All 16-Bit

Hi everyone. I’ve played, reviewed, and documented my thoughts about every game that was released in North America during the 16-bit era. That’s 716 Super Nintendo, 704 Sega Genesis, and 95 TurboGrafx-16 games, for a grand total of 1,515 fourth-generation titles. My goal in reviewing all these games was to create an ordinally ranked, best-to-worst list of every 16-bit game. The reviews are full of typos and incomplete sentences, but I don't care. The notes are simply gravy on top of the scores assigned to each game. Some Background Project Scope - This page explains the scope of the project, including a breakdown of all noteworthy games that were included or excluded.  Methodology - Here's an explanation about the methodology I employed when reviewing and grading each game and how I assigned each game an overall score. Who Am I?  - In case you want to know more about the author. Sortable Lists You can explore the reviews in three different ways: by scrolling down on this pag...

Review #2445 Zero4 Champ RR-Z Another 9 seconds of gameplay SFC 1995 Media Rings Racing Racing › Simulation X 17 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay 1 / 5 Level Design 2 / 5 Theme 3 / 5 Art Style 2 / 5 Audio More SFC reviews Browse all reviews

Review #2444 Zero4 Champ RR 9 seconds of gameplay SFC 1994 Media Rings Racing Racing › Simulation X 17 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay It's a drag race, so the gameplay loop is less than 10 seconds long. The controls are awkward because you have to hold down on A for the gas and simultaneously push in the clutch with Y, shift with the d-pad in the gearbox, and never let up on the gas. Whoever has the bigger engine and better dexterity will win, and of course the computer will destroy you every single time. So... yeah that's the game. 1 / 5 Level Design Two modes: Story and VS. Story is unplayable unless you know Japanese, so thankfully the verses mode can be played by one player. However, there...

Review #2446 Zico Soccer RTS soccer SFC 1994 Electronic Arts Sports Sports › Soccer X 18 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay This is ostensibly a simulation game, but rather than picking strategies or doing anything like a turn-based game, this one has you using a cursor to play some sort of RTS gameplay. Whoever has the ball obeys your command (more on that later) and will otherwise do absolutely nothing. So yeah, your job is to micromange the guy with the ball using a mouse cursor. Instead of, yaknow, micromanaging the guy with the ball using the d-pad like every other normal soccer video game. This would all be tolerable if pressing buttons actually did something but alas that isn't the case. It's impossible to make your guy do w...

Review #2442 Zenkoku Koukou Soccer I hope you know Japanese SFC 1994 Yojigen Sports Sports › Soccer H 33 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Good luck getting the ball to the other side of the pitch. Ugh, yeah it's one of those games. Utterly impossible, which is a shame because it actually controls well. But the opponents swarm you and run circles around your slow players. 2 / 5 Level Design It's got the modes, but since everything in Japanese they're hard to find. 1 / 5 Theme Way too much Japanese. Still, the game looks very arcadey. 3 / 5 Art Style Nice chunky sprites with good animation. The menus look awful, but the game looks good ...

Review #2439 Yu Yu Hakusho 2: Kakutou no Shou Yu Two? SFC 1994 Namco Fighting Fighting › 1v1 E 64 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay At this point I feel like a broken record. This game features a roster of 10 fighters and fairly standard SF2-style gameplay. As with most of these games I struggled to figure out how to perform special moves. A few of the SF inputs work but I couldn't find more than one per fighter. I know there's more because the opponents spam them like crazy. Movement feels ok, although your jumps are mostly vertical. They have less horizontal movement than I feel they should. Unfortunately there's no difficulty levels and only four buttons. Also, a lot of slowdown hampers the experience. 3 / ...

Review #2441 Zen Nihon GT Senshuken: Hyper Battle Game Turn here. Here? HERE! SFC 1995 Banpresto Racing Racing › Overhead E 66 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 4 / 5 Gameplay As good as it gets with an overhead racer. Fast acceleration, responsive movement that doesn't require too much correction, a weighty feel to the controls, nice arrows indicating what upcoming turns look like, and good physics for bumping the walls and driving offroad. It's all very forgiving, but rewarding to get good at. The only thing missing is a HUD with a map. 2 / 5 Level Design Only two modes - Story/GT and Time Trial. Unfortunately, the only way to race against other racers is in GT and it's hidden behind multiple warm up races...

Review #2443 Zenkoku Koukou Soccer 2 Plays better but still not readable SFC 1995 Yojigen Sports Sports › Soccer G 44 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Significant improvement over the original. You can run around, pass the ball, play defense, and score a goal every now and then. Good stuff. 1 / 5 Level Design Just like the original, there's so much Japanese to read that you'll have no idea how to navigate the many, many menus. 1 / 5 Theme Less arcadey than the first game. More stuffy 2 / 5 Art Style Tall, small, spindly sprites. Again, terrible menus. 2 / 5 Audio Ok music More SFC reviews ...

Review #2440 Yu Yu Hakusho Final: Makai Saikyou Retsuden What is this? A fighting game for ants? SFC 1995 Namco Fighting Fighting › 1v1 F 57 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Thirteen fighters. Fast movement but short reach because your sprites are so tiny. I could only find one special move per fighter and the balance was awful. A few fighters are so OP it's not even funny. Still, the movement is decent so it's not a terrible game. Just a boring, by the numbers SF2 clone. 3 / 5 Level Design Story, tourney, and 2P VS modes. 2 / 5 Theme I don't know anything about Yuu Yuu as a manga or anime, so it's just bunch of angry looking teens and some big hair rock...

Review #2436 Youkai Buster: Ruka no Daibouken aka Jetsons SFC 1994 Kadokawa Shoten Action Action › Platform D 74 / 100 Good Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 4 / 5 Gameplay 4 / 5 Level Design 2 / 5 Theme Sprites and environments from the Jetsons game are swapped out for a vaguely Japanese folklore-in-modern day setting. George Jetson and a vacuum are replaced by generic red-haired anime girl with a severed demon head. It's weird for sure, and nowhere near as appealing as the licensed US version. 3 / 5 Art Style 3 / 5 Audio More SFC reviews Browse all reviews

Review #2435 YamYam Star Fox meets My Neighbor Totoro SFC 1995 Bandai Shooter Shooter › Corridor H 27 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay This is the most simple Space Harrier clone I've ever encountered. Enemies scale in from the distance and fire one or two shots at you. You stay on the ground unless you press up on the d-pad and enemies fire at where you are or where you're headed. The area you cane move around in is rather small, but enemies have generous hit boxes so all you need to do is mash A or B while continuously rotating the d-pad. The controls are responsive, but it's absolutely braindead gameplay. 1 / 5 Level Design Every "level" is identical. It's just a stright-forward corridor...

Review #2438 Ys V: Kefin, The Lost City of Sand Zelda clone #62 SFC 1995 Falcom Adventure Adventure › Overhead D 75 / 100 Good Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 4 / 5 Gameplay Falcom finally ditched the awful bump-based combat from the previous games, but the combat here is still a bit awkward. The chief problem is that, while you can move in eight directions, you can only attack in four. This, combined with a sword that only hits directly in front of you, makes combat a struggle to line yourself up just right. You eventually gain magic projectiles, but this only introduces further problems because you must hold down on R to keep your magic meter full. This will give you carpal tunnel after a few minutes. Much better than a lot of games in the genre, but with only a couple of tweaks...

Review #2434 Xandra no Daibouken: Valkyrie to no Deai aka Whirlo SFC 1992 Namco Action Action › Platform E 65 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay This is an odd one. The main gimmick in Whirlo's gameplay is a set of jump mechanics. It took me a little while to figure out how they work, as they are different than any other platformer I've ever played. Hey go something like this: B = jump A = nothing A (charged for under 3 secs, then released) = jump A (charged for more than 3 secs, then released) = long "tired" animation D-pad right or left, plus A (charged for under 3 secs, the released) = High jump! D-pad right or left, plus A (barely tapped) = Long jump! Weird, right? To compound the problem, there's also a fl...

Review #2437 Ys IV: Mask of the Sun This Ys not a great game SFC 1993 Tonkin House Adventure Adventure › Overhead F 55 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Classic Ys gameplay, for better or worse. Mostly worse, in my book. The super weird combat is the main downside here. You walk into enemies but can't walk straight into them. Instead, you have to catch them from the side, but they swarm to you so there's no way to actually flank them, especially since the controls are only four directional. So, you have to walk into them and wildly move in all four directions and hope that you'll score a hit. It's completely random. Movement is fast, inventory management is overly simple. It plays like a very early adventure title. It'...

Review #2433 Xak: The Art of Visual Stage LagoonYs SFC 1993 Sunsoft Adventure Adventure › Overhead G 41 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay What a weird game. It plays like a very early adventure title, like one that released in 1988 (post Zelda) rather than in 1993, a full two to three years after Zelda 3. My guess is that it's a port. In any case, it looks and plays like Ys 1 & 2, or Lagoon. Movement is way too fast for both you and enemies. And the hit detection is atrocious! Your weapon's reach is also bad, so the trick is to position yourself below and just to the left of center to the enemy you're attacking. Visually this makes no sense because your weapon has a wide arch the moves from left-to-right, so you would think that the hitbox ...

Review #2430 Waku Waku Ski Wonder Spur 10% of 1080 SFC 1995 Human Racing Racing › Vehicle Combat F 52 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay It's not a total trainwreck, but the sum of its parts don't add up to much. It's a Mode 7 racer in the mold of Mario Kart due to a few powerups which theoretically can be used to attack or defend. However, the unbelievably floaty controls negate any ability to collect these or any way to effectively use them. This game objectively impossible on anything but the lowest difficulty setting. And even then you'll be wiping out, crashing, and struggling to stay on the track the entire time. Your opponents never mess up, naturally. The best you can hope for is a track with no turns because making a...

Review #2431 Wonder Project J I've got no strings on me SFC 1994 Enix Adventure Adventure › Point n Click E 68 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay The gameplay, such as it is, is a standard point and click interface. Mouse over an item to send Pino over to interact with it. The robot will react randomly to the item and you must teach it by giving praise or punishment. This is new and novel and even funny at times, but also somewhat frustrating. I liked it, but I generally don't care for point and click adventures. 3 / 5 Level Design Solving puzzles follows this pattern: raise Pino's stats in Strength, Thought, Imagination, and Feeling to a certain level, find the item that it needs and train it ...

Review #2432 Wrecking Crew '98 Panel de Pon the Platformer SFC 1998 Nintendo Puzzle Puzzle › Blocks H 35 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Match 3 where you can move rows horizontally. However, the blocks are walls of bricks. In order to use them you must smash them with a hammer, which requires you to run around, jump, and smash them like any good platformer. This takes forever! And moving the rows is just as cumbersome because you have to platform your way to the left side of that row and move it to the right until you're done. You can't move it to the left. In other words, it's Panel de Pon, but with platformer gameplay. Ugh. It's terrible! 2 / 5 Level Design I played the first stage for 15 ...

Review #2429 Wagyan Paradise Same old, but with slightly longer platforming levels SFC 1994 Namco Action Action › Platform H 25 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay Same gameplay as the other two 2 / 5 Level Design The platforming levels are considerably longer and more interesting. Not good, mind you. 3 / 5 Theme 4 / 5 Art Style Lovely graphics 2 / 5 Audio More SFC reviews Browse all reviews

Review #2426 Undake 30 Same Game Daisakusen - Mario Version Same Game with Mario and only one mode SFC 1995 Nintendo Puzzle Puzzle › Blocks X 8 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay This is a branded version of "Same Game" with any bells and whistles removed. What's left is only the main mode with a huge screen of tiles and the same frustrating, impossible gameplay. No thanks. 0 / 5 Level Design There's only one mode. Choose a randomly generated puzzle with the Select button and Start to begin playing. 2 / 5 Theme The tiles are Mario characters and items but otherwise it's a blank slate with music, sounds, and menus that doesn't match. ...

Review #2427 Undercover Cops How did this not come out in USA? SFC 1995 Varie Action Action › Beat Em Up D 79 / 100 Good Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 4 / 5 Gameplay Fast movement. Great hit detection. Accessible due to difficulty levels that are true to their names - easy is easy. Three playable characters - martial artist, blond bruiser, fast girl. Satisfying combat with lots of grab and throw attacks. 4 / 5 Level Design Mostly standard fare, but good for the genre. A few interesting elements like a level on a collapsing bridge which you can throw bad guys off Double Dragon style. 3 / 5 Theme Excellent presentation. Level intro and outro screens. Has a Mad Max vibe in the character models. ...

Review #2428 Ushio to Tora Splatterhouse + Musya + Alien Soldier SFC 1993 Yutaka Action Action › Hack n Slash G 40 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay You've got a weak straight-forward attack with ok reach, but a tiny hitbox. You can double jump and perform a sweeping attack, but only if you're moving forwardwhile jumping. This opens you up to taking damage so it's a risk-reward gamble that you'll lose pretty much every time. Enemies float around and their elevation changes constantly which makes it incredibly difficult to hit them. And they hurt you, even when they've just been hit, so you're constantly being hurt by them. It's the standard i-frame, stun lock issue. Enemies take SO many hits!! Thankfully, the bosses have a h...

Review #2425 Umihara Kawase Bionic Commando meets Dora the Explorer SFC 1994 TNN Action Action › Platform E 63 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Quite possibly the most original movement tech in a platformer. You have a short jump, thankfully, and can ledge grab and climb cliffs, but the real innovation is a grappling hook that's equal parts Bionic Commando and Getting over it with Bennett Foddy. That is, it's an awesome idea with amazing physics, but man is it frustrating to use! You can do some impressive things with your hook, like swinging across the screen, bouncing up to higher ledges, and hooking the far side of an edge to slingshot yourself up-and-over, or down-and-under the various platforms. And by "you" I mean ...

Review #2422 Ultra Baseball Jitsumeiban 3 Pro Yakyuu Star, with Ultra teams SFC 1995 Culture Brain Sports Sports › Baseball F 57 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay This title is a mashup of the gameplay from Pro Yakyuu Star, combined with the Ultra teams and their abilities from this Ultra series, know as Super Baseball Simulator in the US. Read my review of Pro Yakyuu Star for my thoughts. 3 / 5 Level Design 4 / 5 Theme The inclusion of the Ultra teams bumps this up a notch. 3 / 5 Art Style 1 / 5 Audio More SFC reviews Browse all reviews

Review #2424 Ultra Seven Ultra dull SFC 1993 Bandai Fighting Fighting › 1v1 X 20 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Embarrassing. The first game was a pre-SF2 fighter and a launch title to boot. It was terrible, but at least it had excuses. This game has none. It plays no better than that first game and is as baffling as could be. The only effective attack I found was a jump kick that consistently connects and does decent damange, but once the opponent is down to no health their health bar is replaced by the word "FINISH". Try as I might, I could not figure out what to do after that. Consequently, they stayed alive and eventually ended the fight by getting my health all the way down. Uggh 1 / 5 Level Des...