Approximate Release Month: February 1992
Genre: Light gun shooter/Minigame collection
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Super Scope 6 was the pack-in game for the Super Nintendo’s first official peripheral, the Super Scope.
As a pack-in, it fulfills the Wii Sports role; nothing too deep or complex, but enough to get the gist of the product you just bought. This isn’t a game you would buy at full retail price. It teaches you how to calibrate your Super Scope and how to use it effectively in games. And that’s all it really needs to do.
Super Scope 6 is a bit of a misnomer, as there are only two games – the puzzler Blastris and the more action-focused Lazerblazer. Each game has three different modes, but most of them aren’t appreciably different from each other. This is Duck Hunt-level gameplay, after all.
Blastris A is really boring; you blow up tetrominoes in order to create and clear lines, but you only have a few shots at a time and it takes forever to regenerate ammo. Blastris B is better. You shoot single blocks to change colors and you try to match three identical colors in a row. Both of these games are slow and easy, but the third game – Mole Patrol – is much faster paced since it’s just whack-a-mole. Sadly, this is the standout in this set of games.
Lazerblazer fares better. Lazerblazer A has you shooting down missiles as they move from the right side of the screen to the left. Leading shots is important here, as missiles move at varying speeds and are at different distances from you. Lazerblazer B is the most fun and challenging game in Super Scope 6 and has you shooting down planes and missiles as they fly toward you. Lazerblazer C is very similar to B, except with different enemies to shoot down.
As a game to be played with a big plastic bazooka on your shoulder, Super Scope 6 is fun for a little while. I remember having a blast as a kid shooting planes out of the sky and popping moles. But if you’re going to play this game on your computer with a mouse, as I suspect most will do, it’s not very fun.
I’m going to wager that none of the dozen or so Super Scope games hold up with a mouse, since having a pointer as accurate as a mouse trivializes the already-simple games in Super Scope 6.
Tomorrow: Big money! Big prizes! I love Super Smash TV!
