As you've likely been aware, the Super NES recently turned 25 in North America. It's another nice landmark for the iconic system, and one that's prompted us to get all misty-eyed and reminisce on our youth.
That aside, it's a chance to celebrate the best of the SNES era, so with that in mind we thought it'd be nice to have an old-fashioned poll to ask that most important of questions - what are your favourite Super NES games? Note that we didn't say 'best' games, as we're trying to keep this little debate civil.
In any case, due to the Anniversary in question we're giving you 25 options to vote for, and you can pick up to three games. We've been blasphemous, too, in lumping the Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy and Street Fighter II games together, just to get more titles in the list. Some notable games have also missed out, such as Mortal Kombat, Pilotwings and some other gems. Ultimately we couldn't fit them all into the list.
In any case, we hope it'll be a bit of fun picking your three faves and having a hearty debate in the comments. Have at it!
As an extra aside, the plan is to take the final results for a fancy list article later in the week, so choose carefully!
Comments 136
I wish The Lost Vikings was on this list. That game had a great co-op mode.
Shaq-Fu
all day every day...Shaq-Fu!!!
Jimmy Connors Tennis, rock and roll racing, striker
Why would you make people choose 3? Do you enjoy tormenting people? Under what circumstance in actual life would I ever have to choose 3 Snes games. Sorry. I can't do it. I won't do it. Not even for what you obviously consider fun. (heh heh).
Stunt Race FX!!!!
Spiderman & Venom: Maximum Carnage was a good side scroller beat em' up.
Look at that list! What compares to it even now? SNES still the best of all time.
That was genuinely a hard choice- on a different day I'd easily have voted for three different ones than the ones I chose today.
Gotta go with the "Holy Trinity". Mario, Zelda, and Metroid. Unfortunately could only choose 3, but of those three a clear number one is Super Mario World. This list has at least 60% of my all time favorites in it.
@luke88 too true-such an underrated classic
Glad to see a lot of people like the DKC games!
Out of these options, DKC, EarthBound, and SMRPG, but my absolute favourite would be Terranigma.
I liked mainly the first DKC. I never got into the other two. I loved also the Super Gameboy adapter. It was so cool to be able to play my GB game collection on the big screen. 😃
As much as I loved so many of the one player games (the usual suspects) the most fun I had on my SNES was with friends. So. Mario Kart, Street Fighter 2 have to be there and then Chrono Trigger. Dang that was difficult.
So many fantastic games on SNES. My favorites are EarthBound, DKC Trilogy, Yoshi's Island, Mario RPG, Mario World, Chrono Trigger.
>Kirby super star is there
>Kirby's Dream Land 3 isn't
You had one job, nintendo life
Super metroid!!
Given many there never released in the UK it's down to mario world, Metroid and Kirby.
The game I bought the snes for
Street fighter 2 turbo.
It's absolutely criminal to force us to choose just 3 of these. There were about 10 on the list that I have very fond memories of. A special shoutout to Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts since I see it has no votes yet. I absolutely love that game, but I can't put it in the top 3.
Oh no...poor Super Punch Out This was soo unfair!
Killer instincts should be on here but I don't think it is because it's not Nintendo.
Fzero, Super Mario Kart, Starfox - nuff said...
I already told ya:
http://www.inceptional.com/2016/01/18/kirks-top-10-super-nintendo-games-in-pics/
But I did vote in the poll too, and I chose:
Super Mario World
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Street Fighter II (Turbo)
But, I mean, just look at that list you put up, amazing, and there's definitely quite a few awesome titles you didn't even include:
http://retro-sanctuary.com/Top-100-SNES-Games-Page-1.html
http://uk.ign.com/top/snes-games
http://www.sydlexia.com/snes100/snes100.htm
U.N. Squadron, Super Aleste, Super Smash TV, Parodius: Those are a few I'd include on the list too.
There's just so many great games on SNES.
Yeah, I would have picked DKC2 over Yoshi's Island, if it were available. What's the point in voting for "Donkey Kong Country Trilogy?"
I voted
DKC Trilogy
Yoshi's Island
Earthbound
Mario World.
@IronSammet
I agree with you.
Also...Potoo!! Such a cute birdy!
I'd also pick ActRaiser and Chrono, but this damned list only lets you pick 3. Mario, Metroid and Zelda it is then...
Only 3? Here are mines
Chrono Trigger
Contra III: The Alien Wars / Super Probotector: Alien Rebels
Donkey Kong Country Trilogy
Kirby Super Star
Mega Man X
Star Fox
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
Super Punch-Out!!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Clay Fighter
Super Strike Eagle
Uniracer
Earthworm Jim
Sim City
Chrono Trigger, Earthbound and A Link to the Past.
Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger and Mario All Stars.
no Super Tecmo Super Bowl?... would have chosen Chrono Trigger if I had 4 choices
Such a stacked list makes it difficult to pick only 3, but I went with Earthbound, Super Metroid and Donkey Kong Country Trilogy.
@Torakaka And it was made by LJN! Can you believe that?
Chrono Trigger was and still is a fantastic RPG. It has a strong hold in my heart and always will do.
My holy SNES trinity is FFVI, Chrono Trigger, and A Link to the Past. 3 of the best games on any system, ever.
Went with Super Metroid, Mega Man X and Street Fighter II, mostly because those are the ones I've played the most. A Link to the Past would be the next in line, then it gets murkier. Amazing console and amazing library.
Throwing a recommendation out, I'm particularly fond of Clock Tower. One of the grandfathers of survival horror that is still great, even if it has aged quite a bit.
One of my favorites that wasn't on the list: Illusion of Gaia.
Super mario all stars + world
Tmnt
Earthbound
I've played everything on this list except axelay. Guess I should get to that.
Only 3? damn...
Didnt vote for DKC, I'd put it in 4th though. Where's the love for Super Mario RPG? So many memories
Mario, Zelda, and Metroid. Could it be anything else?!
Very difficult to choose 3
I can't pick Yoshi's Island without picking SMW too.That leaves me with only 1 choice ,how's a man supposed to choose between ALTTP and Super Metroid?
Chronotrigger - just a wonderful immersive story, beautiful graphics, and a fantastic battle system. I'm still yet to play a better game!
If you'd have said you can choose 10 I would have been happier. This decision was almost as bad as being put in a position where you can save only 3 members of your family. Serious business.
Oh and Super Mario kart and Super Mario All Stars!
DK trilogy (obviously), Final Fantasy 6/3 and Yoshi's island my top3 but I cannot ignore Contra, Mario world, turtles in time, zelda....
Super Bomberman was crazy fun on the SNES. Too bad they never really improved on that series too much through the years.
Super Mario World and Super Mario All-Stars were no brainer picks for me, but I had a hard time picking my third favorite. It's very close between Contra III, Super Mario Kart, Yoshi's Island and Super Metroid. I simply couldn't pick one.
You know a console had an incredible library when narrowing down your top three is an impossible task.
We're only allowed three choices??!
That's actually fairly easy, the holy trinity of Mario World, Super Metroid and Link to the Past are the best SNES games.
I'm actually pleased I didn't have to pick more than three because I don't know how I'd whittle down the 8 or so other favourites.
"You can select up to three answers"
Three? Just THREE?? Ah, you people are killing me. How about an "all of the above"?
I'll just post some memory lane stuff here for all you people to enjoy and shed a tear and/or crack a happy smile over:
The chaos engine is my favourite. Every christmas me and my brother play it.
My top 5 SNES games are:
1. Super Mario World
2. Donkey Kong Country Trilogy
3. Chrono Trigger
4. Final Fantasy IV/VI
5. Super Mario RPG
I voted Earthbound (though I played it only on the VC), Mario All-Star and Mario World. But my all time favourite SNES game will remain Parodius...man I miss that Konami...
And for all you people with a little more time on their hands, here's a cool documentary about the console AND the games, done by the excellent retro channel "Classic Gaming Quarterly".
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you "The Launch of the Super Nintendo":
Nintendo should just show the NX now as this site is scraping the barrel with regards to content.
Way too many good choices there and I only get to pick 3??? Well the ones that I picked we're games that changed my gaming habits for life. Super Metroid, Final Fantasy IV/VI, and Super Mario RPG. About 5 more are right there but only 3???
@The_Dude_Abides Still far better than the countless pokemon go and NX rumour articles
No unirally on the shortlist...I'm on strike then
@ThanosReXXX thanks for directing me to that YouTube channel, loads of great looking vids to watch!
Chrono Trigger, Kirby Super Star, and Mega Man X.
Even though Zelda is my favorite video game series ever, I could never get into the first three. LttP is still one of my least favorite games in the series, and for a while I thought I just didn't like top-down Zeldas, but Link's Awakening, the Oracle games, Minish Cap, and ALBW would say otherwise. Dunno why LttP never clicked with me, I love me some Zelda but never enjoy it every time I give it a new try.
Waaaaa ActRaiser at zero? I wish I placed the vote now but it was #4 for me.
@The_Dude_Abides Hey, it's the SNES's 25th birthday and NLife can cry if it wants to.
@GravyThief You're welcome! Glad you approve. And there is indeed lots more to see there.
For lots of really good single game reviews, some other good channels are Classic Game Room's Lord Karnage and Metal Jesus Rocks. Their reviews are really extensive and they show a LOT of in-game footage.
Yoshi's Island all the way, baby! Also Mario RPG and Donkey Kong Country 2.
Aerobiz Supersonic deserves a mention!
"Super Probotector"........AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
@The_Dude_Abides
It's the SNES' anniversary dude...and that is surely worth celebrating! You a Nintendo fan or not?
If Final Fantasy II and III had been different options, I would've picked both. Such time suckers.
Super Castlevania IV was one of the first games my parents got me and I buried in it the far back of my closet, I was so scared of it. Had nightmares about it periodically until I dug it out and beat it years later. Conquered my fear AND I fell in love with its whippity goodness. Amazing game!
1. Super Star Wars
2. Star Fox
3. Everything else...
If you choose the DK Trilogy.... Does that count as the three? I kid... I kid.
Well, Street Fighter II.
Even there are two parodies from that game. XD
Future Cops, Andy Lau
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b0/FutureCops.jpg
City Hunter, Jackie Chan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIxETAx_61M
How on earth can i choose a top 3, I could easily argue any of those to be in, would struggle with choosing a bottom 3 out of that lot. That list comprises my most beloved games still to this day even if placed against some of the more modern day big hitters.
ps Kudos on the Jackie Chan/SF nod always thought he made a good Chun Li when I first saw that on video
Though this has likely already been mentioned, since I have no time to read through the comments at the moment....
We can only pick three?
Uniracers!!!
Killer Instinct!!
Earthworm Jim!!
Kirby's Dream Course!!
TMNT: Turtles in Time.
Tetris Attack!!
Zombies Ate My Neighbours.... Just to name a few missing..
Super Metroid every time. Greatest game of all time.
For me it just HAS to be Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. For me that's like, the best game EVER. But I may be biased because I'm such a big Yoshi fan, but that's my choice.
Other two votes:
Super Mario World. A wonderful platformer, great power-ups, and of course, the debut of my all-time favourite character, Yoshi.
Super Mario Kart. The birth of an absolutely brilliant fun racer series that is still enjoyable to this day.
But really, there are no wrong choices on this list. They're all great for their own reasons.
My favorite and most played SNES game was Ken Griffey Presents MLB. It was a great baseball game with cartoonish graphics and even on my best days wasn't easy to beat the computer AI.
I wish Nintendo would make an MLB baseball game again. I miss the way the games use to look and play. Power Pro on Wii was close, MVP 05 on gamecube was a great game, but to me, nothing tops this SNES classic
Only the SNES could have 3 games I like more than Super Mario World. Chrono Trigger, Link to the Past, & Super Mario RPG.
@arrmixer I agree Super Tecmo Bowl is my all time favourite sports game
Kirby is King. So there are far too many great SNES games to just limit it to 3...
No love for Mystical Ninja...
Zelda
Turtles
And I picked Mana over FF, because I felt it also meant I was voting for Evermore too, spent much time on that, special place in my heart.
DKC Trilogy are the finest three exclusive titles the SNES has to offer, followed by Super Metroid and Zelda ALTTP.
Chrono Trigger have seen several versions outside the SNES and the DS one remains superior. Easily the best game of all time for me.
Echoing everyone else, there are too many great games on the SNES to pick a top three. Maybe a top 25, but that would still be pushing it. Still waiting for more of these awesome games to become available on 3DS VC. Love having them on that little guy as they don't looked as crappy on it's screen as they do on my cheap flatscreen TV.
Super Mario World, DKC trilogy, ALttP
SNES is a platform that cemented me in the JRPG geek status, so I took three according titles (FFVI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana) even though I had to leave out some other games I liked a lot, like F-Zero or ActRaiser. Stare at me all you want, but I haven't even played some more common classics like SMW or A Link To The Past yet. I'll get there.
Frankly, the above choices don't (and technically can't) even list my top favourite RPG titles on the platform like Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean (neither having seen a Western SNES release and all). And there's more where these came from - Der Langrisser, Mystic Ark, Shin Megami Tensei... perhaps the age of fan translations makes it topical enough to make a separate "favourite Super Famicom games" poll as well?
For me, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, and Super Metroid. If I could pick more, Super Mario World, Super Mario RPG, A Link to The Past, Diddy's Kong Quest, and Mega Man X and X2.
FFVI still blows me away.
Oh and megaman x was awesome.
oh yeah, tales of phantasia too but it wasn't there.
Now that's a tough question if there ever was one. For me I am going to have to go with A Link to the Past , the DKC Trilogy, and Super Metroid. These are all essential for any gamer to play and they all hold up incredibly well even today.
Donkey Kong Country 2 and Super Metroid are easily my favorites.
I picked Kirby Super Star and Earthbound (it's a tie with this and LttP however)
But Mega Man X is NUMBAH ONE BABY!!
That being said there's still a huge library of great SNES games I have yet to play.
Super Metroid all the way.
No option for other?
I wish I could vote for Dracula X. Even those who prefer CV4 can't deny that Drac X is still a great game!
I wanted at least to pick like 6 or 7 lol.
Gladly voted for ActRaiser. I was blown away with that game after I rented it at the video store. Bought it a week later.
1. A Link to the Past
2. Earthbound
3. Final Fantasy 6
The fact that neither Lufia is on there is criminal.
Picking 3 favorite games for SNES or GC is almost impossible. There is too many great games.
ActRaiser is a gem! Nintendo really needs to get more of these titles ported to the VC.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island will always be my all time favorite! It's to hard to pick just 3 games the snes has a great collection of games. Spent countless hours playing tmnt IV with my cousins one of the greatest beat em up games ever.
God, I didn't even grow up with this console, but it's one of my favorites thanks to ports, emulation, and online shoping (y'know, to buy said console 15 years after it left the market)
Yoshi's Island is the first game for the first system I've ever owned: GBA. So that's a given to take a spot in my favorites. Others would be Chrono Trigger, Terranigma, Mario RPG, Mario World, Harvest Moon, A Link to the Past, and the Super Game Boy add on.
Didn't get the hype behind Final Fantasy 4 and 6 sadly. Secret of Mana I felt is one of the most overrated games of all time, but that's just me.
Where's Mighty morphins Power Rangers??? My first game on Snes in 1997. Second game was F-zero a great game!
Disney's Magical Quest, NBA Jam, Phantom 2040, TMNT Tournament Fighters, Adventures of Batman and Robin, Robotrek, Soul Blazer, Demon's Crest, Illusion of Gaia, DoReMi Fantasy, Sim City, Xmen Mutant Apocalypse etc. I can't pick 3 games! It can't be done lol
1. Super Metroid
2. Star Fox
3. Contra III: Alien Wars
These titles should have also been options:
1. Plok
2. Sunset Riders
3. Zombies Ate My Neighbors
4. Rock N' Roll Racing
5. Alien 3
6. Aladdin
Why doesn't anyone love Mystical Ninja?
Terranigma is the best SNES game (in my opinion). Best by a huge margin. Nothing even comes close (in my opinion).
It's not on the poll (but it should be). It's a hidden gem that more people NEED to play.
Any best SNES game polls without Terranigma, are broken polls. Thus I abstain from taking part in the poll as it is funtamentally flawed.
Some of the other SNES games I liked a lot were:
Donkey Kong Country 2
Earthworm Jim 2
Secret of Evermore (not the best game ever but I liked it a lot)
Star Fox
Super Metroid
Tales of Phantasia
TMNT4
Tetris Attack
So many fond memories of my SNES, and yet I feel like the games I spent the most time weren't in this list. Among others, Lemmings, Uniracers, and Zombies Ate My Neighbors bring back super warm fuzzy memories, and it's sad because I'm pretty sure I'll never get to play any of those games again.
I love "Illusion of Time" ("Illusion of Gaia" outside of EU) and Secret of Evermore !
Three votes!! Really???? SMW and Zelda will always be in any top x list, so with one vote left spare I decided to go with my next three - F-Zero, Actraiser and Super Metroid. But it's extremely difficult, most of the these games are equal favourites after SMW & Zelda.
@the8thark - Since Terranigma didn't release in US and A, having it in a list where we are voting on the US list of games would be a little pointless and doesn't make the poll flawed at all. Though I agree it is an amazing game.
Three?! How on Earth am I going to pick three? I could've easily picked at least ten from this list, however Secret of Mana has a really special place in my heart and will always be number one.
This is rude, you guys put more than a dozen of best games and asked us to pick three?! Tough call.
Super Empire Strikes Back and SimCity belonged on there.
@Gerbwmu
I never knew that game existed nice!
What a crazy loaded list, just the ones you did include!
Choices from your list:
1. FF6 - my pick for 'greatest game ever'
2. Super Mario All Stars - I love SMB3 to death, it makes the list even before adding the other games
3. Chrono Trigger - I like the additions in the DS version but this is still an all-time game.
Not on your list:
Super Tecmo Super Bowl: 3 seasons mode, 28 teams, quick and easy to get into, loads of hours wasted
Super Tecmo NBA basketball - this game in 1993 was simming 73-9 Golden State Warriors seasons, believe it or not (and 76-6 Portland seasons, which kind of got annoying), not as good as super bowl though.
Super Empire/Return of the Jedi
The spread of results shows what a great console this was. As does the number of great games which didn't even make the list. There are more classic RPGs that aren't even on this list than most consoles get in their lifetime:
Terranigma
Secret of Evermore
Illusion of Time/Gaia
Breath of Fire/II
The 7th Saga
Soul Blazer
Star Ocean
Eh hello! Where's Stunt race FX?
Being able to highlight 3 is not enough, wanna make it about 10.
MY top 10 SNES games
1. Super Mario World
2. Link to the Past
3. Donkey Kong Country 2
4. Super Metroid
5. Earthbound
6. Chrono Trigger
7. Megaman X
8. Super Castlevania 4
9. NBA Jam
10. Secret of Mana
Super Mario World
Street Fighter 2
Super Street Fighter 2
Super Mario Kart
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2
International Superstar Soccer
Super Bomberman
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
NBA Jam
Killer Instinct
Sensible Soccer
NBA Live 95
Micro Machines
Sim City
F-Zero
among others
Panel De Pon (or Tetris Attack) is a really good puzzle game on the SNES.
There are good games to chose from, but I couldn't pick a third that matches Chrono Trigger or Earthbound
This took me a literal minute to decide, but I picked Chrono Trigger, Yoshi's Island, and Zelda. My apologies to Mega Man X, Super Metroid, Final Fantasy, Kirby, and Earthbound.
3 SNES games appear in my top 50 games. So I guess my favourite SNES games are...
Super Aleste (42)
Tetris Attack (38)
Super Mario World (2)
Kirby Super Star
Donkey Kong Country
Super Mario All Stars
Tetris Attack (not on this list)
were the games I played the most on my SNES
@MarvinTheMartian So? The list is for your favourite SNES games, not your favourite US released SNES games. Sure we're celebrating the US release of the SNES here but there is no rule mentioned that the game had to be released in the US.
Also a good SNES game is a good SNES game regardless of where it was or was not released.
No Pilotwings? No vote.
Too many too choose from all awesome games.
The SNES library and I don't always get along. Several times, I've found some of its more popular, highly-rated games to be horribly disappointing to me. That's a matter of taste, of course, but it's a problem I don't really have with other 8/16-bit systems like the NES, Genesis/Mega Drive, PC Engine, Neo Geo, etc. Still, it's a pretty nice listing of games, for the most part, and I went with Super Mario World, Mega Man X and Turtles in Time. However, I'm disappointed at the lack of a couple of my recent favorites: Pocky and Rocky(the first one) and Ninja Warriors Again, both games by Natsume, who did some great work in the late NES period through the SNES' lifetime. Ninja Warriors, in particular, really surprised me with how much more fun it was than I expected.
Yeah, I was picking top ten. That I could do. For the three I went with Mario Kart, Super Metroid, and Super Mario World because those are the three I played the most with my wife before we were married. Zelda III, Actraiser, Final Fantasy II/IV, Contra III, Castlevania IV, so many others are right up there with them for me.
DKC trilogy, Yoshi's island, Kirby fun pack.
If I could have chosen 4, Earthbound would also be on it!
My top three are probably "Super Mario World", "A Link to the Past", and "Super Metroid". Before I left the horror genre behind, I played "Super Castlevania IV" like crazy, and even duplicated the "Halloween" movie theme with "Mario Paint"...long before the "Composer" program ever existed. Otherwise, I enjoyed the updated "Tetris & Dr. Mario" combo cart a great deal, along with the first "Donkey Kong Country" and "Super Street Fighter II". The graphics and sound were better on the first "Mortal Kombat" than the Genesis, but censorship killed it...pun fully intended.
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