Games in this post:
-Extra Innings-
-Shodan Morita Shogi-
-Super Tennis-
-HyperZone-
-The Chessmaster-
-Smart Ball-
-Romance of the Three Kingdoms II-
-World League Soccer-
OK, I finally pulled myself away from Final Fantasy IV and am ready to continue on. I at least had to reach the point of Cecil becoming a paladin, one of the best moments in gaming. Even GameInformer thinks so. Video game releases certainly have their ups and downs though, in terms of quality. This was as true in 1991 as it is today, though back then specific dates weren't watched as closely. After some solid games including the aforementioned Final Fantasy IV in the month of July, August and September were filled with mediocre and/or niche titles that cover a wide range of genres but all have something in common. I'm horrible at them. I really wanted to like some of these, but no matter what I did, these games just got the better of me. So, without further delay, let's begin two months worth of me failing at games.
Extra Innings - Anime Meets Baseball
Developer: Sting
Publisher:
Sony Imagesoft
Released:
8/9/1991 (JP)
March, 1992 (US)
We'll start with the fourth baseball game released for the SNES. We talk nowadays about the ridiculousness of re-hashes and yearly releases, but now I've found the Super Nintendo had 4 baseball games released in 3 months. If I saw screenshots of the outfield views I probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart. I'm not even sure anymore which one I liked best. I know it's not this one though. I'm only average at sports games but this one I was terrible at. A huge thing with early baseball games is how the fielders move after a hit. They need to head in the right general direction until you take over controlling them, but in this game they barely even move. Also, the outfielders can't even throw to the infield without the ball bouncing, like they are all weak and tired. The game tries to stand out graphically by using a chibi / anime style, but the gameplay puts this one back on the bench.
More info, and buying options:
My Grade: C
Worth Playing: Nope. There are better baseball games around.
Shodan Morita Shogi - I Hope You Like Tan
Board Game
Developer: Seta
Publisher: Seta
Released:
8/23/1991 (JP)
When I first saw the cover art for this game, I knew I was in for something exciting. I mean, is that a table, or a footstool? I had to know! Sadly, there is nothing about tables in this game. Instead, it's a video game version of a Japanese traditional game similar to chess. I imagine it worked well for what it was, but every screen is just so boring. I would think people interested in playing the game would rather play with a real set than this. The mechanics seemed to work well although for someone like me, it's hard to tell the pieces apart. This would probably get my vote for most boring presentation in a video game, ever. A table. On the cover. Seriously.
More info, and buying options:
My Grade: C-
Worth Playing: Not unless you're really into traditional Japanese board games. Or you like tables and the color tan.
Super Tennis - Yay, a Sport Other Than Baseball
Developer: TOSE
Publisher:
Tonkin House (JP)
Nintendo (US)
Released:
8/30/1991 (JP)
Nov. 1991 (US)
At first glance, this appears to be a pretty good tennis game. There's no license so the characters are all made up, but that was certainly not a big deal in 1991. You have different court types and different types of shots you can pull off. The graphics are nice and the player animations are well done. Then you start an innocent looking singles match and the dark and ugly side of the game shows up. Of course I got trounced my first game. I expected it when I saw there were no difficulty choices. Then I lost the second set, and the third, and I thought maybe I'm just bad. In five sets total, The computer missed a shot ONCE. Even during 10 or 15 shot volleys, they didn't miss. Oddly, after that single missed shot, they double faulted on their serve, giving me the only two points I got in my time with the game. Some difficulty levels would have been very good for the game but as is, it's near un-playably hard. Or I really am just horrible at tennis games.
More info, and buying options:
My Grade: C
Worth Playing: Only if you want to feel bad about your gaming skills.
HyperZone - F-Zero With Guns
Developer: HAL
Publisher: HAL
Released:
8/31/1991 (JP)
Sep. 1991 (US)
I should warn you first that this isn't as great as "F-Zero with guns" makes it sound, but it's a good description on the surface. No one would fault you if you saw a screenshot of this game and thought it was F-Zero. Rather than a racer, HyperZone is a rail shooter, meaning you can move your ship around the screen, but it's constantly moving forward in a straight line. There's a track that's mirrored above you and if you slide off, your ship takes damage. There are also lots of enemies to shoot on the screen. There's certainly challenge to it. You need to be careful or you can run out of lives without even finishing the first level. Even with a unique perspective, HyperZone still manages to feel generic. It's mildly entertaining but there's not much variety and I couldn't see it holding anyone's attention for more than a single playthrough. The Mode 7 use is well done though.
More info, and buying options:
My Grade: B
Worth Playing: No
The Chessmaster - Prepare to Feel Stupid
Developer:
Software Toolworks
Publisher: Altron(JP)
Mindscape(US)
Released:
2/17/1995 (JP)
Sept. 1991 (US)
I know how to play chess, in the same sense that a 4 year old with an Easy-Bake Oven knows how to cook. I know what pieces do what but that's about it. So when I come across a game like The Chessmaster I have fairly low expectations of my own performance. After playing it, however, I have found that my expectations were way too high. I thought I could at least pull off a few wins against the most beginner difficulty setting, but I was wrong. In other words, I hate this game because it makes me feel like an idiot. At least You Don't Know Jack makes fun of you when you're dumb. This game just sits there all stuck up, waiting to see if you've had enough. From a technical standpoint though, the game does a good job of providing board, piece, and skill options, and everything is laid out quite nicely. Oddly, the game wasn't released in Japan until 1995. I'm assuming it was to try and make them feel dumb along with the rest of us.
More info, and buying options:
My Grade: B+, but the game gave me an F
Worth Playing: Yes, if you are a chess prodigy or need your ego taken down a peg
Smart Ball - How to Make a Platformer When the Art Guys Go on Strike
Developer:
System Sacom
Publisher:
Sony Imagesoft
Released:
9/13/1991 (JP)
March, 1992 (US)
Smart Ball is an action platformer where your character has been transformed into a small blue blob by an evil wizard. The Japanese version lets you know this at the beginning of the game, but the US version just puts you right into the first level. That makes sense because in 1992 we didn't care about such things as story and context. We just wanted to hit buttons here in 'Merica. Aside from adding an interesting game mechanic where holding a button lets you climb walls, being a ball doesn't make much sense. It makes the game seem like not much effort was put into its protagonist, and really hurts what could have been a decent game if the main character had been at all interesting. You couldn't have made him a mountain climber? Or a cat? That would have worked with the mouse and bird enemies. What about a spider? Just put some legs on the blue ball and you're done! Even the title screen is completely without imagination.
More info, and buying options:
My Grade: C
Worth Playing: No
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II - A History Lesson Five Miles Deep
Developer: Koei
Publisher:Koei
Released:
9/15/1991 (JP)
May, 1992 (US)
The title of Romance of the Three Kingdoms references a classic Chinese novel by the same name, that covers the history of the Three Kingdoms era in China. This period featured many different warlords and makes a great setting for a strategy game like this. This is not a game to sit and play for a couple hours. There are a handful of campaigns to choose from and multiple warlords to play each one, but the game basically plays the same way each time. Fortify your land, train an army, and deal with the neighbors either through war or diplomacy. Overall the game plays out very slowly, and you might not know that a move early on was a serious mistake until much later. It takes a certain type of player for this genre. You have to have a lot of patience and be able to micro-manage very well. I have neither to any serious degree, so as much as I'd love to get into it I tend to lose interest after a while, and long before I can finish a campaign. Graphically the game is very basic, but that's never been a focal point for turn-based strategy. This series is still around so there are better options than this, even on the SNES. It's interesting for fans to see how far things have progressed though.
More info, and buying options:
My Grade: B
Worth Playing: No
World League Soccer - Someone Give Me a Red Card
Developer: ANCO
Publisher:
Imagineer (JP)
Mindscape (US)
Released:
9/20/1991 (JP)
April, 1991 (US)
It's very difficult sometimes to look at old sports games, especially ones that try and be a simulation rather than an arcade "light" version of the sport. 10 Yard Fight and NBA Jam will always be good because they aren't trying to make you feel like you're playing their respective sports. They are pulling certain aspects into a game and doing them well. I don't know what the state of soccer sims was in 1991. Maybe this was the best there was at the time. World League Soccer was ported to multiple systems and apparently sold well, but that's hard to imagine looking at it now. It's a top down view of the field with very tiny players that all look the same. It's very hard to tell where you are on the field without looking at the minimap, so lining up shots is difficult. The only real reason to play it today is to better appreciate current gen soccer.
More info, and buying options:
My Grade: D
Worth Playing: No
I never know how to end these things in an entertaining way. We've covered two whole months but didn't have much that was memorable to show for it. The system was definitely a roller coaster in terms of releases. October 1991 was a great month for SNES in Japan, so there will surely be some memories sparked next time. This post also covered the time during the US launch of the Super Nintendo. If you're curious, the launch titles in the states were F-Zero, Super Mario World, Gradius III, Pilotwings, and SimCity. A pretty good start. Most US dates will continue to lag behind Japan by a couple months, but maybe we'll see a simultaneous release or two. Thanks as always for reading, and God bless,
