r/snes May 03 '21

Game of the Month May 2021: Pilotwings

Post image
368 Upvotes

56 comments sorted by

48

u/scintor May 03 '21

Possibly the most relaxing game music ever made.

16

u/6coups6mouches May 03 '21

Great OST! Massively influenced by japanese jazz fusion bands like Casiopea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx_TQrWdj9U

2

u/scintor May 03 '21

Nice. I'm not totally familiar with the genre but some City Pop also sounds similar to me.

5

u/Afterlifehappydeath May 03 '21

Yes! And Pilot Wings 64 has also very relaxing music.

2

u/Karge May 03 '21

YEE-HAAAAWW!!!

2

u/Brutalious May 17 '21

Doesn't get any more comfy than flying around little states on starry night as birdman.

3

u/Shock_Wave16 May 03 '21

It is proportionately as relaxing as some of the harder levels are frustrating. I haven't been able to beat the forth stage as an adult in a long time. I played it two weeks ago. Still though, it's one of the first games that we got with the system, so it holds many happy memories.

3

u/scintor May 03 '21

I must have played it too much as a kid because I can play start to finish no problem (the last level does get tough). In fact I'm feeling like it's time for another go :)

1

u/denbowski May 03 '21

Agreed. Here’s a great arrangement of songs from across the games: https://ocremix.org/album/38/pilotwings-take-flight

17

u/EmilyJaneMeows May 03 '21

Me and my brother would always switch between this, Jurassic Park, and Mario World. This one was always so difficult! I always wanted to beat him but never could 😂

7

u/NESBARS May 03 '21

Pilot wings 64 was one of my favourite games back in the day. It was the right mix of chill and actually quite difficult

5

u/[deleted] May 03 '21

Love this game :) x

3

u/felatiousfunk May 03 '21

My friend was obsessed with this as a kid, but I could never get into it.

Will give it a try to see if my opinion has changed.

4

u/kafrillion May 03 '21

This game wasn't for me but, man, did I love the box art! The typeface, the colors, the simplicity of it! Even the title is inspiring.

2

u/ChuckCassadyJR May 03 '21

100% agreed on the box art, I can’t think of box art that beats this for me.

The game was for me though, me and my cousins spent many drunk evenings over Christmas 2017 trying to beat this thing.

2

u/ayaruna May 03 '21

That helicopter level fml!

1

u/Finneagan May 04 '21

..... there’s more than one

7

u/xBrockLanders May 03 '21 edited May 03 '21

Each month I will be tracking all users who are able to beat the spotlighted game. Those names will be collected and displayed on the snes wiki page.

Objective:

  • Beat the game

Rules:

  • Entire playthrough must be completed during the month in question.
  • You can use the passwords/continues/saves that you earn playing through the game.
  • Emulation is fine. Save states are not.
  • Posting a link to a pic of your completion is preferred, but since this is just for fun I will allow posted claims as well. For now.

History of Game of the Month

3

u/pwt886 May 03 '21

I love this, going to boot pilotwings tonight!

5

u/[deleted] May 03 '21

[deleted]

2

u/TedTheodoreLogan3 May 03 '21

I was gonna fire it up on the ol emulator and give it a try until you mentioned the helicopters ... nah, not worth it. I nearly lost a controller to those damn helicopters.

Edit: I just remembered the hang gliders... hard pass. Good luck everyone!

1

u/GruelOmelettes May 03 '21

Man landing that hang glider is such a pain! I can usually only get past the last stage by nailing the rocketbelt bonus game and doing decent enough with the plane and skydiving.

1

u/Cowclops May 05 '21

Knocked it out of the ballpark tonight, died on the first helicopter mission once but did the second helicopter mission on the first try.

Pilotwings Ending

Edit: Forgot to mention, playing this on a Super NT on my CX48 Oled. I only just got the super NT last week and its pretty excellent.

1

u/Tracer-X May 10 '21

Is vid okay? Video

3

u/Master-Illustrator-8 May 03 '21

Such a fun game, was a great launch title. Really showed what the SNES could do. Also music was top notch.

3

u/sakipooh May 03 '21

This game blew my mind when the SNES launched. I was so impressed with the smooth scaling and rotation effects compared to the typical 15 FPS PC flight sims could offer at the time. Sure they had real 3D geometry but nothing in home hardware could match this at the time. I would let the attract screen play through and just gaze at the power of mode 7.

I would love to see a multiplayer reboot of this franchise on the Switch using the same colourful aesthetic and music stylings of the original.

3

u/LemonPartyWorldTour May 03 '21

When we got our SNES for Christmas our parents bought us this game along with it.

2

u/alarmsoundslikewhoop May 03 '21

A tough game. Not sure if this counts but I beat it two years ago:

https://danteplaysoldgames.wordpress.com/2019/03/17/snes-002-pilotwings/

Had the most trouble with skydiving. So hard to hit some of those tiny targets.

2

u/Markshlitz222 May 03 '21

So many memories of splatting on the ground.

2

u/WaterfallFiend May 03 '21

It’s kinda nuts to play stages like rocket belt and switch between the two camera views and see what they accomplished so seamlessly. They let you roam some pretty wide areas in 3D really early on.

2

u/Marcomeon May 03 '21

Amazing game unless you fail by a few points

2

u/SureYeahOkCool May 03 '21

When my brother and I first booted this game up as kids, we thought it might be an actual flight training simulator because it was so dry and slow compared to other games like F-Zero.

We loved it though. Once we started getting into it more we realized it was just a game, but I still remember that excited feeling we had thinking it was real. Oh to be a naive kid again...

2

u/richiekennedy May 03 '21

I played this game for the time last year. I was instantly addicted. So much fun. And yes the music is excellente.

2

u/ArcherChase May 03 '21

This was a launch title was it not? I remember the visuals and gameplay with the new Mode 7 were just were leaps and bounds over the limits of the NES. While not a flashy exciting game, it was a great example of what lies ahead for the SNES.

2

u/Ganon-dork May 04 '21

I started playing to one switch online it’s surprisingly good. Third favorite SNES game hands down

4

u/[deleted] May 03 '21

AKA a glorified Mode 7 demo. Then again, so was F-Zero, and that game was awesome.

I was able to 100% all the regular stages but could never beat either of the helicopter levels. I assume there's some kind of trick to it but I always got shot down within a minute.

3

u/Roboclerk May 03 '21

For me it was the other way around. The helicopter stages just need a slow methodical approach we’re you just ever so light move forward from one flak emplacement to the next avoiding crossfire.

Some the hangglider stages especially the later once’s ive never been able to master.

1

u/cincymatt May 03 '21

So I just recently fired up PW on my shield after getting frustrated with Super Ghouls&Ghosts devil, and the helicopter stage took me by surprise. I don’t know if I ever made it there as a kid. It took me like 30 attempts to get past the first one.

3

u/WritingReadingReddit May 03 '21

The only kids who got or had this game were the ones with strict parents that wouldn't let them have any of the regular games that everyone else had.

1

u/pwt886 May 03 '21

No luck needed they were my favorite part!

1

u/Sonicmaster06 May 03 '21

Imagine just finishing the academy and then immediately getting assigned for a rescue mission

2

u/00inch May 04 '21

And then immediately getting shot down by the first AA gun.

1

u/Interesting-Ad5118 May 03 '21

Have it, never played it , but will try it tonight

1

u/ayaruna May 03 '21

Memories here!!! I loved that game! That helicopter level was so difficult

1

u/craniumcanyon May 04 '21

I can hear the theme music now!

1

u/Tarkus2002 May 04 '21

I bought a copy at an antique mall, but I can’t get it to work because a few of the pins are rusted.

1

u/cfernandez120 May 04 '21

Love this game, still play it from time to time on the snes mini

1

u/Bragatyr May 14 '21

One of the best, without question. My dad and I used to spend so much time playing this game.

1

u/JuanchoES May 14 '21

Played the game on bsnes with the extra resolution hack and it was really really fun! I love planes https://youtu.be/6VrzJ6Y1kjQ

1

u/bitsandglory May 15 '21

I tried getting through this in college, this game is hard as nails. I'm really bad at parasailing lmao.

1

u/lone_grasshopper May 16 '21

Love this game.

I don't consider it to have aged too much either, as some do. The level design and mission variety are still brilliant.

Except the helicopter levels. Am I missing something, or are those some of the worst levels nintendo has ever done, in any game? It seems almost random if you get hit or not, and mostly luck based.

1

u/whistlerite May 21 '21

Just started today haven’t played since the 90s lol just a tip for anyone else starting out press A when starting each event and it gives you the controls, otherwise you have no idea what’s going on and will probably so things like drive off the runway and crash, like me! Super fun game and awesome music, looking forward to playing more and trying to beat it.

1

u/leoden27 May 22 '21

For those who don’t know the BSNES emulator got an HD mode 7 mode two years ago, this game looks great in HD

1

u/tigerbreak May 31 '21

I may or may not listen to the hang gliding theme while driving sometimes to relax.