Playing With Super Power: Nintendo Super NES Classics

The book is wonderfully constructed, and the information that is present is interesting. I was a bit disappointed that there are no sections on three of the best games on the SNES mini, Final Fantasy VI, Secret of Mana, and Super Mario RPG. I understand why, as these games were all at least partially made by Squaresoft, and would require licensing fees and such. I just figured I'd put this information out there, for potential customers.

I was really excited when I saw the "Playing with Power" NES book announced last year to release along with the "NES Classic". Like a lot of people, though, I was disappointed to find that it mainly amounted to a bunch of Nintendo Power reprints and was full of errors. The product description made it sound like there was going to be tons of interviews and history included, but all of that actually came to a whopping four or five pages.Plus, like many, many folks, I didn't even get an NES Mini due to Nintendo's horrible production of the unit. Bah humbug! The good news is that the SNES book is much, much better this time around (and lucky me, I did fortunately snag an SNES mini this time around). You get a nice, brief chapter up front on the development of the system itself and a look at some of the accessories, while the end covers the "Super Fans" and their art, cosplay, fan sites, etc. The bulk of the book, naturally, zeroes in on the biggest games themselves. You start each title with a shot of the US box art and the story (which is taken directly from the original manuals if memory serves). Next you have the development section, which covers a lot of interesting info that most people will be completely unaware of. There's also a fun factoid segment, a speed runner guide and a "legacy" section detailing the eventual sequels or spinoffs on future systems. You also get plenty of pictures, from maps of key stages, pages from Nintendo Power, pixel art and classic key art from manuals and posters. I've found pretty much all of it a very fun read an incredibly nostalgic. There are, however, a few nitpicks I have with this book. For starters, like the NES book before it, you only get the games published by Nintendo itself. Seeing as how the book is really a tie in to the SNES Mini (it's on the very first page if there was any doubt) you would think that all of the included games on the unit would get coverage in the book. So don't expect anything on Castlevania 4, Contra 3, Final Fantasy 3, Mega Man X, Secret of Mana, Street Fighter 2 or Super Ghouls and Ghosts. The real shocker is that Super Mario RPG isn't in here. Yes, I do realize that it was developed by Square, but Donkey Kong Country was done by Rare and it's in the book. Mario RPG was published by Nintendo and, come on, it's a MARIO game. How could it not be included? I'm also not a huge fan of the speed runner section. Sure, it absolutely makes since for games like F-Zero, Mario Kart and Metroid, but I wouldn't have done this with every game. It's been who knows how long since I've played most of these game and wouldn't have minded at all some tips on dealing with the tougher bosses in Starfox, Yoshi's Island and Metroid, or strategies for the boxers in Punchout. Likewise, I'd rather see highlights of the hardest to find secrets in Zelda and Mario World and more coverage of the iconic moments of Earthbound versus tips on blasting through the games at record speed. Of course, if you're into speed running you'll likely have a completely different opinion on the matter. In the end, I suppose the book is a lot like the SNES Mini itself: it doesn't include everything you'd like, and there are things that you would absolutely change. But, at the end of the day, there's an awful lot to love and I would still wholeheartedly recommend it to any Super Nintendo fan. Here's hoping you're all lucky enough to actually pickup a SNES Classic so you can be "Playing with Super Power" too.

This book is a beautiful monument to my childhood, from the time you see it's SNES Cartridge shaped cover to the beautiful illustrations and lush history on each page you know that this is a worthy piece to anyones retro gaming collection. I collect the games now that I couldn't afford when I was a kid and this has helped me to really enjoy the Super Nintendo in ways that I just couldn't when I was a kid, would recommend for any Nintendo fan - very high quality publication

Got this for my dad who was big into gaming during the SNES era, even though he does not have the new SNES classic and has no plans to get one. He and I both really enjoyed the book, there is alot of nostalgia here that made it worth the money even though he had no interest or need for the speedrunning sections.

This is a very fun book with filled with great art and nostalgia. It includes a lot of great behind-the-scenes information and some great quirky subculture stuff I would not have expected. I was disappointed that there is no discussion of the third-party games included on the SNES Classic, but what's there is top-notch.

The main plus of the hardcover edition is the book's design, which resembles an SNES cart. I like how the book charts all the best games, as well as maps, easter eggs, and the like. I would have appreciated a little more information on the development of the console itself, which is sort of summarized in the opening pages (but at least the important points are touched on, such as the design and historical context). Definitely consider over the paperback edition.

I was a little worried that this would be a glorified strategy guide (similar to one that came out recently about the NES). This is not the case- Play With Super Power is packed with nostalgia, history and facts I never knew. Totally worth it!

I ordered this item with the thought of it just being a standard guide but when It came to my door I was surprised at how special this item actually is. This book does it's job as a guide but also offers beautiful pictures, little facts, and delightful details. This book was a great deal if you ask me and I suggest any collector to pick this up.

I am finally writing a review of this, over a year after purchasing it!The first thing to point out is that this book is much better quality than the one Prima did for the NES classic. That had pages that were almost as thin as newspaper. This is of much higher quality, both the hard cover and the pages themselves.On to the content. I really enjoyed reading this book. For the games it covered, it’s excellent. It includes excerpts from the original game manuals, from magazines covering the games back in the day, lots of artwork, it includes ‘16 bits’ of information for each game, and even lists future games from each series.Coverage of each game also includes a speed running section, where speed runners discuss techniques and glitches for getting the best times on games. I didn’t think I would enjoy these sections as much as I did. It was genuinely fascinating learning about all the little techniques and glitches used for each game, and I googled many of them to learn more.My main gripe about the book, and the same applied to the NES book, is that it doesn’t cover the 3rd party games.I would have loved to have read all this information about Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy III (VI), Castlevania IV etc. Even if they covered less pages, it would still have been welcome. Surprisingly, Mario RPG is not covered in the book either, I presume because it was developed by Squaresoft, although it was published by Nintendo.Anyway, I would still highly recommend this book. I didn’t read it when I first got it, and that was a mistake. Once I started I couldn’t put it down, so it was well worth the price.

Als Konsolensammler und Videospielliebhaber habe ich mich ganz besonders auf das Buch zu meiner aller ersten Konsole gefreut. Ich besitze auch das Vorgängerbuch zur NES Mini Konsole. Das vorliegende Buch schlägt das eben genannte um Längen! Im folgenden die Vorzüge und kleineren Schwachstellen des SNES Buches:+ hochwertige Außengestaltung im Pappschuber und Hardcover Umschlag. Macht sich optisch exzellent neben der SNES Mini Verpackung. Für die Freaks unter uns ;-) andere haben den Karton bereits weggeschmissen.+ hochwertiges Fotoglanzpapier mit hervorragenden Fotos und Screenshots. Das war beim Vorgängerbuch nicht gegeben. Hier achtet man darauf das man die Seiten nicht mit fettigen Chipsfingern anfasst, weil das Buch sich wertig anfühlt und das auch so bleiben soll.+ Hintergrundinformationen auf den ersten 20 Seiten (z.B. Launchtitel, die 20 meisterverkauften SNES Spiele, Zubehör usw.). Der technische Part hätte gerne noch ausführlicher ausfallen dürfen, wobei ich dies tatsächlich mit der Sammler- bzw. Nerdbrille sehe. Der Ottonormalverbraucher wird ausreichend informiert.+ auf den nächsten ca. 200 Seiten (!) werden 13 Spiele der SNES Mini Konsole mit sehr schöner und detailverliebter Bebilderung vorgestellt.Allerdings sind nur die Nintendospiele im Buch enthalten. Zu Castlevania IV oder Mega Man X gibt es nicht ein Wort (!). Der aufmerksame Leser stellt fest, dass dies mehr 10 Seiten pro Spiel sind. Folgende Spiele sind im Buch enthalten:>Super Mario, F-Zero, Zelda, Star Fox 1 und 2, Super Metroid, Super Punch-Out, Donkey Kong, die beiden Kirby Spiele, Earthbound und Super Mario 2<Nach einer Doppelseite zur Entwicklungsgeschichte werden Details zu den Spielen genannt/erklärt/veranschaulicht. So werden beispielsweise bei F-Zero alle Fahrer samt deren Fahrzeugen bebildert und mit Begleittext vorgestellt, die Kurse mit Streckenlayout beschrieben. Bei Donkey Kong werden die tierischen Freunde präsentiert. Bei Mario Kart werden die Nachfolgeversionen bebildert präsentiert. Optisch toll gemacht ist auch, dass die Bilder nicht immer bloß als vom Text abgetrennte Elemente präsentiert werden, sondern als "dynamische" Bausteine auf den Seiten funktionieren. So springt Mario mal von rechts in das Bild oder Samus wird groß mit anvisierter Waffe auf einer Seite dargestellt. Das lädt zum Stöbern ein, weil man nie weiß, was denn auf der nächsten Seite passiert. Mir gefällt dieser nicht standardisierte Ansatz bei der Bebilderung richtig gut.Das Gameplay wird auch zu jedem Spiel näher erklärt, Spieletipps werden gegeben und einzelne Level mit Screenshots veranschaulicht. Eine Komplettlösung zu den Spielen liegt nicht vor. Das ist allerdings auch nicht notwendig und würde den Rahmen sprengen. Dafür waren die Spiele damals doch zu ausgereift als das man kurz und knackig mal eben die Komplettlösung für z.B. Donkey Kong erhält. Selbst, wenn man ein recht geübter Spieler ist, braucht man locker mehr als 2 Stunden zum Durchzocken.+ auf den letzten 40 Seiten wird fangemachtes, gezeichnetes + computeranimiertes Artwork rund ums SNES präsentiert. Wahnsinn wie kreativ und begabt doch einige Menschen sind.Als neutraler Punkt sei zu erwähnen, dass für das Buch ordentliche Englischkenntnisse von Nöten sind. Mir persönlich macht das nichts, aber es gab ja Leute, die sich über die nicht vorhandene deutsche Sprachversion der Games auf der SNES Mini-Konsole beschwert haben, weil der Sohnemann diesem dann nicht folgen könne. Und so richtet sich dieses Buch auch nicht an Kinder, sondern an Liebhaber der SNES Konsole oder Videospielen im Allgemeinen, die ein bisschen mehr Englischkenntnisse haben als ein durchschnittlicher Schüler der 8. Klasse.- Was mir fehlt? Zumindest alle 21 Spiele der SNES Mini Konsole sollten enthalten sein.- Sehr cool hätte ich es zudem gefunden, eine Auflistung aller SNES Spiele samt Erscheinungsjahr, Verkaufszahl und des damaligen Covers zu erhalten. Ich habe so etwas zwar bereits, aber es hätte dem Buch doch gut getan und es positiv abgerundet. Allerdings wäre dann sicherlich bei über 700 erschienenen Spielen die Seitenzahlen und damit auch der Preis gestiegen. Dennoch bleibt so das Gefühl ein wenig etwas zu verpassen. Das SNES hatte hunderte guter Spiele und damit weit mehr als die beschriebenen 13. Das geht etwas unter, wenn man sich nicht auskennt.Ich hoffe ich konnte Euch mit meiner Rezension weiterhelfen. Keep Gaming.

This book is really fantastic for all the Super NES fans.It contains a lot of informations about the hardware development, the accessories with greats pictures and even delivers some anecdotes.The book covers also the 13 Nintendo games (but not the third party titles like Super Mario RPG, Street Fighter 2 Turbo...) with many exlusive informations and beautiful original Art works.It is very full and really interesting so the Nintendo fans can't miss this excellent book.My only regret is about the Speedrun part for near each game (because It is interresting but not essential) that maybe could have been replaced by a more classic tips chapter.The paper quality is excellent and far from the Nintendo NES book released last year.To conclude, I really love this book !

Good book, covering all the games on the snes mini.Nicely illustrated, this book is a must buy for any Nintendo fan.One disappointment.: The slip cover shows the European version of the snes, but the book cover is based on the angular American design.Still, this is better value than the nes version.

Great book which goes into a lot of detail. Doesn't cover all the games on the SNES mini which was a little disappointing. I would still recommend this book.