DCEmu Asks - Snes a History & Whats the greatest Snes Game Ever ?
Hi all this is a new network wide feature of sorts ill be doing for just about every console thats emulated and that we own, in time it can be used as a reference point for people to look at what games are the very best on each system
Firstly heres a look at each system and a description to remind you of the history of the console.
http://www.dcemu.co.uk/snesdcemu.JPG
Around 1988 Nintendo was still enjoying the success of it?s NES / Famicom system and didn?t see any need to jump on the 16-bit bandwagon. However the NEC PCengine / Turbografix in Japan, and the Sega Genesis in the US were beginning to dominate the videogame market. Nintendo's jump to 16-bit was no real surprise. Oddly enough Nintendo wanted the original Famicom to be 16-bit, but resources at the time were too expensive to make it happen, but now was the opportunity to take Nintendo to the next level.
The Super Famicom was released in November 1989, and immediately took over 80 percent of the Japanese market. They still had a lot of ground to cover to catch up with the other 16-bit systems. The console itself was quite impressive, and introduced scaling and rotation effects (the famous Mode 7) that could not be duplicated on the other systems.
Nintendo was still slow to release the system overseas. A shortage of supplies, and the fact that the NES was still making money in the US delayed the Super Famicom?s release. The system was finally released in the US on September 1st 1991, and called the SuperNES. The SuperNES was also released in Europe a year later in April 1992.
The SuperNES soon amassed a large library and battled toe to toe with Sega. Their popular character franchises and exclusive games kept them in a heated rivalry. Arcade games played a strong role in the competition. SuperNES got the jump on Sega by releasing the popular arcade title ?Street Fighter 2? with temporary exclusivity. Soon after they lost the edge when they chose to censor another popular arcade fighter ?Mortal Kombat?, which Sega released unedited.
The SuperNES remained popular for the next few years. Sega began introducing game enhancing add-ons such as the Sega CD, and 3D gaming was growing in popularity. Nintendo refused to fall behind the times, and also began working on a CD based add-on. With numerous disagreements with Sony, Phillips, and with production delays, Nintendo scrapped the project. They approached A new developer named Argonaut Software who produced a chip that could be added to game carts. This chip would allow the SuperNES to produce 3D graphics. The SuperFX chip gave the SuperNES new life, and produced popular games such as Star Fox which was released in 1993.
Nintendo continued to use chip enhanced cartridges to maintain the SuperNES?s popularity. Even as 32-bit consoles began to surface, Nintendo continued to surprise gamers. In 1994, Nintendo teamed with a 3rd party developer named RARE. Together both companies produced Donkey Kong Country which used rendered graphics. The game looked as good as first generation 32-bit titles, and kept the SuperNES selling even in a 32-bit generation.
In March 27th of 1998 Nintendo decided to release a scaled down cheaper model Super Famicom in Japan. It was called Super Famicom Jr and retailed for 7,800 Yen. Not only did Nintendo cut the size of the console, but they also cut out the A/V out port and the expansion port. The redesigned model was also released in the US shortly after the debut of Nintendo 64, and called SNES2. Both designs and redesigns of the Super Famicom and SuperNES are shown above.
FACT: Nintendo seemed to get a lot of trouble calls with their NES because gamers had a bad habit of setting drinks on top of it. When they designed the SuperNES, they added rounded edges and raised areas so that you could not set a drink on it. This apparently reduced the amount of troubles called in the United States.
Chip enhanced cartridges kept the SuperNES alive well through the 1990's. Some of the chips included the SuperFX, SuperFX2, DSP1, DSP2, SA-1, C4, SDD1, and lord knows what else.
So now its over to you and we ask whats the greatest Snes Game ever and why? If you cant decide then let us know your favourite 3 ;)
Finally before i cross over to you the info above is from a big friend of DCEmu called DW whos site has expired it seems, hopefully i can get Martin to bring his excellent console history site to DCEmu or at least rehosted.
Super Metroid takes it by a hair-
Zelda: A Link to the Past - the best RPG ever made...and the most fun! The first and only game I had to buy a guide to complete
Out of This World - at the time i completely blew me away with its cinematic approach to gaming...if you've never completed this game I highly recommend it.
Starfox - for a Starwars fan like me, this game was a dream come true. After completing it I can remember going back and finding all the secret crap, like the giant slot machine <- totally bizarre!
Secret of Mana - Not the best RPG ever made, but the 2-3 player co-op option gave my girlfriend something to do!
Super Punchout! - pure fun...plain and simple.
Donkey Kong Country - another game that blew me away with its rendered graphics and great control.
Best game for the SNES: Super Metroid - hands down, this game was like crack for me. When it was over I felt withdrawl...by the end of this game you could literally do anything and go anywhere. Zelda was great for its size and length of time it took to complete, but this game will always hold a special place in my heart. The controls were amazing!
I LOVED THE SNES!!! The fact that I can play these games on the xbox or psp and save anywhere, anytime is so damn cool...if you told me these things would happen back when I had my snes I think I would have died from the shock!
THE N64 IS MY FAvorite system of all time, but this is a close 2nd (followed by a modded xbox...though the psp is creeping up!)
