SNES

Aladdin     -     AA     -     êê

A fairly ‘generic platformer’ based on the Disney film. Smooth Graphics. Reasonably fun for a while but nothing special here.

 
Barts Nightmare     -     AA     -     êêê

Not a much fun as it’s predecessors Bart Vs The Space Mutants of even Bart Vs The World but still decent. Strange game as it’s all held in Bart’s dreams. Simpsons collectors should have it but there’s better games out there.

Beauty And The Beast     -     AA     -     êê
Another fairly ‘generic platformer’ based on the Disney film. A more difficult game than most ‘generic platformer’ making it a bit of a challenge but again not a lot to be excited about if you’re not a Disney fanatic

B.O.B     -     AA     -     êê

A pretty ‘generic platformer’ really but a little bit better than most. 2½ Stars really. Decent game with reasonable graphics. You play as a gold robot called BOB.

Cannon Fodder     -     PZ     -     êêêêê

Superb and Original. The Sensible team do it again! A semi-top-down war based game. Direct your men round the areas complete the missions. Your soldiers gain rank as they progress missions and stay alive but are easily killed hence the clever game name: It’s about the army not the individual, so sentiment towards certain members and trying and keep them alive to gain rank can be at the detriment of your team. It can also be played with SNES Mouse as it is a PC conversion if preferred. “War Never Been So Much Fun”

Championship Pool     -     SP     -     êê

To my knowledge the best pool game on the SNES, if you’re into that type of thing. Top-down. Not bad. Many game-type options. Bad menu screens.

Clay Fighter     -     BU     -     êêê
A Beat ‘em Up using “ClayMation” (i.e. Morph, Wallace & Gromit) for the characters. Not bad at all, quite funny to play and something original here. Not great longevity but worth a go.

Cool Spot     -     AA     -     êêê

Quite a ‘generic platformer’ in truth but looks ‘cool’ and has a bit of difficultly to it. Clean smooth graphics and neat features. Nice game. Worth having at the right price.

Desert Strike     -     AA     -     êêêê
Hard to put in a genre but most know what this is. Army helicopter game with Gunning, destroying enemy vehicles/building and rescuing hostages involved. Diagonal-top-down view. Original and quality.

Donkey Kong Country     -     AA     -     êêêêê
As platformers go there isn’t many better than this. Good characters, good graphic, top gameplay, challenging, wide variety of levels. Top game.

Donkey Kong Country 2     -     AA     -     êêêêê
Same as above but with even smoother graphics, and I reckon slightly better levels, but no playing as Donkey Kong L.

Donkey Kong Country 3     -     AA     -     êêêê
Same idea again here, not quite as good though, but still a very good game.

Doom     -     SU     -     êêêê
The original Doom, a game that launched the biggest genre in modern gaming (First Person Shooters). Fairly weak graphics but it’s still a classic.

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story     -     BU     -     êê
Not much here, Play as Bruce Lee and 1 on 1 fight against random opponents. Nun-chucks help get the 2^nd star. Not great to play to be honest.

Earthworm Jim     -     AA     -     êêêê
A game which best accomplishment is probably launching a good TV show (which was perhaps more successful than the game itself). Difficult game and hard to control at times. Still fun to play with some funny random bits.

F-Zero     -     AA     -     êêêê
Another trend setting game. A genre that Wipeout and many others copied later on the Playstation. Great playability. Decent graphics.

Goof Troop     -     RP     -     ê

Poor. Not a lot much about this. Can’t say I’ve played it much.

International Superstar Soccer Deluxe     -     SP     -     êêêê
ISS (which eventually became Pro Evolution Soccer) is the leading edge in football gaming. FIFA is no match really. Fun to play. Up to 5 people can play in a game. Good in it’s day.

James Pond's Crazy Sports     -     SP     -     êêê
Olympic style game involving the James Pond characters. Fun and different. Not too much longevity though.

Jungle Book     -     AA     -     êê
Another ‘generic platformer’ from Disney. O.K. but nothing special. Just for the Disney fans out there.

Killer Instinct     -     BU     -     êêê
Quite a good Beat ‘em Up in it’s day. Good graphics. Specialized in multiple hit ‘kombos’, i.e. up to around 60 hits if you’re amazing.

Kirby's Fun Pak     -     AA     -     êêêê
An 8-in-1 style game, mainly platform. Lots to do here. Pretty good, but there’s better.

Lamborghini American Challenge     -     RA     -     êê
A half decent, basic racing game. The added element of money and betting on your races adds a little fun.

Lemmings     -     PZ     -     êêêêê
Who ever invented the concept of lemmings deserves a knighthood. So good. So original. Get enough of your lemmings to the exit to progress using the tools at your disposal. Fabulous fun but can drive a sane man mad at harder levels. It can also be played with SNES Mouse as it is a PC conversion if preferred. A must have retro game!

Lemmings 2: The Tribes     -     PZ     -     êêêêê
Not as good as the original above but still very good fun. Probably get the 5^th star for the attempt to add features (like loads of new tools, and lots of different themed levels) even if this made it a little too bloated and lose a little of it’s simple original charm.

Lion King     -     AA     -     êêê
Although a ‘generic platformer’, it is quite good. Grow up  from cub to lion as you go though the game, just like the film. Worth a look, especially for the Disney fan.

Mario Paint     -     O     -     êê
Like a Mario themed Microsoft paint for kids with music maker features as well. Pretty good at what it does, but what it does isn’t overly high priority for most gamers. Gets a 2^nd star for giving the SNES another dimension though.

Mario's Missing     -     RP     -     êê
Play as Luigi in a learning RPG. Rare game. Decent at it’s aim but not a real Mario game as we know it.

Mario's Time Machine     -     RP     -     êê
Same style game as above.

Mega Man X     -     AA     -     êêê
Mega Man is a big title for many retro fans but I would only rate this game as decent. Wouldn’t get rid of it but don’t play it often either.

Michael Jordan: Chaos In The Windy City     -     AA     -     êê
You’re Michael Jackson in a ‘generic platformer’. You’re weapon is unsurprisingly a basketball. Good for a laugh, but nothing special really about the game.

Mickey Mania     -     AA     -     êê
Disney ‘generic platformer’.staring Mickey Mouse.

Mickey Mouse: The Magical Quest     -     AA     -     êê
Same as above.

Micro Machines     -     RA     -     êêêêê
A very playable top-down racer. Simple Graphics. Top notch gameplay. Racing tiny vehicles cars round parts of the house, like the breakfast table and the bath. Good for multiplayer too.

Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament     -     RA     -     êêêê
Similar to above.

Mortal Kombat     -     BU     -     êêê

Top fighting game series. More realistic looking characters than the cartoon style Street Fighter, but not quite as good or legendary. Very gory with much blood spilt and secret fatality finishing moves. However the first one is slightly primitive graphically, and doesn’t have enough characters.

Mortal Kombat 2     -     BU     -     êêêê
More characters, more moves and sharper graphically than its predecessor. Good game.

Mortal Kombat 3: Ultimate Edition     -     BU     -     êêêêê

Again more characters, options and better graphics than before. Top fighting game but still not quite as good as Street Fighter (see below).
 

Ms. Pacman     -     PZ     -     êêêêê
An arcade classic comes to the console. Great fun. Lots of options. A bit samey but this could only get 5 stars. One of the ultimate cult classic games.

NBA Jam T.E.     -     SP     -     êêêê
A classic sports game. An original idea of over-the-top moves and dunks in 2 on 2 Basketball. Good for multiplayer. Misses out on 5 stars due to its slight repetitiveness.

Nigel Mansell's World Championship     -     RG     -     êê
Decent F1 game. Probably more a 2½ star. Looked better in it’s day though. Only one choice of racer.

Nintendo Scope 6     -     LG     -     ê
Launch game with the ‘Nintendo Scope’ Light Gun (more like Light Bazooka). Not good. The simplicity of Duck Hunt on the NES beats it hands down any day.

Pilotwings     -     O     -     êêê
A game where you learn different types of flying at flight school. Original. Not bad. Difficult.

Pinocchio     -     AA     -     êê
Another ‘generic platformer’ from Disney. O.K. but nothing special. Just for the Disney fans out there.

Primal Rage     -     BU     -     êê
Fighting game where primal animals like various dinosaurs and giant apes fight. Reasonably poor graphics. Not great.

Prince Of Persia     -     AA     -     êêêê
A good but slower paced platformer set in the Middle-East. Defiantly worth a look.

Push Over     -     PZ   -     êêêêê
A simple idea (toppling dominos) put to work very well. You’re play as an ant (G.I.Ant) and you move the different blocks so all the dominoes fall it the right way. Gets much more difficult as the game goes on. Needs to be played to ‘get it’ but it’s a very good game.

Road Runner     -     AA     -     êêê
A fairly simple and easy game featuring the legendary looney tunes Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. Very good fun to play, for a limited time though.

Rock N' Roll Racing     -     RG    -     êêê
A unique type of racing game. Intergalactic 4 way racing in cars armed with misiles etc. Displayed in a semi-3D diagonal-top-down view. Decent graphics. Great music – Black Sabbath, Steppenwolf, George Thorogood. But quite samey.

Sensible Soccer     -     SP     -     êêêêê
A simple looking game with basic graphics but the only way to describe this game is ‘the best football game ever made’. I am a hugh fan of the Pro Evo series (on PS2), but the gameplay of sensible soccer is unbeatable. Different to any other footy game and must be played if you even remotely like football!

Shaq Fu     -     BU     -     ê
Laugh-out-loud stupid. You play as basketball legend/giant Shaqell O’Neill……..and have to fight superior intergalactic beings in 1 on 1 combat. Very hard, Very Very bad.

Smurfs     -     AA     -     êê
A rather difficult  ‘generic platformer’. Decent graphics. Nothing much stands out.

Soccer Kid     -     AA     -     êêêê
A very playable platformer about a football loving kid. The ball is your weapon and you have to battle though the levels collecting football trading cards. You can do quite a lot of moves with the ball (including lose and burst it) which is really what makes the game as good as it is.

Star Wing     -     AA     -     êêêêê
Using the Nintendo ‘Super FX’ chip Star Wing (known as Star Fox in Japan and USA) gives a proper 3D space environment to fly though. A popular SNES classic. Advanced 3D style graphics. Good Gameplay.

Street Fighter 2 Turbo     -     BU     -     êêêêê
Probably the best fighting game ever made. Classic gameplay. Good graphics. A must own. Hadooken!

Stunt Race FX     -     RA     -     êêê
Like with Star Wing Nintendo use the ‘Super FX’ chip to effect a 3D game. Not great view but a decent game.

Super Aleste     -     SU     -     êêê
Top down aeroplane shooting game. Top scrolling. Good to pick up and play. Good fun.

Super Bomberman     -     PZ     -     êêêêê
An absolute gem of a game. Original concept. The normal mode isn’t worth talking about but the battle mode is one of the best battle games of all time. 4-way Multi-player is where this game achieves true greatness. A must play and must own game.

Super Bomberman 2     -     PZ     -     êêêêê
Same as above. All new levels.

Super Double Dragon     -     BU     -     êêêê
A classic side scrolling beat ‘em up. 2-player. Good fun. Not great Longevity.

Super Mario Allstars     -     AA     -     êêêêê
An amazing collection of 4 NES Mario games: Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (Mario 2 in Japan), Super Mario Bros 2 (Mario USA in japan), and Super Mario Bros 3. Each one have save files so you can save your progress. The games have been given a little graphical spruce up for their SNES comeback. Brilliant. Must have.

Super Mario Kart     -     RA     -     êêêêê
Widely regarded as one of the best video games ever made. Great fun. Good 2-player (and a battle mode). Pretty good graphics and top gameplay. This is THE must own SNES title.

Super Mario World     -     AA     -     êêêêê
Mario’s SNES debut. Very enjoyable game. Slightly different to NES Mario’s but the core remains. You can ride on Yoshi for help when needed too. Many hidden paths, and a nice map screen between levels.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island     -     AA     -     êêêêê
This game is more about Yoshi than Mario. Baby Mario rides on Yoshi’s back throughout and it’s Yoshi’s job to keep him save through the tough levels. A brilliant platform game with nice graphics.

Super Metriod     -     AA     -     êêê
Another Nintendo faviorite. A decent shooting platform game.

Super Probotector: Alien Rebels     -     AA     -     êêê
A bit like Super Metriod above but more one-way side-scrolling. Good for a quick blast.

Super Smash TV     -     SU     -     êê
Arcade style mayhem really! Top down shoot’em up. You’re in a TV show (like battle royal) and you have to shoot all round you to get far. Fun for a go or two but rather samey.

Super Street Fighter 2     -     BU     -     êêêê

Like Street Fighter 2, but with 4 all new characters (DeeJay, Cammy, Feilong, and T-Hawk). But a serious slow down in gameplay cost this version a star.

Super Tennis     -     SP     -     êêêê
A real ace of a tennis game. All-round good fun and multi-player. Many playing surfaces and tournaments. Fairly simple graphics, but top gameplay see this game to an easy 4 stars.

Tetris / Dr.Mario     -     PZ     -     êêêêê
Two classic puzzle games on one cart. Nothing else here, but Tetris is one of the all time classic games and Dr.Mario isn’t bad either. Must have for a true gamer.

Theme Park     -     PZ     -     êêêê
A very original idea for game type. Like Sim City this is a building game. Your objective is to build a successful theme park by adding rides and games. Quite good fun.

Top Gear     -     RA     -     êê
A half decent, basic racing game. The nitro boosts add a bit of spice but the game isn’t really that hot.

Toy Story     -     AA     -     êêê
A game that uses SNES graphics to the full. Looks good, and plays reasonably well. Good if you liked the Toy Story films.

Turtles IV: Turtles In Time     -     BU     -     êêê
A double dragon style side scrolling beat ‘em up. Arcade conversion. Two player adds a bit of double teaming fun. Pick from the four turtles: Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey.

Turtles Tournament Fighters     -     BU     -     êêêê
I very good 1-on-1 beat ‘em up in the Street Fighter mould. Some class weapons moves and special moves. All the turtles and Shredder are here as well as some other random characters. Good graphics. A sold effort. Challenging.

Unirally     -     RA     -     êêêê
A crazy game where you race unicycles round 2D courses, as well at do tricks to get speed boosts. Colourful graphics. Strange random concept, great fun though. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

Virtual Soccer     -     AA     -     ê
Fairly poor top-down fooball game. Not much to offer here.

Wario's Woods     -     PZ     -     êêê
A Tetris style puzzler with some Mario related features. A solid effort and one for the Mario collector but not a lot stands out or is legendary about this one.

Worms     -     PZ     -     êêêêê
A genius concept provide great fun for all. There’s been many sequels over the years but this original is the classic. You have a team of 4 worms and a large armoury of powerful weaponry. He who has the last worm standing is the winner. Must be played. Basic graphics but top for multiplayer fun/war.

WWF Super Wrestlemania     -     BU     -     êêê
Decent wrestling game for it’s time, but rather outdated now. Choose from many of the classic ‘old boys’ of WWF.

Yoshi's Safari     -     LG     -     êêê
The best SNES Light Gun game, but is that really saying much? You are on Yoshi as he runs about on safari. Shoot what you see.

Zelda: Link To The Past     -     RP     -     êêêêê
What can I say......One of the best games ever made. The worlds best RPG. Guild Link from young boy with nothing to be a multiple weapon welding, world saving, action hero. So satisfying to play. Loads to do. A definite must own for any SNES fan.

Mega Drive
 

Acme Allstars: Tiny Toon Sports     -     SP     -     êêêê
A very fun multi-sports (Soccer, Basketball, Track etc) game that just falls short of the full 5 stars. Pick you team from the cast of Tiny Toons and you’re off. Probably most fun playing against friends in a 2 player. Worth owning.

Ariel The Little Mermaid     -     AA     -     êê
Follows the mold of a  ‘generic platformer’ but is mostly under water. But not much here unless you’re a fan.

Ballz     -     BU     -     êê
An odd and lazy concept of a fighting game where the fighters are made up of different sized coloured balls (like is used to get the basic shape of something before you sketch it). Some rude moves get a laugh before getting old. Worth playing once to see but not a good game.

Bart Vs The Space Mutants     -     AA     -     êêê
The first Simpsons themed game. Good fun. NES conversion. Weak graphics for the Megadrive. But be warned, this game is very challenging! Worth owning in some form though.

Dr.Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine     -     PZ     -     êêêêê
A brilliant block-dropping puzzler were you have to link matching colours. The fun idea is playing against the computer to be quicker than him. Doing this adds  blocks to the opponents screen making it harder until someone wins. One of the best games of this type.

Dynamite Headdy     -     AA     -     êêê
A platformer with a strange twist. You are a puppet called Headdy and you have many interchangeable heads. Collect a different head to add an ability (shooting, speed, climbing). Fun for a while but there are better platform games out there.

Ecco The Dolphin     -     AA     -     êêêê
A good, sometimes underrated adventure game. Quite original and unique. Swim around unlocking areas and talking to other dolphins on a quest to find your family. Underwater environment and gameplay is enjoyable. Fun but some patience some required here.

Fantastic Dizzy     -     RP     -     êêê
The classic commodore series Dizzy Egg comes to the Megadrive. A good adventure game, but low-level graphics dampen the fun a little.

James Pond 2: Robocod     -     AA     -     êêêê
A crazy platformer with lots of different style levels many original features. Quite good and worth a go.

Marble Madness     -     PZ     -     êêê
A bit of a classic game with a very simple concept, roll yourself (a marble) from the start of each course to the end in the time given without falling off to many times. The courses get hard the further on you go. Reasonably fun.

Marsupalami     -     AA     -     êêêê
A rare but top quality puzzle platform game. You are Marsupalami (a French cartoon yellow monkey with about an 8 foot tail). The idea is to get your elephant friend though the levels with you using the different collectable functions of your long tail (stairs, bridge and many more). Defiantly worth getting if you can.

Mega Games 2 (Shinobi, Streets Of Rage, Golden Axe)     -     BU     -     êêê
Three three star side scrolling beat ‘em ups on one cart. Good valve and good for double teaming but not much longevity from these style games, but at least there’s three of them.

Moonwalker     -     AA     -     êêê
Any Megadrive owning Michael Jackson fan must have this game. What other musician could get away with getting a video game made. Dance and moonwalk your way though the levels ‘saving’ all the kids from Mr. Big and his men. A very simple platform game at the end of the day and not much longevity but certainly worth owning for the novelty, as well as the background music of MJ classic hits.

Ms. Pacman     -     PZ     -     êêêêê
An arcade classic comes to the console. Great fun. Lots of options. A bit samey but this could only get 5 stars. One of the ultimate cult classic games.

Outrun     -     RA     -     êêê
A checkpoint based ‘race against time’ game converted direct from the arcade. You, accompanied by your fine-looking lady friend, in your Ferrari have to outrun the cops and get to the checkpoints in time to keep going on your wild adventure. Worth a go but no longevity.

Ren & Stimpy - Stimpy's Invention     -     AA     -     êêê

A fairly ‘generic platformer’ with the Nickelodeon cartoon favourites. Not bad.

Ristar     -     AA     -     êêêê
A platform game from the Sonic team. Nice graphics. Worth playing and having.

Road Rash 2     -     RA     -     êêêê
A bit of classic here. The road rash series combined motorbike racing with the ability to hit opponents with chains or metal pipes for added venom. Good fun especially for 2 player mode.

Sonic The Hedgehog     -     AA     -     êêêê
Some prefer Sonic, some prefer Mario, either way these two were the two big gaming icons of the 90’s. This is the first Sonic on the Megadrive. A solid effort and a classic, lack of a super-spin is annoying having played the sequels and it’s not as fast as they are, but it is still a good game that you should have if you’re a collector or a sonic fan.

Sonic 2     -     AA     -     êêêêê
More speed, more levels, better gameplay and brighter colours, as well as the addition of your two tailed fox friend Miles ‘Tails’ Prower. A great game. Also a brilliant split-screen two player mode where you race each other through levels. A must own game.

Sonic 3     -     AA     -     êêêêê
Quality. Similar to Sonic 2 but quite a short game and as it is it would drop to 4 stars for this. However this is only half the story as when it is clicked into the Sonic and Knuckles cartridge the two games join and unlock the full story (actually two full stories - one with Sonic & Tails, and one with Knuckles which has differences in levels). Combined this ‘double game’ is the ultimate Sonic experience to date, with loads of levels and more of a feeling of a plot. The idea of the duel story which comes together nearing the end adds to this. Also a 2 player race mode returns as in Sonic 2 but has several laps and a best time leader board.

Sonic & Knuckles     -     AA     -     êêêêê
See above. Play as Sonic or Knuckles. Even on it’s own this game would probably knick 5 stars but the link with Sonic 3 seals the deal. Yes, Yes, Yes!

Sonic Spinball     -     AA     -     êêêê
A good attempt from Sega at something different from Sonic. Could easily have been a poor cash in, but effort was put in here. Fun to play but quite difficult. Definitely worth having.

Sonic 3D     -     AA     -     êêê
Not the way to go on the Megadrive. Yes Sonic had to attempt to roll with the times and go 3D on the Dreamcast and now PS2 etc but it was too early and although graphically it looks ok the game doesn’t play very well and isn’t the same fun that the other Sonic games.

Speedball 2     -     SP     -     êêêê
A top idea for a game, a made-up sport. Set in the future, Speedball is the big sport. A mix between soccer, rugby, and futuristic madness. Very good fun and 2 player.

Streets Of Rage 2     -     BU     -     êêê
A classic series. The second and probably best in this series of side scrolling beat ‘em ups. Fun, but not much longevity.

Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist     -     BU     -     êêê
A Streets Of Rage style side scrolling beat ‘em up. Arcade conversion. Two player adds a bit of double teaming fun. Pick from the four turtles: Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey.

ToeJam & Earl      -     AA     -     êêê
A more top down style than it’s side-scrolling sequel. Original and decent but ‘Panic On Funkotron’ is the way to go.

NES
 

A Boy And His Blob     -     AA     -     êêê
Feed different favoured jellybeans to the big white blob that follows you around and he will transform into different things to help you on your quest. Possible the best, funniest and most insane game concept ever! Very basic graphics even for the Nes, but a decent game.

Bart Vs The Space Mutants     -     AA     -     êêêê
The first Simpsons themed game. Good fun. Decent graphics for the time. But be warned, this game is very challenging! Worth owning.

Duck Hunt     -     LG     -     êêêê
The original gun game. Shot the ducks, that’s it, they’ll get faster each round. Still fun today.

Excitebike     -     RA     -     êêê
Time trial basic motorbike game. Another NES classic. Basic graphics and simple gameplay but good fun. Not great longevity though.

High Speed Pinball     -     O     -     êê
Simple pinball game. Average graphics. Does the job it set out to do reasonable well. Quite primitive.

Super Mario Bros.1     -     AA     -     êêêêê
The classic. The first major Mario Bros game. Even with the mediocre graphic this will always charm the retro gamer. Easy to pick up and play quickly. Great fun.

Super Mario Bros.3     -     AA     -     êêêêê

This has to be the NES’s best game. Brilliant gameplay. Two player has added battle zone feature which is a great idea. Good graphics for the time. Great levels. Plays like a dream. Good longevity.

Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles     -     BU     -     êê

Poor Graphics and average gameplay unfortunately make this first turtles game a disappointment.