For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Tropicon's SOS (Super NES) maps.
On the evening of September 13, 1921, a passenger ship called "The Lady Crithania" capsizes during a storm off the coast of England. Among the 2300 people on board are the four playable characters of this adventure: architect Capris Wisher, counselor Redwin Gardner, Dr. Jeffrey Howell, and crewman Luke Haines. After the capsize, they have one hour to escape the upside-down and labyrinthine ship.
Inspired by the book and film, "The Poseidon Adventure", the game even presents itself as "a Syuji Yoshida film" in its opening credits. Known in Japan as "Septentrion" and not to be confused with another Super NES game called "S.O.S: Sink Or Swim", SOS certainly is quite different than most Super NES games with its dire premise, its serious tone, and its time limit. It is certainly daunting, with each injury costing you five minutes, and the challenge of having to save many others along the way. The four characters each have a different story, and their endings are not only dependent on the number of passengers they save, but if that includes people that are close to them (such as Capris's stepsister, Amy or Dr. Howell's wife, Adela).
Tropicon has mapped The Lady Crithania thoroughly in three different forms. There's a version where the ship is upright at the start (which is pretty impressive, considering that it doesn't stay that way for long) and two capsized versions, both marked and unmarked. With only sixty minutes to make your way out, these maps will certainly be of help when planning a route and deciding who to save.
So to recognize the effort put into mapping this underrated survival adventure, Tropicon's SOS (Super NES) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for September 2025.
