• Tag Archives Super NES

  • Super Play (November 1993)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Super Play – Issue Number 13 – November 1993

    Super Play is a magazine that was dedicated to the Super Nintendo and published in the U.K. This is another thing we didn’t have much of in the U.S. Magazines dedicated to a specific gaming system weren’t all that common until the PlayStation came along, at least if you exclude Nintendo and Sega official publications and even those typically covered multiple systems. Other than a short-lived EGM spin-off, I don’t think we had any magazines dedicated to the Super Nintendo. The November 1993 issue of Super Play includes:

    Features

    • Third-party politics – An article on the relationship between Nintendo and third-part developers. Because of what Nintendo charges developers for carts, taxes, etc., they were not making money on 60 pound carts. This was exacerbated by the fact that Nintendo restricted developers from releasing games on multiple systems. This is what pushed some companies like Electronic Arts to develop for the Genesis.
    • The Super Mario Collection – Part two of a player’s guide for Super Mario Collection. This part covers Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Lost Levels) and Super Mario USA.
    • Kick It!: Super Play’s Soccer Special – Reviews and previews of various soccer games on the Super NES. Games covered include Sensible Soccer, Empire Soccer, Pele, World Soccer, High School Soccer, EA Soccer, Super J-League Soccer, World Cup Striker, Virtual Soccer, and Prime Goal.
    • Top Gear 2 vs. Lamborghini American Challenge – Reviews and a comparison of these two games. Both were similar style games that are played from a similar perspective as Outrun.
    • Mario & Wario – In this game, you must place blocks in front of Mario using the Mouse so that he does not plummet to his death. He has a bucket over his head so he cannot see. I guess you could say that this game is a distant cousin to something like Lemmings.
    • Aero the Acrobat – A platform game that features a bat as the protagonist.
    • Super Putty – A platform game for all ages that puts you in the role of a ball of super putty.
    • Goof Troop – An action adventure game played from an overhead perspective. Most of Capcom’s Disney licenses were pretty good and this one is no exception though it is a bit on the easy side. However, it is also targeted towards a younger audience.
    • Jurassic Park – A game based on the movie of the same name. Most games based on movies aren’t that good. In fact, most are complete garbage. However, there is the occasional exception and this is one of them.

    Regulars

    • Gamefreak – Questions answered from readers about 16-bit versions of Metroid and Zelda, Romancing Saga from Square Soft, Blaster Master, the possibility of an uncensored Mortal Kombat, technical specs of the SNES, game release dates, and more.
    • Mode 7 – Tips, tricks, passwords and cheats for various games including Final Fight 2, Powermonger, Super Turrican, Yoshi’s Cookie, Super Mario World, Starwing, Street Fighter II, Super Fire Pro Wrestling 2, Super Probotector, Prince of Persia, Desert Strike, Rival Turf, Super Family Tennis, Super Formation Soccer, Street Fighter II Turbo, WWF Royal Rumble, and more.
    • Playback – Letters from readers about Home Improvement, Japanese vs. U.S. ads, plus envelope art and more.
    • What Cart? – Short reviews of 320 Super Nintendo games.
    • Supermarket – Readers offer Super NES hardware and software for sale.
    • Next Month – Coverage of Japanese games, troubleshooting the SNES, tons of reviews, and more.

    Plus reviews of Arcus Odyssey, Captain America, Championship Pool, Evo, Incredible Crash Test Dummies, Might & Magic II, Mr. Nutz, Prime Goal, Super F1 Cirucs 2, Super Slap Shot, and Wing Commander and much more!


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  • Pac-Attack (Super Nintendo)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: GameFan – Volume 2, Issue 2 – January 1994

    While Pac-Man was originally famous for maze games starting in 1980 (eat the dots, flee the ghosts), there have been numerous Pac-Man games over the years in a variety of other genres. Pac-Attack, released in 1993 is one such game and fits into the puzzle game genre. Pac-Attack has the distinction of being the first Pac-Man game released exclusively for home systems.

    Pac-Attack was initially released for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis late in 1993. In 1994 versions were released for the Game Boy and Game Gear. In 1995, a version for the Philips CD-i in 1995. both the Sega Genesis and Super NES versions have been re-released as unlockable content in other games and/or as part of various compilations over the years. The Genesis version seems to get slightly better reviews but the Genesis and Super NES versions are very similar. While this was technically the first Pac-Man game released exclusively on home systems, it was based on another game called Cosmo Gang the Puzzle which was released in arcades.

    This game is similar to games like Tetris and Columns in that you must clear blocks that fall from the top of the screen. The unique twist with Pac-Attack is that sometimes ghosts will fall instead of blocks. To clear ghosts you must guide special Pac-Man pieces to fall on them. Pac-Man will eat any ghosts in his path with the direction he is facing determining the path he will take. There is also a two-player mode in which clearing blocks will cause extra blocks to fall on your opponent.

    If you like puzzle games, then you will probably enjoy this one. However, it was criticized as having less depth and less replayability than some other similar puzzle games at the time. It was frequently compared to Tetris, Dr. Mario and Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine among others and Pac-Attack did not come out on top. Still, reviews were more positive than negative and it’s worth giving a try.

    If you do want to give this one a try, you can of course track down an original or use emulation. There are also several re-releases that you could consider. In 1998 there was a Japan only release of the Genesis version along with a remake as part of Namco Anthology 2. The Genesis version was also available as an unlockable bonus in Namco Museum for the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube in 2001. The remake that was released in Namco Anthology 2 also showed up as an unlockable bonus in Pac =-Man World 2 for the GameCube, PS2, Xbox, GBA, and Windows in 2002. The Genesis version was once again re-released as Pac-Man Museum collection released in 2014 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Most recently, the Super NES version was re-released as part of Pac-Man Museum + for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC which was released in 2022.

    The screen shots and ad above are all for the Super NES version of the game.


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  • Electronic Gaming Monthly (January 1995)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly – January 1995

    This was one of the best and biggest selling gaming magazines in the U.S. for a long time. I was never a subscriber but I bought issues when I could between probably 1989 and 2002 give or take. The January 1995 issue includes:

    Features

    • Shoshinkai Show Unveils New Products! – The big news was the unveiling of the Virtual Boy and what a flop that was. Some of the first games were Mario Bros. VB, Pinball VB, and Teleroboxer.
    • Getting “Tricky” With The King of the Super NES Jungle! – Tips and tricks for the latest and greatest 2D platform game on the Super NES, Donkey Kong Country.
    • Earthworm Jim Strategy Guide – A level by level guide to this humorous platform game from Shiny Entertainment.
    • Killer Instinct Jumps Onto The Fighting Scene! – A first look at Killer Instinct along with an incomplete moves list.

    Departments

    • Insert Coin – A commentary on the Virtual Boy’s introduction and how Nintendo was already stumbling out of the gate with its release.
    • Interface: Letters to the Editor – Letters from readers about the 32X, bug spray and CDs, Sega CD fighting games, developing games for the Turbo Duo, NAM-1975, full motion video on the SNES, Bloodstorm, and more.
    • Review Crew – Reviews of Samurai Showdown II (Neo Geo, game of the month), X-Men (Super NES), Indiana Jones (Super NES), Jurassic Park 2 (Super NES), Wolverine (Genesis), Aero The Acro Bat 2 (Genesis), Star Wars Arcade (32X), Heart of the Alien (Sega CD), Street Fighter II Turbo (3DO), Doom (Jaguar), Space Invaders (Game Boy), The Marvin Missions (Game Boy), and Ecco 2: The Tides of Time (Game Gear).
    • EGM’s Hot Top Tens – Several top tens lists including Top Ten video Babes (Mai Shiranui from The King of Fighters ’94 gets the top spot), Editor’s Top Ten (Samurai Showdown II for the Neo Geo is at the top), and Readers’ Top Ten (the arcade version of Mortal Kombat II tops the list). There are also top 10 games lists for several systems. Number one games include FIFA International Soccer (3DO), Donkey Kong Country (Super NES), Madden ’95 (Genesis), ESPN National Hockey Night (Sega CD), and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Game Gear).
    • Gaming Gossip – The latest news and rumors about Mortal Kombat III, NBA Jam Tournament Slam, Diddy Kong, Virtual Boy, Saturn and the 32X, Sonic on the 32X, the Sega Neptune, and more.
    • Press Start – Nintendo teams up with Paradigm to create a flight sim for the Ultra 64 (Nintendo 64); Earthworm Jim commercial featuring worm eating; Flightstick Pro from CH Products for the 3DO; a Super Game Boy to Game Genie adapter; Donkey Kong Country launched worldwide; Xband Catapult Modem for the Genesis; and more news and new products.
    • Arcade Action – A look at some of the latest arcade games including Tattoo Assassins (Data East), Ace Driver (Namco), Locked ‘N’ Loaded (Data East), and Point Blank (Namco).
    • International Outlook – Previews of new and upcoming games released overseas including Fighting Polygon (Super Famicom), Chrono Trigger (Super Famicom), Front Mission (Super Famicom), Kirby 2 (Game Boy), Super Bomberman 3 (Super Famicom), Super Bomberman Panic Bomber W (Super Famicom), Sim City 2000 (Super Famicom), Burning Heroes (Super Famicom), Pacific Theater of Operations 2 (Super Famicom), Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV (Super Famicom), Winning Post 2 (Super Famicom), Super Panchiko War (Super Famicom), Super Family Stadium 4 (Super Famicom), Go For It Tonosama (Super Famicom), Super Chinese Fighter (Super Famicom), Drift Highway Battle 2 (Super Famicom), Super Bombliss (Super Famicom), Tale Fantasia (Super Famicom), Battle Crushers (Game Boy), Super Chinese Land 3 (Game Boy), Pokonyan (Super Famicom), Art of Fighting 2 (Super Famicom), Live World Soccer Perfect Eleven (Super Famicom), and Fatal Fury Special (PC Engine Super CD-ROM).
    • Tricks of the Trade – Tricks tips and codes for VR Stalker (3DO), Shock Wave (3DO), Contra Hard Corps (Genesis), Brutal (Sega CD), Super Street Fighter II Turbo (3DO), The Lion King (Super NES), Doom (32X), Samurai Showdown (Game Boy), The King of Fighter ’94 (Game Boy), Super Return of the Jedi (Super NES), King of the Monsters 2 (Super NES), FIFA International Soccer (3DO), Out of This World (3DO), Earthworm Jim (Super NES), Beavis & Butt-head (Genesis), Shining Force II (Genesis), Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis), Ren & Stimpy: Time Warp (Super NES), Crazy Chase (Super NES), and Sonic Blastman 2 (Super NES).
    • Next Wave – Previews of upcoming games including Blue Lighting (Jaguar), Incoming (Saturn & PlayStation), TimeCop (Super NES), Clue (Sega CD), Trivial Pursuit (Sega CD), Family Feud (3DO), Cadillacs & Dinosaurs (Sega CD), Rise of the Robots (Game Gear), Air Cavalry (Super NES), Troy Aikman Football (Jaguar), Hover Strike (Jaguar), Val D’isere Skiing and Snowboarding (Jaguar), Flashback (Jaguar), Dragon’s Lair (Jaguar), and Ultra Vortex (Jaguar).
    • Special Feature – Namco discusses the making of Ridge Racer for the PlayStation with an interview of Shigeru Yokoyama, Kouichiro Shigeno, and Tsuyumi Toyoda; NEC launches FC-FX game system; a continuing look at Snatcher for the Sega CD; and more.
    • Team EGM – A look at the latest in sports games including Tecmo Super Bowl ’95, Sega Sports NHL All-Star Hockey, Road Rash III, NBA Jam Tournament Edition, Madden ’95, WCW Superbrawl, and more.

    Fact Files

    • Super NES Times – A quick look at Home Improvement (95% complete), Ogre Battle (90% complete), The Ignition Factor (100% complete), Pinball Fantasies (95% complete), and Savage Empire (95% complete).
    • Outpost Sega – Previews of Mega Bomberman (95% complete), The Death and Return of Superman (100% complete), Mighty Max (100% complete), Cosmic Carnage (32X, 100% complete), Samurai Showdown (Sega CD, 50% complete), Fatal Fury Special (Sega CD, 50% complete), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Sega CD, 100% complete), Ecco II: The Tides of Time (Sega CD, 100% complete), and Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (Sega CD, 100% complete).
    • Neo Geo Challenge – Preview of Samurai Showdown II (100% complete).
    • Planet 3DO – Previews of Super Street Fighter II Turbo (100% complete), The Need for Speed (85% complete), Shockwave: Operation Jumpgate (90% complete), Shanghai: Triple Threat (95% complete).
    • Jaguar Domain – Preview of Zool 2 (93% complete – oddly specific).
    • Club Game Boy – Previews of Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf (95% complete), Pinball Fantasies (95% complete), and Bonk’s Revenge (100% complete).
    • Super Gear – Previews of Ristar (90% complete) and Legend of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (80% complete).

    …and more!


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