Superplay : new issue!

[MintyTheCat]

Hello all,

you chaps may already know about this but Retrogamer have just added in a new issue of SP to their current issue:

https://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/ ... 0p41dl7e62
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSFIYpMP7P8

I am sure many of you read SP and will want to get hold of a copy as best you can. I have just ordered a copy. For anyone who is having difficulties ordering let me know if I can help you get a copy.

I have quite a few doubles that I have for sale too if any of you are still looking for issues. I think I just need one or two issues for a full set of SP mag.

Anyway, good news for some of us.

Cheers.

[Skykid]

I finally finished my SP complete set plus some NOS binders. Big thanks to the guys here for helping, especially CIT who was super generous.

But what's this Snes mini special? I can't look at Youtibe this second but I'm intrigued. I can't see anything at the site's link that actually shows what it is. Is it an actual standalone mag?

[MintyTheCat]

I finally finished my SP complete set plus some NOS binders. Big thanks to the guys here for helping, especially CIT who was super generous.

But what's this Snes mini special? I can't look at Youtibe this second but I'm intrigued. I can't see anything at the site's link that actually shows what it is. Is it an actual standalone mag?

I'll get you a copy at cost if you cannot get it easily. It seems to be done in the old fashion as if it was made in the 90s. Overton did the cover art, it has some reviews of games. For SP completists it is the missing issue I suppose I think I am just missing the gold edition. I was not too fussed about those binders.

It is indeed a stand-alone mag cost wise including P&P I paid Euro 9.99 but P&P may be a bit more for you. They accept Paypal and Visa so see how you get on with it.

[Skykid]

Binders or bust! After the Gold Issue they're the finishing piece.

Right so I've seen the vid, and yeah I want one. Looks thin and light, a shame I can't just buy that and not the actual mag, which I'd probably not bother looking at, and save a little shipping.

But bar the cover I'm disappointed to see no original content in there. It all looks reprinted to me.

[MintyTheCat]

Have a look on EBay as I bet many will not want to keep the SP 48 mag:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-Play-Ma ... Sw9LxZsTY0

[Axelay]

It's lovely to see Mr Overtons art again.
https://www.destructoid.com/-90s-uk-mag ... 8441.phtml

Destructoid mentioned the editorial team being back.
Is this true? Any information on that ?
Very excited to get my hands on a copy of this new sp.
It used to be my go to reading material on school nights.
And it's such a treasure trove for concise snes reviews. (85%) Or no buy !

[MintyTheCat]

It's lovely to see Mr Overtons art again.
https://www.destructoid.com/-90s-uk-mag ... 8441.phtml

Destructoid mentioned the editorial team being back.
Is this true? Any information on that ?
Very excited to get my hands on a copy of this new sp.
It used to be my go to reading material on school nights.
And it's such a treasure trove for concise snes reviews. (85%) Or no buy !

From what I can gather it looks like the older reviews from the original editorial staff. To be honest, it would have been really good if they had have done a feature on something we did not know about history wise for the SFC or kind of one that talks about how the SFC is appreciated these days or perhaps a nice feature on the different mappers and processors used in the SFC's library - the kind of thing that you might go back to for referencing in future. To me it kind of had the better library over the MD and PCE, but the PCE and MD had more shmups

I am hoping this issue will be decent but we shall have to see. I think if you live in the UK that you can buy it right now in the shops so give WH Smiths a try

[MintyTheCat]

This chap has done a video on the SP48 issue with plenty of chance to see the pages:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2v-5YYZHoU

I think it looks not bad really.

[Turrican]

a 48th issue by the same staff eh?

I guess it's not too late then to see an apology for the infamous last-minute change of the top spot in the Super Play top 100 game feature of issue 42... After basically the whole ethos of the magazine had been geared on the Final Fantasy Forum section, and the whole staff clearly favoring FFVI, the feature was published on the same issue that had the news that Squaresoft had dropped support for N64 and episode seven was headed towards Playstation... And Bam! Magically the first spot goes to A Link to the Past.

I blame them for the following decades of absurd Zelda worshipping on the whole internet, Gamerankings and such.

[Skykid]

Wat? Of course Zelda was going to be in the top spot. Reviewing RPGs and having a Final Fantasy section doesn't mean FF was entitled to anything on that list. I definitely don't think it was because Square dropped the N64 - that's a hell of a conspiracy driven reach.

LTTP is basically just fucking amazing and they decided it was the best game with the most appeal to the most people on the console. I didn't read into it any more than that.

[Turrican]

You need to refresh your memory and read the latest 25 or so issues in one sitting then. The Square vibe ran potent in the magazine. And they did know that there were clouds looming on the horizon (the news of Square capping Seiken 3 for the west was in 39)... No conspiracy, it's all there written on paper

LTTP was very old news in 1996, it was barely mentioned anymore in the magazine or the mail section - in the context of its own series, it had been utterly surclassed by Link's Awakening (now that's fucking amazing), and in snes users hearts it had been replaced by Mana. But even bowing to Ninty, Yoshi's Island or the same SMW would have been more sensible choices. But they couldn't do that, because the RPG craze was at its peak, so...

[Skykid]

I remember pretty well, I used to read SP cover to cover! I remember all the FF love-ins, Zy Nicholson's Mana review and the affection everyone had for the game (including me, after buying an import copy at Christmas) - but none of that means LTTP didn't deserve the spot.

And yes, Awakening is incredible and I considered that, at the time of playing, it may have the edge. But it's a close thing there, they're both masterful. I just didn't think it was odd to drop LTTP in the SFC no.1 spot even in 96.

EDIT: Actually I don't think it's odd to drop it into the no.1 spot now, if we're being console specific!

[Turrican]

Ahah, fair enough... To each his own. I had that sure feeling back then, that the news spreading in the first months of 96 had surely affected that decision. But to be honest, I also think ALTTP to be one of the more pedestrian, play-it-safe efforts from Ninty back then. (I now am mature enough to prefer's "Pilotwings Ninty") Yes, dare I say it, the gorgeous SFC Zelda that made everyone run to their import store, was 1) a bad way to retcon from Zelda II (which was awesome in its own right, so a more sensible idea would have been to develop from there, instead of the back-to-the-roots approach) and 2) ultimately, even now I would gladly take 1986 Zelda over it. No question.

So I think yes... A good dozen games, even among the Snes Mini lineup, were more apt for that #1 spot. Super Metroid for one: makes it much much harder to say "I'd rather go back the the original". But it's all in the past now, just for the sake of the argument. I was throwing a jab there, I don't really take SP responsible for two decades of ill-conceived video game journalism.

BUT... if the mailman brings me this 48th issue, I go into it, and I find something, even the slightest bit of hint, along the lines of "well, we were wrong giving VI 95% and CT 90%, we've come to our senses and think CT is the superior game": then I will truly get mad!

[MintyTheCat]

It is difficult to say really. There were many very good RPGs on the SFC/SNES. Very few were translated to the SNES over all though - at least not officially at that time. I felt amazed that they released the Secret of Mana at that time but remember thinking "...and why not Dragon's Quest 5 eh?".

As far as the 'top SNES/SFC game' goes: again, really hard one to say as there are so many really good games on the system.
Then you have to consider each genre in turn. You may spend less time playing say Axelay in terms on game duration and content than you would Mario World, Metroid, Turrican, Zelda 3 or Breathe of Fire.
I think it is a good idea to take examples from each genre and add them in: Platformers: Castlevania 4, yoshi's island, Metroid, Action: Contra 3, Brawlers: Final Fight 2, Racing: Mario Kart, etc.

In any case it is not easy.

For me, and even then I thought it was silly, but giving far, far too many games 80% or so, well, it is a silly system score wise. Instead, I got more from the reviews and SP were not by any means the worst offenders for the 'every new game is a 100%' kind of malarky.

My copy of the new issue has not arrived as yet but I am anticipating it to arrive soon. I 'll put some photos up if there is any interest then.

[Skykid]

Jesus, the scalpers have switched this one up quick, there are BINs on fleabay for £20 already.

Glad I bagged one before the nonsense started, although I expect they'll drop right back down to peanuts after a short while.

[MintyTheCat]

It is still possible to buy directly from the publisher so avoid these opportunists for now.

[Turrican]

Got my copy, sweet little thing.

However, just four games are reviewed by the original staff: Brookes, Davies, and Zy Nicholson return for Contra III, Final Fantasy III, Super Castlevania IV and Super Ghouls'n Ghosts. These are all ranked a little lower than before.

So the newly crowned masterpieces is Super Metroid... And I'm clueless about that, really. Nowadays I am jaded, I see little improvements over the NES masterpiece, and a substantial drop in claustrophobia/tension. So it basically does little more than H.E.R.O. was doing, and it feels like the major accomplishment of the game is to streamline the whole experience.

Oh well, still better than having ALTTP on top. Now that's a game I would trade for the 1986 rev without a second thought.

Exactly two words too much in this issue: "Oof, possibly".

Oh, and apparently SSFII is 7% better than SFII Turbo. Which sounds like nonsense to me.

[MintyTheCat]

Mine has not arrived but sent a message to them yesterday. I hope that they do not just refund me on this as I could have asked mates to get me a copy on the Island.

[Skykid]

Got mine a while ago. Looking for a good deal on a second copy at the mo.