The Really Long List: Red Version (SNES)

Yes, I made a Pokemans reference. Pokemutts? Meh.

My SNES list of completed games is much more impressive, worthy of an "all-star" or "game of the year" ranking. I'll get straight to it:

Super Mario World
Super Mario Kart
Yoshi's Island
Super Metroid
Final Fantasy IV
Castlevania 4
Castlevania: Dracula X
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Star Wars
Super Empire Strikes Back
Super Return of the Jedi
Chrono Trigger
Sunset Riders
Joe and Mac
Joe and Mac 2
Maui Mallard: Cold Shadow
Kirby: Super Star
Mega Man X
Rockman and Forte (Late Mega Man game)
U.N. Squadron
Air Strike Patrol
Aladdin
Power Rangers
Power Rangers 2
Animaniacs
The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey and Minnie
Biker Mice from Mars
Bubsy 2
Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems
Captain America and the Avengers
Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim 2
Indiana Jones Trilogy
Knights of the Round
Star Fox
Super Ghouls and Ghosts
TMNT: Turtles in Time
TMNT: Tournament Fighters
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2
Donkey Kong Country 3
Illusion of Gaia
Cybernator
Demon’s Crest
Battle Clash
The Firemen
Cool Spot
Super Adventure Island 2
Rocketeer
Shaq-Fu (Oh, God)

I have two words. Misspent youth. Or totally awesome. Perhaps a mix of both.

Let us once again observe which games I should put on the "bollocks" list. Some of these are so terrible that they don't even have a Wikipedia page. And almost everything has a Wikipedia page. Even Spiritual Warfare has a Wikipedia page.

The first notable "bollocks" game is The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey and Minnie. It was actually pretty entertaining when I rented it. Of course, I was probably eight years old. Regardless, one plays as Mickey or Minnie Mouse (co-op, even...Ron, we will have to play it) in a adventure that begins in a circus. Didn't see that coming. However, unpredictably, only the first level is in any way circus-related. Mickey is granted suits that are accompanied by special powers: The fireman, magician, climber, etc. While it wasn't terrible, I know that I'm remembering it more fondly than the game actually merits.

No matter, The Rocketeer was much, much worse. It was a foul mix of action, shooter, and side-scrolling airplane racer. None of the elements of gameplay were anything short of miserable. Seriously, don't play this game. Please.

Don't play Shaq-Fu, either. I completed this game because my babysitter's son owned it. I would go over there after school while I was in my elementary grades, as my parents did not get home until around 4 or 5 PM. If there was absobleedinglutely nothing else to do, he and I would play Shaq-Fu. It is a fighter with terrible EVERYTHING. Controls are sticky, collision detection is sketchy, and the music is terrible. But I finally defeated the mummy, Sett. And all was well in Shaquille O'Neal Land.

Biker Mice From Mars? Doubleyoo-tee-eff? It's a racer based on the terrible cartoon. And yes, I finished it. It was a rental, and I wasn't going to allow my weekend rental to go to waste.

The Donkey Kong Country games were superb. Nothing short of fantastic. They were a yearly Christmas treat until I received a PlayStation. (And then it became Crash Bandicoot, as I previously mentioned.)

Chrono Trigger may be the best RPG on the SNES, but I have not completed Final Fantasy VI, even though I claim it as my favorite non-Tactics Final Fantasy game. Super Mario RPG was pretty good, but I'm fairly convinced that it is only above average, as I have never been a big fan of what I will call "low HP RPGs". But that is another post for another day. Besides, it has ruined me with its "timed attack" system, which has ensured that I always, always, ALWAYS press the attack button as my character attacks in any RPG ever made.

The Castlevania games for the SNES were just as good, if not better (for the most part) than their NES origins. The frustration in completing them created something of a rabid desire to prove something to the games. Regardless, Castlevania is one of my favorite game series, and these two games were excellent offerings.

The Earthworm Jim games were funny, excellent platformers. The brand of humor used was something that went unexplored in games because it was gritty and just reeks of late-night cartoons. Regardless, I would like to see the character Earthworm Jim expanded and not forgotten. The games were successful, but I imagine further incarnations were scrapped due to the relative unpopularity of the N64 offering (which I have not played).

Well, I have shared a significant portion of my list. Bear in mind my age when most of these games were completed. I was young, innocent, and for the most part ignorant of what good games should be. Even some of the best games on this list would challenge my attention span today.

I will offer yet another section of my list soon.