It may be spooky season, but there's nothing scary about the newest batch of games hitting the Nintendo Classics app ... unless you count Bubsy the Bobcat's terrible puns. That's right, Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind is finally coming to Nintendo Switch Online, along with Fatal Fury Special and the mouse-only Mario & Wario. Yeah, that's a pretty cool update, but are any of these games actually worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Next Generation, Nintendo Magazine System and more classic magazines that reviewed these games when they first came out. I sure hope you like cat puns, because this is going to be another purr-fect episode of Nintendo Classics Review Crew!


After releasing Fatal Fury 2 back in January, Takara had a number of options for the follow-up. For example, they could have ported a fan-favorite fighting game like Samurai Shodown. They also could have gone with something slightly more obscure, like King of the Monsters. There was always Art of Fighting and World Heroes 2, a couple of perfect candidates for Nintendo Classics. But no, they didn't do any of that. Instead, we get Fatal Fury Special, which is, you guessed it, an updated version of Fatal Fury 2. Now, to be fair, Fatal Fury Special is a great Neo Geo game and a fantastic update to an already solid SNK fighter. If anything, this is the game they probably should have released back in January. Yes, I'm a little annoyed, but so were the critics. Let's see what they said back in 1995.

We're going to start with Electronic Gaming Monthly, which ended up giving Fatal Fury Special one of the highest of any magazine – a 7.4 out of 10. While that may sound a bit low, you'll see that there was actually a big disagreement amongst the critics. Al gave the game a 6.5, the lowest score of any of the EGM critics: “It's a step down, but the Super NES version of one of the Neo Geo's best fighting series isn't a bad fighter at all. The graphics are the best on any platform outside its original format and the control is decent. Word of warning: If you don't have a joystick controller, you are going to have a very difficult time executing the fatal moves. The only other gripe I have is that the sounds are a bit annoying, especially with the surround sound. You have to resort to a monaural setting.” Fake ninja Sushi-X liked the game a lot more, arguing that “this is a good rendition of the Neo game. The characters are reproduced faithfully and the moves seem to come off relatively easy. The graphics are a bit grainy looking, especially when you're used to the Neo version, but they are still good. The biggest drawback is the sound system. The Dolby effect or whatever they were trying for makes it sound like you're fighting in a tunnel.”

When it comes to the other magazines, you saw Game Players give the game a 74%, the same score as EGM. Nintendo Power went a bit lower, giving Fatal Fury Special a 3.2 out of 5, while Game Informer opted for an average of 6.25 out of 10. Ross, the Rebel Gamer, confessed that he couldn't see much of a difference between Fatal Fury Special and Fatal Fury 2. “Sure, there might be a few returning characters like Duck King, and a new option, Countdown, but it is basically the same game with the same old rehashed gameplay. I do like the updated graphics and animation on the backgrounds, though. I recommend that if you have Fatal Fury 2, you should just keep that one and let the newcomers pick up this one.”

Going even lower, we see GamePro break from giving out perfect scores in order to give Fatal Fury Special a 3 out of 5. And then there's Next Generation, which went all the way down to a pitiful 2 out of 5. “Let's face it, sprite-based 2D fighting games are a dime a dozen, and in spite of the impressive Dolby Surround, all this one really has going for it is sheer size – 15 characters, and five special moves apiece, some of which are slick, but none of which you haven't pulled off in some other game of its ilk. Fatal Fury Special is too little, too late.”

Believe it or not, there was an outlier that not only liked Fatal Fury Special, but gave it one of the highest scores of the year. I'm talking about Nintendo Magazine System, which went all the way up to a 92%, the highest score you can find for the game (and it's not even close). “When a game doesn't promote itself as a sequel and instead chooses Turbo or, in this case, Special, the question of difference becomes especially important. Is this all that different from Fatal Fury 2? Well, there are only three new characters to control and they're not strictly new anyway. There are more combos and the 32 meg power means that it's faster and looks smarter. So, is this just a paint job? It's difficult to say and not really that important. What Fatal Fury Special is at the end of the day is a superb fighting game. The Dolby Surround Sound is the icing on the cake, giving Fatal Fury Special a real arcade quality. It might not be ‘radically' different from its predecessors, but it is very good indeed.”

Okay, what's going on with the Dolby Surround? Some critics complains that it's like you're in a tunnel, while others call it a revelation. You normally don't see people that divided on the sound quality. Either way, even with Nintendo Magazine's high score, Fatal Fury Special averaged an overall score of 67%, down sharply from the 73% they gave Fatal Fury 2. I still say Takara should have ported Samurai Shodown or King of the Monsters.

Given that Mario is one of the most-popular characters in the world, you would think that all of Nintendo's Mario games would have found their way to the United States. And yet, here we have Mario & Wario, a Super NES game that, despite being entirely in English, was never released outside of Japan. Developed by Pokemon creator Satoshi Tajiri, Mario & Wario started its life as a Super Scope game before scrapping those plans and going with the Super NES Mouse instead. This is an odd little puzzler that sees players choosing between Mario, Yoshi and Princess Peach to beat one-hundred bite-sized stages. It's a cool oddity, but what did the critics say?

Despite being a Japan-exclusive in the 1990s, there actually are a few English-language magazines that reviewed Mario & Wario back in the day. Let's start at the bottom and work our way up, beginning with Total!, which gave the game a low 62%. They liked the cartoony graphics and the “crazy Mario-style tunes,” but complained that it's too short. “Potentially world-beating stuff, but let down badly by an incredibly low difficulty grading. Its simplistic strategy gameplay may keep small children amused, though.”

Things are a bit more positive over at Super Play, which gave Mario & Wario a so-so 70%. For those keeping track, that's the 336th highest-scoring game Super Play reviewed, out of around 600. “Yoshi's Cookie is the nearest thing I can think of to it. This is no bad thing, because like Yoshi's Cookie, you insist on having another go, and another. So what about it, then? It's fun, it's simple to understand, but it gets tough and it's all a bit samey. Not a classic.”

When it comes to the highest score, that belongs to Nintendo Magazine System, which gave the puzzler an 81%. That's a recommendation, right? “If Nintendo were hoping to sell their Mouse on the back of this title, they are going to be a little disappointed. For while the whole package looks, sounds and plays brilliantly, there is something about the game that leaves you wanting more. Perhaps it's something to do with the fact that for the first few levels the puzzles are so tediously easy that it's difficult to maintain any interest. Things do improve, but in the harder later levels, the real battle is between you and the mouse as opposed to against the game. Another thing – seeing as this is a Mario spin-off, is it really a good idea that we only ever see him with a bucket over his head. If you're looking for a good excuse to get the mouse, take a look at the great King Authur's World and use this as a follow-up. Not bad, but not brill.”

There seems to be some disagreement about how challenging Mario & Wario is, but that may come down to how good you are at puzzle games. The overall score is 71%, which isn't bad, but certainly not the score you expect from a Nintendo-published Mario game. That said, given that you probably haven't played this game before, it's worth it, just to be a Mario completionist. Just don't forget to bring a mouse.

Bubsy the Bobcat is a tough character to talk about, because while he's nowhere near as bad as modern critics would like you to believe, he's also the perfect embodiment of the 1990s gluttony for mascot character with extreme attitudes. He's one of a million snarky animal heroes birthed from the success of Sonic the Hedgehog, and he shot onto the scene with a level of bravado that was both unearned and impossible to live up to. There's a weird tug-of-war happening where, on one hand, he's a cartoon cat that was clearly inspired by Looney Tunes, yet the other side desperately wants him to be as effortlessly cool as Sonic or Earthworm Jim. The problem is that neither he nor his games are good enough to live up to the potential of either side, leaving us in a very frustrating draw. Of course, all this is easy to see in retrospect, but what about at the time?

For a character who often finds himself on “Worst Of” lists, Bubsy the Bobcat actually started his life with the critics giving him all the charity in the world. While most of the reviews Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind is not at the same level as Mario and Sonic, I think it's safe to say that the critics started out liking Bubsy. That's certainly the case with Electronic Gaming Monthly, who gave his first adventure an average score of 8 out of 10. Ed came out on the side of loving Bubsy, asking straight up if 1993 is the year of the bobcat. “After playing this cart, I can truly say that this game is terrific! Bubsy's tons of animations really add a humorous side to the game and his voice before each level is also funny. The level effects are great, with colorful graphics and many hidden areas to find. What more could you ask for?” Steve, on the other hand, was not as impressed, giving the game a 7. “While I enjoyed the detail in Bubsy, the play mechanics and lack of a diversified technique to learn and master brought this cart down a couple of points. All the elements are here, but a lot of the finesse that similar games demand just isn't found here.”

EGM's 8 out of 10 is pretty close to the average across all magazines. That's the same score you saw from Mean Machines Sega in their 11th issue, and Computer & Video Games went a little bit higher giving the game an 81%. You also saw Die Hard Game Fan give the Super NES version of the game an 83%, while the Genesis version was one point higher, coming in at 84%. Of course, the highest scores came from GamePro, who gave both versions a perfect 5 out of 5. They raved that “Bubsy is a must for any gamer's library. Hot on the trail of Sonic the Hedgehog, this cat really moves! He may not be as fast as Sonic, but he definitely has a lot more purrrr-sonality.”

Unfortunately, not all of the reviews were that positive. In fact, there were a few critics who were not fully won over by Bubsy's charm. For example, Video Games & Computer Entertainment scored the game a slightly low 7.8 out of 10. Same with Super Play, who gave it a 77%, making it the magazine's 246th best-reviewed Super NES game. SNES Force averaged a score of 70%, though that score would have been much lower if Will had been the sole review: “If the programmers wanted a speedy Sonic-type game, why did they make Bubsy a one-hit-and-die character, then put enemies virtually every two inches? Bubsy just doesn't have the speed of play – sure, he can move as fast as Sonic, but he can't make long sprints until the backgrounds blur because he hits a baddy within two seconds and has to redo the level. There are some nice graphics, nice touches here and there, but Bubsy is just too frustrating. This cat is lucky there's no hedgehog on Nintendo.”

Other low scores include MegaTech giving the Genesis version a 74% and Sega Power going even lower with a 69%. The score that surprised me the most came from Nintendo Power, which gave Bubsy a 3.5 out of 5. That may not sound so bad, but it's actually shockingly low for the magazine. They raved that it has “some of the best character animation ever seen in a video game, as well as speed, challenge and 16 ways to bite the big one.” They called it “one of the best character action games around.” However, they felt that “during high jumps, the multi-background parallax view can cause havoc to your sense of direction and placement, resulting in some poor landings.”

Despite a few negative takes, this first Bubsy was mostly liked. It earned an overall average of 81%, which is probably a lot higher than you were expecting. Talk about a twist ending!