Super Nintendo @ 20: My Top 20 SNES Games Part 4

Mr. Saturn's Top 20 Super Nintendo Games Part 4

5. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - 1995 - Nintendo

The Game: It is up to the Yoshis to carry Baby Mario through Yoshi's Island in an attempt to rescue Baby Luigi from Kamek and Baby Bowser.

My Take: In my very humble opinion Yoshi's Island is the most beautiful game to grace the SNES. With it's fantastic combination of hand-drawn looking sprites and a great use of the SFX2 chip to run effects to alter the sprites in various ways as well as to bring some polygonal objects into the world. It makes Miyamoto's rumored refusal to bow to pressure to make Yoshi's Island a SGI-based (like DKC) game a very good thing. Not only that the game is a pleasure to play even if Baby Mario's cries can get annoying, just another good reason to get him back and keep him. Yoshi's Island I think came at an interesting time for me. I was 12 (going on 13) when this game came out and while a lot of other kids my age probably crapped on this game because it was as we came to call it "teh kiddie". While I don't have anything but the smallest bit of proof of this, I can say it probably wasn't too be far off. And what I mean is that I remember letter to the editor in a Nintendo Power sometime after Yoshi's Island was released complained about Nintendo making such a "kiddy" game. I kind of wanted to throttle this person and still want to.

4. Super Mario World - 1991 - Nintendo

The Game: Princess Toadstool as been captured! Again! I know I'm shocked to. And guess what? It is up to Mario and Luigi to brave Dinosaur Land with their new friend Yoshi and rescue the Princess from Bowser and his nefarious children.

My Take: Back when Mario was Nintendo's console seller and showcase game (still is to an extent) Super Mario World really showed us what the Super Nintendo could accomplish. The world was bigger, brighter and while not really surpassing SMB3, in my opinion, it really made for a great showcase game. The game did bring some great things to the franchise, like Yoshi and the Cape Feather, the latter of which is my favorite item in any Mario game I've played and of course as we all know Yoshi has become a character into his own right. Moments like the first Banzai Bill you run across or the mode 7 heavy battle with Bowser there is still so much to love and like its console showcase brethren, Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario 64 it is still a joy to play and is a game I keep coming back to on a regular basis.

3. Super Metroid - 1994 - Nintendo

The Game: The Metroid hatchling Samus let survive at the end of Metroid II has been recaptured by Ridley and the Space Pirates. It is up to Samus to head back to Zebes and put end to the Space Pirate and Metroid menace once and for all.


My Take: For a game I really didn't play until I started my second SNES collection back in 2006 it is quite surprising to me to see it all the way up to number 3 on this list. Back in 1994 for whatever reason I just wasn't sure how to go about playing a Metroid title but by 2006 that wasn't a problem anymore having become a fan of Metroid with Prime in 2002. What I saw, even without the lens of nostalgia, was the reasons why this often many other people's favorite SNES game if not their favorite game of all. With a fantastic atmosphere and great gameplay I really can't say enough for the game that far more gushing descriptions would provide. Since 2006 Super Metroid has become one of my regular games to play through and will continue to do so for as long as I have my copies.

2. EarthBound - 1995 - Nintendo

The Game: The Apple of Enlightenment has foretold that a boy and his friendswill defeat Giygas and prevent a horrible future. That boy is Ness and with his friends; Paula, Jeff and Poo will travel the world fighting those corrupted by Giygas' influence and collect the songs necessary to gain the power to defeat Giygas.


My Take: Back in '95 I read an EGM review for a very curious little game. It had a simple graphical style, a quirky sense of humor and was an RPG. And while RPGs weren't a huge genre for me at the time, I knew I had to play this game. Of course if you haven't figured it out yet, that game was EarthBound. The game really charmed with its quirky sense of humor and, while simple, storyline that was different from your average RPG storyline. Not only that it came with the most amazing player's guide ever which read like a travelers guide to Eagleland and the surrounding areas. It was a great overall package and it saddens me so much that Nintendo of America just won't work with us and let get our hands on more. I dunno if any game franchise has such a single-minded obsession with and NoA just choosing to ignore it is frustrating. But you've heard all this anyways, no use in me going on about it. Still to this day EarthBound is a game that I play on a greatly regular basis and am occasionally finding new things that make me go "Hey will you look at that?"

1. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - 1992 - Nintendo

The Game: The wizard Aghanim has taken over Hyrule and imprisoned the Princess Zelda. It is up to Link to attempt to foil his evil plans.


My Take: Not only is this my favorite SNES game it is tied with Ocarina of Time has my favorite game ever. I really can't decide on which one. Believe it or not though, I wasn't always an obsessive Zelda fan, I didn't really get into Zelda games until Link's Awakening opened the series up to me but A Link to the Past really made me a fan. And since then pretty much everything about ALttP keeps me coming back to play it at least once a year (and I'm pretty sure I've beaten it 30 odd times) and it is never boring to me even if I've played so much I've got it down to formula. Scenarios like Link's first steps into rainy Hyrule are just full of atmosphere and even a certain dread or when Link gets the Master Sword and how it clears the fog in the lost woods are times are those situations where the wave of love for the game really shines. While most of the other games in this list move me in similar waves few games do it like A Link to the Past, well except for Ocarina of Time.

Poll: Hall of Fame: Super Metroid inductee

Greetings, readers! If... there are any present...

As you might have noticed, there is a poll at the top of the page right now, and we would like to know have your input. This will be a regular feature each month with our Hall of Fame inductees and we will start accepting 'reader's choices' for inductees once we get some of our own favorites out of the way. There will be more information about that on the next podcast, and later this week, I should have an article up about the requirements for inductees.

So... go up there and vote if you haven't already!

Hall of Fame: Super Metroid

Title: Super Metroid

First Released: March 19th, 1994

Available on: SNES, Virtual Console

Overview:

Super Metroid was developed by a staff of people from Nintendo's R&D1, managed by Gunpei Yokoi, the creator of the Metroid series, though this game was directed by Yoshio Sakamoto. It was produced by Makoto Kano, and the music was composed by both Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamono. Upon its release, Super Metroid was known well for taking the Metroid concept and running full force with it. From the amazing graphics creating lush environments to the fantastical bosses and enemies, the game had it all. Nintendo Power, back in May of 1994, gave the game a 4.425 score out of 5. To this day, it is one of the most appreciated titles of any console or handheld.

The game takes place immediately after Metroid II: Return of Samus and features, for the first time, a monologue from Samus herself setting up the story. The game, whether this is considered a flaw or not, had a decent amount of what is called "sequence breaking" which makes it a favorite among speedrunners. Following in traditional Metroid fashion, the sense of isolation is deep with a mix of subdued music and excellent level design.

Our thoughts:

SPOILER WARNING!

"I began playing the Metroid series around the time Fusion and Prime came out, and I've been a fan ever since, and I've tried my best to play all of the games in the series. This entry, however, blew away my expectations when I played it. The freedom the player has in this game to explore is unmatched by many modern games, even other Metroid games can't match it. There are a ton of power-ups and items to scavenge across planet Zebes, one of which I wish they would bring back to the series: the Spazer beam.

There are so many memorable moments too, such as defeating the Crocomire, with it's body melting in Norfair's intense magma, and then when I thought I saw the last of it, CRASH! It's skeleton pops out of a spiked wall and scares me. There's also the frustration of trying to get back to Maridia from Brinstar, only to find out you needed to break the 'n00b tube' as fans like to call it. Truly, right from the beginning of this game, from hearing the 'new' Brinstar music pick up for the first time, to finally defeating Mother Brain and seeing the Metroid baby give its life for you... this game will stick in my memory forever and it will live on as the greatest in the series for me."

-- Paleo

"Metroid, for me, was a gaming franchise I chose to ignore once upon a time. I heard it was pretty good but I just never ended up playing it. That changed when the Prime games started releasing and I finally understood what was so amazing about Samus and the world she existed in. So once Super Metroid was released on the Virtual Console (having missed the original release by over a decade...) I decided to take the "risk" and purchase it. To this day it stands as one of my most prized purchases sitting on my Wii. I wasn't surprised when the most popular title ofthe third pillar in the Nintendo Holy-Trinity turned out to be amazing.

I played it thoroughly and found everything I had ever read about it to be true. Discovering new moves and accessing the new worlds were so rewarding. The game was close on par with the Metroid Prime series I had already loved, but it was all in glorious 2D. Super Metroid, to me, is a game that is a prime example of the greatness Nintendo is as a game developer. They've had an understanding about game design and game theory that for many years was unmatched. At the time of Super Metroid's release, few games in the genre seemed to come even a little close. In the end, the Metroid Prime Trilogy still stands as my favorite trip into the Metroid universe, but Super Metroid uncontestually deserves to be in any gamer's Hall of Fame. It deserves every last energy pellet of respect from every last creature of that galaxy."

-- DrFinkelstein