“Frank Oz and Mr. Miyamoto bonded right away. I mean they were really inseparable during the months they spent working on Star Fox. Sure, there was the language barrier, but I think the language of creativity sort of bridged the gap. I have never seen Mr. Miyamoto so happy as when he was working on that game with the people at the Jim Henson Company, but especially Frank Oz. I think if it was up to Mr. Miyamoto, he'd have worked on all his games with him. It was just a really close connection, and I think that's why the original Star Fox was as good as it was. I think it kind of got lost in the fold a bit among some of the other great games that came out in '93, but that game was Mr. Miyamoto's favorite, I think, out of all the games he did for the SNES-CD.”
-Howard Lincoln, interview with TIME Magazine, July 1, 2002
“Final Fantasy V brought me out of my rut in a lot of ways. I had done New Generation of course, but this game was much more fulfilling. It was the first time that Squaresoft really let me do a translation without so many restrictions, of course back in the early SNES days there had been a lot of restrictions because of Nintendo's content policies, but here, I could do a bit more of a mature script. I mean, I wasn't going to go overboard, I think I ended up using 'damn' twice and 'hell' once, but it was a big step for a game series that had previously been so squeaky clean in terms of language in the US. I guess the censorship policies brought us 'you spoony bard', but that was about it in terms of the good that they did. I self-censored for the most part, but having the extra freedom was nice.”
-Ted Woolsey, excerpted from an interview with RPGamer.com in 2002
“A lot of people don't know this, but the first character to swear in an American Final Fantasy game was Faris, a woman. I actually remember the first time I saw the words on screen: 'Damn it, Syldra!' as her beloved sea dragon was sinking into the whirlpool. Of course at that point the game was still trying to make you think Faris was a man, but the fact that the first swear word in a game that Nintendo promoted heavily in the United States came out of a woman's mouth was a groundbreaking moment for gender in video games. Yes, the series and the medium had a LONG way to go for gender equality, but Faris and her potty mouth were an oasis in a desert of male domination.”
-Anita Sarkeesian, “Tropes vs. Women In Video Games Part 2”, Youtube.com, May 17, 2013
“Do a barrel roll! To barrel roll, press L or R twice!”
-Peppy Hare, Star Fox
“By CES 1993, it was clear to me that Nintendo wasn't interested in what we could do for them, they were happy with the direction that Sony was taking them. With the success they'd been having with their CD add-on we couldn't really blame them, but there was another intriguing offer that I knew was worth a second look.”
-Ed McCracken, CEO of Silicon Graphics, interview with Wired Magazine in October 1999
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*Sergeant Pepper, in animated form, is shown seated at his desk.*
Pepper: Star Fox, we need your help! Andross has invaded the Lylat System and only you can stop him!
*A variety of quick scenes from the game are shown, showing off the graphics and the fast-flying action.*
Pepper: You must hurry! Soon, Lylat will be- *the screen goes static and soon Pepper's face is replaced by that of Andross, laughing loudly*
Andross: Don't even try to do battle with me! I control the galaxy and I will not be stopped! *laughs again*
*More scenes of the game are shown as the narrator speaks.*
Narrator (Don LaFontaine): It's Nintendo's most epic adventure yet, an interplanetary war with you at the controls of the Arwing, the fastest, most heavily armed fighter ship in the galaxy! Join up with your wingmen and take the fight to Andross as you fly across more worlds than you can imagine. Will good prevail or will Andross conquer all? Only you can save the Lylat System in Star Fox, the newest game for the Super Nintendo CD. Take it to the next level!
-Nintendo's commercial for Star Fox, which began running in May 1993
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Star Fox: The Basics
Nintendo's Star Fox, released in North America on June 7, 1993, stood as its second biggest first-party release for the SNES-CD in 1993, and the game was groundbreaking at the time in terms of FMV production values. The Jim Henson Company directed and created the game's full-motion video, which appeared during between-mission cutscenes, pre-mission briefings, and most ubiquitously, during missions in brief clips that would play as various characters conversed with Fox McCloud, whether they be Fox's wingmen, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy, or the various enemy characters who populated the stages, including the game's main antagonist, the planetary conqueror Andross. The game itself was a fairly standard space shooter, though the SNES-CD's fast processing and memory capacity allowed for polygonal graphics at a fast framerate, providing arcade-quality visuals as your Arwing zipped through the game's stages. At the start of the game, you would choose one of three routes to take on the planet Corneria, an easy route, a medium route, or a hard route. Depending on the route taken, you would advance to a different second stage, with a total of seven stages in all. On the easy and medium routes, hidden objectives in the second and fourth routes would allow you to advance up a stage, so for example, if you were on the easy route for stage two, you could complete the hidden objective and advance to the medium route for stage three and onward. These hidden objectives were added late in production to allow a variety of routes through the game's stages so that there were more than three possible runs the player could take, the route changes enabled the potential for eight different runs through the game, with a total of fourteen worlds and eighteen stages (three different Cornerias and three different Venoms). The cutscenes themselves were integrated fairly seamlessly into the gameplay, they were criticized among some game journalists for being cheesy or silly, but compared to other FMV efforts on the SNES or Sega CD, they were downright excellent, especially with veteran Muppeteers like Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and Fran Brill, among others, providing the voices.
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Star Fox
There's a new star in town and it's Star Fox, the exciting new space shooter from Nintendo. Take your team of hot-shot space pilots through more than a dozen worlds as you seek to take down the galactic conqueror Andross! Some of the FMV is a bit silly at times but it adds atmosphere and character to this already excellently produced game.
Graphics: 5.0
Sound: 5.0
Control: 5.0
FunFactor: 5.0
Challenge: Adjustable
The Lost Vikings
Blizzard's Amiga hit comes to the SNES-CD and out of all three console versions it's the best of the bunch, with graphics far outstripping its SNES and Genesis cousins. The gameplay hasn't changed though, and taking Erik, Baleog, and Olaf through the game's challenging levels has never been more fun!
Graphics: 5.0
Sound: 4.0
Control: 5.0
FunFactor: 4.5
Challenge: Intermediate
ClayFighter
This irreverant fighting game looks great on the SNES-CD, but while we got lots of laughs while playing it, it's still no Street Fighter II, and with Mortal Kombat coming to home consoles in a few months, we don't think we'll be spending much time with this one. If you're looking for something sillier than your usual fighting fare, this is great, but if you're looking for something more robust, look elsewhere.
Graphics: 4.5
Sound: 3.0
Control: 3.5
FunFactor: 3.5
Challenge: Advanced
--Excerpted from GamePro's reviews of June 1993's SNES CD releases, from their August 1993 issue
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*Several people are sitting outside an office. There's a voice from inside the room.*
Voice: Next!
*A young man sits down across from the person behind the desk.*
Employer: What makes you think you can handle saving the world? What are your skills?
Applicant: Well...
*A succession of applicants are shown seated in the chair, each one names one of their “skills” which happens to be a skill in the game. There are five in all, some are shown more than once.*
Applicant: I can wield a sword...
Applicant 2: I'm the world's greatest thief!
Applicant 3: I can rain fire down on enemies!
Applicant 4: I can summon powerful magical creatures to do my bidding!
Applicant 5: I can make the earth open up beneath the battlefield!
Applicant: I can wield TWO swords at once!
Applicant 3: I can strike over and over in the blink of an eye!
Applicant 2: I can do whatever the last guy does.
Applicant 5: I can mix any two things together and cook up something awesome!
Applicant: I got a huge cannon!
Applicant 4: I can take flight on the wings of a dragon!
Applicant 3: I use my enemy's own attacks against them!
Applicant: I can freeze time!
Applicant 2: I can toss money to destroy my enemies!
Employer: *has a stone-faced expression and then he smiles* Great! When can you start?
Applicant 1: Right away! So...what job did I get?
Employer: All of them!
*Scenes from the game begin to play.*
Narrator: Use the brand new Job system to defeat your enemies and save the world in the brand-new Final Fantasy III, the biggest adventure ever to hit the Super Nintendo CD. Create any team you want and explore the world, but watch out because the evil Exdeath doesn't mess around. It's Final Fantasy III and it's only on the Super Nintendo CD. Take it to the next level!
-North American advertisement for Final Fantasy III, which began playing in June 1993
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Final Fantasy III: The Basics
Final Fantasy III, originally released in Japan as Final Fantasy V on the SNES, is virtually unchanged in gameplay terms from its SNES cousin, save for the addition of two new jobs, the Pirate and the Gladiator. The graphics, however, were given a bit of an overhaul, particularly the character sprites. Squaresoft had been working on advanced character sprites for Final Fantasy VI, but they got their first test drive on the SNES-CD Final Fantasy V, allowing for significantly more character animation and expression. The monsters also got a bit more detail, and the music was enhanced for CD audio, though it too remained largely unchanged from the original score by Nobuo Uematsu, with only the addition of more instrumental clarity enhancing the game's songs. The game, released on July 12, 1993 in North America, saw a release in September 1993 in Japan as “Final Fantasy V: Special CD Edition”.
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The Shores Of Whitesea
A fairly bad FMV game, this fantasy-based adventure tries to spice things up by playing like an old-school RPG dungeon crawler in the vain of Dungeons and Dragons, but hopelessly difficult gameplay and terrible acting don't make this game worth the trouble. Get Final Fantasy III instead.
Graphics: 3.5
Sound: 2.5
Control: 2.5
FunFactor: 2.0
Challenge: Advanced
Time Gal
A quirky but rather fun FMV-based anime adventure, Time Gal has some show-stopping moments if you can navigate your way through its tricks and traps. It's not quite Dragon's Lair but anime fans should love it and it's heroine is fairly endearing.
Graphics: 4.0
Sound: 3.5
Control: 3.0
FunFactor: 3.5
Challenge: Intermediate
Final Fantasy III
Squaresoft's epic adventure is the best Final Fantasy game yet. It's tough as nails, but the Job system lets you customize your party to meet a variety of challenges. Believe me, you'll need to get VERY familiar with it to make it to the end of this game.
Graphics: 5.0
Sound: 5.0
Control: 4.5
FunFactor: 4.5
Challenge: Advanced
Dark City
This FMV detective game takes after the old film noir serials, where you're a detective in a grungy place called Dark City and you have to take down a gang of nasty thugs who have kidnapped the husband of your beautiful client. While there are a few redeeming moments, the game can be rather frustrating at times and the clues it gives you to solve the mysteries are really vague. Only the most hardcore FMV or detective game fans need apply.
Graphics: 3.5
Sound: 4.0
Control: 3.0
FunFactor: 2.5
Challenge: Advanced
Clue
Based on the classic board game and somewhat on the movie, this fun FMV game is perhaps the best detective game to hit the SNES CD. In a sea of FMV games this month, this is the only game that potentially rivals Final Fantasy III as being the best game of the month. All your favorite characters are here and you never know who's the killer until you solve the clues. A really good execution on the SNES CD.
Graphics: 4.5
Sound: 4.0
Control: 4.0
FunFactor: 4.5
Challenge: Intermediate
--Excerpted from GamePro's reviews of July 1993's SNES CD releases, from their September 1993 issue
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“This is really, I think, a game that just wouldn't have been possible without the SNES-CD, and that's the first game we've done at Squaresoft that we can honestly say that about. I designed this game with that extra memory capacity in mind, this world and this quest is just so huge that this game could only have happened on the CD-ROM. The complexity of the music and all the things going on on the screen at once, this is the reason why we pushed so hard for this unity between Nintendo and Sony.”
-Koichi Ishii, designer of Secret of Mana, translated from comments in Famitsu magazine, August 1993
“So I'm hearing all the praise for Final Fantasy III, which is a well-designed game from a production aspect, but in terms of the gameplay it can hardly be called a role-playing game. There's a scene in there where a main character dies and there's nothing you can do about it. No choice, no freedom, you just have to watch him die. But in Ultima, a game where you have limitless freedom, you could save a character like that. Your actions determine everything that happens in the game, for better or for worse. The Ultima series has always been about the freedom to determine what kind of hero you're going to be, and that's why I think that ultimately, players enjoy the Ultima series more than any other role-playing game. Including non role-playing games like Final Fantasy.”
-Richard Garriott, excerpted from an interview at the Summer 1993 CES promoting Sega-CD's version of Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds
Summer 1993 CES Special
Summer 1992's CES was all about the new optical CD add-ons on the video game front, but this year it's all about the games, and all the major players in the industry had something to show at this year's event.
The Nintendo booth was a fun place to be, with a variety of games on display for the Super Nintendo and its CD add-on, as well as the Gameboy. Super Mario All-Stars was the headlining game at the Super Nintendo display, with a massive banner promoting the game and a large number of demo kiosks. This game is an updated re-release compilation of the NES Mario Bros. titles and even includes the original Super Mario Bros. 2, which has been re-branded as the Lost Levels. Street Fighter II Turbo, which brings most of the gameplay enhancements of the SNES-CD's Arcade Edition, along with a new Hyper Fighting Mode, was also prominently displayed here. We got a glimpse of Super Metroid, which wasn't yet playable, as well as Star Tropics II, which was originally announced for the NES, but is now making its way to the Super Nintendo sometime next spring. One more title that we were really intrigued by was “Earthbound”, a remake of a very quirky NES RPG called “Mother”. The game has had a lot of work done on it, including graphical enhancements and re-balanced difficulty, along with a re-scored soundtrack that should make it a big hit among RPG lovers.
The SNES-CD had plenty to show off as well. We got a quick preview of Hideo Kojima's PC hit “Snatcher”, which looks to make its way to the SNES-CD sometime early next year. We also got glimpses of movie-based games “The Terminator” and “Jurassic Park”, and a playable demo of Battletoads II, which looks really nice and should be out this December. The SNES-CD's most intriguing title for this year, however, appears to be a game that's more than two years in the making. It's the long-awaited Project Mana, known in Japan as “Seiken Densetsu 2” and has been revealed as Secret Of Mana in the West. The game looks extremely promising, Nintendo and Squaresoft are saying that the main quest has over 60 hours worth of gameplay and the graphics and sound are among the best we've ever seen in a video game. The game also takes advantage of the SNES-CD's multiplayer capabilities, allowing three people to play at once, a first for an RPG such as this. A nearly-completed version was available for demonstration at the SNES-CD booth and it was one of the most crowded booths at the show.
Sega also had an impressive CES, something they needed in the wake of Nintendo's rising sales. They showed off the Sega Genesis and Sega CD versions of Disney's Aladdin and the game looked quite good, especially the Sega CD version of the game, with very fluid animation and lively music. Gunstar Heroes was one of the more surprising hits of the Sega booth, rivaling Secret of Mana's display as one of the most crowded of the whole show. The very fun run-and-gun shooter game from Treasure looks to be one of the best Genesis exclusives of the year and it's one we can't wait to review. There were two huge Sega CD games on display, the first being Sega's answer to the hit Super Mario World 2... Sonic CD was fully playable and looked amazing, the gameplay involves time travel as Sonic travels between past and future versions of worlds to make changes that effect one or the other. The graphics looked as good as anything we've seen on a console and the music is typical Sonic awesomeness, perfectly fitting the stages and levels it accompanies. For our money, Sonic CD is in a dead heat with Secret of Mana as our Summer 1993 CES “Best Of Show”, with our editors unable to decide who comes out on top. Sega was also keen to show off its newly acquired property, the Ultima series, just purchased by the company to provide an RPG rival of sorts to Nintendo and Squaresoft's Final Fantasy. The Sega CD's Ultima Underworld II looks like a perfect port of the PC version and Sega is really hyping it up as one of their biggest games of the year, it's a classic dungeon crawler where you explore a dark labyrinth while fighting countless hordes of enemies, and Richard Garriott was present at Sega's booth to answer every question that reporters could throw at him. The SNES-CD has had an outstanding year but if Sega's CES was any indication, this company is poised to strike back in a big way, and this Christmas could go down as the holiday that Sega finally knocks Nintendo off its throne.
-Electronic Gaming Monthly's Summer 1993 CES recap, from their September 1993 issue
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SNES-CD Power Charts – June 1993
(italics signifies an unreleased game without sales figures included, bold signifies a newly released game with sales figures included for the first time)
1. Super Mario Kart – 16,982
2. Super Mario World 2 – 15,774
3. Street Fighter II: Arcade Edition – 15,081
4. Final Fantasy: New Generation – 11,486
5. Super Turrican – 11,374
6. Star Fox – 9,648
7. Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? - 8,845
8. Mad Dog McCree – 8,742
9. Final Fantasy III – 8,405
10. Pickton Lake – 6,075
11. Lethal Enforcers – 5,629
12. Alien 3 – 5,051
13. Run Saber – 4,645
14. Battletoads II – 4,113
15. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts CD – 3,611
16. Sewer Shark – 3,218
17. Super Bomberman CD – 2,842
18. Shadowrun – 2,804
19. Final Fight II – 2,114
20. Double Switch – 1,995
SNES-CD Power Charts – July 1993
1. Super Mario World 2 – 37,186
2. Super Mario Kart – 14,382
3. Street Fighter II: Arcade Edition – 13,906
4. Final Fantasy: New Generation – 10,766
5. Star Fox – 9,841
6. Final Fantasy III – 8,641
7. Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? - 6,642
8. Super Turrican – 6,124
9. Lethal Enforcers – 6,066
10. SimEarth: The Living Planet – 4,865
11. Mad Dog McCree – 4,772
12. Battletoads II – 4,305
13. Dragon's Destiny – 3,862
14. Pickton Lake – 3,730
15. Alien 3 – 3,641
16. P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations – 3,179
17. Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective – 2,840
18. Super Bomberman CD – 2,826
19. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts CD – 2,617
20. Run Saber – 2,446
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July 23, 1993
James Jordan slept in his car just off Interstate 95 in Lumberton, North Carolina. He was heading back home from attending a funeral, and he'd pulled off the road after he felt himself getting sleepy behind the wheel. No sense in risking another hour on the road, not when he had so much going well for him. His son Michael was the greatest basketball player in the world, having just won his third straight NBA championship. He loved seeing his son succeed. Michael had talked to him just recently about having become bored with the game and intimated to him an idea about taking up baseball, the sport James loved to play. How had Michael put it? He had “no more mountains to climb”? But James knew of plenty more accomplishments for his son to go after. He still had seven fingers without rings, after all. Or currently, nine fingers, as James was holding onto two of his son's championship rings as he slept in that car that warm summer night.
The sound of sirens stirred the man from his slumber. He sat up just in time to see a car speeding past with three police patrol vehicles in hot pursuit. The two 18-year-olds inside the speeding car had just shot a truck driver to death, just to steal a few of the video game consoles he'd been hauling.
James didn't care about video games and he had no idea why that car had been going so fast. All he knew was that he'd been having a good dream about his son winning a fourth NBA championship and the police chase had roused him from sleep.
“Damn fools,” James muttered to himself, rolling over in an attempt to get back to sleep. He needed his rest. He still had quite a drive tomorrow.
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August 2, 1993
Ken Kutaragi couldn't help but smile as he read the latest sales reports from North America. The Super Nintendo CD had had another outstanding mouth, posting its biggest sales month yet in fact. Star Fox had been a major hit, and Final Fantasy III was currently the fourth fastest selling SNES-CD game in North America, behind only Super Mario World 2, Star Fox, and Super Mario Kart. It was even outselling Street Fighter II, though that would likely change as the game's initial sales rush died down. The SNES CD was rapidly catching up to the Sega CD in total sales and it would only be a matter of time at the current pace before Sega's peripheral was overtaken. Though the future of Nintendo and Sony's joint venture had seemed in doubt just three months before, things were looking brighter every day.
At the same time, Kutaragi had something else to be overjoyed about. The promise he'd made to his boss Norio Ohga about music CD sales was coming true. CD sales were soaring around the world, the highest they'd ever been, and business and music news sources were all in agreement: The Super Nintendo CD was a major factor. Indeed, the peripheral was the world's best-selling CD player of 1993, with tens of thousands flying off the shelves daily. Every CD sold was money in Sony's pocket and the money they'd put into production and development of the SNES-CD was rapidly being replenished. Even Norio Ohga was cracking a smile from time to time. As humble as Kutaragi tried to be, he couldn't help but feel that the gratification he got from Mr. Ohga made all of the risks he'd taken worthwhile.
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Across the world in Redwood City, California, Tom Kalinske had been expecting a call for the last few days. While his bosses at Sega of Japan had told him that his latest endeavor was not something he should be pursuing, he had promised that if this venture paid off, it would be Sega's ace in the hole, the one thing they had that could counter the powerhouse combination of Nintendo and Sony. If this venture failed, Kalinske knew that Sega would be playing catch-up for years...indeed, that they might never recover.
Kalinske's phone rang. He picked it up and when he heard the voice on the other end of the line, a smile crossed his face. He even let out a small chuckle.
“Mr. Kalinske, this is Ed McCracken with Silicon Graphics. How are you doing today?”
“I'm quite good, thank you,” Kalinske replied. “I was actually waiting for your call.”
“Ahhh, that's a good sign I think,” said McCracken with a chuckle of his own. “So that means it's a go?”
“Yeah,” said Kalinske with a nod. “If your company's willing to help us with Project Saturn then it's absolutely a go. My bosses are gonna need some convincing, how soon can you start work on a tech demo?”
“We've got one ready to go. We can fly to Japan this week. We're really looking forward to working with you.”
“So am I, Ed, so am I.”
