Super Play's Guide to SNES Online

With more titles added to SNES Online on the Switch, I wanted to put all the Super Play content relating to these games in an area we can reference.

Enjoy!


Brawl Brothers (Japanese copy reviewed under the name Rushing Beat Run)

"Beat-em-up which is nice to look at, but boring to play."

Review:

 

Breath of Fire

"The Super Play cover was better than the game, but it remains an absorbing, if repetitious on occasion, RPG. Hmm."

Review:

 

Breath of Fire II

"Although it has undeniable flaws, if you're a hardcore pointy-hat BOF2 is an essential purchase."

Review:

 

Demon's Crest (known in Super Play as Demon Blazon)

"Show-stopping graphics and a great bulging sack full of neat touches in a game that's a teeny bit too easy."

Review:

 

Donkey Kong Country

"Ray-traced platform Kong fun that everyone got for Christmas, learning about graphics/gameplay the hard way."

Review:

 

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

"A better game than the original, but not to an extent that would warrant an improved score - could do better."

Review:

 

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble

This came out in late 1996 after the magazine stopped.

Doomsday Warrior (reviewed as Brass Boss)

"Another Street Fighter II wannabe that doesn't make the grade. Some of the graphics are okay, and for the most part it plays all right, but SF II does it all so much better."

Review:

 

F-Zero

"Fast and smooth racing game with bland scenery."

Review:

 

The Ignition Factor

Not reviewed.

Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics

"The graphics are jolly, by jingo, and the jungly caperings entertaining, but...there's...something...missing."

Review:

 

Kirby's Tea Shop (Kirby's Dream Course)

"Er, sorry, that's Tee Shot, actually. It's an odd little golf-type game for odd little gamesplaying people."

Review:

 

Kirby's Dream Land 3

This came out in 1997, after the magazine closed. Pretty sure it wasn't reviewed by N64 Magazine either.

Kirby Super Deluxe (Kirby Super Star)

"Slick, colourful and addictive with a difficulty curve just the wrong side of easy. Another platform masterpiece."

Review:

 

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

"The definitive adventure game."

Review:

 

Mario's Super Picross

Quirky puzzler based on the theme of considered deduction. Chipping away pictures has never been, well, done, actually.

Review:

 

Natsume Championship Wrestling

Not reviewed.

Operation Logic Bomb (Japanese title Fortress of Fury reviewed)

"Nice graphics, but slow and unimaginative gameplay."

Review:

 

Panel de Pon

"Brimming with options, heady with playability and steeped in challenge - this turns minutes into hours into days."

Review:

 

The Peace Keepers

Not reviewed.

Pilotwings

"Looks good and is a test for hand-eye co-ordination."

Review:

 

Pop n Twin Bee

"Ultra-cute blaster with rather weak gameplay."

Review:

 

Prehistorik Man

Not reviewed.

Psycho Dream

"Platform beat-'em-up with lots of Japanese text getting in the way. Bland."

Review:

 

Smash Tennis

"Polished four-player sim with limited controls."

Review:

 

Starwing

"Absolutely brilliant 3-D shooter. Get it!"

Review:

 

Stunt Race FX (Japanese copy reviewed under the name Wild Trax)

"The most playable and varied racing game ever."

Review:

 

Super Earth Defence Force

"Pretty shoot-em-up with some boring gameplay."

Not actually reviewed, this quote is from Issue 24's "What Cart?" section.

Super Ghouls and Ghosts

"Brilliant graphics (with slow-down), but it's frustrating."

Review:

 

Super Mario All-Stars

"Four classic NES Mario games in one - Super Mario Bros., Mario Bros. 2, Mario Bros. 2 USA and Mario Bros. 3 - but with new 16-bit graphics. As all of them are huge, involved, and brilliant, it'll take you ages to finish. Great value."

Review:

 

Super Mario Kart

"Four-games-in-one racer, with great two-player mode."

Review:

 

Super Mario World

"Repetitive backgrounds, but awesome challenge."

Review:

 

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

"Yoshi takes the lead in what at first appears to be the best Mario game yet. It's certainly close between this and Super Mario World."

Review:

 

Super Metroid

"This is the reason Gunpei Yokoi still holds his head high after the disappointing Virtual Boy. Buy this game. Buy two copies."

Review:

 

Super Punch-Out!!

"Original and surprisingly top boxing game! Cartoony looks and plenty of skills needed to overcome a variety of opponents."

Review:

 

Super Puyo Puyo 2

Not reviewed.

Super Soccer

"Enjoyable, but flawed, sim with impressive graphics."

Review:

 

Super Tennis

"Amazing range of shots and lots of tournaments too."

Review:

 

Super Valis IV

"A conversion of the PC Engine CD-ROM game, featuring the exploits of Japanese girlies but no excitement. It's too contrived, boring and linear to live."

Not reviewed though.

Tuff E Nuff

"Another pretender to Street Fighter II's best beat-'em-up title, and - with oodles of moves and well-balanced gameplay - probably the closest yet."

Review:

 

Wild Guns

"A target-led blaster with neat touches."

Review:

 

Post of the year. That's an absolutely outstanding effort! 

@The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Post of the year. That's an absolutely outstanding effort! 

Cheers fella! There's some interesting history here (why are Kirby games getting 6-page reviews for a start, SP's insistence on referring to everything by its Japanese title).

Hopefully when games get added, the post can be edited accordingly.

Fantastic! Thanks for this. I particularly enjoy the F-Zero explaining how easy it is to just "whack it into Mode 7", I bet the programmers would have loved reading that

I'll read more as and when I get the chance.

Agreed, this is amazing work! Thought it makes me massively miss the glory days of printed magazines.

I've not even read it yet and I want to thank Mr. Jones! I'm going to go back and read that all properly.

Not much to say that hasn't already been said: great service provided here! I'll read snippets from time to time and post my thoughts. Er, probably.

Great job gJones

Aye top stuff! I'll definitely read some of these reviews, probably starting with those games that were recently added to the Switch online SNES app.

Quality contribution gjones! I had a look at a couple of them - the Zelda review was a solid wee read.

I'll work through the rest and pop back to this thread from time to time.

Good to hear! I think it has already been useful - I played Operation Logic Bomb and it felt so slow and cumbersome. I figured it must have been great at the time, but no, Super Play felt the same way!

Donkey Kong Country added.

What did they think of DKC2 AKA the best one?

That's an eye-catching review of Donkey Kong Country there. I agree that it's "another reasonable platformer", but I think having "the hallmarks of British games design" is a good thing!

Yeah the scan I have is a bit blurry, but just about readable. The DKC review is largely mixed with numerous criticisms of the gameplay, yet they still gave it a 90%. It reads more like a 70%, and while it's clearly different to Sonic Adventure, it reminds me of the 90% reviews that had heaped on it at the time. Thankfully the unofficial Dreamcast Magazine went back and gave that a 75% a year later, and it sounds like DKC would have too.

I like it when magazines did that, when initially-games would be displaced by what would follow after. That's probably true for Sonic Adventure, but I don't think so for DKC. I've always regarded that as a 75% kind of game. 

   Good platformer 
-  mixed difficulty 
+ belting soundtrack 
= 75%

I still think DKC's better than the "graphics showcase" label that gets applied to it, and, as the learned gentleman above says, the belting soundtrack - nothing was atmospheric like that on the SNES. I've never gelled with the sequels though - I wonder if I just got to them late?

I finished Donkey Kong Country on Nintendo Switch Online earlier today. I'll not review it (because it's not a janky N64 game) but aye, it's a total 75%'er. I had a good time with it, especially as I could easily overcome "the pleasingly difficult challenge" (read: total bullshit design and enemy placement) with a press of the rewind button.

Honestly, not a bad playthrough that way!

It's been a while since an update so I've added Donkey Kong Country 2, Mario Picross, Psycho Dream, Super Mario All-Stars and Tuff E Nuff.

There's a few others that I found quotes for but not reviews. I reckon I'll eventually upload all the Super Play reviews as it's a faff trying to find some of these. Super Play would randomly stop including its directory, then bring it back with missing games. Definitely a bit of a chaotic time - pretty sure the Brass Boss game is a mistranslation on their part too.

Thank you! I've been enjoying reading those reviews you've posted in the last week. That one for Donkey Kong Country 2 is pretty interesting - the prequel takes an absolute bodying that would have usually been reserved for something by GT Interactive or Titus in N64 Magazine.