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 130 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 start with the letters “A and B.”
Actraiser
A bit of an oddity and quite the innovative title by Enix before they became part of the Square Enix that we know today. Actraiser combined elements from the “God Game”(like Populous) genre along with a standard side scrolling platformer to form a unique experience. Playing the role of “Master” or “God” in the Japanese version, the player was tasked with ridding the land of evil and helping humanity prosper. Unfortunately, this series hasn’t seen a new release in many years now and it doesn’t seem like it will anytime soon, if ever.
Arkanoid: Doh It Again
Ding, bing, bong, ding. Do DOO DOOOOO~ DO DOO Do DOO DOOOOOO~ Gotta break those blocks! Arkanoid was a simple but very addictive game with plenty of levels and power ups that often filled the screen with balls flying everywhere. Just like Tetris, its gameplay is timeless and so are its sound effects! If they can make a decent Arkanoid game for the mobile devices that’s not plastered with nonsense F2P stuff, I would be all over it!
Blackthorne
Dark, gritty and brutal- Blackthorne was a game too difficult for my younger self to ever finish but I have fond memories of trying to beat it all the same. The amazing animation and levels designed more like puzzles than standard platformer games made this one stand out amongst its peers.
Breath of Fire
Capcom’s big RPG series made its debut on the SNES, following the story of a little boy named “Ryu” on an epic adventure of self-discovery and turning into badass dragons. This is just one of the long list of notable RPGs on the SNES but it’s a series that managed to last for a little while, seeing a new release until the PS2 era. Well, there’s a mobile Breath of Fire game but ya, not worth talking about. The sequel, Breath of Fire 2 also came out on the SNES with some notable gameplay and visual improvements.
Bust a Move
Also known as “Puzzle Bobble” which is a title that actually makes sense compared to Bust-A-Move. It’s a fun little puzzle game where you aim and shoot colored bubbles to match three and break them apart. Ricocheting shots off the wall like a pro while humming along with the hypnotic soundtrack, it’s still fun to play to this day.
Tune in next week for the next collection of titles.
YouTube Credits:
World of Longplays
Longplays Land
