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When the Super Nintendo was at its peak, there wasn’t much more exciting than a new game hitting store shelves. After all, Nintendo and its partners were seemingly churning out hit after hit. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few stinkers. In fact, some games built up hype in one way or another, only to pull the rug out from under players at the last second. These disappointing games really stung for young gamers who had to save up to buy a new game. Thankfully, you could rent a new game to try it out, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating when a developer didn’t live up to your expectations.
Here are the six most disappointing games on the Super Nintendo.
6) Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special
Let me be clear: As a video game, Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special wasn’t a disappointment. However, if you played through the story mode that Goichi Suda wrote, you were bound to come away bummed. See, that story put you in the shoes of a young wrestler named Smith Morio as he works his way through the ranks.
During his journey, he comes up against a dastardly villain based on Ric Flair. At one point, the developers wanted a branching ending, but Suda51 decided to take the choice out of players’ hands and make one of the most controversial endings. That bad guy takes everything from Morio. Most games would then let you get your comeuppance, just like any good wrestling storyline. Instead, Morio goes home and ends his life, capping the story with one of the biggest downers in gaming history.
5) Batman Forever
Batman Forever is not a great movie, so you might wonder why it’s disappointing that it got a terrible SNES beat-’em-up adaptation. In fact, it’s not like horrible movie tie-ins weren’t the norm back in the ’90s. However, Batman was mostly different during this era.
The Caped Crusader had several fan-favorite games launching around this time, so you wouldn’t be out of line thinking Batman Forever was going to follow in those footsteps. Unfortunately, developer Probe Entertainment decided to ape Mortal Kombat‘s motion-captured sprites and fighting game combat, which didn’t work at all in the campaign. You could have some fun fighting a friend in the training mode, but at that point, you’d be better off playing Mortal Kombat.
4) The Rocketeer
The Rocketeer is an underrated Disney movie that should’ve turned into a massive hit. It’s a rip-roaring adventure that features a superhero who uses a rocket pack to stop Nazis. You’d think that would easily translate to the Super Nintendo. Maybe you make a platformer that has segments where you use the jetpack. You could even toss in a few shooter levels for good measure.
Instead, we got whatever this is. The Rocketeer starts with an awful plane racing section. It’s almost impossible to control, and you’re never given any real direction. If you can somehow get through that level, it’s on to a shooting gallery. This could be a neat divergence, but it just feels like a muddy-looking Wild Guns knock-off. You do eventually take to the skies for some bullet hell-like action, but most players never get that far. It’s such a shame that The Rocketeer was done this dirty.
3) Pit Fighter
Look at that cover! You can’t tell me that every ’90s kid who owned a Super Nintendo didn’t want to play this rad-looking fighting game. It’s also worth noting that the arcade version of Pit Fighter was a monster hit for Atari, which added to the hype.
Unfortunately, the graphical showcase players saw in arcades did not translate to the home console. It is a technical mess and features some of the most difficult gameplay on the system. Simply put, Pit Fighter never should’ve made the jump to home consoles. Or at least waiting a few years for more powerful hardware.
2) Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Mystic Quest was Square’s attempt to make a simplified RPG for “entry-level players.” The developer wanted to increase Final Fantasy’s playerbase and show new players how good a great role-playing game could be. Unfortunately, the move immediately backfired.
It was reviewed poorly because it lacked much of what made Final Fantasy special, which meant new players weren’t going to seek it out. That meant only Final Fantasy veterans were the only audience, but they were frustrated by the lack of depth. Mystic Quest was a massive blunder from Square, killing a chunk of the momentum it had built with the beloved Final Fantasy IV. Fortunately, they turned it around, but this could’ve gone much worse.
1) Mario is Missing
Look, Mario has had a few solid spin-offs over the years, and I’m not necessarily against an educational Mario game. However, Mario is Missing is a sham. The PC version, which features point-and-click gameplay, isn’t too egregious. The Super Nintendo version is a different story.
See, developer The Software Toolworks was asked to take the geography-based gameplay and turn it into a platformer. Of course, Super Mario is one of the most popular platformers of all time, so it should’ve worked. Sadly, Software Toolworks did not have the chops to pull it off, which led to one of the worst games on the Super Nintendo. Seeing Luigi done this dirty has always been sad. Thankfully, his next starring role in Luigi’s Mansion finally brought him out from Mario’s shadow.
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