Topic: SNES platform game character ratings

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Hero (Super Ninja Kun)
Yay for wall climbing, we need more characters that can do this.  The Ninjas in Super Ninja Kun live up to the classic definition of Ninjas with great physical and offence versatility.  You can climb walls, launch a rolling attack, use a variety of weapons from bombs to little lightning bolts.  Only special attacks require ammo.  Jumping is only really good when you're running so it can be a little tricky but it's the only real problem.  The Ninjas maneuvrability is good and enemies in this game can be quick so it's a good thing.  Defense is another place where these little guys shine.  On top of having a high, expandable, defence the Ninjas can only be damaged by attacks or by obvious damage.  A collision with an enemy just stuns the Ninja, or the enemy depending on who hit who, and stunned enemies can be then picked up and thrown.  It's a great feature that lets you relax a little, and many more games should employ it then do.  Overall the Ninjas would export very well being highly offensive and capable fighters.

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Mega Man X (Mega Man X)
The.  Ultimate.  Character.  When I set out to review X I knew he'd get high marks but not like this.  Take everything I just said about Mega Man and add not just improved jumping and maneuverability but super jumping and maneuverability.  X can, let's see, climb walls or land on a pin, jump to the other side of the screen, unleash highly varied massive attacks, use an incredible array of tools, withstand tons of damage, and even add more upgrades and add ons as if everything else wasn't enough.  I'm not even counting things like his ride armor or water walking ability.  It makes me wonder just how badly other characters would get killed in his game.  There's not a platformer that couldn't handle X.

YEEEEAAAAAAAHH!

Go X.

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Absolutely.  I mean, think about the fight with Byte in X3.  With X I can hand Byte's ass to him but how many other characters that I've listed so far could take him?  Probably Putty, Sparkster, and Samus.  Maybe Maria, Sky, and some of the animal buddies, but it would be a lot of work.  X can move away from incoming damage to any other spot he wants just like that.  It's a hard move to top as far as platform games go.

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Jelly (Jelly Boy)
Giving morphs a bad name Jelly can only change shape when there's a convenient item nearby, and then there's a time limit on his shape shifting. His versatility would be max if not for that handicap. He's a great jumper and quite maneuverable but he slides a little. His offense, which is only average special form or no, kind of brings him down since the enemies in this game can be quick. Add to that a two hit max defense and he can die really fast if your not careful. With no items to assist morphing he'd only be an average character in any other game and I worry how he'd do. At least he can jump.

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Absolutely.  I mean, think about the fight with Byte in X3.  With X I can hand Byte's ass to him but how many other characters that I've listed so far could take him?  Probably Putty, Sparkster, and Samus.  Maybe Maria, Sky, and some of the animal buddies, but it would be a lot of work.  X can move away from incoming damage to any other spot he wants just like that.  It's a hard move to top as far as platform games go.

I definitely agree. When you first started this thread, the first character who came to mind was X, and I started realizing, "I can't think of a category X is deficient in."


Now at the risk of sounding obvious, where are Mario and Yoshi?

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You had to ask.  I'm not completely finished with SMW2 yet but I'm tired of waiting and I've seen everything Yoshi can do so here he is.  Later on I'm expecting Mario to get good marks all around with the probably exception of maneuverability.

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Yoshi (Super Mario World 2 Yoshi's Island)
Phew, how to categorize Yoshi. He's one of these strange characters that seems to get both high and low marks in individual categories. Yoshi can jump. He can hover to for a limited time, and then repeatedly, which sounds weird, but it makes him a superior jumper. His landings stink though and his stupid sliding screwed me up a lot, but he recovers quick so average maneuverability here. His instant death offense mimics Kirby's but isn't quite as universal. He can still jump on enemies and his egg weapon is really nice to spite requiring ammo so he has a high offense. His defense seems to be infinite as only instant kills take him out, but the littlest tap knocks him on his ass, and of course there's the baby Mario thing. I guess since recovering Mario isn't usually that hard he gets a good defense rating. Yoshi's versatility is a little better then average because his eggs are as much tool as weapon, and he comes with inventory potential and other moves. I think baby Mario would slow Yoshi down as much in any other game as in this one. If he could loose Mario he'd be unstoppable. I think he'd do well in most games regardless, but games that don't play fair would probably have you wanting to kill the next baby you see. I think it would be funny to see some of these other characters having to haul baby Mario around.

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Master Higgins (Super Adventure Island 2)
A great improvement over the original Higgins this guy is one tough cookie.  Even though they took his high jump from the previous game he's still very springy and can cross the screen with a running jump.  His maneuverability suffers a little at speed but since, bizarrely, no challenges require running it isn't an issue.  This game is full of RPG style upgrades so Higgins' offense and defense can get pretty impressive.  By late game you can equip a variety of weapons, armors, and shields turning Higgins into quite the damage dealing tank.  And of course where would all those upgrades be if they didn't also act as tools.  Again by the end of the game Higgins has a near Link level of versatility as far as weapons and moves go.  One thing I really like about Higgins is his shear footed-ness.  Even without all his accessories he moves fast and rarely meets and enemy that needs special tricks to deal with.  I think Higgins would export generally well into most games and I'd take him into most without worry.

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Turrican (Super Turrican 2)
For this entire review I'll be comparing this guy to Samus because he is in fact a Samus clone.  Happily like you'd expect from a character designed after Samus Turrican is awesome.  He's not perfect though, his jumping is only average.  On the flip side his maneuverability is better then Samus' since he goes faster through air then her.  Other then that to make Samus into a character suited for a game with lives, score, and time limits here's what the designers did.  Make offense a power up / item based weapon that can handle attachments and loses potency with each death.  Make defense a more then averagely complex health bar so different enemies do different levels of damage.  Make versatility more unique to each level and occasionally requiring ammo.  Turrican has Samus' morph ball and morph mines instead of bombs, which cutely become morph missiles in midair, and all of which require ammo.  Turrican has a grappling arm that, unlike Samus', sticks to anything, and a stun beam freezes enemies like Samus' grapple beam can.  Turrican's weapons are a little more classic then Samus' featuring big laser beams,  flamethrowers, and homing missiles.  Interestingly enough this game gives you a good idea of what a kill fest it would be dumping a high offense character into a basic platofrmer.  This is a great game, I highly recommend it, I'm sure Turrican would devastate in even the toughest platformers.

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Zool (Zool)
Much like Cool Spot this is the right way to do product placement.  Well sort of, it's a good game.  Living up to the ninja stereotype Zool is a badass.  His offense and versatility are his top traits.  He can climb walls, break walls, back flip off walls, jump off enemy heads, shoot enemies, slide kick enemies, and use a round house slashing move in midair.  His jumping is quick and has a great range.  His maneuverability could be better but still does everything you want it to, and his defense allows him to walk through a surprising amount of damage before dying.  After a few levels of this game you appreciate just how tough Zool is since enemies in it are plentiful and quick and would probably chew up a lot of other characters.  Zool's speed and versatility of attack make me think he'd do great in any game, I could even see him trucking through Mega Man X.  Although I can't quite see how this game is supposed to make people want to eat lollipops.

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Wayne Campbell (Wayne's World)
Now how many people here other then me are old enough to remember Wayne's World.  Yes, long before Shrek or even Austin Powers, Mike Myers was on this show called Saturday Night Live.  Of course it was the movie that spawned this game not the SNL sketch.  Wayne is a pretty flat character.  His jumping is average.  His maneuverability is average.  His offense is average.  His defense is average.  His versatility is lacking.  Everything you need for a simple, simple minded platformer, which is what a lot of reviews will say about this game.  I don't hate it though, it can be fun.  Although it is worth noting I'll be reviewing B.O.B. later and quite a few things were ripped off from that game for this one.  Wayne is more of a silly character then anything else, so I guess in some way he'd make Mike proud.  Far from being excellent in any other game he'd struggle, but I'd at least try him out for laughs.  Cue Freddy Mercury.

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Buster Bunny (Tiny Toon Adventures)
Another thing that most of the people here are probably too young to remember.  Heh, this show was part of my after school routine.  To spite being less then nimble Buster is a great character.  Falling into the same slot as Zool he has great offense and versatility.  Buster's attack is a front flip that renders him temporarily invincible and can cut through multiple enemies.  If anything hits him anywhere while he's attacking it receives damage not him.  Buster is so versatile because this game is loaded with cartoon physics so he can comically run up walls.  His jumping is slow and not very high but combined with his mad dashing can have a good range.  His maneuverability as a cartoon character grants him more air time then most characters, which can be a double edged sword.  His defense is OK and his health can be upgraded twice per level, although said upgrades are lost when moving between levels.  I think skilled player could do real damage with Buster in most games since he can be so quick. But without a lot of practice he's just a typical toon and I wouldn't export him if there were alternatives.

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Mowgli (The Jungle Book)
As you would expect from a child character Mowgli is very light. As such he's a great jumper and has good maneuverability. He can combo off enemy heads easily and ledges are rarely out of reach. However the designers also extended the whole youth concept to his offense making the game excessively hard at times. Mowgli can fire a continuous stream of banana projectiles but they do little damage and the bosses are nearly unkillable. His defense isn't that great either but it's only because his post hit invincibility period is so short. He's as versatile he needs to be and he can handle jungle vines like a monkey but nothing too flashy. He's a decent character but I think overall you'd be doing more work then you wanted too if you used him in many other games. Still I'm sure he's more powerful as a game character then Kipling ever intended him to be.

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Dr. Franken (Dr. Franken)
This guy is the last thing most people would picture as a frankenstein.  He's light on his feet instead of weighing a ton.  He's a quick jumper and has good range.  His maneuverability is is certainly above a lot of characters.  He's a softie instead of a tank.  He would have a decent offense except he's got almost negative range with his attacks.  His defense seems high at the outset of the game but he takes tons of damage fast.  With the exception of a ducking ability he has no versatility at all.  This game is a good example of how not to be suckered into horrible game play by pretty graphics.  Much like Mowgli Dr. Franken is bouncy and dies a lot.  Most other games would probably cream him in no time.

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T-Bone & Razor (SWAT Cats)
These guys are great.  They level up like RPG characters.  As the game goes on they both get higher and higher offense, especially T-Bone, and ludicrously high defense.  You can level buff them both into tanks.  Unfortunately their levels don't apply to jumping and maneuverability though.  T-Bone jumps like a brick but he's not completely unmaneuverable.  Razor is the opposite with great jumping and maneuverability and he even gets a jet pack.  Both cats can climb walls and T-Bone has a rocket launcher that destroyers special walls so their versatility is up there.  Overall they're both great characters who only lack real speed.  At Lv. 99 I'm sure they could survive most games, but there sloth would always cause issues.