New Games Tagged 'core, SNES' on The Great Games Experiment New Games on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg New Games Tagged 'core, SNES' on The Great Games Experiment en-us Dragon Kingdoms II
]]> 25 May 2008 11:10:32 Plok
]]> 27 Dec 2007 06:48:40 Battletoads & Double Dragon
]]> 02 Aug 2007 04:24:43 Tactics Ogre Tactics Ogre is a Strategy RPG made by Quest and released by Altus. The game was innovative in its branching plotline. Crucial decisions made in the game determine the path of the story, the members of your army and the ending sequence. There are always multiple endings with radically different outcomes.

For eighty years, Valeria has been in constant strife, and its three leading ethnic groups all claim leadership. The three factions are:

  • Gargastan: While these people make up 70% of Valeria's total population, they suffer constant inner struggle between moderate and radical theorists on how government should best be handled. This weakens what would be a dominant majority.
  • Walstanian: An oppressed minority of Southern Valeria, making up only 10% of the population. Their suffering is the catalyst to the plot in Tactics Ogre.
  • Bacrumese: These are generally the more "elite" of Valerian society, making up a solid 20% of its people.

    • Mighty King Roderick, aided by the forbidden powers of the "Hell Gate," is able to dominate the people until Dolgare of Bacrum successfully leads his army to defeat Roderick and his dark powers. With the king dead, the charismatic Dolgare claims the throne as his own, and is able to end the struggle between the ethnic groups. Under King Dolgare, the rights of the people are preserved, and internal struggles in Valeria come to a temporary halt.

    All is right until the entire royal family is lost due to a string of accidents. Because the late King Dolgare had no living heirs, the ethnic groups once again struggled for leadership: Bishop Branta of the royal court, Cardinal Barbatos, dictator of the Gargastan people, and Duke Ronway, representative of the Walstanian minority, all fought for control, but in the end, Barbatos and Branta stalemated. In order to preserve their power, the two men took separate measures: Cardinal Barbatos sought an "ethnic cleansing" policy and slaughtered thousands of innocent Walstanians and Gargastans, while Branta received aid from the Roslolians, the greatest order in all of Lodis.

    The separation of the three races thus sets the stage for the beginning of the game. The player is greeted by a collage of scenes depicting the Roslolian Order's mysterious actions in Griate, home to Denim Powell, Kachua Powell, and Vice Bozek, the main characters. Denim and Kachua's father, Plancy, was kidnapped by the enigmatic Lans Tartare, and the three heroes seek vengeance against the dark knight.
    ]]>     17 Jul 2007 04:02:39     Inindo: Way of the Ninja Inindo: Way of the Ninja is a role-playing game developed by Koei. Originally released for the PC8801SR, PC9801, MSX2 home computer, it was remade for the Super NES platform, which was released in North America. The game is a non-historical account of Japan's warring states period. In that sense, Inindo can be considered as a spin-off of the long-standing Nobunaga's Ambition series.

    See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inindo:_Way_of_the_Ninja for more details.
    ]]>     28 Jun 2007 01:16:15     Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts was unique in the series in that it only came out for the SNES (Super Nintendo). It was made to counter the market demand for the Genesis Ghouls 'n' Ghosts version. Whatever the case, Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts brings the series to a great end, with colorful graphics, surprisingly realistic synthesizer orchestra music, and excellent, captivating game play.
    ]]>     29 Mar 2007 11:27:50     Eye Of The Beholder 2: The Legend Of Darkmoon In the sequel to Eye of the Beholder, the Archmage Khelben summons the Heroes of Waterdeep, slayers of the Beholder Xanathar, for another mission. Strange things are happening in the forests near Waterdeep, centered around the Temple Darkmoon. People have been disappearing and shallow graves containing human remains have been found. Khelben teleports the party to the forests near Darkmoon so they may find out what kind of evil is working in the towers of the temple.

    Eye of the Beholder II is, like its predecessor, a first-person role-playing game based on the 2nd Edition AD&D rules. It uses the same point-and-click gameplay mechanics and controls as the first game, with only minor changes.

    A starting party consists of four characters, which can be transferred from the earlier game or created from scratch. Characters can reach higher levels and learn new spells, must face new and tough monsters and solve multiple puzzles. Compared to the first game, many more illustrated NPC encounters and cutscenes were added.
    ]]>     29 Mar 2007 05:29:46     Metal Warriors Metal Warriors is set in the year 2012 and has players controlling and fighting against mecha-like assault suits.
    ]]>     27 Mar 2007 04:44:05     Super Soccer Soccer game for the SNES. Two teams face off on a field, and your aim is to gain possession of the ball, dribble or pass it along the field and kick it into the opponent's goal. The winner of each game is the team with the most goals when the time is up.

    You can play the game alone, with, or against a human opponent.

    The game consists of exhibition games and tournament games. In exhibition, one can choose to play either a game or a shootout. In tournament mode, one plays until they beat all other teams. At the end of the tournament, the player must play one final team, Nintendo. When the tournament has been won, the player receives a code to play the game in a more advanced mode.
    ]]>     17 Mar 2007 02:12:53     King Arthur's World In a 2D side scrolling strategy game, you will lead King Arthur's army into a battle against evil. You will travel to many worlds and use the various skills of your troops to fight dark knights, underworld orcs, and cloud giants.
    ]]>     14 Mar 2007 09:48:54     Rival Turf When a ruthless gang led by Big Al invades their turf, it's up to the Brawl Brothers to take back their streets and send their rivals home with their tails between their legs. You can go it alone or team up with a friend for some simultaneous two-player action as you kick, punch, and body slam your way to victory through six stages of no holds barred, hand-to-hand fighting action. There are all kinds of realistic street-fighting techniques to master, including body slams, leg sweeps, jabs, hooks, uppercuts and headbutts. There are also various weapons that may be used throughout the course of the game. The game also includes an "angry" mode where the character becomes temporarily invincible. If you want a fight but aren't feeling friendly, then turn the tables on your friend and go head-to-head for bragging rights and control of the streets. In RIVAL TURF, only the strong survive. Can you take it?

    Note: Rival Turf is known as "Rushing Beat" in Japan.
    ]]>     13 Mar 2007 12:23:18     Star Ocean The spiritual successor of Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean is the story of Ratix Farrence, a young Fellpool (think cat-person, all you anime fans) who goes back in time to save his friend Dorn from a strange virus that turns people to stone. The story is a hybrid of fantasy and sci-fi, with all of the attention to detail and technical tricks that made Tales of Phantasia such a great game -- and more to boot.

    Star Ocean never received a proper North American release, due to Enix shutting down its American branch the year before the game's release. However, the game "fanlation" group DeJap produced an unofficial English version in 2003.
    ]]>     08 Mar 2007 03:01:23     Might and Magic 3: Isles of Terra The third, and highly updated, installment in the classic CRPG once again sees you commanding a party of adventures in a bid to save the world.

    From Moby Games:

    The third installment of the roleplaying series, with a multi-faceted plot full of twists and turns. Ease of use was central to the gameplay and interface, and the plot included piles of new twists and turns.

    Lead a party of adventurers to rendezvous with the legendary wizard Corak. From dark moldy dungeons, through corridors of hewn stone and timber, and onward to the lofty frozen peaks of Terra you will uncover the mysteries that surround the exotic islands in the Great Sea.
    ]]>     07 Mar 2007 02:27:53     Street Fighter Alpha 2 As the sequel to the successful Street Fighter Alpha, SFA 2 is mostly a cleanup of the original SFA, fixing the many balance issues that had plagued the game since its release. It also introduced several incremental innovations, including the "custom combo" system and the Dramatic Battle, in which two characters could cooperate to attack a third.
    ]]>     05 Mar 2007 03:13:08     Nba Jam The hilariously unrealistic, cartoon-style basketball that you've paid up to five bucks a shot for in the arcades is now scaled down for the Super Nintendo. Choose from 27 different NBA teams and take to the court for incredible two-on-two action. Each NBA team is represented and there are plenty of hidden bonuses to uncover with each hard-earned victory. All of the flips, twists, shooting flames, and loose refereeing from the coin-operated original are present right down to the "on fire" streaks. If you make it too far into the game to lose your valuable progress, you can save your game with the use of a password. Whether you're looking for NBA basketball or a fast-paced brawl, you'll find plenty of both in NBA JAM.
    ]]>     28 Feb 2007 03:05:21     Final Fantasy 3 Snes This is another addition to the treasured Final Fantasy RPG series from Square. Released in the US as Final Fantasy III, this SNES title is actually the sixth FF game -- the previous Japanese titles did not make it across the sea, and to keep continuity on the series, the game was renamed to part 3. Whatever you call it, however, this is one of the most engrossing RPGs of its era, Final Fantasy III stands up well to the test of time and still intrigues RPG fans to this day. Known for its intriguing storylines, the Final Fantasy series has always been filled with imaginative plots and twisting storylines. In Final Fantasy III, magical beings called The Espers return from centuries past to destroy the rational and mechanized new world.
    ]]>     13 Feb 2007 06:52:15     Rock N Roll Racing The races themselves put the player against two (in 2-player games) or three (1-player games) computer opponents and are viewed from an isometric viewpoint. In the background play instrumental versions of several heavy metal and rock 'n roll songs: "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath, "The Peter Gunn Theme" by Henry Mancini, "Highway Star" by Deep Purple, "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf, and "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood. Players are updated on the race by commentator "Loudmouth Larry" (Larry "Supermouth" Huffman) making comments like "The race is set, the green flag drops!" (or "Let the carnage BEGIN!"), or "Rip: is about to blow!" at appropriate points through the race. (There is a slight pause between a name and action, as each name and each action is its own sound effect, which can be heard in the FX screen).

    The tracks are littered with mines, money power-ups ($1,000 for each one you collect), and health power-ups. Similarly, in each lap, each player's frontal weapons (energy weapons or missiles), rear weapons (oil slicks or mines), and turbos (jumps or nitro boosts) are recharged. The number that you get depends on the ammo upgrades you've bought, which maxes out at 7. You get money for blowing opponent cars up and for lapping (gaining a full 1 lap lead on the opposition) your opponents.

    The race goes on for 4 laps and the final standings provide rewards: 400 points and $10,000 for first place, 200 points and $7,000 for second, 100 points and $4,000 for third, nothing for fourth. Money is used to buy upgrades and new cars. Points are used to advance to the next racing class or the next planet. In 2-player mode, one player can choose to advance and leave their "loser friend" (as the character in charge of advancement calls players without enough points to advance) behind, kicking him/her out of the game for good. Once left behind, the other player has no choice but to hope that they had written down their password (available fron the F/X screen) and that the other player will reset the game and let them try again at some point.


    --from the Rock and Roll Racing wiki
    ]]>     12 Feb 2007 02:27:53     Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Street Fighter II: The World Warrior.

    "This game revolutionized the fighting-game genre with characters that had unique fighting skills, speed, special moves and unique endings. Two-player combat, all of the characters as well as all four bosses, every one of the classic stages and music themes ... the arcade great came home with this SNES title, and you can now relive it on your Wii."--IGN
    ]]>     09 Feb 2007 03:51:22     Super Mario Bros. 2 Super Mario Bros. 2 was the highly anticipated 2nd installment to the Super Mario Bros. Series for the NES in the US.

    While still a side-scrolling platformer, the game differed greatly from its predecessor Super Mario Bros. and introduced character selection, with each character lending a special ability to gameplay, a brand new set of enemies and bosses new and never seen again to the Mario series, as well as a whole new setting.

    The reasons for this are due to Super Mario Bros. 2 not being based off an actual Mario Bros. game. Super Mario Bros. 2 was first released in Japan and was simply an extension of the original NES title Super Mario Bros. with new and harder levels, but essentially the same in terms of concept, gameplay, characters, and art assets.

    However, Nintendo felt that American gamers would not enjoy the high difficulty the game processed and therefore decided to remake a Japanese title named Doki Doki Panic, swap out the characters with Mario characters, and rename it Super Mario Bros. 2 for a US release.

    The original Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was later released in the US under the name, Super Mario Bros. All-Stars along with remakes of a few other classic Mario Games.

    This game was featured in Nintendo Power Issue #1 July-Aug 1988.
    ]]>     08 Feb 2007 08:17:50     Tetris Attack What's better than Tetris? Depending on whom you talk to, its distant cousin Tetris Attack (and N64-released Pokémon Puzzle League) might be even more satisfying and addictive. Nintendo designers took what was already a sure-win formula and embellished it to cater to a more-demanding, evolved gamer. Tetris Attack presets colored square blocks in a well and has players swapping them into vertical or horizontal lines. Match three or more and they vanish. Seemingly simple, it is actually one of the most complex puzzlers due to the potential resulting combinations and chains. Played alone or with others, it's extremely addictive. Don't say we didn't warn you.
    ]]>     08 Feb 2007 07:15:12     Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Yoshi returns to save Baby Mario in this sequel to Super Mario World! The Evil Magikoopa, Kamek, is out to kidnap Baby Mario. You play as Yoshi with a mission to successfully carry Baby Mario back to his parents in the Mushroom Kingdom while avoiding all of Kamek's clever traps and evil minions. The levels have a unique, hand-sketched look that gives this game a style all its own. Yoshi's Island has six worlds, each with eight stages. There are six kinds of Bonus Challenge games to earn extra lives or items. This game features the Super FX2 chip which allows for incredibly smooth vertical, horizontal and diagonal scrolling, as well as multiple foregrounds, multiple backgrounds, scaling, rotation, zooming, tons of special effects, huge characters and even bigger bosses!
    ]]>     08 Feb 2007 07:12:06     Star Fox StarFox aka StarWing
    The Lylat System is home to many animal-type humanoid species. Most of the beings in the system live together in peace, and they've built an advanced space-faring civilization. Fox is the son of James McCloud, the former leader of the Star Fox mercenary team. On a mission against the evil Andross, James was betrayed by one of his own wingmen. Fox then assumed the leadership of the team and led the charge against Andross with his friends, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad. Such is the premise of Star Fox; the legendary space flight game from Nintendo that introudced one of the company's most enduring characters and was the first to utilize the powerful SuperFX Chip
    ]]>     08 Feb 2007 04:47:51     Terranigma Terranigma is a 1995 action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed by Quintet and published by Enix. It is the story of the resurrection of the world (as we know it), and its progress from prehistoric times to the near future.

    Terranigma keeps a constant top-down view of the world. Instead of turn based battles, which were common in most RPGs at this time, Terranigma utilizes a combat system that allows the player to perform different attacks based on whether or not the player is running, in a jump, tapping the attack button, or a combination of the three.

    (source en.Wikipedia)
    ]]>     08 Feb 2007 03:07:38     NHL94 NHL '94 is the reason many Gen-Xers even know who Wayne Gretzky is in the first place. Not only did this iteration introduce the one-timer to the videogame series, but was also the first to support four players at once, making for many a lost afternoon with friends. Although the fights were toned down a bit and the blood was gone after '93, NHL '94 stands as a fast and fun experience that no hockey game has been able to live up to since.
    ]]>     08 Feb 2007 10:08:24     NHL 95 NHL 95 puts all of the slap shots and big hits of professional hockey in your hands. See if you can handle the ups and downs of a full season. As the season progresses, individual, and team statistics are tracked. Before you get on the ice, you can put yourself into the game by creating a player or trade players to strengthen your team. Once you grab a stick, the gameplay is faster plus there are brand new animations to for more realistic movement. Become a hockey star with NHL 95.
    ]]>     08 Feb 2007 10:07:16     Secret Of Mana Secert of Mana was a game modeled more after the Legend of Zelda than the typical Square RPG. It was also one of the first action RPGs to allow for multi-player simultaneous play with two or three players.
    ]]>     07 Feb 2007 09:40:21     Flashback The year is 2142. You play as Conrad B. Hart, a man who has lost his memory. After barely escaping from hostile aliens, Conrad's bike crashes on an unknown planet. Conrad finds himself in the jungle, and from now on his quest for survival and his lost identity begins.
    ]]>     06 Feb 2007 03:49:44     Sid Meier's Civilization Sid Meier's Civilization is a landmark turn-based strategy game. It is inspired by Avalon Hill' board game of the same name.

    The game begins in 4000 BC, where the player gets a small tribe which have to be controlled and made great through the ages until modern and near-future times. The game is also known simply as Civilization, or abbreviated to Civ or Civ I.
    ]]>     05 Feb 2007 10:25:27     The New Zealand Story (taken from cover of Sega Master System version)
    Tiki the Kiwi stars in the adventure of a lifetime in this arcade No.1 hit. Watch the feathers fly as you guide Tiki through the islands of New Zealand solving mazes, defeating fiendish foes, rescuing his kiwi friends and finally facing the evil Wally Walrus in the ultimate battle.
    Will you be the next dish on the fresh kiwi menu? Only time will tell and it is running out fast!

    ABOUT THE PLAYER:
    Tiki has a range of weapons he can use to defeat the evil minions of Wally the Walrus:

    Bow & Arrow : This is Tiki's default weapon.

    Ray gun : Fire laser beams of death that will rip through any enemy that is unfortunate to cross it's path.

    Staff : Fire a ball of plasma that not only rips through enemies, but bounces off walls as well.

    Bombs : Short range bombs destroy all in a blast.

    Book : This is used up as soon as it is collected, and destroys all enemies on the screen.

    A remake of this game is to be released on the Nintendo DS soon.
    ]]>     04 Feb 2007 10:38:11     Mortal Kombat 2 Following the footsteps of the original Mortal Kombat game, MK2 is more visceral, brutal, and better looking than first. With more playable characters, interactive levels, this game is a must own for any fans of the fighting genre.
    ]]>     02 Feb 2007 12:27:41     Super Mario All Stars Play the original Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, and the Lost Levels in this all new updated version of each game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
    ]]>     02 Feb 2007 12:23:04     Pilotwings This flight simulator for the SNES features 4 training locales and instructors with 4 flight mechanisms to master. It also features a helicopter rescue mission as an added bonus. The 4 main flight mechanics include the Light Plane, Skydiving, Rocket Belt, and the Hang Glider. With the inclusion of the game's Expert mode there is a total of 8 training levels and 2 rescue missions.

    When it was originally released Pilotwings wowed the world with mode 7 graphics which allowed for hardware scaling and rotation. In terms of gameplay, this system feature allowed some of the very first open ended 3D environments to be explored. Although the pseudo-3D effects featured in Pilotwings would be dismissed as primitive by most gamers today, they can still effectively put a pit in a player's stomach.
    ]]>     30 Jan 2007 12:25:28     Final Fantasy V Final Fantasy V is a classic SNES Final Fantasy game. It was originally released in Japan sometime in 1992, and the US didn't recieve it until 1999 under the title Final Fantasy Anthology, being packaged with Final Fantasy VI. It has you take the role of Bartz, a young man set out on a quest to travel the world. He runs into Lenna, a princess, Galuf, an old man who lost his memory, and Faris, a pirate. They later gain the power of the crystal of wind and are able to use Final Fantasy V's job system. There are over 22 jobs in this game, and each one has its own advantages and disadvantages. It plays similar to Final Fantasy IV and VI, but using the Job system is key. This game is definately worth checking out.
    ]]>     29 Jan 2007 09:38:06     Super Mario World Super Mario World is most likely the best 2D adaptation of the Mario universe. Player's will guide Mario across the world map, unlocking secrets, and fighting the evil koopalings to defeat Bowser. Along the way, Mario will be aided by a variety of special power ups like the Cape and colored Yoshi's. This is an incredibly deep and enjoyable game that almost anyone can get into.
    ]]>     26 Jan 2007 10:31:41     Clock Tower: The First Fear
    patente101 said,
    I thought a SNES game couldn't be scary. I was wrong. Really wrong. Clock Tower made me scream and made nightmares form in my mind. For almost a month, I checked behind each single door in my house...

    The true title of this game is simply "Clock Tower". It was released in Japan only, for the Super Famicom (Japanese market equivalent of the SNES). It was later ported to the Playstation (also in Japan only), and Windows 95, but under the title "Clock Tower: The First Fear". Thus it was natural for the sequel to be titled "Clock Tower 2" in Japan, but the North American sequel was entitled "Clock Tower", since the title had not yet been exploited here. In keeping with the North American release title, it is the sequel that's listed as "Clock Tower" elsewhere here at GGE.


    We enter the story just as the 15 year old orphan Jennifer and three of her friends are adopted by the reclusive Mrs. Barrows. Upon arriving at the imposing Barrows mansion in the mountains of Norway, Jennifer and her friends are left alone for a long while and finally the girl sets out after Mrs. Barrows, but runs back in search of her friends when she hears a scream. The power has gone out, and Jennifer finds herself in the dark and alone.

    As Jennifer, you now must seek out your friends, and save them if you can as you discover the depth of evil at work, witnessing a murder at the hands of the Scissorman, leaving you terrified throughout your ordeal as you try to evade and hopefully, escape.

    Jennifer's adventure will unravel mysteries of the mansion, the murderous evil Barrows twins, and even her own past as she explores the eerie mansion and encountering it's evil inhabitants.


    Additional Game Features:


    • Simply point and click gameplay means you have to use your head and keep your wits. Choices made throughout the game will sooner or later have consequences.

    • Keep an eye on Jennifer's avatar throughout the game. Her current strength is indicated by the window color and must be managed wisely, and her reactions to what's going on may provide useful hints.

    • Sounds and music used sparsely and cleverly, adding to the overall tension and drama.

    • Explore the numerous rooms and levels of the Barrows Mansion.

    • Intricate story full of mystery and puzzles, with many alternate endings adding to the replay value.

    Developer: Human Entertainment
    Publisher: Human Entertainment
    Released: Sep 14, 1995 (JP)

    System Requirements
    Windows 95 version information unverified. Contributions welcome!
    ]]>     26 Jan 2007 06:53:43     Super Mario Kart Super Mario Kart was a game for the SNES that introduced to many that racing games could include a lot more elements of play than just seeing who could get from point A to point B. It contained many items such as turtle shells to hit other players with, stars to make the player invicible, and mushrooms to speed up the character.
    ]]>     26 Jan 2007 05:58:13     Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest In comparison with the original Donkey Kong Country, the game contains many new features. These include a plethora of hidden bonus stages with collectible tokens rewarded for completing, more diversity in level design and level settings, an unlockable "Lost World" with extra levels, and the ability to transform into various animals (the first game included some of these animals, but the characters normally rode them, being able to transform into them only in bonus stages). A portion of the game's theme now involves sailing and pirates, as exemplified in many enemies sporting a pirate fashion and the seaside locations in some levels. While Donkey Kong Country 2 introduced new features such as these, it also abandoned a few from the original. For example, the steel barrel was removed, eliminating the ability to roll on barrels, and the ability to find hidden items in the ground was removed. However, some of these removed features were brought back in Donkey Kong Country 3.
    -Wikipedia

    Dying is somewhat frequent, but the difficulty is pretty low and free lives are plentiful. Even very young players will be able to get through the difficult parts through repetition.

    The real game, though, is to uncover all the secrets. Each of the 40 levels has one to three bonus rooms and a single "DK coin." I believe the DK coin is the greatest innovation in all of platform games. It’s a ridiculously large, shiny, spinning coin that somehow manages to be hidden on every level. There’s something magical about finding that single, well-hidden secret on every level that just isn’t the same as finding 5 Jingos (Banjo-Kazooie), 100 coins (Mario64), or any of the ten zillion tedious things on your shopping list in DK64.
    -Sirlin.net
    ]]>     19 Jan 2007 07:04:13     Blackthorne This excellent Prince of Persia clone has you controlling Kyle Blackthorne, who has been called back to his home planet after being sent into hiding on Earth as a child when his planet was overrun by some generic forces of evil orcs and demons.

    You have to jump, climb, and shoot your way through the dark caverns, prisons, forests, and castles of the planet Khuul in order to liberate your planet. But there are traps everywhere, and the forces of evil are armed to the teeth. Tools like grenades needed to get through obstacles are few and far between. Meaning you more have to out-think instead of out-shoot the enemy in order to survive.
    ]]>     19 Jan 2007 04:27:18     Final Fantasy II It's not an exaggeration to say that Square Enix's Final Fantasy series of role-playing games rates as one of the strongest entertainment franchises in the world. You'd be hard pressed to name another RPG series that can match Final Fantasy's breathtaking computer-animated FMV sequences, fantastical steampunk environments, gorgeous musical scores, and enormous, pristine worlds that practically beg for exploration. This is the series that introduced the now-trite concept of the airship to the gaming masses, after all.

    All of these elements are truly great, yes, but perhaps the Final Fantasy series' most important innovation has been in storytelling. The characters are believably human (even the nonhuman ones)--they get scared, play jokes on one another, and even get married. Although the world's always on the brink of destruction in Final Fantasy, the path to preventing the catastrophe is usually convoluted and filled with twists and cul-de-sacs, like a great fantasy novel. And the dialogue is consistently top-notch, from the everyday banter around the towns to the villains' soliloquies. The storytelling prowess didn't start with the original Final Fantasy, though. In its day, the game was more comparable in its construction to leading RPGs like Dragon Quest rather than to something completely groundbreaking. No, the revolution that created the rich RPG genre that millions of fans adore today began with the release of Final Fantasy II (Final Fantasy IV, in Japan). Together with Phantasy Star 2, Final Fantasy II invented the modern, story-driven RPG simply by making players care about what happened to their characters. This is why it deserves to be called one of the greatest video games of all time.

    he narrative in Final Fantasy II gripped you and shook you like a rag doll right from the beginning of the game. Your introduction to the protagonist, Cecil, took place on the deck of a military airship that had been ordered to extort a magic crystal from an innocent town (not a very heroic vocation). After his complicity in this war crime, the conscience-wracked Cecil was dismissed from the military and sent on an errand to a nearby town, along with his best friend Kain. Using generic archetypes for characters (like Final Fantasy's White, Black, and Red Mages, for instance) was standard operating procedure in RPGs at the time, but Final Fantasy II went off on a far more interesting tangent.

    You played a washed-up veteran with a tortured past, and the game quickly introduced you to a multitude of characters with different backgrounds, motivations, and abilities. Each character had unique combat abilities that fit together into a cohesive whole, like Kain's jump attack and Cid's peep. Furthermore, every character kept his or her own counsel during the course of the adventure. Some left the party at an important juncture in the story, only to return at an unexpected moment. Other major characters were simply, shockingly written out of the lineup. Was Kain firmly on your side, and, if so, why was he acting so erratically at times? What about Edge, the mysterious ninja? Did the game's chief bad guy, Golbez, really mastermind the evil plan you were trying to defeat, or was there some other, ulterior force at work?

    You simply didn't know the answers, and there was only one way to find out: fly to the moon on a spaceship that looked like a gigantic whale. This memorable sequence was only the most grandiose in a long line of in-game breaks for story advancement, which are now referred to as cutscenes. Some of them, like the noble sacrifice of the Magi Twins, Palom and Porom, were particularly poignant, while the epic-staged battle right before the end of the game was just awe-inspiring. Compared to other Super Nintendo games from 1992, Final Fantasy II was a feast for the eyes and ears. Nobuo Uematsu's gorgeous, haunting MIDI scoring was completely peerless, and the game did a lot of fancy work with the SNES's Mode 7 scaling technology, too. That Meteo attack looked like it hurt.

    In Final Fantasy II, your characters weren't dumb marionettes; they were full-fledged actors and actresses, and they delivered knockout performances. By the time you finished the game, you had developed such an affinity for your band of heroes that you actually wanted to see what happened to them after they defeated the final boss. And the game obliged with a sort of "where are they now?" trailer during the credits, which was another innovation in a game full of novelties.

    The Final Fantasy series has already chalked up a Greatest Game of All Time, and it will surely contribute more entries to the list over time, thanks in part to the quantum leaps Square made in Final Fantasy II. It was with this game that Square assumed the pole position in the console RPG market--a position it has never relinquished. We, and the Kingdom of Baron, are the better for it.

    -- Steve Palley
    ]]>     15 Jan 2007 09:41:58     Earthbound
    Nintendo Power said,
    A meteorite crashes near the peaceful town of Onett, and a young boy's life is changed forever in Nintendo's role playing game, Earthbound. Earthbound is different, though, than the average sword-wielding RPG. In what other game can you defeat enemies with a frying pan, call a pizza-delivery man, or ask your dad for money? Need to get some cash? Just jog on down to the local ATM and withdraw some money for that great Yo-yo you saw at the drugstore. Similar to other RPG's like Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior, Earthbound uses a party-based fighting format, and you pick up new members as you explore both your world and others. Earthbound is irreverent, a little silly, and a must have for RPG fans.

    Additional Game Features:

    • Gameplay employs many traditional elements such as buying equipment, recharging energy, interrogating NPC's, but while taking the player away from the traditional dungeons to a more contemporary era, full of wit and humor aimed at modern life and pop icons.

    • Gearing up in modern towns means that you'll more likely find baseball bats, yo-yo's and frying pans than swords! A wide variety of weapons are available in the course of the game.

    • Form parties to explore and battle.

    • Battles aren't random, as most enemies are visible.

    • Persistent onscreen analogue HP and PP meters assign losses gradually in real time, enabling the player added opportunity to heal or complete a battle.

    • Graphically simplistic, but rich in humor and imagination.

    Developer: Ape, Inc. and HAL Laboratory, Inc.
    Publisher: Nintendo
    Producer: Shigesato Itoi
    Written By: Shigesato Itoi
    Game Designer: Akihiko Miura
    Art Director: Kouichi Ooyama
    U.S. Conversion Director: Kouichi Ooyama

    Released in Japan August 27, 1994 for SNES as "Mother 2: Revenge of Gigyas!", and subsequently as a GBA port in June 20, 2003, also only in Japan. EarthBound was introduced to the U.S. on June 1, 1995 as a stand-alone game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In Japan, however, its title refers to the fact that it's a sequel to the NES/Famicom rpg "Mother".

    It's worth stating that this game has cultivated such fan devotion that there are numerous sites and communities rife with information and trivia regarding Earthbound, so that one can only scratch the surface of available information here!
    ]]>     16 Dec 2006 06:31:05     Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen is a strategy video game for Nintendo's Super Nintendo. It is the first installment of an episodic series (although it is supposed to be the 5th episode), and was originally developed by Quest for the Super Famicom system (and subsequently Sega Saturn in 1996 with voice acting) in Japan.
    ]]>     14 Dec 2006 12:23:45     Final Fantasy VI Final Fantasy VI was a landmark title in the series, and set the tone for many later console RPGs, both of the Final Fantasy line and elsewhere. Released originally as Final Fantasy III in the U.S., the game has been re-released under its original title for the Playstation. A GBA re-release is scheduled for early 2007.
    ]]>     09 Dec 2006 07:46:38     Chrono Trigger The 32-meg Chrono Trigger utilizes time travel, science-fiction, and fantasy adventure to create one of the best role-playing games ever. The game's hero, Crono, is transported into the past and ends up altering the course of history, and with it the future as well.

    The integral time travel element of the game enables players to alter the game by changing the past, give players multiple endings and excellent repeat game play value. There are mini-quests, a huge cast of characters, realistic time travel, non-linear game play, and more active and interactive battle scenes than Squaresoft's 1994, highly acclaimed, role-playing game Final Fantasy III.
    ]]>     06 Dec 2006 11:26:30     Shadowrun The player takes on the role of Jake Armitage, a courier who is shot and nearly killed in the streets of Seattle in the year 2050 by a hit squad. He wakes up in a morgue with significant amnesia as to what he was doing that resulted in his near-death --- in fact, he was thought to be literally brain-burnt, which he himself felt as if he was when awakened.

    Publisher: Data East
    Developer: Beam Software
    Release Date: Nov 1, 1993
    ]]>     01 Dec 2006 09:42:53     Syndicate Controversial at its time of release ('93), Syndicate is a violent, real-time tactical game with cyborg agents performing missions all over the world ranging from political assassinations to abductions and rescues.
    ]]>     01 Dec 2006 02:15:43     The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Arguably the finest example of two dimensional gaming goodness, the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the true inspiration behind the masterpieces that are Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess. The fine soundtrack is but one of the seminal areas of inspiration;in fact, a majority of the most prominent Zelda themes -such as Zelda's Lullaby and Kakariko Village tunes; even the name entry music-were directly lifted from A link to the past's musical score.

    Between the environmentally based dungeons, two distinct realms, hookshot and punt-able chickens, it's clear to see that the original Legend of Zelda merely provided the canvas and a rough sketch of the series whereas A Link to the Past served as a the charcoal and oil paints.

    Yes A link to the Past is truly a Bob Ross inspired happy little tree in the corner of the masterwork that is the Legend of Zelda series.
    ]]>     28 Nov 2006 11:36:44     SuperMetroid The galaxy once enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity. Trade lines were open, the citizens were happy and the Galactic Federation kept a watchful eye over the planets. Not long ago, that peace was broken by a startling discovery:
    The Dawn of the Metroids
    ]]>     27 Nov 2006 09:34:50     Doom The mother of all FPSes...

    Doom. Run around, blast demons, get weapons. Uncompromisingly intense, with no shortage of challenge, Doom ushered in a new era - the age of the FPS.
    ]]>     26 Nov 2006 06:16:16