SNES Timeline Part 12 - The End (of 1991) is Nigh

Games in this post:

-Spanky's Quest-
-Thunder Spirits-
-Super Ninja Boy-
-Battle Commander: Hachibushu Shura no Heihou-
-SimEarth: The Living Planet-
-Miracle Piano Teaching System-

      Another hiatus... sigh. Anyway we've finally reached the end of 1991, although it's going out with a whimper rather than a bang. There are a couple of pleasant surprises here, but nothing too memorable to end out the year.

Spanky's Quest - I was never more scared to find out what a game was about

Genre: Action
Developer: Natsume
Publisher: Natsume
Released:
(JP) 12/27/1991
(US) July, 1992

      Spanky's quest... what a horribly named game. You know it's bad when the best you are hoping for is something Little Rascals themed. What the game is actually about is a monkey with a backpack full of sporting goods going up against an army of anthropomorphic fruit. You control the titular monkey through a series of puzzle platforming levels, blowing bubbles and then bouncing them on your head to upgrade them, and then popping them into a variety of balls to take out baddies while looking for keys. Once you've found enough keys you can open the exit to the next level. The premise is as absurd as it sounds, but the gameplay is surprisingly solid. Spanky gives more than a few nods to the classic Bubble Bobble, and the influences are put to good use. The levels have various tricks in them and are satisfying to clear. Bosses are big and it's fun to figure out how to beat them. The power-ups in the game are interesting, although there could be more of them. My only real gripes are that the environments tend to be repetitive, a common issue with games of this type, and there are quite a few unforgiving jumps in the game that seem to be near pixel perfect in completing them. If this was a skill-based platformer it would be fine, but the platforming isn't high on Spanky's priority list. Overall though, Spanky's quest is a pretty good puzzle platformer for it's time, and holds up pretty well since it's in a genre that doesn't rest too much on graphics or flash.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: B
Worth Playing Today: Yes

Thunder Spirits - Lost in a storm of competition

Genre: Shooter
Developer: Toshiba
Publisher: Seika
Released:
(JP) 12/27/1991
(US) June, 1992

      First off, this game doesn't really do anything wrong. Thunder Spirits is a side scrolling shmup that plays it very safe. It doesn't try anything too risky, and ends up getting lost in the shuffle of all the other, better, shooters available at the time. It's got OK graphics, OK enemies, OK weapons, and OK levels. The only thing new it brings to the table is a system where you keep all the weapons you find, only losing the one you were using when your ship blew up. It's a unique idea, but I usually ended up sticking with one weapon rather than trying to use a variety. The only glaring downside is that the sound effects are some of the worst I've heard from the genre up to this point. They definitely don't live up to the Thunder in the name.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: C
Worth Playing Today: No

Super Ninja Boy - Because teenage ninjas would be too cliche

Genre: RPG
Developer:
Culture Brain
Publisher:
Culture Brain
Released:
12/28/1991(JP)
April, 1993(US)

      Super Ninja boy is a jack of all trades kind of RPG. It does a lot of things decently but nothing really well. The over-world map is big, but there are too many dead ends. The platforming and battles are nicely designed but the controls are too loose. Enemies are colorful but there's not a lot of variety. The game certainly tries to put together a lot of different mechanics though, so it ends up being greater than the sum of its parts. Normal battles are done in a side-scrolling brawler style, while boss fights are done in a traditional turn based RPG screen. New abilities are gained through training course platforming levels. As much as I like traditional JRPGs, I think this game would have been better served as a side-scrolling action RPG similar to Legend of the Mystical Ninja or River City Ransom. The battles are certainly the highlight, with the map exploration feeling tedious and frustrating due to the lack of clear direction.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: C
Worth Playing Today: No

Battle Commander: Hachibushu Shura no Heihou - They really must have thought America would hate gundam

Genre: Strategy
Developer:
Arc System Works
Publisher: Banpresto
Released:
12/29/1991 (JP)

      Battle Commander: Hachibushu Shura no Heihou is a Japanese only strategy game that looks similar to a fire emblem title, only featuring the "Super-Deformed" style Gundam characters. Seems like a lot of early games that didn't make the transition to North America had multi-level deep menu systems so that a guy trying to archive SNES games later would have no way to do anything productive.

More info:

My Grade: N/A
Worth Playing Today: N/A

SimEarth: The Living Planet - Literally watching the grass grow.

Genre: Simulation
Developer: Tomcat
Publisher: FCI (US)
Imagineer (JP)
Released:
12/29/1991(JP)
Feb., 1993(US)

      In SimEarth, players are tasked with overseeing the development of an entire planet, rather than just one city. You have just about any option you can think of at your disposal in order to make your planet flourish. You can alter the atmosphere, the terrain, the water cycle, reproductive rate, and other things. The problem is, none of this is accomplished in a fun way. You adjust a bunch of sliders, start changing terrain around, and then you don't have enough energy to do anything. You wait... and wait... and wait... until you can finally do something, and then the waiting begins again. There are different scenarios with individual goals, but the problem is that you really need to complete what's needed with your initial energy reserves, then wait eons of game time and hours of real time to see if it worked. This isn't helped by the bland graphics and music. To be fair, it's a port of a PC game, and probably played better on PC since gamers could then play something on their SNES while waiting for their energy to build up.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: D
Worth Playing Today: No

Miracle Piano Teaching System - Rock Band before it was cool

Genre: Edutainment
Developer:
Software Toolworks
Publisher:
Software Toolworks
Rel: Dec, 1991(US)

      Miracle Piano Teaching System was a piano teaching game that came with a keyboard peripheral. There isn't any way to emulate the keyboard, and copies are on the expensive side but do exist. Games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band popularized music games in more modern times, but back in 1991, this was a one-of-a-kind experience. I obviously don't know how well it worked or the depth of content, but I have to give Software Toolworks credit for innovating on what was then a very young console.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: N/A
Worth Playing Today: If it worked then it would probably work now

SNES Timeline Part 11 - Games With Portraits

Games in this post:

-Dungeon Master-
-Super Fire ProWrestling-
-Lord of Darkness-
-SD Gundam Gaiden: Knight Gundam Monogatari: Ooinaru Isan-

      I'm just going to stop acting surprised at the time lapse between posts. Soon it will be more of a shock if I can get to two of them close together. Turns out, working on multiple posts at once doesn't help writers block at all. Anyway, December 1991 continues, and so do the games that most people won't remember at all. Let's start with one that I actually played a fair amount of when I was younger, shall we? Oddly, These games all use portraits for their characters, in some cases the portrait is all you ever see.

Dungeon Master - Get out your graph paper

Genre: RPG
Developer:
FTL Games
Publisher: JVC
Released:
12/20/1991 (JP)
June 1993 (US)

      Dungeon Master is a game that garnered much critical acclaim and is considered a timeless classic by many in the PC gaming crowd, but this port to the SNES was just snuck onto the system with very little fanfare. As far as ports go, It's fairly well done. Graphics are similar between the different versions, but I personally think the SNES is the best, especially for the character portraits. Speaking of portraits, that's all you ever see of your characters. Dungeon Master is a First person RPG where you choose four champions to create a party and delve to the bottom of a dungeon in order to stop your stereotypical evil wizard from destroying everything. Story rarely matters in this type of game, but the unique portraits and gear always made me wish I knew more about them. You only know they were adventurers that came before you and are now trapped in the paintings.

This is as mush as you will ever know about Iaido...

      Gameplay wise, Dungeon Master is the definition of old-school RPG. Grid based movement, loot finding, spell learning, monster killing, trap springing and the need to make a map are all there. I imagine a lot of people who only had consoles were surprised by the challenges in this game. With limited monsters to kill, and a food and water supply to keep track of, it's not a game you can grind levels in to improve. Difficulty spikes are steep and sudden, and you can quickly find yourself in an un-winnable situation, having to start over even after hours of playing. Combat is quick and brutal. You need to be aware of your location or you can easily be surrounded or backed into a dead end, and you need to enter commands quickly because the monsters won't wait for you to make up your mind.
      If you're up to the challenge, Dungeon Master is a good example of a game type rarely seen on 16 bit consoles, or any console for that matter. I'm not sure why it wasn't released stateside for a year and a half after the Japanese release, An odd decision considering it's a very western RPG.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: B+
Worth Playing Today: Yes - You can find the maps online, but you know you miss graph paper.

Super Fire ProWrestling - A Japanese version of an American sport only released in Japan

Genre: Fighting
Developer: Human Club
Publisher: Human
Released: 12/20/91(JP)

      Ah, wrestling games, the odd mix of sports and fighting. Super Fire ProWrestling is the first of a series we'll be seeing a few more times down the road. For some reason it was never localized, although I'm sure it would have done well. Pro wrestling was very popular in the early 90s, and this game was released before any WWF games were released. There is a mix of characters, including some who are very obviously based off of American stars from that time. Since the menus are all in Japanese I can only guess that there is a standard mix of options and game types. I'm really only interested in getting to the later RPGs that have had translations done for them, so I'm OK with breezing past games like this with a minimum amount of playing time. I did get into a match, playing as the Hulk Hogan look-alike, where I was quickly beaten. I fared better in a second match, where I was able to hit the opponent... once, and also sent him into the ropes... once. That match ended after I was caught in a choke hold I couldn't escape from for no less than 30 seconds. It was also the end of my career in Super Fire ProWrestling.

More info:

My Grade: N/A
Worth Playing Today: There are bigger and better versions of this.

Lord of Darkness - Final Fantasy style messed up naming

Genre: Strategy
Developer: Koei
Publisher: Koei
Released:
12/21/1991(JP)
Dec, 1994(US)

      Lord of Darkness is the first game in the Nobunaga's Ambition series. Ambition is an appropriate term for this game, as they cram an awful lot of data into what is one of the earliest appearances of this genre on consoles. Oddly, this game wasn't ported to the states until 1994, after we'd already seen ports of the second game. This caused Americans to think this was a sequel rather than the original, and explains the need for a different name.
      When you begin the game you have two scenarios to choose from. The gameplay is basically the same in either. You have a map showing the various territories, and turns cycle to each one. When the turn comes to a territory under your control, the game switches to a management screen with a horde of options based around military, economy, and diplomacy. Lord of Darkness is a slow game with a steep learning curve. You need to spend resources wisely from the very start or you will be in trouble later in the game. Battle takes place on the third and final screen type you'll see in this game, where there are a few different unit types on a grid based battlefield. I've always had trouble getting into this series, and this first game shows it's rough beginnings with the sparse graphics and clunky interface. Character portraits are the high point graphics-wise, and the sheer number of options given the player is commendable this early in the SNES life-cycle. I'm interested to see how the series evolves.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: C
Worth Playing Today: No

SD Gundam Gaiden: Knight Gundam Monogatari - FF4 world + DQ battles + Gundam = Why can't I read Japanese?

Genre: RPG
Developer: TOSE
Publisher: Angel
Released: 12/21/1991 (JP)

      We'll finish this post with another import RPG with no translation to English. I'm not personally a Gundam fan, but the world graphics remind me a lot of Final Fantasy IV, and the battles are done in a Dragon Quest style, so it's one of those games that makes me wonder if I would like it. A translation was started but seems to be abandoned and I couldn't get the IPS file claiming to translate the menus and items to attach properly. A lot of the battle commands are buried a few menus deep, so making progress was very difficult. Maybe I'll start keeping track of the games which I most wish had come to the US. Spoiler alert, the top one will be Seiken Densetsu 3.

More info:

My Grade: N/A
Worth Playing Today: Probably... Maybe?

      Thanks as always for reading. There's only one more post to do for 1991. Hopefully I'll get to it sometime between now and the next 3 months. Maybe I'll do an extremely late game of the year selection for 1990-91. Until then, let me know what you think in the comments, and God bless.