Super Adventures 'Next Game' Challenge

This week on Super Adventures, no one was able to identify what game's coming up next from the tiny cropped clue at the bottom of the last article, and that almost never happens. Someone always seems to figure out what it is and I don't know how you do it.

I mean look at this microscopic image. How did anyone identify the game from this? I mean I know what it is, it's from Mortal Kombat, but I have a massive unfair advantage seeing as I'm the one who played the games, took the screenshots and made the clues. Then again, there are about 1300 games on the site right now and it's been ten years since I played some of them, so maybe it won't be quite so easy for me to go back to the older clues and work out what game they're hinting at.

You know what? I'm going to put the next game on hold for a bit, seeing as no one even knows what it is, and I'm going to see how many of these tiny pictures I can get myself. Just to make it trickier I'm replacing the filenames with random numbers so there will be no clues for me there. In fact, it's probably going to take me a bit of work to look up what the games are after I'm done guessing. But I once I find the correct answers I'll go back through and hide them underneath each clue, to be revealed with a click. I'll also hide my guesses in spoiler text, so you can play along yourself and see how well you do.

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Man, I have no bloody clue what this first game could be. Something about the art makes me think of Noctropolis, he'd be right at home in a point-and-click adventure, but I don't remember seeing him. My second choice would be I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, though I dunno where he'd be from in that either. All I know for sure is that he's not to be trusted.

Alright, that's my final guess: IHNMaIMS.

Click to reveal the answer.

I was right, this image is from PC point-and-click adventure game I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream! This is a great start; I've only done one picture and I've already got a 100% perfect record.

That's Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers on the NES! I think. Or maybe it's Tom and Jerry. Either way, those colours could only be from a NES game. Unless I'm wrong.

Final answer, Chip 'n' Dale.


Click to reveal the answer.

Hey I was right, that really is a tiny piece of Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers! I couldn't actually picture where it was from in the game, I just had a feeling. Maybe because it uses the same colours as the hero sprite.

I am 300% certain that this is the jukebox at the start of the original 2006 Prey. There's no way it's any other game.


Click to reveal the answer.

I'm glad it actually was from Prey (2006), or else I would've looked really dumb.

If this isn't from PC action game Messiah then I have no clue whatsoever. It's got a PlayStation-era vibe to it, but those look like higher resolution PC graphics to me.


Click to reveal the answer.

It's Messiah! Man, I haven't missed so far. This means I'm under even more pressure to get the next one right as I want to keep this streak going.

Damn, I can almost remember this. Is it Mr Blobby? Probably not. But it's got to be a 16-bit game from the early 90s and only a European developer would pixel a burger that looks this metallic. Is it Oscar maybe? Trolls?

Wait, I think might be from a boss battle in something. Would it be cheating to check the game list to see what my options are? Oh fine, I give up. All I can say is that it's not Ronald's Treasureland Adventure... unless it is.


Click to reveal the answer.

Oh. It actually is Mr Blobby. Well now I feel like a complete idiot for not going with that as my answer.

Current score: 4 right, 1 wrong.

C'mon, how the hell is anyone supposed to get this? It's clearly a sign on some toilets but otherwise I have no idea. Best guess: J.J. & Jeff on the PC Engine, because if any game's going to have toilets in it, it's that.


Click to reveal the answer.

Nailed it. The game is weird PC Engine platformer J.J. & Jeff.

I'm going to guess this is from Frost Byte, just because it looks rubbish enough to be an '80s Amiga game and I can see a bit of ice on the right.


Click to reveal the answer.

It's Frost Byte! Man, I'm so good at identifying these games that I wrote about from the clues that I left. Though somehow I get the feeling someone's going to get more of these right than me by the end.

Some Amiga shoot 'em up maybe? I don't know. This is a bad clue and I was bad for using it. I'll say Agony just so I have a chance of getting it right.


Click to reveal the answer.

It wasn't Agony, but I got the right system at least. This is Unreal (the Amiga game, not the PC first-person shooter). I'm blaming my past self for this one as it seems like he resized it and cut out the foreground, so it's not actually what you see in the game.

A Dracula game maybe? Like Nosferatu? It's definitely 16-bit era, judging by the limited colours, maybe even a handheld game. I don't know, that's all I've got.


Click to reveal the answer.

It's Genesis/Mega Drive platformer Gargoyles! I thought it was a vampire but it's a gargoyle. In my defence, my past self cropped the wings and tail.

Damn, nothing's jumping to mind at all. It looks fairly modern though, clearly not from the '90s this time. Hang on, is this from Wasteland 2? I'm not sure where in Wasteland 2 it could be from, as the game's a kind of isometric tactical RPG, but it's giving me that feeling.


Click to reveal the answer.

Whoa, it really was from Wasteland 2. I would've never guessed it was a character portrait though.

Hey, this one's got different looking 'NEXT GAME' text at the bottom. What's up with that?

This looks like it's from a GBA game I reckon, but I can't remember playing anything with little dudes like this in. Wait, I've figured it out! It's from Genocide 2. Those things either side of the image are the legs of the mech you pilot. I'm really confident about this one.


Click to reveal the answer.

I was right, it's from Genocide 2: Master of the Dark Communion.

Also, I looked up why the 'NEXT GAME' text looks different and it's because this was the very first clue image I ever made.

This has to be from PC adventure game Jack Orlando. I remember getting into a fist-fight after trying to steal a guy's tire iron from off his car. (I lost.)


Click to reveal the answer.

Yeah, it's from Jack Orlando: A Cinematic Adventure - Director's Cut. I like how the guy in the window on the left is just not bothered by what's happening outside his kitchen. He must see so many detectives getting beaten to death out there.

Wow, I haven't got the faintest idea about this one. Is that Max from Sam & Max locked up back there? Oh, wait, no, I've got it, this is from Tales from Monkey Island! I can see the top of Guybrush's hair.


Click to reveal the answer.

It really was from Tales from Monkey Island. I guess this means I can't accuse the game of not being memorable.

My guess is PC platformer Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit. It's clearly an indie game from the last decade or so, and that seems like the kind of thing that would have a floppy disk for its save icon.


Click to reveal the answer.

It's Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, another win for me. I've lost count of how many I've gotten right so far, but it feels like I'm winning more often than I'm failing. Which is very different to how I do in the games themselves.

This looks very Castlevania, but I'm not sure that it is. I think it might actually be a PC Engine game. Nice graphics though, whatever it is.


Click to reveal the answer.

It's from the intro to PC Engine brawler Renny Blaster. I basically gave away the whole image in the clue this time and I still couldn't get it.

Is it a pig, is it a train... maybe, I have no idea. My guess is that it's from a SNES game and I'm leaning towards Final Fantasy. It has very Final Fantasy VI colours. No wait, I'm guessing it's from Sparkster. Or Rocket Knight. Whichever one I played.


Click to reveal the answer.

The answer is Rocket Knight Adventures. I'm going to give myself this one even if I didn't know the full title, because I clearly knew what game it's from.

Well it's got to be a Game Boy game and I haven't written about all that many of them, so that really narrows it down. I can't remember what it could be though, and I'm not going to cheat by looking at the game list. I'll just pick a random name and say... Adventures of Star Saver.


Click to reveal the answer.

It actually was Adventures of Star Saver! I can live with that result.

Did I play this? If I did it's not something that's leaping to mind. It looks fairly bright and happy, so maybe it's something that was aimed at kids. It seems fairly modern as well perhaps. Squirt's Adventure, that's what I reckon it is.


Click to reveal the answer.

It was Long Live the Queen. In my defence, I didn't play this game myself. The screenshot was taken by guest poster Jihaus.

That looks like the map of an RTS maybe. I'm going to say Hostile Waters, because you atomise a lot of scrap in that. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm right about this.


Click to reveal the answer.

Oh damn, it's from AquaNox? I'm genuinely surprised that I was wrong about it being Hostile Waters, I was so sure!

In my defence, they both came out in the same year for the same system.

This guy has to be from PC point-and-click adventure game Dropsy! Probably.


Click to reveal the answer.

Yeah, it was obviously indie point-and-click adventure Dropsy. I never forget a clown.

What game has bus stops in it? My first thoughts were that it could be a Saints Row or Grand Theft Auto game, but now I'm leaning towards it being tactical zombie apocalypse simulator Breach & Clear: Deadline.


Click to reveal the answer.

Yeah, the game was Breach & Clear: Deadline. Probably not an easy game to identify unless you've played it yourself... but I have, so it was pretty easy.

Wow, my past self really wasn't making this easy on people. I can't even make out what that's supposed to be. I can kind of make out the numbers '01' on the bottom left.

OH! I've got it, I've figured it out. It's Mass Effect 2, I'm certain of it. Don't even bother checking the answer, it's unnecessary, I'm right about this. Also don't click if you're worried about spoilers.


Click to reveal the answer.

It's from Mass Effect 2, just like I said. I've seen this cutscene so many times, because you have to sit through the whole damn intro every time you make a new character. It's not good game design, never do that!

That's a nice looking lion, strong eyebrows. I'm going to say this is a 16-bit Japanese console game, but that's all I've got. Is it Adventure of Little Ralph on the PlayStation perhaps?


Click to reveal the answer.

I was way off, it's PC Engine platformer NHK Okāsan to Issho: Niko Niko Pun. The game is ridiculously easy to play through but pretty difficult to identify it seems.

I think I was trying to be tricky with this image and the game's actually farming simulator Stardew Valley.


Click to reveal the answer.

Yeah, this is from the intro to Stardew Valley.

Is that... a dog? Why is the image quality so bad? It looks like I took a photograph of a JPEG and then saved it as an even worse JPEG. I can at least tell that it's not a high polygon puppy, so I feel like the game has to be fairly old. Nothing's jumping to mind though!


Click to reveal the answer.

It's from extremely well-known and beloved action-adventure The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, on the N64! So congrats to all the people reading this who were able to guess it correctly.

... what?

It'd definitely make it easier to guess the game if I had any idea at all what I'm looking at. Is that like a moon or something? How is anyone supposed to have any chance here? Wait, I think this is Max Payne 3! The game loved distorting its visuals like this.

My final answer is Max Payne 3.


Click to reveal the answer.

Add another point to my score because it was Rockstar's third-person shooter sequel Max Payne 3.

That's a symbol of a dragon, so I'm thinking that this must be from an RPG, probably one made in the West, released in the last decade or so, with 3D graphics. I don't think it's from any of the Elder Scrolls or Dragon Age games though, so what does that leave? Sword Coast Legends?


Click to reveal the answer.

The game was Dark Messiah: Might and Magic, so I was right about it being an RPG, kind of. It took me ages to find the logo in my screenshots though. There it is, on the crates on the right.

This looks cool whatever it is. It's got to be from a larger image of creepy figures but my memory's not being forthcoming. Something like Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain would be my first guess, except I never played that game. Soul Reaver maybe?


Click to reveal the answer.

It really is from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. By the way, if you have a statue or carved relief and it starts doing this, make sure to see an exorcist.

It's a generic gruff space marine. My guess is Incoming Forces... or maybe Red Faction 2? By the look of those painted-on eyes it's got to be from somewhere between 2002-2003 and it's probably on the PC or PS2.


Click to reveal the answer.

It's from Incoming Forces. I should've quit guessing while I was ahead, because only my final answer counts, and it wasn't that.

Is that Mike Thorton in a beard from Alpha Protocol? It's got to be.


Click to reveal the answer.

It was not Mike Thorton from Alpha Protocol. This is actually Medal of Honor (2010), though this particular screenshot didn't make it to my final article.

A licence plate huh? Looks British. It also looks kind of old and a bit damaged. I'm going to guess it's from PlayStation game 007 Racing.


Click to reveal the answer.

I got the right car and the right franchise, but the wrong game. It's from 2010 third-person shooter James Bond 007: Blood Stone.

The art isn't using many colours and the style feels Japanese to me, but I'm not sure what system it's from. I definitely don't know what the game is. My best guess is noir-looking brawler Renny Blaster.


Click to reveal the answer.

It's Vice: Project Doom on the NES, so I was way off. In my defence, it looks unusually good for an 8-bit game.

I feel like I should know what this is, but I don't. I'll say Castle of Illusion just to put a name down.


Click to reveal the answer.

Huh, it's from Spanky's Quest? I thought I played this game way back, before I started doing 'NEXT GAME' clues. I guess not!

This is obviously from my nightmares. But when I think weirdness like this, I think Zeno Clash, or whatever the game's called. It's the one where you punch people in first-person. I wouldn't put money on it, but that's going to be my answer.


Click to reveal the answer.

I was right, it was Zeno Clash. Nice work, me.

And I'll end on an easy one just so I can be sure I've scored at least one point. It's Super Mario Bros. on the NES, obviously. (I really hope it actually is Super Mario Bros. and I didn't just throw away my free point).


Click to reveal the answer.

Yay, I got Super Mario Bros. right! Even though the colours were wrong in that picture, just to confuse me.

The clue image is actually the box art, which shows a very ginger Mario leaping into a fire pit and slamming into a detailed blue brick wall at full speed. It's close, but it doesn't entirely resemble what I saw on screen when playing. Well, aside from the part where Mario slips into lava and smashes his brains against a wall on the way down, that did happen a few times. But when I did it he was wearing beige pants, not white.

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The results are in and it turns out that I got 21 out of 35 right in the end, which works out to be 60%. Is that a good score? Did I pass the test?

I think this at least proves I have retained some memory of all these games I've been playing, which is good because I like remembering games. Well, most games... there are some that I could do with bleaching from my mind. Oh no, I just remembered Top Banana! And Dangerous Streets! Quick, where's a wall for me to slam my head into?

How about you, how many games did you identify correctly? You don't have to count them up, just make an estimate.

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Here's a second chance to guess what the next game is going to be, though to be honest I don't really expect anyone to get it. The game's pretty obscure; only sold a few thousand copies despite its massive budget

Even if you don't want to guess you should leave a comment if you feel like it! You could be the very first person to notice that I made a brand new logo for the site last week.