Revisiting the SNES Classic

Continuing from my previous blog, it's the SNES Classic's turn. I'm still using my adapter, and fortunately, it didn't require any adjusting to work with the SNES. It uses the same coding as it does for the NES. The SNES Classic was the one Classic that I really wanted, mainly for Star Fox 2, which I'll cover in a little bit. Also, I'm still disappointed by the fact that it was 20 dollars more than the NES and contained 10 less games. The library could have really benefited with 10 more games. The SNES catalogue is just too great to contain to only 20 games. Anyway, let's begin. 

Contra III: The Alien Wars

The one thing I loved about the SNES era was seeing franchises continue from the NES to the SNES and seeing just how much greater the games have become. Contra III is one of those games. Everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - has been improved. You can swap between weapons, detonate nukes, climb walls and ceilings. The graphics still look good to this day with loads of Mode 7 effects used on bosses and the overhead levels. Even the music is better and sounds better thanks to the better audio chip of the SNES. Konami unfortunately was never able to top this game, the pinnacle of the series. It was so good that I even bought it again on the GBA. 

Donkey Kong Country

This game was EPIC! Just when the new systems started coming out and flexing their muscle, Rare's like "We're doing CG rendering on SNES." Granted, it doesn't look as impressive as it did back in the 90s, but it animates smoothly and is still a lot of fun. I love how you can grab Diddy Kong along for the ride and tag off, or if you die, the other takes your place until they die too. The levels were also full of secrets, and it was a joy to find all the K O N G letters. I'm trying really hard to remember if I've beaten this game, and I want to say I did. I also remember there was this crazy yellow VHS tape that I got in the mail promoting the game. I wish I still kept it. I don't believe I played 2 and 3, though. Maybe some day I'll hunt them down. 

EarthBound

I know fans of EarthBound will be greatly disappointed by the fact that I just now started it for the first time in my life, but hey, it's always been on my mind. I played it for about the first 30 minutes and got Picky by the meteor crash site. I got to be bluntly honest, though. I'm not a fan of the battle system. It's too slow for me and I prefer to see the hero characters actually making attacks on the enemies instead of being largely text based. I know that this is a well-written game, though, so I plan to return some day and finish it. I just don't have much time for it at the current moment. 

F-Zero

Anyone who knows me knows how badly I'm waiting for a new F-Zero. It's one of my favorite racings series, but it's also one of my most infuriating. When the courses get complex, they become really rough. When I was a kid, I played the hell out of this and beat every cup on every difficulty level and set as many time trials as I could. When I played this again, I was just going to do a couple of tracks, but I ended up beating the Knight's Cup. But, I HATE Death Wind. Seriously, who thought it was fun to add high winds to a racing game to constantly blow the vehicles around? But yeah, F-Zero is such a classic and I love how there are F-Zero tracks in MK8. I love Mute City and Big Blue's music!

Final Fantasy III

Guess what? The most popular and beloved Final Fantasy pre-VII is a game I never played! *gasp* Well, I'm finally starting it, but don't get too excited yet. It will take me a long time to finally finish as I don't have any intent to go back to it anytime soon. Coincidentally, the mechs that Wedge and Co. are riding in the intro scene is a mount I just purchased (not with real money) in Final Fantasy XIV. Also coincidentally, the music that plays while the three of them are crossing the snowy fields has been renditioned for one of Final Fantasy XIV's new areas in Stormbringer. As for what I've played so far, the game starts me out with a party of three in Magiteks (and they play a huge part of FFXIV: ARR, btw) and I'm just so overpowered right now, it's stupid. This of course means that something will happen soon that will knock me back down to level one and remove me of all my powers. Anyway, I beat the first boss, a lightning-emitting whelk, which is actually a boss in FFXIV btw, and I'm really wanting to play more now. But, I've got to force myself to move on. Maybe I'll return to this sooner than later. 

Kirby Super Star

This might be one I'll have to return to at some point. It's an "8 Games In One" thing, and it seems like there's a bunch of mini-games packaged with what I hope is a regular sized Kirby game. I played Gourmet Race where I had to race against King Dedede in order to eat the most food and I did not care for it at all. I believe the main game is Spring Fever where you actually do regular Kirby stuff, and to my joyous surprise, you can actually spawn a helper by releasing an enemy after you swallow them. I simply love NPCs that fight alongside you! But, if Spring Fever is over in just a couple of levels, and the rest of the games are just hackneyed mini games, I don't really think this title will have any staying power.  

Kirby's Dream Course

This isn't the first time Kirby's been taken out of his element and been made into a completely different kind of game. Kirby was once a pinball game on the Game Boy. Anyway, I remember loving this game as a kid. I'd play it with a friend and we would just laugh as we forgot about sinking our putts and juts focused on knocking each other out of bounds. What I loved about the game was using different power ups from the enemies to make otherwise impossible shots. Although I forgot how to do that when I played this game again. I finished the first course and I might come back and play more sometime. I don't remember if I've beaten it.

Mega Man X

Just as with Contra III, Mega Man was another franchise I got to see begin to really evolve thanks to the power of the SNES. Mega Man X not only had better graphics but better gameplay thanks to things like the Charge Shot, the wall jump and riding atop robots. It's been too long, though, and I don't remember the robot names or the order you're supposed to fight them in. I went after the chameleon first and he was so hard, I gave up after a stock of lives. I don't really have much interest to play anymore of this, though, because I played the crap out of when I was a kid. Funnily enough, this was one of the games I got for bringing home As on my report card. 

Secret of Mana

I'm not even going to bother playing this one again in order to talk about it. I have a completed file on the Collection of Mana for Switch. When I had this game as a kid, I played the crap out of it beating it several times at level 99. It still remains my favorite RPG of all time. I loved the characters and leveling up their weapons and magic system. I loved the real time action combat and riding the dragon to different places. Mode 7 effects were all the rage back then. Plus, terrific music and story. Such a shame that the Secret of Mana remake didn't turn out very well as I really wanted to experience it with updated graphics. Maybe some day, a better developer will give it another shot. 

StarFox 

Turns out, I had a save file on here. I must have played a level when I first got the SNES Classic. I continued on and played another level, but ran out of the lives before I could beat the boss. I don't really have a desire to play this game anymore. It's a title of its time. Yes, the SFX chip was amazing back then doing polygonal graphics on a 16-bit machine, but it's sorta headache inducing today. I also had such a hard time with depth perception in this game. It was really hard to tell exactly how close some objects were to you. I did remember beating this game back in the day. Unfortunately, my jackass friend moved on me when he was still borrowing my original copy, which I never replaced.

StarFox 2

I've no desire to play this game again. It was the first one I tried when I got my SNES Classic, and it disappointed me greatly. I was so hyped for this game because it was the first time it was officially released, and it was canceled when it was still in development because I believe it was Miyamoto who believed it wasn't going to live up to the hype. He was right. Instead of being made as a fully fleshed out sequel, it was broken up into little mini missions that you flew all over a map to carry out. This made the game a lot less fun and pretty much removed any desire for me to want to play this game. Such a shame. I could have easily waited to find an SNES Classic at a better time had I known how terrible this game turned out. 

Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting

It doesn't get much more classic than this. Capcom's legendary fighting series launched a plethora of clones when the first Street Fighter 2 was released around 1991. A near perfect port of the arcade version made its way to the SNES and the series kept evolving with Championship Edition, which let you play as the bosses, and then Turbo: Hyper Fighting, which brought in a slew of enhancements such as faster speeds and new moves for some characters, such as a fireball for Chun-Li. The thing is, I'm not that great at fighters anymore, so before I even started, I put the difficulty down to one star. I chose Guile and flew through the stages until I met M. Bison and even on one star difficulty, it still took me three tries to beat him! Plus, playing with the Pro Controller doesn't really seem to be the best option. I think the game plays much better with a traditional SNES pad. 

Super Castlevania IV

Even though a lot of people might consider Symphony of the Night to be the greatest 2D Castlevania ever made, IV remains to be my favorite. I played it so much as a kid and I lost track of how many times I've beaten it. This was the second game I played when I got my SNES Classic. I actually have a save file from the clocktower, but god DAMMIT I'm sick of this input lag! Everyone who knows the clocktower knows that it's a platform-heavy stage, and I've missed so many jumps because of it. I kinda wanted to start over again, but if I did, I know I'd just keep playing it again until I got to that part, because I don't actually have trouble with the game until the clocktower. But man, this game is so incredible! I love the 8 direction whip, the music and all the Mode 7 Effects! Truly a classic!

Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts

No thank you. 

Super Mario Kart

Holy crap, I forgot how to play the original Super Mario Kart! The game has evolved so much that the first game in the massively successful series doesn't even feel like a Mario Kart game. I forgot that you can actually spin out turning too hard. Mode 7 is cool and all but it also plays with perception and it's just much easier in later games to line yourself up after turns. I played through Mushroom Cup on 50 CC and because I was still trying to adjust, believe it or not, I struggled to keep first. I played the crap out of this game when I was a kid and beat it god knows how many times. Even though there were clear omissions from this collection, Nintendo KNEW they couldn't omit this. Also, people, get ready for Mario Kart 9 in 2022! Mario Kart turns 30 next year and Nintendo would be crazy to miss out on the timing!

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Hey, Super Mario RPG turns 25 this year! Watch Nintendo not care! Anyway, this isn't just a classic RPG, it's a legendary RPG. It's one of the best collaborations Nintendo has ever done with another third party studio. Although it looks dated now, back then, it was an amazing game to look at because of the prerendered graphics. Then, you had the absolutely fantastic writing. You also had a terrific battle system that would carry over to the Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi games. I started a new file and I really wanted to play this game from start to finish, but I only did so for about a half hour and beat the Hammer Bros. and got the hammer from them. Then, my dumb ass messed up the save state, so I have to do it all over again. I beat this game a couple of times already, though, so it'll be hard to find time to do it a third time. Also, fun fact: I practically highjacked the game from a friend of mine who got it before I did. He only played for a couple of hours at first, and when I came over and started playing it, I was hours ahead of him when he finally kicked me off his SNES. It was THAT good!

Super Mario World

Ah yes, one of the greatest SNES games of all time and one of the greatest Mario games of all time. This was also one of the last games that became a standard pack in with launch titles. I remember when I first got my SNES and started playing this, I was so taken aback by the graphics and sound. It was so much better than SMB3, although I still love the game more than SMW. Also, no one ever forgets the the first time they flew with the cape and the first time they rode Yoshi. When I first got my SNES Classic, I went back to this game and beat the first couple of worlds, so I started in World 3. And well, once again, the input lag has kinda ruined the experience. All it took was one missed jump and a fall to my death to make me turn it off and say, "I've had enough." Seriously, this wireless adapter is really starting to seem like a waste of money. 

Super Metroid

You know, I'm not entirely sure if I've ever beaten this game. I think I may have, but that would require me having to haul out my original SNES and check the cart again, of which the battery might have quit and lost my save file. Anyway, what can really be said about Super Metroid other than it launched an entire subgenre of action adventure games: the Metroidvania (I guess you could argue the genre truly began with Symphony of the Night as you would need a Castlevania to combine with Metroid). Anyway, I'll be honest and say it's just getting too late for me to put up with the game's constant backtracking. Find a new area, can't access it. Find a power up/ability, try to remember where you saw that area you couldn't access, find another new area and can't access THAT area. As much as I love Metroid games (especially the Prime and GBA titles), I got to admit, backtracking has never been my favorite aspect. I doubt I'll ever return to this game and try to beat it again. 

Super Punch-Out!!

I've probably played this game more than most games in this collection. When I first got it on the SNES, I played it until I finished all circuits with no losses. I beat all the time trials as well, I believe. When I got my SNES Classic, I think this was the third game I played and I started a new file. I finished the first three circuits with no losses. I even started a file on the Switch when they put the game on Switch Online. When I revisited, I started from the fourth circuit, which may have been a bad idea. I could not beat Narcis Prince. Too rusty, I guess, and I didn't want to work myself up before I went into work today trying to beat him. Anyway, this is one of the best sequels ever made. Everything is better with much bigger sprites, harder-hitting sounds and better gameplay. I really loved it when I could get into the rhythm of blocking, dodging and countering with super punches. Some day, though, I'll get that rhythm back. 

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Every Zelda fan knows this game intimately. Believe it or not, I've never beaten it on the SNES. I have beaten it on the GBA, though. If I remember correctly, when I first played it, I really got lost trying to get to some dungeon in the Dark World. But anyway, this remains to be one of the best Zeldas ever made. Seeing all the huge improvements from Zelda 1 and 2 really helped to further validate the need to get an SNES. The dungeons were great, the music was great, the graphics were great. Everything was great! When I revisited the game for this blog, I played up to the point where I rescued Zelda from the dungeon and got her out to the sanctuary. I really wanted to keep playing, but had to force myself to stop. This will be a great game to go back to on a rainy day.

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2

Like Super Mario Bros. 2 to its predecessor, the "sequel" to Super Mario World was completely different. Not only did it star Mario's prehistoric sidekick Yoshi, it also relegated Mario to a baby that rides on his back who will annoy you to high hell should you ever get hit and cause Mario to fall off. Anyone who remembers this game is more familiar with that sound then they ever want to be. But regardless of all that, Yoshi's Island is a really good game. The visual style is completely different taking an aesthetic of a hyperactive child with a box of crayons. The gameplay is also really different, too. Arming yourself with a bunch of eggs you've made by swallowing your enemies, you shoot your eggs at other enemies, coins, flowers and other secrets as you make your way to the next yoshi to pass Baby Mario on. I believe I have all the Yoshi games, except Yoshi's Story. We don't talk about Yoshi's Story...

There you have it. I've finally gotten around to doing a blog about all the SNES games. Next up is the Sony Classic, which I really don't want to do... We'll see.