The new Super Nintendo model throws up in the toilet and loses a few pounds.

The legendary Super Nintendo is one my favourite gaming consoles of all time and the system lasted over 7 years which is pretty good, eh? Since I already reviewed the original Snes here on Epinions I wanted to cover the rarer sequel. Nintendo also released a more compact and much lighter Super Nintendo in 1996 (nick named the Snes 2 of course) to help extend the life of the machine for a bit.

First the changes: other then being smaller, smoother and sexier it's really the same as the old one but now there no pointless serial ports and no eject button either (also kind of pointless). Also to use the RF adapter you also need a little black box attachment or it won't work. The standard GC, N64, and older Snes video cables still work here too by the way.

This Snes2 system just like the original is loaded with all the features you would expect. The Snes has over 32,000 colours and improved screen resolution so everything looks cleaner compared to older 8-bit systems like the previous Nintendo Entertainment System. OK, then doesn't sound like a big deal but Nintendo didn't stop there.

Nintendo was once good friends with Sony believe it or not (before they became bitter rivals) and if you open the system itself you'll see Sony sound chips inside. Because of all this attention to the system's sound the music was really incredible in a lot of the great games like in Super Turrican and Secret of Mana for example and some it is almost as good as the stuff you'll hear on CD's. Also Nintendo added some 3D hardware to the Snes as well called Mode 7 (3D sprite scaling). An example of this would be that cool pixel fade in effect on Super Mario World, to the landscape scaling effects in Demon's Crest. With all these features it was clear that the Super Nintendo was offering something different to the average game nut out there.

If you are sick of the Snes games then why not play some older Gameboy games on the TV? The Super Nintendo2 also has a cool adapter called the Super Game Boy that's lets you do that. Although the Super Game boy won't let you play any of the newer "Color only and Advanced" games, you still have over 400 other GB games to pick from.

If this system is remembered for one thing it's that the SNES paved the way for the Role Playing games to be more widespread. For example: RPG games like Final Fantasy III, Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Chrono Trigger were not really huge hits on the Snes but did receive a good cult following and are unfortunately quite uncommon now of days because of this.

My Top 10 Worst Snes games
Since I already picked out my personal top 10 I thought why not do the world a flavor and warn them about the crap out there too:

10. LAST ACTION HERO (Sony Imagesoft, 1993)
Imagine a fighting game where you fight the same generic bad guys over and over again. You get Sony's Last Action Hero here plus this game is so poorly developed that it never feels like you're hitting the enemy. Not even the video game can save this odd franchise.

9. RACE DRIVIN (LJN/Atari, 1992)
Race Drivin is a very poor 3D racer arrives from the arcades right to the SNES. Although this features some early polygon graphics which was a rare thing for the Super Nintendo before the FX chip, the whole game looks so pathetic that no one will want to play this extreme racing game for more then 10 minutes.

8. RISE of The ROBOTS (Acclaim/Mirage, 1995)
The single player game tells the story of a robot trying to regain control of a building ruled by renegade machines and although the story mode started out great but the super linear button mashing game play is just insulting. The two player mode is also very limited since the second player gets to select from 5 robots but player one can only select from one character.

7. FAMILY DOG (Malibu, 1993)
Not only is this another license game we don't need but Family Dog is about as boring as a video game could get. Sure that sounds pretty bad but it gets worse because the controls are awkward, the graphics are nothing special and the levels are way too long. Family Dog should have been put to sleep.

6. MARIO IS MISSING (Nintendo, 1992)
Before Luigi starred in his own game on the GameCube, he starred in this stupid little non video game here. Luigi must get clues around the world to find Mario in this dull action platformer. This was a huge flop for the Super Nintendo especially with the long awaited sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog coming out soon for the Sega Genesis in 1992!

5. NHL STANLEY CUP (Nintendo, 1992)
First the good news: this game is fully licensed by the NHL so you get the real over priced teams to play around with. Now for the bad: the game looks bloody awful with highly blurry 3D effects, badly animated players, and very choppy frame rate that will make anyone sick. It doesn't help matters that the annoying camera here also jumps all over the place so it's hard to focus on passes and checks making the whole experience almost unplayable.

4. SHAQ FU (Electronic Arts, 1993)
Shaq Fu is a very hard to control fighting game with your basic duel and boring story modes. This game only has seven characters to pick from instead of the twelve found in the Sega Genesis version so it's even a worse game now if that was even humanly possible?

3. MARIO'S EARLY YEARS: Fun with Letters
I bet even small kids will think this Letters game here super boring. Some educational games are fun (Brain Age and Donkey Kong Jr. Math) because they challenge you but there is no difficulty here. Super Mario should stick with real video games instead.

2. PIT FIGHTER (THQ/Tengen, 1991)
This game is poor programming at it's finest with the cheapest game play, choppiest graphics, and repetitive sounds you can ever imagine! The game may look like the arcade game with fighters Buzz, Ty, and Kato still playable in here but a lot of the enemies like the black guy in the pink shirt and even the different weapons and items are gone making a average beat em up much, much worse.

1. BEBE'S KIDS (Who the hell cares, 19-something)
Definitely one of the worse video games ever made and that's just not the Snes here. It's nothing more then a very slow Final Fight clone with annoying kids, bad controls, and overly confusing game play.

Bottomline: Despite a few crap games this system is still one of my all time favourites with over a massive 700 games available like the awesome Wario's Woods, Donkey Kong Country 2 and Final Fantasy III that always keeps me playing for hours on end. The Super Nintendo2 is highly recommend to any body ranging from casual to hardcore players looking for some the best games ever made.

Super Nintendo 2 overall rating: 91/100

This review is also on:
videogames101.com
just so you know, eh?

-StarSoldier1 2007
(Ryan Genno)