2021/7/10: Super Nintendo: HyperZone, Congo's Caper

[VideoGameCritic]

Hope you enjoy this new set of SNES reviews.

Congo's Caper is a 10-yr update, and I raised its grade from F to C! Playing Joe and Mac recently changed my perspective a bit.

HyperZone is new, and it's bad.

Comments?

[BlasteroidAli]

First paragraph of Congos capers. Pterodactyls is a wrong spelling. The word is later spelt right. So typo alert.

[Herschie]

I was really hoping for Hyperzone to get at least a B because the screenshot looked totally rad and I'm always on the lookout for good new games. Especially on the Super Nintendo, many of my favorite games are getting stale. After all, how many times can I play Mariokart, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, or Zelda? I'm still going to, but I'm just saying...

[VideoGameCritic]

First paragraph of Congos capers. Pterodactyls is a wrong spelling. The word is later spelt right. So typo alert.

Thanks man. It wouldn't be a genuine VGC review without at least one typo. Funny that Google Docs (which I compose my reviews in) didn't flag that

[VideoGameCritic]

Somebody on Twitter pointed out I'm missing a lot of good SNES titles by not branching out into the Japanese-only library, and posted this link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=araSvcNVEOI

Thoughts? I guess since I have a Retron 5 I should be able to play those??

[Hagane]

C for Congo's Caper is fairer than F, it's kid oriented but still a cool game and it is part of the Joe & Mac series.

HyperZone as you've said is just a glorified Mode 7 tech demo, F-Zero was the real deal.

[goldenband]

Somebody on Twitter pointed out I'm missing a lot of good SNES titles by not branching out into the Japanese-only library, and posted this link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=araSvcNVEOI

Thoughts? I guess since I have a Retron 5 I should be able to play those??

Absolutely true that there are a ton of great Japan-only SNES (or Super Famicom) games, and I picked up quite a few a while back.

(But don't be fooled, Super Back to the Future II isn't one of them: that game is wildly overrated -- just an average platformer with tons of slowdown!)

Nowadays I personally wouldn't go buying a ton of them when you can just play them on a flash cart. The manuals and boxes won't help you as a non-speaker. And many of them have been translated by fans, so you can enjoy a lot of games via flash cart that would be impenetrable on real hardware.

The FXPAK (formerly SD2SNES) is pricy, but a used EverDrive has to be pretty cheap at this point and you'd only be missing out on a few appealing games that use extra chips. Maybe someone can hook you up?

...or, wait. You've already reviewed a bunch of Japanese Super Famicom games, haven't you? Are you actually talking about Famicom/NES games? Now I'm confused!

BTW I own HyperZone, complete even, but haven't gotten around to playing it because I figured it'd be exactly what you describe!

[Matchstick]

Somebody on Twitter pointed out I'm missing a lot of good SNES titles by not branching out into the Japanese-only library... Thoughts?

It's a slippery slope. If there's a few games that you're curious about, I say go for it, but if you're looking to pick up a bunch of titles from a list, be careful. It can really add up, and really fast, too. Most of the games that people seem to claim we "missed out on" tend to be RPGs and games based on anime. Whereas it used to be pretty affordable to pick some of these titles up, I think the Japanese retailers have caught on, and prices for some of the more desirable games have really gone through the roof.

It's one thing if there's one game that you've always wanted to play, but just never had the chance to. It's another thing entirely if someone's giving you a list of games that they think you should be playing. As is often the case with things like these, someone may say that a Japanese game is some sort of obscure classic, but your mileage may vary.

Goldenband's advice is solid. I, too, would recommend trying to find English-language versions of the games that have you the most interested. Plenty of the more popular Japan-exclusive games have gotten fan translations. You can play these either on a flashcart, or you can buy a fan-made reproduction cartridge from a trusted site or Etsy seller. I'd be happy to recommend some that I have bought from, myself.

HyperZone as you've said is just a glorified Mode 7 tech demo

This is a game I've always wanted to like, but it just never clicked. Not way back when, not a few years after that, and not now. I played it a year or so ago after picking it up in a secondhand store for $4, and put maybe 15 minutes into it before giving up. I ended up using the cartridge as a donor to make a different game, so at least it didn't go to waste!

There's other "tech demo" games on the SNES that just didn't do it for me, either (namely, Pilotwings) so at least HyperZone isn't alone in that category. I did like the title screen music a lot. It really gets the blood pumping for what winds up being a so-so gaming experience. The in-game music wasn't too bad from what I recall, either.

[Hagane]

There's other "tech demo" games on the SNES that just didn't do it for me, either (namely, Pilotwings)

Disagree about Pilotwings, it is a very cool game, it's relaxing and easygoing, the rocket-belt part is awesome and the scalling effects were impressive at the time, it really gave you a sense that you w skydiving.

[BlasteroidAli]

Someone gave me an RG 350 so I have 6000 games on it. That is why I did not get an evercade. What is the point when I have most of the games already. What I found was with a lot of the Japanese only games was that the language barrier is a real issue. Like someone says above, get them on a flash cart. See if you like them. I am still waiting for the Mattel Aquarius reviews or was a Texas Ta99ia? I loved the Snes so much. Probably my fave system of those years and the games are amazing.

Though did I tell you the story of gun children? Wow... the holy grail of shooters!!! Wow... errrr not.

My review on Steam.
Yep another keyboard only vertically scrolling shoot em up. I wonder if they had keyboards in the arcade. Okay this game has a secret weapon it is slow. Laughably so. Do not buy this game.

I got the joystick working on my under powered laptop so I was able to play the game. It is all in Japanese and I have no idea what was going on. The frame rate varies between 11 fps and 20 fps. It never really gets fast. It is bullet hell where you do not change the ships colour to match the bullets. It is slow and boring. It would be great if there was a game out there that I had not played that was superb. There might be, the holy grail of shooters. Well this is not it. It is not worth £1.99. 10 pence not worth that either. I should only be free. The soundtrack is good but gets a bit monotonous.