Steve's Obscure Super Famicom Impressions Thread

[AstroBlue]

I was gonna read this, but then I saw that the screenshots didn't have scanlines and I threw up in my mouth. Graphics were not designed for the 2:1 aspect!

[marwan]

steve is on a roll!

[Steve]

Before TAKARA became well known in the US for releasing Neo Geo ports to the Super NES, they had two kiddie platformers on the Super Famicom. Though not must-have's, if you're looking to add to the ole library you certainly can do a lot worse than these two

SYONEN ASHIBE
A cute platformer where you guide Syo the seal through many levels with classic themes such as forest, cave, haunted house, etc. Syo cannot hurt enemies. Jumping over is the only defense. Enemies range from little brat boys and girls to animals like bats and polar/teddy bears to name a few.
Your goal is to locate 8 items in each level. The item is connected to the level theme (i.e. stars for ice world, squids for water etc.)



Once 8 are collected, head for the exit. If you're hit, one apple (or whatever it may be) squirts away, waiting to be reclaimed. Syo also whimpers Eeeek! The only way to lose is to be squeezed into submission by one of the bratty kids or if the clock reaches 0. The animals cannot make you game over, even if you have zero items when they touch you.



Some items are hidden, other times, in the wide open. Syo can head-smash walls to reveal potential items. Jump and head-smash are the only two buttons. The gameplay is very basic, as intended for 6-year-olds, but done rather well for what it had to work with.


head-smashing may reveal an item, or a brat

There are some cool set-pieces, like the giant hippo machine that releases basketballs from high above which Syo must head-butt into the hippo's mouth. Doing this is easier than it looks, especially if the timer is running down and the pressure builds. Each good basket grants you an apple. The hippo machines hold 4 apples; the other 4 are scattered throughout the level.



An overhead map is your main screen where you move Syo and his friend around to pick levels. You can backtrack as you wish and along the way folks provide you with info, 16-character passwords and some even challenge Syo to mini-games. The boy is never actually used.



The game has some nice details but nothing we haven't seen before. Re-appearing blocks, moving platforms, lightning outside the windows for the haunted house theme, etc. There's definitely a me-too feeling throughout the game but hey, if you can't get enough you'll be right at home. Though, the seal can cling on edges which is a nice touch, admittedly.


gotta love the lightning

My favorite theme was Ice. I'm not sure I've ever played a game where the ice levels were more slippery than Syonen Ashibe's. The poor fella just slides around if you pick up any sort of momentum



It's awesome that this game also features the vaunted Northern Lights. I'm a sucker for great little details... though DoReMi's version looked better. (Syo came out late '92, DoReMi early '96)

vs.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Not shabby, surprisingly solid even, yet nothing worth writing home. The graphics are nice, simple, big and pleasant. The music isn't bad though gets sugary sweet in spots. The game is way too cute though, and prolonged play may cause insanity.

**************

MIRACLE GIRLS

Based on the famous Japanese TV anime, you pick Tomomi or Mikage (twin girls with supernatural powers) and transverse platforming stages with mini-games thrown in for good measure. You start with 3 hearts and up to 5 can be stored by collecting fruit. The levels are so colorful you just may go blind.



Like Syo there's only 2 buttons: jump and throw candy. Likewise you won't find any killings here. Instead you toss candies around, and while they're occupied chowing you can advance to go and collect 200. They chew for approximately 5 seconds and cannot harm you in this altered state. Otherwise any other contact robs you of 1 heart.


Touchdown

You can stand on their heads during this time to collect otherwise unreachable items and powerup's.



There are also mini-games during the story mode and a mini-game mode on its own so you can practice, as well as a 2 player mode for the mini-games. After level 1 you play Water Tag with a bubblebee. It's a classic look -- overhead action similar to Bomberman. My advice here is to hit him ONCE and then RUN LIKE HELL. You can shoot (which will need to recharge before you can fire again) and there's an umbrella cover defense that lasts for half a second.



Halfway through, bubbles begin to roam. Anyone it touches that person will lose 1 point off their score. It prevents a certain level of "babysitting" as the term we old kids used to use.


at the end whoever has more points win

One thing that did stand out besides the uber-bright colorful graphics was the aid of the twin. Before a danger spot there's an icon which allows the twin to magically appear on screen.



She'll aid you through the next perilous section. Her speech is in Japanese but thankfully there's only two voices: one indicating orange, the other white. Before long you will learn two Japanese words! Whatever color she yaps is the flower color you'll want to hop on, for the other will drop sending you to an early grave.


level 1 and 2.. in 2 an air current lifts you up

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Like Syo it's solid, way too cute and a title to get once the big-hitters are procured. Muscially, it's pretty damn good too. Not bad, TAKARA. Too many games of this nature are a disgrace to the world of video games, so I give the big T much props for making two competent ones.

Syonen Ashibe Gameplay
Miracle Girls Level 1
Miracle Girls Water Tag Mini-Game


Mikage says until next time... GOOD NIGHT

[Lordmrw]

I love this thread. Its amazing that even after so many years of trying out random roms and such, there are still so many quality SNES games I don't know about.

[rezo]

She'll aid you through the next perilous section. Her speech is in Japanese but thankfully there's only two voices: one indicating orange, the other white. Before long you will learn two Japanese words!

haha , I played this game a loooooooong time ago and that's exactly what happened.

[Steve]

It amazes me that this next game has zero exposure on the net. And it's a good game. Is it really THAT unknown? I'm not sure but its name has never been brought up in the many SFC discussions I've searched. That's a shame too, so tonight let's shine the spotlight on this little gem, even if it's highly unoriginal.

BATTLE CROSS was sort of like Mario Kart meets Bomberman. What about the opposite eh....

SPARK WORLD is essentially that. It's a 4 player Bomberman clone featuring cars that are reminiscent of the snazzy CHEVRON mascots.

It's a distant world where intelligent cars rule, a shady casino operator who is actually a drug dealer casts his shadow over the alleys and streets. Two young cop cars, Beat and Barts decide to take matters into their own hands (so to speak) when they learn that the police department is riddled with corruption by the syndicate Boss. The intrepid pair must set off to points around the globe and blow up enemies by denotating fuel barrels. If you're not in the mood for saving the world you can always play against 3 friends (or CPU's in the battle mode)

That's the story line, apparently.

The Story mode allows you to select any 1 of 9 stages, each with 3 zones with the 4th being the boss. After each boss is vanquished a 4-character password is given.


The classic themes are represented: jungle, river, ice, desert, etc.



City 1's boss is the TERROR TRAIN

The meat of the game like Bomberman is the battle mode with 12 selectable stages. Any combination of 2-4 players can play, and CPU AI is selectable from 1-9. You could set CPU 1 AI level nine, CPU 2 AI five and CPU 3 AI one if you so choose. Talk about user-friendly.

And of course, by blowing blocks sky-high, you reveal items that can either help or hinder. Longer sparks, more bombs dropped at 1 time, "jelly bombs" (I told you this game was highly unoriginal...), a boxing glove (though instead of punching bombs it allows you to punch the OPPONENTS... very cool) etc.

There are also ? marks but they're a HUGE gamble. If you get the bad side of it, a grim reaper appears over your head with a 30 second countdown. When it reaches 0 you die. Luckily, you can pass this evil icon to anyone you touch, and it can be passed back infinite until it reaches 0. It's a hoot to transfer this death card to someone with 3 seconds left *evil laughter*

There are no dinosaurs or animals, but it takes TWO hits to die.

BATTLE ZONE 1

Basic plain classic stage where pure skills reigns supreme

BATTLE ZONE 2

At 1st glance one may assume the arrows indicate where bombs go, but rather than COMPLETELY ripping off Bomberman, the arrows actually indicate where YOU can go

BATTLE ZONE 3

When the button is red you can't pass. When blue you're good. The colors switch occasionally and shrewd timing is the key to surviving and creating traps

BATTLE ZONE 4

I thought my SNES broke when I first played this zone. You are moved automatically! Challenging zone indeed

BATTLE ZONE 5

When the sides are bombed, the doors on the floor opens up. Fall through and you're a goner

BATTLE ZONE 6

Ahh the classic stage with 4 exit points. I especially like the look of this stage. Unfortunately the sparks will NOT go through the exit points, unlike Bomberman. Shame, but oh well

BATTLE ZONE 7

I like the box look of this stage, very pleasant. The gimmick here is once the boulder is released, it will roll around the stage. Sparks influence its direction as well. If it touches you consider yourself crushed

BATTLE ZONE 8

Ahhh the classic conveyor belt stage. I also love the look here. Good stuff

You can set match victory to 1-5 matches much like Bomberman. The victory screen is a hoot:


oops!

While Spark World is a rip-off almost through and through, it does have a sweet feature that draws the battle lines in the sand emphatically. At the end of a round the game lets you know who your "Rival" is.


Yellow car is screwed for round 2... lol

CLOSING THOUGHTS

A solid fun Bomberman clone. If you love these games as much as I do, this is a must-own. Not as good as Bomberman, no, but very competent and nicely copied. The 4 stages I did not highlight all have crazy gimmicks (i.e. Gun placed in the middle, mega bombs etc) but use the same stage design.

I'm "shocked" (pardon the pun) that this never comes up in SFC discussions. Hopefully now it has received the exposure it deserves. You probably won't be playing this in favor of Bomberman, but it's a nice alternative, for sure. The sparks can get really long and I love how the color of the sparks are respective to who dropped it.

A nice little gem

Battle Zone 1
Battle Zone 2
TERROR TRAIN boss


GOOD GRIEF blue car!

[marwan]

steve, did you actually type all of this, or did you copy/paste?

[Aurora]

I am sure at one point he typed it all. What kind of a retarded question is that?

[Steve]

steve, did you actually type all of this, or did you copy/paste?

All posts seen in this topic by me are typed once, then copy and pasted at different gaming sites.

[Steve]

I can never get enough of the early-mid 90s fighting games. The pre-Super Special moves era where fighters only had 3 to 5 special moves each -- there's just something beautiful about that, and I thought BATTLE MASTER would fit right in. Shame the controls aren't responsive, the animation choppy and frames lacking. It leads to a disappointing fighter for me. Oddly, the fight in the video is pretty cool, go figure.



Toshiba EMI's other SFC game, SUPER BACK TO THE FUTURE II, is thankfully much more playable and enjoyable. It's no masterpiece but it's a fun little diversion. I was surprised at how decent it actually is. GAMEFAN magazine ABSOLUTELY slammed it.



They're right that the game does suffer from bouts of slowdown, but nothing severe nor anything that hinders the overall outcome of the game. Also, SBTTF II is liked by many SFC players on the net, so what does that tell you? Super Back to the Future II deserved a 12% about as much as (Saturn) Skeleton Warriors deserved a 98% !

So whats the deal with the game?


Doc tells you some jibberish about righting the time periods

You control Marty McFly on his hoverboard, pouncing on all sorts of bizarre enemies as you travel through time. The game has a very pleasant SD look and the classic BTTF overture was ported over flawlessly. The game provides 4-character password.

Let's look at some of the levels...

1-1



BOSS - GRIFF (1-2)


Really simple boss. To hurt him just touch the buttons which sends the TV's flying at him

2-1



BOSS - GRIFF 2 (2-2)


Very familiar scene for those of you who watched the movie. Touch the buttons to splash the water.

3-1



Love this night stage, and I told ya the enemies are bizarre. Look at that slobbering weirdo!

3-2



I just dig this stage... great soft yellow backdrop and the BTTF overture from stage 1-1 returns

BOSS: JAZZMAN (3-3)


Break open the suspended makeshift floor so the balls can slip through the cracks, crushing Jazzman's skull

3-4



Somewhat tricky travels here as you'll be lifted up with plenty of obstacles waiting for you. Thankfully, if hit you'll be flashing and invincible for JUST long enough to go up again and safely make it to the next section. This stage stumped me for a while but ya just gotta gut it through

BOSS: HAMMERMAN AND RINGMASTER (3-5)


So incredibly easy you might not believe it yourself

4-1




Ooh, spooky. Check out the thunder clouds and creepy looking trees splattered across this ghoulish graveyard level. Be on your toes for the Sunday drivers

4-2




The rain is a nice touch. A very tricky stage as seen in the last 2 pics. This is another one of those repeat-and-gut-it-through levels. Took me several attempts to beat it.

4-3



This foor is littered with knife-wielding goons. Be particularly weary of doors as these foot soldiers love to surprise ya

BOSS: 1985 BIFF (4-4)


Gotta love the cool backdrop here. 4 buttons when pressed releases sparks. Only the lower buttons will the spark hurt Biff. The upper two can only harm you. Like all boss fights up to this point, it's another cakewalk.

Well the game has several more levels but I won't spoil the rest. It's a fun little platformer that all Back to the Future fans should enjoy.

Lastly, the password screen allow for some pathetic sophomoric jokes, luckily I'm just not that kind of guy....





*cue ALAN SILVESTRI overture*

TO BE
CONCLUDED...
no not really but you know....


Battle Master (that arm attack is ridiculously powerful!)
Super Back to the Future II