Mmmmm… That's junk! About a year and a half ago, I took a look at some Super Nintendo and Super Famicom games that you couldn't fit into just one genre. Games like Actraiser, Dragon View, Star Fox 2, and some games that never left Japan like WonderProject J, and Deseimon. I always like talking about some of these games because they're trying something different, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but it still beats the same old stuff or all a little tired of seeing, like, mascot platformers or crappy one-on-one fighting games or whatever. So I thought I'd make a part two going over another group of games that are hard to categorize. But bear in mind that many of these games already have their own individual video on this channel. But I still thought that this video would be useful to some of you because there's over 500 reviews on this channel now. I'm not naive enough to think that everyone has watched every single video. I will say, at the end of this video, I do talk about a few Super Famicom games I haven't mentioned before. So long-time viewers might want to stick around for that. I'll start with Legend of the Mystical Ninja, and this game is simply just ahead of its time. Yeah, it's an action platformer at heart, but it alternates between a pseudo 3D, beat-em-up style viewing angle to a traditional 2D sidescrolling view. And the level design here is inventive and a lot of fun. There's different weapons you can upgrade, there's item management, and there's tons upon tons of mini-games you can play. Everything from gambling to, hey, isn't that gratis? It's really freaking cool. And even better, as at this game, is two-player co-op. Legend of the Mystical Ninja is one of the absolute best games on the Super Nintendo, some of Konami's finest work. And if you dig this one, there's three more games in the series that stayed in Japan that are just as crazy as the US game is, if not more so. Only the second game has received an English patch so far, but they're all playable, even without knowing Japanese. In a similar vein as a game like Paki and Rocky II, while the first game is a pretty straightforward top-down run-and-gun shooter, the second game introduces a few more elements that make the game tougher to pin down. Sure, it maintains the same kind of gameplay as the first game, but it's much more open-ended and story-driven. As you talk to NPCs to gather clues to figure out where to go, and just like the Go-I-Mom games, there's some item management here where you collect money and stop and stores to buy items and upgrades. There's also a little bit of a puzzle-solving element here, since sometimes your progress depends on the partner you've picked up. You pick up icons that enemies dropped, for example, you can add bomber Bob as your partner, and he can clear pathways. It's a game that emphasizes teamwork, even if you're playing by yourself, and it works really well proving that Paki and Rocky II is way more than just a regular old run-and-gun game. Here's a weird one for you. Fire Striker is as oddball a mishmash of genres as you'll find. It's a top-down hack and slash adventure-style game combined with breakouts? What? Yeah, you bat around this glowing ball called the triolite defeating enemies, breaking things and grabbing items, and you hit the triolite up through the top of the screen to move on to the next stage. What's even crazier is that you have a second player on screen at all times. Down below, he's there to prevent the triolite from falling, and you use the L&R buttons to move him around. The game has played this way in both single player and with the second player, and it's a really interesting idea for a game. It's not perfect, and the action definitely gets monotonous at times, but it's absolutely a unique game in the Super Nintendo library. Here's more of a goofy one called Vortex. It's developed by Argonaut Games, and it features the Super FX chip, utilizing the extra processing power to create a gameplay experience that looks straight out of the Star Fox universe. Only this time you're not only flying a ship in real shooter stages, but you're also walking around as a mech blowing up enemies, rolling around as a tank, or just sitting there as a lump of coal, I guess. This game is pretty flawed, it's clunky, it's slow, but I give it credit for trying something different and bringing together all sorts of varieties of action into one game. Now, some people confuse this game with the canceled Transformers game, but an interview with a programmer that worked on Vortex confirmed that this was its own project entirely. But hey, if it helps you to imagine the mech as a Transformer, then have at it. And we only get weirder and goofier from here with Pac-Man 2, the new Adventures. Now, with the title like Pac-Man 2, you might think it'd be a spin on some old Pac-Man mazes or something, but no. This is kind of a point and click adventure platformer, mood management game, I guess. You as the player have to use a slingshot to get Pac-Man to do stuff, whether it's knocking down power pellets or making him jump. But the thing is, you can't hit him too many times or he'll get irritable and stop responding to you, at which point you feed him an apple. It's so strange. It's a little bit like Wonder Project J, a game I covered in part one, but Pac-Man 2 is more mission based, if that makes sense. And there's a lot of other stuff here, like platforming, and this hand gliding stage here, for instance. So yeah, if you're looking for something way out there, try out Pac-Man 2, the new Adventures. Lemming spawned quite a few copycats way back one, but in my opinion, none were as interesting as King Arthur's World, which takes the Lemming's format and formula and adds a strategy and adventurous land to it, combining puzzle solving and real-time strategy and throwing some combat in there as well. You create units and send them out to battle, everything from foot soldiers to engineers that build catapults and battering grams, two wizards that can perform both dark and light magic, and the goal is to keep King Arthur protected and ensure that he reaches the end of the stage. The Super Nintendo Mouse is compatible with this game, and that's a nice bonus. This is a kind of game that's not for everyone, some might be bored to tears, but if you're into 2D combat strategy, then you'll dig this one. Jumping over to the Super Famicom with some games that never left Japan, starting with Holy Umbrella, the Deiro No Mubo. This game flips between being a side scrolling action platformer before switching to an overhead view where you visit towns, talk to villagers, search for hidden treasure chests, buy power-ups and manage your inventory. There's also other characters that join your party that you can flip to by pressing the LNR buttons and they provide abilities that your main character does not. So yeah, this is kind of a Zelda 2 monster world kind of a mashup, but what really makes it stand out is the bizarre story. It may not be a very long playthrough, but it's still worth checking out because it's such a strange game, both in terms of gameplay and story. Ever find yourself playing a racing game only to end up thinking, man, if only I could get out of this car and kick some people's asses. Well, then Zoku, the legend of Beeshin for Super Famicom is for you. You start out driving around post-apocalyptic Japan, avoiding obstacles and just basically driving north until you get some Japanese dialogue. Yeah, sorry, there's no patch for this one yet. You get to the desert section and now it's combat racing, contending with motorcycles and other cars until you get violently thrown from your vehicle and you have to fight your way back. That is awesome. This game does have some problems like the fact that the map is kind of useless and you have no idea where you're going, but this is a game that desperately needs an English patch one day. Still, it is playable as is. You just miss out on the story and it's a really interesting blend of genres. Here's a simple game that never left Japan that you don't even need an English patch for. It's Uchuu no Kishi Teckaman Blade. It starts out as a horizontal scrolling shoot-em-up where you're a mech instead of a ship hacking and slashing away at anything and everything before the game transitions to a one-on-one fighting game. Yeah, the fighting engine here is a little lacking, but there are at least special moves you can do and it's pretty typical King of Fighters type stuff. This game is okay, I just thought it was worth pointing out. Finally, here's one that really needs an English translation. It's simply called Yam-Yam and it blends some RPG stuff like leveling and managing upgrades and power-ups with the core gameplay of a Z-Axis shoot-em-up, kind of like Space Harrier. You visit villages and pick up side quests and get clues from people about what to do and where to go, then you make your way to your next location by blasting the hell out of anything that gets in your way. The gameplay here is pretty fun as far as Space Harrier rip-offs go, and yeah, there's no real way to tell what the heck is going on without an English patch. Still, I thought this one was worth pointing out. There's all sorts of other weird stuff that blends genres that either hasn't been translated like Super Karen, which is a cycling simulation racing strategy game, or even stuff that has been translated like the Satellavue program BS Golf Daisuke OB Club, a golf game that combines the weirdness of Kirby's dream course with more traditional golf stuff, but the game is a pain to try and get to work correctly. If you know of any other oddball games that can't really get categorized into one genre, let everyone know in the comments. And I wanna thank you for watching and I hope you have a great rest of your day.