The SNES Omnibus, Vol. 2

Today marks the release Brett Weiss' stunner of a book, The SNES Omnibus, Vol.2. A companion to Vol.1, The SNES Omnibus, Vol.2 is a complete encyclopedia of Super Nintendo games N-Z. This includes most of the SNES' immortal, all-time games: 'Super Mario World,' 'Super Metroid,' 'Street Fighter II,' and 'The Secret of Mana¹.' It's a wonderful coffee table title, full of tidbits and illustrations. Each entry includes a brief overview of the game in question, as well as essays by noted (and some less-noted) video game journalists.

Which brings me to...me. Through my work at TecmoBowl.org and (the now defunct) TecmoBowlers, I was referred to Brett as a possible writer for parts of the book. I pitched two essay ideas and Brett was gracious enough to accept.

If you pick up The SNES Omnibus, Vol.2 (and you really should, its a hell of a title), you'll see my byline under entries for 'Super Bomberman' and 'The Secret of Mana.' That I got to write about The Secret of Mana, one of my all-time favorite video games, was a treat beyond words.

And because Brett is such a mensch, he was kind enough to promo the book using my essay for 'Super Bomberman.' You can read it over at his blog.

Read my 'Super Bomberman' essay on Brett Weiss' website.

---

1 Okay, okay, I realize these are all just the letter S, but I assure you there are other great titles for the SNES that begin with other letters N-Z. Like... Uh...'Shadowrun.' Crap. 'Sim City?' Shit, no, that's an S, too. Uh, about about...Pilotwings! Yeah. Pilotwings.^2↩

2 Whoa. There are a LOT of great SNES games that begin with the letter S.^↩

8 Bit Encyclopaedia - Ninja Gaiden 3

What's behind your back?

Sometimes, you beat a video game and watch the credits with a silent swell of satisfaction. Sometimes, you beat a video game and shout obscenities as the boss disintegrates into pixels and then run around the room blasting the double-bird at the dead bastard. Ninja Gaiden III: The Ainceint Ship of Doom¹ falls into the latter category.

Tecmo released Ninja Gaiden III to Japan in late June of 1991 and in America a few months later. Anyone familiar with the game's more popular forebears knows the routine: Ninja Ryu Hayabusa runs and jumps through screen after screen of perilously-placed baddies, slashing everything with his dragon sword. Along the way he collects magical power-ups such as spiraling fireballs and ninja stars. The game reveals plot through cinematic cut-scenes².

Ninja Gaiden III makes small tweaks to this formula. First, Ninja Gaiden III gives Ryu the ability to hang down from and crawl under certain platforms. It's a nice change and allows for more variety in level design. The game's powerup pods also kindly show the prizes within. Opaque pods in previous Gaiden titles often saw Ryu slashing a pod and receiving an unwanted sub-weapon³. Ninja Gaiden III also makes minor adjustments to game physics. Compared to Ninja Gaidens I and II, Ryu jumps smoother and farther.

Ninja Gaiden (1989)
Ryu jumps 4 body lengths

Ninja Gaiden III (1991)
Ryu jumps and floats 4+ body lengths

There's a plot in Ninja Gaiden III but it's terribly contrived and not really worth much mention. The opening cinematic shows Ryu's girlfriend falling from a cliff to her doom, pushed by...[gasp] Ryu! Accused of murder, Ryu quests to clear his name, stumbling onto a vast government conspiracy of clones, genetic experiments and inter-dimensional evil. It's a pity the game falls into such vanilla Anime tropes, as the first two Gaiden games had decent plotting and character development. Here? Not so much--just shut up about plot and go slash some stuff!