walkthrough. Nobody will judge you. - end - SNES Online's launch library has a decent selection of racing games. For today, my focus is on the last game in that subset. BACKGROUND:
I've heard the name "Stunt Race FX" before, but I've never actually seen the game in any meaningful capacity. For all intents and purposes, the SNES Online version is my first exposure to the game. SUMMARY: Stunt Race FX is, as the name implies, a racing game where you play as one of four cartoony vehicles with googly eyes. Both in terms of gameplay and design, these few vehicles are pretty distinct from one another, so the shallow roster isn't that off-putting. You can play one of four modes in this game. Speed Trax is your typical racing mode where you go through a grand prix consisting of four tracks (five laps each), plus a bonus stage where you drive through gates to earn points as a trailer truck (only playable in this bonus game). Stunt Trax has you drive around one of four arenas in order to collect stars. Battle Trax is your multiplayer mode, and Free Trax is your practice mode. Overall, there's plenty to do compared to the other Super Nintendo racing games I've already talked about. There are a decent number of tracks between all the different modes, and they're all visually distinct from one another, taking place in various places such as cities, snowy areas, forests, and more. The roads aren't just flat ground, either, and feature rather varied terrain (which is highlighted quite well in the Stunt Trax courses), adding a layer of challenge to the gameplay that isn't quite present in F-Zero or Super Mario Kart. On the subject of gameplay, controlling the vehicle isn't that much different than the other Super Nintendo racing games, but some players may find it sluggish or unwieldy. You don't get items like in Super Mario Kart, but you do get a boost, which you can replenish via pickups found around the course. Similar to F-Zero, you can take damage in this game, and there are corresponding health pickups for that, too. The visuals are impressive, which is no surprise given that this game uses the renowned Super FX chip to pull off the 3D look that was virtually unheard of at the time. Most elements of the game, like the terrain and the vehicles, are constructed out of polygons as opposed to 16-bit sprites, and given when this came out, I find that to be quite an accomplishment. Of course, the models are not nearly as polished as anything you see in the games of today, and the game runs noticeably slower than any other Super Nintendo game, so don't expect the Forza Horizon of Nintendo games here. I found the music rather cartoony, which fits well with the already silly-looking cars you drive around. I wouldn't call it on the level of F-Zero's music, but it gets the job done, and it's upbeat in its own way. VERDICT: Though the gameplay may not be as smooth as other racers out there, and the visuals may not be that remarkable in 2019, Stunt Race FX is still a fun time. To me, the thing I enjoyed the most out of this game was the unique topography of the courses, so while the normal racing mode was enjoyable, the real fun was in the Stunt Trax mode, where the terrain is more varied. It's completely understandable if you pick Mario Kart or F-Zero over Stunt Race FX, but I think it's worth checking out once for the proto-3D visuals and the aforementioned stunt mode. - end - My quest to play as much SNES Online as I can continues, and my next stop brings me to Planet Popstar. Today's game is none other than Kirby's Dream Land 3. BACKGROUND:
I'm pretty familiar with the Kirby games, having spent some time with titles like Kirby's Adventure on the NES (which I played via NES Online for the Switch), and Triple Deluxe for the 3DS. That said, I definitely haven't played all of them, and Dream Land 3 is one of those games I've yet to explore. A fun fact I found while reading about this game is that it was the last game Nintendo published for the Super Nintendo in North America, having come out in 1997 (the Nintendo 64 had already come out by then). SUMMARY: Per usual, Kirby is chilling in Dream Land with his friends when all of a sudden, an evil force called Dark Matter shows up and takes over Planet Popstar, possessing a number of creatures. It once again falls to Kirby to save the planet, but this time, he's not alone. By his side are his animal companions, and totally-not-a-Dragon-Quest-Slime Gooey, and with their help, nothing can stop Kirby in his quest. Most Kirby stories play out like this (malevolent force invades planet, Kirby becomes the god-slayer and vanquishes them), so if you were expecting anything substantial, you're in the wrong neighborhood. Still, the novelty of seeing a pink puffball effortlessly dispatch what is essentially the Nintendo equivalent of the Phoenix Force is hilarious to me. The gameplay is just like any other Kirby title: it's a platformer where you can float, eat enemies, spit them out, and copy their abilities. As the saying goes: "if you've played one Kirby game, you've played them all", which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Kirby is also notorious for being an easy game, and Dream Land 3 is no exception, so it won't be too much trouble even for people who aren't too skilled at video games. What makes Dream Land 3 stand out amongst the other Kirby games is its greater focus on companions. For one, you can summon Gooey at any time at the cost of some of your health, and essentially functions as a second player who helps you out. This tends to be more trouble than its worth in single player, as the CPU tends to get in your way a lot and can keep you from getting Copy abilities, so I would recommend using this feature only with a second player present. In addition to Gooey, you're able to team up with one of Kirby's six animal buddies, and they each have their own unique platforming abilities (e.g. the fish swims better, the owl has amazing flight, the cat can triple jump, etc.), which can help you access specific areas or solve certain puzzles. Kirby's movement tends to be one of my least favorite elements in any Kirby game, so having all these options to liven things up is great. Strangely, Kirby's signature ability (the Copy ability) is one of the weakest aspects of this game, with only a handful of selections available (I counted only eight), and some of them are incredibly situational (e.g. Stone is generally terrible for combat and is only really useful for certain puzzles). Thankfully, the animals help balance out the limited selection of abilities, as depending on who your companion is, your Copy ability works differently. For example, while using Fireball as regular Kirby gives you a fire dash that kills enemies, having Fireball equipped when you're teamed up with the cat turns it into a pillar of fire that travels across the ground. Figuring out how a Copy ability changes depending on the companion is a lot of fun, and this variety almost makes up for the shallow pool of abilities. You go across five worlds, each with six levels, plus one boss. The regular levels have a good amount of branching paths with secrets, and exploring these may net you a Heart Star, which serves as the game's collectible. These Heart Stars can be acquired by various means, ranging from beating minigames, solving puzzles, and bringing the correct animal companion to the end of the level. Getting them all unlocks the true ending of the game, so it's not for nothing. I found the visuals of the game rather impressive. It's challenging to convey a specific art style with 16-bit graphics, but this game has a sort of "art project" feel to it, with many elements feeling like they've been drawn or colored in with watercolor, colored pencils, and/or oil pastels. Paired with the game's cheery, vibrant palette, playing through the levels is a feast for the eyes. The music is equally cheery and upbeat, but falters a little bit in terms of variety. A lot of the tracks feel derivative of the iconic Green Greens music (or at least use the motif heavily), and some of the tracks are used multiple times on different levels. They certainly could have done more to spice things up soundtrack-wise, but I'm not hung up about it. VERDICT: While one can argue that Kirby's Dream Land 3 is lacking in a number of aspects, I still think it's a decent platforming experience, providing the signature no-pressure gameplay the series has become recognized/notorious for. Better, more robust Kirby games certainly exist (including the aforementioned Kirby's Adventure, which I highly recommend), but this game's charming art style and fun animal companion mechanics make it worth checking out at least once. - end - |
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