The SNES Rankings - Finished!

[Ausden | 323]

Love me some UN Squadron

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

Let's make a deal.  I'll start on SFC just as soon as someone does Genesis, N64, NES, or GameCube.  Win-win for everyone!

[RH | 4,915]

26 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Let's make a deal.  I'll start on SFC just as soon as someone does Genesis, N64, NES, or GameCube.  Win-win for everyone!

Careful, that N64 one feels very doable by @OptOut and he could probably do every unique, official title including the DD games!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

Just now, RH said:

Careful, that N64 one feels very doable by @OptOut and he could probably do every unique, official title including the DD games!

Haha.  As if his wife would allow it.  Plus he'd probably put Ocarina near the bottom.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

@Reed Rothchild spam me big boy. Im thinking of building your top 50 and playing them in the order you have them ranked. 

[Tanooki | 4,936]

Ok now I do want to see him do that list then, so goddamn tired of everyone blowing Ocarina of Time like it's the only N64 game that matters and is somehow the best.

  Ocarina is to N64 as FF7 is to PS1 == overrated go to games to fanboy mindlessly over.  

296 N64 games in the US if I remember right, it wouldn't be too hard to make such a list, if someone actually wanted to finish all them or minimally get a good length into the game when it comes to the amount of tedious sports titles and wrestling copycats.  It would be fun to see a thoughtful list that would dig up some gems people overlooked that easily could crack into a top 25 or so.

 

Super Mario Kart at 20 is a bold choice, I'm sure some fans probably got hurt by that.   Might have been drunk or not writing that, but facts are facts, racing games really were some style of arcade un-serious affair or some calculated sim, then there's these dopey go karts with Mario characters wrecking each other with items...wuh?  Yeah, a whole new genre popped up before it even got called one until some point later when it started to get ripped off by the competition.  And you're right, the original stands out, it's iconic both because it was the start, but also because it's not so much like almost any of the others... it still was very much a skill based game as much as an item one.  NO asinine blue shell to spam worse and worse by the release punishing talent over item abuse.  It handled differently as much too with the mode7 style and drift/mini turbo setup it had going too.  It's just a great little game that started on a highpoint and largely ended on a franchise high point too though N64 easily could take that claim as well.

[OptOut | 8,889]

Ocarina of Time is awesome, I dunno what you folks are smoking in here! 

[peg | 372]

 AREA 88 (fuck UN Squadron) top snes shump! To be honest I'm not really sure what I would rank #1 for shmups on snes but it is certainly in that conversation.  It's one of the very few games I'd place above its original arcade version and also perhaps one of the most perfect "shmup rpg" games you will find.  You've also got 4 difficulty settings that will satisfy pretty much every type of player.

The only thing I'm not sure about is if the scoring is busted.  Not sure if 1 up loops are possible with the ground convoy missions and playing the last stage over and over again?  Most snes games have broken scoring so I probably wouldn't hold it too much against it but it would hold it back for me for best shmup on the system if that were possible.

Maybe I'd still rank sonic wings over it since that's basically 16 bit psikyo which is pretty fucking cool too.  Dunno.  Still one of the best snes games and hasn't lost much of its luster even after 30 years.

 

Also, Zelda 64 fucking sucks.

[Sumez | 2,967]

Gradius III on SNES is an amazingly good port, and like Area 88, I'd play it over the arcade counterpart any day. Unless the Gradius style of games specifically doesn't speak to you, I don't see anything challenging it for best on the SNES. Not even the otherwise also brilliant Parodius games (I'd probably play SNES parodius da over the arcade one too)

[Tanooki | 4,936]

8 hours ago, Sumez said:

Gradius III on SNES is an amazingly good port, and like Area 88, I'd play it over the arcade counterpart any day. Unless the Gradius style of games specifically doesn't speak to you, I don't see anything challenging it for best on the SNES. Not even the otherwise also brilliant Parodius games (I'd probably play SNES parodius da over the arcade one too)

True, and a nice magical thing about that one is its own shortcomings being a rushed launch title helps it.  The slowdown makes what was considered my many the most nasty and unfairly hard Gradius arcade game easier to stomach, even on the simple input code hidden arcade mode of the title too.  I suck at it now, used to nail that game on hard and arcade 25+ years ago.  It's truly a gem, of the system, and of the franchise on the whole too.  Same on parodius, I have all three of those carts too.  I mostly just want to have fun now when I can so I tend to do easy-normal range on stuff, don't need the aggravation.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

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@Splain  @JamesRobot @diddles_mcbean @spacepup @bronzeshield

#19

[Tanooki | 4,936]

Well well now that's a personal favorite for the last 30 years in JRPGs, solid ranking though I think it'll fall victim to FF3 which some feel is better despite it's gaping issues with the job system and other things.  Such a fantastic game, not too long by far, but not short.  A solid story, lots of ups and downs, emotion to it, but it really makes you almost feel emotionally personally invested in the characters in how they interact, even as basic as the translation was to fit for time/space.  The depths that game hits is great, and the fact you earn your spells, earn your skills, earn it all from doing it, experience by work is great, no wanker buy up a spell for everyone to make god team DBZ/anime nonsense or whatever of it.  The music, airships, characters, environments are some of the most memorable and iconic of the franchise, a fool would ignore it.  It irked me when it was left off the SNES CE for #3, but that will cement why that'll come in higher on this ranking as it has yet to show (and hopefully above overrated CT.)

 

Keep the spam coming, it's a good reminder to read daily.  And if you ever did publish this I would suggest Mario Kart and a few others get revised having a few less drunk ramblings to be immortalized.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,089]

I'm glad that FFII showed up here outside of the top 10, as I've always felt that it's a poor man's nerfed version of the real game.  It assumes the player is mentally deficient at almost every turn.  In fact, the US version is essentially known as "FF IV - Easy Type" nowadays, and the last thing I want to play is an RPG where I feel like I'm being pandered to.  I know FF III/VI will be top 5, but now I don't have to worry about this overrated game showing up at the end of your list too...

[MagusSmurf | 577]

FFIV was my second RPG, after Super Mario RPG. I consider it to be the earliest turn-based JRPG that still holds up as being better than merely "good." The improvements in story, presentation, and quality of life over 8-bit JRPGs and the creation of the ATB system were huge. It remains a very well paced game that is extremely easy to get into and is just fun to play.

On the other hand, I think it's not really in contention for being one of the all-time JRPG greats. I kinda dig how all-in the game goes on its melodrama, but it undermines itself a bit with the

Spoiler

ridiculous amount of fake deaths. And while it's one thing for Kain to be under mind control, having Golbez controlling him while also being under someone else's mind control is deeply goofy, especially with how little the game bothers to establish Zemus before you're face-to-face with him. There are clear reasons Golbez seldom ranks highly among Final Fantasy villains.

And while the ATB system and the effort they put in to making the different bosses feel different and have their own gimmicks was enough for the gameplay back in the day and is still fun now, it kinda comes off nowadays as a "very standard no-frills ATB battle system" (EXCEPT WITHOUT VISIBLE ATB BARS IN THE SNES VERSION ARGH). The lack of customization besides equipment is a missed opportunity. We've also obviously seen better looking games with better QoL since.

pretty cool game though, spoony bards and all.

[Ausden | 323]

Put me down for a copy of a book or something on this project. Loving this.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

@Tanooki @peg @OptOut Sounds like I need to bump up Ocarina on the debate schedule 

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

On 9/15/2022 at 8:42 PM, Dr. Morbis said:

This is what I've been waiting for: to see some of the highly regarded SNES games that aren't on the "obviously" list.  Yeah, I know Chrono Trigger and FFVI and SMW will be in your Top 10 (probably Top 5), but it's how #25 to #11 shake out that is far more interesting to me.  As a guy who missed 80% of the SNES library, I've already put Actraiser on my wanted list as per your review...

 

On 9/16/2022 at 3:20 PM, Daniel_Doyce said:

You and Reed have talked me into it - I'm going to put it next on my to-play list. I've watched some of the longplays and the non-platforming parts are definitely confusing without much context.

 

On 9/16/2022 at 3:22 PM, RH said:

Market watchers in the coming weeks...

"Hey, why in the world is ActRaiser going up in price?!"

I'm going to go ahead and throw my name out there to vouch for the quality of Actraiser, as well. It's just a really cool and unique game. Skip the sequel though.

Edited September 19, 2022 by DoctorEncore

[Tanooki | 4,936]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

@Tanooki @peg @OptOut Sounds like I need to bump up Ocarina on the debate schedule 

That's up to you, but I'm perfectly good on it and explaining why I'd slap it with something in the 7-8 range and I'd back it up too, which I'm sure certain fanboys will get the angry emoji over, get all offended, and try and blow off as excuses or something.  Hard to kind of deny the actual data there, not the fluffed up nintendo fanboy buying power, but the legit shortcomings of the title.  I mean hey, it's great, it's just not GOTY or game of the console or game of the franchise by a long shot.  Could be worse, could be that afterbirth dumpster fire majora's mistake.

[Sumez | 2,967]

10 hours ago, Tanooki said:

The slowdown makes what was considered my many the most nasty and unfairly hard Gradius arcade game easier to stomach, even on the simple input code hidden arcade mode of the title too.

I'd say it's not so much the slowdown that helps, as the game had slowdown, so when they designed the stages and bosses with that in mind - the game never feels "too" slow. I think it's pretty obvious when playing the game without slowdown that several things are wrong. Hell, even the arcade game was worse with slowdown than the SNES port.

Either way the "nasty and unfairly hard" reputation also comes entirely from the arcade game, which has multiple sections that are just ridiculous and tedious. The SNES port cleaned up all of that, and is a much more enjoyable game in my book, and also a fairly easy one. But the "secret" Arcade difficulty does provide a decent challenge.

[Tanooki | 4,936]

Can't argue with that.  I've seen the arcade in action, was tempted to snap it up on Switch when I had a few dollars left over on a card but when I really watched it, I passed.  In a way I think may be it could be fair to say that the SNES game, in arcade difficulty mode mind you, is like a streamlined more re-imagined, cleaned up, remastered version of the game with balancing hard challenge and good design in mind.  Definitely in a way like a v1.5, moderate upgrade, but not a total remake for correction sake.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

@Tanooki @Andy_Bogomil @peg @Splain @spacepup @JamesRobot @bronzeshield @Space Jockey @Kguillemette @Daniel_Doyce @a3quit4s @ICrappedMyPants @scaryice @Matchbook @Shmup @KokiriChild @ALTQQ @jonebone @Ausden @AstralSoul @Gaia Gensouki @doner24 @Foochie776 @guillavoie @glazball @profholt82 @TheBiRD @LHCGreg @Dr. Morbis @RetroMichel @MrWunderful @ChickenTendas  @niner @MagusSmurf @Jeevan @Deadeye @RH @Philosoraptor

@Splain  @JamesRobot @diddles_mcbean @spacepup @bronzeshield

#18

[Splain | 2,571]

17 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Could be worse, could be that afterbirth dumpster fire majora's mistake.

Ok NOW I'm ready with my Angry emoji.

[rdrunner | 422]

Anyone ever tried playing past the first loop on SNES Gradius 3?  It gets crazy pretty quick.  Hardest part is the first stage, when you have to power up your ship from scratch while everything else just got faster.

Best I used to be able to do was the 4th loop on normal (stage 9) and 2nd loop on the hidden arcade setting (stage 7).

[rdrunner | 422]

@Reed Rothchild Just because I'm curious, is Super Bomberman 2 your favorite overall version of Bomberman or just SNES?

Really loving the countdown.  Can't wait to see it play out!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

9 minutes ago, rdrunner said:

@Reed Rothchild Just because I'm curious, is Super Bomberman 2 your favorite overall version of Bomberman or just SNES?

Really loving the countdown.  Can't wait to see it play out!

Well there's a lot of them I haven't played.  And Super Bomberman 3-5 have 5 player.

But this is definitely up there!