Some of my favorite SNES games in honor of the system's 25th anniversary

If you asked me earlier in the week what I did back on Aug. 23, 1991, I would've answered, "I have absolutely no idea."

Today, though, I know exactly what I did on that date: I, along with my older brother and our parents, waltzed into the local Toys R Us (or Shopko, or Kohl's--I can't remember this particular detail) and bought a Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

It was the first game system I ever got the day it came out, by the way. Previously--with the NES, TurboGrafx-16 and GameBoy--I waited months or even years before jumping on board.

There was no way my brother and I were going to wait for the SNES, though. Both of us had followed the console's development and Japanese release like our lives depended on it, so we did whatever we had to do to ensure we'd be able to nab Nintendo's second system the minute it was available.

Sadly, that meant selling our precious NES and our enviable catalog of games. (The latter included such treasures as Bionic Commando, Duck Tales, R.C. Pro-Am and pretty much every other Nintendo-published title worth owning.)

On the flip side, it allowed us to get our hands on a SNES and a copy of Super Mario World pronto, so at the time the sacrifice seemed acceptable.

I still have that SNES, by the way. I also still have a handful of the carts my brother and I accumulated in the years that followed the console's debut--Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III and Yoshi's Island among them.

Speaking of which, none of those games are discussed in this nostalgia-filled post that's supposed to celebrate the SNES' 25th anniversary. Also ignored here: A Link to the Past, EarthBound, Super Mario Kart and Super Metroid.

That's not because I dislike any of those classic games, mind you. On the contrary, I dearly love each and every one of them. No, the reason I'm not devoting any space to them is they're honored all the time (and rightfully so) for their greatness.

You'll also notice no Japan-only SNES--or Super Famicom, if you want to be technical--games are named here. That's because Aug. 23 was the 25th anniversary of the console's North American launch. So, I'll only ruminate about that region's releases. (Believe me, if I expanded this write-up's reach in that way, it'd feature blurbs about Ace wo Nerae, Pop'n TwinBee, Tetris Battle Gaiden, Torneko no Daibouken, Umihara Kawase and more.)

What does that leave? It leaves the following nine SNES titles, all of which are near and dear to my heart, and all of which did a stupendous job of showing what Nintendo's entry in the 16-bit game-system wars was capable of when the right people were involved.

ActRaiser--I still remember my initial reaction to this early SNES game. Teenage me thought it was so beautiful that someone at developer Quintet must have sold his or her soul to create such brilliance. Do I feel that way today about this ambitious title, which dares to combine the action-platformer and city-building genres? Yes and no. On the positive side, ActRaiser's looks still bring tears to my eyes. I also continue to appreciate some of its bold gameplay choices. On the negative side, though, I find the side-scrolling sections to be a bit stiff and unforgiving these days. Oh, well, as they say: two out of three ain't bad.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest--Unlike ActRaiser, this Final Fantasy spin-off (in Japan it was called Final Fantasy USA) didn't immediately trip my trigger. In fact, I turned my nose up at it for a good long while. What changed? I rented it one weekend when no other game appealed to me. What I discovered during the ensuing two days was that, while the game strays far from the traditional Final Fantasy fold, it does so in some really interesting ways. (Much like Square's Mana and SaGa series.) I especially like the rock-leaning soundtrack conjured up by Ryuji Sasai and Yasuhiro Kawakami.

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja--It's kind of hard to believe this game, part of Konami's long-running Goemon series, made the trip across the pond when it did. At the time, most "wacky Japanese" titles stayed put in their countries of origin. Thankfully, the higher-ups at the company that Castlevania built took a chance on this one. It's still one of the system's best looking and sounding games, in my opinion--despite the fact that it's one of its earlier offerings.

Pocky & Rocky--Here's another unconventional game (according to Western tastes, at least) that a company had to take a chance on and that immediately appealed to me. I've got to say that I like this scrolling shooter, which actually is a sequel to Taito's KiKi KaiKai, a bit more than the action-adventure title mentioned above. Every single aspect of it is spot-on--a fact that explains why even loose copies of it tend to go for shy-high prices on both sides of the globe.

Secret of Mana--I know it's now popular to poo-poo this action RPG, but I love it. Always have, always will. Granted, you're talking to someone who gleefully ogled early screenshots of this "real-time Final Fantasy" for what seemed like ages before it finally saw the light of day. Plus, for me, its still-stunning aesthetics and wide variety of weaponry trump any of its gameplay or performance niggles.

Stunt Race FX--Did Nintendo's first Super FX title, Star Fox, blow me away upon it release in early 1993? You bet it did. To be honest, though, this second such game blew me away even more. That's likely because Stunt Race FX's genre and graphical stylings are more my cup of tea than those of its rail-shooter counterpart. Sadly, it's harder to ignore this game's big flaws--a pitifully low frame rate and a slow overall speed--these days than when it first hit store shelves. Even so, I continue to take it for a spin now and then just to bask in its goofy, googly-eyed glow.

Super Bowling--Although no one's likely to call this KID-made sports cart one of the SNES' best offerings, that doesn't mean it's not one of its most enjoyable--especially if you're in the mood for a multi-player romp. There's not a ton of depth here, admittedly, but the various characters, as well as ball, lane and gameplay options, provide more than enough content--not to mention fun--to make the price of admission worthwhile if the idea of a digital bowling title sounds interesting to you.

Super Tennis--This is one of a handful of video games produced by Japanese textbook publisher Tokyo Shoseki, so you might assume it's a bit of a turd. In reality, it's one of the best tennis titles ever created. It's not the most realistic, mind you, but it controls so well and feels so smooth that only the biggest tennis snobs will care. My only complaint: after you've spent a good amount of time with it, you'll be able to pick off most of the computer-controlled opponents with ease.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors--My brother, friends and I put an ungodly amount of time into this cartoonish run-and-gunner back in the day. That's the only way to play Zombie Ate My Neighbors, by the way--with another person sitting by your side. Which is too bad, in a way, as the designers and developers at LucasArts did a bang-up job on the game's controls, music, looks and even humor. The fact is, though, it's just not much fun if you go it alone. So, be sure to grab a pal or lover--or both--before you boot it up to get the best experience.

Manual Stimulation (KiKi KaiKai, PC Engine)

That little peek into KiKi KaiKai's manual a couple of days ago--in my most recent "Nice Package!" post--wasn't enough, was it?

Don't be shy. I also didn't think it was enough. I couldn't just fill that write-up with photos of this PC Engine game's instruction booklet, though, could I? Thankfully, I have another series that's pretty darn suitable for such things.

Speaking of which, let's take a more thorough look at this Taito title's manual, shall we?



KiKi KaiKai's cover illustration sure is snazzy, isn't it? I especially like that there's more perspective and movement to it than a lot of its counterparts from the same era.



The art style used inside KiKi KaiKai's instruction manual is quite a bit simpler than the one used on its cover, but I don't see that as a negative. In fact, I'm a big fan of the illustrations that fill its handful of pages.



That's a very good thing, as without those wonderful drawings, KiKi KaiKai's manual would be nothing but a bunch of text, some squiggles and a couple of black-and-white screenshots.

Not that such a product would be the worst thing in the world, mind you. But who wouldn't prefer to look at pretty illustrations while learning how to play their brand-new (back in 1990), ball-busting PC Engine game?



My only complaint with this particular pamphlet: the same accomplished (and adorable) depiction of Sayo-chan--this is the name of KiKi KaiKai's protagonist--that appears on its initial pages also pops up a few more times as you flip through it.

Oh, well, you can't have everything, right? Anyway, speaking of Sayo-chan, she's a young Shinto shrine maiden living in Feudal Japan, in case you didn't pick up on that in the manual's opening salvo.



KiKi KaiKai's story can be summed up as: a handful of "Lucky Gods" (whatever that means) surprise Sayo-chan one day and warn her of impending danger. Shortly thereafter, they're ambushed by a group of thuggish goblins who whisk the deities away to a far-off mountain range.



Being the rather bold gal that she is, Sayo-chan chases after them--with this colorful HuCard's contents cataloging her ensuing adventure.

Some of the baddies she--and you, as the person who controls her in-game--encounters along the way can be spotted in the illustrations showcased above and below.



And here (below) are the bosses who do their best to impede Sayo-chan's progress. Not that I have any experience battling a good number of them. As I've surely said before, KiKi KaiKai regularly kicks my butt, so I've rarely made it past this overhead smhup's third or fourth stage.



How about you? Have you ever played either the arcade original version of KiKi KaiKai, this PC Engine port, or even some other iteration of this vaunted--if not exactly long-running--series over the years?

Even if you haven't, what do you think about the manual made for its PC Engine release? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section that follows.

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts

Nice Package! (KiKi KaiKai, PC Engine)

Those of you who use Twitter and who follow me may have caught this tweet I sent out a few days ago: "After a bit of a dry spell, I recently bought a ton of Famicom, PC Engine and PlayStation games."

The focus of today's post, Taito's KiKi KaiKai, is one of those games.



To be honest, I've been on the fence about picking up a copy of this title for a while now. Although it's a top-shelf port of the arcade game of the same name--also made by Taito and released in 1986--the simple truth is I absolutely suck at it.

Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. I buy plenty of games that seemingly enjoy pointing out to me that my reflexes aren't as sharp as they were when I was a kid.

The problem with this game, though, was that copies of KiKi KaiKai's PC Engine port tend to be pricey.

As a result, I've hemmed and hawed for a good year or so as to whether I should bite the bullet and buy the damn thing despite my issues or use my hard-earned cash on a couple of other PC Engine classics--ones that would have a less negative impact on my ego--instead.

Obviously I decided to go with the former in the end. And I can't say I regret that decision one bit. After all, just look at this title's beautiful packaging. From the cover of its instruction manual to the labels on the back of its case, it's pretty much perfect, wouldn't you agree?

I especially like the interior of KiKi KaiKai's instruction manual. The illustrations it offers up are the definition of lovely, in my humble opinion.

Of course, that shouldn't surprise me. Pretty much every Taito manual I've come across over the years makes me swoon. Two noteworthy examples from the PC Engine era: Don Doko Don and Mizubaku Daibouken. (Sadly, I'm not sure I'd say Parasol Star's booklet is quite up to snuff.)

If you'd like to sneak a peek at more of KiKi KaiKai's manual, you're in luck. I'm going to publish another installment of my long-running "Manual Stimulation" series devoted to this game's pamphlet later this week.



In the meantime, have any of you played any iteration of this top-down, push-scrolling shmup?

I'm especially curious to hear opinions of the arcade original or the PC Engine port discussed here, but feel free to sound off on the curious reimagining released for the Famicom Disk System or the follow-ups that hit the Super Famicom in 1992 and 1994, respectively.

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' and 'Manual Stimulation' posts

Five favorites: non-Enix, non-Nintendo, non-Squaresoft Super Famicom games

Well, well, well. Here we are again.

Why am I continuing this crazy series? I don't know, to tell you the truth. I guess I just like writing and publishing weird blog posts.

Anyway, as you hopefully can tell by reading the header above, this particular "five favorites" post is going to focus on five of my favorite non-Enix, non-Nintendo, non-Squaresoft Super Famicom games.

I know I could have (and maybe even should have) kept myself from including Super Famicom games made by Capcom, Konami and even Taito, but the fact is that I'm less of a fan of their 16-bit releases than I am of their 8-bit ones. So, I decided to allow them here.

Anyway, enough of my yammering. Here are five non-Enix, non-Nintendo, non-Squaresoft Super Famicom games that are among my favorites for Nintendo's second console:

1. Ace wo Nerae!--I'm guessing a good number of you will skip right past this selection because it's a tennis game. I understand that, but I have to say it's a shame. This is a top-tier tennis game, in my humble opinion, and well worth trying if you're at all into the sport. The main reason? Makers Telenet Japan make good use of the Super Famicom's famed "Mode 7" capabilities (as well as a special DSP chip, I believe) to produce a surprisingly successful three-dimensional tennis title. Sure, it's a bit awkward at first, but give it a few minutes and it feels great.

2. Kiki Kaikai: Nazo no Kuro Manto--Although it was renamed Pocky & Rocky when it was readied for North American release, this top-down, forced-scrolling shmup would be a favorite of mine no matter what developers (and publishers) Natsume decided to call it. Admittedly, that's partially due to the fact that this is one gorgeous game (one of the prettiest to grace the Super Famicom/SNES, if you ask me), but it's also due to the fact that it controls like a dream.

3. Sanrio World Smash Ball--I know I've written about this syrupy sweet game, cobbled together by the folks at Tomcat System, at least once before, but I'm mentioning it again because it is, simply put, one of the best pick-up-and-play carts available for this particular system. Gamers who have hearts of stone are sure to point out that this Character Soft-published title is little more than a pixelated take on air hockey that's been gussied up with the Sanrio crew, but what's wrong with that? All that matters in the end is whether or not the final product is a joy to play, and this one is (in spades).

Five favorites: Super Famicom games I'd play with my husband (if he actually played games)

Why'd I decide to limit the contents of this post to Super Famicom games? Actually, my first thought was to focus on Famicom games. Shortly after, I changed my mind, broadened the scope and altered the headline to "games I'd play with my husband (if he actually played games)."

The first three games that came to mind, however, were released for the Super Famicom (or SNES, if that's your thing), so I altered the header for a second time to the one you see above.

Don't worry, I plan on writing up a "Famicom games I'd play with my husband (if he actually played games)" post soon enough, and I'll probably devote another to "PC Engine games I'd play with my husband (if he actually played games)," too.

This time around, though, I'm going to focus on the following five titles, all of which appeared on Nintendo's super second console.

1. Pocky & Rocky--Although I'm listing this Natsume release first (simply because I'm an alpha-order kind of guy), I have a pretty good feeling that it wouldn't go over all that well with the hubs if I introduced him to it early on. That's because, like most overhead run-and-guns, Pocky & Rocky can be both difficult and frustrating. Still, I think he might like the adorable protagonists and the colorfully wacky setting--you know, if he had any interest in gaming at all.

2. Sanrio World Smash Ball--Now here's a game that I think anyone would like--yes, even anti-gaming crumudeons like my husband. It's barely more than good ol' Pong turned on its side, but for various reasons--such as its selection of cute-as-buttons characters and its wonderfully cheerful soundtrack--this Tomcat System-developed, Character Soft-published title a lot more enjoyable than that ancient classic.

3. Secret of Mana--Can you believe I've only ever played this game solo? That surprises me, as my older brother and I used to play games together all the time, and I'm pretty sure he was still living at home (as opposed to in a college dorm) when I first acquired this one. Anyway, as a result, I've always wanted to see what it's like to play through this epic, Final Fantasy-meets-The Legend of Zelda ARPG with another human being. In all honesty, I think my husband would find it boring, but you never know--the pastel graphics and soothing music may just win him over.