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Could Mother 3 have been more successful on the SNES?

Mother 3 was an underrated JRPG from the mid 00’s that may have been released a lot sooner than it should of been. As many people know the legendary Earthbound series began in the late 80’s on the NES with the most high profile entry being released for the SNES back in 1994. Although, Earthbound/Mother 2 failed to be a huge success in terms of sales the game is still considered to be a cult classic while being recognized as one of the greatest RPG’s from the 16-bit era. While the world never got to see an N64 sequel to Mother 2 years following its release Mother 3 eventually appeared on Game Boy Advance exclusively in Japan back in 2006. While Mother 3 is also considered to be a critically acclaimed JRPG its often overlooked especially since it came out during a time period where people were turning away from the Game Boy Advance and began sinking their teeth into the Nintendo DS which came out in 2004. Some wonder whether or not Mother 3 could have been a bigger attraction during the 90’s for the SNES considering the fact that the game looked like it belonged in the 16-bit era of gaming.

However, Mother 2 was not much of an attraction as other RPG’s that appeared on the SNES during the 90’s and its highly unlikely that Mother 3 would have been any different. If Mother 3 was released for the SNES back in the 90’s it would of been too late since ’94 was the same year that more superior consoles such as PS1 and Sega Saturn were released. During the mid to late 90’s the Super NES was no longer the main attraction within the gaming world and 16-bit RPG’s were beginning to decline in popularity by that time. While there is no question that Mother 3 could have definitely worked on SNES during the 90’s its unlikely that it would have been more successful than Mother 2 from ’94. Earthbound 64 was the game that the gaming world was waiting to see following Mother 2 and the world never got to see it since development had ended abruptly around 1999. If anything Mother 3 could have been a slightly bigger attraction on Game Boy Advance anytime between ’02-’04 outside of Japan despite how popular the PokeMon series was within that country and places like America during that time period.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Marvel Super Heroes: (1995)

When we think about some of the most popular arcade games to come from the 90’s one of the few titles that instantly comes to mind is the 2D fighting game developed and published by Capcom known as Marvel Super Heroes. For those who are unaware Marvel Super Heroes was released back in ’95 and was basically the arcade sequel to Capcom’s X-Men Children Of The Atom game from ’94. The gameplay & visuals presentation of Marvel Super Heroes were among the game’s strong points while including popular larger than life superhero & supervillain characters for players to choose from. Marvel Super Heroes included characters such as: Wolverine, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Psylocke, Spider-Man and others. It should also be noted that Thanos was the final boss and main antagonist for Marvel Super Heroes considering the fact that he wanted to utilize the Infinity Stones in order to take over the universe. The idea of using different stones such as: Time, Power, Space, Soul and Reality to battle opponents throughout the game was very intriguing. As far as gameplay was concerned many people would argue that the Sega Saturn port was more superior than the PS1 version of the game; the Sega Saturn port of Marvel Super Heroes came much closer to the arcade version of the game despite the console itself not being nearly as popular as the PS1.

The gameplay for Marvel Super Heroes is considered to be legendary by most gamers because it seeming pushed 2D fighting gameplay to its limit prior to the releases of X-Men vs Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter and Marvel vs Capcom in arcade centers between ’96-’99. As a 2D head to head fighting game Marvel Super Heroes was very basic yet very impressive due to its art design and addictive gameplay which was a unique improvement from its spiritual successor X-Men: Children Of The Atom from ’94. Despite, the fact that Marvel Super Heroes was released about 25 years ago the game itself has aged very well and looks as fresh as it did back in 1995. Marvel Super Heroes was arguably one greatest CPS-2 video games of all-time and is a game that does not get talked about nearly as much as it should. As far as 2D fighting games are concerned it seemed like almost everything Capcom produced during the 90’s was special and had lasting appeal them; Marvel Super Heroes just so happen to be one of those timeless classics that the world got to see from the arcade era of gaming.

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Was Revelations: Persona overlooked on the PS1 in ‘96-‘97?

As many might know by now the very first game from the Persona series began back in ’96 for the PS1. Since its release the very first Persona game was eventually ported to the PSP back in 2009. While the original Persona game received mainly good reviews in regards to its plot and setting its an RPG title from the 90’s that does not get talked about as much as it should. When it comes down to high profile RPG games from the mid to late 90’s games such as Square Enix’s FFVII & FFVIII comes to mind considering how successful both games were on the PS1. While FFVII went on to sell over 10 million copies on the 32-bit console FFVII reached close to 9 million in sales. Despite, Persona 1 being a solid RPG from the mid 90’s the game failed to reach at least one million in worldwide sales mostly due to stiff competition from other high profile games that appeared on the PS1. Also, the original Persona game pales in popularity to some of the later games within the series such as P4: Golden from 2012 and most recently Persona 5 from 2016.

In fact, many people would argue that some of Atlus best work in relation to the Persona series came from the 00’s & 10’s decade considering the fact that the series in general was more popular during that time period. While Revelations: Persona had a dark and intriguing plot the storyline was not quite as memorable as Persona 4 or 5. While the original Persona game was eventually ported as a Japanese exclusive for Microsoft Windows in ’99 the game was never released for any other game console other than PS1 & PSP since ’96. Since the PlayStation Vita is known for being one of the most unsuccessful game systems in recent memory it did not make too much sense for Atlus to not release Revelations: Persona for any console since ’09. If P4: Golden was released on the PS3 or even saved for the PS4 in 2013 it could have possibly sold more than it did. While Revelations: Persona is considered to be a sleeper hit in the eyes of many its mainly because the series in general became very popular during the late 00’s along with the 10’s decade. Despite, Revelations: Persona being a solid 3D JRPG for the PS1 it would be an understatement to say that the game was overlooked on the 32-bit console back in the 90’s in countries like America.

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Was the final level of Super Mario Land 2 unfair?

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is quite possibly the best Mario game to have appeared on Game Boy back in the 90’s. Not only was Super Mario Land 2 one of the easiest Mario installments within the series but the world got to see the debut of Wario who appeared game as the main antagonist back in ’92. Despite, how successful Super Mario Land 2 became following its initial release the game has often been the subject of criticism as it pertains to its final level inside Wario’s Castle. As we all know a majority of Mario games back in the day had Bowser’s Castle as the final level but they were not nearly as difficult to complete as Wario’s Castle was in Super Mario Land 2. There were countless obstacles thrown at the player who controlled Mario included moving spikes along with statues that spit fire along with the entire stage being filled with lava. The absence of save checkpoints in Wario’s Castle made the level unbearable to some people; while the final boss battle with Wario himself was interesting yet more complex than anything you would see Bowser in some of the older NES/SNES Mario games.

If players screwed up once in Wario’s Castle they had to start all the way from the beginning making this level very unforgiving for such an easy game in Super Mario Land 2. While many people around the world have made more difficult levels using Super Mario Maker 1 & 2 since 2015 Wario’s Castle was by far one of the most difficult video game levels in history during Nintendo’s Game Boy era. For such a difficult level in Wario’s Castle the ending seemed underwhelming considering all of the trouble players had to go through in order to complete the entire game. To say that the final level of Super Mario Land 2 would be an understatement at this point; but seeing that Wario became more popular as a anti-hero from Super Mario Land 3 onwards its not a big deal for so many people who were fans of the series.

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Retro Gaming 10’s- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (2013)

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 was one of the most high profile fighting games of the early 10’s along the likes of Super Street Fighter IV, Soul Calibur V, Persona 4: Arena and Mortal Kombat IX. In fact, many people in general would argue that the Naruto Shippuden series in general was very popular during the first half of the 10’s decade especially the English dub of the anime began airing in America since ’09 and has been running on Cartoon Network ever since. Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 was considered to be the fourth installment within its series and was developed by CyberConnect2 and published Namco Bandi Games. The story for Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 revolved around the conflict between all of the ninja villages and the Akatsuki with Madara Uchiha & Sasuke Uchiha serving as two of the main antagonists. The death match between Naruto & Sasuke was something that American fans of the series have been waiting to see since their first encounter prior to the start of Shippūden series. The fourth ninja world war saw the involvement of the Five Kages as they eventually confronted Madara Uchiha. Also, players learn about Sasuke’s decision to become apart of the fourth ninja after joining his brother Itachi Uchiha; who was reanimated after death following their battle earlier on within the series.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Storm 3 was ported for multiple game systems such as PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows following its units release and looked like a very fun fighting game. The optimal quality of the visuals along with the amazing the cinematic cutscenes added life to Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. The game featured at least 80 different characters where players can choose two different assistants each with their own health bar to aid them during battle. A strong positive in relation to the gameplay of Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 included the addition of Awakening Mode along with the modification of the item system which was helpful in combat. The hack n slash gameplay during mob battles was also a unique feature which contributed to the overall fun factor of Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. Even though, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 3 was great fighting game from the early 10’s the game did not have the type of success that titles such as Mortal Kombat IX or Super Street Fighter IV did on a mainstream level following their initial releases. However, it should noted that Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 reached over one million copies in sales worldwide sales; despite not being quite as popular as the original game within the trilogy which came out in 2008.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Marvel Super Heroes In War Of The Gems: (1996)

When it comes down to underrated beat em games from the 90’s that may have been overlooked on the SNES Marvel Super Heroes In War Of The Gems is one that comes to mind. Marvel Super Heroes War Of The Gems was initially released in October ’96 and was a game that looked like it should have been released between ’89-’94 seeing how popular the beat em up genre of gaming was during that time period. The cool thing about Marvel Super Heroes War Of The Gems is that the visuals and gameplay looked somewhat reminiscent of X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse from ’94; after all both games were developed by Capcom and included 2D platform gameplay as well. MSH: War Of The Gems was a single-player game that allowed players to choose one of five characters to complete various missions while trying to achieve the Infinity Gems. Superheroes that player could choose from included: Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, Captain America and the Hulk as they battled various super-villains throughout the game with Thanos being the final boss. Collecting Infinity Gems in certain parts of the MSH: War Of The Gems gave players certain advantages that would help them complete the game depending on which stone they obtained.

Players could gain to access to different Infinity Gems such as: Power, Soul, Reality, Space, Time and would have to make it towards end of the game to obtain the Mind stone after defeating Thanos. As far as gameplay creativity was concerned in relation to the Infinity Stones this game added a layer of complexity rarely seen 16-bit beat em ups which contributed to its overall appeal. While MSH: In War Of The Gems was considered to be a solid 2D beat em up game from the mid 90’s that particular genre began to decline in popularity by that time. Seeing how MSH: War Of The Gems came out in ’96 the game may have been overshadowed because the SNES was starting to decline in popularity as well; despite all the great games that appeared on the 16-bit console within 1996. Marvel Super Heroes: In War Of The Gems could have possibly worked on the 32-bit Game Boy Advance in the early 00’s seeing how popular the game system was during the time. Even though, Capcom has never re-released MSH: War Of The Gems for any other game system than the SNES its still one of the coolest beat em up titles to come from Nintendo’s 16-bit console during the 90’s.

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Should Star Ocean have been released in America during 1996?

One of the few JRPG’s for the Super NES that may have her overlooked back in the mid ’90s was Star Ocean from ’96. For those who do not know Star Ocean was developed by video game company tri-Ace and published by Square Enix and was released exclusively in Japan during the summer of 1996. Unlike, some of the previous JRPG’s that Square Enix has published between the early to mid 90’s Star Ocean had features that made it stand out more on the SNES. Unlike games such as Secret Of Mana & Chrono Trigger it should be noted that Star Ocean was one of the few JRPG’s in the SNES that included voice samples. By the mid 90’s video games were able to push the limits of the 16-bit SNES and being able to do things that was previously thought to be impossible when the console was first released in 1990. The visual aspect of Star Ocean was also very impressive along with the plot which emphasized time travel. Star Ocean was a game that could have been very successful in the early 90’s especially since 2D JRPG’s were more popular during that time period.

In fact, some people might of have been surprised that Star Ocean was released exclusively in Japan for the SNES especially considering the fact that the 16-bit console was starting to decline in popularity by the mid 90’s. Many have probably questioned why Star Ocean was not ported for the PS1 during the mid 90’s seeing popular Sony’s 32-bit console was during the time. Either way, despite how adventurous the plot for Star Ocean along with how polished it looked on the SNES it still may not have been a huge attraction in America back in 1996. American gamers were more fixated on 3D gaming along with titles such as Mortal Kombat & Killer Instinct that emphasized blood, gore and violence. While it made sense to keep Star Ocean as a Japanese exclusive during the mid 90’s the game still should have been released in America much sooner than it was. Star Ocean was not officially released in America until October 2008 before it appeared worldwide on PlayStation 4 & Nintendo in December 2019. If the original Star Ocean game appeared on the Game Boy Advance back in the early 00’s it could have been somewhat of an attraction on the 32-but handheld console seeing how successful it ended up becoming during that decade.