The SNES Thread

[BomberPat]

Holy shit, it's not called Diddy Kong's Quest.

[FLips]

10 minutes ago, Uncle Zeb said:

Fans of Donkey Kong Country looking for more could try Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (a 2D sequel based on DKC, whereas the 3D original was based on Banjo-Kazooie). Also the overlooked Nintendo DS title DK Jungle Climber adds a unique twist to the gameplay.

Impossible Lair is really good. Much better than the first Yooka-Laylee. Neither are as good as the games they're trying to emulate though sadly.

[westlondonmist]

33 minutes ago, gmoney said:

Despite being a former SNES owner, and count myself as a fan of the console, I'm not sure I knew that existed. We certainly didn't have it, and I didn't know anyone else who did. I was spending any pocket money on Match or Shoot magazine then, so wouldn't have read about it, and I guess it's always just passed me by. I must have a bash of the ROM, as I loved the first. That's exciting. 

I didn't hear about the 3rd one until years later. By 96 I stopped playing games until I got a PS in 97. I could always tell the DKC series was good but I was terrible at them so didn't really bother. The graphics for SNES was amazing. Really pushes the console to its limits. 

[DavidB6937]

Reminds me of how much I loved Diddy Kong Racing on N64.

[Matthew]

I had a NES as my first console, but SNES is what I think I have the most long term gaming memories of.

From its yellow faded plastic as time wore on, to waking up at midnight, finding my dad playing Super Mario World at the end of my bed while I slept.

My mum unfortunately sold my SNES at a car boot sale years ago, for a bargain price at the time. Someone definitely got a steal with that.

I’ve managed to download to my PC the full SNES package, and an emulator, and have recently been playing Super Mario World. What a beautiful game. Even managed to get some USB input SNES controllers.

Another game I remember playing is Pushover. A clever, very tricky puzzle game, that will punish the wrong move, very frustratingly. Would love to see @FelatioLips do a write up of that if possible.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Matthew

[FLips]

3 hours ago, Matthew said:

Another game I remember playing is Pushover. A clever, very tricky puzzle game, that will punish the wrong move, very frustratingly. Would love to see @FelatioLips do a write up of that if possible.

I'll do that and The Firemen once I've finished doing the games I own!
Speaking of which, there's not many left: Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Aladdin, Starwing and off the top of my head that should be it. I was somewhat tempted to maybe do more SNES ROMs but I have plans to do something a bit more varied and inclusive in the near future and I'll include the games I wanted to do during that.

[Daaaaaad!]

Inspired by this thread, I loaded up the original Donkey Kong Country on two-player team mode with my five year old today. I’ve never really given it longer than a half hour before, but wow, he absolutely adored it! He giggled away taking over as Diddy whenever I inevitably spiked myself on a flying bug, to the point where I thought he was going to burst when he did the barrel cannons.
 

Can’t wait to give it another go soon.

[FLips]

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past

What is it?

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past is the 3rd entry into the Zelda franchise and first on the Super Nintendo. In LTTP you play as Link as he sets out to rescue Princess Zelda from the evil clutches of the wizard Agahnim who plans to use her to release Ganon from his prison in the Sacred Realm.

How is it?

My experience with the Zelda games was practically non-existent until I got the Collector's Disc with Mario Kart Double Dash on the Gamecube in 2003. I had briefly played my aunt's copy of Link's Awakening on the original Gameboy and ventured through some of Hyrule Field on my mate's N64 but I never really got into the series until I had that disc and played Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker for myself.
I never played LTTP until the Wii U Virtual Console and couldn't really get into it, especially compared to what I had already played. I could appreciate it was better than Zelda 1 and 2 that I had on the old Gamecube (and at that time 3DS as well) but by the time I played it we had every other Zelda except Breath of The Wild, including A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS - this game's spritual sequel.

It wasn't until a couple of years after first playing it that I went back and gave it another shot. It was widely renowned as one of the best in the series so I had to be missing something. This time I got a little further and enjoyed it a little more. My main gripe was the controls; compared to LBW they were stiff and only 4-directional, not 8. It sat on the sidelines a little longer.

Then a little later down the line, I met my (now) wife and we both shared a love for the Zelda games and decided to play through a load of them back to back. My favourite was Wind Waker, her's was Twilight Princess. We played those, we did Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, we did Skyward Sword and Link's Awakening. All we had left was A Link to The Past.
This time, whether it was due to the fact we were aiming to complete it and not just give it a go, or maybe because we were sharing the experience together, but we fell in love with it.
Once you get past the old-style controls, LTTP is as close to perfect of a Zelda game as you can get.
It looks gorgeous from start to finish and really pushes what the SNES was capable of in terms of large boss sprites, weather effects and a nice big open world. The animation is fun and there's tons of it, whether you're falling in a pit or pulling blocks, Link makes tons of unique faces and movements.
The dungeons and bosses are fantastic and got us stumped more often than not, but the relief when you finally figure a tough puzzle out or beat a hard boss is second to none; and though you have to tackle them in a linear fashion, it's the exploring between the dungeons that makes up the game's bread and butter. Every time you get a new item or weapon it implores you to go search the entire map again for a wall you can now blow open or a gap you can now hookshot across.
Even though the game only offers up two overworld themes, one for light and one for dark, they're both belters. The dungeons, villages and houses between fill out what can be considered one of the best Zelda soundtracks. The Dark World Theme is an all-time great and in fact the moment you go to it and the song kicks in is what I would consider not only one of the best moments in the entire series, but also the point where the game clicked for me and I knew I was going to end up loving it.

I got my wife a boxed copy on the SNES for her birthday a few years ago and it's even better on the SNES than emulated on other Nintendo consoles. The controls are smoother and more responsive and it looks and sounds great.
LTTP laid the majority of the foundations for what future Zelda games ended up being in terms of variety, structure and themes. It's what some consider the best entry into the series and though there's a special place in my heart for it, I think Wind Waker still pips it for me, but only just.

We finish LTTP 100% every year now and it's since became "our" Zelda. It's a 10/10 game if you can get used to the controls, and if you can get your hands on the SNES original it's even better. In terms of where it ranks on the SNES, even laying aside all my emotional bias for it, it's number one for me and a quick search of most "best SNES games" lists are in almost unanimous agreement.

 

 

Super Metroid

What is it?

Super Metroid, like Link to The Past, is the 3rd entry in the Metroid games and similarly the debut on the SNES. You play as Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who travels to the Planet Zebes to retrieve a baby Metroid that has been stolen by her nemesis and leader of the space pirates, Ridley.

How is it?

Just like my experience with Zelda, I wasn't properly introduced to the Metroid series until Metroid Prime on the Gamecube, which I bought on a whim from CHiPS in town after hearing good things in magazines.
I loved Metroid Prime but never got into Metroid Prime 2 and so my relationship with the series fizzled out until I played Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission on the 3DS. Not long later they added Super Metroid onto the Virtual Console and I thought it was ace.
Super Metroid is action-packed, fast paced and there's a very good reason it ended up essentially spawning a whole new genre of game alongside Castlevania Symphony of The Night which is also brilliant.

Super Metroid sets the standard for a number of games in this console era, most of all in atmosphere. Planet Zebes feels alive as you explore every nook and cranny of it. The fauna and flora are stunning and the different environments present new and exciting dangers in every room as the soundtrack deliberately matches every area step for step.
The gameplay loop is thrilling as you explore this gorgeous world and with each new item a lightbulb will go off as you remember a door you couldn't open or an obstacle you couldn't reach previously and run back through the lava pits and underwater bases to reach it. The map system compliments this gameplay perfectly by showing rooms you've visited down to exactly how far you went into them and if there was an item you couldn't get yet.

Samus handles wonderfully as she runs, jumps and blasts through traps and alien creatures, with my only complaint being the wall jump is really finnicky, especially when games like Ninja Gaiden or Shinobi 3 got it so right. Thankfully you only need to use it in one or two bits that can also be bypassed other ways. The gunplay is responsive and the way you need different weapons for different enemies make every battle one of wits rather than just blasting away and wasting missiles.
Not to compare apples to oranges but if you look at this and Turrican 2 it's very clear to see how much Super Metroid does right to improve the game tenfold. Not to say Turrican 2 is bad, but nearly all the downfalls of that game aren't present in Super Metroid, notably enemy collision and damage.

The bosses in this are just as worth shouting about too. The design of them and the journey you take you reach them truly make them feel like the guardians of their respective areas and the challenge some of them present give you a great feeling for beating them. Just like the rest of the game, strategy and timing is key.

Again, like LTTP the SNES cartridge wallops the emulated versions in terms of responsive controls and overall feel. I'm not an emulation snob by any means but you can start to tell with minor differences when you play a game so many times and this one is better on the original hardware. The only negative the original hardware has is that it forces either German or French subtitles on the PAL version, but luckily only for the opening and closing cutscenes and not in replacement of the english in-game text.

Super Metroid is another 10/10 game on the SNES. It looks, sounds and plays like a dream and has an atmosphere unrivalled on the console. If Link to The Past is #1 then this is #2.

[Onyx2]

I consider you a full Nintendo fanboy @FelatioLips(not an insult) so it's really surprising to hear you say you only experienced both of these in the past 20 years. I'm crusty enough to experience both of these first time around, waiting for Link to the Past because the magazine hype was off the charts. And what an experience. A good argument for best Zelda game, with perfect pacing, jolliest theme and excellent map. A true classic.

And then Metroid... Just incredible atmosphere. You feel so alone, so isolated and yet so empowered. The ambient music made such an impression on me it used to buzz around my head at school. And what fantastic use of Mode 7!

[FLips]

49 minutes ago, Onyx2 said:

I consider you a full Nintendo fanboy @FelatioLips(not an insult) so it's really surprising to hear you say you only experienced both of these in the past 20 years. I'm crusty enough to experience both of these first time around, waiting for Link to the Past because the magazine hype was off the charts. And what an experience. A good argument for best Zelda game, with perfect pacing, jolliest theme and excellent map. A true classic.

And then Metroid... Just incredible atmosphere. You feel so alone, so isolated and yet so empowered. The ambient music made such an impression on me it used to buzz around my head at school. And what fantastic use of Mode 7!

I didn’t want to change the subject too much but both of us are pretty big on Nintendo but specifically Zelda. We had a Zelda themed wedding and everything!
Before I proposed I got the three spritual stones from Ocarina of Time and took her to places relating to them that meant something to us (except quite nastily up the peak of Roseberry Topping as our Death Mountain) and then proposed in the woods with a ring with the three stones in it. I asked the wonderful @John Matrixto do the wedding invitation and placecard designs for us which turned out fab. We had the TPR piano versions of songs playing as people waited and then she came out to Zelda's Lullaby. Very nerdy but we loved it.

My wife made centerpieces for each table and we named the table after it, e.g Kakariko, Minish Woods, etc.

Before anyone asks we didn’t dress up or anything mad like that!

Edited January 23, 2023 by FelatioLips

[Arch Stanton]

That's fantastic! Super nerdy, but so wholesome and lovely. I wish my wife and I had a common interest like that which we really connected over and could both love together!

[Jazzy G]

Looks like a heck of a wedding, and don't forget Dog Link as well. 

Veering away from SNES, I would recommend Story Of Thor/Legend Of Oasis on the Megadrive. Its very much their answer to a Zelda game. It's not as good as its counterpart, but it's still decent and probably as close as Megadrive owners got to playing a Zelda game. 

[RedRooster]

On 1/20/2023 at 4:07 PM, Matthew said:

Another game I remember playing is Pushover. A clever, very tricky puzzle game, that will punish the wrong move, very frustratingly. Would love to see @FelatioLips do a write up of that if possible.

The Amiga version of this was one of the first two videogames I ever owned, alongside Putty. They came packed in with the Amiga 600 Desktop Dynamite pack, and I bloody loved them. Pushover, as you mention, gets VERY challenging - but it's a brilliant idea that, as far as I can think, has never been revisited. 

Secondly, I'm genuinely floored that it's not Diddy Kong's Quest. I had no idea!

[Hannibal Scorch]

Also worth noting Pushover was a game based around Quavers and their mascot (I think was Colin the Dog)

[RedRooster]

48 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Also worth noting Pushover was a game based around Quavers and their mascot (I think was Colin the Dog)

If I remember rightly, the whole plot was based around Colin losing his Quavers! I was weirdly drawn to games with real-life product tie-ins when I was younger, it gave them a weird credibility to me; I'd think the game MUST be good, otherwise these companies wouldn't be involved. And to be fair, the track record for tie-in games was pretty strong - McDonald Land was a good game, Robocod was excellent, and Cool Spot and Zool were both very playable.