Written: 11.26.06
Acquired: 9.2.06
Status: CIB
Price: $8

Hmmmm, ohhhh-kay. Definitely would not get past NoA...

[Or me.... -Ed.]

Hey there, lass. Ah, a fugly car then approaches
[HEY! -Ed.]

Obviously, the driver is clearly asking her to make him some coffee [NO! He's asking her to join him for coffee ya git -Ed.] Oh. Well, either way she's visibly hesitant. No sooner then does a ride that's more fly, as they say, pull up

The new guy also requests her company. Stuck in the middle, with offers from both gentlemen, oh what's a modern lady to do?! I can't take this drama...

Oooh! Ouch

As they say in the commercial, "No play... for Mr. Gray!"

The rejected guy, cursing his lot in life, contemplates how a better set of wheels would right all wrongs...

What do you expect this sad bloke to do now? Will he

• A. Take out his anger by vanquishing bad guys in a beat em up?

• B. Jump on cutesy animal baddies in a platformer?

• C. Work his way up the financial ladder in a sim?

• D. Push boxes around in an empty warehouse?

• E. Learn the art of ass kicking and throw fireballs in a 2D fighter?

...
...
...


If you picked "D"...

Bob, tell him what he's won!

[ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! -Bob]

GameBoy users may be familiar with this game as "Boxxle" (1989)

Super Soukoban is a mind-taxing logic game; the goal is to push boxes to cover the purple dots. You can't pull, you can only push and you can only move one box at a time. You can imagine the mess you'd create if you push a box in an ill-advised position. Thankfully, besides the option to restart a level at any point, pressing "L" rewinds the action and allow the player to go back as far as he wishes. Likewise, "R" is fast forward, in case you went too far back. This  can prove to be a God-send and was very wise on the programmers' part. Kudos

There's no time limit however there is a step limit

STAGE 1

The solution to this stage?

Get each box in that position there, where the guy is in front of. Surely you can take it from here

STAGE 2

Can you figure out the "hot spot" here?

                                    OK, here's the final hint

STAGE 3

... introduces the darkened box; this indicates the box is already resting on a purple dot. Later stages may have multiple. They can be tricky so watch it...

A quick look at some other stages...

                                                        STAGE 4

STAGE 5

                                                        STAGE 6

OH PLEASE, EVEN A FOUR-YEAR-OLD CAN SOLVE THESE...

OK wiseguy. There are a total of 300 (!) warehouses to tackle, with the option of jumping to any one at any time. A password is given each time you clear a level. Of course, the first handful eases you in, before becoming gradually harder til DAMN! Notice as the puzzles get more complex, everything is properly reduced in size...

A look at some of the later stages then...

STAGE 47

                               STAGE 88

STAGE 147

                             STAGE 188








                                                                                 GOOD GRIEF!!!!!!!

STAGE 234

                             STAGE 277









                                                                                     SHEESH!!!

See! They become absolute conundrums in no time

In fact, rumor has it that launch day buyers TO THIS DAY are still stuck on level 289!!

[Oh? Where did you hear that? -Ed.]

Er, moving on...

To cap it off, there's also a Level Edit option and a radical 2-player mode to see who can finish first. There's EVEN a choice of 10 characters to select from

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Sokoban (note the missing "u") loosely translates to "warehouse keeper," and has been around since the early 80's, pioneered by one, Hiroyuki Imabayashi. Its easy-to-play-but-difficult-to-solve gameplay is about as pure as it can get. It's a brilliant game that any one, even non-gamers, can really enjoy. The 2 player mode is nice, but it's really the 300 puzzles that will last players a lifetime

To borrow a phrase I used to describe Keeper and Sutte Hakkun, Super Soukoban is really a can't-miss for those who enjoy staring contemplatively at the screen until inspiration breaks through with a resolute A-HA!

This is, sadly, an underrated SFC gem. It's freaking ace