The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, known in Japan as Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce "The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods" , is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was later released in North America and Europe in 1992. Shigeru Miyamoto and his team were solely responsible for this game's development. A Link to the Past's plot focuses on Link as he travels on a journey to save Hyrule, defeat Ganon and rescue the seven descendants of the Sages. A Link to the Past uses a top-down perspective similar to that of the original The Legend of Zelda. It added mechanics and concepts to the series that have become commonplace, including multi-level dungeons and new equipment (such as the hookshot and the Pegasus Boots). It was well-received since its release, and has been listed by GameSpot as one of the best installments of the series, as well as one of the greatest games of all time.[3] To date, A Link to the Past has sold more than four million copies,[4] and has been re-released for the Game Boy Advance and the Wii's Virtual Console. GAMEPLAY Instead of continuing to use the side-scrolling perspective introduced to the series by Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past reverts to an overhead perspective similar to that of the original. Despite using mechanics and concepts from the original, A Link to the Past introduces new elements and innovations. For instance, arrows are now separate items, as bombs are in the original, instead of using a Rupee to fire an arrow. A Link to the Past also takes concepts from The Adventure of Link, such as the magic meter, which is used by items such as the Lamp. Control of Link is more flexible than in previous games, as he can walk diagonally and can run with the aid of an obtainable item. Link's sword attack was improved to swing sideways instead of merely stabbing forward; this gives his sword a broader range and makes combat easier. Link swings his sword as the default attack in future Zelda games, although stabbing is also possible in the later 3D incarnations. PLOT According to the text on the back of the game's packaging (US version), A Link to the Past precedes the events of the NES games The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link. This was contradicted by a 1998 interview with Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto (English translation), in which he stated: "Ocarina of Time is the first story, then the original The Legend of Zelda, then Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and finally A Link to the Past."[11] At the beginning of A Link to the Past, a young boy named Link is awakened by a telepathic message from Princess Zelda, who says that she is locked in the dungeon of Hyrule Castle. As the message closes, Link finds his uncle ready for battle, telling Link to remain in bed. After his uncle leaves, however, Link ignores his uncle's command and follows him to Hyrule Castle. When he arrives, he finds his uncle seriously wounded. Link's uncle tells Link to rescue Princess Zelda from her prison, giving him a sword and shield. After his uncle dies, Link navigates the castle and rescues Zelda from her cell, and the two escape into a secret passage through the sewers that leads to a sanctuary.[12] Link is told by a man in the sanctuary that Agahnim, a wizard who has usurped the throne, is planning to break a seal made hundreds of years ago by the Seven Sages. The seal was placed to imprison a dark wizard named Ganon in the Dark World, which was once the Sacred Realm before Ganon invaded, obtained the legendary Triforce and used its power to turn the realm into a land of darkness. Agahnim intends to break the seal by sending the descendants of the Seven Sages who made the seal into the Dark World. The only thing that can defeat him is the Master Sword, a sword forged to combat evil. To prove that he is worthy to wield it, Link needs three magic pendants. After retrieving the pendants, Link takes them to the resting place of the Master Sword. As Link draws the sword from its pedestal, Zelda telepathically calls him to the Sanctuary, informing him that soldiers of Hyrule Castle have arrived. Link arrives at the Sanctuary moments after the soldiers have vacated, where he learns from the dying man that Zelda has been taken to Hyrule Castle. Link goes to rescue her but arrives too late; Agahnim sends Zelda to the Dark World. Link then defeats Agahnim in battle but is subsequently also sent to the Dark World.[12] To save Hyrule, Link is required to rescue the seven descendants of the Seven Sages from dungeons scattered across the Dark World. Once the seven maidens are freed, they use their power to break the barrier around Ganon's Tower, where Link faces Agahnim again. After Link battles Agahnim for a second time, Ganon rises up from Agahnim's body, turns into a bat, and flies away. Link chases him, finally confronting him inside the Pyramid of Power in the Dark World. After a battle resulting in Ganon's demise, Link touches the Triforce and restores Hyrule to how it was before Ganon intervened. MUSIC The score to A Link to the Past was composed by Koji Kondo. The overworld theme of The Legend of Zelda ("Hyrule Overture") returns in A Link to the Past, redone in SPC700 style. The theme is also featured in "Light World Overworld" and in "End Credits". A Link to the Past helped to establish the musical core of the Zelda series. While the first game originated the "Hyrule Overture", many recurring motifs of the Zelda scores come from A Link to the Past, including "Zelda's Lullaby" (Princess Zelda's Theme), "Ganondorf's Theme", "Hyrule Castle" (Royal Family Theme), "Kakariko Village" and "Select Screen / Fairy Cave". These themes have been used in subsequent The Legend of Zelda games.     In hack & slash platformer Sküljagger: Revolt of the Westicans, rebel leader Storm Jaxon steals Captain Sküljagger's prized sword and uses it against him and his oppressive island regime to liberate his nation. Info from above from Giantbomb.com

Ecco the Dolphin (referred to on the title screen as simply "Ecco") is an action-adventure video game released in 1992 for the Sega Genesis. The central character, Ecco, is a Bottlenose Dolphin controlled by the player through a progression of side-scrolling aquatic levels. The game was designed by Ed Annunziata and developed by Novotrade International, and spawned a series of sequels. Ecco is known for its high difficulty level GAMEPLAY The gameplay is essentially side-scrolling, with horizontal, diagonal and vertical movement. Attacking enemies is accomplished by making Ecco ram into them at high speeds. Swimming could be made progressively faster by tapping a certain button, and the speed could be maintained by holding it down. Players can perform a purely aesthetic spin in the air when jumping out of the water. Two features of the game played on actual dolphin habits; one button causes Ecco to sing, allowing him to speak with other cetaceans and interact with certain objects. The same button is used for echolocation; holding it down would cause the song to return, generating a map of the area. Additionally, Ecco, being a mammal, has to surface periodically for air, or else find an air vent. Ecco would drown if his "air meter" ran out. His health was measured by a separate meter; it was depleted by enemies or when his air meter had run out, and it is recharged by eating fish, "singing" to clams, or, later in the game, singing to special statues or crystals called "Glyphs". Ecco's song could be optionally "upgraded" at two points in the game; one upgrade allowed Ecco's song to be used in combination with a charge as a long-range weapon, and the other temporarily disoriented sharks and made minor enemies freeze temporarily. Touching any enemy by any means other than an attack causes Ecco to sustain damage. The enemies range from seahorses to giant octopodes. STORYLINE The game begins with Ecco as he and his pod are swimming in their home bay. One podmate challenges him to see how high into the air he can jump. When he is in the air, a waterspout storm forms and sucks up all marine life in the bay except Ecco, leaving him alone in the bay. Upon leaving the bay to search for his pod, he contacts several dolphins from other pods, who tell him the entire sea is in chaos, and that all marine creatures had felt the storm. After talking to an orca, Ecco travels to the Arctic to find a blue whale named The Big Blue. The Big Blue tells him such storms had been occurring every 500 years and directs him to the Asterite, the oldest creature on Earth. He leaves the Arctic and travels to a deep cavern where he finds the Asterite. Although it has the power to aid him, one of its globes is missing, and needs it returned. However, this can only be achieved by traveling back in time using a machine built by the ancient Atlanteans. Ecco travels to the sunken city of Atlantis, where he discovers the time machine and an ancient library. He learns the cause of the storm; it was a harvest of Earth's waters that was conducted every 500 years by an alien species known as the Vortex. The Vortex had lost their ability to make their own food, and so every 500 years, they would harvest from the waters of Earth. Learning this, he activates the time machine and traveled 55 million years into Earth's past. Ecco locates the Asterite in the past but is immediately attacked by it. Forced into battle, he manages to dislodge a globe from it. This opens a time portal and he is sent back into the present. After receiving the globe, the Asterite grants him the power to turn his sonar into a deadly weapon against the Vortex, as well as the abilities to breathe underwater and to slowly regenerate lost health. The Asterite instructs him to use the time machine to travel back in time to the hour of the harvest. This time he manages to be sucked into the waterspout with his pod. Once inside the waterspout, Ecco makes his way towards the Vortex Queen, the leader of the Vortex race. Eventually the Vortex Queen is destroyed and Ecco rescues his pod.     Final Fight is a fighting action game produced by Capcom originally released in 1989 as a coin-operated arcade game. The arcade version was planned by game designer Akira Nishitani (Nin-Nin) and character designer Akira Yasuda (Akiman), who both later worked on Capcom's landmark head-to-head fighting game Street Fighter II. GAMEPLAY Final Fight is an archetypal scrolling beat-em-up game. One or two player characters move from left to right through each level (most of which are split into 3 or more scenes), fighting with the enemy characters who appear, until they reach a confrontation with a stronger boss character at the end of the level. Once said boss is beaten, the players automatically move onto the next stage. Enemies appear from both sides of the screen and from out of doorways or entrances set into the background, and the player(s) must defeat all of them to progress. If the players try to simply travel through the levels without fighting, the screen will stop scrolling until all current enemies have been defeated, before allowing the players to continue progress. Enemies may move outside the confines of the screen, but players may not. There is a time limit to each stage. The control configuration is composed of an eight-directional joystick and two action buttons for "attacking" and "jumping". Pressing attack and jump simultaneously will execute the character's "deadly blow" that will strike all nearby surrounding enemies, but will consume a portion of the character's vitality. The player can execute a combination of different attacks, which can culminate with a finishing blow or grab the enemy and perform a throw. The player can also grab enemies by approaching them and deliver a series of grabbing attacks. Haggar is the only character who can grab enemies and perform a pile driver. In addition to the player's basic attacks, the player can also pick up weapons such as knives, iron pipes and masamune blades. Health can be restored by picking up food from the ground SNES An initial port of Final Fight for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was released as a launch title for the console in Japan (December 21, 1990) and later in North America (September 1991). Due to limited cartridge space, the 2-player cooperative feature was removed, turning the game into a strictly single-player experience; the Industrial Area level, along with its boss Rolento, were removed; and Guy, one of the main characters, was omitted, leaving only Cody and Haggar. The English localization underwent considerable changes for the game's American and European releases: the first two bosses in the game, Damnd and Sodom, were renamed Thrasher and Katana respectively; Poison and Roxy were replaced with two male punks named Billy and Sid[4]; Belger's wheelchair was redrawn to look like an office chair; all alcoholic references were removed, with "bar" signs becoming "club" signs and two health-recovering items, Whiskey and Beer, became Vitamin E and Root Beer respectively; a punk screaming "Oh! My God" was changed to "Oh! My Car"; and the blood splash effect when a character is stabbed is replaced by a generic explosion.[8] This version of Final Fight was re-released in 2007 as a Virtual Console title. A revised version of the SNES port, titled Final Fight Guy, replaces Cody with Guy as selectable character and features several subtle changes from the original port and added features such as new power-ups, although the Industrial Area stage and the multiplayer cooperative mode were still missing from this version.[9] Final Fight Guy was released on March 20, 1992 in Japan. The American version (featuring the same changes in the localization as in the first game) was released on June 1994 as a rental-only game available at Blockbuster stores.

Mario Paint is a video game created by Nintendo for use with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and was released on August 1, 1992[2] along with the SNES Mouse peripheral device. Mario Paint is the most well-known game to make use of the SNES mouse technology. The game's package was a larger than normal size in order to accommodate a plastic mouse pad which was included along with the SNES mouse. GAMEPLAY The game allowed the user to create artwork using various tools controlled by a mouse (similar to computer painting programs like Microsoft Paint). Not only could the user paint and draw freehand, but colorless pre-made drawings could be displayed and then colored in using various methods similar to coloring books. Another feature included pictures that could be inserted with the stamp tool. Stamps of everyday objects such as the Sun and fruit were provided by default, and users could even make custom stamps pixel-by-pixel. Several publications, such as Nintendo Power, released how-to guides on how to create iconic Nintendo related stamps for use within Mario Paint. Besides just creating static pictures, a user could also make simple looping animations which could then be set to music created in the music generator. These animations painted by the user could only be viewed on a television screen, and while instructions were provided to users on how to record these to a video cassette recorder, there was no other way to export any of the work done in Mario Paint. In addition, standard features consist of: 40 different colors 60 different textures and patterns 75 different stamps 15 customizable stamps Battery back-up capability for saving certain aspects of the game 9 different special erasers: Fade Erase, Water Erase (the picture becomes a grayscale and then disappears), Timed Erase, Rain Erase, Split Image Erase, Pixelated Erase, Blinds Erase, Rocket Erase, Abrupt Erase. MINIGAMES Mario Paint also contains a fly-swatting mini-game, known as "Coffee Break" or "Gnat Attack," which is a fast-paced action game that takes full advantage of the Super NES mouse. The player controls a gloved hand (similar to the one seen on the title screen) holding a flyswatter, which must swat flying insects on the screen, before the insect stings the player's hand in one way or another. There are three levels, each with 100 insects and a boss. When you win the last boss it takes you back to level one and adds a small icon in the top left corner of the screen. There is no final level or reward, as the game will loop endlessly. The title screen for Mario Paint proved to be a mini-game of sorts. The user was able to click each letter in the title to trigger a certain action. Certain letters would cause the music to change, have Yoshi run by on screen, make Mario shrink and grow, and even allow the user to temporarily paint the background. Also, occasionally, a star would fly across the screen very quickly which the user could click on and make it rain down lots of stars and change the music for the duration of this. Totaka's Song in Mario Paint Kazumi Totaka's Song is a 19-note song that appears in many Nintendo games. In Mario Paint, the song is an Easter egg, found on the front screen when a user clicks the O in "Mario Paint."[3] Its first appearance was in a Japanese-only Game Boy Game, X.     Shadowrun is a cyberpunk action RPG for the Super NES adapted from the pen and paper RPG Shadowrun by FASA. The game was developed by Australian company Beam Software (now Krome Studios Melbourne) and released on November 1, 1993 by Data East. The player takes on the role of Jake Armitage, a courier who is shot and nearly killed in the streets of Seattle in the year 2050 by a hit squad. He wakes up in a morgue with amnesia. The remainder of the game follows Jake as he attempts to uncover his own identity, the identity of the mysterious figure who wants him dead, and then attempts to complete his mission. GAMEPLAY As an action RPG video game, Shadowrun combines both the statistical factor in the tabletop game with real-time gameplay. For example, the player controls Jake, moves him around using the controller, and when attacked, must use guns or magic commands to respond. Some battles within the game require sharp reflexes. This is further complicated by the fact that the Seattle in the game is a tough city - practically every screen contains at least one hidden assassin who, from random locations, opens fire on Jake; the player must immediately find the source of the attack and respond or risk death. At the same time, Jake builds up "karma" from killing enemies. Karma can then be allocated by the player into different attributes, skills, and magical powers. As the title of the game implies, Jake is described as a "shadowrunner," a mercenary character common within the Shadowrun RPG. Moreover, in the game, Jake is able to hire other shadowrunners as henchmen, though it is possible for the player to win the game without hiring a single shadowrunner. n interacting with non-player characters, Shadowrun uses an unusual system. Whenever Jake hears a new and unusual term, this word is highlighted, then added to a sort of database of terms he can use. From that point on, when speaking with NPCs, Jake is able to ask them about this new word; only in this manner can a player progress with the game. The game also includes an unusual way of entering into cyberspace, known as the Matrix. Using a cyberdeck, Jake is able to hack into computers to retrieve information, as well as gain more money, which in the game is nuyen (noo-yen). During such scenes, the gameplay becomes two-dimensional while an icon of Jake moves through cyberspace, fights intrusion programs, and retrieves data. As in the original RPG (and cyberpunk literature in general), if the player dies in cyberspace, he dies in real life as well. PLOT The story opens in Seattle, Washington, where Jake Armitage (a homage to one of the main characters in William Gibson's novel Neuromancer), is shown being murdered at the hands of armed gunmen. A shapeshifting lupine figure rushes to his side and is seen casting a spell over Jake before leaving hastily as the medics arrive on the scene. Later, Jake reawakens on a slab in the city morgue. He must now get his bearings and find out who put him there. Upon leaving the morgue, a punk who witnessed Jake's shooting recognizes him and flees, believing that the assassins will now kill him too. In his panic, the punk runs into an alley and is shot by hired hitmen who have come to finish Jake off. Upon slaying the hitmen, Jake is approached by the "Dog Spirit", a shamanistic totem who gives him a warning before vanishing into the shadows. The rest of the story is spent investigating the events leading to Jake's shooting, learning the identity of the shapeshifter who saved him, as well the person who ordered his assassination, a mysterious crimelord named "Drake". It is revealed that Jake is a courier who was carrying a program in his "head computer", a computer built inside his brain. The program was designed to destroy a malevolent artificial intelligence, which the sinister Anekei corporation is trying to protect. The company is being aided by Drake, who is in reality a dragon and is behind the entire plot. The storyline is loosely based on the first Shadowrun novel, Never Deal with a Dragon, by Robert N. Charrette. MUSIC Music was composed by Marshall Parker.[1]

Starfox released as Starwing in Europe due to the existence of an Atari 2600 game with the same name, is the first game in the Star Fox series of video games. It was released in the spring of 1993 for the SNES. It was the first three-dimensional Nintendo game, and it included the Super FX chip, a coprocessor used to accelerate graphics display. The complex display of three-dimensional models with polygons was still new and uncommon in console video games, and the game was much hyped as a result. Star Fox featured kemono character designs by Nintendo artist Takaya Imamura, music composed by Hajime Hirasawa and obstacle course style gameplay. Star Fox was developed by Nintendo EAD with assistance by Argonaut Software, and was published by Nintendo. The storyline involves Fox McCloud and the Star Fox team, who must defend their homeworld of Corneria against the attacking forces of Andross. GAMEPLAY Star Fox is a rail shooter in a third-person 3D perspective. The player must navigate his/her spacecraft, an Arwing, through environments while various enemies (spaceships, robots, creatures, etc.) attack him. Along the way various power-ups are placed in the stage to help the player. The player receives a score on each level based on how many enemies destroyed and how well the player has defended his/her teammates. At the end of each level there is a boss that the player must defeat before progressing to the next level. In each level, the player is accompanied by three computer-controlled wingmen: Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad, and Falco Lombardi. At certain pre-scripted points, one will fly into the player's view, often either chasing an enemy or being chased and asking for assistance. Ignoring a wingman's pleas will result in him taking damage, or being shot down. They cannot be damaged by the player's own lasers (they will notice it nonetheless). Regardless of their survival, wingmen are not present during boss battles but rejoin the player before the next stage. A player may help his or her wingmen when they ask for assistance, as they will engage some of the enemies not destroyed by the player, and thereby make it easier to achieve maximum score in a given level. If a wingman gets shot down, he will not return for the rest of the game. PLOT This game takes place in the Lylat system, a stellar system in the fictional Star Fox universe that is inhabited by anthropomorphic animal races (i.e. foxes, frogs, dogs, birds, rabbits, apes, etc). It contains the planets Corneria and Venom, both representing good and evil, respectively. One can visit many other planets, asteroid belts, space stations, etc. while going through the course of the game. Whichever path the player chooses affects what places they will encounter. Star Fox is an elite mercenary unit hired by General Pepper to defeat Andross. Fox McCloud is the leader of the team, and he is accompanied by his teammates Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad. The player controls Fox, while Falco, Peppy and Slippy occasionally come to his aid or need his help. STORYLINE The evil Andross has launched an attack against Corneria and the rest of the planets in the Lylat system, and it is up to Star Fox, an elite mercenary team led by Fox McCloud, to stop him. The battle begins on Corneria and proceeds through the system, eventually arriving at the planet Venom, location of Andross' headquarters, and culminating in a one-on-one battle against Andross himself.     Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose! (released in Japan as simply Tiny Toon Adventures) is a video game for the Super Nintendo console that is based on the animated TV series Tiny Toon Adventures. It was published, developed and released by Konami in 1993. GAMEPLAY his game features Buster Bunny in a side-scrolling adventure that takes place in many different areas. The game has three difficulty settings - "Children" (easy), "Normal", and "Challenge" (hard). On the easy mode, the levels are significantly reduced in size (as noted in the synopsis below), while the hard mode has Buster start each level with only one health unit. Stage 1: Acme Looniversity As the game begins, Buster realizes he is late for class and dashes off, despite Babs' warning of the escaped animals within. Over the course of the level, Buster continually encounters what appear to be numerous clones of Perfecto Prep student Roderick Rat, as well as frogs and crabs (obviously the animal escapees Babs mentioned). Midway through the stage, Buster will drop into the darkened art room, prompting the appearance of the mini-boss, Arnold the Pitbull. When Arnold is defeated, he drops a key which gives Buster access to the next part of the stage. At the end of the stage, Hamton tells Buster that Dizzy Devil is destroying the kitchen. This segues into the boss fight (which, along with Hamton's appearance, is skipped in the Easy difficulty mode), where Buster has to jump under the conveyor belt on which Dizzy is standing so that nine total pieces of food are consumed by Dizzy. Stage 2: The Western Movie The next stage is the set of a western movie being filmed, which Montana Max claims he is the star of. The first part of the stage has Buster walking through the town, encountering enemies such as the Coyote Kid from the series episode "High Toon" and, for some reason, Barky Marky. At one point, he will need to jump rope ten times (the rope moves faster in the hard mode). He will then enter a five-story building. On the top floor, he catches Max in the act of stealing money from a vault. Max jumps out the window and Buster follows. The second half of the stage (skipped in the easy mode) has Buster chasing after Max on a runaway train. Here, the dash move comes into full force, as at one point the train goes into a low tunnel, forcing Buster to dash over the mountain in order to catch up with the train. This is followed by a run in with Silas Wonder (as a mini-boss) and his goons from the episode "Sawdust & Toonsil". The end of the level places Buster on the front car of the train, where the smokestacks are on fire as the train is out of control. Once Buster makes it past the smokestacks, he catches up with Max, who is now begging for his help. The level ends with the two of them jumping onto a hand car and pumping it hard enough to get away from the train, eventually reaching 88 miles per hour and zooming off leaving a fire trail (in a reference to Back to the Future). Click below for the more on Tiny Toons    -[More!]-

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