The SNES version of this game is one upon whose hill I will gladly lay down my life defending. The only aspects of Ys III: Wanderers From Ys that I disliked was the corny ending and the SNES rendition of the song 'Tearful Twilight'. I loved everything else about this game - the graphics, the fantastic music (I said it, and I'm glad I said it), the story & characters, the absolutely perfect controls, etc. I've played every version of Ys III and, prior to the complete remake (Ys: The Oath in Felghana), the SNES version is the one I played and loved the most.
The Oath in Felghana completely obliterates this game in every way imaginable, though.
I do, however, find the switch-up with the final boss, Galbalan, interesting. In Ys III you have to find a way through an island maze, climb a big-ass tower, take a mystical elevator up higher, and from there Galbalan descends from the sky like a God, even though it's described in-game as a
demon. In Oath, you have to do much the same except you're
descending deeper and deeper into the island to face Galbalan, who is worshipped by some in-game as a
God. Even though, either way, it was merely a corrupted self-sentient creation of man and
not a divine/demonic being.
I will be the first to admit that Spider-Man and the X-MEN in Arcade's Revenge was
not a great game. Besides that LJN logo, it was made by...
Software Creations. The
concept of the game (grab 4 random X-Men and chuck them into murder-traps themed around their own person fears) was fantastic. The mjusic is legendary. And this is the first game to get controlling Spider-Man
right. No other game before this not only gave Spider-Man his own web-swing button, but made its length adjustable mid-flight.
Both of these games are, to me, stupidly FUn to play. Wanderers From Ys is a pretty easy game so long as you don't try to blitz through it under-leveled (and how the world loves that one spot in the mines where enemies can't hit you but you can hit them, and they constantly respawn). Arcade's Revenge is, in turn, an Obnoxio The Clown hard game where each level is, by and large, as much a puzzle as a maze. Yet each level has their own tricks to make things easier (sheathing Wolverine's claws when destroying Mobster-in-the-Box will always drop large hearts; that one spot in Gambit's first stage that will rack-up 40-extra lives per run)