Super Play's Top 600 Super NES Games: #100 - #51

#100: Super Parodius

86% A very funny, imaginative and ridiculously good fun shoot 'em up. But then Super Parodius gets most of its marks for being funny, imaginative and ridiculously good fun, rather than for having much lastability.

#99: Mr. Nutz

86% Platform gaming at its most pleasurable. Step aside, Tufty -- Mr. Nutz is the new king of the treetops. Hail Mr. Nutz! Hail.

#98: Final Fight

86% A star beat 'em up, though that two-player options would help a lot.

#97: F-Zero

86% Fast, furious, frantic, fun -- and if not quite up there with Super Mario Kart, great all the same. Buy it.

#96: NHLPA Hockey

87% An excellent, fast and furious, ice hockey sim, only let down by slightly jerky graphics and the fact that the actual game of ice hockey seems fairly tactic-free. One of EA's best though, and brilliant with two players.

#95: Macross

87% It's a shoot 'em up, it's got anime robots in, it's well-paced, it's got lots of variety, it plays just perfectly -- it's everything a SNES game should be. Three cheers for our chums in Japan.

#94: Boxing Legends of the Ring

87% A fab boxing game that's easier to pick up than most beat 'em ups, but has enough variations to outlast them all. Really bruising graphics and vicious sound put it in a different league to other fighting games. A great change from tired Street Fighter II rip-offs.

#93: Populous 2

87% They've done a good job here. The game is definitely better than before. But it's one to play in the dark watches of the night; it's not action all the way.

#92: Super Dropzone

87% All the hopelessly lovable, blood-buzzingly furious attraction Defender and a level structure (10 per planet, six planets to beat). But O! those cruelly appended flaws.

#91: Super Aleste

87% Lovely looking and a gorgeous sounding shoot 'em up which really shows everyone that lots of sprites and no slow-down can be done. The only weak points are the game life (it's too easy) and an over reliance on (admittedly excellent) weapons. This is still the current benchmark game.

#90: Batman Returns

87% Konami have consolidated their position at the forefront of Super Nintendo development once again, producing both an excellent film conversion and a brilliant beat 'em up.

#89: Clay Fighter II

87% There are a wider range of characters and a decent amount of moves in this sequel. The sounds are smart too, but the joke's worn just a little thin the second time around. The gameplay's improved, but not enough to make it rank alongside THE BIG TWO. It's great fun, but feels a little lost.

#88: Sunset Riders

87% Contra in stetsons. This is a faithful conversation of a classic arcade game. And it's a damn good blast in its own right. Go get it, er, pardner. (Sorry.)

#87: Wild Guns

87% It's an arcade-style game with no pretensions to be anything else. This target-led balster has it over Lethal Enforcers. You don't get a gun; you can't even use a mouse, but it's still great.

#86: Mickey Mania

87% From a technical and graphical point of view, this is one of the strongest SNES titles yet produced. And it plays almost as well as it looks, too. A great platform game. Yes.

#85: NBA Jam

87% What a classy game. NBA Jam fever should sweep the nation, if there's any justice. It's got slick gameplay, great visuals and a hyper addictive four-player mode. Simple, yet compelling. Fun.

#84: Xandra's Big Adventure

88% A wonderfully versatile and highly unusual game that, as a slightly bizarre trip into Japanese eccentricity and mysticism, is hard to beat. Despite some infuriating sections, this is highly recommended, especially to hardcore gameplayers. One thing is for certain -- no-one will finish this in a hurry.

#83: Dragon

88% A different sort of fighting game, and tough enough to last. Dragon is certainly one to consider next time you get itchy fists.

#82: Dungeon Master

88% A hugely interactive RPG by current Super NES standards, but complicated and fiddly enough to put off many casual gamers completely. Despite being slower than the original, this is still -- yes, you guessed it -- a classic game. Even after all these years.

#81: Civilization

88% Proof that appearances really can be deceptive. A totally absorbing, but very complicated game. Prepare to say goodbye to your social life for many months.

#80: Front Mission

88% Not for everyone, agreed, but Front Mission is the most playable wargame ever to grace the SNES. It's also the finest game of the year, to date.

#79: Jimmy Connors' Pro Tennis Tour

88% A really great tennis game that simply begs to be played -- especially with four players. Plenty of options too. However, it does demand that you spend loads of time really learning those controls.

#78: Lemmings 2

88% A great Amiga game makes a great SNES game, too. Those with low frustration thresholds may need to approach it with caution, though.

#77: Micro Machines 2

88% Not a game for the faint-hearted, perhaps, but a veritable laugh riot in multi-player mode.

#76: Septentrion

88% 'Original' isn't a word you can chuck around liberally when talking about most Super Nintendo games, but Septentrion really is. In fact, despite its inspiration, buying this would be no 'disaster'. BUT! Only if you can put up with the Japanese text.

#75: Rock n' Roll Racing

88% A perfect blend of racing thrills, explosions and bouncy cars with huge shock absorbers, and just the right level of silliness thrown in for good measure. Since it's challenging in both one- and two-player mode, I'd say this one's a must for your collection.

#74: Illusion of Gaia

88% Yes! Another action role-playing game worthy of some attention. It isn't the longest or most challenging title around but it is utterly engaging, wonderfully playable and rewarding in the way only these games can.

#73: Mega Man X

88% It's really just a 16-bit upgrade of the old NES games, though that's hardly a criticism. Smart graphics, neat ideas, but it just falls short of being a classic.

#72: Earthbound

88% An RPG that's very much more than the sum of its parts. If you've got the patience to suffer its cruder elements then prepare to be boggled: There's simply nothing like it on the SNES.

#71: NFL Quarterback Club '96

89% Boasting more depth than Madden and now significantly improved both on the field and presentation-wise, NFL Quarterback Club '96 must be worth serious consideration.

#70: Putty Squad

89% Absolutely charming, with enough 'nice touches' to fill ten ordinary games. And it's miles better than Super Putty.

#69: Striker

89% At last the SNES gets a decent football game (though this still isn't quite a match for Sensible Soccer on the Amiga).

#68: NBA Showdown

89% It's faster than Madden and can get nearly as violent as Smash TV, and no matter how many times you slam dunk the ball and the crowd roars, you still feel good. For once this is a sports sim that's great even if you don't like the actual sports, although the league options mean that rabid basketball fans will get their money's worth.

#67: Soldiers of Fortune

89% Adrenaline. Challenge. Style. Big guns. The four hallmarks of a quality game, in my book. The Bitmap Bros come up trumps again.

#66: Kirby Super Star

89% Pretty much everything you'd expect Kirby on the SNES to be. Slick, colourful and addictive with a difficulty curve just the wrong side of easy. Ignore his distinct lack of street-cred and just enjoy another platform masterpiece, the like of which you won't find on any other platform -- 16 or 32-bit.

#65: NHL Hockey '94

89% If you've ever fancied a shot at ice hockey, now's your chance -- this is the most playable and entertaining example out there.

#64: FIFA International Soccer

89% A cracking conversion from the Mega Drive, plus some extra bits thrown in. Fanatic with a few friends and a genuinely contender.

#63: Jurassic Park

89% The months of frenzied programming have paid off. Jurassic Park is just as ace as the film, which is high praise indeed.

#62: Prince of Persia

89% Prince of Persia's a classic game, and the SNES version has been changed and improved from the original so much it could be mistaken for a sequel. Don't miss it.

#61: Mickey's Magical Quest

89% Gorgeous graphics, lovely sprites, bags of character -- and far too easy. But I still love it to bits. Once again, pure quality from Capcom, make no mistake about it.

#60: Super Star Wars

89% Lots of levels, brilliant graphics, incredible music and a well-paced difficulty curve make this most accurate of film conversions one of the best. It's bugged by slow-down on occasion (but not enough to spoil it).

#59: Tiny Toons Adventures

89% An absolutely gorgeous looking fabulously presented cartoon platform game, with bags of imagination and enough tricky bits to keep you coming back for more. Superb.

#58: Super Bomberman 3

89% A great game with a couple of excellent new multi-player features that, nevertheless, remains overshadowed by the original. But we're dealing in the finer points, here ...

#57: Cannon Fodder

89% It's a brilliant game, is Cannon Fodder. But there's too much trickiness and luck involved to give it that extra per cent that games crave.

#56: Soul Blazer

89% Quintet (the creators of ActRaiser) have produced an extremely polished game here, with great graphics, decent puzzles and a zany plot. If you can tolerate some laughable translations in this American version it's good fun.

#55: Zombies Ate My Neighbors

89% If you liked The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (dir. Ray Dennis Steckler, 1964), then you'll appreciate this game. Even if you didn't, you'll still find it an innovative shoot 'em up with lasting appeal.

#54: Sparkster

89% Games like this are fast becoming rarities. It has style, imagination, surprises and, of course, that vital helping of Konami's special ingredient X. A cracking game.

#53: Desert Strike

90% A truly fabulous game which, prejudices notwithstanding, should be just as popular on the Super Nintendo as it was on the Mega Drive. It really hits the nail on the head, and shows that Electronic Arts can do it on the Super NES after all.

#52: Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt

90% Brilliant graphics, great sound, lots of inventive bits and a nicely pitched difficulty add up to one of Ocean's best ever.

#51: Chrono Trigger

69% You can't have a go at Chrono Trigger for falling slightly short of Final Fantasy's standards, this is still a top quality Square game. A paperback adventure of FF's hardcover epic. Slightly more lightweight in nearly every department, it's still an essential purchase for RPG fans.