Too weird for the west? Part 1: Gegege no Kitaro

Obviously not a winning lottery ticket...

Being a bit of a Super Nintendo fanatic, I've always been partial to the odd crazy platform game. Unfortunately for me I'm also a member of the PAL community...which in Nintendo's translation book, I could wear means 'leper'. As a result of this I sadly missed out on many of the wackiest and often finest titles this happy-go-lucky genre had to offer.

Now I'm not going to sit here and preach that all Japanese games should have been released in the west because...well lets just say; Super Bikuri Man. In some cases though the lack translation and release of certain titles was a genuine loss to those of us outside of Japan, Seiken Densetsu 3 being possibly the most famous example.

Thankfully through magazines like Super Play and now, the maturation of online retailers it's easy for people like me to hurl themselves head first into the curious and wonderful world of Japanese gaming's shining stars. And then give them a once over to try and see if they really were missed over here.

So lets start with this; the loveable (and equally infuriating) Gegege no Kitaro - Fukkatsu! Tenma Daiou for the Super Famicom.

The subtitles say it all...erm, yeah! 

Gegege no Kitaro - Fukkatsu! Tenma Daiou (roughly translated as "The Ghost of Kitaro"...I think) is a magnificent looking and exceedingly strange (even by these standards) platform game by Bandai, based on the long running manga and anime of the same name. As far as I know the story goes something like this: Kitaro is the young looking, but actually very old last surviving descendant of an ancient tribe made up of half spirit/half human folk. He also has one eye missing...though this is strangely not a problem! Anyways, he receives a letter informing him that he will soon die, and so off an exciting quest he must go.

Putting the boot in.

The visuals in this game grab hold of you from the minute you flip the switch, even though it was released fairly early on in the console's lifespan it is achingly pretty. From the myriad of (frankly unintelligible) cut-scenes to the actual levels themselves, Gegege no Kitaro is stunning and does a staggering job in showing off just what the Super Famicom could do. Most pleasing of all though is how well Bandai have managed to capture the likeness of Kitaro's world, the characters from the original manga and series are brilliantly represented and alongside the legions of bizarre enemies, are right of out of top drawer.

More sumptuous eye candy... 

Gameplay wise there's nothing much that hasn't been done before so you're unlikely to find your mind blown wide open, but what the game does it does very well indeed. The controls are pin sharp and super responsive...especially for a third party title and Kitaro himself has a impressively weird line-up of moves (that can also be powered up) to help him take down the scores of paranormal baddies. From firing nails out of his eye socket (yep!) to electrocuting himself ala Blanka, you can guarantee that disposing of his foes will be fun...as well as rather challenging.

Facial expression perfection here!

Though the levels are are a bit on the short side they are quite stunning to behold. Each one is packed full of lush and vivid backgrounds which again, considering this game's release date is breathtaking. Bandai also made good use of the Sufami's parallax capabilities which adds much to this visual splendour...funny how 16bit fans will always appreciate a nice bit of parallax eh! There are tons of enemies skulking about so you're never left short on action and then there's the obligatory end of level bosses, which are all hard as nails.

I spy with my little eye...sorry.

As I've touched on previously Gegege no Kitaro is tough, brutally tough in fact, and there are times when this does sour the experience somewhat. Platform games are at their best when they're challenging, but it really does need to be fair and proportionate...so if you're prone to the odd bout of pad throwing rage then approach with caution! One way to ease this ball breaking difficulty level is to grab a friend and utilise the two player option. Every level gives Kitaro a different 'helper' for player 2 to control, each one comes with their own kooky set of moves and weapons which adds to the fun and the madness (more importantly). Historically, these games are more enjoyable with a friend and the same is definitely true here.

Guess what...I died here too!

Overall then, it's not too difficult to see why Gegege no Kitarou was never selected to make the jump form east to west...although if it had, I'm sure it would have garnered a very loyal following (with me included). I can't help feeling that it's just a bit too weird and the fact that both the anime and the manga are not massively well known outside of Japan won't have helped either. Whilst on a personal level I consider this a great shame, I'm also quite thankful that as a kid I was spared the sheer rage that this game can induce!

Ding Dong...who’s there?!

A blue cat and the Hudson logo...happy days!

This week on FRG there was a bit of a cartoon theme in the air. Now we all know cartoons are awesome and are still the by far the greatest thing on television (after your games console of course), so this week’s batch of reviews were all to be of NES and Famicom games with cartoon origins. Obviously my immediate thoughts were: Duck Tales or Chip 'n Dale...job done right?! Wrong! I realised that my rather clever reviewer chums might have similar ideas, and that this would call for some outside the box (and indeed outside the country) thinking. So after a little deliberation I decided to go down the anime path and arrived at the slightly wacky but quite loveable Doraemon on the Famicom.

For those who aren’t familiar with this little Japanese icon; Doraemon is a robotic blue cat that travels back in time from the 22^nd century to help out young children (as you do). Created in the late 60’s by the Fujiko Fujio partnership, his cute appearance was used to help educate the (young) audience on the importance of strong moral values such as honesty, courage and respect for the environment.

This particular title is one of the earliest Doraemon video games and was developed by (the now sadly defunct) Hudson Soft in 1986. The objective is to rescue Doraemon’s kidnapped friends who are being held captive by some baddies...I guess. This is achieved by besting the game’s three distinctly different sections, each of which was apparently designed by a different person. This somewhat clever concept makes for some very interesting contrasts in gameplay and adds a respectable slice of variety to the overall game.

Oh by the by, for anyone curious about the title of the review; Ding Dong is the name Doraemon goes by in China!

...erm...the title screen...sorry

Visuals – 7/ 10

Though never likely to challenge graphical juggernauts like Kirby’s Adventure and Little Sampson, Hudson did a thoroughly decent job with Doraemon’s graphics. The sprites are clear and well drawn and although some of the backgrounds do look a tad dull at times, the robotic feline hero and the slew of bad guys stand are a cute sight to look upon.

Each chapter opens with a bizarre (and quite possibly drug inspired!) scene...it kind of reminds me of a pinker version of the Twilight Zone or something, anyways...it has to be seen to be believed. There are lots of wonderfully neat touches scattered through the various levels, such as Doraemon’s expression...he looks really sad(!), this attention to detail helps the game to stand out amongst the hordes of other mascot driven titles in the Famicom universe.

 There are also some rather pleasing (if very blatant) “homages” shall we call them, to some of the video game world’s more famous citizens: the turtles in the water level look suspiciously similar to the henchmen of a certain Bowser and I’m sure that I’ve seen that big octopus skulking about in Miracle World before! Anyways, it all looks attractive enough and is wrapped up in that oft seen Famicom glow, which we all love so dearly.

The Twilight Zone...Famicom Style!

Sound – 8 / 10

Portions of the soundtrack will be comfortingly familiar to anyone who has seen the Doraemon cartoons, and it is lovingly presented in beautiful 8bit midi. The joviality of some of the audio fits in well with the game’s main character as well as its colourful appearance.

The background music really is one of my favourite aspects of this game, and it has an almost Taito like quality to it. The tunes bury their way into your head so that hours after you finish playing you’re still humming away...I found myself doing this when I was brushing my teeth at night! Doraemon is another shining example of just how addictive and important video game music can be when done well.

Doraemon's face... hilarity!

Playability – 7 / 10

While Doraemon does not boast any revolutionary gameplay (and in truth, borrows quite heavily from other Famicom titles!), what it does have is solid, and well structured. As previously mentioned, the game is split into three chapters, each of which boasts a different style of play.

Chapter one plays a little bit like The Legend of Zelda; using a top down view with an adventure feel to it, there are also some 2D platform mini dungeons (makes me wonder if Nintendo where watching when planning Link’s Awakening). This part of the game is pretty standard fair, but is possibly the most arduous as you have no real idea of where to go!

Chapter two heads down the SHMUP route and plays in a fashion akin to Gradius, and R-Type with a little bit of vertical 1943 action chucked in for good measure. For my money, this was the most appealing part of the entire game, and my favourite part is the way Doraemon flies using a little helicopter blade on his head...hilarious stuff.

Chapter 3 takes place underwater and again borrows significantly from the Mushroom Kingdom’s finest. This is probably the nicest looking segment of the game and makes quality use of the Famicom’s capabilities.

Each level is ended by taking on and defeating the obligatory end of level boss, again this is standard pattern recognition stuff...just with the difficulty ramped up a level...or 10!

SHMUP-tastic!

Longevity – 7 / 10

Doraemon is a classic example of the kind of game that appears to be cutesy and easy but then actually turns out to be a complete ball breaker to finish! The fact that you are given no steer at all on where you need to go or what you need to pick up makes for a lot of trial and error...not to mention dying. There is also a touch of Zelda about it in the way that once you are out of range; all enemies will re-appear...this certainly can make things interesting and although it can become a touch tiring, it’s not enough to spoil the game. In fact the challenge kept me coming back for more; the seemingly random exits and power-ups hark back to the days before gamers were told where to go at every turn.

While I was doing a bit of research on Doraemon I stumbled across a YouTube video of someone speed-running the entire game...it took him just 12 minutes and 59 seconds. At first I was disappointed that the game could be despatched so easily, but after watching it a few times it seems the person is either (freakishly) fantastic at the game or uses some sort of über cheat code to get through it unscathed...either way don’t let it fool you, this game is far from easy. It won’t last weeks but provides a more than adequate challenge.

Platform fun is not forgotten here...

Overall

I’ll come clean now; I’m a complete sucker for games based on anime or manga so I was probably always going to like this one. But even if you’re not a fan or haven’t heard of Doraemon there’s still plenty to like about the game, it’s challenging, well made and fun. And while it comes nowhere near to toppling the titles it “borrows” ideas from, there’s enough variation there to keep most gamers satisfied. Weirdly the game did receive a fan translation but to be honest there’s so little text present that you could easily plough through the original Japanese version with no problems.

Oh...and like I said, Doraemon is a blue robotic cat from the 22^nd century. You can’t argue with that now can you!

Score

Score 7 out of 10

Obscure gems part II: Turbans, capes and cartridge slots...

Turban? Check. Cape? Check. Weird egg mascot that you can throw? Check!

Following in the recent footsteps of Xandra's Big Adventure is another dazzling yet largely (and sadly) unknown masterpiece from the from the 16bit generation, this time for the Sega Mega Drive...or Genesis if you live on the other side of the big pond. The hilariously titled Magical Hat no Buttobi Tabo! Daiboken, loosely translated as Magical Hat Flying Turbo Adventure, is a platform game that was released by Sega in the pre Sonic era of 1990. To this day I still find it to be far and away the finest example of the platform genre on not just the Mega Drive, but on any Sega machine, period.

This game may seem strangely familiar to some people…even those who’ve never even heard of it. This is probably because it was developed by (the usually underwhelming) Vic Tokai, the same company responsible for the equally fantastic but ultimately shunned Psycho Fox on the Master System and Kid Kool on the NES. Whilst Magical Hat isn't a direct sequel to either of these titles, the lineage the three games share is plain for all to see, and many of the traits and ideas you come across in the Mega Drive title are derived straight from it’s 8bit ancestors. The other reason this wacky game may look familiar is that it did actually receive a release in the west...albeit in horrifically bastardised form, more on that travesty later though.

After 18 years, my very own copy...yay!

Magical Hat is something of a gaming Holy Grail for me. Back in 1993 I was among the staunchest of SNES fans, however the first time I encountered Hat’s fantastic world it left me floored. There were very few games around at the time that married such vivid and wonderful graphics with genuinely addictive game play. My love for it was such that I promised myself I would one day own a copy. I sort of forgot about that until recently though, and so some self-indulgent eBay action ensued and I'm now the very proud owner of an immaculate copy of Magical hat Flying Turbo Adventure! I have to say, it was worth the £20 for box art alone.

The bad news regarding this little impulse purchase is that I own a PAL Mega Drive…which doesn’t play NTSC games. So rather than bother with a boring universal adapter I decided to perform some minor "home surgery" on my console, which involved filing away the little plastic tabs that shape the cartridge slot. Once these had been rounded off, the game slotted in perfectly, I adore this novel approach to regional security from Sega, it's wonderfully barn door. To anyone who is thinking of attempting this little operation, I can happily confirm that it is fairly straightforward and only took me about 30 minutes in all. Just be sure to refer to one of the many useful internet guides, like this rather helpful one I happened across.

Back to the game then…

The story (I think) goes something like this; an earthquake has literally ripped apart our hero's island home and so he dons his excellent turban and sets off to reunite the scattered lands and defeat the (awesome looking) Demon King. To accomplish this feat, Hat must traverse seven different continents, each containing three stages laden with cunning traps, numerous secret passages and insane looking enemies. Although the game features the obligatory ice, desert and water levels, the design and complexity is nothing short of exceptional...especially when you take into consideration the game's age, eighteen years old! As well the traditional left to right routes, the player must explore the heights and depths of each level whilst scouring all over for hidden objects (necessary for progression in later stages).

I'm chuffed to say that Hat is a breeze to control, and his epic quest is made so much more enjoyable by the magnificent array of abilities he has at his disposal. Accompanying the main man on his journey is a strange grinning egg which can be hurled about the place to help fend off enemies. As well as helping Hat with attacking his enemies, the little maniacal egg also acts as a kind of extra layer of protection, offering to take a hit for you. Hat can also collect various different potions and pills which unleash a plethora of flashy moves such as; a rapid fire attack, a shield (which a certain Hedgehog seems to have took a shining to), a hidden turban gun and the best by miles...he can even transform into a giant robotic ape (how Japanese is that)!! It's true to say that every quality platfomer begins with a lovable and distinctive character and Hat's game is no different, his mannerisms are top notch and his wacky animations would put the likes of Bubsy to shame...the face he pulls when you accidentally walk off a ledge for example, is nothing short of hilarious!

Go go baggy pants...

In graphical terms, Magical Hat really is up there with the best the Mega Drive has to offer...it even rivals some of the more illustrious offerings from the Super Nintendo. The characters are large, bold and bursting with colour, the artists really outdid themselves by blessing the game with hoards of amazingly well designed sprites, all of which perfectly fit the setting and background of the game. Kudos must also go to the music composer because this game is awash with gloriously upbeat tunes that really get inside your head from the first level onward. It's this almost unnecessary level of detail that propels Hat's world to the top tier of the platform theatre.

Although this game looks cute and colourful, it also possesses a proper mean streak and it can easily catch you off guard. The difficulty level can make it extremely frustrating at times and as with most platformers of the day, one hit and you're dead. Luckily the delightful bonus levels in-between the stages will keep you stocked with extra lives, this is countered though by the fact that you'll probably end up ploughing through them at rate of knots.

Understandably Sega wanted to push Magical Hat into the lucrative markets of Europe and North America, at the time however, the localisation of many Japanese games went much further than mere text changes and a bit of censorship here and there. Games of Japanese origin were often considered a bit too weird and wacky for us easily offended westerners, as a result some would undergo a process known as Americanisation. This was a practice that pretty much ripped out any and all interesting content and ideas, and set about replacing it with stuff that was deemed more "familiar and acceptable" for it's new audience. Basically, it would amount to nothing more than removing the heart and soul of games that underwent the process, and Magical Hat along with Ranma 1/2 on the SNES (which became the appalling Street Combat) is by far the worse example of this that I've ever witnessed.

And so, as a result of this questionable and deplorable method of localisation, Magical Hat Flying Turbo Adventure emerged in the west as as Decap Attack.

"Whaa...where'd all the colour go!?"

Now to be honest, (and putting aside my bias for Japanese games) Decap Attack is actually a pretty solid attempt and if you've never had the pleasure of trying Magical Hat, then you quite could happily consider Decap Attack to be a title of real quality. However, when the two games are compared side by side, the ugly truth is impossible to hide from. Decap Attack is completely devoid of life and imagination, also (just to make matters worse) it was swathed in some of the most dull and drab colours you could possibly think of. It's worlds are home to boring characters who inhabit not very interesting surroundings. It is obvious to me that Sega were trying to make a game that would appeal to a mass market, but what depresses me most about Decap Attack is that by removing the patented Hat lunacy, they also took away the majority of the game's charm and identity...which is unforgivable.

The molestation of Magical Hat was truly abhorrent in my eyes and the fact that Sega, a company well renowned for bold (if possibly ill judged) gaming decisions, made the call to basically lobotomise it, makes the whole situation even more rancid. As is well known, the 90's thrust upon us an extensive collection of generic and unimaginative platform pulp in the form of smelly turds such as Family Dog and Cool World. Magical Hat would certainly have brought some welcome creativity and spark to these shores, had it arrived here untouched. As it was, we in the west were fobbed off with another run of the mill platform game, and this is truly a great shame because Magical Hat had so much to give us. It boasted not only the visual finery to match the very best of the generation, but also, terrific game play...most of all though it was fantastic fun to play.

So if you enjoy great platform games or just happen to be searching for a bit of the magic and humour that seems absent from many of today's games, then Magical Hat is an absolute must. Along with the likes of Streets of Rage 2, Gunstar Heroes and Phantasy Star, Magical Hat Flying Turbo Adventure finally made me acknowledge the Mega Drive as a truly great console…one thing I would say though is do yourself a big favour and play the proper Japanese version, it's just better.

In my humble opinion, it was this game and not Sonic that was the Mega Drive's true answer to Super Mario World, and praise doesn't come much higher than that.

As a final note, Magical Hat Flying Turbo Adventure also occupies a slot in my Underrated games list. It's a place where unloved games can be showered with much deserved attention, have a quick gander, you might just find your new favourite (old) game!

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Super Play...'superest' of them all

Genesis...only without the annoying Phil Colins...or Jesus

There are a great many things in life that help shape who we are as people. Pretty much day in, day out we all encounter situations, make decisions and meet people that influence and change us in some small and subtle way...truth is though, it’s rare that we even notice it happening. But, every so often something appears right out of left-field, and has such a profound effect on us that it fundamentally alters who we are and it’s repercussions can be everlasting (I know this is getting a bit far out here but bare with me). These experiences can range from the grandiose, to the small and seemingly insignificant.

This brings me to one of the more "seemingly insignificant" experiences that came crashing into my life; it was a  magazine…a magazine called Super Play. To say it changed my life is honestly no understatement, and it's something I still hold in almost holy regard to this day. It's thanks to Super Play that I discovered a love for Japan, it's thanks to Super Play that I fell in love with the RPG genre and it's thanks to Super Play that I sampled some of the finest games to ever grace the SNES. I now intend to cast a wistful (and no doubt rose tinted) look back at what made this publication so great, and why I loved it so dearly.

Super Play was a monthly Super Nintendo magazine that ran for 47 issues, spanning November 1992 to September 1996. Throughout it's (almost) four year run, the magazine received virtually constant critical acclaim from readers and industry bods alike, and consistently outsold all other single format SNES magazines. Although it was probably most famous for extensive coverage and championing of RPGs, anime and generally all things Japanese, anyone who was a regular reader could've told you that was just the surface of this uniquely wonderful magazine.

My love affair with Super Play began (later than I would've liked) on a balmy Saturday in May 1993. When aged just 12 fledgling years and drunk with affection for my beloved SNES, I found myself perusing the magazines in my local newsagents. Unsurprisingly it was full of the usual (and frankly dull) suspects; Total, Games Master, NMS etc, but then, amidst this sea of mediocrity I caught my first glimpse of Wil Overton's glorious anime art work sitting atop issue 8 of Super Play (pictured), and from that epiphanous moment, even at such a young age, I could tell that my outlook on gaming would never be the same again.

Now, for me, trying to explain exactly why Super Play was so fantastic is a bit like trying to explain why your favourite colour is red, or why you love your wife...but here goes.

I'll start with what everyone already knew, and what was undoubtedly my favourite aspect of Super Play; the of unashamed love of the RPG. It's no secret that the staff at who worked at the magazine had more than a soft spot for this genre, and to me this was so alluring because at the time (in the UK at any rate) the RPG was something of an unloved and untapped niche on the SNES. I would often gaze in wide wide eyed wonderment at the 'Fantasy Quest' section of the magazine, drooling over the gorgeous looking and exotic sounding Japanese RPGs that we were never going to see here in the UK. It was never a surprise to see two or three pages devoted to the newest Square masterpiece or extensive information on the latest RPG sweeping Japan. Quite how they managed this in those days before the web was fully matured is still something that astonishes me.

Right up there with a love for the RPG was a burning passion for anime (which in Japan, is intrinsically linked with gaming), and this passion was something else that I connected with instantly. Growing up watching nothing but cartoons (live action never really did it for me), it was almost a revelation to discover a world where animation didn't have to be cutesy and American. I found myself quickly immersed in the world of Manga Entertainment et al and was simply blown away, and it was thanks to Super Play's Anime World that I was introduced to the likes Venus Wars, Area 88 and Akira to mention but a small few.

Encompassing this love for both RPGs and anime was a generic affection for all things Japanese, it's almost embarrassing (from an education point of view at any rate) to say that  I learned more about this magnificent country from this one magazine than anywhere else when I was a kid!! To this day it remains that place in the world I'd love to visit most. To dedicate a whole section every month specifically to what was going on there was ballsy but ultimately inspired. The only downside of this was knowing I'd never even see let alone own half the stuff on display!!

I also discovered that my enjoyment of music from the games I played did not actually make me a strange cat, as I once feared...I would sit for hours sometimes just playing the music in the option modes! Reading Super Play showed me the scale of the popularity of the video game music scene and eventually opened my eyes to some of the greatest tunes gaming had to offer. These days, amazing tracks like Bordering another World (Chrono Cross), Green Continent Campbell (Bahamut Lagoon) and Smiles and Tears (Earthbound) are regulars on my iPod, whilst composers such as Yuzo Koshiro, Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu rival some of my established heroes like Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller and Simon Fowler. You'd have never gotten that in an issue of Super Action let me tell you.

Aside from these unique qualities, probably the most significant factor that elevated Super Play way above it's peers was the fact that the writing staff really did know what they were on about. The magazine was renowned for being tough when handing out scores, so you knew that if a game was awarded 80% or above, it was genuinely worth buying. Unlike some of the lesser magazines around at the time, you would never find a real turd of a game receiving a score of 90%, and then, on the next page, find a competition giving away 10 free copies (like a certain NMS did with THQ's very average Olympic Summer Games). This was especially helpful given that in the mid 90's, the average SNES title cost an eye watering £50...big money when you're a mere school kid. Nintendo's policy of pricing meant that I personally would get no more than four or five games per year...so they had to be stormers, and if I'd ended up with Home Alone or Pit Fighter, I'd have been suicidal.

Being an impressionable youth, I count myself lucky to have been able to call on the guidance of such wise old heads, and their willingness to rate every title on it's merits (rather than hype) meant that I was able to also sample some of the lesser known gems on the SNES. Titles such as SimCity, Smash Tennis and Soul Blazer may not have grabbed the headlines like Mortal Kombat and Mario did, but they were certainly not lacking in quality.

At a time when most British magazines were obsessed only with what was happening in over here, and their idea of an import review was trying a Madden game from the US, Super Play ploughed a lone (and brilliant furrow), and pursued a uniquely eastern flavour. Right down to the outstanding anime inspired covers, drawn by artist Wil Overton. And you would never see a potential gem dismissed out of hand, just because it was "too Japanese". Too often were these games ridiculed and more often than not just ignored by other magazines.

Many established magazines in the UK would dismiss the likes of FEDA: Emblem of Justice as “ just another wacky game from those crazy Japs…it's written in some foreign text, so we’ll mark it down" or (more often) "not bother with it at all”. Super Play's fondness for games that were, back then classed as obscure and gimmicky, often led to the magazine being unfairly dubbed the “RPG” or “anime” magazine. But Super Play sought (and fought actually) to address and solve the problem with the very perception of Japanese games in the west.

Indeed where it not for Super Play, I sincerely doubt that I, and thousands of other gamers would ever have heard of the likes of Ogre Battle, Front Mission and Xandra's Big Adventure, and there's a good chance that (in my life anyways) the sterling work of fan translation groups would have gone unnoticed and AAA titles such as Bahamut Lagoon, Lennus 2 and Seiken Densetsu 3 would've just completely passed me by.

There was also a  refreshing lack of the almost juvenile behaviour you would often witness in other video game magazines of the period. Never would you have to put up with cringeworthy quotes such as "this game is so awesome, go and buy that sucka" etc, or reel at the use of swear words to cover up a pitiful grasp of how to write in basic English. Super Play was written properly, and was probably the only magazine around back then that engaged it's readership as adults and more impressively as equals (actually, there was also Edge, but their tone was often a bit too austere for me). Super Play had that very rare gift of employing passionate gamers who could actually write too. Proper facts and well placed humour don't sound like they would be hard to achieve, but in the 90's, a lot of writers seemed not to know this.

There's no doubting that the very feel of Super Play must be credited to the magnificent staff that worked there, and it was very rare to find such an array of talented, dedicated and genuinely funny people working so well together. But the likes of Jonathan Davies with his dry and witty writing style, Jason Brookes with his frankly amazing knowledge of all things SNES, Zy Nicholson with his affinity for all things RPG...and sweet Lisa Nicholls for...the obvious, made the magazine an unbridled joy to read. Reams of credit must also go out to Matt Bielby though, for possessing a vision that was this revolutionary, and for having the skill to execute it.

The word unique is often (wrongly) banded about in all walks of life, but with Super Play it honestly was apt. I mean, what other magazine would devote whole sections of their monthly print to the latest anime news and life in Tokyo...not to mention an entire (and outrageous) section of the magazine just to cover Final Fantasy VI?! You could almost hear the NMS and Total readers asking "what's Final Fantasy again?"

Looking back through my old collection, it's clear to see just how quickly Super Play infiltrated my life. A large majority of the Japanese games featured in those early issues have stars marked in pen next to them, denoting I'm sure, a desire to play them all at some point. I've still got some to get through, but I'm getting there!

And so it's a crying shame that we eventually arrive at the age old adage that 'all good things must come to an end'. Although at the time, Super Play's rather abrupt demise hit me like a freight train, looking back through those last few issues, it's easier to see (perhaps with older eyes) that the end was nigh. Even I, the most staunch supporter of the SNES was looking forward to the upcoming N64, and newsworthy SNES stories (for the UK especially) were becoming increasingly thin on the ground. Even so, I can still remember the moment when I arrived at the end of issue 47 and read the obituary to this institution which had been my rock in the gaming world...the news shocked me almost to tears.

Whilst certain aspects of Super Play did live on into the next generation as part of it's unofficial successor; N64 magazine, and although that was a fine publication it's own right, it never quite caught the imagination in the way that Super Play did.

I think Super Play's legacy to the world is that it's relentless optimism and influence are still being felt from beyond the grave to this very day. The decision by some of the world's biggest software houses to (finally) start releasing proper flagship RPG titles in the Europe was in some way down to the constant exposure UK gamers were given by Super Play. It's doubtful we'd have seen the releases of Final Fantasy VII, Suikoden and Wild Arms if wasn't for Super Play and it’s readership.

It's a testament to the endearing quality of Super Play that to this day, I still own (and regularly read) my collection, and even more so that it still gives me inspiration to play new games. This year alone after reading Super Play, I've blasted through Tactics Ogre, Mystic Ark and Front Mission Gun Hazard!! On a joyous note, I also recently completed the Super Play set (after 'just' 18 years). A purchase of the fabled Super Play Gold from eBay set me back a cool £20...which is a tad expensive for what is essentially a 'best of', but then that's the price we pay for love I suppose.

Summing up then, I guess that my undying love for this magazine is deep rooted in the fact that it broadened my horizons in such a way that I discovered wondrous new worlds, and that it steered me onto the righteous path of gaming, ensuring I would never be one of the idiots who would rush out to buy the latest big movie tie-in or new FIFA game. Although it doesn't come close to repaying what Super Play gave me...I offer my humble thanks.

So when it comes to Super Play I'm unashamedly a fan boy, preacher and possibly even a zealot...but you know what? I'm all the better for it. It's certainly true when I say that in gaming terms at least, I am who I am today because of this magazine. I will never forget the tingling of anticipation I would get every month, walking to the newsagent, hoping to see the shiny new issue waiting for me. And perhaps in today's world of the digital press, where news is reported almost as quickly as it is broken, it sounds strange to claim that a product of the now dying world of printed media actually changed my life...but there you have it.

RIP Super Play, the world is definitely a duller place without you.

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