• Tag Archives Super NES

  • Animaniacs – Super Nintendo

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Animaniacs (SNES)

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/154376982389/animaniacs-snes

    First of all, if you have never seen the Animaniacs you need to rent, download or whatever and watch at least several episodes before playing the game. Animaniacs was to me, the last cartoon series that really carried on the spirit of the older Bugs Bunny cartoons. The Animaniacs are awesome.

    So the show is great, how is the game? Well, first of all there were two much different versions of the game. There was one version for the Super Nintendo and another for the Sega Genesis and Game Boy. Both were fairly typical side-scrolling 2D platform games but most everything else about the games was different.

    The Genesis version came out about a month earlier than the Super Nintendo version in May 1994. It had excellent cartoony graphics and a plot that involved the Warner siblings (Yakko, Wakko, and Dot – the stars of the show) exploring various movie sets in Warner Bros. studios looking for items to sell in their new shop. However, once these items are collected, Pinky and the Brain (two white mice) steal them in order to take over the world (an ongoing theme of the show). The player must complete four levels (in any order) and then a fifth level where Pinky and the Brain must be fought. Each Warner sibling has their own special abilities. Graphics, gameplay were both good and the game did a good job of expressing the spirit of the show.


    Genesis

    The Super Nintendo version is another story. While the graphics were also very good, gameplay leaves something to be desired. The gameplay is more simplistic but at the same time more frustrating. Control just isn’t as good in the SNES version and this may party be due to the decision to give it a 3D component. It was played from a slightly isometric point of view. The plot is also different though that’s not really the nature of the problem with this game. In the SNES version, your goal is to recover 24 pages of a movie script and foil Pinky and the Brain’s plans for taking over the world.


    Super NES

    The Game Boy version was ported from the Genesis version so it most resembles that one. However, the more limited nature of the Game Boy means this game really isn’t as good. While true Animaniacs fans may want to give them all a try, the Genesis version is clearly the superior version.


    📂This entry was posted in Retro Games Super Nintendo (SNES) 📎and tagged

  • Secret of Mana (Super Nintendo)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Secret of Mana is an action RPG developed by Square for the Super Nintendo. Like many such games of the time it features an overhead perspective. I’ve always liked this POV for RPGs going back even further to games like the Gold Box AD&D series which also featured a top down perspective, at least for parts. Combat is a sort of real-time, turn-based hybrid. Combat is real-time but can be paused while you make decisions/issue commands. One particularly unique aspect of Secret of Mana is its multiplayer capability. A second or even third player can join in at any time. There are three characters that the player (or players) can control at any time. Two are controlled by the computer during single player activity but the player can switch characters any time.

    Secret of Mana is an action RPG developed by Square for the Super Nintendo. Like many such games of the time it features an overhead perspective. I’ve always liked this POV for RPGs going back even further to games like the Gold Box AD&D series which also featured a top down perspective, at least for parts. Combat is a sort of real-time, turn-based hybrid. Combat is real-time but can be paused while you make decisions/issue commands. One particularly unique aspect of Secret of Mana is its multiplayer capability. A second or even third player can join in at any time. There are three characters that the player (or players) can control at any time. Two are controlled by the computer during single player activity but the player can switch characters any time.



    The plot of Secret of Mana is a rather complicated affair. Ultimately, it is about the battle of technology vs. magic, of which mana is the source. As a side note, Secret of Mana was originally intended to be a launch title for the Super NES CD-ROM add-on. When that device ended up not being released, up to 40% of the game was cut so that it could fit on a cartridge and other changes were made such as the removal of a feature that allowed the player to take multiple routes through the game with different endings. Many of the developers did not even want to continue the project when they learned that a CD-ROM version was not a possibility. All things considered, it’s good that management chose to continue the project. Despite whatever was cut, Secret of Mana ends up being an excellent game and one that any JRPG or Square fan should love.

    Fortunately, this game has seen numerous re-releases that make it a little easier to find and play. An enhanced iOS version was released in 2010 and an Android version in 2014. The original version was released for the Wii U’s Virtual Console in 2013. A port for the Nintendo Switch was released in 2019 as part of the Collection of Mana. In addition, it was one of the games included on the Super NES Classic Edition released in 2017. Finally, a 3D remake was released for the PS4, PlayStation Vita and Windows in 2018. Personally, I prefer the 2D version. In any case, this is definitely a game you should check out though my preference will always be for the original SNES version.


    📂This entry was posted in Retro Games Super Nintendo (SNES) 📎and tagged