The Super Nintendo truly marked a golden age for Nintendo and home console gaming overall as the company reaffirmed its leading position in the industry. Many of Nintendo’s established franchises were revamped with the console’s advanced hardware, while the platform received an abundance of third-party titles. Many video games that defined 16-bit gaming were released for the SNES, demonstrating what the console’s technical capabilities while providing fans with a fun time.
Fortunately, not only are many Super Nintendo games available to play legally on platforms like Nintendo Switch Online, but many are still readily enjoyable all these years later. From fighting games and platformers to RPGs and shoot’em-ups, the SNES had it all. We’re highlighting our personal favorite games from throughout Super Nintendo history that continue to endure decades later and maintain their overall fun factor.
Here are five classic SNES games that still hold up today, including for fans who didn’t grow up with the console.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
For as prolific of a franchise as it is, “The Legend of Zelda” only released one official game for the Super Nintendo during the console’s lifetime. 1991’s “A Link to the Past” offered its own take on the classic tale of Link and Princess Zelda battling the evil Ganon for the fate of Hyrule. This quest involves Link traveling between the version of Hyrule that he knows and its dark parallel world counterpart with its own sinister perils. Ditching the side-scrolling perspective present in “Zelda II: The Adventure of Link,” “A Link to the Past” returns to a top-down perspective.
“A Link to the Past” cemented its perspective as the way to go for non-3D “Zelda” games moving forward, which it maintained for its handheld games for over a decade. But beyond its influence, the game has one of the most robust color palettes on the Super Nintendo, and its overworld map feels truly epic and expansive. This, along with its intuitive controls, makes it feel like a particularly timeless entry in the series that we keep coming back to 35 years later. “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” is ranked among the best “Zelda” games and still stands as a high point for the series.
Street Fighter II Turbo
“Street Fighter II: The World Warrior” was a bonafide phenomenon when it debuted in arcades in 1991 and its Super Nintendo port the following year retained much of its charm. In between all the ’90s games that tried to copy “Street Fighter,” Capcom updated its hit fighting game both in arcades and home versions. The first update to come to the Super Nintendo was 1993’s “Street Fighter II Turbo,” which was originally released in arcades as “Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting.” The title significantly ramped up the in-game speed while adding new moves for several characters and giving players the option for mirror matches and to play as the boss characters.
Some fans may prefer the subsequent SNES update, 1994’s “Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers” with its artistic redesign and expanded roster. But we’re including “Street Fighter II Turbo” here instead because of its gameplay speed, which “The New Challengers” did not replicate. That alacrity in combat feels closer to modern fighting games than other versions of “Street Fighter II” available on the Super Nintendo. The definitive “Street Fighter” title for the SNES, “Street Fighter II Turbo” still feels great when playing it over 30 years later.
Super Metroid
If “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” is open and expansive, “Super Metroid” is dark and claustrophobic, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. The 1994 game opens with the dreaded Space Pirates attacking a science facility and stealing a monstrous Metroid which was under study. Bounty hunter Samus Aran pursues them to the remote planet Zebes, exploring the Space Pirates’ subterranean base and discovering it to be infested with Metroids. As with prior games, Samus acquires progressively more powerful gear that helps her venture deeper into the base and defeat its increasingly formidable enemies.
“Super Metroid” is one of those sci-fi games that everyone needs to play at least once, and it’s the best of the series’ side-scrolling installments. The game cements the series as the leader in the genre term that it helped coin, Metroidvanias, while taking advantage of the Super Nintendo hardware. This is a darker and more intense experience than prior “Metroid” games, really showing what the franchise was capable of tonally. One of the best video games of all time, let alone on the SNES, “Super Metroid” is a full-on sci-fi thrill ride.
Killer Instinct (1994)
While “Street Fighter” and “Mortal Kombat” dominated the fighting game space, there were titles in the genre that wowed ’90s gamers. This includes 1994’s “Killer Instinct,” which was ported from arcades to the Super Nintendo the following year, maintaining much of its quality. Using pre-rendered graphics as it had with “Donkey Kong Country,” Rare’s fighting game looked visually more impressive than any other genre title at the time. Fortunately, the game felt and sounded as great as it looked, even in its home version, with its eclectic roster of warriors duking it out.
“Killer Instinct” is one of the best fighting games of the ’90s, overshadowed by its more prolific counterparts that continued to churn out regular titles years later. The game still packs a punch and its hard-hitting combat feels exciting, even as fighting games as a whole became more technically advanced in their presentation. A big part of that is it’s relatively easy to pick up and play while boasting smoother animation and faster speed than many of its contemporaries. Rare would have a prolific partnership with Nintendo before it went to Microsoft, and “Killer Instinct” is a highlight of that collaboration.
Chrono Trigger
In addition to the other genres that we covered, the Super Nintendo also received quite a few RPGs that aged surprisingly well, from “Secret of Mana” to “Super Mario RPG.” The company behind many of these titles was Square, before it went on to become Square Enix in 2003. Square’s most enduring game for the Super Nintendo is “Chrono Trigger,” released for the console in 1995. The game follows time-traveling hero Crono recruit allies from across history to prevent a prophesied apocalypse from coming to pass.
Over 30 years later, “Chrono Trigger” is one of those video games from the 1990s that aged flawlessly, regardless of genre or platform. The pixel designs are among the best that Square ever programmed in the ’90s and its combat system feels as intuitive as ever. This is buoyed by a beautiful soundtrack and unbeatable scope, including multiple endings, seven time periods to explore, and seven playable characters in all. Easily one of the greatest RPGs ever made, “Chrono Trigger” is a masterpiece of the genre and Super Nintendo library.
