It's a little more jarring for players these days, especially if you got into the Star Fox series in the 64-bit era. If anything less than a silky 60fps makes you violently ill, you'll want to sit this one out, but the underlying game design still shines through.
Those who were there at the beginning and are pining for the return of Fox, Peppy, and Falco — and even the ever-rubbish Slippy — will thoroughly enjoy jumping back in the cockpit of an Arwing and saving Corneria again, though. The fact that it's now available on Switch makes accepting that mission all the easier.
Harvest Moon 's brand of wholesome fun is uniquely appealing, and for the most part, it's a well-constructed, addictive simulation with huge spadefuls of charm.
The SNES edition is a superb starting point for Natsume's series, and it's still one of the stronger entries in the franchise even today. Go ahead and grab it on NSO to find out for yourself where this cosy life-sim series started off.
The game that birthed an entire genre (albeit a genre it dominates to the point where you wonder why any other company bothers making a kart racer), Super Mario Kart got so much ju st right from the starting line that it still remains surprisingly playable and accessible decades later.
There's no worrying about picking karts or wheels here; you select your character and hit the track. The split-screen layout (which is present even when racing solo) encourages a second player to pick up the pad, and it's certainly a game that is best enjoyed with a friend - or foe. The Battle mode has also stood the test of time superbly, and that iconic power-slide move still feels natural and intuitive.
The mainline games that followed may have refined the formula to the Nth degree, but despite feeling bare-bones by comparison, controls, track design, and item balance are still nigh-on perfect in this first outing. Super Mario Kart is fun distilled, and the original's narrow focus can end up being a benefit – especially if you're looking for the ideal pick-up-and-play multiplayer challenge.
It's Punch-Out!! with more colour, more character, 16-bit visuals, and the same timing-based gameplay that's made every entry in this series a pleasure to revisit.
The arcade original is also available on Switch as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives line, and Super Punch-Out!! comes as part of the Nintendo Switch Online collection, so it's easy to get your hands on these days. Which is nice, because it's up there with the finest games on the system.
F-Zero was an incredible template on which its sublime successors were modelled, and for that we shall forever be thankful.
That's not to say the original isn't a gem in its own right; it's a racing classic that feels fast and tight to this day, but its lack of multiplayer tends to put it behind its sequels, at least in our minds (a criticism that F-Zero 99 addresses).
Still, this remains a thrilling 16-bit ride and we're more than happy to fire it up again — via Nintendo Switch Online if we don't happen to have our SNES hooked up — whenever the notion takes us.
The Tetris branding was a misnomer here, a pure marketing strategy to give this wonderful puzzler a leg up in the West. Panel de Pon is a cracking puzzle game that doesn't resemble Tetris in the slightest — the blocks rise rather than fall, for a start — and if you've never played it before, you're in for a real treat.
If you've somehow misplaced your original cart (how very careless), you can check it out most easily on Switch, although you won't find Tetris Attack anywhere on the menu screen of your Nintendo Switch Online Super NES app; it's listed under its Japanese title, almost certainly due to Nintendo not wanting to pay The Tetris Company in order to use the name again.
It's so incredibly addictive that Capcom's Shinji Mikami had to ban the game while his team was developing the original Resident Evil . As recommendations go, that's not a bad one! Tetris it ain't, but it's bloody good nonetheless.
Rounding off the Super NES DKC trilogy nicely, Dixie and Kiddie's adventure is still a pleasure today.
It arguably can't quite reach the highs of the second chapter in Rare's trio of DK delights, but Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! looks better than ever and gives you some choice with a non-linear map to explore and options should you hit a roadblock on your adventure.
This is less a game and more a smorgasbord of ideas thrown at the SNES which — somewhat unexpectedly — congeals into a satisfying blend of games, sub-games, and minigames.
There are nine in total but the titular character is a versatile hero that manages to suck up these experimental bits and pieces and meld them into a whole greater than the sum of its parts. 'Cohesive' might be generous, but Kirby Super Star is thoroughly entertaining and well worth a look.
Rare's first foray into the world of DK and his cronies. Despite the visuals not wowing like they did back in 1994, the template put down in Donkey Kong Country would influence every DK title to come.
The redesigned DK looked brilliant, Dave Wise's music was incredible, and every aspect of the game demonstrated a stunning attention to detail.
While not quite as polished as you remember, DKC is still a classic that should be tracked down and played — which is much easier now that it's included in the Nintendo Switch Online Super NES library .
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (not Diddy Kong's Quest) is a beautiful, secret-filled game with a gorgeous soundtrack that helps create an atmosphere that sticks in the memory. You end up returning to this simply to enjoy your surroundings and have 'that feeling' again.
In fact, we've found that to be a feature of many Rare games and the second SNES entry in this series is a prime example. Debate will rage as to which of DKC games is best, but regardless, this is up there with the very, very best on the console.
EarthBound succeeds at not only being one of the most unique and refreshing RPG experiences ever created, but also one of the most epic and entertaining as well. Combining classic RPG gameplay elements with a heart-warming modern spin, the game somehow feels familiar yet strange all at the same time.
With a peerless visual style, soundtrack and storyline, playing EarthBound is like revisiting a vivid childhood memory of fun and adventure. You can't repeat the past, but you can certainly revisit it. Mother!
An extremely impressive package featuring the NES Super Mario Bros. games with a 16-bit lick of paint, Super Mario All-Stars was a convenient way to revisit the classics back on Super NES.
Ultimately, with the exception of Super Mario Bros. 2 — we'd say that All-Stars actually contains the 'best' version of that game — the originals arguably still offer the prime, 'canon' experience these days. (If you're playing this via Nintendo Switch Online, they're all accessible so you can easily see for yourselves.)
However, for anybody who first experienced the NES games in this package, we understand if All-Stars represents peak 2D Mario for you and offers the ultimate nostalgia trip. Everyone's a winner, however you play 'em.
Yoshi's Island is the absolute summit of not just Yoshi games, but platformer games in general, with a wonderful vision of pastel colours, majestic backdrops, and character-oozing sprites.
Honestly, it's difficult to remember any other game that matches or even comes close to the amount of detail that Yoshi's Island did, past or present. The level of charm is astronomical. Every enemy seems quite intentional. There will be moments when you refrain from killing an enemy just to watch it its animation.
With its deep exploration-based gameplay and gorgeous art style, Yoshi's Island is still a joy to play all these years later. Yoshi's Island isn't just a great platformer: it's a reminder of why this silly hobby of ours is so wonderful.
We dislike overusing the word 'masterpiece', but in this case (and in the case of several top-tier SNES releases), it's absolutely accurate.
Super Metroid is the standard by which all Metroid games are judged, and an impossibly high one, at that. If you're a franchise fan, you'll have played this to death. If, however, you've never dipped your toes into Nintendo's pool of sci-fi action exploration, this is the one you need to play.
It's a masterpiece. That's all there is to it.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is one of the best games of all time, and if you haven't experienced it yourself... you probably have through one of the other Zelda games, such was its influence on the series and the entire action-adventure genre.
Link could move diagonally and run thanks to the Pegasus Boots, and he could swipe his sword sideways, allowing for a much wider range when attacking. In fact, A Link to the Past introduced many mainstays of the franchise, including various stalwart items and the idea of parallel worlds.
There's no shortage of 2D and 3D Zeldas to choose from these days, but this 16-bit entry codified the core elements of a 'Zelda game.' It's still got that touch of magic about it many years later. Unmissable.
There is endless debate about whether Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World is the better game. For our money, they are two sides of the same coin — two faces of a monumental peak in the video game landscape.
This remains an incredible achievement of invention and sheer entertainment that the 2D platforming genre has struggled to match ever since. Introducing Yoshi and an expanded overworld with multiple paths, Mario World overflows with secrets and secret exits that were perfect for fuelling playground gossip and elevating it to the upper-est echelons of platform video games, 2D or otherwise.
Decades on, it still doesn't get much better than this. All games have flaws, but if there exists an exception to that rule, Super Mario World is it.
