This SNES RPG Was Set up to Fail (and How it Didn't)
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- Today is May 19th 1993! New episode every single Friday!
Consider supporting the Patreon! -- / now90s
Welcome to Now in the 90s, where we rewind the clock exactly 30 years ago to see what new video games had just released!
Released this week 30 years ago was Shadowrun for the SNES, Shadow of the Beast II for Sega Genesis, and Joe & Mac for the Gameboy!
Writers: Jared Knabenbauer, David Rota, & Dylan Lawrence
Editor: Dylan Lawrence
►Twitter ------------------------- / dylumz
►Twitch -------------------------- / thedrunkard
►CZcams Channel --------- / gamedrunkard
🎽🎽🎽 Like the shirt in today's video? Get one yourself from Vapor 95 and use code PROJARED for 15% off! -- vapor95.com/projared
►New here? Subscribe! -- / @nowinthe90s
►Subscribe to the Gameplay Channel! -- bit.ly/2CWhLZi
►Follow me for instant updates on new videos!
Twitter -------------------------------------- / projared
Instagram -------------------------------- / projaredgram
Twitch -------------------------------------- / projared
TikTok -------------------------------------- / projaredtok
~~MUSIC BY WILLIAM BENCKERT & AGST~~
#retro #retrogaming #nostalgia - Hry
Shadowrun was by far one of my favorite SNES games ever made. Too bad I didn't discover it until emulation became available, long after I had sold my SNES..
Have you tried the Sega Genesis version of Shadowrun?
Same here my guy…
@@billcox8870 that was a certified banger
@@crktritual I have played both games and I prefer the Genesis. The part when you are jacking into the Matrix was well done. I've also read several Shadowrun novels
@@billcox8870 I read a few of the novels myself, there was even a 3 book series. Always been fascinated by cyberpunk retro futuristic genres. The Genesis version was brutal. Great old skool difficulty. Always missed the first shot using the smg lol. 🤓
That Shadowrun ad edit is amazing.
Fun fact! The artist who did the cover art for the Shadow of the Beast trilogy (Roger Dean) was a regular feature for the covers of other games by Psygnosis, AND his otherworldly art was also featured as cover art for bands such as Yes and Asia
I love Psygnosis, It was one of Sony's best internal game studios responsible for developing wipeout, publishing lemmings and Shadow of the Beast. Sad that they shut down many years ago
The sleeve art for Relayer is one of my favourite pieces ever.
Yes album art was always so surreal, I believe it also inspired a lot of game worlds over the years no doubt.
Wow I'm a Prog Rock fanatic, artist, and an avid gamer and didn't even know Roger Dean did gaming artwork.
Beast and Beast II on the Amiga came in a very large box with extremely unique artwork, and had all kinds of goodies inside like a T Shirt (adult sized) and other things. The price was pushed up, though, although still less than the cost of a new console game of the era.
My mother bought both games for me purely because she dug the boxart. When she saw she could get the T Shirt, it was game over, she handed over the cash. I wasn't complaining of course.
I still have the phrase "geeked by go-gangers" in heavy rotation in my vernacular. Thanks, Shadowrun!
That’s a great thing, omae
How committed they are to dumb slang is a huge part of the fun.
Chummer.
@@JazGalaxy It's easier than censoring everything, and still allows your characters to curse, without it being rated 13, 18, or R, depending on the era.
"Cheers chummer, my favorite too." I still remember chummer and geeked also.
@@nandabun Slot off, frag face!
The moment he said "Hit it Rockapella!" I felt an urge to watch Jared's old Carmen Sandiego video.
Dylan's humor gets better on every episode
It's too cocky
As a classic Simpsons fan I like it. "And you call them steamed hams despite the fact they are obviously grilled?" "Er, um, well, I, you see..."
@@NeroKnight666 Jared is the guy that you see talking at the first part of the video and Dylan is the editor who does the second part of the video. And then I guess it's back to Jared for the third party if you count that as a third part.
No joke….. I just said that
Yeah I saw his running gag coming but it still made me laugh. 🤣
Dylan's confusion about Congo's Caper is very understandable, since I heard that in Japan it was originally named Joe&Mac2 and what became 2 was 3.
Specifically, the the original Joe & Mac is called JOE&MAC 戦え原始人 (Joe & Mac Fight, Caveman), Congo's Caper is called 戦え原始人2 ルーキーの冒険 (Fight, Caveman 2 Lookey's Adventure), while Joe & Mac 2 is 戦え原始人3 主役はやっぱりJOE&MAC (Fight, Caveman 3 starring of course Joe & Mac).
@Nero The Chosen Official. I looked into it (as in did a Wikipedia search). "Caveman Ninja" was the name of the arcade version. So the full title of the arcade game in Japan was "Caveman Ninja: Joe & Mac Fight, Caveman". No wonder they shortened it for the console release.
This game was phenomenal! After finishing it the first time, I immediately went back and played it again to see all the stuff I missed. In my opinion, it has one of the best soundtracks on SNES.
The whole story with Shadowrun’s launch feels like a cyberpunk plot. Very appropriate
Shadowrun is an rpg where you watch glimpses of the fmv promotional video and you start a quest to find the full version
That's just CZcams in general now.
I remember when Shadowrun came out on SNES, it was really hard to find a copy. I had to get my local game store to specifically order me a copy after spending two weeks searching every local video game retailer in my area. Still have my original boxed copy and booklet. The poster that came with it hung on my wall for years until it literally fell apart.
How did you end up interested in that game when it came out?, did you read or saw something about it? 🤔
I was just thinking of shadowrun. I loved how both versions were so different from each other
The Genesis version was written because the FASA developers didn't like SNES version.
@@vxicepickxv
is it good? i only played a few(extremely few) genesis games.....and shadowrun was not one of them
@@sabin97 I have played both and I think it's worth a few playthroughs at least. One major difference is how you are a jack of all trades in the SNES version having access to heavy weapons, some cyberware and magic, while in the Genesis/MD version you have a choice between 3 archetypes and you can't both have all cyberware and magic, so you have to build your character how you want.
@@ninjaryohazuka
interesting....i've been curating my retroarch collection.......havent made it to genesis yet.......life tends to rob me of time for pleasure, but i'm slowly and surely getting there....
The Sega Genesis version plays more like a CRPG (computer RPG), while the SNES version plays more like a JRPG (Japanese RPG). If you prefer to wander off and do your own thing, focusing on character development, the Sega version is superior. Whereas if you enjoy being lead through a complex story, the SNES version is superior.
I must accept that fighting a dragon who just so happens to be the evil CEO of a megacorp, sounds very metal
NOW... in the 90s, my father turned a mere 42 years old. He had a wife, two kids, a sweet house on the lake, and a burgeoning dentistry practice. He still has those things, but he had them then, too. I'm glad I got to call and wish him a happy birthday today, and am unsurprised to report that he was mowing on his day off from the office, for his birthday. The man likes his simple pleasures, and I'm so fortunate and grateful that he was able to support my pleasures, like having a SNES and games.
If you are going to lift a line from Mitch, at least give credit where credit’s due.
No thanks. Just because the guy had the best delivery in the business didn't mean his jokes weren't mid.
@@trident042 so then what does that say about someone who lifts one of his jokes…
Exactly, you're in here taking shots at the the laziest mfer in the house. Aim higher, chief.
I think you might need to get out more.
The Shadowrun SNES game started a life long obsession with the brand for me. As others have mentioned it was a surreal experience. A game setting like no other. It would literally become the grand father of the Shadowrun Trilogy that would arrive decades later.
Confession time - Nintendo Power's review of Shadowrun is what got me interested in tabletop RPGs in the first place. A game with elves and orcs and wizards and dragons - set in my hometown of SEATTLE!?!? Where the f*** do I sign!? 😂
Cool story time - so my little bro and his buddies were running a campaign, using an actual street map of downtown Seattle. Three of his players were leading the cops on a high-speed chase through SoDo in a thick fog. Dude turns into a tunnel he barely noticed in time, only to wind up with THE F***ING MARINER MOOSE on his windshield! They had turned into T-Mobile Park just as a game was starting! When you're a local, it just hits different...
It was a pen and paper and not a tabletop. Battletech was a tabletop.
It must be weird to Seattle natives that so many Shadowrun fans know about Redmond and Puyallup, Sea-Tac, etc. long before they visit the city. My brother lives there now and so I finally got to visit and pay homage to my favorite "cyberpunk" city.
I just love the humor of editor Dylan!!! He adds so much to this show!
good ep Dylan your not alone all those joe and mac, bonk, adventure island games just run together I avoided them like the plague
Funny how in Japan Congo's Caper was a direct sequel to Joe & Mac. The original game was known as "Tatakae Genshijin" with Congo's Caper referred to as "Tatakae Genshijin 2: Rūkī no Bōken (Adventure of the Rookie)". On top of that, Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics is actually "Tatakae Genshijin 3".
It's like Data East looked at the chronologically confused Final Fantasy series and said "WE CAN DO THAT TOO!"
Fun fact, Jake shows up in the Hare Brain Scheme Shadowrun returns.
ReBoot!
I wonder if that Shadowrun promo vid is long enough to feature a ProJared episode like the Dragonstrike one.
I LOVE the SNES Shadowrun adaptation, warts and all. Loved it as a kid, love it as an adult. I just played through half the game again last year, it's still a lot of fun. Playing through the newer trilogy (Returns, Dragonfall, and Hong Kong) was great, too, but there's something special about the old SNES version.
Side note, seeing the pages of Nintendo Power on these videos always takes me waaaay back. Great series, Jared!
There is also a japanese exclusive Shadowrun game for Sega CD
I'm glad there are others who are enjoying the 90's in this way 30 years later. 4 years ago i started playing my full Master System and Genesis collections but i'm playing them in order from 33 years ago, so i'm now in 1990 now!
Love Shadowrun and, as I see a couple of commenters have mentioned already, it having a Swedish translation (for whatever reason) made it quite special for us!
The Shadowrun video alone makes this episode worth watching.
The SNES release was delayed numerous times, and when it finally came out, the internet didn’t yet exist and I got stuck/lost a couple times and gave up on it. I finally beat it years later, and still own it to this day.
It’s better than the Genesis port, and MUCH better than the often-dull newer trilogy that was re-released for the Switch last year.
Editor Dillans segments have become my favorite parts of the show. Loving this channel Jared!
Shadowrun is one of my all time favorite games. Just excellent all around, and that soundtrack is badASS.
Always love Jared's excitement for tabletop games.
Your show is starting to spread. I'm beginning to see it linked in Discords I'm a part of. You guys are knocking it out of the park. Please keep it up!
I love this series! 😊 🤘🤘 It's so cool to see a new episode as soon as I get off work!
Thanks for another great episode, guys. Informative and hilarious. ❤
Congo's Caper confused me so much as a kid, because it copied so much about Joe & Mac, AND was from the same publisher
The SNES version of Shadowrun is so good! And one of very few games to be translated to Swedish lol
One of the best episodes yet! Part for having Shadowrun (Hey, I have the Swedish version... the only SNES game that was released in Swedish, in a pruple video casette box (for rentals)).
The other part making this episode a killer was Editor Dylan's "uuh.. buh... err..." 😆 LOVE IT!
Fridays are best days because of Now in the '90s
I love watching the growth and evolution of Editor Dylan's segments.
My cousin and I were OBSESSED with Shadowrun. The atmosphere, the music, the gameplay, so damn cool. Still one of my favorite game worlds ever. We used to rent it repeatedly. When the video store we’d rent it from was going out of business I finally bought it. Got the clear clamshell rental box as a sweet bonus too. Have both the game and the rental box to this day.
Jared's "Do it, Rockapella" quote got me right in the soul.
Did it hit and kill your soul like it did mine? Because he shouted "Hit it, Rockapella", not the iconic "Do it, Rockapella!"
Now in the 90s is delicious. Eat it once every Friday for a good time.
I always try to play Shadowrun once a year. Easily my favourite Snes game, or at least the one that has held up the best for my personal preferences.
I don’t know why, but the Shadowrun segment may have been my favorite segment I’ve ever seen in this show.
They might be talking about Pauli Kid aka Patpahootie, who also worked on Nightshade. Wikipedia mentions Kidd joined when the project was restarted and that she had "conflicts with other members of the team".
What unfortunate about Beast 3 not getting a home console release is that the first 2 beast games are extremely frustrating. Yet Beast 3 is a genuinely decent game
Love a bit of Shadowrun on the snes
Man, Shadowrun is so awesome! Didn't play it when it came out, as I didn't have a SNES, and I am sure my mother would have been against buying it. I played it some time in the mid 00's, got pretty far until I lost the save. As others have said: there was a Swedish translation, which, as was also stated, a rare thing in the 90's. The translation is pretty good, but also hilarious. The gaming magazine Super PLAY did a article on the game in the early 00's, and one of the most memorable quotes for the writer of the article was when you go down an alley you get jumped with the message "Du har gått ner fel gränd, det är ditt sista misstag, sumphjärna!" which translates to "You've gone down the wrong alley, that was you last mistake, mushbrain!" (I think that is the quote, been a while since I read the issue, and some 10 years of the magazine makes it a big hard to find without spending a day looking for it). Swedish is a really hard language to sound threatening in.
And talking about random Swedish translations for games: for some reason Legend of Mana's opening and ending themes are in Swedish.
Even the artwork for Legend of Mana's soundtrack has the Swedish lyrics all over the front :D Isn't it neat? (Did you know it's the girl from Rednex (Cotton Eye Joe) singing?)
Shadowrun was so surreal to discover as a teen, but I'm really glad I did. Highly formative in the long run.
Surreal is the perfect word for it. It’s the kind of game I want everyone to experience like I did, knowing nothing about it. It’s such a weird and fleshed out world to be hit with cold.
That XBox 360 game is one of the most original FPS games ever made. If it had a single player campaign and more content and had been finished, I'd probably still be playing it, but since it's only online it's never worth going back to.
Man, I really like this channel. It brings back some good memories from the 90s. Thank you!
I found and finished the SNES version in 1996. Then found and finished Sega version in 1998. Both games were amazing back then.
Shadowrun can't fail because it's dystopian. Failure is success!
Edit: Apparently people feel the need to reply to a comment about pretendy fun-time games with their idiotic political beliefs. I don't want to individually reply, so I will say this here.
Trans rights.
Ah yes, the Democrat platform!
@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay true
@Shoregrey American Maoism! Also known as Woke.
Amazing how people whose entire view is "The government is broken, elect me so I can prove it's broken by breaking it" accuse Democrats of being the ones to be breaking things. Which party is constantly using the threat of putting the nation into default in order to get their way, since they know it goes against the American people? The cognitive dissonance is strong with these idiots.
Trans rights are human rights. Trans lives matter. Trans people are not "grooming" kids. If you're looking for child predators, look for Republicans like Matt Gaetz and his colleagues that support him.
And SNES Shadowrun is one of the best friggin' games ever. Hoi, chummer.
Trans rights are for groomer pedo's. Sick bastard.
I love you Jared, make no mistake, but I think Dylan is stealing your thunder.
Who knew Dylan’s section would turn into comedy gold!
This game was underrated back in its time. One of my favourite game of all time.
This game was awesome! With the creepy music, noir dialogue and the post modern day scenes, I loved it! The ending was kind of bleh once you went up in the corporation tower. I was lead to believe that in Shadowrun itself, the corporations were so massive they weren't just office buildings but like arcologies Ala sim city.
Aye, some are. There is a famous one called Renraku that is basically taken over by an AI and turned into a giant horror house. It's pretty much a given in Shadowrun that you can win battles against the corporations, but you don't get to win the war.
@@AuspexAO Hi! So this subject interests me and I had known ancillary about a building that exists like that in the real world and it's the John Hancock Center in Chicago. The building is 100 stories so it's a super tall skyscraper, and it has shops, offices and condos in it. From the 44th floor on up is residential. On the 44th floor itself it has a supermarket for the residents of the tower and office workers only. It also has an entire open air floor plaza and a swimming pool for athletic needs. Restaurants too on the top of the tower. Theoretically you would never have to leave the tower ever except to go to required government offices or a hospital. It was built in the 60s. Granted it's a much smaller case than the buildings we are talking about such as Renraku and blade runner's Tyrell corp building, but it's a real world example nonetheless! I thought you'd find this pretty neat!
I was rewatching your Shadowrun Returns videos on your Let's Play channel recently, Jared. It was good stuff. I hope you get around to playing Dragonfall, I think you'll like it more than the original.
I really loved the feeling of “home” I got from the bar in the original. The sequel shut me down after a huge difficulty spke I was unprepared for. I basically had assumed there was zero challenge and specced as such. When I hit resistance suddenly I couldn’t more forward.
I don't know about Joe & Mac, but in Congo's Caper your character is a monkey who turned into human after some mysterious stones fell from the sky. When taking damage, your character will revert to monkey form but can recover by finding the red stone. However if you collect 3 red stones as human you will turn into a super saiyan; so basically it's a tale of alien power forcing evolution on earth or something. The game is on Switch SNES classics library BTW.
Other than two prehistoric-themed games from Data East, there's also another one by Titus (the company that by coincidence also mentioned in this video) called "Prehistorik Man", also on Switch SNES library.
Both Joe & Mac games and Congo's Caper are all 3 available on a single cartridge from Retro Bit
Just discovered this channel and I've been devouring all the videos. Never watched ProJared before, but he's definitely one of the best. I've been really nostalgic for this exact era of games lately too, so this is definitely satiating a hunger of mine. Great work, keep it up!
Ah... Surprise Reboot. Always good when that show gets brought back into memories.
Dylan's quickly gonna need his own fleshed out segment. How he gets so much value and laughs in the short time he gets is beyond me.
Ooooh.. Red fidora time. Shame far as I know none of the games used that song, but man Carmen was HUGE.
Not a lot of franchises can say they had not one, but two hit TV shows, one being edutainment that people STILL talk about, even beyond the excellent title songs, yes both of them.
Where in time was alright.
Shadowrun was a very interesting game that had two main problems. 1: the tabletop game is much more adult-themed than is video game counterpart. 2: the graphics of the time couldn’t do the game justice.
Such a great game and thank god for this show. I watch this every Friday on my lunch break and between this and the 90s Roulette podcast, I get all my nostalgic goodness in
I remember when my cousin and I rented Shaowrun we called the Nintendo hotline to help us get through the game. His Mom or my aunt wasn't happy when she received the phone bill.
Any else think that Jared was setting up to tell us that the “troubled employee” that was going to be scapegoated for Shadowrun was going to turn out to be a legendary programmer? That’s the vibe I got.
I thought so too!
Henceforth!! Joe and Mac will be known as Joseph and Macaroni!!😂😂👍
I really just want to hear Projared talk about Shadowrun more. I love Shadowrun.
Great episode like always. Both of yall 🤘
Still love those Editor Dylan Transitions.
Don't Dylan's segment get shorter Jared.
**gets out of morgue tray**
"my brain feels burnt..."
what a way to start a game
Take a drink every time he says "Shadow". J/K don't do this you'll die... ;)
In a world where I'm used to Jared being my favorite goofaround, it's so awesome to see him be the straight "tells us some game histories" guy while Dylan's the sidebar cut-up.
You won a spot in my rotation my friend. Good stuff
It just isn't Friday until the Now in the 90's notification hits.
"Watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon."
look forward to this every Friday
that campy video promo was for the Sega Genesis game, not the SNES one. you can tell, hecause it says "FASA" on it.
also, the full thing can be found on youtube
Shadowrun is fantastic in almost every game.
I loved this on the SNES back in 1993, although I never finished it...I got all the way to the end, last dungeon, game crashed, wiped the save file and everything. I really should go back and replay it...
Great video.
I loved shadowrun. Both the games and the tabletop. Cool to see it covered here and talking about the other games in the series.
Im a HUGE Shadowrun video game fan. big collection. Thanks for this fun trip Jared.
The fact that Al Michaels is still active today is legitimately impressive.
I love this video series
Reminds me of the Saturday morning video game reviewers. Awesome content
DYLAN NOT THE REBOOT JUMPSCARE i miss that show so much. :(
That commercial...😅😂
Just found the channel. Instant sub. Thanks man!
Shadowrun is one of those SNES RPGs that I have never tried that version of. The source material, Genesis, and much later Returns Trilogy, yes. Now, the rights to Shadowrun, along side Battletech, are in the hands of Topps and Catalyst Game Labs. Topps has them thanks to buying out Wizkids in the mid 2000s, as opposed to the Current Wizkids who are owned by NECCA. Liscense ownership laws are complex & weird...
And as for Titus the Fox, I know something that will be discussed a bit more in a few years that came out of the same studio. I can already feel that kryptonite fog rolling in to Metropolis.
Congo's Caper is actually Joe & Mac 2, funnily enough. The Joe & Mac 2 NA got is Joe & Mac 3. For whatever reason when released in EU, Joe & Mac 3 retained the 3 despite the EU getting "Congo's Caper" rather than "Joe & Mac 2"
The series is called "Caveman Combat" in Japan, rather than Joe & Mac. Joe & Mac: Caveman Combat, Caveman Combat 2: The Adventures of Rookie, and Caveman Combat 3: The Protagonists Are Joe & Mac Again.
I absolutely loved this game as a kid. I rented it blindly and refused to return it.
Awesome show !
Shadowrun is a classic !
Fun Fact: Congo's Caper is actually called Caveman Ninja 2 in Japan, so not only are Joe & Mac and Congo's Caper in the same universe, but it is a sequel to the first Joe & Mac.
I LOVE hearing about stuff like this that’s cratches weird itches I’ve had for 30 years. “Why are these two games so similar?”
10:33 That is, in fact, the most flattering picture of Tony La Russa they could get their hands on.
So I have recently joined an actual tabletop shadowrun game and I am absolutely loving it! Playing an Oni Mage that is somewhat of a glass cannon but my god what a shot he can create! Trying to get into the video games as well lately but haven't had the time yet...
As soon as I saw ProJared, I knew I would not be disappointed; What an amazing backstory for an amazing game.
Regarding SNES Shadowrun, Beam Software created a spiritual sequel to it under the name Alien Earth which was released in 1998 on Windows PC only.
Shadowrun was in my top 10 SNES games. I was also playing the table top RPG at the time.
Was a big SNES fan growing up, but I preferred the Genesis RPG, it was a great open world sandbox. It felt way ahead of it's time.
I love the SNES Shadowrun. Of course, Jake would be a completely unplayable mess by tabletop rules, but I still love the game.
Really love longer episodes! Plus, you both guys are starting to become really, really entertaining!
Shadowrun for the SNES is an overlooked classic. Still waiting 30 years later for the sequel promised at the end of the game.
4:36 as evil as any in-game corporation
I loved Shadowrun on SNES but mostly because that's what us SNES players got. Admittedly the Genesis version was much closer to the tabletop game in visuals and tone.