The 10 Best SNES Games of All Time

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES for short, is arguably one of the best consoles ever released. To this day it has remained a cornerstone of gaming for well over two decades, living on through emulation (despite Nintendo’s persistent fight against ROM sites) and most recently Nintendo’s own Virtual Console releases and SNES Mini plug-n-play console. It not only carried on classic franchises from the 8-bit NES era, such as Metroid, Zelda and Super Mario, but improved upon these classic games in ways that cemented their status in pop culture forever. It even gave birth to new franchises such as Star Fox and F-Zero, that still live on today in some form.

Personally the SNES was part of my introduction into the world of video games. In addition to playing classic DOS games on my dad’s PC, the SNES was my mother’s foray into video gaming and one of the perks of growing up with separated parents was that I got exposed to both things at once. I would play DOS games while at my father’s place and while at home the SNES was my go-to source of interactive electronic entertainment.

So as a nostalgic celebration of this legendary console, I will be listing my personal top 10 games for the SNES. Keep in mind that if your favorite game is not on this list, it does not in any way mean that game is bad, it simply means the game is not one of my favorites. The SNES has one of the best game libraries in the world and with so many great titles to choose from, no matter what you do a lot is going to be left out. So without further ado, let’s get to the meat. Here are my top 10 best SNES games of all time.

10 X-ZONE

If you own a Super Scope, and have grown tired of the pack-in “Super Scope 6” cartridge, I highly recommend giving X-Zone from Kemco a try. At heart it’s pretty much a straight up light gun railshooter, where the entire goal is to make it to the end of the game in one piece.

A unique feature of the game is that it uses the Super Scope’s cursor button to display a cursor on screen as opposed to using the Super Scope’s actual scope. This means you don’t necessarily need to hold the Super Scope on your shoulder, but can hold it more like a rifle and aim with the on-screen cursor. The on-screen cursor is necessary in either case for firing your secondary weapon. A key feature of the game is that you can target enemies’ weakpoints and fire missiles at them when you let go of the fire button. Mastering this game mechanic is pretty much key to winning the game on Hard mode, which is what you need to do in order to get the best ending.

The game sports some pretty impressive graphics for the console, with an airdiving stage opening the game and utilizing the SNES’ great Mode 7 graphics to an impressive effect, similar to Pilotwings. It also features a pretty rocking soundtrack. If anything is holding it back in particular I would say it’s a bit short, but being more of an arcade game, it can be forgiven and is pretty fun to play through once in a while.

What I like the most about the game is that while playing it I sort of go into a trance-like zen state of just killing everything on screen, and it feels strangely satisfying. The game throws a constant barrage of enemies at you, with your survival dependent on how quickly you can shoot everything flying at you before it hits you and takes away precious shield energy. Enemies will drop frequent P symbols though, which you can shoot to recharge your shield a bit.

9 THE MAGICAL QUEST STARRING MICKEY MOUSE

Disney was an absolutely massive part of my childhood. As a child of the 90’s I grew up right in the middle of the Disney renaissance, with great movie after great movie coming out and the Disney TV shows airing on Saturday mornings. So it goes without saying there was a fair bit of Disney on the video game market as well. Capcom was mostly in charge of these games, as they had been during the 8bit era as well, and their pedigree for quality was practically unmatched at the time. Disney chose their developers wisely during this era and it shows.

There are a ton of great Disney games on the SNES, with movie tie-ins such as Aladdin and The Lion King being particularly memorable. But one of the Disney games that I played the most growing up was The Magical Quest, starring the one and only Mickey Mouse.
The premise of the game is that Pluto has been taken by the evil emperor Pete to his castle, and Mickey must go to rescue him. He’s not alone however, and aided by a magician and his trusty friends Goofy and Donald, Mickey soon gains an arsenal of costumes that give him different abilities to overcome the challenges ahead of him.

The game features a lot of different gameplay elements that keeps it constantly fresh and challenging. It’s not a massive game and can be completed in one sitting, but it has some of the best music, graphics and level design of its era and all with the distinct Capcom style that their games had during this era.

The game doesn’t really follow any specific Disney IP but it feels very inspired by the short films with Mickey and Pete, and feels more like its own original story, which I like since it puts it on its own compared to tie-in games. I definitely recommend giving it a try if you’re a Disney fan like me and need something to play that’s a bit different than Aladdin or The Lion King.

8 STAR FOX

During the SNES era, most games on the console were 2D and while the SNES was capable of delivering pseudo-3D effects such as Mode 7 which was used to great effect in games like F-Zero, Pilotwings, Super Mario Kart and the SNES port of Doom, it was widely believed that true real-time 3D rendering was impossible on the console. That’s until the folks at Argonaut came up with a brilliant idea. The idea was to instead of relying on the SNES’ CPU to do the 3D, they would create a specialized co-processor that would do the actual 3D graphics, essentially making the Super FX chip the first industry standard GPU. It allowed the creation of what initially started as a tech demo for this new chip, Star Fox.

Star Fox eventually grew into a game of its own, utilizing the Super FX chip to create graphics that up until this point had never been seen on the SNES, using shaded polygons to create 3D shapes that would make up the game’s world and creatures. It achieved this while maintaining a mostly acceptable framerate and the game itself is a pretty good game all things considered and not just a tech demo.

It follows the exploits of the Star Fox crew, a team of ace pilots consisting of Fox McCloud (the main character), Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare and Slippy Toad, lead by general Pepper. All of the characters are anthropomorphic animals who speak in a sort of gibberish language due to the SNES’ limited audio capabilities (although the game does feature actual speech samples at several points). The game is a straight up rail shooter, where you go through levels while avoiding obstacles, shoot enemies and do your best to stay alive until you face the level boss and head on to the next level, until you reach the final boss, Andross.

Back in the day, whenever I wanted to show off what the SNES could do, this was always the game I would show to friends, rather proudly as I didn’t have any more advanced consoles at the time. To this day I am still amazed by what this game pulled off on a console that shouldn’t be able to do what it did, and the Star Fox series is now one of my favorite Nintendo franchises, and possibly a major reason why I later became a part of the furry fandom (I also blame Sonic SatAm for this).

7 SUPER MARIO KART

Before 1993’s Star Fox amazed us with its true 3D rendering wizardry thanks to its Super FX chip, there were a few other games that equally impressed gamers with more pseudo-3D effects. Mode 7 was a central part of several SNES titles, most notably F-Zero, Pilotwings and this one, which is the one I’ve played the most and have the strongest personal relationship with.

It was a game my mother picked up on a road trip, and it quickly became one of the most played games on our console, thanks in large part due to the fact we didn’t really have any racing games on it. I spent so much time with this game that I eventually beat it on the 150cc mode, a feat I remain somewhat proud of to this day and even playing it for this list, I managed to beat the 100cc mode easily. That is until I got to the special cup and its expert-level tracks that I felt a bit too rusty to deal with. At least I got a sweet screenshot from the first Rainbow Road track in the series in all its Mode 7 glory.

If you have never played Mario Kart, or only recently got into it, then this is probably a good game to check out since it was the very beginning of the franchise. As such it has very different gameplay compared to later titles, but several fun multiplayer modes, and a lot of unique elements that would never show up in the series for a long time, such as the feather powerup and gathering coins. In my opinion it remains extremely playable today, and is probably the most accessible racing game on the SNES.

6 TERRANIGMA

The SNES is probably one of the best consoles for the RPG genre, with games such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI being some of the biggest classics on the console that remain widely enjoyed today. My personal favorite action RPG on the SNES however is a little game called Terranigma. It shares similar themes to a couple other games, Soul Blazer and Illusion Of Gaia. All of these games were developed by the same team, Quintet, and are widely considered part of a spiritual trilogy.

That being said, if you are going to play one of these games I highly recommend Terranigma as it is the one that has grabbed my attention the most. It’s arguably one of the biggest and deepest games on the SNES, with an epic story that spans space and time and history itself, telling an alternate Earth history unlike any I’ve experienced before. You play as Ark, a young boy and a bit of a troublemaker who lives in the underworld, one day finds a box hidden away in his Elder’s basement. Upon opening the box, he sets in motion the awakening of the surface world, which at this point is an uninhabitable wasteland.

The story is told extremely well through its dialogue and grabbed me unlike most games of this era ever has. The game has some of the best music and visuals of its era, using sometimes digitized real photographs for its artwork. It’s honestly one of the most engrossing games I’ve ever played and while I have yet to beat it, I can honestly say it’s one of my favorite games on the SNES and if you’re at all a fan of 16-bit action RPG’s, then please give this game a try. I can promise you won’t regret it. Sadly the game was never released in the US, only Japan and Europe, so finding a copy might be a bit difficult if you live in the US, but no matter how you choose to play it, it’s worth playing for sure.

5 WARIO’S WOODS

Growing up, Wario’s Woods was my mother’s game of choice, which is understandable given her taste in gaming has always been on the casual side (she’s pretty much exclusively a mobile gamer nowadays) which is a massive difference from myself. But this game is something both she and I enjoyed immensely growing up, and one we’ve both gotten really good at.
It’s basically a puzzle game where you have to match 3 or more monsters of the same color then use a bomb of the same color to blow them up until all the monsters are destroyed, while trying to keep a massive Thwomp from crushing you as it moves lower and lower the more monsters are on the level. Some monsters will require special tricks to destroy such as non-standard patterns or destroying twice. While you’re playing, two different creatures will be shown on top of the screen. A fairy and some kind of insect (a fly maybe). The fairy will spawn bombs for you to use but the fly will spawn more monsters to destroy. In the “Round Game” mode, the fairy belongs to Birdo who cheers you on, while the fly belongs to Wario who kind of just wants to screw your day over.

The game features several modes, both for multiplayer and single player.
The “VS Com” mode where you have to clear your screen before the computer opponent does. You face increasingly difficult levels and increasingly skilled players until you eventually face off with Wario himself, who serves as the final opponent, after which you beat the game.
The “VS 2P” mode is similar to “VS Com” except you play against a human opponent, choosing a skill level, amount of monsters and so forth before seeing who can clear their screen first.
The “Round Game” is a mode where you finish increasingly difficult levels with nothing to worry about save for screwing it up.
“Time Race” is a mode where you simply try to finish levels as fast as possible, and get graded based on how fast you are.

Finally there’s a “Lesson” mode where you can learn the game’s mechanics through different challenges which is great to introduce beginners to the game.
If you’re a fan of classic puzzle games such as Tetris and Dr. Mario, definitely give Wario’s Woods a try. I can’t tell you how many hours I have spent playing it but it’s incredibly addictive. Unfortunately I haven’t seen the SNES version on the Virtual Console, only the NES version, which I find strange as it is inferior to the SNES version in every way, but has the distinction of being the last official NES game ever released, for whatever it’s worth.

4 TMNT IV – TURTLES IN TIME

It’s probably as difficult imagining the early 90’s without the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as it is imagining the 80’s without Duran Duran. They were pop culture icons, omnipresent in our collective youth to the point where I don’t think anyone I knew hadn’t either watched the animated series, bought the toys or played the games. And TMNT IV is probably the one we all played the most, not just among my friends but in general.

To this day it remains one of the best arcade ports ever, to the point where it even surpassed it, adding new mechanics, new stages and being just all around a superior experience. This was the era that to a lot of gamers cemented Konami as one of the best developers of their era, with titles like this, TMNT Tournament Fighters and Super Castlevania IV. And I probably don’t need to go into what Konami is to gamers nowadays…

Regardless, if you’re looking for a fun 2 player co-op brawler, you really REALLY can’t go wrong with TMNT IV. It features some of the best music on the SNES, some of the most fun gameplay, the best stages and of course, some of the most iconic characters of its decade. It’s not without reason this game has remained a popular cult classic, to the point it received a rather disappointing remake not too long ago. So instead of playing that, just grab some pizza, a friend or two and pop this cartridge in for some good times. Cowabunga!

3 B.O.B.

I will admit, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a top 10 list with this game and probably for a good reason. A lot of my love for this game is tied to my own nostalgia and memories of playing the absolute crap out of this game back in the day.
Before the days of the internet and access to pretty much every game ever made for a system, you were often stuck with what you had, and you’d get good at what you had because it was all you had. B.O.B. is such a game for me. It was included with the system my mother bought and of course, having already played Duke Nukem on my dad’s DOS PC, I really fell for its sci-fi aesthetic and run’n’gun gameplay.

Story-wise the game is dead simple and almost hilarious in how arbitrary it feels. It’s about a teenage robot going on a date. He takes his dad’s car, crashes on an alien planet, has to make his way to find another ride using an arsenal of powerful weapons and gadgets he picks up on the way, and that’s the entire setup for the game. I swear I’m not making it up. And the story has practically no impact on the gameplay itself, it’s just an excuse for the character to do this stuff. Though I find it hilarious that this character is doing mass genocide of alien creatures in order to go on a date with another robot. Can robots procreate? Is this turning into Blade Runner? Eh, let’s just not read too deeply into this…

2 SUPER MARIO ALL-STARS

The concept of HD remakes is pretty common today but the concept itself is hardly new to gaming as a whole. Already back in the early 90’s, Nintendo released probably the most famous example of an early HD remake, Super Mario All-Stars, a 16-bit collection of the first 3 Super Mario Bros. titles, including both the international and Japan versions of Super Mario Bros. 2, all remade with 16 bit graphics and sound. Later copies even included the 4th game, Super Mario World, making it one of the most substantial game packages of its time.

It’s probably needless to say how big Mario was at the time. He was practically the face of console gaming itself, having saved the US from a home console video game crash in the 80’s. And all of his titles are some of the most solid platformers ever released. The Mario games have a unique quality to them, an almost kinetic connection with your controller and Mario on the screen. Super Mario World in particular is the game I probably played the most growing up, and to this day it remains my absolute favorite in the franchise. But in my opinion all 4 of these games are absolute classics that everyone should play at some point.

1 SUPER METROID

My first experience playing Super Metroid was ironically not growing up. It came much later, when I was in my teens and had just started getting into emulation and exploring games that I had never had the chance to play growing up. And Super Metroid became the strongest experience I had coming from this time in my life.

The only enduring image I had of Super Metroid was from an ad poster that came with one of our games growing up, and it was the image above, the statue of the four bosses. This image evoked a lot in me when I looked at it, most of all it envoked a deep curiousity. What type of game was this, who were these creatures, what was it about? All of these questions became answered much later when I finally sat down to play Super Metroid after a decade of waiting.

I had probably never felt so deeply engrossed in a 16 bit game before. I mean, sure, I had played the crap out of other SNES games before this, but Metroid was something else.
The atmosphere. The story that was told exclusively through visual cues, without a single word of dialogue. The amazing soundtrack filled with industrial sounds and haunting melodies. Foreboding levels that seemed daunting yet inviting. The unforgettable boss fights that had all kinds of hidden strategies in them.

And that moment when you’re about to die at the hands of Mother Brain, when the titular Super Metroid sacrifices its life to save you… All of this added up to make what in my eyes is the best Super Nintendo game ever made.

I’ve played a lot of SNES games, but none feel as complete, cohesive and all around solid as Super Metroid does. It feels purposeful, like nothing is wasted. It creates such a massive vast world within itself that feels alive and real despite using only 2D art and 16 bit sound. It’s a testament to how a strong vision can often be more important than hardware, when the vision dictates the hardware and uses it to its absolute fullest potential. It didn’t rely on a Super FX chip, it didn’t rely on Mode 7. It was all done in 2D with the SNES’ best strengths in mind. It shows off what was really possible on the system, and for that, I consider it the best.

PC Game Review: MDK

GAME: MDK
DEVELOPER: Shiny Entertainment
PUBLISHER: Interplay
RELEASED: 1997
AVAILABILITY: PS1, PC CD-ROM, GOG, Steam


Murder Death Kill. Mission: Deliver Kindness. Max, Doctor, Kurt. Mother's Day Kisses. It's never been clear what exactly MDK stands for, but what is clear is that MDK is probably one of the best shooters of the 90's, heck maybe even one of the best games of that decade. Coming out in the post-Doom and post-Quake era of gaming, MDK set out to do one thing; shake things up. So in today's review I'm taking a look at one of my all-time favourite games, Shiny Entertainment's 1997 masterpiece MDK.

Look out below!

Dr. Fluke Hawkins, the genious who many disregarded as a raving madman and exiled to a space station surrounding the Earth, was the first one to discover the energy beams coming towards our planet. Then one fateful day it happened. The stream riders, a species of aliens never before seen in our galaxy, invaded the planet with massive city-sized tanks that began leveling entire countries to the ground. A time of crisis indeed. But the doctor had an ace up his sleeve. His cybernetic dog assistant Max and his janitor Kurt Hectic, who he outfitted with a tight androgynous kevlar "coil" suit, complete with a built-in parachute and sniper helmet (with detachable machine gun). It is now Kurt's mission to deliver kindness to the invaders and destroy the minecrawlers before they reach the remaining cities on Earth.

MDK's story is directly tied to its gameplay, and doesn't have much of an impact on the overall game save for its core mechanics. Each stage begins with an airdiving sequence towards a minecrawler, in which you have to avoid a trackling laser and homing missiles, while gathering supplies that Dr. Fluke is dropping in after you. The trick here is just to take as little damage as possible before the stage begins.

GERONIMOOOOO!

After this initial airdiving sequence you find yourself at the minecrawler, where you will have to traverse multiple areas before reaching the minecrawler's commander, who serves as your boss fight for that minecrawler. There are 6 minecrawlers in total with a 7th level taking place at the Streamriders' home planet where you have to face down with the final boss, the Streamriders' feared leader, Günther Glut. While this means the game is somewhat short, each of the levels are divided into multiple arenas, each presenting a unique challenge and often connected via tunnels or roads that can provide fun minigames such as a snowboarding cruise. The game is probably one of the least repetitive I've played in terms of gameplay, given that the levels provide you with multiple types of challenges that not often can be solved by simply shooting everything (although this game IS a shooter so you will be doing a lot of it). One of the most groundbreaking aspects of the gameplay though is the sniper helmet you are equipped with. Taking your machine gun and attaching it to your helmet, the gun converts into a sniper rifle that can take several kinds of ammunition and can zoom in at extreme distances without losing clarity. MDK is probably the first shooter or 3D game of its kind that I know of that allows you to do this, and it's an incredibly impressive feat at the time. There is also an incredible attention to detail in the damage you can do to enemies. Shoot an enemy in the foot, and he will drag it around while bleeding, shoot an enemy in the chest and he will fall over and die, shoot an enemy in the head and it pops off, giving you an insta-kill. Sniping is a little clunky given it takes away a lot of mobility from you but it makes up for it in the sheer damage and accuracy you are given in return. One key element of the gameplay is that you're on a timer that counts down to when the minecrawler reaches the city you're saving, shown by the green area outside your health meter. When the timer reaches zero, the city is destroyed. This timer will go down quicker the higher your difficulty level is.

You didn't really need that leg, did you?

The amount of powerups on display is also impressive. And your suit must be implanted with a tracker of some sort because Dr. Fluke will constantly drop supplies for you wherever possible. The super chaingun will upgrade your machine gun with massively increased damage output, but has a limited ammo supply. Hand grenades can be used for a lot of purposes but are really useful for blowing up the numerous grunt factories you'll come across as well as tanks and tougher enemies. The world's smallest nuclear bomb is exactly what it is, except you'll use it for opening door locks. The world's most interesting bomb is also exactly what it is and will draw all enemies in an area towards it before exploding and killing all of them. The tornado is a more advanced bomb that functions similarly to a frag grenade, being a literal tornado that spreads exploding fragments upon detonation in a whirlwind like pattern. The thumper is a hammer-like contraption that causes a minor earthquake. The decoy is a crude puppet of Kurt that somehow fools the aliens who will gladly chase and fire at the decoy instead of you while it's active. There are other fun powerups as well like the Earthworm Jim powerup which launches cows at enemies, and there are also multiple types of sniper ammo to pick up such as sniper grenades which explode when hitting enemies, homing sniper bullets and homing sniper grenades, and mortar grenades, turning your sniper into a grenade launcher. You can also call in an air attack by Max, but this only works in open spaces. There is also numerous healing items to pick up, healing different amounts of health. A candy will heal 1% of health up to 100%, an apple will heal 10% up to 100%, a turkey will heal 50% up to 100% , the vial will bring your health to 100% if it is below it, and finally the monkey box (it will make sense when you see it) will boost you up to 150%. 

Snowboarding leather-clad heroes are the best heroes.

If I were to have any criticisms of the gameplay, then it would be that the game feels a bit too short. After the 7 levels the game offers, you're presented with a music video by French pop rock artist Billy Ze Kick, who does a cover version of "Non Non Rien N'a Changé" by Poppys set to probably one of the coolest music videos ever. I think a lot of the game concepts in MDK are presented but never fully explored further. Powerups such as the world's most interesting bomb only showing up probably 2 times over the course of the entire game, making it feel very underutilized and not fully realized, and the thumper powerup never really feels like it does anything specific for the game and feels kind of pointless. The game itself is very dense though and the amount of variety does make up for its length, I just wish that some parts of the game were further realized and that there was more to it. But of course if you finish a game and wish there was more of it, then that's definitely a good thing. The controls can also feel a bit clunky to use as even though you can map the buttons to a WASD layout, the left and right keys are still used to move you around during airdiving sequences, which can be a little awkward. Otherwise, the game controls really well and plays pretty much like a third person Doom most of the time, with your chaingun automatically aiming at any enemies in front of you.

How post modern. Who knew the aliens were such great architects?

Graphically MDK looks amazing for its time. It's sort of drenched in this really cool dark gothic Giger-esque cyberpunk style that is still extremely unique to this game. Few games of this era look as downright cool as MDK and it pulls off a lot of things that for the time were rather unique such as large open areas, reflective surfaces, a ton of unique textures and shaded polygons, and it has a style that is very much born of mid 90's 3D limitations with its sharp and pointy polygonal geometry. Most impressively it's used actual motion capture for Kurt himself, giving him very natural movement and animation. Kurt is actually a sprite during most of the gameplay save for the airdiving sequences and post-level tunnel sequences. The game was actually made mostly for software rendering, which makes it even more impressive as even in software mode the game looks absolutely stunning at times. It did require a FPU at the time though and was pretty much made for the then recent MMX processors. Using 3DFX Voodoo hardware acceleration doesn't really do much other than allowing the game to run smoother, and doesn't really give that much of a graphical improvement. Same with the Direct3D mode which actually is kind of broken on modern PC's due to lack of legacy support for older DirectX API's. I had to make a fan patch for Steam based on the GOG release which uses nGlide emulation, since the Steam release ships with the broken D3D executable of the game, which I find strange as using the software rendering exe would be more stable. The game has gorgeous backgrounds as well, giving each level a unique theme and feel to it. It's very easy to remember distinct areas and each minecrawler.

These reflective surfaces look much more impressive in actual gameplay. But even in screenshots it looks insanely cool, especially with that background.

Sound-wise the game isn't lacking either. Tommy Tallarico is providing a soundtrack worthy of a Tim Burton movie which does fit the strange, alien and gothic looking landscapes of the game perfectly. Another impressive feat is that instead of relying on CD redbook audio which would've meant the game required the game CD inserted at all times, it streams the music off the hard drive which is very unique for the time. Interestingly the PS1 version of the game does stream the music from redbook audio which gives it slightly higher quality than the PC version though the PS1 version is not as graphically impressive, using a lot of lower resolution textures.
I also love the sound design in the game, with aliens taunting you, whimpering as they quiver in fear when you're bombing them, and shouting at you when they attack. All in all, MDK sounds as good and unique as it looks.

Level design done right.

In conclusion, MDK is arguably one of the most solid 3D games of the 90's, with a distinct visual style that hasn't aged as badly as it may look at first. Despite its short playtime, it's an incredibly rich and diverse experience and if you have never played it, I highly recommend you give MDK a try.

SCORE
STORY: 8/10
GAMEPLAY: 8/10
GRAPHICS: 10/10
SOUND: 10/10

TOTAL SCORE: 9/10

PC Game Review: Messiah

GAME: Messiah
DEVELOPER: Shiny Entertainment
PUBLISHER: Interplay
RELEASED: 2000
AVAILABILITY: PC CD-ROM, GOG, Steam

Warning: There will be SPOILERS in this review.

As far as game developers go, I am kind of sad Shiny Entertainment aren't around anymore. Back when I was young, they made some of the most interesting, impressive and awe-inspiring PC games of all time. After getting their start with Earthworm Jim, the team developed the enormous cult classic MDK which released in 1997 to glowing reviews (and low sales figures). Their games always had a very quirky feel to them and often a dark sense of humor. Today I'm going to take a look at a game that to me embodies everything Shiny Entertainment represented back in those days, before they fell down into the black hole of developing nothing but movie tie-ins. Ladies, gentlemen and everything in between, I present to you: Messiah.

Bob is a working class angel, a cherub, who is given a pretty huge task by his father, the creator.  Earth has become a bit of a cesspool as of late and is in need of some cleaning, so he sends Bob down to deal with it. Of course, once you're there, a few issues present.
1. You're a tiny cherub with no means of defending himself.
2. Society seems to be at war with a race of cannibalistic mutants.
3. A dark figure named Father Prime is trying to open a portal to hell.
So things seem to be a bit more challenging than anticipated. But Bob is given a very useful ability. He can possess any living being and use them as a second skin. And that's where Messiah begins and its main gameplay element is introduced.

Messiah is an absolutely gorgeous game and soaked in a late 90's cyberpunk aesthetic. Some of the levels use very nice dynamic lighting.

Messiah is a game that can be rather deceiving. On the surface it might look like a third person shooter, much akin to Shiny's previous game MDK, but the reality is that Messiah is really a puzzle game at heart and approaching it in any other way will make it insanely hard to progress in the game. So the open nature of the game is in of itself deceiving as the puzzles really only have one solution most of the time and it is more than possible to absolutely ruin any progression if you do something wrong, so saving often and having multiple saves is a must in this game. The game will often put you in a hub of rooms where you will need to possess various types of humans to progress, and may have to kill some people or use stealth to achieve your goal. The game never holds your hand, never tells you the solution, it will drop hints in the environment but other than that, this game is truly more a test of your brain than your reflexes and I hesitate to call it an action game because while it has the elements of one, I spent most of my time in this game just trying to figure out how to proceed. In that sense I would more call it an adventure game in the guise of an action game. The game also rather insidiously messes with your expectations of what it might be. It puts you in control of an angel, a baby even who looks rather innocent but requires you to do a lot of horrible things during the game, creating a very strong contrast with its diaper-clad hero and its themes. During the latter part of the game you're even required to infiltrate a night club in a red light district, filled with drug addicts and prostitutes and strippers. The game is definitely not what I would call child friendly, but it does have a lot of things I think more mature gamers would enjoy.

Dance contest time!

Messiah is a game that surprisingly doesn't take itself too seriously. Sure, it creates a gritty dystopian future where people no longer have a sense of selves, but are just workers and cops, but at least it has fun with its setting, puts humor where it is needed and gives the different human types enough personality to stand out. My favourite moment is when Satan is revealed to be the main villain but his broadcast is broken when his imps, who are quite hard to control, start messing with his stuff. Moments like these feel very typical of Shiny's style and the mix of humor and a very dark and bleak setting feels like a continued exploration of similar themes from MDK (which I will get more into whenever I review it). 

The gameplay mostly revolves around the main possession mechanic that is pretty much introduced the moment the game begins. You will need to possess various humans with different jobs/roles to access new places, for instance only workers can operate machinery or only commanders can access high security areas. Different human types will also react differently to seeing you depossessed. Cops will shoot at Bob if he's not in disguise and will continue to do so if they see him possessing someone. Scientists, workers and other non-aggressive human types will leave him alone though and mostly just act with curiousity. The game puts a lot of attention to details like these which helps a lot in just making the world feel like it's real and developed. It's not exactly Deus Ex levels which I find a bit disappointing, I would certainly have loved if Messiah had some RPG elements where you could talk to people while possessing certain humans. I feel there's a lot of unexplored potential here, so this game could really benefit from a modern remake in my opinion.

News are boring as usual. Dat ass tho.

Despite the somewhat unexplored potential in the game, the game does feel pretty deep for a game of its time. Like I said it's not exactly Deus Ex levels but compared to Shiny's previous game MDK it's a huge step up and a rather different game in tone from that game. But what it does have in common with MDK is probably the enormous variety in gameplay elements. There are moments where you need to shoot everything in sight, moments where you need to be stealthy, and levels that are so straight forward you're pretty much just looking for the way forward. The game's early levels surprisingly proved the most difficult for me. The latter part of the game is actually fairly easy and straight forward and by then you will be fairly attuned to Bob's abilities and the various human types of the game and their roles in society. Story and hints are usually relayed to you through regular messages given to you when your head is ringing, first presumably from God and then later from Satan.

The game's environments consist almost entirely of urban landscapes, exploring various complexes and buildings set to the backdrop of a dystopian city, with some architecture (possibly intentionally) reminiscent of the buildings we saw in their earlier game MDK. The first part of the game largely explores a major human city where there's a bit of a war going on between the upper class of people and a race of mutated cannibalistic humanoids called Chots. This conflict dominates large parts of the early game but is never revisited once you've beaten Father Prime (which only happens in a cutscene, kinda sad they never developed a full boss fight there...) which leaves it feeling somewhat unresolved.

You haven't played a good game until you've possessed a rat to crawl over a sewage duct filled with human bones and intestines.

It quickly becomes obvious though that a lot of the mutants you meet in the game, ranging from Chots to Behemoths are really just results of Father Prime's experiments, so it makes sense that once you've beaten him, they become less of an issue. Later on it becomes a bit unclear whether Behemoths are considered enemies or allies of the cops in the game, given that you'd usually find them in highly secured areas, typically locked up and if you possess them and walk around, cops will usually just ignore you but they will still fire at you. I guess it could imply that they know something is wrong when a Behemoth is loose but still... it was a bit confusing.

The latter part of the game sends you into a place called Sex City where your goal is to infiltrate a night club called Club Kyd (very likely named after Jesper Kyd who made parts of the game's soundtrack). Somehow from there you make your way into a millitary installation and to the Earth's moon where Satan is waiting for you. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, probably cause it shouldn't, but the absurdity of this happening just kinda feels right in this future dystopian city you're in.

The final boss fight against Satan can be tricky until you figure out the correct strategy. But it's one of the best boss fights I've had in any game given it's, like most things in the game, really just one big puzzle.

Combat in Messiah is actually pretty straight forward, and at times required to progress in the game. The game will use an auto-targeting system where you aim in someone's general direction and a reticle will appear on them to signify you are locked in on them. The targeting also works likewise for enemies and if an enemy is locked in on you, you will see a similar reticle appear on your body to signify where you are being shot from. I noticed some issues getting a lock on enemies that were too far away in some parts, though this is rarely an issue due to the scarcity of the battles. The main challenge comes from how you manage your resources in a level and which of the humans you should get rid of and which you should keep and use given how the different groups will interact and how people will react to seeing you outside a body.

Guess I'm wanted.

The weapons in the game are pretty varied. You'll mostly see the shotgun which seems to be standard issue for most cops, but there's also machine pistols (typically carried by Commanders but also some heavy cops). There's also a flamethrower in there because... why not. One of the more notable weapons later in the game is the Maser, a plasma weapon distinctly designed to combat Behemoths who carry pretty bulky armor, but is practically useless against humans (though it does a good job knocking them down for a few secs). Just like people, the weapons are treated more like tools in this game and the Maser comes into play during a section where you're tasked with getting through a bunch of Behemoths. Using the Maser makes this a very easy task but attempting it without it, even by possessing one of the Behemoths, makes it a suicide mission.

The controls can take a bit of getting used to. I would recommend mapping the game to use a more appropriate WASD setup, just keep in mind that the game might feel a bit weird at first since moving the mouse also moves your character's direction. There is a freelook button but it's not possible to move while holding it, and it's not possible to move around in first person either (unless you're possessing a rat or crawling through a duct) which would've been neat. During platforming sections I noticed that Bob's flying mechanic takes some getting used to as I died a lot not being able to reach other platforms. Keep in mind that in order to fly you have to rapidly tap the jump button, not holding it down or tapping it slowly like I assumed.

Whatcha lookin' at?

Graphically the game looks absolutely amazing for its time. On modern system the legacy support is kind of terrible though and sometimes models will glitch out and warp a bit at certain angles, but the environments are absolutely gorgeous, and the game has a very distinct dystopian cyberpunk atmosphere that is so thick you can slice it. The costumes for the various models also makes it very clear what type of human they are. Cops are dressed in protective gear, radiation workers wear radiation suits, scientists have... scientist apparel, Chots are dressed in body suits with gas masks, workers wear overalls and wield welders and welding goggles and strippers, prostitutes and such are very obviously of that profession. The amount of variety in the game is surprising at times, especially in sex city where there are at least 2-3 unique prostitutes/dancers and you'll sometimes come across female cops and cops with riot shields. I can't really find much to complain about with the graphics, for the time this game was state of the art and as a I recall even shipped with some graphics card at the time.

In some areas, cleaner bots (the clawy thing in front) will swoop around and clean up dead bodies which seems like a great in-universe explanation for freeing up game memory.

The game also has amazing sound. The soundtrack, which was made by Tommy Tallarico Studios, Jesper Kyd and others, is mostly ambience and while in most games I am not a huge fan of this style, here it makes total sense as it builds up the atmosphere in the world you're in and since most of the game is spend just exploring, using your brain and figuring out how to work the world around you, a less intrusive soundtrack is actually welcome. There's also a lot of great voice acting, with Bob seemingly voiced by a toddler (who does a pretty good job) and all of the humans will say little things now and then, often somewhat humorously. During combat there's some heavy industrial metal playing, by the band Fear Factory, which fits those situations as it really gets your adrenaline going. There is an option for disabling Fear Factory's music during combat but I highly suggest leaving it on as it adds a lot of welcome diversity to the game's soundtrack. As a note, it seems the GOG version of the game has some Spanish speech on the included soundtrack which is at times really distracting and pops up seemingly at random. I tried googling this but found no other mention of it so either there is no fix for it or people just don't care. It's not a major issue, and I haven't tested the Steam release for it, but something to be aware of.

I feel... big.

All in all Messiah is a really quirky, really fun, and really REALLY challenging game due to how it constantly catches you off guard. But you'll not likely ever play anything like it again and despite its flaws, I highly recommend playing it at least once. Getting it running on modern systems can be a bit of a hassle but I think it's worth it. It offers a massive world to explore, absolutely unique gameplay both for its time and even today, and if you love other Shiny games like MDK, Sacrifice and Giants: Citizen Kabuto, then you owe it to yourself to play it.

SCORE
STORY: 8/10
GAMEPLAY: 7/10
GRAPHICS: 10/10
SOUND: 10/10

TOTAL SCORE: 8/10

Top 10 Anticipated Games of 2018

After E3 has run its course, and left us with a mixed bag of disappointments and incredible gaming news, I feel it's time to throw my proverbial hat into the ring and list the announced games that I feel the most hyped about this year. I am currently saving up for a new gaming PC and cannot wait to dig into these games soon with new specs to match the demands. So without further ado, let's dig in!

10. FALLOUT 76
 
Ever since the release of Fallout 3, me and my friends have thought to ourselves "you know, this would be a lot more fun if you could actually play together". And it seems Bethesda has thought the same thing as they have wrestled with the idea for a while and now come up with an answer to our collective prayers for a multiplayer Fallout game. Fallout 76 apparently will be a sort of MMORPG thing with a large focus on co-op and building settlements. So far it's looking really promising and I can't wait to explore West Virginia with my friends. I think the thing we really liked so far is that you really don't seem forced into a certain role. You can do crafting, and selling items like food seems to be a legit thing in the game. So it seems like a game where people can assume the roles they want and not everyone has to be warriors. Definitely excited to dig into that game this November.


9. ANTHEM
 
Anthem is a game I've actually been fairly hyped about ever since it was first announced. And I know a lot of people have said they're on the fence about that cause of Mass Effect Andromeda. Listen... Andromeda wasn't made by the main Bioware team. It was made by an offshoot team that changed its directors multiple times. This game is being made by a different team with a different director, there is no reason to assume it will be like Mass Effect Andromeda. I actually think Andromeda isn't that bad of a game but I'm planning a review so I won't get ahead of myself there.
Anyway, so far it seems really cool, I love the aesthetic of the Javelin suits and apparently you can customize your freelancer in everything from gender to looks and I absolutely love that. It's going to be a co-op game for up to 4 people with a large MMO-esque open world to explore outside the story instances. And fuck, it's a new IP from Bioware, a studio that for years now have pretty much only done two franchises: Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Just the fact they are doing something new and something still within the sci-fi realm is really cool to me.


8. SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER
Lara's next adventure is coming soon, and what gameplay we saw at E3 showed her sneaking around the jungle in a game where she has inadvertently caused armageddon and is rushing to stop it. I love this idea of her adventures actually having huge ramifications that she never considered and I look forward to playing the game.
Hopefully Lara will be more badass in this game. I'm still a bit tired of "wimpy Lara" from the last couple of games as I grew up with the oldschool Lara, but what I've seen so far looks promising. The devs clearly have written her to be a reluctant badass who will do what it takes to survive in a harsh situation but still holds on to her humanity somewhat. I would just still love for her to turn into a darker character like in the early games and I've been waiting for it to happen for a while now. And for crying out loud, add some dual-wielding pistols to the games at some point soon. Stop teasing us with shots of her holding two pistols and then doing nothing with it.


7. RAGE 2
 
As surprised as I am that RAGE actually got a sequel, I am even more surprised to see it being made by the studio that made the Mad Max game (actually, that's probably not that surprising). As has already been pointed out, the game doesn't look that original. It kind of looks like Mad Max, Doom and Borderlands had a big ol' threesome and this is the outcome. But in the words of Tim Willits: "That's awesome, isn't it?" It truly is.
Not a lot has been shown so far, but it seems they are expanding on the nanotrite abilities more and doing a combat style more similar to Doom 2016. And yeah, can't wait to play it. And hopefully there will be a Switch port for those long train rides where I need a Rage 2 fix.

6. WOLFENSTEIN: YOUNGBLOOD
A co-op Wolfenstein game set in the 80's with two female characters for the first time in the series' history? Sign me the fuck up! Sadly not a lot of gameplay has been shown so far, but it seems you are playing as BJ's daughters (explains why his wife's belly has been so huge in Wolfenstein II) fighting Nazis in an 80's alternate history Paris. I really love how they are just taking this alternate Nazi-fied history further and further and I can't wait to play through this with Kira.


5. BEYOND GOOD & EVIL 2
 
So yeah, Ubisoft yet again teased the prequel to one of their biggest cult games, and they have even announced it will have co-op. The most recent trailer showed something shocking though, that being Jade is apparently a villain in the game. This is most intriguing given she's the hero of the first game and this is allegedly a prequel. How does it all fit in? I can't wait to find out and I really hope it's going to do the first game justice. I still haven't finished the first game so might be time to do so very soon. Regardless, BG&E2 is looking better and better the more we get to see of it.

4. ION MAIDEN
 
As far as shooters go, we haven't seen a Build engine one in ages. So the folks at 3D Realms and Voidpoint figured they'd fix that by making a Build engine FPS prequel to the isometric shooter Bombshell that came out a few years back. What I have played so far is pretty fucking badass and truly feels like a proper 90's shooter up there with greatslike Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior. Apparently there's going to be a physical release with a USB floppy disk, which I am SO going to pre-order when it comes out. I highly recommend giving the early access preview campaign a go just to see what it's all about.

3. DOOM ETERNAL
 
So apparently id are already working on a full blown sequel to DOOM 2016 and just that simple fact is enough to have me giddy for hours. Whatever it's going to be, it's probably going to involve demons, super shotguns and lots of gibs. Hopefully we'll get more info soon cause fuck me this reveal had me so hyped!

2. RESIDENT EVIL 2 HD REMAKE
 
Fuck. Yeah. Resi 2 is without a doubt my favourite Resi game and hearing about it being remade just had me screaming with joy. And what we saw looked absolutely amazing. I absolutely can't wait to revisit Raccoon City in full HD glory when it comes out. Hopefully it will have better controls and camera than the original game too.

1. CYBERPUNK 2077
Everything about this game sounds like it was made for me. Cyberpunk is probably my favourite genre of any medium and this game seems to be absolutely steeped in the aesthetic of cyberpunk. I just love the universe they have created, and it seems like the kind of game I'm going to absolutely immerse myself in for probably years to come once it's out. We've been waiting a long time for it and apparently might have to wait a couple years more (aiming for a fitting 2020 release date) but it seems to be worth the wait.
It sounds amazing, especially with how the world will react to your choices and how they can impact the game world, and how you can create any character you want. And of course there's going to be some nudity and sexy stuff, which I am fine with.
Truth to be told I've never really been into CD Project Red's Witcher series, but this is definitely something that's entirely up my alley, to the point where I'm now using Cyberpunk 2077 wallpapers exclusively for my PC.

So yeah, that was my list. There are several other games I am also anticipating but these are the ones that I feel the most hyped about at the top of my head. Let me know what games you're excited for!

- Alyxx