Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary
Amidst the Mario mania for our favorite plumber’s 35th anniversary was a loosely celebrated 25th anniversary for Super Mario Bros. some ten years ago on the original Wii.
To celebrate the milestone Nintendo had a special red console released, along with a re-release of the Super Nintendo’s Super Mario All-Stars collection. The 4-in-1 disc included revamped versions of the first three Super Mario Bros. titles as well as the first stateside appearance of the true Super Mario Bros. 2 which was only released in Japan at the time.
In other words, it was the exact same set of games as they appeared on the SNES cartridge version in the 1990’s.
Naturally, there must’ve been more for the big guy’s birthday, right?
Well, there was a game music compilation CD and a booklet which came with the above physical game release – and this Wii Virtual Console release celebrating the big two-five.
That seems really exciting doesn’t it? Back then it did, and looking back now, after getting a taste of Mario 35 on the Nintendo Switch, retro gamers must be thinking “wow, I need to play Mario 25 now!”
Well, sorry to let you down (as I have a habit of doing sometimes) but the reason I haven’t mentioned much about this game is that there’s not much that was changed or updated to make this much of a special release to play.
It’s Super Mario Bros., with a new date added to the copyright on the title screen and “?” blocks replaced with “25” in them instead.
The only other noticeable tweak is Princess Peach, who upon completion of the game adds another line about pressing “B” to choose your world on the menu screen – you can go straight to the first level of any of the eight worlds, but in the “second quest” or whatever its called when you beat the NES version and everything changes to hyper speed with buzzy beetles in place of goombas.
Actually, that part isn’t too shabby, but I imagine it was included somewhere else in the history of Mario – and its especially underwhelming for those of us who have used cheats or save states to do the same thing in the past.
For someone playing on the Wii?
My guess is if you wanted your SMB fix, then you would’ve already purchased the unadulterated version from the Virtual Console shop, which was a release day title anyway.
Don’t get me wrong: this is still Mario. The controls are tight, and the translation to play a bit more of the levels on a wider screen, but not so much as to ruin the original experience, totally works. It’s a good port.
However, this game was nothing special other than the swapped “25” blocks; essentially something a game hacker could’ve done with a little bit of extra time on their hands.
Check it out at your own risk.
ClayFighter
Following a flurry of reviewing fighting games for an entire month I had unearthed one forgotten game of my childhood amongst a sea of potential games to review. With Halloween around the corner, I felt it fitting to still keep ClayFighter on the schedule, because it better represents the current season than an actual fighting game.
Unsurprisingly Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat sparked a fighting game craze in the 90’s, with many competitors looking to clone the success of those two games for themselves. Every software developer, including Sega and Nintendo themselves, got in on the act.
Then there was Visual Concepts, who have a reputation of making some great games, but instead when the parody and comedy route with ClayFighter. The main reason this game doesn’t get a fat thumbs down from me is basically due to VC’s input with audiovisual content for the title. The fighters are all 3-D generated from actual clay models (hence the name of the game) and look superb for a 16-bit Super Nintendo title.
The sound, including an announcer, are crisp and ahead of their time too.
But it’s the gameplay that is lacking… that’s putting it kindly.
Once the humor wears off, which is quickly after scrolling through the unique characters on the main menu, you are deluged with combat that takes after the Street Fighter button scheme, but not the pace or cohesiveness of being a fighting game. Computer opponents tend to block and jump all too often, with special moves often being to difficult to pull off or slow in animation to make an impact.
The traditional two-round win format is there, with a cutesy bomb as your timer, with the wick burning down to “zero”. I’m not sure if the rounds are actually 90-ish seconds like the rest, but it sure does feel like an eternity to play through just one sitting.
The levels are inspired and tied to each character as well – another annoyance as you play through the “world map” and discover you have to face some of them a second time; which is mundane as it gets.
The final boss is a “ring” and outside of that, you really get no sense of purpose for the fighters, what they’re doing there, what they’re fighting for, or even one still end-screen that tells you squat about the character you just completed the game with. It simply shows the long scrolling credits of everyone who created this mess and a neat “thanks for playing” when that’s through.
Also, the menus and even portions of the game screens (like the health bars) come off as generic – almost 8-bit generic. Whether intentional or not, it cheapens the game. Combined with frustrating controls, cheap computer opponents, and no real plot, it’s difficult for me to recommend this game at all.
Worse, if you grew up playing the Blockbuster Video Game Championships, as I did, you were likely duped into renting the store exclusive “Tournament Edition” to practice with. Hopefully a rental is all the more money you escaped spending on this game way back when, because it would’ve been a good waste of $60-70 for a cartridge that will quickly collect dust.
Killer Instinct
What a difference a couple of years make…
In the Fall of 1993, Mortal Kombat, widely considered one of the most violent video games of its time, was released on the Super Nintendo. However, it was a stripped-down port of the arcade which replaced blood for sweat and neutered the violent “finishing moves” that had caused controversy.
Mortal Kombat had also caused a legal stir, forcing the video games industry to adopt a ratings system similar to what was the standard for motion pictures.
In 1994, the sequel to Mortal Kombat arrived untouched to the SNES, hinting at a change of heart when the competing Sega Genesis’ first game in the series outsold Nintendo’s. With blood and gore intact this time, Nintendo shocked arcade audiences roughly six weeks later with a game no one would’ve seen coming a year earlier: Killer Instinct.
The name of the game itself was a big change for Nintendo, which always stood for family entertainment in video games much like Disney did the same for TV and movies. With a hot console war on their hands against Sega, which marketed their Genesis console toward teenagers and adults, it was time for the company which brought us Mario to mix things up and get dirty.
Killer Instinct first landed in arcades on my birthday, October 28th, 1994. Developed by Rare and published by Midway, the game provided a sneak peek into Nintendo’s upcoming next-gen console dubbed the “Ultra 64”. It was one of two games (along with Cruisin’ USA) to use a specialized version of the hardware, intended to plant the seeds for what would become the Nintendo 64 in due time.
The arcade game was a marvel to look at and play – and fans were waiting for KI as an N64 launch title. However, delays set the console launch back, and thus, Nintendo surprised everyone by released Killer Instinct on the SNES.
Of course, the 16-bit hardware was a far cry from the looming “64-bit” era of the Ultra 64. Marketing made it seem as if Nintendo was bypassing “bits” from 32 to 64 for their next gen – so how could KI, which on paper requires 4x the hardware horsepower, run on the aging Super Nintendo?
A number of special concessions were made, of course, as gamers were used to back in these days. While the next generation Ultra 64 and competing Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation began to promote “arcade perfect” ports to the home consoles, fans knew from other arcade classics such as Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and Street Fighter II, that there would be alterations to the game.
The end result was Rare flexing their muscle, reducing colors and sprites, removing full-motion video clips and large audio files, and utilizing tricks involving the Super Nintendo’s Mode 7 graphics.
While it wasn’t as impressive as the arcade, the game retained a great deal of the gameplay features along with some stunning imagery and sound considering what it was being played on.
By this time too, fighting games were watering down the market – but Nintendo finally jumped into the foray with their own game and as far as exclusive titles are concerned, Killer Instinct holds up on its own. While the plot (like others in the genre) is practically non-existent, the ability to pick up and play was easy – mastering the game could be a challenge, but the Street Fighter six-button (three for punches, three for kicks) scheme fit the game well.
Differing from other fighting games, KI did not use a round system, rather two life bars that would be drained until the screen flashes red and the announcer states “danger” – permitting the victor to pull of a quick button press series for one of two finishing moves (violent and brutal, the same as MK) or a humiliation (also pretty much borrowed from MK).
A neat combo system was instituted, including a groundbreaking automatic combo, or combo breaker, provided the right button sequence was pressed.
Overall, I feel Killer Instinct was fairly average, particularly on the SNES. It’s still amazing at how well it runs and the achievements made porting such a big title down to the small screen. Yet, it wasn’t too groundbreaking in anyway other than Nintendo allowing something with the name “Killer” on their console.
Unfortunately, I feel KI would’ve been far better remembered had the N64 launched on time with it as a catalyst to show off the new system. Instead, it was tacked on in August of 1995 to the tail end of the SNES’ lifespan.
While the console would be produced into the 2000’s, the N64 would launch in North America a little over a year after this fighting game first graced home consoles – and late to the party as Sony introduced the PlayStation a mere two weeks after KI released on the SNES.
Dead or Alive
We are all well aware of the significance of this game and how it launched into a money-making series: bouncing boobs.
In a nutshell, a nearly bankrupt Tecmo went to the drawing board and used sex and violence to get eyes on a video game which is actually much deeper than what you see on the surface. Sure, some top-heavy gals have been heavily featured throughout the years, but when the game was initially started, it drew inspiration from Virtua Fighter, even running on Sega’s hardware – and far surpassing it’s predecessor in almost every way.
The first DOA game came to us in the arcade with Japanese gamers getting a truer port on the Sega Saturn. However, the Saturn version never landed in the US, leaving American gamers to wait nearly two years for a revamped version of the original game on the PlayStation.
Did I mention the significance of this title earlier? Not only was it one of the first non-Sega developed games to use their hardware in the arcade, but it also became the first game from that hardware to arrive on the rival Sony platform.
Oh, and the bouncing boobs ended up saving Tecmo from certain doom too.
But why else did this game succeed?
When comparing the 3-D fighters of the era, DOA was just smooth as butter. It didn’t have the “blocky” or “jagged” appearance of its competitors. The game ran fast, as in Street Fighter II type speed with each move transitioning into the next animation effortlessly. And crazy enough, each of the fighters motions were taken from motion-captured actors as well.
Counter maneuvers were added, which replaced the boring “blocking” of other fighting games. Counters came in the flavor of offensive and defensive “holds”, adding another dynamic which made the game feel tighter control-wise and gave new gamers as much of an edge against seasoned foes.
The plot is almost non-existent, save for playing as Kasumi. The game promptly ends on credits for each of the fighters. The levels can also get repetitive, reusing some of the same effects between stages and simply palette swapping day for night – however, removing “ring outs” for explosive damage is yet another reason DOA feels superior for its time.
The PlayStation version also adds two more playable characters, with Bass Armstrong heavily drawing inspiration from Hulk Hogan in his appearance and stature. The boss, Raidou, is also an unlockable player.
It’s about what you’d expect from a fighting game released in the mid-90’s and may not come off as especially groundbreaking to today’s audiences, but DOA was massively successful and critically acclaimed for its gameplay and audiovisuals.
I would challenge anyone who enjoys retro fighters to put this up against others of the same era: and then realize for yourself just how ahead of its time this first entry into the DOA series was.
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
When Darkstalkers first dropped in arcades around 1994, I was mesmerized. In 1996, it would get a proper port to Sony’s PlayStation.
Originally, I was a huge fan of Street Fighter II, so imagine when I saw Capcom taking the same engine and beefing up the game ten-fold.
Darkstalkers introduced quite a few firsts within Capcom’s fighting games. While I always liked its cartoonish style, I had never realized just how much the individual frames stood in their originality. The game looks original and plays like you’re watching something on TV. The characters can do some bizarre things as well, since they’re not rooted in the same “realism” of the Street Fighter series.
This levels the playing field for larger than life characters like Ankaris or the smaller statured Sasquatch. Just like it’s cousin, you actually want to play and attempt to master each of these characters – each inspired by different monsters. From a vampire to Frankenstein, everyone is represented.
Of course, another draw for teenage boys (such as myself at the time) were the scantily clad female fighters, Felicia and Morrigan too.
The learning curve is identical to Street Fighter, a bonus for those players who were already familiar with that system.
Some of the cooler things to note are the special moves bar which fills as you fight and background items which can also be broken. Air blocking and crouch walking were also introduced, but creating combos, and seeing it listed as such on-screen, as also a major draw to this game.
The controls are incredibly tight, and the final two bosses are incredibly cheap – everything you’d expect in a Capcom fighter.
The menu options are also identical to Street Fighter and Darkstalkers also includes three turbo modes from the beginning.
The game is truthfully tuned to any skill level, which makes this PSX port even more accessible. It literally hasn’t aged one bit and is as good as it was 25 years ago. Fighting fans should definitely check out this trailblazer from the Capcom library.
Primal Rage
A friend recently reminded me of another Atari fighting game after reviewing Pit Fighter and I wish I could say my rosy memories of this one held up.
Primal Rage was Atari’s answer to the fighting game boom of the early-to-mid 90’s. The story revolved around prehistoric creatures doing battle in a and attempting to reign supreme over a post-apocalypitc Earth called “Urth”.
There are seven characters to choose from, with fire and ice, fast and slow, being among the common themes lifted from similar fighters.
Like other in its genre, it was a 1-v-1 arcade game, which was a better fit for the way it was developed. When it was ported to consoles, the main mechanic of the game was to hold buttons and then move the joystick in certain directions to perform special moves.
This was later changed to include the traditional method of movement then buttons, but regardless, the game used some convoluted sequences, such as holding 3-4 buttons at the same time, in order to achieve those moves.
Doing this with an arcade joystick and buttons was far easier than on a console, but a PITA regardless!
As with most PSX games, this one suffers from extremely long load times. Beyond that, it’s a nice recreation of the arcade down to the graphics and sounds – if you recall, stop-motion models of the dinosaurs were used in place of motion-captured humans, which upped the realism of games like Mortal Kombat.
Primal Rage also capitalized on the violence and gore factor of its era, maybe even more so than Mortal Kombat – likely its intention in order to gain attention. It must’ve worked, as the game was ported to every console known to man at that time, including handhelds, 16-bit consoles, and next-gen systems like the PlayStation (which this review is based on). The game even appeared on Sega’s Saturn, and the ill-fated 3DO as well as Atari’s own entry into the “64-bit” realm, the Jaguar.
Also, like Mortal Kombat, the game borrowed fatalities, again upping the ante for gore. The finishing moves are incredibly difficult to pull off, not only from the button and joystick sequences required, but the stupid short timer window to complete them. Using save states and cheats, I found Chaos’ famous “golden shower” fatality to be especially problematic and eventually gave up:
Hold 1+3 and move joystick D, D; then hold 1+2+3+4 and move joystick A, T, A, T
I couldn’t imagine being the kid who doesn’t know the proper sequence let alone being a full-grown adult that does and still can’t pull off the maneuvers.
Regardless, the blood flies everywhere in this game. Health bars and a brain stem bar show both organs on-screen, with the heart exploding following being “conquered”. Caveman-like humans scurry onto the screen at random times – they can be eaten for health, but those who support you will hurt your cause as your opponent can eat them and deplete your health too.
It’s a gimmicky addition to a game that’s already riddled with poor controls and difficult game play. It seems as though any basic attacks you throw at the CPU are instantly blocked and rendering enough damage within the 99-second time limit proves to be frustrating.
In fact, the final battle sees you fight everyone that’s in the game, in what might be the most annoying endurance round ever created – at least Atari left the time to “infinite” for this level (and some cool death animations as you defeat each opponent).
Yet, it’s not enough to save my opinion of this game.
Cheats and save states didn’t help relive my enjoyment of what likely ate my quarters quickly when I was younger.
While the game has some cool concepts and is worth seeing to believe, its holds up horribly as a viable fighting game with little replay value.
Virtua Fighter
You cannot mention groundbreaking video games without bringing up Sega’s Virtua Fighter.
Arcade goers were wowed by the first video game to fully feature 3-D polygonal graphics back in 1993. The game was considered one of the top arcade cabinets of the year and generated high review scores from a variety of critics.
So, imagine everyone’s surprise when this title landed on the Genesis add-on 32X and could be played at home!
Yes, the Sega Saturn was on the way – and even out in some markets already with a graphically superior, but glitchy version of the same game. However, before the next generation officially landed we were receiving near-perfect arcade ports at home via Sega’s 32X, which promised “32-bit” processing when doubling down on the previous 16-bit era of consoles was smart marketing to show an advancement in technology.
Virtua Fighter was one of the arcade-to-home 32-bit translations for Sega’s Genesis accessory. The game was the first of its kind to introduce a fully 3-D fighting arena and featured a multitude of characters, each with their own special features.
As with the 2-D fighting landscape, each fight was the best of three rounds where a player obtains a win via knocking an opponent out (i.e. depleting their life bar) or having more health than their opponent when the timer reaches zero.
Forcing your opponent out of the ring was another key to victory in the new 3-D landscape too.
Unlike a lot of its counterparts at the time, Virtua Fighter didn’t go with a violence motif. It was instead centered around the gameplay, with the central storyline revolving around a “world’s best fighter” style tournament (albeit with a criminal undertone making their presence known as the antagonist).
Regardless, the main historical reference of this game was taking a three-dimensional title with (then) state-of-the-art graphics from the arcade to a nearly identical experience at home. While arcade ports such as Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, and NBA Jam were already being done on the Genesis and Super Nintendo, there were stark contrasts between those ports and their “big brother” in the arcade.
Virtua Fighter, however, felt more complete and gave us a glimpse at the future of gaming, despite being on the sparsely supported (and gimmicky) 32X add-on.
Tetris
Sometimes on this site I end up reviewing the same game on multiple consoles. However, as is the case with Tetris, the main concept is so widely unchanged that these extra reviews are unnecessary.
Therefore, which Tetris is the proper introduction for most people? Would it be a computer version? Arcade? The NES version, er, versions, where Atari and Nintendo battled over which cartridge had the correct rights to be played on that console?
Actually, the small screen is where most people my age likely got their block-fitting fix first: on the Game Boy, which was one of the best-selling games of all-time. That’s because Nintendo had reservations about squishing Mario onto the small monochrome screen and instead opted for a pack-in title with the handheld console which could be played in short spells.
This decision proved to be genius, as not only was Tetris an addictive puzzle game which inspired copycats and an entire genre, but it also proved that the monochrome screen and battery life weren’t major limitations of enjoying “gaming on the go”.
But that wasn’t the only thing which made Tetris special on the Game Boy. A Game Link Cable enabled two players, each with their own Game Boy and copy of the game, to play head-to-head.
I have many memories in school of linking to other friends during recess or dead periods during mandated testing – as many as 15 of us had the console and game, enabling tournaments and bragging rights aside from conquering the frantic and fantastic single player version.
I know I haven’t really explained what Tetris is, but to be honest, if you haven’t picked it up and tried it, you should. Basically, you fit falling blocks together, without leaving gaps or spaces, to clear “lines”. As you clear more lines, you move up a level, which increases the speed at which the game moves.
As is typical of smaller “Game Paks” of this era, defeating the game leaves you with a great feeling of accomplishment, but not because of the small congratulations screen you get!
Regardless, players flocked to Tetris like our grandparents play crossword puzzles. It’s a timeless concept which always presents a challenge.
I feel as though the Game Boy version truly owes a debt of gratitude to it’s present day popularity. That doesn’t mean you must run to play this specific version, as minimal tweaks to the main formula offer the same game play with upgraded sound, controls, and graphics (see Tetris 99 for the Nintendo Switch, for example).
However, I feel my site would’ve been incomplete having not reviewed the Game Boy edition of Tetris. I’m sure for those of you who grew up with it, the memories are everlasting.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
When Sega introduced Sonic The Hedgehog it knew they finally had their “Mario Killer” for the Genesis console.
But how do you follow up a great game with an equally great sequel? It doesn’t always happen, but Team Sonic was able to capture lightning in a bottle and improve the Sonic formula further.
This platformer continues the speed run inspiration of the first game, actually ratcheting up the animation to be even faster. It’s most famously known for introducing Sonic’s companion, Tails, to the genre – who can be controlled by a second player, and also offers help/hints when Sonic gets stuck.
The graphics of this game are better than its predecessor, as anticipated, along with another catchy soundtrack.
The “spin dash” is also introduced in this game, where holding down on the D-pad along with another button, curls our favorite blue character into a spinning ball which helps accelerate him into objects or jumpstarts his running about the stage.
As a noted Mario fanatic, coming over to Sonic was a bit of a culture shock in ways. Stages aren’t always linear, as Sonic can often complete a level by going up or down through it, and sometimes requiring a backtrack in from right to left, much unlike the very structured left-to-right, mostly single paths of his Nintendo competition.
Once you have this figured out, it’s memorizing threats in a stage which comes next, such as jumping into spikes or lava, or getting trapped in water where you once again perish if you don’t come up for air after so long (which happens to be my biggest pet peeve in the entire series, because this Hedgehog just doesn’t jump or swim very well!)
Other elements, such as capturing rings, remains. So long as Sonic has 1 ring on him, and takes damage, he doesn’t technically die (unless you fall into an instant death situation of being pinched between objects, such as a ceiling, fall into the abyss or, of course, drown).
Regardless, these shortcomings were nothing such back in the 90’s when video games still presented some impossible challenges. Sonic had a heavy replay value and mastering it took some quick reflexes. It’s no wonder the sequel is one of the best-selling Genesis games of all time.
If you haven’t played it, or haven’t in a while, Sonic 2 is perhaps one of the best ways to enjoy retro gaming.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman is a character many of us grew up on, for better or worse. For those old enough, we remember the cheesy Adam West TV show (either through first runs or re-runs).
80’s kids, such as myself, recall Michael Keaton as a darker, all-black clad Batman who ripped through the box office and spawned a toy line that was second-to-none.
But video games had failed to capture a certain essence of media for years. That could be true of any property, but Batman was especially guilty until Arkham Asylum.
A grim, darker narrative with a violent, insane Joker headlines this game which has plenty of Easter Eggs for fans of the series. Taking a Metroidvania style approach, you guide the Caped Crusader throughout Arkham Island to stop the madman.
Along the way you’ll encounter classic Batman villains such as Bane and Poison Ivy. The Riddler leaves riddles throughout your quest and other artifacts hint at characters such as The Penguin, even if they don’t appear in full in the game.
And that’s the beauty of Arkham Asylum. It’s an accessible game which offers something for everyone: we all know the Joker and the Riddler, but hardcore fans are also serviced with appearances such as Victor Zsasz.
Harley Quinn, getting more of the silver screen these days than when the game was originally released back in 2009, MC’s throughout and adds a level of disturbance and humor to the game.
Playing through isn’t all, as there’s a good replayablility factor to Arkham Asylum for completionists looking to find every hidden detail within the game. But for those who just want to plow through to the end, you’ll be pleased with the amount of action as well as stealth, which amounts to some very cool firsts for a Batman game.
For example, Batman doesn’t “kill” any enemies throughout – he can stun them with a Batarang and punch them out, crawl up from behind and put them in a sleeper chokehold, or hang from various points on ceilings and rappel down, only to leave his “victim” hanging.
A black and white menu screen, amazing soundtrack, and even slow motion “Matrix” style punches and kicks puts the polishing touches on this former Game of the Year.
For anyone who hasn’t given this game a whirl yet, I encourage you to check it out!
Note: this review covers the remastered Xbox One edition of this game.