SNES Game of the Week 118 - Clock Tower

[ommadawnyawn2]

I've avoided beating this one because of the slowdown and checkpoint system used, as well as not getting anywhere in it back in the day. But that was before I got into shoot 'em ups. Speed power ups feels a bit dated by this point. I do like the music and visuals.

I'll go with a D as well. Apparently there is a fastrom patch which removes most slowdown so I'm gonna try that soon. 

[dsparil]

I'd give Super R-Type a B-. The fact that you start a level over after dying is annoying. One of the nice things about R-Type is the usefulness of the charge attack so restarting right before the boss isn't quite as catastrophic as in some other games. Getting rid of checkpoints is just mean because of that. Regarding speed power ups, anything over two pick ups is almost always a trap in any game, and surprisingly few games use directly adjustable speed. The slowdown doesn't bother me that much since you can also use it to your advantage to give yourself some more reaction time. The biggest problem is that R-Type II isn't as good as the first game so a partial adaptation is always going to be weaker for that. Irem probably should have gone with a wholly new game especially considering how much new and changed content it has.

[spanky]

Ah! Excelsior finally picked a SNES game I've barely played! I actually own it though and will give it some time later this week.

[spanky]

All right, I gave this a go earlier and eh....

I'm not super into SHMUPs. Don't get me wrong, I have a handful that I enjoy but the genre doesn't really resonate with me. They evoke a kind of hardcore purity which I admire though.

Anyway, this would be pretty cool if it weren't for the insane no checkpoint difficulty! The music is great and I like Irem's in house style on their games. The slowdown is hilarious - possibly the worst I've seen in a SNES game, maybe even worse than Gradius III! I'll be honest, I didn't make it very far. Maybe I'm the wrong audience for this game but if you threw in some checkpoints you'd have a much better game. I don't have any sort of nostalgia callus built up for this game so I'm going to be a bit hard on it. D+

[excelsior]

I appreciate the commitment Spankables. Super R-Type definitely seems to be the least played game to date from our group and I'm kind of surprised. Probably the least approachable game so far I've picked though.

[personman]

Been meaning to participate in this thread but keep missing them.

Super R-type was like the second game in the series I played with my first exposure being R-Type DX on GBC. Its kinda a wonder I liked the series so much when those were my introductions to it lol. From what I vaguely remember you had only two real choices of shmup on the SNES near launch and it was this and Gradius III and quite frankly Gradius was by and far the better choice. This one all I can really remember of it is it was extremely punishing with no real checkpoints and was slow beyond belief which just made the ordeal of being thrown to the beginning of a stage that much more painful. From what little I can recall of the stages they're mostly just toned down versions of R-type II which I always found to be one of the duller entries in the series. Admittedly its been years since I gave the game a fair shake and I have it waiting on my 3DS to try again someday. For now only real positive thing I can say about it is graphics look nice for the time and its got pretty nice music, particularly the first and third stage. I've had them both on my phone for years and still love listening to them:

SPOILER: Click to show

SPOILER: Click to show

I'll give it a D ranking. There's really not much reason to look at this when you can go with R-Type III instead.

[excelsior]

Thanks for joining in personman. Please don't worry too much about timeliness in participating. You're more than welcome to play catch up and post about any games you've missed at any point.

For the record, I thought R-Type DX on GBC was an enjoyable port.

[personman]

It has been a very long time since I played it. I just have memories of really rampant sprite flickering making it way harder to get through than it should have, least on the GBC version. I have heard a lot of those GBC games that were backwards compatible with older Game boys were a lot better on them. Or maybe its the fact that I was struggling to play it whilst getting dragged across the Arizona valley in the middle of the night with those awful worm lights that made me think what was happening lol.

At a glance I think the only thing I would switch is Gradius III to A but that's probably nostalgia bias on my part lol. B is plenty fair for it.

[excelsior]

Week #12 - SimCity


  

A sophisticated city simulator where the future depends on your decisions! Nintendo licensed the popular PC and home computer game Sim City for release shortly after the SNES launch. 

Features:

Create a Town

Start with a fledgling town and build it into a metropolis

Save a city burdened with problems

Taxes, zoning, transportation, education, fire control and other critical issues are in your hands. Your assistant Dr. Wright can help you make the right decisions. Just ask!

Surprise catastrophes threaten your growing city

Fire, earthquakes, airplane crashes, even a giant Koopa who has a nose for industrial pollution!

[excelsior]

Nintendo picking up the license for SimCity to create their own version is a bit of an unusual case, especially since the style of gameplay is less often seen on consoles. Of course it was always a great game on PC and home computer, but what's important here is that it was also a great port. Although there's no mouse support as the game preceded its release, and city simulation style games would become too complex to handle too well with a console controller, SimCity was simplistic enough to convert faithfully without any real compromise in controls. I think the game comes across as fairly ambitious and is one of the more complex on SNES which will demand a lot of player time. The core play of creating your own city is a tough challenge initially, balancing spending along with the difficulties faced by citizens, but becomes easier as you learn how to position roads, mass transit networks etc efficiently. It creates a very addictive hook to keep invested. The added features of the SNES version such as reward buildings give further reason to keep playing. Including Dr. Wright as an adviser adds a bit of Nintendo's personality whilst also providing a strong learning tool for players. And of course, the addition of Bowser as a disaster is such a memorable feature in this port.

Ranking - A

[spanky]

Being an early sim game it is pretty simple compared to what came later on. Even then you can have a lot of fun with what is here, especially if you're like me and get a bit intimidated with games like Cities Skylines. I guess there is a bit of an issue where once you know what to do, the game is mostly setting up your city and waiting for it to reach 500k people. Especially if you use the money code, but I'd never do that!

The "Nintendoification" - the charming music, the Dr. Wright informational scenes and the cameos add a lot to something that would feel "dry" on the PC.

Also want to give a shout out to the game's manual which is very thorough and has loads of personality. Nintendo's manuals during this era, especially for games like this and RPGs were absolutely top notch.

This is ultimately a B for me...but a very high B? Maybe an A minus? Let's stick with B.

[ommadawnyawn2]

They did a nice job with this port, adding a really good OST and personalizing it more with some Mario characters and the cartoon advisor. It also plays surprisingly well without a mouse though it does feel fairly clunky now and the game is really a bit much for the SNES to handle, with slowdown and loading times as your city grows. 
Yeah it is pretty simple, once you know how to play and the more obtuse mechanics of some things as well as the bugs there's basically no challenge anymore (if your goal is 600k pop, which requires enough land on the map), though it's a pretty good time while you get there. You can also just play it for a bit now and then just to relax I suppose. 

I played it after SC2K on PC and it felt like a step back compared to that in several ways, not sure I'd have played it as much as I did if I wasn't already into SC. I'll give it a C(+).

[dsparil]

I don't like the SNES version of SimCIty. It is significantly worse to control without a mouse, and the lower resolution reduces the visible area by way too much. I mostly played the DOS and later the Windows 3.1 version, and those are much more pleasant despite being more staid. To be fair to the game in an SNES context, I'd give it B although it's more like a D compared to contemporaneous computer versions.

What's interesting is that the Japan exclusive port of SimTown retitled SimCity Jr. plays a bit better. The original interface lends itself better since different buildings and actions are divided into groups, and the view is already more zoomed in by default than SimCity. I've never done more than just mess around in it since there's no translation, but I actually like SimTown more than SimCity. There's a focus on town residents making it almost like a hybrid City/Sims despite being from the mid-90s.

[Snake]

Simcity - Rank A

On PC/Windows 3.1, Simcity was my jam.  As a kid, stuck at my dad's office, I'd spend half the day building a city. Stupidly. And going seriously over budget. But it was all in good fun.

The SNES version is a fresh coat of paint, with more amusing bells and whistles.  All the bonus zones, like the Casinos, Amusement Parks, and such, really help add more character to your fledgling city.  The music, while a bit somber and melancholic for the first few themes, really build up your sense of momentum; with catchy melodies.  The Orchestral Game Concert renditions of the Village and Town themes could give Dragon Quest music a bit of run for the money.  This is really one of those SNES games that I consistently come back to.  I love it.

[personman]

I'll give this one a B.

It's been so long since I touched this game I can only speak so much for its quality, especially since micromanager types are really not my kind of game. I think I only got into this one because I remember my step brother playing it a ton way back in the day and it was so bizarre of a game to me back then with its lack of jumping and what not. Looked like something that should have been on the computers at the school library. Once I gave it a shot though way later I think it became my favorite version of the series just because it has just enough things to consider but was simple and basic enough that it was easy to get into.

I bet people who are experienced with this kind of game would end up bored with how limited it is but it was just right for me. I remember playing 2000 for a bit and I liked that too but even the addition of having to fix up water ways and stuff too was enough to turn me off of it after enough time. I never got to Megopolis but I spent a ton of time with it and enjoyed it. Besides all that I also just like the vibe so many early SNES Nintendo games gave off, I can't quite think of the word to use but while you have that family friendly touch with Mr. Wright thrown in there and Bowser its not so overt and saccharine like they would end up later and I really miss that feel. Its title screen and theme in particular is really nice and comforting.



And you all will roll you're eyes at me but there was a good amount of times I would leave the game on this screen as I went to bed. The TV acted as a night light and the song was soothing lol