DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

TEN UNDERRATED GAMES WHICH MUST APPEAR ON THE Super Nintendo CLASSIC

19/4/2017

47 Comments

 
Picture
Well now. It looks as if the reason Nintendo has cancelled its miniature NES Classic console - a decision which baffled all but the least baffleable - is because it's doing this: inserting a hot cone into Rod Stewart's furtive puncture (preparing a miniature Super NES for release later this year).

As the years grind on, and the crushing inevitability of my death draws inexorably closer - towering over me like a vast granite question mark - I come to realise that the Super NES is my favourite games machine of all time. Probably. Apart from the ZX Spectrum. 

Suffice to say, we're going to get most of the classics on the SNES Mini, as it shall henceforth be known. Yes; expect to see Super Mario World, A Link To The Past, and Super Metroid. But the SNES was more than just its headline games, see; it was also a treasure trove of brilliant, less well remembered titles.

Here are ten that I grasped bawdily 'twixt my fleshy gentlemen, which I demand be included on Nintendo's newest wee machine (note: that's the Scottish wee, not the slang term for piddle - more on that subject very shortly).
UNIRALLY
Picture
A racing game - but a side-on one, unusually - Unirally incorporated elements of platform gaming, as players steered a Pixar-esque unicycle through rollercoaster-like tracks. Points were awarded for stunts, and there was a superb split-screen two-player mode.

Notably, it was one of the many games Digitiser had stolen by a Teletext security guard allegedly, along with our Scope 6 light gun. I was gutted when that may or may not have happened. 

Incidentally, I went to school with a boy who became an alcoholic in his later years. His surname was McNally, and given that I no longer see him stumbling around the streets near my house, clutching a can of Tenant's Super, I can only assume he succumbed to liver failure. That's all terribly sad, of course, but following the release of Unirally, my twisted subconscious whispered the nickname "Urine McNally" into my ear whenever I passed him.

I hope the old Teletext security guard has had a sad life too, and that he's also dead...
BOOGERMAN: A PICK AND FLICK ADVENTURE 
Picture
Overlooked at the time, presumably because it was mostly about bogeys, Boogerman was one of the best-looking platform games of its era, with some grotesquely gorgeous animation. Admittedly, my opinion may be slightly coloured by its relentless onslaught of toilet humour - vomiting, farting, belching and snot-flinging are all things I still find hysterical, on account of never having matured.

That's okay though isn't it? At least I'm not disgusted by things which are entirely normal, albeit a bit smelly. Really, you're the one who has the problem. And that's better for the rest of us, because toilet humour is only really funny if there exists people who are incapable of laughing at it.

So. Y'know. It's kind of okay that you wouldn't be amused if somebody left the following message on your voicemail: "There's a shiverin' scared dog doing a 'BM' near a Ferris wheel!"
LEGEND OF THE MYSTICAL NINJA
Picture
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja was a weird blend of genres, released back in the day before everyone started hating Konami for pushing Hideo Kojima down a flight of stairs. 

A mix of RPG elements, beat 'em up stages, platforming, and mini games, delivered it all with some of the loveliest sound and visuals ever seen on the SNES, and I've just realised that it's actually quite a difficult game to describe. Well... it is if you're as chronically apathetic as I am.

Mystical Ninja was known in its native Japan as Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyūshutsu Emaki - as massive nerds will no doubt take the opportunity to tell me in the comments.

You know the sort: people who think it's better to watch anime and Japanese films with the original dialogue. No it isn't! That's never better. You're all doing it wrong. What, so you'd rather spend your whole time reading the subtitles rather than look at the performances and cinematography would you? If you like words that much why don't you just read a book, stupid?

"Oh, but the dubbing is always awful and distracting!"

Well, boo-hoo. You know what else is awful and distracting, but the rest of us have to tolerate?

PEOPLE LIKE YOU.
SUPER SMASH TV
Picture
The game which broke my SNES when I inserted the cartridge in a wronged-up fashion, Super Smash TV was a more or less perfect recreation of the shamelessly gory arcade game. Notably, it's one of a handful of SNES games to use the joypad in a novel way - the A, B, X and Y buttons worked as a D-Pad, and were used to shoot in the corresponding direction.

See also the SNES version of Q*Bert - the game starring the flaccid, suicidal, sentient, foul-mouthed gentialia of a gingerman.
BLACKTHORNE
Picture
With its rotoscoped animation and momentum-driven platforming clearly influenced by Prince of Persia, Another World and Flashback, Blackthorne might not have been quite as flashy as those aforementioned games, but it was far more accessible. Also: the main character was armed with a shotgun; something you certainly didn't get with that sword-flapping dandy in Prince of Persia.

Ponce of Persia more like, yeah?

Of course, Blackthorne the game is not to be confused with Blackthorn the Gaymer's cider. Although too much of either and you're liable to throw up in the sink. I don't know if that's true about the game, and can't really conceive of it happening. I mean, at worst you might get wrist and eyestrain.

It's a good line though, so don't have a go please.
JURASSIC PARK
Picture
Ocean Software were rightly mocked for the way in which they'd turn any movie license into a cheap and cheerful platformer (remember the shockingly awful Lethal Weapon?). That's exactly what they did with the Mega Drive version of Jurassic Park, but the SNES game was something entirely different.

The bulk of it was a viewed from above shoot 'em up (using non-lethal weaponry, so as not to kill the "animals"), but interior levels adopted a first-person perspective - something that was quite the shock on 16-bit consoles at the time. 

​Indeed, many players were so alarmed by the sudden change in viewpoint that they began shrieking and stomping - and haven't stopped since! 
PLOK
Picture
Created by The Pickford Brothers - a pair of Middle Earth refugees who live in a hole in the ground where they sleep atop a bed of acquired flip-flops - Plok remains one of the best SNES platformers not developed by Nintendo.

​Starring a little red and yellow fellow who could lob his limbs at enemies, it somehow managed to pack in tons of colour and character without ever grating, and demonstrated a comparable wealth of ideas to one of Nintendo's own games.

Plok still lives today, in the form of a regular, and rather lovely, comic strip created by the Pickfords. You can support the comic on Patreon, thus ensuring The Brothers P can afford sufficient defences around their hole to keep Ungoliant The Ungodly from stealing their precious "droopy thongs".
SUPER TENNIS
Picture
I've no idea why I decided to make a sports game one of the first two games I ever bought for my Super NES, given that I've about as much interest in sport as sport has in me, but it probably had something to do with the fact there wasn't a lot of choice at that point. Fortunately, Super Tennis was properly, properly, brilliant - and it says much that the more recent likes of Sega's Virtua Tennis have scarcely improved on its gameplay.

It also featured some incredibly subtle use of the SNES's Mode 7 3D graphics, which would cause proud SNES owners to yell out during multiplayer games.

"Did you see that!? It looked ever so slightly like the pitch was real."
KID KLOWN IN CRAZY CHASE
Picture
Quite unlike anything else on the Super NES - indeed, scarcely like anything since - Kid Klown in Crazy Chase featured the titular "klown" racing down a series of isometric hillsides avoiding obstacles, in order to extinguish the fuse of a bomb before it goes off. Gorgeous graphics, wholly original gameplay, and - rare for the day - a third-party platform game character who wasn't an irritating anthropomorphic animal.

What was that all about? I mean, if you're just chasing the same dollar as everyone else there's going to be less in the pot to go around.

ATTENTION 90s GAME DESIGNERS: if you need a character for your generic platformer, why not look beyond nature, and creature one who is somewhat more existential? Perhaps try anthropomorphising feelings such as dread, angst and ennui. Or take a page out of the atlas and anthropomorphise a country like Gambia or Rwanda.

Telling you now: Gambo The Country of Gambia could've been bigger than Sonic.
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
​WHY WE'RE ALL VIDEO GAME PIONEERS - BY MR BIFFO
​
COMICS TROLLEY: WHY MARVEL HAS DIVERSIFIED TOO FAR - BY MR BIFFO
​
TEN GAMING CONTROVERSIES YOU NEVER SAW COMING​
47 Comments
Ad
19/4/2017 05:53:28 pm

Hell yeah I actually agree with a few of these, Unirally especially. Consider this has far greater mass market appeal than the NES Classic I can only assume Nintendo will produce even fewer numbers of it, for no apparent reason.

Reply
Captain Red Dog
19/4/2017 06:06:36 pm

Well at least if you have some old SNES reviews from Digi in the 90s, you might get an easy couple of days content later this year Mr Biffo!

Reply
Alastair
19/4/2017 06:07:20 pm

Ah, it's like I'm reading NMS again.

Reply
Paul Twist
19/4/2017 06:11:01 pm

Here's a fact about Super Tennis: in the Japanese version, upon losing, your character shouted "shit!" rather than "rats!" I found this fascinating as a teen, and evidently as a 38-year-old too. I want a SNES Mini sooo bad, even though I still have my SNES. But! I also want a NES Mini still! Come on, Nintendo!

Reply
Klone
19/4/2017 06:18:19 pm

Did you call Blackhawk by its Amuricahn name just so you could use that line?

Reply
Dan Whitehead
19/4/2017 06:42:56 pm

Very little chance of Unirally ever seeing the light of day again, I'm afraid. Those unicycles were a little too Pixar-esque, as Pixar sued DMA Design over it and got the game pulled from sale. Absolutely cracking game though. One of my all-time favourites. The manual was bonkers as well - it had this epic piss-take backstory to the rivalry between the different unicycles.

Reply
Nick
19/4/2017 06:54:05 pm

Is this something else I can blame Steve Jobs for? May his soul be forever damned.

Reply
Womble
20/4/2017 11:29:34 pm

Absolutely loved Unirally!
Back in the day, I'd have put money on myself against literally anyone at that game.

Forgot about the backstory - thanks for the reminder!

Reply
Mr Bump
19/4/2017 06:48:15 pm

I never played Plok but remember a few high profile devs praising it. At least some of the soundtrack is really good.

Reply
Ben
19/4/2017 07:01:34 pm

Man, my hopes are unreasonably high for this, Super Tennis is an all time great for me.

Area 88, Actraiser, Parodius, Bomberman, Zombies ate my Neighbours, Super Protector, Contra, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy III, Earthbound, Megaman, all the other great Capcom stuff...There are so many great, great games on 'The Greatest Console of all Time' , I really hope they give the 'Mini SNES' the killer lineup it deserves. And that I can buy one before all the bastards snap them up.

Reply
David W
21/4/2017 02:57:00 pm

I'd pay £50 for a box that only plays Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

Reply
Nikki
23/4/2017 08:26:33 pm

I remember seeing it reviewed on gamesmaster.

Good times.

Jareth Smith
19/4/2017 07:01:45 pm

Well I'll pre-order a SNES Mini immediately like I did with the NES - the former is the best games console of all time, in my opinion.

Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana - I hope those two are on. Super Metroid. Sim City. So many amazing games! It's amazing these things are better than most modern AAA titles - that's the power of gameplay, graphics zealots!

Reply
Biscuits
19/4/2017 08:16:29 pm

Absolutely agreed with Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana...a couple of lengthy RPGs would be a good addition.

I'd also like to see Kirby's Dream Course

Reply
Spiney O'Sullivan
19/4/2017 07:10:08 pm

I look forward to being totally unable to get one of these.

Reply
Mrtankthreat
19/4/2017 08:12:08 pm

Once again I have to take issue with one of your article's title. Clearly it says Ten Underrated Games and yet only Nine games actually appear on the list. I recommend adding Rock N Roll Racing to fully complete the list. Or maybe Sunset Riders. I wouldn't say Super Tennis was ever underrated either. I think most knew how good it was.

Reply
Alastair
23/4/2017 10:40:46 am

RnR was good fun, I remember renting it and considering then buying it, such was the fun that was had.

Reply
Heeden
19/4/2017 09:00:26 pm

Blackthorne was made by a small company called Silican and Synapse, also responsible for Rock'n'Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings. Later they started making some spinoffs of Games Workshop properties or something and faded into obscurity, but they have their earlier offerings available for free on this page -
https://us.battle.net/account/download/

Reply
Alternate Universe Spiney O'Sullivan
19/4/2017 11:33:54 pm

Sounds pretty niche. I've never heard of them or anything they do.

Anyway, who's up for joining me for some Battleborn? In this universe it's the only online team shooter released in 2016 that anyone cares about.

In fact, we play it all the time except when we're playing the many, many games available for the wildly successful WiiU.

Reply
Penyrolewen
19/4/2017 09:22:38 pm

My friend Minimatt totally fancied Barb from super tennis and still carries a torch for her.

Reply
Bryan link
19/4/2017 11:23:30 pm

WAHHHH WHERE IS THE GAME FROM MY CHILDHOOD YOU NEVER PLAYED BUT I LOVE?

Needs more Pushover is all I'm sayin'.

Reply
Wrist Flapper
20/4/2017 12:07:37 am

An article about lesser known but enjoyable SNES games and not one of you mentions Shadowrun? You shall all be among the first when my Lord orders the Cleansing.

Also, had Blackhawk/thorne on PC back in the days when you had to worry about conventional memory and config.sys and autoexec.bat and bollocks. You kids don't know you're born...

Reply
Womble
20/4/2017 11:44:19 pm

I had thought Shadowrun was PS1. Great game.
On a similar vein, why had Syndicate Wars never been remade?

Reply
Wrist Flapper
21/4/2017 07:41:55 am

Not aware of a Shadowrun game on the PS1... There was the shooter on the Xbox 360 that we shall not mention.

As for Syndicate Wars, the relatively recent Satellite Reign for the PC may scratch your itch. I've not yet played it myself, but it styles itself as a Syndicate spiritual successor.

Adam
20/4/2017 12:45:06 am

Smash TV was pretty much the last game I ever really enjoyed before i lost interest in gaming. It's just an absolute belter.

Reply
Gordon Ramsay's furrowed brow
20/4/2017 08:18:04 am

Well, after Nintendo's last pi$$ take of 30 games on a not-quite-100% perfect emulator, and a joypad controller cable whose length you measure in mm, I setup Recalbox and am now like the proverbial pig in shit.
All thanks to Nintendo.
And, I now have 9 games to check out on the SNES menu.
Double bonus.
Thanks Nintendo!

Oh remember children. Piracy is bad. M'kay?

Reply
Retro Resolution link
20/4/2017 05:57:39 pm

Remember how Home Taping killed music? When I was a young lad there was this thing called music. Wondrous it was. But those pirates, they killed it. It wasn't hyperbolic bullshit at all...

Reply
The Buggles
21/4/2017 02:54:53 pm

Home Taping didn't kill music. Put the blame on VCR.

John
20/4/2017 09:28:38 am

Many chuckles at this one Mr B. First paragraph alone.

I hate tennis, and most sports, but well executed tennis games are among the best multiplayer games available, I used to love going round my mates to play super tennis.

Reply
Kelvin Green link
20/4/2017 09:39:38 am

I hope the SNES mini is not based on the awful parma violet US version.

Reply
Darth Tinder
20/4/2017 12:26:03 pm

That's all sorts of wrong, man. The US SNES is lovely.

Reply
Mr Boob link
20/4/2017 12:31:45 pm

It really isn't

Biscuits
20/4/2017 02:32:41 pm

You are the only person I have seen that has this opinion, and I can assure you it is quite incorrect. The EU Snes is a solid, compact, concise little system that somehow exudes an unimposing 'fun' and 'playtime' vibe from every part of it's design. The US one is a hollow, yellowing lunchbox with lavender on it for some reason

Chibi Mallo
20/4/2017 10:18:47 pm

Very tempting. I really hope they put a HDMI port on this.

Reply
Gordon Ramsay's furrowed brow
21/4/2017 09:34:30 am

"Very tempting. I really hope they put a HDMI port on this."

Well, my Raspberry Pi3 running Recalbox outputs a nice rock solid 1080p upscaled signal to my tv, and I can even force the picture into 16x9 mode and experiment with umpteen overlays varying from fake scan lines to fake CRT "screen curve".

Your move Nintendo.....

Reply
Matthew Long
21/4/2017 10:28:34 pm

Years ago I sold my SNES and my entire game collection to a local games shop and the money they gave me for it was just enough to buy one film on DVD. As you can probably imagine I regret the decision to accept their offer.

I'd love one of these - especially if they fix all the little annoyances from the NES edition, like the short controller cable. It would be brilliant if it had some sort of upgradeable storage so you could download more games for it in the future. But of course, that won't happen.

Reply
Kingsturg
22/4/2017 10:21:36 am

I bought Unirally with money i received from doing work experience. My mum said "You could have bought clothes instead".

I always wanted the Jurassic Park game but somehow never got round to buying it.

Super Tennis once so incensed a good friend of mine that he picked up his double mattress and threw it down the stairs. Unfortunately, i didn't witness this. I only saw the aftermath, him carrying his mattress back up the stairs and his mum going ape.

I have nothing more to add.

Reply
Raybies
22/4/2017 11:36:54 am

Good​ luck with a lot of those. Companies die and leave their products in limbo.

Smash TV is a good example. Owned by Williams, then by Midway (who were connected to them as a subsidiary originally). Warner Bros bought some or all of their games, which is what's allowing the continued adventures of Mortal Kombat.

The SNES version was published by Acclaim, who are deader than a dead dodo, and have been picked over by vultures. So I can't see it happening.

We might​ get a Midway Arcade Classics if we're lucky.

Reply
Long sideboard
22/4/2017 03:45:17 pm

Amazingly of all those games on your list,i actually broke my left leg playing smash TV and 29 weeks later I broke my right leg playing super tennis.

Reply
Timmy's new brown foot
23/4/2017 03:43:49 pm

That sounds like a fun six months. Would you care to elaborate please?

Reply
Long sideboard
23/4/2017 06:25:34 pm

Well,it all happened in late autumn '93,I was Europe's longest teenage, I never qualified as 'tallest' because although my legs were/are very long I had/have a tiny torso,because of the length of my legs there was/is a lot of trauma on my bones,i struggled to find a comfortable sitting position whilst playing games so I'd stand for hours on end. My mum's uncle(Muncle) made me some special gaming trousers,very tight on the thighs but flared from the knees,when I got vigorous while playing my foot/feet would get stuck in the flair causing me to fall over,most times it would result in nothing more than a torn ankle but whilst playing the aforementioned games I fell so badly it ended in a blue lit trip to the hospital.

Im Not Here
22/4/2017 05:01:56 pm

I remember Boogermans kickstarter attempt. Asked far too much for what is a somewhat obscure game, and failed, unfortunately.
Looked like it could have been good as well.

I hope Sega get in on this mini console craze, Nintendo holds no nostalgia for me at all would much rather have a tiny Master Sytem or Mega Drive.

Reply
Wrist Flapper
22/4/2017 10:50:25 pm

Tiny Mega Drive? You mean like this?

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/3816789

The "80 Games" bit is marketing bollocks. There are 40 Mega Drive games and 40 pieces of shite. Curiously missing Sonic 3, though that could be bundled under Sonic & Knuckles. Also note that it accepts original cartridges and, from the looks of the ports at the front, original Mega Drive controllers if you don't fancy the wireless ones that come with it for some reason.

Reply
Im Not Here
22/4/2017 11:17:04 pm

I do admit I like the fact it can play mega drive cartridges, might pick one up if they work well I'll have to look into them, thanks (not too pricey really either).

But by tiny megadrive, I mean like Nintendo have just done. An official miniature "collectable" megadrive, like the collectable mini NES classic.

Wrist Flapper
23/4/2017 02:07:06 am

Oh, I'd like to see the same too, not least because the thing I linked is so damned ugly. A unit styled on the original console that does the things the mini NES should have done (downloadable games through a storefront being chief among them) would be something I'd buy too.
Sadly, I don't think even SEGA are foolish enough to have consoles competing with each other, so this is what we've got for the foreseeable. You never know though... Maybe they'll surprise us at Christmas after seeing how the mini NES sold.

PeskyFletch
25/4/2017 07:54:19 pm

The infra red "wireless" controllers are awful, if you intend to purchase.

Tom
21/7/2017 06:07:06 pm

Did you ever play Final Match Tennis on the PC Engine? Could never get the hang of Super Tennis much to my frustration but Final Match is the most enjoyable and authentic (graphics aside) simulation I have ever played.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ