SNES – Wizard Dojo

Wrecking Crew ’98 Review

One of the few Mario games that never saw release outside of Japan was Wrecking Crew ’98, the third (and so far, final) entry in the Wrecking Crew sub-series, and the last Mario game released on the Super Nintendo in Japan (in the west, Super Mario RPG holds that distinction). As the title implies, the game was released in 1998, and by that point, the Nintendo 64 had been on store shelves for two years, thus Wrecking Crew ’98 missed out on a western release (Japanese gamers seem to better appreciate the joys of the games themselves, no matter the hardware, whereas western gamers have a tendency to only care about what’s new and has the best graphics). That all changed in April of 2024, when Nintendo finally released Wrecking Crew ’98 to the western world via the Nintendo Switch Online service (though all of the game’s text remains untranslated). It’s a shame it took so long for Wrecking Crew ’98 to see a release in the west, because it’s a joy to play, and one of the SNES’s best puzzle games.

That’s right, Wrecking Crew ’98 is a puzzle game, in contrast to the more arcade-style gameplay of its more famous NES predecessor. But that’s kind of what makes Wrecking Crew ’98 so brilliant, it takes the blueprint from the NES game, and shifts it into another genre. In doing so, it makes the Wrecking Crew series’ gameplay deeper and more fun.

The basic gameplay of the NES Wrecking crew title remains intact: you control Mario (or one of a number of other familiar and obscure characters) around a single screen, climb ladders, and break objects with a hammer. Whereas in the previous game Mario simply had to destroy every breakable object to complete a stage, here the player is up against an opponent, giving things a competitive edge. Clearing a stage of breakable objects isn’t good enough, now you need to chain combos together to empty your playing field, while bombarding your opponent’s with more blocks and enemies. If one row of objects reaches the top of the screen, the player (or opponent) has five seconds to start breaking it down, otherwise the game ends.

That may sound like typical falling block puzzler fair, but as stated, combining it with the Wrecking Crew formula makes for a uniquely engaging experience. The fact that the player moves a character around the board (as opposed to simply flipping the blocks) already makes it one of the more distinct puzzle games of its time.

Colored blocks replace the breakable walls from the NES game, with the player being able to destroy the blocks by simply hitting them, or by strategically lining up three to five blocks of the same color to start flooding their opponent’s board. Along with running and jumping, the player can use an action button to hit the block the character is standing in front of or use the same button to pull the switches on the left side of the board, which moves the corresponding row of blocks. There are also “brick blocks” that hide one of the color blocks inside (whack it once to reveal the color block, and a second time to destroy it if need be). The player also has access to what I call the “Drop Button” (the X button on the basic setup on a Switch controller). The drop button will drop a few extra blocks on the player’s own board. That may sound counterproductive, but it’s actually a clever mechanic for two reasons: the first is that, if you’ve cleared your board, you can press the drop button to add more blocks in hopes of building more combos. The second reason is that more difficult levels will feature iron blocks (both by default and sent by the opponent) which the hammer can’t break, and can only be broken by bomb blocks, which only appear via the drop button. Adding another creative layer to that, a single bomb block will appear only every other time the drop button is pressed, meaning the player shouldn’t be using the drop button too liberally.

“If you happen to feel nostalgic for the NES game, Wrecking Crew ’98 also includes its predecessor in its entirety right out the gate.”

These simple mechanics all come together to form a puzzle game that’s easy to learn, but difficult to master. Which are the best kind of puzzle games, really. My only real complaint with the gameplay is that, when your opponent starts sending enemies to your screen, it can be tedious to eliminate them. You can’t hit them with the hammer (remember the blocks you hit are technically in the background, the enemies share the same space as the character), and bomb blocks don’t destroy them. The only way to get rid of enemies is for them to make their way to the bottom of the screen. You can speed up the process by jumping on their heads, but the jumps have to be a bit more accurate than in most Mario games, and if you don’t hit the enemies just right, they hit you, which leaves your character bouncing out of control for maybe a few seconds too long.

Honestly though, that’s a small complaint for what is otherwise a wildly engaging, competitive puzzle game. The game is so deceptively complex, that you may find some rounds can go on for much longer than you’re used to in falling block puzzle games (my longest game, set on one of the higher difficulties, lasted over a half hour).

“The areas marked with numbers are the standard story mode stages, the ones marked with letters house the secret characters.”

Wrecking Crew ’98 features a story mode which – from what I can tell – revolves around Bowser constructing a large building for the simple reason of denying a bunch of cute flowers the sun, thus preventing them from growing. So Mario sets off to best Bowser as to knock down the building and feed the flowers some much needed sunshine. It’s a simple and cute plot, and it stands out in the Mario series.

Before he can face Bowser though, Mario has to defeat a Koopa Troopa, and returning Wrecking Crew characters Eggplant Man, Gotchawrench and Foreman Spike. Defeating each opponent also unlocks them as playable characters in the game’s other modes, and defeating Bowser not only unlocks the Koopa king, but Luigi and Princess Peach as well. There are four additional characters hidden away in the story mode, three of which are fought by beating the second, third and fourth stages within a few short minutes (easier said than done). The hidden characters are also playable once defeated, and besting the first three reveals the final secret character.

At the expense of spoiling the surprises (for a decades-old game), the four secret characters are arguably the most bizarre lineup of characters in Mario history (which is saying something). The first is simply “Onigiri.” As in a literally onigiri, the Japanese rice ball that Pokémon’s Brock so affectionately referred to as ‘doughnuts.’ Not an anthropomorphic onigiri with a cartoon face, mind you. Onigiri the character is simply an onigiri that can move and talk. The next two secret characters are relatively less weird, one is the ghost of a girl named Onnanoko, and the other a middle-aged construction worker wearing traditional Japanese garb named Oyazi. The final secret character is Dogu, a Japanese clay doll that comes from another world.

Honestly, the unlockable characters may be the most out-of-left-field character roster in Super Mario history (and that’s including those weird human characters from Mario Golf). I’m not complaining though, I actually think it’s pretty unique that the secret characters are kind of their own thing, without prior ties to the Super Mario or Wrecking Crew series. It gives the game a bit of its own personality, while the presence of Mario, Bowser and Princess Peach keep it connected to the greater Mario franchise (essentially doing the same thing Super Mario RPG did with characters like Mallow and Geno). And being able to play as them – along with the familiar faces – in the versus and tournament modes is pretty cool.

Being released so late in the SNES lifecycle means that Wrecking Crew ’98 looks great. Though it uses lighter colors and more “kiddy” character designs than most Mario games (looking closest to Mario & Wario, another Japanese-exclusive on the console), it all looks really impressive and is more proof that the SNES is the most visually timeless console. The music may not be anything special, but it’s fun and bouncy and does what it needs to.

“Onigiri for Smash! Hey, it makes more sense than Dark Pit.”

Wrecking Crew ’98’s release on Nintendo Switch Online is one of the best examples of “better late than never” gaming has seen in quite some time. It may be a bummer that many of us didn’t get the chance to properly appreciate it in its day, but it sure is great to experience it today.

Add Wrecking Crew to the lineup of Nintendo series that desperately needs a revival.

Battletoads in Battlemaniacs Review

*Review based on Battletoads in Battlemaniacs release as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Service*

Few names are as infamous in the world of video games as Battletoads. Rare’s riff on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles provided a game that was not only considered the most difficult in the NES library, but even today many people will point to it as the most difficult video game ever made (and not always for the right reasons). Despite its ludicrous difficulty, Battletoads was popular enough to warrant a franchise for a time (even being rebooted in 2020 by Dlala Studios). The series made the jump to the Super Nintendo in 1993 with Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, which serves as kind of a sequel to, and kind of a remake of the NES game. Strangely, while the original Battletoads has seen numerous re-releases over the years (even Battletoads Arcade made it into Rare Replay), Battlemaniacs didn’t see any form of re-release until it launched on the Nintendo Switch Online Service in late February 2024. Though I have to admit, we weren’t missing much in its absence. While Battlemaniacs definitely looks better and has (relatively) smoother controls than its predecessor, it still suffers from the same callously unfair difficulty of the original.

Battlemaniacs sees two of our disgustingly named heroes, Rash and Pimple, travel to a virtual reality world called “the Gamescape” in order to save the third Battletoad, Zits (the Battletoads aren’t cool enough to ever have all three available for the adventure, as Pimple was kidnapped in the original). The Battletoads’ nemesis, the Dark Queen, has teamed up with another baddie named Silas Volkmire in order to take over the Gamescape and the real world (they also kidnapped some CEO’s daughter. Though why that was necessary to the story, I’m not sure). So Rash and Pimple have to fight their way through six stages in order to defeat the Dark Queen and Volkmire, and save their friends.

I have to say, Rare really got the look, feel and tone of the Saturday morning cartoons of the time down pat. The anthropomorphic animal heroes, the “extreme” attitude, outlandish baddies, and even more outlandish character names all feel ripped straight out of the kind of cartoons that were airing at the time. They even had the gross-out humor of the 90s checked off with the names of the Battletoads. The 16-bit overhaul means that the Saturday morning cartoon mentality of the series even shines through in the game’s visuals this time around. And the music (partly composed by David Wise) includes some real bangers that help liven things up.

Sadly, that same attention to detail was not applied to fine-tuning the game. On the surface Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, despite having half the stages of the NES game, features a good deal of variety, with each stage playing differently than the last. The first level is a straight-up beat-em-up, while the second combines that with descending down a giant tree and avoiding hazards. The third, meanwhile, is the infamous Turbo Tunnel, where the toads ride on speeders while avoiding oncoming obstacles.

Wait a minute! These are the same stages as the NES game!

Yes, despite being the big 16-bit sequel to Battletoads, Battlemaniacs ultimately feels more like a remake. Its six stages recycle the framework of half of those from the original, albeit expanded upon and with more visual splendor. Though lacking in originality they may be, at least every stage is distinct from one another. It’s a shame more developers can’t squeeze in as much variety in the lengthy games of today as Rare could in just six levels on the Super Nintendo.

Battlemaniacs can also be played with two players in two different modes. One of which, like the first game, allows the players to injure each other, while the other mode (the only sane option) turns that feature off. At least this time Rare gave players an option, but given how insanely difficult the game already is, it shouldn’t even have the team attack option at all. It makes the game unplayable.

That difficulty is the game’s great flaw. I’m all for difficult games, being a fan of titles like Dark Souls and Elden Ring and what have you. But there’s a distinct difference between a game that’s difficult because of how it was designed, and a game that just feels unfair and comes across like none of its developers ever playtested it. Considering I keep bringing up the difficulty of Battletoads, I think you know which category I think Battlemaniacs falls into.

The Battletoads series is one of the few instances where a game’s difficulty doesn’t simply seem hard, but feels like the developers were playing some kind of sick, cruel prank on the player. While one would hope Rare would learn from their mistakes when making the sequels, sadly, Battlemaniacs feels like it’s pulling the same pranks as its predecessor, only now in 16-bits! The six stages of Battletoads in Battlemaniacs all have the potential to be something great, but each of them ultimately stumbles because, rather than design these stages carefully so players can gradually learn from their mistakes, here the mistakes are all on Rare, as their idea of difficulty when designing this series seemed to be to throw everything and the kitchen sink at players (often at a split second’s notice) and then faulting the player for not knowing what was going to happen ahead of time.

“The fourth stage, where the player hops across and climbs giant snakes, is my personal favorite.”

Take for example, the second stage. There’s a moment where fans try to blow the player into spiky logs as they descend, with the player having to push the character forward to fight the gust of the fans. Then all of a sudden, one of the fans pulls the player into the spikes, with no visual distinction between this fan and any of the others. It’s one thing to change things up, it’s another to outright give the player the middle finger by changing the rules the game itself established without any indication.

Then we have that damned third level, which requires absolutely perfect reflexes and complete memorization of the stage’s obstacles. That may sound standard for games at the time, except that the level drags on and on for so long – and with so few checkpoint – that asking players to memorize it, let alone have perfect precision every time, is just ridiculous. Oh, and you only get three lives and three continues to beat the whole game. If those run out, it’s back to the beginning of the whole game for you (because why not punish the player for the game’s own poor design?). There is a cheat code you can enter at the title screen (hold down, A and B and press start), but all that does is increase the lives and continues to five. It helps a little, but so little it just feels like another means for the game to mock you.

A couple of bonus stages are played after the second and fifth levels, in which the player has the chance to win extra lives, but of course the game uses this as another opportunity to mess with the player. As the toads ride a giant hockey puck and collect points (100 points for an extra life), enemies and obstacles litter the field – again often showing up at a split seconds’ notice – and take your points away upon contact. By the time these bonus stages are done, you’ll likely only get one or two extra lives, which will probably vanish within seconds of the next stage anyway.

“On the plus side, the bonus stages LOOK great.”

Admittedly, Battlemaniacs may not be quite as difficult as the original Battletoads, if only because it has fewer levels and because the SNES allowed for more precise movements (which the NES game demanded, but the hardware couldn’t allow). And playing it on Switch Online means you can create save states, which I highly recommend after every frustrating moment (so about every 5 seconds). But being slightly easier than the original Battletoads is like saying walking on hot coals with socks on is slightly more tolerable than walking on hot coals barefoot.

For some reason, people from my generation often look back fondly at Battletoads. I’m assuming it’s probably because the characters reminded us of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which were all the rage at the time. But actually going back to play this series again is a reminder that some things are best left in the past. Rare would later reach new heights with games like Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye 007 and Banjo-Kazooie (before they eventually fell into one niche after another when Microsoft bought them out). But Battletoads in Battlemaniacs is not one of those Rare classics. It could have been – it still looks and sounds great, and the tongue-in-cheek nature of the series shines through – if only it weren’t so needlessly vindictive with its difficulty.

Games like Dark Souls are difficult in such a way they make you want to see the challenge through. Battletoads in Battlemaniacs is difficult in a way it makes you just want to play something else instead. And with plenty of other, infinitely better games made by Rare out there, you should do just that.

Super Mario 3D World Turns 10! + Other Nintendo Anniversaries!

I’m old! Super Mario 3D World was released on the Wii U in Japan ten years ago today, with its US release happening the day after. So I suppose November 21st and 22nd are like “Super Mario 3D World Day(s).”

Although the Wii U always had an uphill battle it never could get out of, Super Mario 3D World was one of the system’s undeniable success stories. A continuation of the gameplay introduced on the 3DS’s Super Mario 3D Land, 3D World bettered its predecessor in virtually every way. Princess Peach and Toad (and an unlockable Rosalina) joined Mario and Luigi this time around in a four-player adventure. Each character boasted their unique abilities from Super Mario Bros. 2 (and in Rosalina’s case, Mario’s abilities from Super Mario Galaxy), as they traversed levels that combined the feeling of 2D Mario levels in a 3D space. Along the way, they collected power-ups old and new, like the returning Fire Flower and Tanooki Suit, and the debuting Double Cherry (which created clones of whatever character grabbed it, and to date is the only Mario power-up that stacked with others), and the Cat Suit, which quickly became one of the most iconic Mario power-ups (even appearing in 2023’s Super Mario Bros. Movie).

I remember when the game was announced at E3 2013, many fans were left feeling a little disappointed that Super Mario 3D World was a continuation of 3D Land, as opposed to a third Super Mario Galaxy or the next step in the series’ evolution. While 3D World may not have been the most ambitious Mario game (Super Mario Odyssey would fill that “next step” role four years later), I think any and all reservations people had about it disappeared as soon as they picked up a controller (or Wii U Gamepad, as it were). Super Mario 3D World was and is one of the most purely fun and replayable games ever made (not to mention it featured the most gloriously liberal use of a saxophone in any video game soundtrack). Perhaps it wasn’t a revolution like 64 or an innovation like Galaxy, but not every Mario game has to rewrite the rules (though perhaps the series’ incredibly high standards have spoiled us to such expectations).

In 2021, Super Mario 3D World was re-released on the Nintendo Switch, this time bundled with a brand new game, Bowser’s Fury, which re-used 3D World’s assets. It was a fun experiment (and so far the closest thing we’ve had to a new 3D Mario game since Odyssey), but 3D World was still the main event. And now it even included online play!

While we wait with bated breath for whatever follows up Super Mario Odyssey, I think it’s also good to revisit the “smaller” Mario adventure that is Super Mario 3D World. Even if it’s for the one-hundredth time.

Happy tenth anniversary, Super Mario 3D World!

But wait, that’s not the only Nintendo anniversary today. November 21st also marks the anniversary of the Japanese release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and with it, Super Mario World! Both the SNES and Super Mario World celebrate their thirty-third anniversary today, but they share their birthday with two other SNES classics: Donkey Kong Country (released November 21st, 1994 in North America) and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (released November 21st, 1995 in Japan). Because of these anniversaries, I like to think of November 21st as Super Nintendo Day! Man, that console was the gift that kept on giving!

Happy Super Nintendo Day 2023!

…But wait, we’re not done yet!

Today also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64 (based on its Japanese release)! The first-ever 3D title in the Legend of Zelda series, Ocarina of Time brought the world of Hyrule to life like never before. A grand adventure bigger than any seen before at the time, and topped off with sidequests and mini-games up the wazoo! Ocarina of Time also holds the (oddly specific) distinction of being the first time a non-music themed game featured music as a gameplay mechanic. At any rate, Ocarina of Time remains a classic, and is frequently cited as one of the best games of all time. Plus, it’s always nice to revisit the days when the Legend of Zelda series had a personality.

Happy twenty-fifth anniversary, Ocarina of Time!

…But wait, we’re STILL not done yet. Today also marks the thirteenth anniversary of the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Nintendo Wii. That’s right, when Retro Studios took the reigns of the DKC series and revived it with Returns, they released it on the sixteenth anniversary of the original Donkey Kong Country (and by extension, the fifteenth anniversary of the second… man, DKC3 always missed the boat with these things). Donkey Kong Country Returns is a perfect example how to revive a dormant series. It took everything about the original DKC, and cranked it up to 11 with some of the best level design ever seen in a platformer. And yes, Donkey Kong Country Returns is approaching the age the original Donkey Kong Country was when Returns was released. I am so old…

Happy thirteenth anniversary, Donkey Kong Country Returns!

Also, a fun bit of trivia many may have forgotten, today would have been the tenth anniversary of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze as well, as it was supposed to launch on the hallowed date of November 21st in 2013. But, to ensure the game was the best it could be, it was ultimately delayed until February of 2014. While it would have been fun to have Tropical Freeze join in on these festivities, the delay was for the best, seeing as Tropical Freeze is the best 2D platformer of the past few decades (Super Mario Bros. Wonder comes close).

I think that’s it for the Nintendo-based anniversaries today. Oh, who am I kidding? I know there have to be other Nintendo games that were released on this date. But I feel I’ve rambled more than enough for one celebratory post. So I’ll just tip my metaphorical hat and once again wish all these games (and console) a happy anniversary!

Happy anniversary to all of y’all!

“Yes, I am aware of the irony of ending this post with a picture from DKC: Tropical Freeze despite just emphasizing that it isn’t among the games with an anniversary today. So there’s no need to point that out.”

Kirby’s Super Star Stacker Review

In 1997, HAL Laboratory and Nintendo released Kirby’s Star Stacker on the Game Boy. In 1998, they remade the game on the Super Nintendo (commonly referred to as Kirby’s Super Star Stacker). While the original Game Boy version saw a worldwide release, the SNES remake stayed in Japan, due to the fact that the Nintendo 64 had already been around for nearly two years by the time of the game’s release (Japan seems to support consoles well after their heyday, whereas the rest of the world tends to focus solely on the newest and shiniest consoles on the market). Super Star Stacker remained exclusive to Japan for twenty-five years, until the Nintendo Switch Online Service finally released Kirby’s Super Star Stacker to the rest of the world in September of 2023. And sure enough for a Kirby title, it’s a welcome and charming addition to the Switch Online library.

Kirby’s Super Star Stacker is a falling block puzzle game with a few unique twists. Notably, the blocks not only fall from the top of the screen (like in most falling block games), but also rise from the bottom of the screen (akin to Tetris Attack). The blocks come in four varieties: Star Blocks, and blocks that are decorated with the cute faces of Kirby’s friends; Rick the hamster, Coo the owl, and Kine the sunfish. Blocks are eliminated by sandwiching the Star Blocks in between a pair of the Animal Friends Blocks (either horizontally or vertically). The player controls the blocks that fall from the top (two blocks at a time, so rotate them as need be) and will gain points for every Star Block eliminated from the board. Interestingly, only the middle two rows of blocks have to reach the top of the screen for the game to end.

It’s easy enough to explain, but like any great puzzle game, the simple premise hides addictive and deep game mechanics that should keep players coming back. For example, you won’t get any points for simply placing a pair of Animal Blocks adjacent to each other, but it will help eliminate clutter and could potentially lead to a chain reaction (which occurs whether or not Star Blocks are involved), which then sees Kirby send shooting stars on the board which disappear on impact (giving the player points for each star, as well potentially creating a link between matching Animal Blocks). You may find yourself getting these chain reactions by accident as often as you do by design.

The game boasts five different gameplay modes: Challenge mode is an endless cycle that challenges the player to see how high a score they can get before the blocks reach the top. Time Attack tests the player to see how many points they can get in a three-minute time limit. Round Clear has a set number of points the player needs to reach in order to move on to the next round (with higher difficulties boasting more rounds). Vs. provides the standard two-player option. Finally, Story Mode (unique to the SNES remake) plays out across seven stages (eight, if you can beat the rest without losing once. Which is probably a lot easier on Switch Online with its save options) and features a cute story of Kirby and his Animal Friends helping a cute little star get back into space (not that I can read the details as the game is still in Japanese. But it’s Kirby so of course it’s cute).

It may not be a whole lot of variety by today’s standards, but for its time that’s a pretty decent lineup of modes for a falling block puzzler. Perhaps the notable drawback is that the simple Vs. mode is the sole multiplayer option (I suppose the story mode could have used a few more stages as well). But the core gameplay itself is fun and addicting. The only frustrating element being that if your opponent is in the middle of a combo, you can’t lower your blocks until the combo is done, but the blocks from the bottom of the screen will still rise, which feels a bit unfair because it prevents the player from doing anything about the combo.

Another huge bonus Super Star Stacker has over the Game Boy original is in its visuals. While that may sound obvious, due to the severe limitations of the Game Boy, the thing that makes Super Star Stacker truly shine visually is that it isn’t simply a 16-bit overhaul but uses an art style reminiscent of Kirby’s Dream Land 3, with characters and backgrounds who look like they were drawn with crayons. And, of course, the typical charm of Kirby music only adds to the delight.

Although the game may not be groundbreaking or anything, it’s a shame the world outside of Japan had to wait twenty-five years to play Kirby’s Super Star Stacker (which I think gives it the second-longest gap between regional releases, after Mother/Earthbound Beginnings). It’s a charming and fun puzzle game that proves, once again, that the SNES was the console that kept on giving.

Super Mario RPG Comes to Switch… And it’s a Full-on Remake!

I’m sorry, Tears of the what now?

Frankly, every other game on the horizon just lost a lot of their luster. And that’s with all due respect to the other games shown off in today’s Nintendo Direct. Pikmin 4, Super Mario Bros. Wonder and that mystery Princess Peach game all look especially incredible. But come on: Super. Mario. RPG. Remake!!

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is the game I usually point to when someone asks me to name my all-time favorite video game. And although there are a small handful of others which I hold in similar esteem (such as Donkey Kong Country 2, Portal 2, and Super Mario Odyssey), the fact that Super Mario RPG is my go-to response definitely says a lot, especially when you’ve played as many games as I have for as long as I have.

Super Mario RPG was a joint venture between Nintendo and Square-Enix (known as Squaresoft back in 1996), the creators of Final Fantasy. Although there’s no word yet on if Square is helping with the remake or not, the game looks like a faithful adaptation of the SNES masterpiece (which makes me believe Square isn’t involved… which may be for the best, given their recent track record).

For those unfamiliar, Super Mario RPG was the first Role-Playing Game in the Super Mario series (it would eventually inspire the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series of Mario games), and for the first time, gave the Super Mario universe a richer story and more depth to the characters. Though it begins as it usually does – with Bowser kidnapping Princess Peach and Mario setting off to rescue her – things quickly go awry when a giant sword plunges into Bowser’s castle, sending the classic Mario trio to different regions of the Mushroom Kingdom. The giant sword turns out to be a servant to a being known as Smithy, an evil blacksmith whose army of weapon monsters prove to be such a threat that, for the first time in history, Bowser teamed up with Mario and Peach to stop their invasion. The trio would also be joined by original characters Mallow, a cute cloud who thinks he’s a tadpole (how charming); and Geno, a star spirit inhabiting the body of a doll on a mission to repair the damage Smithy has done to the cosmos.

Mario was his usual charming self, of course. But Super Mario RPG developed Peach into a more independent character, and for all the (deserved) credit we give to the recent Super Mario Bros. Movie for depicting Bowser as an insecure bully with a sensitive side, it was actually Super Mario RPG that fleshed out that personality for Bowser first. And though Mallow and Geno wouldn’t appear in another game aside from the odd cameo, they were so beloved that fans still clamor to see them return (damn you, Super Smash Bros!). And well, now they finally have!

But a story wouldn’t mean much to a video game if the game itself weren’t any good. Thankfully, the bountiful charm of Super Mario RPG’s story was married to a masterpiece in game design. Adopting the turn-based battle system Square was known for at the time, Super Mario RPG made the genre far more interactive with “action commands,” timed inputs by the player during moves to make Mario and friends’ attacks stronger and boosting their defense against enemy moves. Not satisfied there, Super Mario RPG is also something of a variety show, with various mini-games interspersed throughout the adventure to keep everything fresh until the very end. Oh, and the music kicks all of the ass! No ass goes un-kicked by Super Mario RPG’s amazing soundtrack.

Honestly, I could go on and on about how much I love Super Mario RPG. And with the remake’s November 17th release mere months away, I can experience it all over again.

By the way, first video game trailer to ever bring me to tears. Bravo.

Super Mario RPG Turns 26!

Today, May 13th, 2022, marks the twenty-sixth anniversary of the release of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the Super Nintendo in North America (it was released in Japan two months prior). I know, you’re probably thinking “twenty-six is a random anniversary to point out for something like this.” And you may have a point. But last year I (of all people) failed to write about Super Mario RPG’s twenty-fifth anniversary! I wrote a bunch of anniversary posts for other things in 2021, yet failed to acknowledge the anniversary of what is most likely my favorite video game of all time. So consider this my recompence.

Come to think of it, I failed to mention Paper Mario’s twentieth anniversary in 2021 as well (and its twenty-first a few months back)… I’ve become everything I’ve ever hated.

Anyway…

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released on the Super NES twenty-six years ago, and instantly became one of the most beloved Mario games and RPGs of all time. Although its release being so late in the SNES’s lifecycle – as well as the release of the Nintendo 64 and Super Mario 64 a few months later – may have affected its sales somewhat at the time, Super Mario RPG would still prove to be a success. And true to its name, it became something of a legend in the video game world, with word of mouth helping its reputation grow over the years.

Sadly, Super Mario RPG seems to be the one Mario game that won’t get a sequel. Although it would inspire the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi sub-series (and influence many other RPGs outside of the Mario series), Super Mario RPG itself has only continued on through a few cameos and a couple of snippets of music in subsequent Mario games. Despite fans’ persistent yearning to see the characters and elements of Super Mario RPG make a return, their pleas continue to fall on deaf ears.

There is a glimmer of hope, as Chihiro Fujioka, the director of Super Mario RPG, has recently expressed his desire to create a sequel to the SNES classic as his last game before retirement. Fingers crossed that Chihiro Fujioka gets his way.

Even without a sequel, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars has left an indelible mark in Nintendo history and earned its legendary status. It’s the game that gave the Mushroom Kingdom a story, introduced the world to Mallow and Geno, made Bowser the most likable character ever, and made turn-based battles way more fun! A legend? Oh, you better believe it!

“In what other game can Bowser do battle with a giant cake?”

Happy Twenty-sixth anniversary, Super Mario RPG!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go listen to that godly soundtrack again!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (SNES) Review

In the late 80s and well into the 90s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ruled the world. Although it started as a comic book by the recently defunct Mirage Studios, it became a pop culture phenomenon with the 1987 cartoon series. TMNT would go on to become one of those rare franchises that hasn’t really lost its popularity in the years since that early booming period, with several movies and subsequent comic books and cartoons that continue to this day. And of course, we can’t forget the many video games to star the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Although the Turtles are most associated with the beat-em-up genre in the world of gaming, they’ve appeared in a number of other genres as well. Strangely, even though the peak years of Turtlemania coincided with the fighting game boom of the early 90s, the Turtles only starred in one such fighting game during that timeframe: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters by Konami.

I suppose you could say the Turtles starred in three fighting games of the time, seeing as Tournament Fighters saw releases on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis in 1993, and weirdly made its way to the NES afterwards in 1994, with each version having notable differences from one another (with most praising the SNES version as the best of the lot, because of course it was). Although the pairing of TMNT and fighting games seems like such an obvious success, Tournament Fighters doesn’t seem nearly as remembered as some of the other Turtles games of the time.

Perhaps that’s due in part to the game’s selection of playable characters, many of whom would still be considered deep cuts to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aficionados even today. The SNES version contains ten playable characters, but only half of them would be very familiar to Turtles fans. Four of those are obviously the Ninja Turtles themselves: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo. The other familiar face is their archnemesis, the Shredder (though he is bizarrely labeled as “Cyber Shredder” in the game).

The remaining characters are varying degrees of niche. There’s Armaggon, a shark-like mutant; Wingnut is a humanoid bat; and the oddly-named War is a purple triceratops-like creature who is not in fact a member of the Triceratons (triceratops-like aliens from the franchise). These three characters all originated from the Archie Comics TMNT series, which I emphasize is separate from the original Mirage Studios comics. Of the lot, only Wingnut appeared in the 1987 cartoon, though Armaggon would eventually show up in the 2012 series. And then we have Chrome Dome, a robot character who appeared in a few episodes of the original series. But the last character is the real odd-duck of the lot.

The final playable character is Aska (which really should be spelled “Asuka”), a ninja woman who made her first and only appearance in the TMNT franchise in this game (meaning we have at least one more deep cut character the newer cartoons can resurrect). Apparently, Aska was intended to be the character Mitsu from the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, to which she bears a strong resemblance (though the video game character is a little ‘bouncier’ in certain areas). But due to that film’s poor reception from fans, the character was hastily tweaked to the Aska seen here.

So if you were hoping for fan favorites like Master Splinter, Casey Jones, Bebop and Rocksteady, Krang, or frequent crossover character Miyamoto Usagi, you’re out of luck. Splinter is kidnapped in the game’s story mode, and Bebop and Rocksteady are background characters on one of the stages. So the character selections may have been off-putting to fans at the time. Seeing as this was around the height of Turtlemania, fans were probably hoping to see more of their favorites in the game. Though perhaps the more obscure selections make the game more interesting in retrospect.

Anyway, aside from the lack of fan favorites, Tournament Fighters has a lot to offer TMNT fans, and is a solid fighter in its own right.

The game features three different modes: Tournament, Versus and Story. Tournament is your expected arcade-style mode, where you pick any of the ten characters, and go through a series of fights. You have unlimited continues, and can switch characters if you lose. Versus allows players to fight matches at their own leisure, and can be played with two players (making it the game’s real main event, and what will keep you coming back if you have other players available). Story is similar to the Tournament mode, but fittingly features more cutscenes and dialogue boxes. You can only play as the Ninja Turtles themselves in this mode, with the order of opponents differing depending on which turtle you select, and you only get three continues here.

The story is that the Shredder has been defeated and is no longer in New York City (though he’s still an opponent, so maybe “Cyber Shredder” is like a robot or something?). But the Foot Clan returns under the leadership of Karai (marking the character’s first appearance outside of the Mirage comics, further playing into the game’s love of lesser-known TMNT characters). Seeking revenge for Shredder’s defeat, the Foot Clan kidnaps Splinter and April O’Neil to goad the turtles into combat. It’s a fighting game plot.

Additionally, players can go to the option menu to alter the difficulty of the game, and even choose a setting that speeds up the gameplay. The Tournament and Story modes end earlier on easier settings (Tournament ends against the non-playable Rat King, and Story against Cyber Shredder, with players only facing Karai herself on more difficult settings). But the easier settings will probably be more enjoyable for most players, since it seems like Tournament Fighters is one of those retro fighting games where the AI opponents can seemingly break the rules of the game on harder settings.

This is the game’s most annoying drawback. I admit I’m not the best player of fighting games, particularly against other people. But I usually enjoy trying out the more difficult settings in the single-player modes. Though some of the older fighting games can get ridiculous on higher difficulty settings. They don’t simply get harder, but the computer AI seems to be able to do things the human player can’t, and unfortunately Tournament Fighters is one of those games. The AI opponents spam moves faster than you can react to them, and on several occasion when I knocked my opponent down and approached them to follow up, they somehow managed to grapple me before they even stood back up! It’s cheap little things like that that make this one of the fighting games where I just don’t want to bother with the harder settings.

I suppose the higher difficulties are only there for those who want them, however. The easier settings will provide some good fun while they last. Though the game’s lasting appeal will of course be its two-player versus mode.

The gameplay itself is tight and intricate, and actually feels on par with Street Fighter II. Each character has two punch/weapon attacks and two kicks (a weak and strong variation) mapped out to the four buttons on the SNES controller. There are familiar button combos and a good variety of moves for each character. Additionally, continuously attacking an opponent will fill up a green meter under your health bar. If you can fill up the bar completely, you can unleash a powerful special move by pressing both of the stronger attack buttons. Sure, by today’s standards, Tournament Fighters may feel a little slow. But for its time, this is as good and fleshed-out as fighting mechanics got. It’s still a fun game to play.

To top it all off, the game looks great. Although maybe not as colorful as the more famous Turtles in Time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters features the kind of detailed, fluidly animated character sprites you would expect from the SNES. The sound is maybe a bit less consistent (Rat King sounds kind of like Sylvester Stallone), but it does what it needs to.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighter may not be the most remembered Turtles game, but it has perhaps held up the best out of those released during the early days of Turtlemania. It clearly took more than a little inspiration from Street Fighter II, and I’m actually surprised how well it compares to the influential fighter.

If you still have a Super Nintendo at the ready, Tournament Fighter is a fun time. And if you have a friend over, it should be a great time.

Super Nintendo Turns 30 (in North America)!

Yeah, I know. I already wrote a thing about the Super Nintendo’s 30th anniversary based on its original Japanese release. But we’re talking about a video game console so good, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to write about it again.

Today, August 23rd 2021, marks the 30th anniversary of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System’s release in North America. This also means it’s the 30th anniversary of Super Mario World’s release in North America, which I’ll happily say is still the best launch game ever made.

There are a few classic video game consoles from yesteryear: the original NES had perhaps a bigger impact than any other, and was the video game console of the 80s. The Nintendo 64 pioneered 3D gaming. The Sony Playstation, as well as the Sega Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast, also opened new doors to gaming. But it’s the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that’s the timeless masterpiece of a video game console.

With all due respect to the aforementioned consoles, they have aged in one way or another (well, maybe not the Genesis, but its library wasn’t as deep as the SNES’). That’s not to say that they don’t have their share of timeless games, because they do. But when revisiting those consoles, it is apparent that they came from specific points in the past (as much as I love the N64, and perhaps sometimes I’m too harsh on it, it can sometimes be painfully obvious that it was experimenting with 3D gaming). But the SNES is the one that still stands tall even when compared to today’s consoles. It was that perfect moment in gaming history when developers had mastered the craft of everything that came before. And while it is a good thing that gaming entered new territories afterwards, suffice to say that entering the third-dimension kind of started things over. And in some ways, games still have yet to catch up to where they were (the SNES never had things like microtransactions get in the way of more honest game design, after all).

Just think of the library of classics the SNES had: Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Yoshi’s Island, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, Super Mario Kart, Kirby Super Star, Kirby’s Dream Land 3, EarthBound, the first three Mega Man X games, Mega Man 7, Tetris Attack, the Street Fighter 2 ports, Secret of Mana, and more still!

There were just so many classics on the console, and they remain every bit as fun today as they were then (exception being Star Fox. In a bit of role reversal, it’s the N64 installment in that series that has proven timeless). You also had your lesser known gems (Demon’s Crest), and stronger third-party support than any Nintendo console until the Switch (although the Wii actually had stronger third-party support than it gets credit for).

A classic lineup of games unlike any that has been seen before or since, the Super Nintendo is truly one of the greats. It’s hard to believe it’s been thirty years since the system made its way stateside (I was just a baby at the time!). But you wouldn’t know it by playing the many classics it produced.

Happy 30th anniversary (again), Super Nintendo!

Magical Drop 2 Review

Magical Drop is a series of falling block puzzle games originally developed by the now-defunct Data East. It was a popular series in arcades (particularly in Japan), but the series found a newfound popularity when the second and third entries were ported to home consoles. Though the series continues to take long absences between releases as it bounces around from one developer to another, the older titles continue to find their way onto modern gaming hardware. Such is the case with Magical Drop 2’s release on the Nintendo Switch’s Online service, a port of the Super Famicom version of the game. While fans may still be left wondering why Nintendo seems to refuse to add EarthBound and Super Mario RPG to the Switch’s retro lineup, Magical Drop 2 is a surprisingly welcome addition, providing the pure gaming fun that you expect from its genre.

Most falling block-style puzzle games see the blocks fall from the top of the screen to the bottom, with the player trying to prevent the blocks from rising back up to the top. The schtick with Magical Drop, however, is that the game is over as soon as the blocks (or “bubbles”) reach the bottom of the screen. So instead of blocks falling one at a time, the bubbles of Magical Drop slowly descend in rows, with the player trying to eliminate these rows before they reach the bottom of the screen.

How the player does this is pretty unique: the player can grab onto one color of bubble at a time (though they can grab as many of that color as they can), and then throw those bubbles back to the rows above. The player has to line up at least three of the same color bubble vertically in order to eliminate them, but the really cool thing is that if there are other bubbles of the same color coming into contact with what the player pieces together, every connected bubble of that color will be eliminated. So if you play things carefully enough, you can destroy many blocks in different rows with one fell swoop.

It’s a fun setup, and like many games of the genre, the simplicity the gameplay displays on face value hides a whole lot of depth and strategy. Certain modes will also introduce their own gimmicks, such as special bubbles that, should they touch a completed column, will subsequently destroy an entire row, column or surrounding area of bubbles. There are also ice blocks, which are basically neutral bubbles, with all adjacent ice blocks disappearing if a row of bubbles is completed next to them, no matter the color.

The game features several playable characters. They are all charming enough with their cute anime designs. Though one of the game’s more questionable elements is that each character supposedly has their own abilities, but unlike something like Tetris Battle Gaiden, where these abilities are obvious and manually performed by the player, the character abilities in Magical Drop 2 are a lot more vague. From what I understand, the character abilities here revolve around how the rows of bubbles fall, but the action is so fast paced I haven’t the eye to notice the differences between them. And there’s no in-game description of what their abilities do, other than a one-to-five star rating for a character’s strength, and a vague image under their “magic” category. So you’re guess is as good as mine.

Magical Drop 2 features four different modes of play: a single-player mode where the player simply tries to last as long as possible and beat their high score. Then there’s the two player battle mode, of course. There’s also a story mode, where the player selects their character and faces off against the others. Finally, there’s the oddly-named “puzzle” mode, which has the player trying to eliminate screens of all their bubbles in as little moves as possible in order to add more time to a constantly ticking clock. So there’s actually some good variety here, for a game of its time. And given how addictive the gameplay already is, there’s some really good replay value here.

The game features some fun visuals (the characters’ victory and defeat animations are surprisingly fluid), and the music is appropriately upbeat and catchy. Though the game’s audio takes a hit simply because the narrator can get pretty annoying. I’m someone who honestly doesn’t mind Baby Mario’s crying in Yoshi’s Island, and finds the garbled voices of Banjo-Kazooie to be charming, so it’s saying something when a soundbite in a game gets on my nerves. Magical Drop 2’s narrator’s shouts of “No!” whenever something doesn’t go right for either participants (computer player included) is so constant it becomes stressful. The narrator doesn’t even say anything else during a match. It’s not a major issue or anything, but it is a shame that the endless stream of “No!” drowns out the delightful music.

The falling block puzzler is one of gaming’s most purely enjoyable genres: instantly entertaining, addictingly engaging, unhindered by the bells and whistles that gaming has adopted over the years. Magical Drop 2 is another reminder of why the genre is so enduring.

Super Mario World and Super Nintendo Turn 30!

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the original release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan, and along with it, Super Mario World.

With all the hullaballoo Nintendo is (understandably) making for the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., they’ve been strangely quiet about this moments anniversary. As far as I’m concerned, the Super NES is the most timeless console of all time. While the original NES has earned its place in video game history, playing it today, it does feel like a product of its time, save for a few exceptions (Mario, Mega Man, Kirby). Similarly, the Nintendo 64 pioneered and revolutionized 3D gaming. But testing new waters meant that not everything about the N64 has held up swimmingly, and again, with a few exceptions (Mario, Zelda, Banjo, Starfox and Kirby), the Nintendo 64 can also feel a bit like a relic.

The Super NES, on the other hand, hit that sweet spot. The culmination of everything game design had learned up to that point, polished and refined. The SNES continued classic gameplay and franchises, while introducing hosts of new ones, and made them all better than ever. And beyond all expectations, the classics of the SNES haven’t aged a day. It really did earn the monicker of “Super.”

More specifically, let’s talk about Super Mario World. The best video game launch title of all time, Super Mario World is at once synonymous with the Super Nintendo, and also one of the rare games whose reputation might just transcend its console (certainly no small feat, given the console in question). I mean, Super Mario World is just the definition of a classic. You don’t really think of the year of release or the era in question when it comes to Super Mario World. It’s simply a perennial classic that stands on its own.

Super Mario Bros. 3 may have perfected what Super Mario Bros. started, but Super Mario World somehow perfected that perfection. Brilliant level design, repayable levels, secret exits and hidden worlds, Super Mario World effectively created the difference between simply getting to the end of a game, and completing it 100%. You could also speedrun it and try to best it in as few levels as possible if you wanted. Basically, while NES titles and prior video games were all about high scores and finding the fastest way to get to the end, Super Mario World created the broader options of how you could complete a game. Both speed runners and completionists owe Super Mario World more than a little thanks.

And, of course, who could forget the introduction of Yoshi! Mario’s cute little dinosaur sidekick quickly became Nintendo’s second most popular character (sorry Luigi). Yoshi even starred in Super Mario World’s 1995 prequel, Yoshi’s Island, and went on to star in franchises of his own.

Like the Super Nintendo itself, Super Mario World felt like a refinement of of its predecessors, with Nintendo adding new and creative ideas around every corner. A classic in every sense of the word.

As an added bonus, November 21st also serves as the anniversaries of the original releases of Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2 (DKC3 misses the mark by one day). So you could rightfully call November 21st “Super Nintendo Day” (which I very much do). DKC was released on this day twenty-six years ago, while DKC2 celebrates its big twenty-fifth anniversary today. As an added bonus to said added bonus, Donkey Kong Country Returns was released on the Wii ten years ago today, to commemorate the sixteenth anniversary of the original DKC… How the hell is Donkey Kong Country Returns a decade old already?

Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked. Happy Super Nintendo Day, everybody! And a very happy 30th to Super Mario World! Wahoo!