Embarking on a SNES quest.
Not too long ago I decided to embark on a quest. I wanted to comb through the SNES catalogue, and play the best games that the SNES has to offer. Growing up, my neighbor had an NES, and I was immediately captivated by the wonder of video games. But, my first console was a Super Nintendo.
We never had much money growing up, and video games were expensive, so it was a big deal when my mom brought home a SNES. KB Toys was having a clearance. She also brought home three fantastic games on the recommendation of some angel that worked at KB Toys – Kirby Super Star, Donkey Kong Country 2, and Super Mario All Stars. I played the absolute mess out of those games.
Why the SNES quest?
Even though I enjoyed the games that I had, I couldn’t help but constantly drool over all the other amazing games displayed on the wall whenever we stopped by a game store. Years later, now that I’m an adult with much more access to all kinds of games, I’m excited to finally dive into some of these old games that I’ve missed out on.
Some of these games have withstood the test of time. Some games have aged poorly. Some games are stupid hard. For some of these games, there’s a deep nostalgia that allows me to enjoy games that others can barely tolerate. For other games, it’s merely the “game historian” curiosity in me that drives me to completion.
I’ve found that part of the enjoyment of this process is chronicling my experience in brief(ish) game reviews. Maybe there are other gamers out there that might enjoy reading about old games they never had a chance to play, or even dabbling in some of these games themselves. There’s a treasure trove of old gaming classics on all kinds of systems, and I can’t wait to play all of them – on NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, Playstation, and beyond.
What is your review process?
I don’t work for IGN or some other kind of proper gaming network, so my reviews are typically just a random glob of jumbled thoughts, spewed onto a Substack post. Sometimes I jot down “What I like” about a game, followed by “What I don’t like.” Sometimes I address specifics about gameplay, graphics, music, story, and more.
However, to maintain some semblance of consistency across the board, each review will have a score out of 10, on a 20 point scale, meaning “point-fives” are on the table. Some games will receive a 7.5, or an 8.5, etc.
I’m borrowing heavily from IGN’s 10 point scale, though I’m opting to use “point-fives.” I’ve also made some slight changes to a few descriptors:
10 – Classic
9 – Amazing
8 – Great
7 – Good
6 – Okay
5 – Meh
4 – Bad
3 – Awful
2 – Cringe
1 – Ugh
Keep in mind, I mostly review well-received or renowned games, so I doubt I’ll be using the lower scores much. Each review will also be vaguely scored “meter style” according to a few categories, such as…
These categories will be followed by two more items, Nostalgia Factor and Difficulty. Nostalgia Factor attempts to denote how much my review was impacted by nostalgia. Kirby Super Star was one of the first video games I ever owned. It dominated my childhood. The high score it received was definitely impacted by nostalgia.
Nostalgia Factor: Very high. This game dominated my childhood.
Difficulty: Easy. You won’t face much challenge here.
Hopefully my process makes sense. Ready to read some reviews? Start here.
