The SNES and you, 25 years of SUPER POWER!

[Exhuminator]

Well folks I meant to create this thread yesterday, but real life got in the way. Better late than never. In case you weren't aware, on 8/23/16 this little guy turned 25 years old*:



I thought it might be interesting for us all to recount our first experience with the SNES, and how it's played its part in our gaming lives. When did you first play SNES? When did you own your first SNES? What have been the most incredible SNES experiences for you? What were the most disappointing experiences? Do you still play SNES?

Let's take some time out to show our old friend the Super Nintendo Entertainment System some love. At a quarter century old, the SNES might have some grey hair and wrinkles, but it can still teach those new dogs old tricks.





*25 years since it released in the USA anyway.

[dunpeal2064]

Oh man, I have very fond memories of first experiencing the SNES. It was in fact, the first gaming console I ever owned!

My parents still comment to this day about me opening it, gripping the box (Which at the time seemed as large as I was), and hugging it, screaming all the while. I was essentially the kid in the N64 video

My system came with Super Mario World, and Super Mario All Stars. I had already spent some time with both games, but having them to myself, I really started to dig into them. World in particular fascinated me, as it felt like I could just keep going and discovering new things every time I played.

The first games I received that I hadn't played prior were Link to the Past and Mega Man X. I hadn't even requested these games be bought for me, I guess my parents looked at my GB games (Link's Awakening and Mega Man), and just made a blind buy. Those two games completely blew me away and changed everything I knew about gaming.

Another very memorable moment was my local card shop owner lending me some games. He was older, and saw that I was searching for some unique experiences. He lent me Act Raiser and Contra 3. Yet again, I found my small world of gaming completely flipped around. Having not grown up near an arcade, Contra 3 was an eye-opening experience. I played the absolute hell out of it.

The last game I got for the system, and one of my favorites, was Super Mario RPG. This game would be the gateway to RPGs for me, since I soon after discovered FF7, and climbed down the rabbit hole.

I loved the system, and still do to this day. It is responsible for my first glimpse into basically every avenue of gaming that I now love.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Easily my favorite system. Absurdly good library of games, especially on the RPG front. My favorite controller of all time. Hard to envision a better gaming experience.

[Ack]

Do I even need to say anything?

Ok, ok, I will. I'll use US release names too.

The NES was my first console, but a few years later the SNES released, and two of my friends managed to get their hands on it(a brother and sister, so same house). I remember being so surprised at how colorful Super Mario World was, how it didn't look so pixelated the way Super Mario Bros did on the NES, and how smoothly it seemed to run. The controls threw me off, because suddenly there were so many buttons though. I actually remember thinking, "Why would I need so many buttons? Two was just fine" and worrying about how complicated Super Mario World's controls were and me totally sucking at it.

I didn't actually get to own one for several more years, in fact pretty close to the end of its US lifespan, but I'd go over to my friends' house and mess around in Mario Paint or check out Mega Man X. They were some good times, but I was still pretty happy playing the likes of Mega Man 1-6 or Duck Tales on my NES.

And then 1994 hit, and I saw something that changed my life running on that grey and purple box. I saw this:



Mind. Blown.

After that I had to have one, and I had to have that game. What was it? Final Fantasy III? I forced my parents to rent the console so I could play it. When they divorced, my dad bought me a Super Nintendo as a way to apologize(he bought me a lot of stuff like that actually...). I made him rent Final Fantasy III over and over again along with the likes of Earthworm Jim, Super Castlevania, Turtles in Time, and more. Later in 1997 my Mom bought me one with Street Fighter Alpha 2 packed in, and I made friends with a couple of guys who had collected most of the SNES RPGs released in the US. I spent the next couple of years borrowing as much as they would let me, which let me try out the likes of Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Lufia II, Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, and so on. That was how I first beat both Final Fantasy III and Lufia II and made it to the final boss of Final Fantasy II.

I picked up a handful of titles over the years, such as Mega Man X, Starfox, Super Star Wars, and Killer Instinct, even found a hobby shop in the early 2000s where I snagged the likes of Samurai Shodown and Super Ninja Boy. But Final Fantasy III I finally got my hands on around Christmas of 1998. I think I received copies of Parasite Eve, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Turok 2 that Christmas. FFIII was my favorite of the bunch.

Around 2007 or so I finally decided to get serious about collecting for the SNES. I joined this site shortly after that and started pulling in whatever I could, focusing mostly on the fighting games at the time because I was really into that genre in those days. Prices have since increased heavily enough that I only slowly grab new titles, but I'm sitting on around 300 at the moment.

The SNES has been the subject of two major gaming challenges for me, collecting(and playing) both of the SNES fighting games and RPGs. I've nearly beaten all of the fighters at this point and am well over halfway with the RPGs, which I'm sure you guys who haunt that subforum are tired of hearing me talk about.

I don't know, for me the SNES has always been special, probably for both serving as one of the big hallmark experiences in gaming where I discovered something(Doom, Final Fantasy 3/6, and Resident Evil 2 are the three major titles that changed what I thought games could do). It also served as a sort of concession prize for my home life falling apart, and I used it as a means for a lot of escapism during a period where I was having trouble in school, being bullied, and struggling to deal with the collapse of my parents' marriage. Most of my happiest memories during those years were spent playing video games. I guess it's no wonder why I've stayed into them all these years and consider the SNES my favorite.

[Ziggy]

I would have to double check, but I'm pretty sure I got my first SNES for Christmas in 1992. It was the two controller Super Mario World bundle. If it was 1992, that means I was 5 years old at the time. I can remember playing video games before I got a SNES (I probably couldn't do much lol) but that was my family's first video game console.

My brother and I would often play together, and even take turns playing games that didn't have a 2-player mode by passing the controller back and forth. But we would also fight over whose turn it was to play the SNES. He would want to play one game, I would want to play another. So some years later, my parents bought me my own SNES. It wasn't a mini, but I know it was a price drop as I remember seeing commercials on TV at the time. It was a single controller and no pack in game version of the console. Damn, I wish I kept the box for that. I had a 13" color TV and my very own SNES in my bedroom. How could life possibly be any better than that?

I can probably go on and on about different stories of getting new games, but I'll just pick one. I remember this one since I mentioned how my brother and I use to fight over playing. We got Donkey Kong Country 2 for Christmas the year it came out. I wanted to play that game so bad, but I knew I would have to take turns with my brother, and he got first turn. So, we rip that game open and shove the cart in the console and fire it up. We see the splash screen and are in awe. OK, time to press start and play the game for the first time. Wait, what the hell? Start doesn't work. Press A, no B, what the fuck? MASH EVERY BUTTON! OMG WTF ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO TO START THE GAME!?!?!?! I remember my brother saying, "What do you have to put in a CODE to start the game!?" He was so frustrated that he decided to take his morning shower, that he was putting off doing being that we just got an awesome new video game. So he leaves the room and I realize that the two controllers plugged into the console are a tangled mess, as they often were. AH-HA! We were using controller 2! I pick up the other controller and press start. Fucking bliss. What a magical game, and now I have it all to myself! When my brother finished his shower and came back into the room, of course he was wondering how I managed to start the game. You were using the wrong controller, dummy! Now watch as I play the game until it's your turn! You gave up and left the room, you forfeited your turn.

[Tanooki]

I could go on and on, and I've discovered as time has marched along as much as my love for the NES has held on, I've come to realize that my high school gaming system the SNES was ultimately my favorite and I'm glad to see it has aged like a fine wine against what modern experiences we get today. A lot of it just still isn't dated given its hardware capabilities and styles of games as they meld well with the mobile market OS formats.

The day I got my SNES was the day it came out, it was no holiday, it was just another day. I had planned plotted and begged for this thing for a long time and got my mom to go to the store when it came out. I was going to have her hold the thing until Christmas. She went and picked one up at Toys R Us for me, but after she left it dawned on me I had money all over my room, and a decent amount stored up in my old wooden mailbox safe in my room. I hadn't bought much at all for NES that entire year, not much GB wise either, most of it came as b'day gifts in March. I still to date can't recall how I managed it, but somehow down to the penny I actually had saved up enough for the thing tax and all which because it hit me hard I can still remember it which is weird ($216.50 with then state tax.)

I counted it, double and triple counted it, sorted it into dollar bills of sorts, then stacks of various coins in piles of dollars. It took me awhile, but I had it all laid out on the floor, found a bag or container and shoved it all in there. When I heard the garage going up I bolted downstairs, said nothing yet, but got her to open the trunk. She was like no no, Christmas, and I was like 'HERE!' and shoved the money on her. I doubt it registered immediately, I was up the stairs and opening it up up with care. For the next two weeks straight all I did was tear up Super Mario World and got it at fully unlocked with that little star you get for it. I did nothing but eat, sleep, crap, school work, and other chores I was mostly made to do (which netted more $.) Once I was cleared out on Mario I had racked up some good funds again, went out and snapped up ActRaiser and Gradius III at the same time, and I was set for the year up until I got some more for Christmas (I recall Super Ghouls n Ghosts and Final Fight at the least.) I know I got FF2 early on too.

I still have my old games I've held onto all these years with their paperwork(manuals and maps) too but the boxes are long gone.

[prfsnl_gmr]

The SNES was released on my eleventh birthday, and I wanted it so badly. My parents, however, were unhappy that the system was not backwardly compatible with the NES, and they did not get one for me. (This is understandable in retrospect.) The Christmas after its release, a local grocery store was giving away a system as a prize, and I entered the drawing dozens of times. (Basically, while my parents shopped, I would fill out card after card and stuff it in the box for the drawing.) I didn't win, but I played the system at my friends' houses frequently during the first half of 1992. I was practically begging for a SNES as I approached my twelfth birthday, and the release of a nearly arcade perfect version of Street Fighter II in July 1992 made my obsession worse. My parents relented, and I received the system shortly after that. The pack-in game, Super Mario World, blew me away, and I quickly acquired A Link to the Past and Street Fighter II. After that, I was lost to video games forever.

Some of my favorite SNES memories:

* Falling asleep, face down on my controller, because I simply could not stop playing Super Metroid.

* Having to take a week off of Street Fighter II Championship Edition because my left thumb was bleeding.

* Renting Final Fantasy III and Secret of Mana, playing them all the way to the final boss, returning them, renting them again, discovering my save files wer gone, and playing them through again all the way to completion.

[ExedExes]

I've told my SNES story a few times, but this thread is probably the best place to leave it. This is the only launch day console I ever got outside of the Retron 5. On August 27, 1991, after showing my folks all the coverage in Nintendo Power, me and my mom went to Toys R Us to check it out. They had it running Super Mario World, and I was just blown away from the demo screen alone. Then as I went over to check out the other cool kiosks and displays the store had, she was purchasing it for me without me knowing it. When my dad came home from work that day, they had it there waiting for me. I had no freaking idea I'd be getting it that day. When you saw the oversized Bullet Bill, were you just as amazed as me? I called my friend after playing it for an hour and he too was shocked I had it.

But the story doesn't end there. 2 days later, I was at my friend's house, away from my SNES, then my folks called and told me they got the other 2 games available for it at the time, F-Zero and Pilotwings. YEAH. I couldn't stop playing F-Zero, after failing hard on the first plane mission in Pilotwings. The rest of my summer was pretty well set. I ended up beating SMW on Labor Day and wasn't nearly complete because I only found maybe 2 or 3 of the secret exits. Fortunately, the September '91 issue of NP arrived a few days later that showed all the secrets!

There was also the national Nintendo tour going on around early 1992 where they'd stop at shopping malls and set up tons of SNES systems and games. Around that time, the Super Scope was the hottest new accessory and we went to one of the largest malls in NJ to check the latest tour stop out. Someone apparently STOLE the copy of Street Fighter II that they had set up! I also got to try the Super Scope, and guess who got one from Child World that same day, the last one in stock, thanks to my awesome folks? I also got some of the promotional eyepatches they gave away that day to make aiming easier, very helpful.

Many, many happy Christmas-es to come in those few years -- Super Mario Kart in 1992, Donkey Kong Country in 1994, DKC2 in 1995, Super Mario RPG in 1996! The last 3 games here I also received the Nintendo strategy guides for at the same time!

I'm glad I got on the collection gravy train when things were affordable (in the late 90s and around Ack's time of 2007), and picked up a lot of stuff when it was cheap. I still find good stuff at the local game store, this year I finally found Super Smash TV for a decent price, that's one I wanted for a very long time.

25 years later, I still have it, not hooked up at the moment, but it has that wonderful discolored patina to it!

That's YOUR SNES History Moment!

[samsonlonghair]

Someone apparently STOLE the copy of Street Fighter II that they had set up!

My first suspect:

That lady had been stealing everything at the time.

[Sarge]

I think I've told this story before, but here goes.

I knew there was no chance as a kid that I would get an SNES for Christmas or my birthday. Well, maybe not zero, but pretty close to it. I've only gotten a console twice, once with the NES, and once with the PlayStation when it dropped to $99. This left me with hoping to luck out by finding one at a reasonable price at a yard sale or pawn shop.

Well, I had it pretty bad. Years of Nintendo Power will do that to you. One night before going yard-saling, I was quite literally praying to find an SNES on the trip. Yeah, not how you're supposed to treat God, as some gift-granting genie, but I can't say my faith was fully-formed then (or even now, but that's another matter).

So that morning, I felt horrible about having done so, and had resolved in my mind that I wouldn't find one, so I left the $100 of savings I had at home. We go, and towards the end, what do I find? A Super Nintendo. With some amazing, amazing games. Stuff like Breath of Fire, Secret of Mana and Evermore, and the holy grail...

...Final Fantasy III.

Doh! Thankfully, Mom had just enough in the bank account to cover my buying the system and one game. You can guess which one that was! $55 for it all, dutifully repaid when I got back home. I hated having to leave the other stuff behind, but that's what I get. And God clearly has a sense of humor.

Anyway, that's also the SNES that I still use today. It's got an SD2SNES in it these days, though. And it runs like a champ, all these years later.