Super Play's Top 600 Super NES Games: #150 - #101

#150: Michael Jordan in Chaos in the Windy City

83% A high-quality platform game, hidden under a bizarre plot and a great deal of licensing. A pretty rare thing these days and all the more laudable for it. Hooray!

#149: Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius

83% As slick as ever and truly funny in bits but nothing innovative. Just the same timeless blasting gameplay we all know and love.

#148: John Madden '93

83% A real improvement over the original John Madden game, though mostly it's through cosmetic differences. Not quite as good as it could have been, mind and probably not quite as good as the Mega Drive version (though that's a matter of opinion), but still an excellent American football game that's unquestionably the best on the SNES. Hurrah for Electronic Arts!

#147: Jurassic Park II

83% A brilliant intro leads you into a tough, varied game with a shade too much standard platforminess to make it a classic. But stay with it and not only will you be a better gamer, but you'll have a lot of fun.

#146: R-Type III

83% A bit of a hackneyed theme, I know, but it's a very polished presentation with some great, frantic action and enough challenge to keep even hardened veterans of the shoot 'em up bashing away for quite a while. Even if you've got Super R-Type, play this. It's been improved to make a more satisfying blast.

#145: Out to Lunch

84% It's fun, it's big and there are lots of ways of approaching it. Out to Lunch is a competent game and contains enough clever animation and characterization to make it rise above the rest of the crowd, take a bow and regain its seat gracefully.

#144: Pac-In-Time

84% If your faith in platformers need reaffirming, try Pac-In-Time -- it's one of the most playable and polished examples available.

#143: WWF Raw

84% Bigger, better, more. That's what you get here. But at a price. Royal Rumble owners should have to go first, but other grapple-fans should suplex their wallets onto the counter and start the count.

#142: Super Dunk Shot (NCAA Basketball)

84% Technically accomplished and really playable with it. What more could you possibly want from a basketball game?

#141: Soccer Kid

84% Okay, it seems to be a platform game with an annoying ball to control. But give it a bit of time and you'll see what it's actually jolly great and deserves to get some serious slot-time in your SNES.

#140: Hebereke's Popoon

84% A great game, with smashing Japanese samples and a classic eight-player tournament mode. But it's partially eclipsed by Super Puyo Puyo, which remains that tiny bit more playable.

#139: Super Putty

84% Not entirely compulsive, despite its weirdness: but Putty remains slick, humorous, and puts much of the competition to shame.

#138: Pop 'N Twin Bee

84% A great looking shoot 'em up -- with imaginative backdrops and absolutely gorgeous sprites. Like Axelay (another Konami game) it features some, but not really enough, enjoyable gameplay, but ultimately lacks fast-paced excitement and, on the easy levels at least, challenge. We defy anyone to resist its appeal, though.

#137: NBA Live '95

84% Bot an NBA Jam clone, and a jolly good basketball game. You'll need to know your 'hoops' if you're to stand a chance of getting the best out of it.

#136: WWF Wrestlemania

84% With only six players this does tend to get repetitive, even with all the options on offer, but it's still a graphical achievement and very funny. Into the bargain.

#135: Puzzle Bobble

84% Not quite up there with Tetris and Puyo Puyo, but a great little puzzle game nonetheless -- especially with two players taking part.

#134: The Lost Vikings

84% A slow, plodding game, and one which many people will hate. But if you're the puzzley sort, prepared to put in the brain-work, it's, er, Viking brilliant!

#133: Madden NFL '95

84% Pretty much the same as Madden '94. The changes are minimal. Which still means it's good.

#132: Aero the Acro-Bat

84% A strange one, but once you give it a chance you'll be hooked. Aero handles well, and you'll learn to live with the tricky, but cavernous, early levels. What puts it in the 'very good' league is its sheer size and variety. Just when you're bored with a game-type, it's gone and there's something new there. So, Aero the Acrobat is a good chap in my book.

#131: Ninja Warriors

84% Despite its modern ninja-ness, it's got an old-fashioned feel. But, as the game is done well, Ninja Warriors is worth checking out.

#130: FIFA '96

84% FIFA was beginning to look badly dated and, true enough, '96 looks and feel like a much more modern game. But despite some improvements, the same problem as before -- over inertial players, for starters -- still leave it in the chasing pack behind International Superstar Soccer.

#129: Samurai Shodown

84% A jolly good beat 'em up, but you'll want more for your money, and you'll wonder if there isn't more, hiding in the vastness of the 32 megs. Still, it's fast, different and packed with moves, combos and weirdness. Wealthy fighting fans, here you go.

#128: Alien 3

84% Nice graphics and clever animation help to make Alien 3 both an enjoyable game and a splendid rendition of the film. Hurrah!

#127: Super Smash TV

84% Not for the squeamish, or those who like to put a bit of thought into their shooting. Be warned, though: It can eventually get monotonous, and the bosses are unreasonably though.

#126: Super Turrican 2

84% It's a bit like the new Elastica album -- forget originality and enjoy a load of old cliches done with energy and style. Short-lived but intense gaming action.

#125: SimCity

84% This probably isn't the most technically accomplished game around, but it's definitely the one that'll keep you from going to bed for longest. Surprisingly user-friendly too.

#124: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time

84% Turtles fans will really adore this. Others will regard it as a competent, smart-looking but thin beat 'em up that might not last them very long. Actually, both would be right.

#123: Killer Instinct

85% Not arcade perfect, of course not, but a conversion that totally captures the essence of the original. Killer Instinct is surely the last word in side-on beat 'em ups.

#122: Nigel Mansell F1 Challenge

85% The best Formula One game on the Super NES. But, while it does what it does extremely well, it's a teeny bit straight-laced. High on thrills, low on frills -- that just about sums it up.

#121: Fighter's History

85% Others will trounce this for being overtly derivative, but that's exactly why it's such a damn fine game. Can't wait for Super Street Fighter II? Got Turtles? Have a look at this.

#120: Clay Fighter

85% Clay Fighter has got the best soundtrack of any fighting game ever. There's loads of speech and marvelous effects. The graphics, too, are unlike anything ever seen before in a combat game. But the playability can't quite live up to the incredible looks and sounds. Still, it is fun and, although the humour wears off, it's a fab game with some real depth to it.

#119: NBA Give 'N Go

85% It's arcade action all the way. For real-world accuracy go for NBA Live '96 but in pure fun to play terms this really gives NBA Jam a run for its money.

#118: PGA Tour '96

85% Lots of options, plenty of holes and a steep learning curve make for a top-notch simulation.

#117: Populous

85% This is an all-time computer classic. Relaxing, impossibly compulsive and nice to look at, too. But be prepared for things to get tough later on, and frustration to set in when you start losing.

#116: Unirally

85% Unirally is better than it looks. But it's a quirky game, and will appeal to the sort of people who love shaving hundredths of a second off their best times. Possibly Super Mario Kart fans.

#115: Magical Drop

85% A brilliantly enjoyable puzzle game. It's immense fun in one-player mode because you can just keep going and going. Even more fun in two-player mode, of course. It takes 10 minutes to get the basics, and days to discover the finer points of creating and setting off these opponent-hurting chain reactions. Magical Drop is a must for competitive puzzle fans.

#114: Mortal Kombat 3

85% A well-balanced fighting game, faithfully recreating the coin-op original in gameplay. But one which would have benefited from some more attention in the presentation department.

#113: Madden NFL '94

85% At last! An American football game for the SNES that's worth buying. So go out and buy it.

#112: Shadowrun

85% If you can cope with the size and cerebral nature of the puzzles, then Shadowrun is a very playable and enjoyable game.

#111: 2020 Super Baseball

85% 85% for a baseball game -- it's outrageous! Well, it would be if 2020 Super Baseball wasn't the slick, challenging and hugely enjoyable game it is. Fabulous with two players, this isn't baseball as you know it. We've got a great Neo Geo conversion at last.

#110: Axelay

85% Graphically awesome. But even Axelay's greatest fans will have to admit that, gameplay wise, the whole thing is just a little thin. A really nice game to have, though.

#109: Earthworm Jim 2

85% Even more laugh-filled than the first game, and not a runaway mine-cart in sight. If you've got loads of spare money, definitely buy a copy.

#108: Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts

85% A top-class platform game only spoiled by a high difficulty level and awkward game structure.

#107: Kirby's Tee Shot

86% Puzzly cute golf battling? It's more promising than it sounds. Once you get into Kirby's little world, you'll find it more absorbing than you might imagine. And it's got a great two-player mode, too.

#106: Side Pocket

86% Oh, did I mention that great selection of cocktail-lounge tunes? Well, I should have done. There, I'm mentioning them now. And Side Pockets is even better because of them. Consider it and prepare to be tempted.

#105: Super Morph

86% An intriguing idea and an utterly compelling one at that. For puzzle-oriented platform fun, don't let Morph slip you by.

#104: Super NBA Basketball

86% The flat side-on viewpoint works very well in this slickly animated, very accurate and real-life statistic-packed basketball game. A must-uy for fans of the sport, but well worth considering by the rest of us too.

#103: Utopia

86% They've had a nice idea and made a nice Super Nintendo game of it. Uptopia requires concentration and common sense rather than reactions, but you'll still get excited. It's a classy game and guaranteed to keep you up after bedtime.

#102: Tetris Battle Gaiden

86% An idea which held as much potential as Mario Fighter. Thankfully, Bullet-Proof Software were on hand to propagate a sickly seedling into a rare rose. Or something.

#101: Lemmings

86% Like a little world of its own inside a cartridge. A real investment.