Final Feedback on "SNES Games That Pushed The Limits"

[Flake]

I know FZero is everyone's baby but it really didn't do anything special, especially compared to other Mode 7 heavy games like Pilot Wings or Super Mario Kart. I'd bump that one off the list.

[Opa Opa]

What about Actraiser 2? You have the first one on the featured games list. I feel the second game deserves to be noticed. Here is my reasoning:

Actraiser 2 eliminated the sim/strategy elements from the first game and made it a full-fledged, action-packed adventure. While this is a major sacrifice for fans of the original game, it does make it more playable to those who either are tired of building up habitable worlds from scratch or those who never enjoyed the Civilization-esque aspects of its predecessor. I've found that the gameplay in the sequel seems more fluid because not only do you have the same great enemy slashing action, but your character now has the ability to fly. Your deity can now fly over obstacles and destroy enemies from above. (Nothing is safe from your might!) The game's environments really stand out more so than those in Actraiser. Fog or flames may be flowing through the foreground while the background is busy with water flowing through the forest or ominous clouds billowing past. However, unlike the original, the game is lacking in memorable monsters and the soundtrack isn't as refined. Also, the animation on the character is very good but the monsters don't really break the mold. If you look past some of it's flaws you'll find a worthy game to add to your Super Nintendo collection.

Hope this helps, racketboy.

Edit: Sorry my post comes off more like a game review rather than an explanation of why it should be added to the list.

[neilencio]

I think Street Fighter Alpha 2 should be ranked higher than Street Fighter II, since it was more of a technical feat and was a rarity. The other systems had Street Fighter ports that could at least hold its own against SFII on the Snes (even the PC engine has something that could work as an alternative for your SFII cravings), but none could come close to what the SFA 2 port has acheived.

[Rurouni_Fencer]

Honestly, I can't help but be surprised at the glaring omission of the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
Before I get rolling eyes, and replies about how it didn't push the hardware's limits, please refer to the following small paragraph taken directly from ALttP's wiki page:

"At the time, most SNES game cartridges had 4 Mbit (512 KB) of memory. This game broke the trend by using 8 Mbit (1 MB), allowing the Nintendo development team to create a remarkably expansive world for Link to inhabit. Like Super Mario World, this game used a simple graphic compression method on the SNES by limiting the colour depth of many tiles to eight colours instead of the SNES's native 16-colour tiles. The tiles were decompressed at runtime by adding a leading bit to each pixel's colour index. Memory was also saved by eliminating duplication: The Light World and the Dark World are almost identical, and reverse engineering of the game's ROM contents has revealed that only the differences were saved; otherwise, they would have needed to wait for a 16 Mbit ROM." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_link_to_the_past#Development

Sure, no extra chips were used to squeeze more juices than the SNES hardware had to spare, but Zelda: ALttP was one of the first 16-bit games that paved the way for game devs and their wizard-like trends of applying very simple tech-tricks to shock and awe.

How many of us remember the feeling we got when we realized what we knew as a Zelda game , suddenly grew up and became this

Despite the fact that it was an early release on the system, it's graphics are still beautiful in today's 360/PS3 era. Care to see some proof?



I'll gladly take exhibit A over exhibit B..

[jp1]

Unfortunately I have no suggestions but I am really looking forward to the article.

I am surprised to see Chrono Trigger on the honorable mention column instead of the regular one though. I thought it was such a beautiful game. I'm not sure if it pushed the limits though.

[Gamerforlife]

Maybe I'm just being cranky, maybe it's becasue I knew how 3D stuff was made at the time when most people didn't, maybe it's just because I don't care for platformers, but I'm always annoyed every time DKC is called a graphical orgasm that is the 'best evar in futuristic graphics'.

The SNES isn't rendering 3D stuff. It's all just sprites just like every other game. All of the hard work in creating the 3D images was done by other computers. Once those images were made into flat frames, they were used just like frames of every other sprite based 2D platformer. Maybe people like it because it's a really good platformer, but I think people mostly drool at the crappy plastic looking 3D just because it was one of the first widely available games to use them.

Since I loved the series, first on the GameBoy, I believe I'm objective enough to say, that they were indeed good platformers. Imo better than Super Mario World (but not as good as yoshi's island, or the sonic games)

I like the DKC series. However, take away the graphics and you have three platformers that were definitely solid, but not really amazing or innovative in any way. I'd rank not just Super Mario World, but also Super Mario bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 higher, along with Yoshi's Island and the Sonic games

Having said that, I LOVED the graphics in the DKC games. The first one really amazed me for its time and I really enjoyed the equally impressive soundtrack. What they did to make them look the way they did may have been a simple process, but still, no one else ever thought of it before so I give them credit. It was a smart way to get people to still care about 16-bit consoles for just a little while longer. That's why I respect Rare, they are good at doing the unexpected. Donkey Kong Country, Viva Pinata, Goldeneye, Conker's Bad Fur Day, all very unconventional

I guess it's not considered technically impressive but I thought The Adventures of Batman and Robin was an amazing looking game, but I guess the whole cell shading thing wasn't that hard to do and games like Aladdin on the Genesis and Earthworm Jim had already done it first. TMNT IV's use of mode 7 was pretty cool too with the foot soldier into the screen thing too

[flamepanther]

It's not a well-known game as far as I'm aware, but for technical achievement, check out Accelebrid. It uses pre-rendered 3D background animations to simulate the racing environment, ala Megarace. The graphics aren't on that level, but it accomplishes a Star Fox look and feel without using any sort of special chip at all.

Plus it's a combat racing game with transforming robots, and that's pushing the limits of awesome on any platform

[ZeroAX]

hm. I think games which relied on extra chips should be excluded from this list, and added to a different list.

I read somewhere that one of the chips was actually 3 times as powerful as th snes itself, so it ain't fair comparing games without a chip to one with a chip

[irixith]

I like the DKC series. However, take away the graphics and you have three platformers that were definitely solid, but not really amazing or innovative in any way. I'd rank not just Super Mario World, but also Super Mario bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 higher, along with Yoshi's Island and the Sonic games

I love the DKC series, and once all the graphics nerds (in either direction) get over themselves, the first two games are some of the best plain ol' regular platformers around. The third game is a bit of a gong show -- its enjoyable, but the style was tired and the levels just don't have the same quality from the first two games. About the only game of that generation I'd rank higher is Yoshi's Island, simply because it is the best platformer ever created.

In terms of technical wizardry it definitely belongs on a list like this, simply because they went above and beyond to create an experience that wouldn't have otherwise been possible. The games stand out even today -- did you know that Rare actually developed a new compression technique that allowed them to use more frames of animation for each sprite than previously possible? It's not just the renders from the SGI computers that made the game such an impressive technical feat.

[chupon]

What about Faceball 2000?

I know the game was crap. I tried to turn up some information on it but couldn't find much. Should it be on the list?