Day 67 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: SNES Game Fest

Ugh, the whole afternoon has been a blur of Irn-Bru, Wotsits and Super Nintendo games. We decided to play the SNES since Snezzy decided to come back to life, starting with Goof Troop.

Goof Troop is a Capcom/Disney title which we've never gotten around to finishing it before. It's similar to A Link to the Past with the added bonus of co-op multiplayer. Surprisingly there's only 5 levels or so and you can have the whole thing finished in under 2 hours, but like many of the Capcom/Disney games the animation's wonderful, and it's nice if you just want something quick to play through.

We then decided to go through some of the Super Famicom games we picked up at NERG last year. One of them turned out to be a mahjong game, so that's going straight to the charity shop, but then we tried a fighting game called Ranma 1/2...

It's based on an anime that I've never watched so I didn't have a clue who I was playing as or fighting against. There was Ranma who is apparently male and female, some other guy who transforms into a pig, a Panda, and another fellow with candles on his head. The animation was fun but it was essentially a Street Fighter clone, good for a giggle.

Super Bomberman provided some more co-op related mayhem, just for the record I'm crap at Bomberman, so we didn't get very far. Thankfully someone and sellotaped a piece of paper to the cartridge with a level code on, so we jumped to world 4-7... and died almost instantly. (; _ ;)

Finally some Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest to round off the day. I forgot how amazing the soundtrack to this game is, and while the 'DKC Returns' series on Wii/Wii U is great, I prefer the originals as the level design is amazing and Kremlins make the perfect enemies.

Now I'm going to go see if I can find something more nutritious than Irn-Bru and cheese flavoured crisps ... where oh where did I put those vouchers for Domino's Pizza??? 

Day 63 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Back from the Dead

SNEZZY RETURNS!!!

Back in July our beloved console Snezzy appeared to have played his last game as his video output stopped working.

But call it a miracle, a stroke of good luck, or the simple matter of putting the plug in, Snezzy returned in a blaze of glory and ready for classic gaming once more.

Who knows what powerful forces came together to give Snezzy a new lease of life. One thing's for sure though, Super Nintendo's last a hell of lot longer than PS3's and 360's. :-P

Day 49 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Super Mario World

After losing poor Snezzy I can't help but feel sad as my Super Nintendo collection slowly gathers dust. Still I can reminisce about gaming days gone by...

Super Mario World was a huge step up from Super Mario Bros 3. It had a huge map to explore with no shortage of secrets to discover, a whopping 96 levels, plenty of power-ups and best of all, Yoshi! A loveable dinosaur who could gobble up enemies, fly, and shoot fireballs from his mouth, the perfect ally for rescuing princesses.

The game takes place after Super Mario Bros 3 with the Mario brothers and Princess Toadstool (Peach) taking a holiday to Dinosaur Land. The Princess inevitably goes missing, so Mario and Luigi start searching until they come across a giant egg. Suddenly the egg hatches to reveal Yoshi, who informs the Italian Plumbers that he was imprisoned in the egg by a group of monstrous turtles! Mario and Luigi both agree tht this must be the work of Bowser and set off on a brand new adventure.

I think I got Super Mario World with the SNES in Christmas 1992, alongside Super Mario All-Stars, and it was fantastic. I think I spent the whole day in front of the TV glued to Super Mario games.

Super Mario World literally went all out to show off the power of the SNES. The game is beautifully designed with big colourful sprites and delightful animation. The variety of enemies in the series also grew from just a handful to absolutely hundreds, I like the football players the most. I also enjoyed wandering around the map and watching Dinosaur Land transform as I unlocked new areas.

There was even a version of Super Mario All Stars that included Super Mario World, as if the bundle couldn't have gotten any better! Super Mario World has also been released on GBA and Virtual Console, so if you've never gotten around to playing one of Mario's greatest adventures, give it a try because you won't be disappointed.

Day 46 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Super Mario All Stars

Super Mario All Stars is possibly one of the greatest bundles in gaming history. Super Mario All Stars included four of the greatest Mario games of all time, plus they were all remastered from 8 bit to 16 bit quality, AND best of all it was bundled with the console! Let's take a closer look at the games bundled with Super Mario All Stars.

Super Mario Bros - What's your favourite Super Mario Bros memory? It may have been discovering that you could run in front of the scoreboard in world 1-2 and warp to later levels. It may be when you finally defeated Bowser and saved the Princess. Or perhaps uttering your first profanity when you get killed by those &#%$@£! Hammer Bros.

Whatever your memory, Super Mario Bros established Nintendo as a gaming industry juggernaut that has dominated the market in some form or another for decades. Super Mario Bros not only set the standard for Nintendo, but for every platform game since we first set foot in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels- The NES version of The Lost Levels was never released in the West, so we were getting something we'd never played before, which sealed the deal for most people buying Super Mario All-Stars.

It looked just like Super Mario Bros, which was the reason it was never released in the West in the first place, but beneath its deceptive exterior lay a game so gruesomely evil it reduced grown men to tears.

I finished The Lost Levels for the first time when I was 8 years old, my Dad even promised me £10 if I could finish it. After about 2 weeks of playing I thought I had finally completed The Lost Levels when I beat World 8-4...only for the game to go on to World A-1, so technically I didn't finish it and therefore I couldn't have the £10 prize. The Lost Levels = Pure Evil!    

Super Mario Bros 2/ USA- This was released in the West instead of The Lost Levels, and it was either a love it or hate it experience. I personally couldn't stand it as a kid as it wasn't like your traditional Mario game, and it seemed to be lacking in comparison to the other games in the bundle.

Instead of jumping on enemies to defeat them you had to pick them up and throw them into other enemies, which I found interesting for about 5 minutes, but then it became really frustrating when enemies couldn't be killed as there wasn't another one nearby. I only got around to finishing Super Mario Bros 2 for the first time recently and it wasn't as bad as I remembered it, but when compared to other Mario games, I'd rather play the others.  

Super Mario Bros 3- The biggest game in the whole bundle. Super Mario Bros 3 improved on every aspect of the Super Mario Bros series with 8 massive worlds to conquer, a whole new host of power-ups and competitive/co-op multiplayer so you could annoy all of your friends! The Mario Bros Arcade game was even included so you could annoy your friends even more.

This was another game I didn't finish until recently as I kept getting stuck in World 8. I had no feathers, frog suits or fire flowers, and I just kept getting killed over and over again. After leaving the game for a few...years, I finally defeated King Bowser and his Koopa Kids. Truly a happy gaming day!

Gone but not Forgotten: Snezzy

Snezzy

On 26th July 2014 at approximately 23:30, our Super Nintendo, Snezzy, sadly passed on. 

At the ripe old age of (probably) 22, good old Snezzy lasted much longer than most PS3's and Xbox 360's.

He enjoyed playing such classics as Super Mario All Stars, Starwing and Donkey Kong Country.

We think playing the Sailor Moon fighting game was too much for the little guy to comprehend, so he fried his own circuit boards.

Snezzy will be missed. （；＿；）

Day 41 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Aladdin SNES

The SNES version of Aladdin was often overshadowed by its immensely popular Mega Drive/Genesis counterpart, thanks to its gorgeous cel animations crafted by Disney animators, but the SNES release had an undeniable charm that made it such a joy to play. Apparently Disney had planned to release the MD version on all platforms, but Capcom held the rights to produce all Disney related games on Nintendo systems at the time, so SNES owners were treated to a unique game of their own.

Capcom followed the source material very closely and produced a beautiful 16 bit recreation of the Aladdin universe. Whether you were leaping from the rooftops of Agrabah, uncovering the secrets of the Cave of Wonders or beating up Grand Vizier's attempting to muscle in on your woman, it was superbly realised on SNES. Capcom even managed to incorporate the famous 'A Whole New World' scene (surprisingly it's absent from the MD release), developing it into a bonus stage allowing you to collect power ups and extra lives.

The only level that was totally improvised was the 'You've Never Had A Friend Like Me' scene, where Aladdin meets the Genie. Capcom let their imaginations run wild as they created a strange dreamlike world, set in the clouds, where almost every platform/object resembles the Genie in some way (arguably far more entertaining than the MD version). 

So which game do you prefer? Do you favour the superbly animated, sword wielding antics of the Mega Drive/Genesis release? Or the smooth platforming and beautifully detailed charm of the SNES release? Let me know in the comments.

Day 37 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S

Okay, I swear my wife picked this game, but surprisingly it turned out to be a pretty solid beat em up and a great multiplayer title. Please keep in mind my knowledge of Sailor Moon is fairly limited, so if anything that I write here turns out to be incorrect please let me know in the comments (like I'm sure my wife is going to do).

Sailor Moon S is a blatant Street Fighter 2 clone, and while it's certainly not in the same league as SF2, it's a very good beat em up. The controls are responsive and special moves are simple to execute, but there's also some big finishing moves that require a little more effort. The effort is certainly rewarded however, as not only do you deal immense damage to your opponent, but Sailor Moon S is superbly animated and worthy of the franchise.

There are 9 characters to choose from but they're all Sailor Scouts, so no Tuxedo Mask or any antagonists from the series (apparently Sailor Saturn is also missing). It feels like a wasted opportunity with the amount of characters being very limited and I must brush up on my Japanese, as I'm wondering what on earth happens to make 9 protagonists beat the hell out of each other.



There's also a unique attribute customisation screen that allows you tweak certain aspects of your chosen character, for example increasing the amount of health you will start with. This has some drawbacks because opponents can become more difficult to defeat, meaning most fights will end on a 'Time Out' depriving you of that satisfying KO finish. I also felt the levels could be a bit more dynamic, a majority of them are just still images of locations from the show, it would be better if there was some breakable objects or animated backgrounds.

Sailor Moon S may have it's faults, but it has enough fan service to satisfy the most ardent Sailor Moon fan (hearing the theme song on the SNES is awesome). The game is also bloody difficult as I've been playing for about an hour and had my arse handed to me. Plus my wife is also taking great pleasure at defeating me, so I think I'll put on some Silent Hill before we go to bed. ^_^

Day 16 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Super Mario Kart

With only 7 days remaining until the release of Mario Kart 8 (I've got my pre-order), I thought it would be a good idea to look at the game that started it all; Super Mario Kart for SNES.

Super Mario Kart set the standard for the future of the series introducing imaginative track design, multiplayer fun and showing what Nintendo's Seal of Quality really meant. The game had a total of 8 playable characters; Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool/Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Koopa Trooper, Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. There are a total of 20 tracks on offer from all over the Mario universe; Donut Plains, Bowsers Castle, Choco Island and the now notorious Rainbow Road.

Players could compete for various cups in the Mario Kart GP mode racing solely against the computer across 5 tracks in each competition, or they could have a friend join in too. There were two difficulty options available, 50cc and 100cc, and if you managed to earn gold in the first three tournaments you'll gain access to the Special Cup with the remaining 5 tracks. If you reached the top spot in a tournament you would see a wonderful animation showing your character with their trophy, with a different animation depending on the character you chose.

You could also race one-on-one against your friends or compete in a Time Trial across any of the 20 tracks, but my favourite has always been the Battle Mode. In Battle Mode you and a friend could fight it out across 4 arena-type stages, firing weapons at your opponent to burst the 3 balloons attached to their kart. Unfortunately you're unable to get any AI controlled opponents to fight in Battle Mode, but the arenas were just the right size for 2 players.

Super Mario Kart, as previously mentioned, also had a selection of weapons available. Thankfully the Blue Shell was yet to make an appearance, but banana skins, green/red shells, mushrooms and many more were there to make or break your race. The computer also had their own weapons to use against you, for instance Yoshi is able to leave Eggs around the track for you to crash into, but as far as I'm aware a player controlled racer is unable to access these exclusive weapons (which was a bit strange but it kept things interesting as you didn't know what was going to attack you next).

Super Mario Kart was a fantastic game and the hype for Mario Kart 8 has built to ridiculous levels, and with an amazing series behind it it certainly has a lot to live up to.