Populous
System: SNES
Release Date: September 30th, 1991
Developer: Bullfrog Productions
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Genre: Strategy
Conquer all of the known worlds with your powers as a god in Populous! We’re to the point where games that have been released on one system are going to be ported to another. This wasn’t a thing in the 8-bit era, but is extremely common in the 16-bit era. I’m going to have to decide how I handle these as I move forward. Maybe do one review of the games if they are nearly indistinguishable and point out what is necessary.
I say this, because this version of Populous is basically the same as the Genesis. The goal of having your followers destroy the other followers is the same. The graphics are pretty much the same. The powers are the same. What’s different is that with all the buttons on the SNES controller, there are shortcuts to do everything. Different combinations of the shoulder and face buttons will use powers, or automatically raise and lower land to get the terrain level you’d like. There are too many shortcuts to learn them all.
The other thing that’s true about Populous is that I sat down at about 10 PM to start playing and the next thing I knew it was 1 AM. These strategy games are really good at making time disappear. If the pace of this one was a bit quicker, I think we’d have a real powerhouse on our hands. But in reality, it’s still pretty sluggish. Check out the link to the Genesis review for more details on the game itself, just ignore the tiredness in my voice.
Graphics: 2.5
The framerate is still pretty low, but the play screen is bigger.
Sound: 0.5
The stupid heartbeat is still here, but it’s less prevalent.
Gameplay: 2.5
Lots of powers and a simple enough premise make conquering worlds a joy.
Difficulty: 2.5
Sometimes getting your walkers to do what you want is more of a chore.
Fun Factor: 3.0
Where did my evening go? Populous.
Overall Rating: 2.2
Populous earns a C+. The SNES version looks a bit better than the Genesis version and the introduction of controller shortcuts is novel.