ActRaiser

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Quintet

ActRaiser is a unique title that successfully blends together real-time strategy-ish gameplay on the overworld map along with hack 'n' slash action in the game's main levels. It’s an interesting combination of genres, but Quintet managed to make it work really well here. Your goal is to battle your way through the side-scrolling levels to clear out the evil in the land and make it habitable for humans to live again. From there, you’ll control a cupid-like character with a top-down view of the world, which is where the strategy aspects kick in. Helping the people build their society in the habitable areas until they can seal away the remaining monsters, you’ll be making the cherub shoot any troublemakers with your arrows along the way. Once done, you’ll eventually find a way to make it to more side-scrolling action. ActRaiser can seem a tad difficult for newcomers, but if you stick with it, it’s not anywhere near impossible to make it to the end of the game to see the credits roll. It's also worth noting that to accompany you through this neat hybrid of a game is some of the best music that you'll find on the Super NES. If you haven’t given this game a chance, I highly recommend doing so.

Review added: 02/21/2021

The Adventures of Dr. Franken

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: MotiveTime, Ltd.

The Adventures of Dr. Franken is one of those games that I remember being way better than it actually is - gimme a break, I was a child when I last played it prior to revisiting it for this website. Anyway, Dr. Franken looks kind of neat graphically with some large characters and some interesting designs of those characters...But you can't judge a book by its cover and Dr. Franken is just a disappointing game with some nice visuals. The controls feel awkward and the hit detection is off to name a few of the major issues found here. The level design also just felt a bit bland, in my opinion, so there’s not really a whole lot here to motivate someone to deal with the bad in order to find some good…mainly because there isn’t much good. Children may like it anyway, like I did when I was a lad, but most adults will probably quickly move on to something better. Dr. Franken clearly did not get his PHD in quality…most likely, it was a PHD in disappointment.

Review added: 08/01/2019

Axelay

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Konami

When it comes to 16-bit, scrolling, 3rd-person shooters, Axelay may be one of the very best. It generally feels like a fair game throughout - difficult, but not so difficult that you can't overcome it with some practice. Shooting through two main types of stages (horizontal-scrolling and vertical-scrolling) you'll see some pretty nifty uses of the Super Nintendo's Mode 7, showing off the graphical power of Nintendo's 16-bit console. You'll also find some nice, smooth controls as you navigate through those levels as well as an interesting selection of weaponry to blast away your enemies with. Add in the entertaining boss fights waiting for you at the end of each level, and you've got an excellent scrolling shooter that I think both veterans and rookies to scrolling shooters can find enjoyment in. It really is a fantastic game that is worth trying if you've never given it a chance before.

Review added: 03/06/2024