Episodes
Hey everyone! We're revisiting two games today. One we really liked the first time we reviewed, and another that we didn't like much at all from the outset, then maybe, kinda softened on it a bit? It's complicated. Actraiser is one of the few games Chase finished for the first time while playing it for the show. Do he and Emmy still like it as much as they once did? And where will they ultimately land on Super Ghouls N Ghosts? Listen and find out.
Published 06/16/24
We decided that there were four games worth talking about from November of 1991, so we've broken them down into two pairs. Today we're talking about Darius Twin and Final Fantasy II. Darius Twin is a pretty solid shooter that lets you play co-op. We really liked it the first time around. Are we going to be as generous to it this time? Okay, but seriously, we're mostly here to talk about Final Fantasy II, right? Known as Final Fantasy IV today, this is the Final Fantasy game with Cid in it....
Published 06/06/24
Published 06/06/24
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to have Stopless Power?* Well imagine no more, cuz we're diving into the pages of yet another issue of Nintendo Power to tell you what all that power felt like back in the early 90s. We've got a lot to discuss here, like Final Fantasy II (and the somewhat dubious art NP made for it), Tom and Jerry (and they're amazing 90s garb), Nester's more sociopathic tenancies, The Flintstones, Freddy Krueger, Faceball, and more. So come join us, won't...
Published 05/31/24
It's time for another edition of Playing with Power. We've covered a lot of really exciting magazines with interesting features. This isn't exactly one of the more exciting magazines we've covered. The most interesting part of this magazine is a cool feature on Metroid (which was a pretty old game by that point) and a celebrity profile for a cast member from Murphy Brown who doesn't actually seem all that interested in video games (not more than the average adult at that time). They can't all...
Published 05/23/24
It’s perhaps never been more dire than it is today folks. January 1994 was a pretty light month to kick off what will end up being the most packed year of the SNES’s lifespan. And while we had two absolute bangers to talk about this month, we’ve reached the end and it’s time to talk about everything else that released, and sadly, it’s a lot of sports titles, cops, military, and a game that even Nintendo Power suggested was a poor investment considering how cheap it would be to buy a deck of...
Published 05/16/24
The hits keep on coming as we venture further into January 1994. But first, we gotta talk a little bit about British Candy. On this week’s episode of SNEScapdes, we’re talking about quirky British platformer Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension. It’s about a ninja, it had Chupa Chup branding in the UK, that’s pretty much all you need to know. We’re also talking about Lester the Unlikely. This is a game with a bit of a reputation. Will Chase and Emmy find this one to be as bad as that reputation...
Published 05/10/24
Hey everyone! This is a big episode for a lot of reasons. First of all, we’re finally in 1994 (the biggest year for the SNES in terms of quantity of games released). Second, we’re talking about one of our favorite games ever made. Third, this is our first “SNEScapades Special” of season two. Finally, and most importantly, we’re talking with our good friend Trevor from Catching up on Cinema. Oh, it’s also almost two hours long. For this new version of SNEScapades Special, we’re letting our...
Published 05/02/24
It’s part 2 of Playing with Power for January 1994. We’re getting the this one started with a bang as we discuss… AN INDEX! Thrilling stuff. But don’t worry, we’ve also 1993 Game of the Year (according to Nintendo Power), some Magic Eye pictures, Batman, more Ninja Turtles, an article all about music on the SNES, and plenty of Dog Action! We also get into the reviews and previews at the end of the magazine. This particular issue was unique with how much Nintendo peeled back the curtain for...
Published 04/25/24
Hey everyone! It’s a new Playing With Power episode. This one is very special, not just because we’re finally in 1994, not just because Megaman X is on the cover, but because this is a big ol’ bonus issue. Which means Chase and Emmy have a LOT to talk about. Megaman X is a huge game for the duo and is going to give them plenty to talk about by itself. But the duo also find time to discuss some other game features that they haven’t gotten to play yet, let Flashback and Claymates. Both of...
Published 04/23/24
We have come to the end of September 1991 once again. Chase and Emmy played these games so long ago, how have they held up? For the most part, not great. In this episode, we talk about Hal’s Hole-in-One, Super Bases Loaded (featuring Ryne Sandburg… kinda), The Chessmaster, HyperZone, Populous, Final Fight, and a special guest appearance by Ultraman: Towards the Future. A lot of these games are somewhat unique on the system and some of them take some pretty big swings, but most of them fall...
Published 04/12/24
Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of SNEScapades. We’re talking shooters today. Oh, and I guess Drakkhen’s here too. The early days of the SNES had plenty of shm’ups to play. Chase and Emmy were a little less kind to Gradius III than they were the first time they encountered it due to all of its slowdown. Today they’re talking about Super R-Type, which is a similar kind of shooter with classic arcade roots. Will it drop in the ranks like its contemporary or will it stay its original...
Published 04/05/24
Hey everyone. Welcome back! It's time for the second part of Playing with Power for September 1991's issue of Nintendo Power. We talked about a lot of Mario World last week. This week we're talking about a whole lot of stuff. We've got Game Boy stuff (like Final Fantasy Adventure), NES stuff (like Kick Master), and more SNES stuff (like Castlevania.) There is so much stuff. Emmy talks about her encounter with American Gladiators, Chase ponders if anyone from The Simpsons actually signed off...
Published 03/29/24
Here we go again! It's time to discuss another issue of Nintendo Power. If you want to follow along, you can do that by checking out the Internet Archive's copy of the issue here! And we have a LOT to talk about in this issue. This is the issue that properly introduced its readers to Super Mario World. That alone makes this a very special issue for Chase, but it's even more special because for him because his had a fun marketing gimmick on the cover. To get readers to renew their...
Published 03/23/24
We've reached the end of another month. And that means it's time to wrap things up with another edition of The Wrap. But before we get to that, we just want to let you all know that we'd love to have folks come on our show to discuss thier favorite SNES games. If you're a fellow content creator, feel free to reach out on Instagram, Youtube, or even Bluesky. Links to all of those are on our website Snescapades.show. You get to pick three SNES games to form the episode around and chat with us...
Published 03/15/24
It's a little bit of a mixed bag today as we reach the final proper episode for the games released on the SNES in 1993.We start with the top-down, Gauntlet-like shooter Soldiers of Fortune (aka Chaos Engine). Not much to say about that one here. There's mutants in it. That's neat. Is that a Gundam? Yes! But they aren't allowed to call them that, so let's just call them Metal Marines. That's the second game on tap for today. Finally, we have a JRPG to cap things off. It's Lufia and the...
Published 03/09/24
Put on your gi, sharpen those sai, and do whatever the heck you were supposed to do in Battle Blaze because it's time to get into the ring! We've got three fighting games to talk about today. And this just might be the batch of games that redeem this less-than-stellar month in SNES games.We're talking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters. It's a fighting game starring the ninja turtles which seems like a combination as obvious as pepperoni and cheese. We'll tell you why we...
Published 03/01/24
Hey folks. We're gonna tell you about a trio of 2D platform games on today's show. We're not going to lie to you. Things start out a little bit dire on today's episode. The first two games feature franchises that didn't last very long. Dr. Franken is a game that answers the question "What if a bunch of boring people tried to make Frankenstein's monster a cool dude?" You get a pretty bland video game. Jim Power: Lost Dimension in 3D seems to ask the question "Can we make gamers motion...
Published 02/23/24
Buckle up, because we've got a need to go really fast in various vehicles. Spiky car? Sounds like fun. Space ship that shoots lasers? Sign me up. Cool cop car? Eh... maybe not that one. We're starting the show talking about Battle Cars which is another Mode 7 racing game where you drive around and try to use weapons to knock the other cars off the road. It's also very Mad Max inspired. Find out if we think this game is off to the races, or if it's just a pile of scrap. Then we're chatting...
Published 02/20/24
It's time for another Playing with Power episode where we crack open the very last Nintendo Power issue for the year 1993. Aladdin is on the cover, so that's pretty cool. In this episode, we tackle all the hard-hitting questions: What is the political leader of Ireland called? Why don't my special moves work in Street Fighter II? Did the idea for the Wii Remote start with an obscure Nintendo system for planes and hotels? What does Bad Mr. Frosty want? Which SNES games were the most awkward?...
Published 02/08/24
We're finishing up August 1991 again, and we're really excited because we get to talk about SimCity again, and we're pretty big fans of SimCity. But first we need to discuss Gradius III and Pilotwings, and we end up making our first shifts in the list. But what where will they end up? Do you think their re-evaluations are fair?Then we get to talk about the SNES's quirky take on the classic game, SimCity. Not only is SimCity a pretty important game, but it's got some interesting history...
Published 02/02/24
Here we are, back where we started. We're talking about two of the most prominent launch titles for the Super NES. Also, our website is back up at snescapades.show. Check it out for show notes, references, and more!First up is F-Zero, which was an amazing showcase of what the SNES's Mode 7 graphics were capable of. We placed it in the A tier when we first talked about it a few year back. Will we be a charitable to this impressive game, or will its lack of features cause it to slip a little in...
Published 01/26/24
Hey everyone. We're going back to the start of this whole crazy thing and talking about the issue of Nintendo Power that came out the same month the SNES hit the market. And it may surprise you to learn that there actually wasn't a lot about the SNES in that issue, but a whole lot about the Game Boy. We're talking about great Ninja Gaiden art, a better Nester's Adventures format, unwieldy (and likely unwanted) contest prizes, Mega Man on Game Boy, and lots more. Oh, and there is SOME...
Published 01/19/24
Welcome, one and all, to the very first edition of The Wrap. This is an episode of SNEScapades where we look at all of the leftover games from a particular month that we didn’t feel was worth one-third of an entire featured episode. Why did we decide to start doing this? Well the first two games on the docket have a lot to do with that. Actraiser 2 is the game that nearly broke Chase and Biometal was so dull that Emmy questioned whether she could continue talking more than a few minutes...
Published 01/11/24
Happy new year, everyone. Sorry our release schedule was so spotty last year. We're hoping to make up for it by starting to go weekly again. Expect these episodes to be recorded FAR in advance, so apologies if we make references that are far out of date. Case in point, this was recorded in October of last year. We know we're making these for at least a month out now so they should get less dated moving forward. So, we're talking about Out to Lunch, Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle, and Clay Fighter in...
Published 01/04/24