Super Play Issue 15

Introduction

The SNES celebrated its second Christmas this issue, and with it the team looked at the best of 1993’s games in their now seasonal Christmas list. They also looked at the games expected to be the hits of 1994, covering all the major publishers. There was also a competition to give away a whole load of Japanese goodies. In the news this month, there was the first notion of 3D games, although the concept of analogue sticks wasn’t quite fully formed - with talk about buttons that moved you in and out of the screen.

There were plenty of high-profile games reviewed in this issue. Classic RPG Secret of Mana scored an excellent 94%, with Zy proclaiming it was the best way to spend Christmas. Aladdin got 81%, with high praise for the graphics and gameplay, but Jonathan simply found it too short to give it any better marks. Super Empire Strikes Back scored 71%, with Jonathan praising the graphics and sound but again finding it too short, and with the difficulty fluctuating it was hard to get to grips with. Sensible Soccer also scored 91% and TMNT Tournament Fighters scored a reasonable 90%. A game close to my heart, Super Bomberman also scored 92% having finally been released in the UK, and Legend of the Mystical Ninja scored, 90% having done the same. New to the UK also looked at Super Turrican and Chuck Rock, scoring 80% and 61% respectively.

The fourth and final part of the guide for Super Mario Collection landed this month, covering the second half of Mario Bros 3 as well as some general tips for getting the most out of the game. Allan Brett also painstakingly put together a fully mapped guide to Jurassic Park. Elsewhere was the second part of the Combo Guide to Street Fighter II Turbo, covering all the more advanced moves in the game.