Your favorite super nintendo games

[Gunstar Green]

Only two Madden 93's? Need's more.

[o.pwuaioc]

Sega-16 had a similar topic bumped lately, and I spent too much thinking about this, but I guess I ought to. FWIW, there are a dozen highly rated games on the system I have not beaten (or even gotten to an advanced level of, or played at all), so this list might change if I ever snap up the dozen or so remaining games I want.

At one entry per series:

Castle of Illusion
Contra: Hard Corps
Ghouls n Ghosts
Road Rash II
Rocket Knight Adventures
Shinobi III
Sonic 3
Streets of Rage 2
Thunder Force IV
Twinkle Tale

Serious contenders that sometimes make the list: Castlevania: Bloodlines, Eliminate Down, Gleylancer

[pook99]

@prfnsl_gamer: I didn't even know Ms. Pac Man was on genesis, are there any features unique to the genesis version or is it just a very solid port

@president leever: some great picks there, I was very on the fence of langrisser 1 vs langrisser 2. I have played both of them to death, warsong was my first ever srpg and it set the bar extremely high, I didnt play the sequel until about 10 years later and I fell in love with that as well. I chose the original over the sequel because of what it means to me, in fact when I foolishly sold my collection years ago, the only genesis game I kept was warsong. I just bought langrisser 1 and 2 on switch so I definitely want to play them soon and see what I prefer.

Also, great mention of Ristar, that is a really fun game.

@mobiusclimber: alisia dragoon is a very cool game, I've been meaning to replay that forever. We can get into your comments on the dreamcast when the thread eventually gets there, I am of the opinion (which is unpopular here) that the dreamcast is a terrible system and its awfulness rightfully led to the downfall of sega. We can unpack that a bit more at a later point in the thread though, for now lets just enjoy gushing over the genesis for a bit.

@notluke: Earthworm Jim is an amazing game, I associate it more with SNES than I do genesis because thats what I had growing up, I have never played the genesis version but everything I have ever heard about it indicates that it is the superior version

@opwuaioc: nice list, lots of overlap with mine, Rocket knight adventures is a great game which is getting a lot of deserved love on this thread, I think the whole series is pretty solid but the genesis version is definitely tops

[pook99]

Time to move on to, what is possibly the most over rated system of all time: The Super Nintendo.

FIrst, when I say over rated, I am not bashing the SNES, I love the SNES, it has tons of amazing titles, and has some of the greatest games of all time in its library. As much as I love the system, I do not think it is the greatest system of all time, but it definitely is the system that people consistently say is the greatest of all time. There is a lot to love here, but I think video games have evolved so much since its inception that it is hard for me to call a system with no 3d marios, 3d beat em ups, stealth games, FPS, thrid person shooters, and so much more, the GOAT. None of that changes the fact that this is an excellent system with some stellar games and true masterpieces. So in no particualr order here are my top 10 SNES games:

actraiser
castlevania 4
contra 3
earthworm jim
final fantasy 3
klller instinct
Return of the Double Dragon (super famicom)
Super ghouls n ghosts
Super mario world
tmnt 4
super punch out

OK, thats 11, but I really couldn't narrow it down more than that.

Super Mario World, Castlevania 4, TMNT 4, and Final Fantasy 3 are all master class levels of game design. We have here, the greatest 2d mario, 2d castlevania, one of the best beat em ups of all time, and quite possibly, the greatest RPG ever made. It is titles like these which give the SNES the reputation it has.

Super Ghouls n Ghosts is so good, the methodical double jumping really sets it apart from other platformers and the difficulty is probably the hardest in the series which says quite a bit

Actraiser is a game that is so unique and is a relic of a time when game designers were not afraid to experiment, amazing graphics, great hack n slash platforming, a touching story, a fun sim city type game, and one of the greatest soundtracks in gaming history make actraiser a truly unforgettable experience.

Contra 3 is amazing, tough, visually impressive, and some absolutely ridiculous set pieces make this a truly stand out experience.

Killer instinct is a game that defined my teenage years, one of the most interesting fighting games ever created, I spend countless hours(and very few tokens because I was a beast) on playing this game in the arcades and even more hours at sleepovers where we would play this until the sun came up. It definitely is tied with the street fighter series, but I will find room for that in another system.

Super Punch out is a great entry in one of my all time favorite franchises, this is a game that I used to speedrun before I knew what speedrunning was, and although it has no chance of making it to my all time favorites list because it is completely overshadowed by the wii version, it definitely deserves a spot here.

What are your favorite SNES games?

[o.pwuaioc]

The Super Nintendo is 2nd...next to the NES. Genesis is a close 3rd. Nothing else comes close.

My top 9 has been the same for 20 years, as evidenced by this post in 2011:

Contra III
Donkey Kong Country
Final Fantasy IV
Link to the Past
Mega Man X
Secret of Mana
Super Castlevania IV
Super Mario World
Super Metroid

The tenth has always been difficult for me. So many great games to choose from, but if I had to pick a short list, I'd probably have to choose between Gradius III and Sonic Wings. I can freely admit the latter is the better game, but I do have a soft spot for the former.

[o.pwuaioc]

What's so special about Super Bomberman 5 over the previous 4?

[AznKhmerBoi]

My top games that I owned as kid.

1- super mario world
2- mortal kombat 2
3- super street fighter 2 turbo
4- killer instinct
5- donkey kong 1 and 2
6-final fight 2
7-mario paint

[PartridgeSenpai]

What's so special about Super Bomberman 5 over the previous 4?

Better level selection, rules customization and aesthetics IIRC, it's been a while.

+1

Super Bomberman 5 is excellent! My favorite Bomberman game, easily~.

[marurun]

The SNES has never been my favorite console, not by a stretch, but it definitely has some of my favorite games. My list, unranked, would probably be:

1. Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past - My favorite 2D Zelda game, but only just (I'm one of those weirdos who loves Zelda 2). A very nice story-driven expansion to the original Zelda model.
2. Super Mario World - Not my favorite 2D Mario game, but still a very good one. Has some interesting secrets and replay value earlier Mario games didn't.
3. Actraiser - The platforming isn't super-great, and the sim sections aren't super-deep, but the game is very gestalt, and the music makes me swoon.
4. Cybernator - The SNES was blessed with a couple good mech games, but this one if my favorite. It's a pretty straight-forward platformer that looks and sounds good and is a pretty tight experience all around.
5. Super Metroid - I'm not sure there's much I need to say about this. It's an incredible expansion of all the ideas of the original Metroid.
6. U.N. Squadron - The SNES was not a shooter powerhouse (I've heard some make a case to the contrary), but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a few strong shooters. This is one of my faves. It's such a unique consolized take on an arcade shooter. It's almost a shooter RPG.
7. Mega Man X - I'm notoriously NOT a fan of the cheap guitar samples in the soundtrack, but I love the gameplay. X is a challenging game but feels like it gives you all the tools you need if you just hang in there. And if you explore and loop back for all the extra life expansions and equipment you can take some of the sting out of the difficulty.
8. Super Castlevania IV - Another "not my favorite in the series" title that is still awesome and memorable. There are a lot of valid gripes against this game, but the music is fantastic and atmospheric in a way that's quite distinct from other Castlevania titles, and I think this game nails spooky better than any of the other titles in the series throughout the game, except perhaps for a few select moments in Castlevania III.
9. Earth Defense Force/Super EDF - Some will find this an odd pick, but this was one of my earlier SNES experiences and is a pretty solid port of an arcade title that does some interesting things other arcade shooters of the time did not. You could pick your weapon at the beginning of each level and power up your weapon (increasing shot power and option behavior patterns) by killing enemies to gain experience. It was an early indication that the SNES could capture the arcade experience if devs were properly inclined. I also have an odd fondness for the soundtrack.
10. TMNT 4: Turtles in Time - It was a close call between this and Contra 3, but the overhead Mode 7 bits in Contra 3 annoy me, and Turtles did the 2-player beat-em-up thing where Final Fight railed. The music is cool, the graphics are great, and it translates the arcade experience well, and that's a good experience to book.
11. Honorable Mention: Super Mario All-Stars - It is hard to include this as a distinct SNES game since these remakes have had other incarnations on other platforms, but I really think this collection was the best way at the time for folks to relive, or enjoy for the first time, the NES classic Mario games without having to have a classic NES.

[Ack]

The Super Nintendo does have some FPS games... Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, Super Noah's Ark, and Faceball 2000 are all available options. There are also some interesting top down shooters like The Chaos Engine, Total Recall, and Super Smash TV, to name a few, and light gun games and rail shooters for it such as Shien's Revenge and Terminator 2: Judgement Day provide more options if you want to blow something away. Or you could go the Wild Guns route if that is more your style.