#127: X-Zone

Ruh-roh!

I had never heard of the game X-Zone. In my mind that word is only associated with the SNES Final Fantasy games as an instant death spell I never really used. The game started with a neat intro explaining the story... Something went wrong with the biocomputer controlling some country's defenses and it's about to start a war that will end the world. I need to go in and stop it! It looks like I'm riding in a jetpack so this is probably a platformer or a scrolling shooter...

Super Scope it is...

And then I got to the title screen, and it showed the Super Scope, and I knew I was screwed. But maybe, just maybe, this would be a game that had a controller input option? Nope. I couldn't even get into the game to die... I had to select my difficulty by shooting the screen first, and I sure couldn't do that.

DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUN!

And so, there's not much to say about this game. The internet tells me it's one of the rarest games for the SNES because it was only ever released in Scandinavia? And it wasn't any good.

Rating: INC

#109: Bazooka Blitzkrieg

KABOOM!

This name didn't ring any bells, and then I saw the intro screen. It had a crosshairs moving around over the sign that said BAZ_OKA and I got a sinking feeling. The crosshair felt like this was going to be a shooter... Probably a shooter with the Super Scope.

*sigh*

Indeed, that was exactly what was going on. Which means this is a game I cannot play. They didn't put in any mode to allow you to play the game without a Super Scope and my emulator doesn't seem to have any idea how to even pretend.

There isn't even much on the internet about this game. No one has anything to say about it, good or bad. I seem to recall the Super Scope was a bit awkward for the sort of quick movement that this game looks like it requires, so I'm probably not missing out on anything by being unable to play. Oh well.

Rating: Incomplete

#88: Battle Clash

PEW PEW!

Battle Clash is a game that requires the use of a Super Scope. My emulator crashes when I try to set it to Super Scope mode, and I wasn't able to find my own Super Scope from 22 years ago, and even if I did I don't have a CRT TV, and even if I did I don't have a copy of this game...

GUIDO!

All of which is to say... I can't play this game. I never played this game as a kid, so I really don't have a whole lot to say. But it's a game in the SNES library, so it deserves a post.

Jabba the Hutt!

I did some reading on Wikipedia and apparently this game came out in the US before it did in Japan which is an interesting twist on the way games normally went. The Japanese release had a much better name: Super Bazooka!

The game itself is a mech combat game. You're in a team of two. The AI controls your mech movement and you control the mech guns with your Super Scope. You need to optimally decide between using rapid fire attacks or charging up your next shot, and you need to choose if you want to damage the enemy or shoot down their incoming attacks.

It actually sounded like it could have been fun.

Rating: INC

#35: Super Scope 6

AKA: Blastris/LazerBlazer

This is the game that came bundled with the Super Scope accessory. The NES had a pistol add-on, the SNES took it up a step by having a shoulder mounted rocket launcher add-on. Reading about the science behind the Super Scope is interesting. And pretty much all I can do, since I can't possible play the game. The emulator I'm using crashed when I tried to turn on the Super Scope mode. I used to own this game, and actually went looking for it, but the Wiki article makes it clear that even if I had found it I wouldn't be able to play it. The Super Scope requires a CRT television and I don't have one of those.

PEW PEW!

I do remember playing the game, a lot, as a kid. Even though I wear glasses which made it tricky to use the eyepiece it was a lot of fun. It's called Super Scope 6 because the cartridge had 6 different, though similar, games to play. One of them was whack-a-mole!

I'm actually disappointed that I can't play the game because I remember liking it. But I don't have a CRT tv and have no plans to ever get one. I don't feel like it makes sense to assign a grade to this game if I can't give it a spin, so it gets the first incomplete grade of this little adventure.

Rating: INC