The From A to Z series lets our editors go back and take a look at games from past generations that are classics, overlooked gems, or just titles they remember fondly. The idea behind this is to pick five games from each letter of the alphabet, once a week to showcase. This delivers 26 weeks and tons of games to talk about. Hopefully it sparks some conversation, and of course plenty of memories.
The system everyone has been waiting for, the Super Nintendo.
Let’s continue with the letters “J and K.”
Joe & Mac
The SNES has no shortage of great side scroller beat-em-ups but Joe & Mac distinguishes itself with its prehistoric setting and a good sense of humor. Playable start to finish in co-op with multitude of different weapons at the player’s disposal, it’s great fun taking on dinosaurs and saving the damsels in distress. The SNES version also included some new additions like the overworld world and extended levels. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a Joe & Mac game but I’d love to see a reboot at one point.
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball
I’m not really a big fan of sports video games in general but Ken Griffey Jr blew me away when I first played it. The visuals were phenomenal for its time with large, detailed sprites for the characters which animated very well. Almost every team had their own venue and even though the controls for pitching and batting were quite simple, it was quite satisfying to hear the crack of the bat as the ball went flying over the field. To this date, I’ve yet to play a baseball game that I enjoyed more.
Killer Instinct
CA CA CA COMBO BREAKER! What more needs to said about Killer Instinct other than it’s one of the most flamboyant and unique fighting games of all time? It featured elaborate combos and a mechanic that allows for breaking of the opponent’s combo string with one of the most iconic soundbyte when the announcer yells, “COMBO BREAKER”. While it’s not exactly a one to one port of the Arcade version, it was a faithful recreation and I had countless bouts against my friends. I mostly used Glacius because when I first saw him, he reminded me T1000 from Terminator 2 with the liquid metal!
Kirby Super Star
Everyone’s favorite gluttonous pink ball debuted on the SNES in this colorful adventure with all new power-ups and more expansive levels than ever before. Also for the first time, Kirby was able to summon helper characters that could be controlled by the AI or another player. It featured everything expected of a Kirby game in a polished entry which many claim to be one of the best in the series. This was actually my first introduction to Kirby as a character and I instantly fell in love with the simplistic gameplay with hidden depth to spare along with the charming aesthetics and soundtrack.
Tune in next week for the next collection of titles.
YouTube Credits:
World of Longplays
areyoustilllistening
