52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

[bikingjahuty]

3. Super Punch Out (SNES) - ABANDONED

I was a late adaptor of the SNES. I was through and through a Genesis kid in the early 90s and it wasn't until my birthday in 1995 that my Aunt got me an SNES. Even after getting my SNES, I still mostly played my Genesis. I fact, there were probably about 6 games in total on the SNES I spent any serious time with, and a third of those were DKC games. In other words, I missed out on the vast majority of the console's most defining titles. One of those games that belonged to that category was Super Punch Out.


I actually did try out Super Punch Out at a friend's house before I got my SNES and unfortunately it just never clicked with me. This was probably the reason we would always either play Zombies Ate My Neighbors or Firepower 2000. But yeah, I always had a hard time figuring out the mechanics of Super Punch Out despite it involving only three buttons on the SNES controller. I got you were supposed to read your opponent in order to gauge when to block attack, or dodge, but understanding this did little to help me actually progress past the third or fourth opponent in the game. Unfortunately, 30 years of gaming experience has done little to improve my skills in Super Punch Out, which I will partially place on me, but also, the gameplay isn't the shining example of SNES gaming excellence some people pretend it is.


For starters, the more you play Super Punch Out, the more you can feel yourself getting slightly better. However, my main gripe is as soon as you do figure out the quarks of a specific fighting and their move gimmicks, the next fighter will make you completely rethink how to play again them. This sounds like a plus rather than a negative, but the reason it isn't, is because your limited continues will ensure you'll have to start all over from the beginning just as you start to get the hang of a specific fighter. You pretty much have to really, really like this game to get to the end, or just have a crap loud of experience in Super Punch Out to beat it. I tried getting good, but this limited continue knock back and having to refight the first two or three fighters over and over again really got old quickly, hence why I decided to stop playing before even getting half way through your opponent gauntlet.


The in game gameplay itself isn't bad, but it is still kind of clunky and imbalanced, even for early 90s console gaming standards. As mentioned, you'll be blocking, dodging, and punching your way through each fighter. Reading your opponent is key, however the role luck and knowing how to cheese certain fighters seems be almost just as much a factor. Successfully landing blows fills a super meter, which allows you to unleash stronger jabs to KO you opponent faster. Unfortunately the CPU seems to almost have input reading, which means it'll often jump out of the way or block when it knows a powerful strike is coming. That aspect alone of the gameplay really sapped a lot of my enjoyment of playing Super Punch Out and contributed heavily to be abandoning it.


Super Punch Out's visuals are definitely its best asset. The cartoonish, yet highly detailed sprite work really makes this one of the better looking first party SNES games. Each fighting is visually distinct and memorable, which is in no small part to how they look different than any other fighter you have or will fight.


Audio in Super Punch Out isn't quite at the standard of quality the visuals are, but is still pretty impressive for a early/mid-90s 16 bit console release. The OST is definitely lacking in this game, but it makes up for this with limited dialogue and lines unique to each fighter, as well as things like the crowd cheering, the ref announcing things, and the meeting fight sound effects that make each move feel impactful. I'm a huge fan of video game OSTs, so the fact that this is fairly lacking in Super Punch Out was in mono small part why I felt the audio overall was inferior to the visual presentation.


While I hate playing an old classic I missed growing up only to find out I didn't feel like I missed much, I'd rather find this out than never have played a specific game at all. This pretty much sums up my experience with Super Punch Out; the game definitely has that SNES charm, mostly due to its presentation, but the gameplay not only hasn't aged that great, but I can't imagine it was lauded by the masses either when it first came out. I certainly didn't hate playing this game, but rather, it just wasn't able to grab my attention, and the haphazard, and somewhat inconsistent gameplay were enough for me to realize after a little over an hour of playing it that the game just isn't for me. (6/13/26) - ABANDONED

[dhaabi]

22. 10 Mississippi || Browser || 06.13.2026



10 Mississippi is one of those games that I just sort of found myself playing without really meaning to—I actually stumbled upon it in a small list that included another game I was reading about. The game's page auto-loads without input, and it's a short experience that can be completed before ever realizing how far you've reached even if your intention was just to experience a quick glimpse of its mechanics and presentation.

In a way, 10 Mississippi is an interactive visual diary told through a series of vignettes presented in stop-motion photography. Without dialogue and little text (most of which is an optional triggered effect) the game is a looping narrative about a woman's daily routine, beginning where it ends each sequence as if no time has past. At times, the actions a player controls feel as if they mimic their own personal life: the buttons to the shirt you've just put on are put in place nestled in fabric one-by-one, monotonous office tasks at your desktop are worked on, a razor glides across your body as you shave, a simple meal is prepared after the stovetop's burners are turned. These moments all feel familiar, but they simultaneously feel intrusive as who players control is ultimately a stranger to us.

Each of the game's scenes is momentary, and the majority of them pause for user input in the form of simple key strokes being pressed that are often in quick succession and loop. How these scenes are presented have some thought to them in regards to their interactivity too, such as food being stirred that requires specific keys to be pressed in a circular order or the struggle to get out of bed requiring multiple attempts at holding the up arrow key as the stop-motion imagery mirrors the player's actions. However, some scenes will advance even if player action isn't completed or even taken at all. In the game's first linear playthrough, players will unlikely be able to see all of these actions or notice all of the game's minor details as they're still learning the key strokes needing to be pressed, often in a short time window. So to some degree, playing the game one or two additional times to see what more information is revealed or environmental changes occur, as little or insignificant they may be, may be worthwhile to those curious.

Apart from visuals, sound is sparse and is mostly a looping audio recording of the current action taking place such as a key unlocking a door, but it all complements the ordinary, familiar experience of just another day to get through well enough. One music track can be triggered that helps reinforce the routine to the player-character's early daily routine as well, and it, too, functions adequately.

In some ways, 10 Mississippi is a game assigning players to be a silent observer of just another day that makes up some stranger's life, but observing feels wrong as we violate societal boundaries and intimate moments of varying degrees in what I'm assuming to be an autobiographical, slice-of-life interactive experience. What's presented ostensibly has no plot, but the connection of individual moments do, in some way, provide a greater insight to the player-character on screen. While I personally found enjoyment without such element, the game's opening and closing scenes do suggest something larger at play that I'm not sure how is intended to be understood in the game's larger context, so having some additional detail—however minor it may be—or omitting these two moments altogether may have been more effective.