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This week we’re all about nostalgia. Awesome, I know. However, I’ve got a bit of a problem. While everyone else is all psyched about sharing their fondest memories from the past, about something called the SNES, I have none.
What is this “SNES” and why is everyone so aced to be wittering on about it? Excuse me while I briefly depart to Wikipedia.
(13 seconds later)
Oh that thing! The Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The Super NES, the Super Nintendo, the Super Famicom, that, yeah. The clunky 16-bit box that holds a special place in the hearts of gamers around the world. Probably even you, reader.
If you remember the SNES from the first time around, hopefully this week’s theme is totally up your alley. And why wouldn’t it be? With the console that helped cement Nintendo at the heart of the gaming world celebrating its birthday, our staff are all looking back at their fondest memories and the legacies created by the beloved Super Famicom.
Except me. Because who said fitting in and not being an ass was fun? I don’t have any great memories of the SNES because I’ve never played one. Ever. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve not even seen one in real life. And why? Because I was too young.
Damn the mistresses of time who denied me the right to grow up in the genesis of video games. The same harridans of the cosmos who denied me ever seeing John Lennon or Freddie Mercury in the flesh. The temporal witches that denied me any prior knowledge of Princess Diana before the British royal family had her killed she died in that terrible accident and they switched off Cartoon Network when I was five.
And without any older siblings or relations to pass on a treasured SNES, I was left oblivious to the console. It wouldn’t be until 1999 that I would finally get a Game Boy and understand the marvel of Nintendo’s legacy before picking up one of the last Nintendo 64s available a few years later.
So what did I miss out on when I was busy being a toddler? Well, besides the Gulf War, cell phones the weight of medium-sized bungalows and Pulp Fiction, this stuff, apparently.
Super Metroid
Despite my relative ignorance regarding the Days of Yore,
I’ve still managed to hear about this game, most of it good. Touted as the game that elevated the Metroid series from a quirky space faring series to a story gamers will never forget, Super Metroid still features high on Top 100s across the interweb. Unfortunately I must inform you that the game’s 2D take on the 3D Metroid universe is totally ripped off from Metroid Fusion. Sad times.
A Link to the Past
Affectionately referred to in my head as “That Zelda game where Link’s a bit odd and purple looking.” A Link to the Past was another stand out title in a major Nintendo series and was even granted a Game Boy Advance port a few years back. Of course I was too busy with the brand new Minish Cap, my thirteen Tamagotchi and texting my thirty-seven closest friends to notice. Such are the struggles of Generation Z living.
Earthbound
This didn’t even get a release in Europe when it saw the light of day in America. Because of that, in tandem with the fact that the series is never seeing a reboot, ever, I have now concluded that I am not meant to play any game in the Mother series and I’m just not going to even think about it anymore. If you’re interested in learning about some of the other things I am not prevented from doing due to the will of higher powers they include, but are not limited to, growing substantial or noteworthy facial hair, being able to withstand a film centering around Shia LaBeouf, or growing to like The Smiths. And I bet Earthbound isn’t even that great anyway.
Despite these shortcomings, it seems to me like the SNES was the first console to produce truly brilliant games that we still appreciate today. The SNES brought us games that we still see as some of the best in the history of video games, even in these modern times of countless polygons and hyper-realistic engines running seven hundred shades of grey. And surely that’s something to celebrate.
I still heart the GameCube way more though.
You whippersnappers need to get off my lawn! Doesn’t matter, though, the NES (pronounced “Ness”) was WAY better, anyway.
The fact that you have to explain that means you’re wrong :P
I was 5 when this hoss came out…. I was angry cause I had just gotten a nes about 6 months prior. I was finally cool only to have it wiped out by this guy
I didn’t get my SNES until I was, like, 7! Pretty much all my other friends had one, and I we played Super Mario All Stars/paint etc… **Sigh**….
I had played many SNES games at my relatives houses, though. They were a lot older than me, of course.
Star Fox was a great game in that era. The SFX (And VFX) were AMAZING!
I had Played Sega Genesis (and eventually Master system, Yes, a real one) but didn’t like it as much.
It wasn’t until I was about 10 that I had realized there was some sort of Competition between game Consoles. As a matter of fact, I usually just called NES “NORMAL Nintendo”. I didn’t exactly recognize the difference, in my youth.
I prefer the NES which is pronounced eN…Eee…eS but the SNES had some of my favorite games. I was pretty late to the SNES party only because I was still playing my TG-16 NES and gameboy
I only had a couple games for the SNES, but it seemed like I played days upon days of it. I think when your choices are limited … well, I mean, you try to get the most bang for your buck.
And this was back when I only got about a game a year on my birthday, so, that’s cool too.