The From A to Z series lets our editors go back and take a look at games from past generations that are classics, overlooked gems, or just titles they remember fondly. The idea behind this is to pick five games from each letter of the alphabet, once a week to showcase. This delivers 26 weeks and tons of games to talk about. Hopefully it sparks some conversation, and of course plenty of memories.
The system everyone has been waiting for, the Super Nintendo.
Let’s continue with the letter “S” Part 3.
Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
The follow up to the classic Ghouls ‘n Ghosts on the NES, the sequel continued the proud tradition of being hard as hell and featured bigger sprites and more power ups half of which you would never want to pick up because they’re vastly inferior to the good ones. Unlike the original, I managed to finish this one thanks in part to being a bit older when I got around to playing this one.
Super Mario All-Stars
Oh, did you think re-release of games as “remasters” is a new thing? Super Mario All-Stars was a compilation of remasters of the first four platforming mario games on the NES. They included upgraded visuals and improved sound quality and it marked the first time players in the States could try their hands on the lost levels with its high difficulty.
Super Mario Kart
My personal favorite version of Mario Kart was the original on the SNES. Using the mode 7 of the console to portray some amazing track designs with a great sense of speed, Super Mario Kart was a visual feast for the eyes for its time. The battle mode where players are tasked with popping the balloons of their opponents was a personal favorite of mine and go-to game for many years for me and my friends.
Super Mario RPG
Another dream project of sorts that featured the character we all know and love from the mario universe but in a JRPG. Developed by Square, this unlikely pairing produced one of the most charming and fun games I played. The turn based combat typical of Final Fantasy games of this time and a unique timing based mechanic that allowed the player to increase the damage dealt or guard against them is still being used to this day!
Super Mario World
Arguably the best 2D Mario game of all time, Super Mario World took everything that was great with Super Mario Bros 3 and made it better in basically every way imaginable. It also introduced the Cape, my personal favorite power up and figuring out how to maintain the glide/height while flying to finish an entire level in a flash was some of the most satisfying thing I managed to do in a video game. It also introduced the world to Mario’s lovable sidekick Yoshi who would die for Mario, just so he could get an extra jump, the greasy mustached traitor!
Tune in next week for the next collection of titles.
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World of Longplays
