The 21st of November, 1990, was a day of commotion in parts of Japan; namely those that were around electronics shops. This was the day Nintendo launched the Super Famicom, a 16-bit system that has since found its place within gaming history and atop many's lists of greatest consoles.
Only two games launched with the Super Famicom, but what games they were! Super Mario World was the clear hype rocket, with the company mascot's pedigree backing what would arguably become a most worthy entry in the series. Alongside Mario, though, came a newcomer: F-Zero, a futuristic racer that introduced the concept of Mode 7 rotation and scaling.
The console was a hit right out of the gate, selling through its initial shipment of about 300,000 units the same day. North America would not see the system until 1991, and Europe and Australia not until the following year.
A day that introduced both Yoshi and Captain Falcon to the world is a day worth celebrating. Has the Super Famicom or SNES left its mark on your own history? Please feel free to share your memories and thoughts below.
Comments 58
The greatest console of all time!
Happy b day superfamicom! Although I still wish us u.s. citizens would have received the rainbow colored controller the Japanese got instead of that dammed ugly purple crap we got...either way great library of games either way. Mad hours were burned on street fighter 2 turbo alone and that's not counting any other games I had. Ah memories. ..
Happy 25th Birthday to the greatest (and my most played) video game console ever made! Long live the Nintendo 16-bit console!!!
......oh, and Super Mario World and F-Zero, too!
I'll never forget being made fun of in elementary school for playing and owning a SNES (in the U.S.).
You were seen as kiddy and/or "casual" for playing Nintendo instead of playing Sega and NeoGeo.
Nintendo kiddy and "casual" image really came into being during the SNES, in part due to competitions marketing.
No Nintendo system has been able to shake it yet.
I would be here all night and I would still be typing about it. It remains my all time favourite home console. Take the example of just those two launch titles in Japan. Both offer more gameplay thrills, more replayability, simply more fun than anything in the shelves today. Just think about that for a few seconds and look how strange this grown up industry has become.
@Xenocity That happened to me too in Europe. Mind you, they had to shut up really fast once I got to school one day and told them I had "Street Fighter II: The World Warrior" at home...
@Shiryu
No game I had worked.
I also owned a Genesis at mother's where I lived most of the time.
It didn't help, I wasn't a real gamer
I also was given hell during junior high for owning a Nintendo 64 for the same reasons.
In High School I was given hell for owning a Gamecube and Dreamcast.
In college I was given hell for owning a DS and 3DS over Sony's handhelds.
Though people were accepting if you owned a Wii, though PS3 and 360 owners were made fun of, because of all shooters they played.
People now are surprised that I found games worth playing on Wii U and Steam.
Yeah I've constantly been told there aren't any decent games on Steam/PC and they have all issues.
@Xenocity People...
@Tsurii
No, just standard American juvenile boys and American males.
American males are hell bent on masculinity and mature content (as in R and M rated), which is why Nintendo and their games are constantly derided as kiddy and "casual".
Though to be fair my dad constantly ask me at least once a year "when are you going to grow up and play real games and ditch Nintendo!" even my own dad doesn't like Nintendo due to the games being too colorful, kiddy and "casual".
He main plays shooters and violent games (always has).
Other people in my family and including doctors have uttered the same sentiment.
I never obtained a SNES at the time, but enjoy the games that have come out there when I met them.
Oh dear, also 25 years of F-Zero, I hope there are some anniversary for the game, but..., oh well, worth dreaming and keep waiting, jijiji, XD
@Xenocity
It's hard when people categorize you for what you prefer, but why mortified by these "silly" critical ?.
It is better to enjoy what you want, not what others prefer that you like yourself, in the end, who's enjoying the game you love, them or you? XD
best.console.ever! Seriously, i love all my Nintendo's but the Super will forever have a special place in my heart.
I'm 21 and my brother's 18 and although we're both gamers, we both have different interests in games. I love all games, both old and new, and I've been desperately trying to get him to at least try older games to see if there's any he'd like (and this totally isn't just a way for me to have someone to play with). He prefers newer games but I have to say, out of all our older consoles, it's the SNES that he likes the most. And by that I mean there's two or three games he'll go out of his way to play on his own.
Seriously, at the most the number of games he'll play without my involvement on consoles before the Gamecube and PS2 is like, one. He likes the SNES because he latched onto Super Metroid and A Link to the Past.
That kind of system launch these days would be considered launch suicide. Can you imagine if NX launches with only two games? I believe in North America we had the choice of Super Mario World, F-Zero, Pilotwings, and Sim City at launch. Just crazy to think about in this day and age...
Clears throat
EarthBound and Chrono Trigger.
Although, I've never played Chrono Trigger.
Happy Birthday SFC! Its not my favorite console but it's near perfect in what it was capable of at the time, but N64 will probably always be my favorite so say my rose tinted nostalgia goggles. Also, the tags for the article say "Ninetndo".
Happy 25th anniversary F-Zero.... cries
@mjharper
Then get to it!
@Tsurii my mum bought mine also.. Spring '92. I remember finding the last few worlds in super Mario world.. Staying up late beat it f-zero, pilotwings, super ghoul's and ghosts, final fight, street fighter 2, link to the past, super castlevania, secret of mana.. Then later donkey kong, yoshi's island....
I had a friend who came over to England from the US and he gave me UN Squadron.. I swapped my game boy I had got In 1990 from America and loads of games for one copy of mystical ninja
My friend had a pic engine from Japan and was jealous I was gonna get a super famicom... Years later and I was downloading all the classic games like axelay, actraiser, assault suits Vulcan, final fantasy etc etc. The megadrive was cool with loads of wicked games, the Neo geo speaks for itself, pic engine, NES, master system... All great systems... But for me the SNES is in a league of its own
Still consider SNES to have the best games ever. Mega Man X 1-3, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Saturday Night Slammasters, TMNT Tournament Fighters... I could go on & on & on.
@Riderkicker
Can't forget about Turtles in Time! "My toes! My toes!"
My dad's old SNES was my very first console! While I didn't have any of the particularly popular games for it (Pilotwings being my only Nintendo game, and Super Star Wars being the only one that still catches my interest today), I've found all of its masterpieces recently through Virtual Console. It easily has one of the greatest lineup of any console, even the current-gen systems!
I was a diehard fan of the SNES. I think I ended up actually selling the system to various friends over the years after impressing them with the system's amazing library of games, awesome visuals and incredible sound.
I feel bad for you guys who were made fun of for owning an SNES. In my day, I was the jerk making fun of Sega Genesis nerds for buying such an inferior system. When Saturn was announced, I made sure to tell them how badly it was going to fail once the "Ultra 64" arrived. Man, for being in elementary, I was kind of a douche!
You remember the 25th birthday of the Super Famicom... But totally forget the 20th birthday of Donkey Kong Country 2?!?!
@mystman12 Technically, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest's 20th was yesterday (November 20th)
But yeah, I guess the Super Famicom's 25th anniversary today (November 21st) took precedence and was more important to celebrate and report on--and actually, yeah it is, because where else would the second Donkey Kong Country game debuted on if not for that?
Happy 25th birthday too the SNES the greatest console of all type!! (N64 2nd for me).
ah i remember the day that i got my first super nintendo, i had bought super mario world and a rare game called xardion separately ahead of the big purchase and then got the snes that came with zelda 3. whooo what a day. i remember playing zelda 3 for the first time on the big tv in the living room, mind blowing.
@SakuraHaruka
It normally doesn't bother me.
But since I live in the Rust Belt, men are hell bent on being "men"
Stupid machoism!
@mjharper
The SNES launch titles are still better than what PS4 had at launch.
Literally all PS4 had at launch was the regular multiplatform title, Knack and Killzone:SF.
This is the worst launch this gen compared to Xbox One and Wii U.
Happy birthday Super Famicom, I own over 80 SNES and Super Famicom games today. I hope to find more as there are so many hidden gems release for that system.
I'm old
Miss my SNES - probably king of Nintendo's systems in my mind
My first console ever. I really loved the SNES, even though I didn't have many games.
What, no cake this time either? lol
I had a blast with both Super Mario World and F-Zero when I got my SNES for Christmas! I remember dreaming F-Zero it was just so fast.
It was an interesting dynamic around my school. Nobody got made fun of for the systems that they invested in. Had a friend with his Genesis and another guy with his TG-16. We all had fun going over and playing each others' systems. Though it did become clear pretty early that the TG-16 was inferior. I think there were slightly more SNES owners than Genesis owners in my area. I didn't know anyone with a Neo Geo.
happy birthday,Super Nintendo my favourite game is super bomberman 5 actually fun game and so much memories in my brain
So many happy memories, for me and my mates it was always super bomberman 5 had so many great battles on that game. Throw in super Mario kart, super probotector and turtles in time and you had some of the best multiplayer games of its time and are still loads of fun today. And don't even get me started on the RPGs.....
For the 16-bit consoles I had the mega drive 2 and my brother had the SNES, but we would play each other's consoles. A lot of time spent playing co-op on Secret of Mana. Also enjoyed F-Zero and Killer Instinct. I hope the RPG Terranigma gets released on virtual console. It was an epic game with good real time combat. I think it was one of last games released on SNES.
I still have all my games but no console. Might have to ask Santa for a new one.
Q) Has the Super Famicom or SNES left its mark on your own history?
A) Yes it has, as the SNES formed a big part of my early childhood, despite the rather few games we had for it. I surprisingly enough even remember the day my oldest brother opened it up for his Birthday, which remains one of my earliest childhood memories. I believe the first game I played on it was Super Mario All Stars + Super Mario World, although it was the 2nd game my brother had received for his Birthday that stuck in my mind the clearest; Kirby's Fun Pack.
Kirby's Fun Pack for the SNES, still remains my absolute favourite video game of all time, cementing both my love for the Kirby series, and my love of playing co-op games with my brothers. I also greatly enjoyed the likes of The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, Kirby's Dream Course, Yoshi's Island, and Donkey Kong Country. Other features of the SNES I loved included it's controller, as well as it's eject button (such a satisfying feature).
Looking back on it though, I do realise the flaws of the SNES, one that should have been apparent back in my childhood. In the nearby town, there was a vegetable shop... which was also connected to a video game store. It no longer exists anymore, but back then, the shop sold only one type of video game; Sega Mega Drive games. A lot of the SNES games never made it to the EU, and through my later discovery of Pokémon and various PlayStation RPGs, I soon discovered that I loved RPGs. Pretty much none of them came out in the UK around the time of the SNES, I believe there was more RPG's on the Sega Mega Drive in the UK than that of the SNES as a result. My childhood memories of the SNES are fond ones, and I still love it for having my favourite absolute favourite video game on it, but as someone from the UK, I'm unlikely to go back and seriously try to expand my games library for the system.
Ah..the SNES. What fond memories. I remember me and my mates used to pull all nighters playing game after game of NBA Jam. Those were the days. We also had tournaments of Street Fighter 2 and endless balloon battles in Mario Kart. Super Bomberman was also a firm favourite with the multitap. The power level rocked. The Snes is probably the best console ever made!
the best Nintendo console...so many memories!
I never owned a SNES (I was a Mega Drive kid ) but I have enjoyed it's legacy through playing an array of virtual console emulations, remakes and rereleases. Chrono Trigger, with its beautiful pixel art and amazing soundtrack is my favourite SNES game - alongside the similarly marvelous Final Fantasy VI. It's interesting that neither was originally released in Europe, so the system doesn't quite the same cachet for European fans; yet both games perfectly capture the spirit of early 90's game development and highlight what a wonderful system the SNES must have been.
Ah, how time flies. My very first console. Happy Birthday, Super Famicom! Happy Birthday, Captain Falcon! And for me, most importantly, Happy Birthday, Super Mario World and Yoshi!! Hope you'll be around for a long time to come!
What a system the snes was and still is. Every christmas me and my brothers whip it out and try to beat the chaos engine on it. Just one more month and the thug, navvie, brigand, scientist, mercenary and gentleman will be taking on baron fortesque's chaos engine again.
I just bought a SNES and love it. I've been with NINTENDO since the 80's and see myself more as a classical gamer. The new stuff is good but you can't beat the stuff that made Nintendo great.
And Nintendo chooses to celebrate with........ Um, nothing.
Happy Birthday.
The SNES is, by far, the most all-round satisfying console I've ever owned.
Good times.
Happy birthday! My first console and Nintendo's best console with the best games library and best third party support. From SNES on, Nintendo has lost quality and support until the decadent Wii and Wii U era.
Ah, the SNES. Greatest console ever imo. And the reason I first took the dive into importing systems and games. It's not so important now, because release dates and image quality are comparable across regions, but back then, the resultant PAL games were often unoptimised, meaning the extra scanlines were not used (hence the black borders) and not sped up to compensate. I can't play Super Mario Kart on PAL for example, I'm too hard wired into the NTSC version!
@Xenocity. That's completely disgusting. None of those people even understand what makes a good game a good game. And besides Nintendo has always consistently made some of the best games on the market at any given time (not saying this as a fanboy but as someone who can see it's the truth based on sales and popularity). I'd love to know why people look down on others for not playing violent games. It's just absurd.
And I understand about us American males being obsessed with manliness. It can get really ridiculous at times, but what a lot of us don't seem to realize is that there's WAY more to being manly than acting macho and playing violent games (actually I'm gonna say there's nothing "mature" about games full of violence, gore, and other junk. People just think they look mature playing them). Any reasonable gamer goes where the good games are meaning they don't fanboy over one brand and scorn the others and those who play them. So keep on playing Nintendo, man. I'm sorry you've had to deal with all that trash.
Also, best console ever.
@Spyke His loss... But at least he likes Super Metroid.
The SNES has some of the best video games in the history of video games, but I never really went back and replayed some of the classics because I find they lack in replay value. That's why I prefer GEN. It doesn't have the best games in the history of gaming, but they have a higher replay value. The only SNES games I have played countless times would be Super CastleVania IV, Contra III, Donkey Kong Country, and Killer Instinct.
@NTELLIGENTMAN Most SNES games have more replay value than 90% of modern games, especially all the big AAA games you see on modern consoles, which is what most SNES games were equivalent to back in the day (seeing as there really wasn't an indie scene and most games were up there in terms of budget and production value with the big first, second, and third party titles of the time).
I was lucky. In my peer group, there was a little bit of back and forth over which console was best, but it was generally in good fun and there weren't many people who did not enjoy having a go with whichever console they did not have. I think being a Master System owner in North America in the late 80s taught me that a competing console doesn't have to be bad if you think yours is good, as the NES was great fun when I got to play it.
The SNES didn't impact me as much as it did others here in the comments and in general. For me, it is not the best console ever. I didn't consciously realize it until much later, but I've always been an arcade and action kind of guy and there are better consoles for that philosophy than the SNES. Revisiting it now, I have a few minor gripes with the system from a hardware standpoint. Still, I just yesterday finished my second run through Super Mario World after going back to it this week(once for the SNES version, once on GBA). It's still a gorgeous game and brilliantly designed. And there are many great games on the system. Some of the heavy hitters are not to my taste, and that is unfortunate for me. I do hope to dig into the library and try out some possibly lesser-known gems.
It wasn't my first console (that would be the NES), or even the second (Sega Master System), but it will always be my favorite.
Happy birthday Super Famicom. It took me until this year to get one, but I have been play the games on my US SNES for years.
I have over fifty games for my SFC. The same for my US SNES and two hundred and fifteen for my PAL SNES. My best console I own and the first I owned by myself.
The Super Nintendo as well as in general the golden 16-bit era still mark the unequalled qualitative climax in the history of video games.
Yoshi and Captain Falcon belong to the best Nintendo characters ever.
Happy Birthday!
Oh Memories.
Still #1 in my book.
Super Mario world, super castlevania, super probotector (contra), f-zero, super Street fighter 2, a link to the past, super star wars, teenage mutant ninja turtles IV, SNES prince of persia...
I spent countless hours on all of these gems, and there are plenty of other epics games I spent time on and many others I never even knew about.
SNES had arguably the greatest library. N64 had some epic games too but not in the bulk of numbers that SNES gave us
SNES and N64 are my favourite Nintendo consoles! I would say I loved the SNES just a little more!
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