2016/12/30: Super Nintendo: Adventures of Batman and Robin, The, Daze Before Christmas (Europe)

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VideoGameCritic
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2016/12/30: Super Nintendo: Adventures of Batman and Robin, The, Daze Before Christmas (Europe)

Postby VideoGameCritic » December 30th, 2016, 2:50 pm

Here are two new SNES reviews for your enjoyment. Daze of Christmas is a quality game I'm sure to play every year. Adventures of Batman and Robin was downgraded from B+ to B- after my experiences playing it over the weekend. Comments?

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Retro STrife
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Re: 2016/12/30: Super Nintendo: Adventures of Batman and Robin, The, Daze Before Christmas (Europe)

Postby Retro STrife » December 30th, 2016, 3:32 pm

Nice! As you know, I mentioned Daze Before Xmas a few months back so I've been looking forward to the review! I bought the Genesis repro a couple weeks ago, but it's coming from overseas and still in the mail, so I'll have to add my thoughts once it comes in. According to Wikipedia, the SNES version was released in Europe and Australia, but the Genesis version was released only in Australia. How does a Norwegian developers release a Christmas game only in Australia? Strange, and it doesn't sound like a very profitable strategy. But anyways.... how did this one compare to Christmas Crisis for you? (I know Crisis got a higher score, but I figure a B- game on the SNES might beat an A- game on CD-i). I must admit--I tried Crisis a few more times, and it was growing on me a lot more than initial impressions. By next Christmas, we'll need you to try Christmas Country for CD-i. If you need a tip on finding a copy, PM me.

As for Batman and Robin, and the $$ icon.... SNES games have shot up in price big time over the past 2-3 years. Many have doubled or tripled in value. For example, according to PriceCharting.com, this game was worth $30 in 2013 and now it's worth $80. Really, the $$ icon is so fluid and always in flux that it's in a pretty inaccurate state right now and it might make sense to reevaluate all your games using PriceCharting. (Or start a topic in the forums and see if the readers can chime in with games that need the icon.) Saturn and Turbografx are two other systems that have had insane price jumps on games.

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Re: 2016/12/30: Super Nintendo: Adventures of Batman and Robin, The, Daze Before Christmas (Europe)

Postby BanjoPickles » December 30th, 2016, 9:33 pm

Wait, when did Batman and Robin become rare?? I paid $5 for it in 2005, and I sold it for $20 in 2013!

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Rev
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Re: 2016/12/30: Super Nintendo: Adventures of Batman and Robin, The, Daze Before Christmas (Europe)

Postby Rev » December 31st, 2016, 11:24 am

Snes sure has gotten expensive to collect for... Honestly go for the genesis version of this game anyway...

Nice set of reviews!

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Re: 2016/12/30: Super Nintendo: Adventures of Batman and Robin, The, Daze Before Christmas (Europe)

Postby Retro STrife » December 31st, 2016, 2:51 pm

Rev wrote:Snes sure has gotten expensive to collect for... Honestly go for the genesis version of this game anyway...

Nice set of reviews!


It's pretty insane. The big name titles--the Marios, DKC, etc.--actually have moved at a fairly normal increase. Some of those games might have been $10-$15 several years back, but are now $20-$30. That doesn't shock me. But some of the more obscure stuff has just gone crazy, with giant leaps in value. And everything has gone insane if you have the box and manual (e.g., Super Metroid can go around $50 loose and $150 complete). And if it's sealed--forget it, those can go in the thousands of dollars. It's prompted me to sell some of the SNES stuff that I don't need anymore. Before, my biggest game sale ever was when I sold Snatcher for $330 in like 2014...but that was just bested by a sealed Earthworm Jim 2 that I sold for $335 a couple months back. It was a game I bought for $10 from a pawn shop like 10 years ago and just had hanging around. The world of sealed SNES collectors is a cut-throat place that I stepped into briefly for that sale, and I hope to never go back. It's totally insane.

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Re: 2016/12/30: Super Nintendo: Adventures of Batman and Robin, The, Daze Before Christmas (Europe)

Postby Retro STrife » January 15th, 2017, 2:36 am

VideoGameCritic wrote:Here are two new SNES reviews for your enjoyment. Daze of Christmas is a quality game I'm sure to play every year. Adventures of Batman and Robin was downgraded from B+ to B- after my experiences playing it over the weekend. Comments?


So, my repro copy of Daze Before Christmas came in today. I got the Genesis version, which originally was released only in Australia. I played through the entire game today. I just threw it on the "Easy" setting and tried to get through as fast as I could. Took 2 or 3 hours, I think. Here were some of my thoughts:

- Based on the screenshots and videos I've seen, my sense is that the SNES and Genesis versions are nearly identical. The SNES has a slight edge in graphics, but they seem to have the same levels and same gameplay.

- Gotta love Santa's walk in this game. Like a real spirited dash. I've previously said that Michael Jackson's walk in the Moonwalker game is the best walk in video game history. I stand by that, but Santa's walk here is close.

- You mentioned the level where you fly over England dropping presents in chimneys. As you progress further, you'll do the same in Russia, Japan, and the U.S. (surprisingly no Australia, despite this game only being released there). I really enjoyed these levels...they remind me so much of Paperboy! Except, instead of newspaper boxes, you're aiming for chimneys. But, unlike Paperboy, there's no stress here, as these are just easy breezy fun levels where it's near impossible to lose a life.

- You mentioned the first boss being the easiest boss ever. Well, the final boss is even easier. I mashed a button for like 5 seconds and he was miraculously dead. Disappointing.

- The levels are very varied, which is nice. But there is no continuity to them..they're all so random. Like you're in a cavern one level and a steel factory the next. No flow..it's odd. There is no clear-cut winner for best level, but Santa's House toward the end was my favorite (after the flying levels, of course).

- So, how do I think this game stacks up to Christmas Crisis and Christmas Country for CD-i? Well, at its core, it's certainly a better game. Daze Before Xmas is a legit platformer. Without the Christmas theme, it'd be an average platformer--but it still feels like a professionally designed game. The CD-i games, on the other hand, feel more like early 90s PC shareware. Yet, they somehow exude much more Christmas charm. So, if you just want a good game, I'd say Daze beats both CD-i games. But if you want to get in the Christmas spirit, I'd take the CD-i games over Daze. And then Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams over all of them...


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