Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Continuing on my quest to play all things, Mario, this game may come as a surprise to anyone who never played it, as it contains what I feel is the best-kept secret in the side-scrolling Mario universe: World E.
First, this SMB 3 remake is based on the Super Nintendo’s “Super Mario All-Stars” compilation, which used upgraded graphics and sound. The Game Boy Advance titles further added tweaks, such as Mario’s voice (“That’s just what I needed!”) and other gameplay enhancements. (More on that in a second.)
To help sell the GBA’s e-Reader device, Nintendo also created a special “World E” for this remake, which could be unlocked by using trading cards (sold separately) and the e-Reader device. Like the good Nintendo fanboy (sucker) I was back in the day, I had bought a Game Boy Advance SP (because it had a backlight whereas the launch console did not) and therefore I had the necessary TWO Game Boy Advance consoles needed to use the e-Reader device!
The cards used added special power-ups and abilities that were not native to SMB3. Luckily, I was able to acquire a ROM with all of the levels unlocked which featured many of these abilities.
The best way to describe these levels is “NES Remix”. If you’ve ever played any of those, then the mashups here won’t seem strange. In fact, the additions were so cool I wish they’d release an entire game based on the additional 33 World E levels.
The first few boards are remakes of the first Super Mario Bros but all within the confines of the SMB3 “feel”. Included are elements from Mario 2 and Super Mario World, which, within that SMB3 “feel” are a welcome change of pace. You can pull weeds for veggies to toss, coins, or even the Lost Levels “poison mushroom” (which will make Mario small or kill him depending on the current status).
Rope/vine climbing and digging through the sand from Mario 2 also show up. Mario’s cape makes an appearance, as does a boomerang that you can throw.
Several other tweaks include enemies from all of the games (such as Wiggler), makeshift ghost houses, Koopa Kids, and areas that require precise speed runs.
The new airships are just as fun to play through, and without any more spoilers, there are several more surprises in these levels that leaves me wondering why they’re not more commonplace in the Super Mario lore.
This is a must-play set of levels for ANY fan of the original games.
Mortal Kombat 3
Here’s a game that I get some flack for not liking: Mortal Kombat 3.
Front the get-go we don’t have the Roman numerals in the title and it goes downhill fast from there. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing technically wrong with the game itself. Graphics, audio, etc. are all updates which build on MK2. A run button was added so players couldn’t just sit on the defensive, you could breakthrough ceilings of stages to jump up and into a new area, the dumb but appealing Animalities were introduced as was a “Mercy” option to spare your opponent in lieu of finishing them off right away.
Where this game goes south is from the planning phases. I’m not sure who thought it would be a good idea to totally remove all of the palette swap ninjas, but they did. That meant no more Scorpion, Kitana, Mileena, Baraka or Reptile. Sub-Zero returned without a mask and with a completely different set of moves: a change which was incorporated into a storyline with the follow-up title Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
But those weren’t the only players removed or changed. Johnny Cage, and Rayden were also no-shows. MK2 hidden ninja Smoke became a secret playable character who was converted into the third of three palette swapped cyborgs. Of the 15 total playable characters, only Shang Tsung (changed yet again) Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Jax came back from MK2. MK1 originals Sonya and Kato, missing from MK2, returned as well.
That should’ve been enough to get psyched up about, but losing Scorpion, a traditional Sub-Zero and Rayden was a lot to overcome when their replacements were Nightwolf (a Native American inspired warrior), Stryker (a police officer) and Kabal (who or what is Kabal?)
Another major change was substituting “Outworld” levels with playing on Earth. The more realistic stages weren’t bad, but with the removal of the fighters above, the game lost its Kung Fu movie vibe and, in my opinion, felt stale. Both MK2 bosses, Shao Kahn and Motaro also returned, adding to what felt like an overall lack of creative direction.
Again, this isn’t a terrible game in the sense of playing it. Had this been MK1, it may have been a major hit. However, the missing characters and old school ninja movie theme detracted from what could’ve been a solid sequel.
Stay tuned for my review of UMK3, where Midway attempts to make up for these changes and does a decent job doing so.
Wayne’s World
Hey Joe, they made a SNES game based on Wayne’s World and I think you should play it.
Shyeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt!
But low and behold, I did play it. This was right next to that WCW game in the “W” section of my collection and made me do a double take. Is that Wayne’s World?! THE GAME?!
Let’s cut to the chase. You already know this is a terrible game. You didn’t even need to look past the box art to figure that much out.
What I can’ figure out is this: who thought it was a good idea to market this game? And what poor game developer had to work on this steaming pile of poo?
That aside, the cutscenes for the game are funny, but that’s about where the fun ends. You start as a half CG, half digitized Wayne, complete with a guitar that “riffs” at animated enemies like coffee cups and drumsets. You walk around each level until you realize you cannot go any further. Then you double back and fall into an area, unable to jump back to where you were until you wander into another dead end.
Rinse. Repeat.
You literally have no clue where you’re going because the graphics are so cluttered with the same repeating garbage that every single screen looks nearly identical. The enemies also respawn, leaving you with no indication if you’ve been in a given area before while trying to find your way out.
Once you do find your way out, Garth is there. Party on, right?
Wrong.
A giant purple hand comes from the side of the screen and pulls Garth away. You then get warped to what looks like the start of the same stage, but it’s just the next level that looks exactly like the previous one. (That happens a few times.)
There are no plot points telling you why you’re in a stage that looks like Honey I Shrunk the Kids in a Coffee Shop, nor do you know why this hand takes Garth away, but then he’s on the couch talking to you between levels.
Actually, there’s no telling what level you’re on because it never says it on the screen other. Oh yeah, and there are “boss fights” too. I fought some mechanical dinosaur snake lizard thing at the end of what I assume is World 1.
But wait there’s more! Wayne has “special moves” which I have no clue what most of them are outside of “Schwing!” which looks like a combination of Wayne air humping and a nuclear bomb detonation.
This game is truly trash and as much as I was chuckling at it, the novelty quickly wore off and I stopped playing. It goes where it belongs, on the blacklist!
Super Mario Bros. 3
If I could only tell you how many times I played this (and what game I bought when this came out INSTEAD of getting SMB3!)
Like the others, I played through every board here too with the exception of 1-2 of those options “auto side scrolling” (which drive me insane, sorry!)
I forgot some details of this game too. The frog suit is embedded in my memory, but I often forget about the statue “feature” of the Tanooki suit, or the music box (which was useless). This was a true successor to SMB and a definitive title on the NES. So many staples of Mario were introduced in this game, from chain chomps to boo. (For any sad soul who hasn’t played it – do it now!)
Operation C
It’s not often that a Game Boy can live up to it’s bigger console brother, but Operation C is a fairly solid, albeit short, title.
If you’ve played Contra before, you know the drill. You’re given a small number of lives, in his case two (with a one-up after completing each stage) and have to plow through difficult button-mashing shoot-em-up levels against guerrilla forces and eventually, aliens.
If you’ve never played them, Contra is totally a mash-up of Rambo and Aliens. This small screen version is tried-and-true to the same formula, but as mentioned, there are only a handful of stages. That doesn’t downplay the difficulty or the cool additions which build on the usual concept.
In fact, even with the monochrome palette (colorized by the Game Boy Color in these screenshots) I thoroughly enjoyed this game. It’s a quick must-play for any fans of the series.
PS – the overhead view levels still suck!
Pac-Man
One of the most beloved video game franchises of all time, I had a difficult choice to make when deciding which version of the original Pac-Man I wanted to play as part of my reviews.
Originally an arcade game, the mega popular Pac-Man has been released on practically every gaming platform known to man. It was released for the Atari 2600 a year following its arcade release, and then saw releases for other Atari platforms, the Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Intellivision, NES, Game Boy, Game Gear, heck, it even has a Windows Phone release.
Sticking as close to the original source as possible, I felt the NES version was superior to the Atari 2600 experience and stuck with it. As far as I can tell, the controls are tight, the graphics and sound are both faithful to the arcade version.
As for Pac-Man itself, yes, I love this game. But after a while? It can be challenging.
Heck, even a few levels in it’s a challenge! Never mind the fact there are over 250 of them!
Regardless, the beeps and boops of Pac-Man chomping pellets is the stuff childhoods were built from. I still love this game to this day and it’s a “go to” when introducing young kids or new players to the wonderful world of video games.
One more fun fact about this game: it’s one of three officially licensed Nintendo titles produced by Atari’s subdivision Tengen. Tengen eventually reverse engineered the security lockout features of the NES and began producing games for the console without paying Nintendo’s royalty fee.
According to Wikipedia:
Tengen manufactured both licensed and unlicensed versions of three of their NES games (Gauntlet, Pac-Man, and R.B.I. Baseball). Their cartridges for unlicensed games do not come in the universally recognizable gray, semi-square shape that licensed Nintendo games come in; instead, they are rounded and matte-black, and resemble the original Atari cartridges.
Super Mario Land
Warning: this will not be a popular take.
I am not a fan of this game whatsoever. I’ll play it, but it’s far from even landing in my top five Super Mario Bros. games if it even makes the top ten.
Yes, it was immensely successful. It was the only Mario game for the Game Boy at the time, so how could it not be?
Now, SML wasn’t terrible by any means. But it’s so largely inconsistent from the other Mario titles of its era that it stands out in a not-so-good way. One reason is that Shigeru Miyamoto did not work on this game. That led to some dubious elements, to say the least.
In short, think of Super Mario Land to be a departure from the main series very much like Super Mario 2’s US version was (but nowhere near as startling of a change).
First, Mario is in a new environment known as Sarasaland. I suppose its intended to be a desert-like world, as there are Egyptian-style overtones with the overall style of the game and its enemies. However, the main boss is supposed to be a “spaceman” and therefore you’ll also see UFOs in some stages.
Goombas, Piranha Plants, and Koopas are still around, though the later act as bombs that explode after a few seconds when stomped on, rather than being able to kick their shells around. The bees from the original Mario Bros. arcade game make an appearance, Princess Peach is replaced by Princess Daisy, and the rest of the game fills in the blanks with fire-spitting dragons and other original enemies.
Also missing: the old flagpole, which is replaced with two exit doors. (One of which will send you to a bonus game to earn additional lives.)
Two of the stages have Mario piloting either a submarine or airplane in shooter game style: which is incredibly awkward. The fire flower power-up has been replaced with a “power ball” that Mario tosses: he can only use one at a time, which is another departure from a Mario series staple.
Mario himself is small on the screen, with everything incredibly condensed. This makes for some difficult jumps, but overall, the game is easier and much smaller in scale (fewer levels) than Super Mario Bros.
I didn’t overly hate this game, but I was never in love with it either. It gets a thumb in the middle verdict from me.
Mortal Kombat II (32X version)
The 32X peripheral was an oddly positioned add-on for the Sega Genesis. While the company was focusing on a next-generation console (which would become the Sega Saturn) they decided to jump to the front of the line by releasing this poorly supported peripheral. Sega already had a large install base for the Genesis as well as an existing add-on (the Sega CD) so sales of the 32X were poor, not only due to support, but the cost and newer consoles looming on the horizon.
That’s a shame as the 32X gave us some of the best arcade translations, almost all from Midway. One of those is Mortal Kombat II, which is the most authentic translation of the arcade title available on a home console at this time. Everything is here and nothing appears to be scaled down or cutout. The graphics are sharp, the audio is sound and the controls are tight.
As for gameplay, MK2 was a major update over MK1. The roster of playable characters was expanded, as were the number of finishing moves. However, it wasn’t just the amount of fatalities that could be performed by each character, but the addition of “babalities” and “friendships” which increased the appeal of MK2. Former hidden fighter Reptile became another palette swap playable character as did MK1 boss Shang Tsung (who retained his ability o change into other characters!)
A number of series staples such as “Toasty”, more pit/stage fatalities, and a handful of other secrets bring this to the forefront of fighting games. In my opinion, MK2 was the best of the series and still hasn’t been topped since.
Mortal Kombat (Genesis Version)
There was always this thought that Nintendo was the only company to censor the original Mortal Kombat, but that was never the case. The Genesis version of Mortal Kombat was also censored, out of fear of those Congressional video game violence hearings.
Sega’s MK1 had a “blood code” and without it, the game was actually inferior to the SNES version. If the code wasn’t enabled, you’d actually get the “heart rip” fatality without the heart… or the blood.
At least the SNES version didn’t confuse the unknowing gamer and as upfront about being neutered. Yet, it was the Genesis copy which sold better, despite having a lot of animation and sound stripped from it since Sega’s hardware was more limited than the Super Nintendo.
You can have a look at my review of the SNES version here and compare notes: while I didn’t play through the Genesis one further, you can see that by graphic comparisons, several things are different. The Genesis also has less colors and if you were to hear the audio, it’s disappointing too. (Which is odd, as the Genesis actually had some games with great audio: Sports Talk Football speaks to that strength of the console.)
Also, playing with the three-button Genesis controller was a no-go for obvious reasons too.
In the end, I give this one a thumb in the middle. If you were a Genesis owner back in the day, this was your childhood. However, if you had the option of playing one or the other, even without blood, the SNES was the superior version of this game.
Mortal Kombat (Game Boy version)
If you’ve ever played Mortal Kombat and/or Nintendo’s Game Boy, then you instantly know any attempt to port this arcade classic to the small screen would be a bad idea.
My first “blacklisted” game to appear on the website, Mortal Kombat sold over a million copies on the Game Boy. I’m not sure how, but its obvious this was a cash grab that worked by slapping the dragon logo and name on the box.
The first problem, obviously, is the Game Boy’s controls. The console only had two buttons, A and B, aside from the select and start buttons. This altered the game to simply a kick and punch button, rather than high and low versions of each, which were better suited to the 16-bit consoles which had more buttons.
The arcade used a 5th “block” button which was accomplished on the handheld by holding both A and B at the same time.
This created the crap fest that would be MK for Game Boy. From the poor monochrome graphics and tinny sound, ripping half of the moves out of the game as well as censoring the violence like it’s SNES bigger brother, this game is terrible. Add lag in the controls which make it nearly impossible to even complete one fight and you have the makings for one of the worst arcade translations ever.
Avoid this game at all costs. Even if you have a morbid curiosity for awful games like I do, you still can’t fathom how bad this title is without playing it.