G’day folks. Everybody likes to make toplists nowadays. What’s worse is that they’re usually just talking about the top ten whatever, or best ten, or most UNDERrated whatever. I say screw that. Today I want to try going in a different direction…the road less traveled, if you will.

Today I want to share what I believe are the ten most OVERRATED games ever released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The games you (or maybe just I) are just sick of hearing about, and would dread hearing two people have a nerd-gasm over at any place or time.

Why the SNES? Well, that one system probably has the most grand-slams per capita than any other console, although I haven’t done the research (yet.) There’s a lot to choose from there regardless and considering that; I just had to ask why people seem to latch on to a lot of games that I just think are not that worthy of that level of praise.

I don’t usually just rip on games, you may have noticed. This is an experiment, I guess…or maybe just an invitation to get flamed. We’ll see what pans out. I should probably qualify this with a disclaimer that the inclusion of any particular game is not necessarily meant to imply that the game in question is bad, but merely that it is overrated and may not be as good as certain individuals would like you to believe.

So, I’m gonna break this up into two parts, both for the sake of suspense and that I’m going to guess nobody wants to see a giant freaking wall of text. So here goes; my Top Ten Most OVERrated SNES games of all time, ever, in history, as we know it, etc. Here we go.

#10: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
                Starting strong right out of the gate, aren’t we? Hear me out here before you put any severed horse heads in my bed. Don’t get me wrong here, this was in fact an awesome game. So why is it in this list? Well, it’s that pesky prefix on the title: “Super Mario World 2”.

Did anyone get what they expected from a box that specifically said “Super Mario World 2” on it? I don’t suppose they did any more than they got what they expected from a box that said “Super Mario Bros. 2” back in the NES days. The Mario series seems to have this awkward streak with their second game in any segment of the series feeling really awkward and that it doesn’t quite belong, or that it just leaves an odd taste in your mouth. Even with Super Mario Sunshine…good game (in some people’s opinion) but sandwiched between Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy, it just doesn’t stack up.

#9 Mario Paint
                Also, a game that was very fun to play with… and it even came with a computer-like peripheral that you could use on your Super Nintendo! So why the hate? Well, notwithstanding the Coffee Break fly-swatting game, this cartridge was really more of a toy than a game. Furthermore, this was hardly an innovation, because anyone with a computer basically already had this game. Yes it was fun, yes it sold very well, and yes the mouse made playing Vegas Stakes a whole lot easier. But this wasn’t really an innovation so much as making common PC tools easily accessible to the console crowd.

Is there anything wrong with it? Not really. I dropped tons of hours on Mario Paint, and it pretty much taught me how to draw sprites on a computer. But this game is worshipped, and I think it’s just a little too much.

#8 Uniracers
                This game has something of a history. The designers of Uniracers, DMA Design (which would later become Rockstar North) were sued by Pixar, who released a short film seven years prior called “Red’s Dream” that also happened to feature a computer-generated unicycle. Because Pixar obviously owns the rights to all computer-generated inanimate-objects, they filed suit against DMA Design…and miraculously won. (I honestly what to know what the hell went down in that courtroom.)

Long story short, Nintendo was ordered to cease production of Uniracers cartridges, leaving the world only with the initial run of 300,000 carts, making it a (comparatively) uncommon game.

The trouble with this is that anyone who both liked the game, and knows about that story, will probably want to tell you how it was the greatest injustice of videogame freaking history. What I don’t understand, is why the sentiment even exists for game that was this bland and boring. You play as a disembodied unicycle which races another disembodied unicycle, on a 2-D track. The game is fast-paced, true…fluid, yes…but incredibly boring. The positive reception of this game literally baffled me. I was not interested in it at all and to this day still groan at it’s mention.

#7 ActRaiser (2?)
                If you look at a lot of toplists (especially if those lists encompass 25 entries or more) you will usually see one of the two ActRaiser games included, praised as one of the best games Enix ever made and how the other ActRaiser game was a complete misfire (sometimes for little more reason than it was just different).

Well, I’m here today to tell you that both games were actually pretty mediocre and bored the crap out of me. I have tried to get into them both, and personally I prefer the sequel because it is action-oriented and not confusing as all hell to start out with.

Did you hear they’re making an ActRaiser 3? It’s going to be a puzzle game with elements of Unicycle racing! Prepare your hatred. Okay but seriously, that’s pretty much all I have for ActRaiser. Not a lot of love and not a lot of hate, but a whole lotta “blah.” I’ve played worse games, believe me, but it just wasn’t that good. Please shut up about it.

#6 Out of this World
                Out of this World, also called Another World in other regions, was just that: something from another world. This bizarre game pushed the graphical limits of the console and was critically acclaimed for doing just that.

But, did everyone forget that this game sucks? It isn’t fun to play at all. The controls are hopelessly stiff, if you touch anything wrong; you die and get to start over. Little known fact: this isn’t an action game at all; it’s a giant puzzle where you must, through trial and error alone, simply discover the correct combination of buttons to press to make the pain stop. The sick thing is, that you could blow weeks on this game, but once you know the “combination” to the proverbial “lock” it only takes like ten minutes to run through. Yeah yeah, you can say the same about Super Mario Bros, but I freaking defy you to tell me that this steaming heap of WTF is equally fun.

Why do people love this game so much? At the time, it looked okay for the SNES, and I know it was originally designed for different PC platforms, but it just doesn’t hold up in any way. And with the recent re-release of this game for iOS, I still just don’t get it, and can only imagine that the virtual d-pad it’s surely using is going to make it even more aggravating than the game already was. This game was, for me, in every way the opposite of fun.

Welp, now that I’m sure I’ve thoroughly pissed some of you off, I’d like you all to join me again next time when I conclude our list with the winners of the top ten most overrated SNES games in HISTORRYYYY! Snide remarks and scathing observations ahoy! Be there! (Your mileage may vary.)

Cheers