[Prototype] The Last Super (SNES)

Today marks the 30th birhtday of the Super Nintendo (SNES) console! To celebrate this, I'll release the game "The Last Super" publicly. And to thank you for your continued support, here is an exclusive access to the prototypes of this game!

The Last Super is heavily inspired / built upon another SNES game I made: Keeping SNES Alive. You can play this game here - it’s also included as a bonus game on the cartridge version of the Last Super.

Therefore, the first prototypes of the Last Super actually include graphics from Keeping SNES alive. The source code of this game was kind of a starting template. More specifically, you’ll notice that the player sprite (the cartridge) was lifted from Keeping SNES Alive for most of the project, as I waited until the very end of the project to redraw it.

Anyway, here is a detail of The Last Super main prototypes:

-= PROTOTYPE 01 =-

First gameplay test. The game still uses the core gameplay from Keeping SNES Alive, but all the code have been rewritten to suit the idea I had in mind. More specifically, in Keeping SNES Alive, the consoles are actually background images, as there are only 4 static consoles during the whole game. 

For The Last Super I wanted to have more consoles onscreen, and that consoles can move anywhere to spice things up! So in this first prototype I basically reprogrammed Keeping SNES Alive but with sprite-based consoles. They don’t move yet, but the engine I coded in this prototype allows them to do so.

-= PROTOTYPE 02 =-

And now there is a fifth console that move onscreen!

In total, up to 10 consoles can be onscreen at the same time (enough to fill the whole screen! - see level 10 in the final release).

-= PROTOTYPE 03 =-

I added the “game over countdown” feature. When a SNES doesn’t have the cart plugged in, its TV screen will show a countdown before disappearing. And when the cart is plugged, there is a (basic) 3 frames animation that will later show the game running onscreen.

-= PROTOTYPE 04 =-

Now, when you stay inside a console long enough, the “game” gets completed. If you jump, the SNES will go offscreen, and be replaced by a new one. I also added a sixth console with horizontal movement. This “playground level” will become the 8th level in the final game.

-= PROTOTYPE 05 =-

Now that you can score points, you have a goal to reach! The total number of consoles to “complete a game on” is displayed on screen. When you reach this goal, the level is completed, and it goes to the next level! For now, there is only a single level, and no real graphics yet. But with this prototype the whole game engine / core gameplay is basically in.

-= PROTOTYPE 06 =-

I started to work on level design, with a couple of levels working in this version. I also added explosion graphics, sounds and screenshake to emphasize the game over effect. And, last but not least, I added several variables to control the countdown speed for both the time to complete a game when the cart is plugged and the time before explosion when the console doesn’t have the cart. That way, I can balance the difficulty of the levels more precisely.

-= PROTOTYPE 07 =-

Here comes the first version of the ingame background! Quite ugly isn’t it?

I also added the Game Over / Well done message with the “SNES” looking like font.

-= PROTOTYPE 08 =-

I made a lot of changes and fine tuning to better balance the whole gameplay (jump height, countdown timers, collision hitboxes, etc.). This work isn’t visible onscreen, but it takes a veeeerry long time, and can only be felt when playing the game! :)

I also modified the TV countdown graphics, they look much better now.

I even used colors to help players realize when a TV is about to explode (in game design, communication is key!).

-= PROTOTYPE 09 =-

I finally chose what the “last super game cartridge” will be: Super Metroid! 

There are several reasons for that. For one, it’s arguably one of the best and most influencing video games ever designed. It’s also one of my favorite on the console (alongside Zelda 3, Super Mario World, Chrono Trigger, F-Zero, Contra III, Super Street Fighter II, Earth Worm Jim, etc. - the SNES has definitively one of the best game library ever!). And last but not least, its title contains the word “Super” - it was important to keep in line with the stupid “The Last Super / The Last Supper” play on words in the title. Indeed, the game title is a play on word with a famous Da Vinci’s painting.

I also designed some levels (12 in this version), and started to work on the “survival mode.” This endless mode starts with a single console onscreen, but each time you score a point, a new console appears or a previously available console will start moving.

-= PROTOTYPE 10 =-

In this version, I spent a lot of time creating an animated intro, and the title screen alongside with menus. The survival mode is working and finished. You can play 13 levels in this version (slots 01-13 in the menu).

Last but not least, I finally REDREW the player sprite! So now you can finally play as an actual Super Metroid cartridge, and not as a strange Yo-Yo Shuriken bootleg cart with Super Metroid on it.

-= BETA 01 =-

For now on, I kept on working on designing levels. To create more interesting levels, I added a “circular movement” capability to the consoles in addition to the regular orthogonal movement. That way, I can design movement patterns with circles, back-and-forth movement or some weird and seemingly random bounces. I designed a total of 20 levels, and I organized them to have a progressive difficulty. I also did some extra polish and bugfixes here and there.

The result is the first beta version of the game, that you, my dear Patrons, have been the first ones to see and play!

-= RELEASE (a.k.a BETA 02) =-

Using your feedback, I improved the game. For example, I added an instructions screen, and I did some extra fine tuning on the difficulty. It led to a second beta version, that, after intense beta testing sessions on real hardware, appeared to work as intended! 

So I promoted it to “release”: this is the version of the game that everyone will (hopefully) enjoy!