The Essential 10: Super Nintendo

[tay120n64]

As a testament to the Super Nintendo, the greatest video game console ever, I have taken it upon myself to review what I believe to be the ten essential titles that everyone with a Super Nintendo must play. This began as a project between friends on Facebook, as a friend of mine is currently doing the same for PS2, however being that this forum is dominantly SNES-oriented, I feel that all of you will appreciate it immensely. There will be ten reviews in total that I will be posting, and as soon as they are posted on Facebook, they will be posted here as well. (I might even do a couple more entries just for fun!) Whenever a new entry is posted, the old one will be archived and hot-linked for easy viewing. Feel free to discuss any of the entries here, but if you want to discuss the games, please start a new topic. Remember: Raini has a chainsaw.



Archives:

The Essential 10: Super Nintendo (Part 1): Super Mario World

The Essential 10: Super Nintendo (Part 2): Super Metroid

The Essential 10: Super Nintendo (Part 3): EarthBound (Mother 2)

The Essential 10: Super Nintendo (Part 4): Kirby Super Star

The Essential 10: Super Nintendo (Part 5): The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

The Essential 10: Super Nintendo (Part 6): Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

The Essential 10: Super Nintendo (Part 7): Final Fantasy III (VI)

The Essential 10: Super Nintendo (Part 8 ): Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest



The Essential 10: Super Nintendo (Part 9)


And here we are at the epic ninth installment. With the tension mounted high, and the excitement roaring like ocean waves on the cliffs, will the final two reviews be as epic as the eight preceding them? You be the judge. Onward with The Essential 10: Super Nintendo Edition Part 9!

Epic. A word used to describe far more than it should. And yet, there are few words that can truly express the scope of this game. It is a game that redefines the RPG genre into something wholly new, whilst meshing together sight and sound with a story that transcends time and space. Bringing together some of the most brilliant minds in the video game industry at the time, this is widely regarded as one of the most polished and well-rounded RPG experiences to date. But what game could possibly deserve this level of praise? Why, none other than the cult-classic RPG:

CHRONO TRIGGER


Chrono, Frog, and Lucca fighting Magus, one of Chrono Trigger's main antagonists.


"Crono..."
"Crono!"
"Good Morning, Crono!"



Year: 1000 AD. Location: Kingdom of Guardia. It is time for the Millennial Fair for the residents of Guardia, and young Crono is anxious to attend. After being awoken by his mother, Crono makes his way to the fairgrounds to meet up with his childhood friend, Lucca. Lucca is an avid inventor, and she has a brand-new invention to show off on the opening day of the fair. When Crono arrives however, he accidentally bumps into a young woman named Marle. As an act of atonement, Crono agrees to accompany Marle around the fairgrounds for the day. However, when they join Lucca to see her invention, a teleporter, disaster strikes. The teleporter reacts oddly with Marle's pendant, sending her rocketing 400 years into the past. And this is what begins the whirlwind of events that carry Crono, Mare, and Lucca to distant lands and time periods all over the world, only to discover that an alien parasite is sucking away at the life force of the planet. With the help of a cursed amphibian knight, an amazonian woman, and a robot, can they destroy the parasite and save the future from otherwise certain doom? Or will they get lost in the rifts and crevices of time?

Gameplay is a fairly simple affair. Like most RPGs, the game is broken into Overworld and Underworld sections. The Overworld is a navigable map with no monsters or interactive objects, that exists merely to give a sense of space and scope to the world. Within the Underworld areas, which consist of Towns, Forests, Caves, and Dungeons, the enemies appear in specific pre-set locations. This eliminates random encounters and gives chances to avoid many battles, though some battles must be fought to pass through specific corridors. The game mainly consists of battles and exploration, with minimal puzzle solving to be found. A great deal of the game involves knowing where to go next when certain items are obtained, giving it a great deal of similarity to The Legend of Zelda series.

Regarding the battle-system, it is rather fast-paced for a non-Action RPG. Like other RPGs the player can Attack or use Items, but unlike other RPGs, there is no Defend option, and the Spell command is replaced with what is known as Techs. While Techs operate essentially the same as Spells, the more powerful Techs require multiple party members to participate, which requires the player to think more strategically during difficult battles. Furthermore, each character has different Techs when partnered with different allies, which makes party formation an integral part of gameplay. Like the Final Fantasy games of the time, Chrono Trigger features and Active-Time Battle System. Each individual character must wait for his/her respective gauge to fill before the player can input an action, and once the action is input, it is put into queue and will occur at the first available moment. Another unique aspect of the battle-system is the way in which many enemies must be defeated. Not every enemy can be attacked head-on. Some require specific strategies to defeat, such as invulnerability to magic, or certain body parts reacting negatively to contact. Experimentation is a large part of many boss battles, though sometimes hints will be given prior to or during the battle.

The game progresses so smoothly, that level-grinding (battling continuously to raise the characters' power) is hardly necessary. Most players won't even realize they have reached the end until the final boss has been defeated. From start to finish, the game is a seamless experience, with the only true challenges being obtaining the extra endings during a subsequent play-through. Though there are some hidden areas during the latter part of the game, they are all optional and only exist to unlock the most powerful equipment for each party member. Though it is optional, it is highly advised, as the final boss will test the very limits of the player's experience with the game. It is a game that begins simply, and ends with extreme demands, but the transition from novice to master is subtle to the point of being unnoticeable.

But perhaps what makes this game so endearing isn't just the gameplay. The magnificent score, which was a joint effort by Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu, is regarded as one of the greatest achievements in video game history. The tracks range across a wide spectrum of emotions, and truly capture the epic scope of the game as the characters travel across time. Be it the wispy and light chimes of Memories of Green, the desolate and depressing lull of Ruined World, the bass-heavy and playful roundabout of Primitive Mountain, the ethereal and regal chords of Corridors of Time, the chaotic vibrancy of Last Battle, or the phenomenally well-composed theme of antagonist Magus, which captures the essences of his drive for power as well as his solitary despair. In addition to the music, was the artwork provided by world-renowned manga artist Akira Toriyama, who is most well-known for having created DragonBall. The combined work of Akira Toriyama, Yasunori Mitsuda, Nobuo Uematsu, Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator of Final Fantasy), Yuji Horii (creator of Dragon Quest), Masato Kato (scenario-writer), and the incredible staff at SquareSoft made something that has risen beyond the status of a video game, and become a masterpiece of story-telling and computer engineering that continues to capture the hearts and minds of gamers to this day.


The party members gathered around a campfire, reflecting on their adventure.


THE FINAL VERDICT!

Gameplay/Battle-System - 5/5
Level Progression - 5/5
Graphics/Style - 5/5
Music/Sound - 5/5

Total - 20/20

And finally it has come to this. There is only one Essential 10 review left. But like before, the game will remain a secret until the review is posted. So far we have explored Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Earthbound, Kirby Super Star, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy VI, Donkey Kong Country 2, and Chrono Trigger. What could the tenth and final entry be?

[EverPhoenix]

youre doing an awesome job on these. just try to finish terranigma before you get to part 10

[tay120n64]

Thanks!

However, I hate to disappoint, but I will not be covering Terranigma.

Reason A) This list pertains to games available in the NTSC (North America) regions only.

Reason B) I haven't played it.

[EverPhoenix]

a) is acceptable, while b) is bad, but easily fixable.

so you'll cover IoG at least?

[tay120n64]

I plan on mentioning Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia in one of my "Bonus" reviews, but I don't consider either of them "Top 10" worthy.

After you see the 10, you'll understand why.

[psychokind]

tay120n64 wrote:

Thanks! However, I hate to disappoint, but I will not be covering Terranigma. Reason A) This list pertains to games available in the NTSC (North America) regions only. Reason B) I haven't played it.

then, despite your efforts, the list will be incorrect

[Jason Tandro]

Well, to be fair to tay finding an adequate list for the SNES (which I believe had the best good games-bad games ratio of any system and which spawned some true masterworks) is a very hard prospect. tay has shown me the final list and trust me, it is a fair one.

[Manibrandr System]

You should do Secret of Mana & Final Fight 3.

[Blade]

I don't think a top 10 list without Terranigma would be complete. Personal taste aside, it seems like its regarded as a top notch game in the gaming scene.
If your list is NTSC only, its fair enough though.

[EverPhoenix]

one of my friends sms'd me recently telling me he saw terranigma in a game store. $150 with a box, $100 without.

considering most snes games go for around $30 at this kind of store, it shows that among those who know it, its definitely among the best

[tay120n64]

Well, our store doesn't sell any game for over $35 if it's pre-PS2.

Earthbound, FFVII, Chrono Trigger...

All $35. (we could easily charge more, though )

[thefencemaster]

tay120n64 wrote:

Well, our store doesn't sell any game for over $35 if it's pre-PS2. Earthbound, FFVII, Chrono Trigger... All $35. (we could easily charge more, though )

Damn, I've had people offer me more than $100 for my copy of FFVII. I would never accept it though, it may not be my favorite game ever but its still a really good game.

And more of an on topic thing. Nice work with the reviews, I'm really enjoying them. I look forward to the rest.

[Jason Tandro]

thefencemaster wrote:

Damn, I've had people offer me more than $100 for my copy of FFVII.

What the hell?! I'm sorry I don't care how good a game is, it should never be marked up beyond the price for which you could originally purchase it unless it's like LEGENDARY. In FF7, I would say charging $60 is fair enough (you could originally purchase it for like $40) But $100?! I loved the game, but come on!!!

It's the same logic that's keeping me from owning a decent copy of Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete. Collector's Edition is like, what, $120?

[inferiare]

Jason Tandro wrote:

thefencemaster wrote: Damn, I've had people offer me more than $100 for my copy of FFVII. What the hell?! I'm sorry I don't care how good a game is, it should never be marked up beyond the price for which you could originally purchase it unless it's like LEGENDARY. In FF7, I would say charging $60 is fair enough (you could originally purchase it for like $40) But $100?! I loved the game, but come on!!! It's the same logic that's keeping me from owning a decent copy of Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete. Collector's Edition is like, what, $120?

See, there's a difference between FFVII and Lunar 2. Lunar 2 came with a bunch of cool shit, so you got your money's worth (incidentally, I bought Working Design's last game released, Growlanser, for nearly $100 at release because it came with so much stuff beyond the game that it was worth it.) FFVII just came with the game. :\ People who mark it up to more than $60+ in original casing (not Greatest Hits version) with the booklet and all of the discs in immaculate condition are jerks.

Though, I would never pay more than $120+ for either game if it were just the game discs. I hate people who do that even more. If I can get Lunar 2 for a good price on ebay with EVERYTHING in it (and that includes Lucia's pendant), awesome. If not, bleh.

[Jason Tandro]

rainichan wrote:

Jason Tandro wrote: thefencemaster wrote: Damn, I've had people offer me more than $100 for my copy of FFVII. What the hell?! I'm sorry I don't care how good a game is, it should never be marked up beyond the price for which you could originally purchase it unless it's like LEGENDARY. In FF7, I would say charging $60 is fair enough (you could originally purchase it for like $40) But $100?! I loved the game, but come on!!! It's the same logic that's keeping me from owning a decent copy of Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete. Collector's Edition is like, what, $120? See, there's a difference between FFVII and Lunar 2. Lunar 2 came with a bunch of cool shit, so you got your money's worth (incidentally, I bought Working Design's last game released, Growlanser, for nearly $100 at release because it came with so much stuff beyond the game that it was worth it.) FFVII just came with the game. :\ People who mark it up to more than $60+ in original casing (not Greatest Hits version) with the booklet and all of the discs in immaculate condition are jerks. Though, I would never pay more than $120+ for either game if it were just the game discs. I hate people who do that even more. If I can get Lunar 2 for a good price on ebay with EVERYTHING in it (and that includes Lucia's pendant), awesome. If not, bleh.

Lucia's Pendant was bad ass. Not that I could wear it, of course, but it was still cool to have. They didn't half-ass it, you know? I like the remixed soundtrack disk and the little book that came with it. Besides that I also like the Omake sets. My little sister and I used to kill many hours with those things on boring summer days.