Can You Match The Hero To The Super Nintendo Game?
- by Scott Baird
- – on
- in The Geek Corner
The Super Nintendo is one of the most beloved video game consoles of all time. It entered a war of attrition with the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, which helped to define a generation of gaming. The 16-bit era saw the birth of violence in video games and the backlash against it that still rages on to this day. This was the time when movie licenses started being taken seriously, with companies like Disney having more involvement in the development of games based on their properties. Fighting games found their niche during this time, while memory capacity had grown to the point where RPGs could become truly epic in scope.
It was during the 16-bit era that some of Nintendo's biggest icons found their niche. This period started out with the most epic Mario adventure ever made and ended with the arrival of Pokemon on the Game Boy. The original Famicom/NES helped to save the gaming industry from collapse, while the Super Nintendo brought the quality of titles up to a new level. By the end of the Super Nintendo's lifespan, the system had sold almost fifty million consoles across the world. The SNES was awesome and so were the heroes of its games.
If you clicked on this quiz, then you probably think that you know your Super Nintendo games. The SNES was one of the best consoles of all time, which means that we have a huge roster of heroes to choose from. So, Can You Name The Super Nintendo Game Based On Its Hero?
The hero of Hyrule needs to venture into the Dark World for the first time...
All of the heroes of Hyrule share the same name. They are born again throughout history, as part of the endless cycle of rebirth that is connected with the Triforce. In the Super Nintendo era of the series, Link must save the descendants of the Sages, who sealed away Ganon long ago. This game in the series introduced the concept of a Dark World that lives alongside the regular Hyrule. We would see this evil land again in this game's sequel on the Nintendo 3DS.
This famous bounty hunter starred in one of the best games on the system
In 1994, one of the greatest action games of all time was released on the Super Nintendo. It starred Samus Aran, who is an intergalactic bounty hunter. She hunts space pirates across the galaxy and does her best to stop dangerous experiments from taking place. It was believed that this series was dead and buried... until E3 of 2017 when Nintendo revived it. Samus Aran is due to return on the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Switch consoles. Let us hope she sticks around for good.
This famous Italian plumber starred in one of the launch games for the Super Nintendo
The Super Nintendo launched in Japan in 1990 with only two games. America would see the SNES a year later, where it had five games on launch. Europeans would have to wait until 1992 to see the SNES, where it only had three games. This was the fourth game in its series, which was already making a name for itself as one of the greatest platforming franchises of all time. The 16-bit technology of the Super Nintendo allowed this game to be bigger than any other platform game that preceded it.
Akira Toriyama stuck red hair on Goku and called it a day
In 1995, one of the greatest video games of all time was released on the Super Nintendo. It was officially created by Squaresoft, though it was developed by a group of the greatest minds in the video game industry, who dubbed themselves the "Dream Team". The Dream Team consisted of Hironobu Sakaguchi (the creator of Final Fantasy), Yuji Horii (the creator of Dragon Quest), Nobuo Uematsu (the composer of the Final Fantasy series), and Akira Toriyama (the creator of Dragon Ball Z).
This half-esper may have the power to destroy the world
Terra Branford is one of two protagonists of the game she stars in. She is a half-human/half-esper, which means that she is one of the few beings in the world who can naturally use magic. As the story progresses, she gains the ability to activate her esper form, which drastically increases the power of her spells. At the halfway point of the game, the story shifts to following Celes, as she tries to rebuild the party after Kefka takes over the world.
This boxer used the same name as his NES predecessor
Nintendo hasn't always been a console manufacturer. They actually got their start in the arcades, which is where the original Donkey Kong game was created. This was the game that starred Jumpman, who was the progenitor of Mario. Nintendo would go on to create a dual-screen boxing game, which featured a wireframe fighter facing off against a group of racist stereotypes. This series would make its way to the consoles, where it would receive entries on the NES, SNES, and the Wii.
The B-Team needs to save Donkey Kong!
When the Super Nintendo debuted, the biggest competitor to Mario in the platform game market was Sonic the Hedgehog. Arguments raged in playgrounds across the world over which series was better. The people at Nintendo didn't realize that the biggest threat to Mario's title would come from another series on the SNES. The Donkey Kong Country series was created by a British developer named Rare. They took 3D models and recreated them as sprite art. The third game in the Donkey Kong Country series starred a different cast from the first title.
The four chosen heroes needs to stop Giygas from destroying reality
Not all RPGs need to be set in a fantasy world filled with magic and dragons. There was a game on the Super Nintendo that used contemporary America as its setting. The characters used psychic powers and curious inventions to fight against an alien invasion. This game would go on to achieve a cult status and would become a big hit on Nintendo's Virtual Console. It is up to four children to collect the Eight Melodies and defeat the alien menace known as Giygas once and for all.
This soldier fought in the Marvel vs. Capcom series
Capcom became known for their fighting games and scrolling action games that were all huge successes in the arcades. The Street Fighter and Final Fight games made a lot of money, which led to numerous games in the same genre. One of the many Fight Fight derivatives starred a cyborg soldier, who fought an army of criminals. He would later go on to appear in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, as one of the fighters on the Capcom side of things.
The Belmont clan returns to hunt Dracula in the 16-bit era
The Castlevania series follows the members of an ancient clan of vampire hunters, along with their allies, as they must enter Dracula's castle once more and slay whatever resides inside. It isn't always Dracula who lives in his castle, as he was killed in the year 1999. There are other powerful vampires and cultists that have taken over the Castle, who are just begging for a whip to the face. A cartoon based on this video game franchise is due to debut soon on Netflix.
A knight in his underwear is all that stands between his kingdom and the forces of darkness
We arrive at the series that may have been the progenitor of games like Dark Souls. It is a brutally difficult action game that is set in a dark fantasy world. There is very little room for error, as you must dodge attacks from all angles. The main character of this game is a knight, who loses his armor after taking a single hit and is forced to fight in his underwear. If he takes one more hit, then he dies.
This demonic gargoyle starred in his own series of games
The Ghouls 'n Ghosts series has its own spinoff, which stars the gargoyle demon who kidnaps the princess at the start of each game. His name is Firebrand and he actually has to deal with lots of problems of his own in the underworld. Firebrand has starred in several games, where he can fly and spit fireballs at his enemies. He would later appear as a playable character in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, where he would battle his old nemesis, Arthur, once more.
This dark knight went on a journey to become a paladin
The Final Fantasy series has featured several entries that allow the characters to change their jobs. This means that they can learn new abilities and create unique combinations of skills, which can be used against their enemies. Cecil Harvey has to go through a lot in order to switch jobs. He has to seek redemption at Mount Ordeals and face an evil reflection of his past self. Once he has accomplished this, he will arise as a brand new Holy Paladin.
This racing game was created to show off Mode 7 graphics
One of the new features that were exclusive to the Super Nintendo was a graphical interface called Mode 7. This involved stretching and rotating an image in such a way as to make it look like a basic 3D map. Nintendo created a racing game for no other reason than to show off this effect. This futuristic racing game starred an ace pilot, who would go on to find fame in the Super Smash Bros. series, where he tended to shout the names of his attacks before using them.
This runner woke up on a slab in the morgue
Some heroes start out in a friendly town with a bag full of gold. This guy woke up on a slab in the morgue. The world of this game came about when the realms of magic returned in the modern era. This means that monsters were reborn in a futuristic setting, where they reintegrated into society. The mega corporations began to take over the world, with their only opposition being groups of "runners", who sought to overthrow them by using a mixture of technology and magic.
This pilot had his legs chopped off and replaced with cyborg limbs
As the 16-bit era drew to a close, the gaming world awaited the arrival of 3D titles in the upcoming generation of consoles. The Super Nintendo actually found a way to create primitive 3D graphics in their games, using the Super FX chip, which was included in certain cartridges. The Super FX chip allowed this game to be created. It was a basic 3D space shooter, where the ships followed a predetermined path through the levels. It looked stunning at the time of release, which is what made this series so popular.
The embodiments of the '90s had to fight off zombies
George Lucas founded a video game company that was originally meant to create adaptations of his big movie franchises, like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. This company is LucasArts and they went on to create some of the best games of the 16-bit era. LucasArts wasn't afraid to create weird and off-kilter games. This was true of a certain Zombie killing game on the Super Nintendo, where the players had to travel around a contemporary setting and fight off the hordes of the undead.
A website was once dedicated to destroying every copy of this game
One of the most famous basketball players of all time also happened to be one of the biggest merchandise whores of them all. He would star in any terrible movie for a big cheque and put his face on any nasty piece of food that was willing to pony up the dough. The most infamous thing that ever bore this basketball player's name was a terrible fighting game, that people have gone out of their way to wipe from the face of the Earth.
This unofficial game was created using the Wolfenstein 3D engine
Doom took the gaming world by storm. It quickly became the source of controversy, due to all of the violence in the game. This led to several Doom clones, which toned down the violence while still retaining the first person shooter gameplay. There are some bizarre urban legends surrounding this game. Mainly that id Software was angry at the low-quality ports of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D on the SNES, so they leaked the source code to the developers of this game.
Even the Super Nintendo wasn't safe from Tool Time
The Super Nintendo was home to some of the most bizarre choices for movie and TV show adaptations that were ever put on a video game cartridge. Movies like The Addams Family, Home Alone 2, Bebe's Kids, 3 Ninjas Kick Back, The Lawnmower Man, Wayne's World, True Lies, and Dennis the Menace all had SNES games. These were mostly turned into subpar platform games, which was the style of the time. This TV show might be the most bizarre choice for a video game adaptation of all time.
The most famous basketball player of all time starred in a terrible platform game
Shaq wasn't the only famous basketball player to give his name to a terrible video game. Michael Jordan also endorsed a video game, where you played as the eponymous athlete. You get to control Michael Jordan through an action platform game, where he throws an endless supply of basketballs in order to save other players for an all-star charity game. Michael Jordan's teammates are all captured by the evil Maximus Cranium. He decides to take on the evil scientist by himself, rather than calling the police.
The mascot of 7 Up had its own video game
It was a trend in the '90s for fast food and soft drinks to have their own "cool" mascots. They were basically one big group of Poochies, who never left the '90s in one piece. 7 Up had a mascot who was just a big red circle with sunglasses. He starred in his own series of video games, which were mainly platform titles. These games were well-received and considered to be pretty decent, despite the fact that they were one big commercial for lemonade.
This horrible mascot is rumoured to be returning...
Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog were the two warring kings of the platform genre in the '90s. Video game developers looked at the success of these characters and decided to create their own. This led to numerous horrible animal characters, who jumped through bland video games whilst displaying sickening amounts of 'tude. This poor feline was one of the most hated of the animal mascot characters. Despite this, he was announced as starring in a new game that is coming to the PlayStation 4 and PC.
The Cheetos mascot had his own terrible video game
It wasn't just soft drinks that had their own mascots in the '90s, as junk food also had their own annoying animal characters that existed only to shill products. The Cheetos brand of potato chips created a cool looking cheetah in 1986 to promote the food. This cheetah would go on to star in two different video games. One of these was on the Super Nintendo, which was another bland platform game. The cheetah can still be found in Cheetos commercials to this day.
This hero shares his name with the hero of Street Fighter
Capcom has made more than fighting games in their time. They used to make acclaimed RPG games, which started out on the Super Nintendo. This series stars a character who shares the blood of dragons. He has the ability to transform into various draconic forms, which makes him one of the most powerful beings in the world. It is up to this hero and his team of friends to stop the end of the world. Capcom stopped making games in this series, except for a few terrible cellphone titles.