What SNES-Era videogame was in this magazine ad?

September 10, 2023 10:04 PM

I’m haunted by memories of an old magazine ad for a video game. I’d like to know what game it was. Description of my memory of the ad inside. It's a silly question, but it's been itching my brain.

The body of the ad is a sequence of four (more?) head-on pictures of a man sitting in an armchair, playing the game, with a caption beneath in which he’s commenting on how much progress he’s made.

• In the first, he’s young.
• In the second, he's somewhere in mid-life
• In the third, he’s old.
• In the final, he’s been replaced by his son (grandson?) who has just defeated the final boss and thinks his deceased ancestor would be proud.

Some stray notes:

• I believe this ad was in either a comic book or issue of GamePro
• I believe the ad was for a Super Nintendo game, though it’s possible it was also available for the Genesis.
• I believe the game was a third-quarter degree Metroidvania, possibly a combination metroidvania and platformer (more extreme than a Zelda)
• I believe the protagonist had a turban, and the entire game had an Arabian or desert theme
• I believe the final boss was some kind of evil queen. Slime queen?

That’s it! Thanks for any help with my weird problem.

posted by Going To Maine to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

I wouldn't put too much stock in the accuracy of their genre tagging ("metroidvania" turns up precious little), but maybe there's some other combination of tags on mobygames that will unearth what you're looking for.

I want to say StarTropics (which is NES) just on vibes but I have nothing to corroborate that.
posted by juv3nal at 10:27 PM on September 10, 2023

Best answer: Equinox? Here's the ad.
posted by neckro23 at 10:46 PM on September 10, 2023 [8 favorites]

Your stray notes are pointing toward Equinox, and I think that ad clinches it.
posted by wanderingmind at 10:51 PM on September 10, 2023

Response by poster: Yes! Equinox! Absolutely.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:44 PM on September 10, 2023

Best answer: Holy. It was a thousand years ago and I have no way to confirm it but I think I wrote that ad.
posted by Mchelly at 11:53 AM on September 11, 2023 [14 favorites]

I'd love to know more about that!
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 2:00 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

Oh wow, I recognize that ad! What a trip down memory lane to the era of gaming magazines.
posted by allegedly at 9:58 AM on September 12, 2023

Response by poster: Holy. It was a thousand years ago and I have no way to confirm it but I think I wrote that ad.

Dang, this is such a tease!
posted by Going To Maine at 5:31 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I worked at the advertising agency at the time as the copywriter on that account, and seeing it gave me immediate Proustian flashbacks. I do remember working on it. But it was so long ago that I’m not 100% sure another writer wasn’t also involved. For what it’s worth, I definitely wrote this one.

Thanks for the memory jog!
posted by Mchelly at 5:58 PM on September 12, 2023 [2 favorites]