Hobbies And Interests
"Super Castlevania IV"
Konami's "Castlevania" franchise of vampire-themed platform games can be divided into two styles: wide-open exploration quests and tight, linear action games that demand fast reflexes and pixel-perfect jumping. The latter style had its finest hour in "Super Castlevania IV," the fourth game in the series and the only to appear on the SNES in the West. The game sees vampire hunter Simon Belmont infiltrate Dracula's eponymous stronghold and serves as a showcase of what the SNES was capable of in terms of rich graphics, atmospheric soundtracks and varied game-play challenges.
"Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers"
A major tipping point for SNES sales was when Nintendo announced that Capcom would be bringing virtually arcade-perfect conversions of its "Street Fighter 2" games to the machine. "Street Fighter 2," an influential martial arts fighting title, pioneered the template of a roster of fighters with a large variety of moves and deep combo potential. This iteration represents the best version of the one-on-one fighting game, with four new characters joining the earlier bank of 12 combatants and a range of different game modes for players to enjoy.
"The Secret of Mana"
Squaresoft, creators of the "Final Fantasy" series of RPG (Role-Play Game) titles, put a twist on their popular formula with this spin-off title, a defining entry in the ARPG (Action Role-Play Game) canon. The game employs many of the same elements as strategy-heavy RPG titles like "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest," but it presents the action as a real-time battle similar to arcade games like "Double Dragon." While RPG skills like puzzle-solving and exploration remain useful, "Secret of Mana" is just as challenging to players' speed on the "attack" button.
"Contra III: The Alien Wars"
Konami's most challenging action series, the "Contra" games, moved up to the SNES with this third game. "The Alien Wars" mixes side-on shoot-'em-up game play with a top-down 360-degree style made possible by the SNES' "Mode 7" graphical effect. "The Alien Wars" doesn't have as many stages as "Super Castlevania IV," but it makes up for this with a faster style of shooting gameplay that lends itself to replay at higher difficulty settings.
"Star Fox"
Gamers wanting to take a trip back to the state of the 3D art as of 1993 can try their hand at "Star Fox," the first in what would become Nintendo's series of space-combat games. Augmented by the company's "Super FX" chip, the cartridge allows a rare example of 3D flight simulation on the console, with levels and characters influenced by sci-fi movies like "Star Wars." The graphics may look dated next to modern games, but "Star Fox" remains an engaging challenge with a style all its own.