Prehistorik Man (Super NES, 1995)

Time for a BLAST FROM THE PAST. They made Game Boy and SNES versions of this game, but it's safe to say the SNES version is the one to play. While the Game Boy version has five of the levels, this one has all of them. In other words, this is Prehistorik Man: Definitive Edition.

Been wanting to check it out for a while, so let's get a look at it.

Magic Sword (Super NES, 1992)

(Originally posted July 2020; reposted to go with the Arcade version I just did)

Magic Sword is an arcade beat-em-up from early 90's Capcom. They went on to make other (better) medieval-themed beat-em-ups like Knights of the Round and King of Dragons, but this one was a good start. I played it in the arcade a couple times as a kid and it was fun, but I didn't get very far. The Super NES port is easier, so we'll see how I do.

The North American box art features a Big American Beefy Boi protecting a hot woman with his big American sword. That demon looks horrendous.

EVO: Search for Eden (Super NES, 1992)

Time to look at a true classic from Enix. ...and by classic I mean a stiff, difficult grind-fest that is definitely an acquired taste. Despite that, there's something appealing and cool about this game that made it a lot of fun back in the day, and back in 1997 or so this was actually my rental of choice for a little while.

I pretty much permanently associate this game with New Year's Day, since I spent Jan 1st 1997 playing it and sipping egg nog.

Originally posted March 2015, revised for 2026

The 7th Saga (Super NES, 1993)

This week I'm doing a full series for one of the more difficult RPGs on the Super NES. This game came out in 1993, and I first played it in 1995. That was before I was interested in RPGs (which didn't happen until Chrono Trigger) so I didn't really know what I was doing. As a result, when I initially played this, I couldn't finish it. Not even close.

In this run I'll avenge a career loss, to put it in MMA terms. How far did I get in 1995, you ask? The battle with Red Pison. Tune in to find out how it went with double digit years of experience under my belt.

This is my playthrough from 2008. Originally posted in 2013, now remastered for 2025

Brain Lord (Super NES, 1994)

 

Another of the many quirky Enix RPGs for the SNES, this is probably the biggest game of theirs that I totally missed out on (this and Robotrek). Right off the bat, the box art for this game is incredible and punches well above the game's weight. I definitely would have rented/played this as a kid if I'd ever actually seen it in a store. 7th Saga had really nice art, too. This is basically a "sister game" to that one, made by the same people and using the same graphics style.

Wanted to do a retro RPG I'd never played before, and that list is short, so here we go.

Star Fox 2 (Super Famicom, 1995)

 

Everyone knows the story by now. This is the missing link between the original and Star Fox 64, and never made it out of Japan. Much like Earthbound Zero, the game was finished, but just didn't get published, so it was easy for Nintendo to dig it up and put it on their modern classic consoles. I'm playing it on Switch Online, and this is the first time I've ever played it in complete form. Even the complete form seems kind of incomplete though, lul.

Star Fox (Super NES, 1993)

 

Major Super NES classic here and the first game I think of when I think of their 1993 lineup. (The system would absolutely explode in 1994, the year I got it, with a litany of incredible games that defined the whole gaming generation).

Star Fox is mostly a showcase for the Super FX Chip, which let the SNES make use of three-dimensional polygon graphics for the first time ever. ...and this particular tech didn't really stick around, so it's a bit of an artifact now. While the 3D effect is quite rudimentary, and the system was in most regards better off sticking to 2D (which it largely did after this), there's still a place for this game in the SNES lexicon. Nothing else was like it at the time.

As for my own experience with it, this was one of the many SNES games I rented circa 1995 or so. Had a great time with it as a kid. However, I was only able to beat the first of the three level paths. That first path is the one the vast majority of players did, so only beating the game on easy mode (ostensibly) is nothing to be ashamed of. However, I've been wanting to revisit it and finish the other two paths ever since. Now I finally have an excuse to.

Playing this on Nintendo Switch Online. It's cool how things like this and Capcom Arcade Stadium are making emulation less necessary to revisit retro games, as well as letting me revisit them on a TV.

Stunt Race FX (Super NES, 1994)

 

A game I've never played before, and it's on Nintendo Switch Online. The Super FX Chip (of Star Fox fame) makes a comeback here, this time in racing game form. Will this game stand the test of time, or will it demonstrate why the Super FX Chip didn't really get any use in the last couple years of the SNES? Let's find out.

The Death and Return of Superman (Super NES, 1994)

 

Interesting game here that I've been wanting to look at for ages. It's basically the Superman equivalent to Maximum Carnage, a beat-em-up with a super high difficulty level. Not a particularly great game, not a particularly fun game, but dammit it existed. I played it like 25 years ago, so I barely remember what happens. Let's find out.

Super Mario Kart (Super NES, 1992)

Before I cover the new Mario Kart 9, I'm taking a trip back in time to look at some of the earlier games in the series by reposting my earlier playthroughs.

In 1992, Nintendo decided to put a bunch of beloved Mario characters (and Toad) into a kart-racing game. The result was one of the highest recorded awesome levels of the past thirty years. Until Toad started killing, anyway.

Originally Posted July 2016

True Lies (Super NES, 1995)

Somehow, I did a post for this game twice. Once in February 2012, then again in April 2024, not realizing it had been covered already and wanting to do something for it. To my knowledge, that's the only time this has ever happened. My OCD is going a bit nuts having two posts for the same game, and the 2012 post is too good to just outright replace, so I'm going to merge the two. The 2012 post was written by crazy, off his rocker me, while the 2024 one was written by more straitlaced, professional me. So to keep it simple, the 2012 sections will be in italics and the 2024 sections will be in bold.

Also, the 2012 parts may be wildly offensive. I don't know. I'm not going to be one of those "it was a different time" people. It's there, like it if you like it, don't if you don't. Might end up being an interesting post for the "contrasting styles" reason. A good cop bad cop situation, or more accurately an insane man and his therapist.

True Lies: Now with 360 degrees of Firing Power!

Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics (Super NES, 1994)

There are many Joe & Mac ports for a variety of systems, but here we've got the only one worth playing (besides the first on SNES, of course). This is the main one I wanted as a kid, and is a bit more advanced/complicated than the first one (while being just as short). It's also really difficult, which is weird considering how easy the first one was.

Join me for the final installment of the hotly-demanded Joe & Mac "trilogy", starring Joe Dawson and Duncan Macleod (Highlander: Returning Soon!)

Considering this is the one I wanted, now that I've played both, I vastly prefer the first over this. It's still better than Congo's Caper. Why did you subject the world to Congo's Caper, TODD?? (Elder Scrolls: Returning Soon!)

Congo's Caper (Super NES, 1993)

 

More terrible box art heralds the game that was called "Joe & Mac 2" in Japan. It's available in the SNES section of Nintendo Switch Online, as are the two real games, so for once I wasn't forced to emulate these buy them on Ebay for hundreds of dollars and try to frame-capture from a real system with a GoPro. In any case, this bizarre game is brought to us by Data East, best known for......... Data East Pinball, I think?

...You know, I could have been playing Elder Scrolls Morrowind instead of this. I really like Elder Scrolls. That series made open world a thing to begin with, well before it was all the rage. Characters you can customize to an incredible extent. You can even create your own spells in those games. They're just nutso, and I can't imagine how happy I'd have been if I'd gotten into that series as a kid in the 90's. Alas that Daggerfall wasn't on console. The only thing I don't like about the series is the fanbase. I noticed that a lot of Youtubers who cover Bethesda games seem to have these bizarre one-sided angry conversations with Todd Howard in their videos. It's so off-putting.

Anyway, I had the Rocket Town theme stuck in my head the entire time I was playing this, and it fit the game perfectly. It's just seedy enough for this seedy game. Which brings me to... where's my Rocket Town DLC, Square? Pretty much everything else on my Top Fifteen Games I'd Like To See list has come true / been announced in the two months since then. But not that one! What gives, Square? And where's Elder Scrols VI, TODD? Todd Howard lied! He lied! I demand Morrowind Remastered, TODD. You made promises and you broke them, TODD! You're not my mother, TODD.

Joe & Mac (Super NES, 1991)

 

"Joe and Mac"? Is this a Highlander game? ....no, but Highlander is returning next week. Meanwhile, this terrible box art hides one of the more classic SNES action games. It's a bit of a knockoff of the Adventure Island series, with the difficulty turned way way way down, and it's a lot of fun to play. As a kid, this was one of those "Nintendo Power games" that I was intriged by thanks to that magazine and wanted to check out on a rental or something. Never got around to it because there were just too many other things to try; our cup really did runneth over in the 90's.

In any case, this is actually my first time playing this series (for more than a 5 minute tryout). This game had an NES predecessor that was basically the same game but half as long, and it had an arcade version, Genesis version, spinoffs, etc. However, the games everyone knows and remembers from this series are the two* SNES ones.

Sunset Riders (Super NES, 1993)

 

Kind of a butt-ugly box art here, and I don't think I ever saw it in stores. This is a SNES port of an arcade game that was quite popular at the time, but unfortunately I think this is a game that probably worked much better in arcades.

This is the game that I always mix up with Wild Guns, and I thought I'd already played it. Turns out that wasn't the case, so I gave it a go. Unfortunately, I wasn't missing anything because after one run, I loathe this game. Wait, what? But...it's Konami. Probably my favorite developer ever besides Fromsoft and maybe Square-Enix. How can this be?

Wild Guns (Super NES, 1994)

Today I'm taking a quick look at a forgotten SNES game. It has achieved slightly mythical status in the modern era due to a number of high-profile members of the internet singing its praises. It's... surprisingly great.

(Originally posted Oct 2012)

The Peace Keepers (Super NES, 1994)

 

The third game in the series, Rushing Beat Shura, is also on Nintendo Switch Online, so I'm checking it out. Looks like Jaleco still hasn't figured out how to mention Rival Turf! on the box, so nobody would know this is the third and final game in the trilogy.

Also, "The Peace Keepers"? Judging from this box art, they're not doing very much peace-keeping! Maybe they called the game this so kids would be able to sell it to their parents more easily. "Mom, it's a game about keeping peace!" Damn right it's about keeping peace... by whooping ass.

Now with FOUR player simultaneous action! Which is actually pretty rare for the Super NES and makes this game legitimately notable.

Brawl Brothers (Super NES, 1993)

 

This is Rushing Beat II, the sequel to Rival Turf! that I didn't know existed...and neither did anyone else. They should have said something on the box. At least they made sure to mention the "simultaneous two-player action" and "Jaleco" which is how you know it'll be rad to the max.

Rival Turf (Super NES, 1992)

 

Rad-sounding developer Jaleco brings us a game that looks totally rad to the max: Rival Turf, known as Rushing Beat in Japan where it had a bit more of an audience. I have no idea what I'm getting into here. Is this one of Nintendo's earlier attempts to be young and hip like Sega? Who are these two kids? Are they in the game? Are they faces or heels? They look like they're minutes away from beating up Emilio Estevez in an arcade.

Now on Nintendo Switch Online, so one can play it there with simultaneous two-player action. Put on your bandana and pop your collars, it's time to be a RAD DUDE.

Super Earth Defense Force (Super NES, 1991)

 

1991 gave us two massive cultural touchstones that completely shook the world: Highlander II, and this space shooter from Jaleco that I never heard about until recently. Thought it was related to the Earth Defense Force series from 2005+, but nope, totally unrelated it seems. Trying it out anyway, as Jaleco usually makes good games. Also, "Jaleco" is like the most rad-to-the-max 80's/90's video game company title.

This is without a doubt the most attention this game has gotten in a long, long time.