Dennis - Super Nintendo - SNES

Dennis for Super Nintendo SNES

Dennis for Super Nintendo SNES is a platformer in which you help young Dennis Mitchell recover a stolen coin collection. Switchblade Sam has taken Mr Wilson's valuables. Dennis's friends Joey and Margaret have also disappeared. You search houses, the park, a boiler room, the sewer and the woods. The large coins are worth more than points: you must collect them to leave an area and continue the pursuit.

Dennis runs, jumps, climbs ropes and crawls through narrow passages. He starts with a water pistol and can find a slingshot and a peashooter in Wilson's house. These weapons have different trajectories and ranges, and not every enemy responds to the same one. The shoulder buttons let you scroll the screen to inspect dangers ahead. Sweets replenish the courage meter, while extra lives give you more chances to get through a difficult section.

At times, Dennis's dog Ruff pulls him in a wagon that lets you reach high platforms. Bosses, including a large fish and eventually Switchblade Sam, require well-aimed attacks between dodges. You play alone with one standard controller. Easy has seventeen gameplay sections; Hard adds six more and lets you withstand fewer hits. Before starting, you can choose from one to nine starting lives. The original SNES cartridge has no saving or passwords for resuming in a later play session.

Region and language

Our Super Nintendo SNES games are PAL editions, unless stated otherwise. This product contains a loose cartridge for the European market. A box is only included if explicitly stated in the product details. We note any different region in the product details. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.

Manual

With Dennis for Super Nintendo SNES, you receive a loose cartridge. A box and manual are not included unless we explicitly state otherwise in the product details. This is the standard way we supply this copy.

The history of Dennis

Ocean released Dennis for Super Nintendo in 1993. The game ties in with the feature film Dennis the Menace from the same year, starring Hank Ketcham's American comic-strip character. In Europe, the SNES release appeared under the shorter name Dennis. The young protagonist, his neighbour Wilson and Switchblade Sam provide the link with the film, but the player gets a separate journey through extensive platform areas rather than a direct recreation of every scene.

Ocean developed the SNES version itself. The credits name Andrew Deakin for programming, Simon Butler for sprites and Keith Tinman for music and sound effects. Ivan Horn and John Lomax worked on backgrounds and maps. Their work gives ordinary places, such as a house or park, multiple floors, hidden passages and large changes in height. Collecting stolen coins connects these areas to the story and gives you a reason to search beyond the shortest route.

The difference between Easy and Hard goes beyond how much damage Dennis can withstand: the harder choice also includes six additional gameplay sections. The length of the original journey therefore depends partly on the initial setting. Computer releases also appeared under the Dennis name alongside the SNES game, but this cartridge uses its own console controls and levels. The slingshot, peashooter and help from Ruff turn Dennis's mischief into concrete actions while jumping and searching.

Similar games for Super Nintendo SNES

Like Dennis, The Addams Family for Super Nintendo SNES has you search a film world for missing people. From a central hall, Gomez chooses which wing of the mansion to explore. Dennis must recover large coins in successive areas before he can move on. Both reward examining seemingly ordinary walls and passages, but family members are Gomez's main milestones, while Dennis also has to finish collecting his coins each time.

Disney's Aladdin on Super Nintendo SNES also combines a young film hero with jumping, collecting and dodging grown-up opponents. Aladdin uses apples and acrobatic jumps onto enemies; Dennis switches between a water pistol, slingshot and peashooter. In Aladdin, you reach the end of a route with beams and ledges. Dennis more often has you search an area further, because missing large coins prevent progress even when you have already found the exit.

Super Mario World for Super Nintendo SNES shares coin hunting and safe jumps past enemies with Dennis. Mario's ordinary coins mainly provide extra lives; Dennis needs large stolen coins to progress. Mario also gains different abilities through power-ups and Yoshi. Dennis keeps his own tools and can scroll the screen in advance to inspect dangers, making knowledge of the route and choosing a weapon more important.

Donkey Kong Country on Super Nintendo SNES also uses collecting as the reason for a long platform adventure: the Kongs are searching for their stolen bananas. Donkey and Diddy take over from one another and can use barrels as weapons. Dennis travels alone, with occasional help from Ruff and his wagon. Collecting bananas is usually not required for the Kongs to leave a normal level; Dennis, in contrast, must find the required large coins before an area is complete.

Bram Stoker's Dracula for Super Nintendo SNES is another film-based platformer in which you must inspect dangers before jumping or attacking. Harker fights monsters with a weapon while hunting Dracula. Dennis uses toy-like weapons against animals and troublesome characters, with a coin hunt as an additional task. Dracula's creepy scenes mainly require well-timed combat; in Dennis, thoroughly searching an area much more often determines when you can move on.