
They might have taken a while to arrive, but the library of 29 SNES games available as part of Nintendo's Switch Online subscription service adds considerable value to Switch's online offering for many retro gaming fans. Throw in authentic-feeling wireless controllers that mimic the look and feel of the originals and you can almost imagine you're back in the '90s enjoying 16-bit classics like Super Mario World and F-Zero for the first time. Except you can now rewind and retry when you stuff up a difficult jump or explode mid-race, plus you can play them on the toilet without wheeling your telly into the bathroom.
But which Nintendo Switch Online SNES games are the very best? Well, at Nintendo Life we've ranked them ourselves, but it's your turn to have a say. In a similar manner to our reader-ranked lists of the Top 50 3DS games, Game Boy games, Nintendo DS games and GameCube games, by rating your favourites below we can assemble a ranking of SNES games on Switch according to their User Ratings on on the site.
You can rate any (or every) game using the specially designed tool below. Simply scroll through the alphabetical list and click the star to score the relevant game with a rating of 1-10. All 29 SNES games currently available are listed, and you can find your favourites using the search box at the top of the list - type the first few letters and rate it directly from the results that pop up.
Remember, you're assigning a score to the games, NOT ranking them from one to ten - we'll take care of assembling the order and let you know the results soon. In the meantime, feel free to rate your favourites, and perhaps reacquaint yourselves with some 16-bit classics while you're at it.
Thank you for rating your chosen games and helping to sort the good 'uns from the not-so-good 'uns. While we await the results, let us know your SNES favourites and give us your predictions for whether Super Mario World can trump Yoshi's Island--or if either of them can possibly beat Link to the Past--as the NL readership's numero uno.
Comments (122)
Super Metroid, in my eyes it really isn't even close, although there are several 9/10-rated experiences on the service.
So many 9 and 10 games. Especially when compared to the NES
I can predict Super Mario World will win!
hate to be that person but WHERE ARE N64 GAMES!?!?! D
Only a few great ones to be honest, it misses the Squaresoft and Konami games. Super Metroid and Super Mario World are the only two stone cold classics for me, not a big fan of 2D Zelda.
A lot of contenders for number 1. We have one of the best Mario games ever made, one of the best Kirby games ever made, THE best Metroid game ever made, and (arguably) THE best Zelda game ever made.
The only game I bother with is Super Punch Out.
Super Tennis better be like number three or four (I know Mario and Metroid are going to grab those one and two spots) on the list! Such an awesome game and still a lot of fun.
Super Metroid! Where is Donkey Kong trilogy though 🤷🏻♂️
F-Zero, Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Link to the Past, Pilotwings, Kirby Superstar, and Star Fox, Super Punchout are such great games. Glad for the Konami and Capcom collections otherwise the SNES era would be very under represented on the Switch. Hoping Nintendo adds Earthbound, the Donkey Kong Country games, and Super Mario RPG at the very least someday. I'd love to play Illusion of Gaia and EVO Search for Eden on the go as well.
SNES is the best Nintendo console fight me
Super Mario Kart, in my eyes, has aged poorly. No matter how many times I play it, I can never get used to the controls and it's just incredibly wonky whenever I get behind the wheel.
Kind of like the NES list - some really good games, and some outright junk. Super Mario World and Zelda are my two 10s. If we had the two Final Fantasys and at least the first Donkey Kong Country, there would be a few more 10s.
Super Metroid and Breath of Fire 2 are some of my favorite games of all time. Link to the Past is also great.
There's a few there I haven't even touched since they were put on there (or played ever) - Super Mario World is an all-time classic, but I'm useless at it now even though I did all 96 levels back in the day, Super Ghouls n Ghosts is fantastic, F-Zero I love, Super Tennis is great, Yoshi's Island another classic... so many days/weeks/months worth of goodness there. And all for peanuts.
My favorite NES game is your lack of a comment section in the last article.
I haven't even bothered playing any of these. I did manage to finish Super Metroid when I played it on WiiU.
Yoshi's Island is one of the finest games ever created,a timeless masterpiece. That and Super Mario World are the pinnacle of 2D platforming.
My tops are Super Metroid, both Mario Worlds, Demons Crest, and Kirby Super Star. But they are all fantastic SNES games that are hard to rank.
@PickledKong64 ONIZUKA!
Super Mario Kart is my all time fav snes game. Still play and online means I play with my bro in another country, soooo happy about that. Love it
Super Mario World and A Link to the Past are both 10s. And then we have a bunch of 8s and 9s.
What a system.
A Link to the Past, the game of my childhood, even though a friend lent it to me (I owned the mega drive). One of my favourite games ever.
Anyway, SNES is one of the best consoles ever created. So much good stuff there; in Switch there's not even half of the best games.
Kirby is best game on that list.
The legend of zelda link to the past, Super mario world and Super Mario kart are my top 3.
My favorite ones by FAR are the ones that you can actually buy to own.
Oh, wait...
#bigstepbackfromVC
Puyo Puyo had better get rated highly by everyone. It's by far my most played Switch Online SNES game.
Please release snes game at faster rate, this is all I want.
Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Super Mario World, Tetris Attack and Yoshi's Island are all excellent.
I also like Kirby's Dream Course, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (thank you rewind feature!), Super Punch Out, Star Fox, Demon's Crest, Wild Guns and Logic Bomb.
The Super Nintendo was Nintendo's last excellent system up until the Switch. In fact, I would say the NES, SNES and Switch are the only three excellent home consoles they have released. Nintendo 64 was good, but flawed, same with the Game Cube, the Wii sold boatloads, but never liked it, and Wii U had good ideas that were better implemented by the Switch.
I don't think anything can beat the best Super Mario game ever made.
Super Metroid is the easy choice, considering that's the best SNES game of all time. But Starfox is also a 10.
Super Mario world and Yoshi’s island are the best imo, hope they are in top 10.
Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and Yoshi's Island should 100% be at the top of this list.
Well, I’d rank Donkey Kong Country at- oh wait.
This will be a difficult list to put together. I mean, with the NES, there were a lot of great games there, but Super Mario 3 uncontroversially towers over them all.
With the SNES? Jeez, I don't know. Super Metroid, A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island... These are all-time greats. And they're arguably the high points of their respective franchises, too. What a system, indeed.
@sandman89 seriously! Missing the boat but it has to do with Microsoft owning Rare. So they are non-starters.
DKC series pre 2001 is co-owned with Rare, so they will need to get permission to get that on the service.
Super Mario RPG is co-owned with Square.
Some great games on there!
@WiltonRoots,
Super Ghouls n ghosts is a tough game, looks great though.
Holy quadrilogy of Mario world, s Metroid, lttp and yoshis island. Number 1 for me is Yoshis island for loads of obvious reasons it’s beautiful. Star fox and f zero are then next tier for me. X x x x
@johnvboy great music too, from back when Capcom brought their A game. I remember back when I got it and first reached the snow stage being stunned by it. I wish it had the pace of the MD game though. It also came out as part of a collection on the Saturn, I believe that version didn’t have any slowdown.
@kingbk @Kentula The 3 Donkey Kong Country games were on Wii U VC, so it's very likely they'll appear at some stage.
Number one should be number one Mario game ever, Super Mario World.
My two 10s: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid. Super Mario World and Panel De Pon: 9.
@Kentula nah you are wrong there. They don’t own donkey Kong.
@kingbk no it’s not
@OorWullie SNES mini also. Well the first game anyway
I know it's obvious but Link to the Past and Super Mario World are two of my favorite games of all time.
Tonbe honest when i open snes i play super punchout. I love that game. A game that Neeeeds to be revived for the switch.
Super Mario world
Super Mario kart
Link to the past
Super punch out
Puyo Puyo 2, Panel de Pon, and Super Mario Kart are my most played ones. Love those games.
@The-Chosen-one Did you ever play Punch-out Wii? Very solid and fun game. My only compliant was that it was more of a remake of the NES and SNES Punch-out games.
Well, it will be difficult to predict the top places so...
...Brawl Brothers for me is the worst game there.
@sandman89 didn't say DK, but they own the Rare versions which is why we see the new ones made by Retro Studios.
@NikHogan Any time anyone has ever said "hate to be ______", the opposite is true.
@WiltonRoots,
The Mega drive game is quicker, but looks a lot worse than the SNES version, it also does not have the annoying double jump, and let's you move the player in the air when jumping too.
@nessisonett There are 12 great games there.
I can't properly rate games I played, but out of that list on SNES Online, Super Mario World, A Link to the Past, Kirby Super Star, Super Metroid, Yoshi's Island, Panel de Pon/Tetris Attack, and Pop'n TwinBee are definitely up there for me.
KIRBY SUPER STAR.
@Kirby_Girl I think you're biased hahahah ^^
@GrailUK
Maybe. Although I wouldn't say that about ALL other Kirby games on their respected platforms. Like I wouldn't say Kirby Star Allies is the best Switch game at all but I could definitely say that Kirby Super Star has earned more recognition as a SNES game because it's a STELLAR SNES game and competes with anything else on the platform.
generic answer Zelda A Link To The Past
@davey1983
I totally forgot about that game, wow. Yeah played it. Felt indeed more like a remake.
@Deltath lol what do you mean?
I know I'm in the minority, but I never was very much for Super Mario World. Give me Super Mario Bros. 3 every day of the week, and twice on Sunday. The one big game on SNES Online that I unabashedly love is Super Metroid. LttP is okay, but I always felt the controls were a bit off and imprecise. I do love me some Yoshi's Island. Kirby Super Star is fun, but a bit overhyped. I love Tetris Attack, I wish they had given us the US version. This collection is sorely missing DKC, Mega Man X, and at least one Square RPG. Sports games are a big miss.
My top 10 would be:
1. Super Mario World
2. Link to the Past
3. Kirby Super Star
4. Kirby's DreamLand 3
5. Yoshi's Island
6. Super Mario Kart
7. Stunt Racer FX
8. Demon's Crest
9. Super Ghouls n Ghosts
10. Super Metroid
Played all of these before the service. Only played through Ghouls Ghosts again because of save states, ridiculously hard. Currently playing through Link to the Past, just got sent to the alt world by the wizard. Probably only my third play through of it, but also completed Link Between Worlds couple times which is mostly just a better version. Definitely completed Mario World more times than I can count on my fingers, too.
With the exception of a few of the bigger Nintendo games it severely lacks in depth still. In a way I prefer the NES selection as it has some more obscure games I had honestly never heard of or tried before and now it has the awesome Rygar which I still have my original cartridge of that. The only three Snes ones I would say stand a chance of being the best are Zelda, Mario, Yoshi's Island and Metroid. The first Mario Kart for me doesn't hold up as well the same with the FX games. If you haven't played the Breath of Fire games and don't mind some slow paced grinding they are certainly good and you can get a good 80 hours out between the two although you can get a bit lost in places where you almost have to get where to go next.
@NikHogan September 2018 - NES
September 2019 - SNES
If it’s coming, it will be in September.
@Kentula don’t think so
@johnvboy I had the GnG collection on the Saturn which sort of rectified that issue with the MD's graphics as the arcade version was on the disc. Funnily enough I preferred the MD's music to the arcade version.
Also is it criminal that even though it's sitting there, I haven't played Super Metroid ever?
Frankly, the only game on this list that I'd rate outside of the 8-10 range is Brawl Brothers, and even that one's still a solid 7.
@Blooper987 IMO, the NES has more good games than the SNES, quantitatively. The great SNES games are of course better than NES games though, like Super Metroid and Link to the Past.
There are five or six games on this list, any one of which you could claim is the very best game ever made, and no one would argue with you. Wow.
I need Lufia 2.
Smash Tennis! <ducks for cover>
@Strumpan I won't argue. The NES had a longer lifespan and thus more time to build up a library. By the time the NES arrived in the West, the Famicom had been out in Japan for two years, and devs had had time to come to grips with the hardware. Plus, Nintendo had a market dominance with the NES that they didn't have in the 16-bit era. The NES wasn't the only show in town, but it was THE platform you wanted to release your games on.
@NikHogan You said you hate to be that guy. You love to be that guy!
@Kirby_Girl
@Maulbert No way KSS is over hyped. If anything it's underappreciated since it came out later in the console's life. I feel like I'm only recently seeing some appreciation cause for years SNES top lists have always just consisted of the classic staples such as Super Metroid, Mario World, Link to the Past, Contra, Megaman and Castlevania, etc.
God I wish the game was mad hyped. I'm happy if folks are getting into it. i agree that Tetris Attack is good too tho. Also I liked Mario 3 more too. :X
@Kirby_Girl The reason I say it's overhyped is because I consistently see it referenced as the greatest Kirby game of all time, and it felt more like a minigame collection to me. I mean no harm, I still find it fun, just not the best game in the series.
Personally, Tetris Attack is my jam. It’s one of my favorite games of all time, and I still play the game regularly on the SNES. Aside from that, I've probably beaten Super Mario World over 50x, and I played that game religiously as a kid.
@Maulbert It is the best Kirby game of all time and I'll agree to disagree on this matter.
A Link to the Past is my favorite video game of all time 💯
If I could only play 1 game for the rest of my life then ALttP would be the One.
It's the first Zelda game that I beat, but it left such a lasting impression on my adult life.
I have Replayed it every single year, since I was 10 years old.
1. Zelda ALTTP
2. Super Mario World
3. Super Metroid
Still, I'd rather play Zelda on my GBA both because it's subscription-free and for it's been localized in my language. Oh, the first reason applies to SMW too. Yup, I'm that guy.
I can't play the rented snes games on switch. I have the ones I want on Wii and 3ds, my classic mini too. I won't play somewhere that checks online for membership before playing. I refuse to have my save data locked behind a paywall.
Let's go home.
We are home.
That was fast.
Sadly we don't have: Mario RPG, FF 6, DC 1-3, Earthbound, Castlevania, Contra, chrono, Mario All-Stars, SF, Mega Man, Mana, Bomberman,and the game I think is coming next update Uniracers
That's such a small list! Where are the classic JRPGs? Final Fantasy, Mario RPG, and the like?
I love my Switch so much and am not lacking for games to play at all, but this is the one area, classic/legacy support, that Nintendo has really dropped the ball on.
The only game I really play (like get snacks in and set an evening aside for) is F-Zero. I dig the others, but F-Zero is home!
@kingbk Nintendo has deep pockets. They can make the DCK trilogy happen. They could even have a one time Rare DLC pack. If they bring them, people will pay.
Been waiting for this poll.
I completed Joe and Mac 2 last weekend, it's not bad.
Super Mario World is a 10. I loved Stunt Race FX when I owned it on my SNES, and I can still see why now. Lots of other good games.
Does anyone know how to remove games from their My Games list in their profile?
I'm just being particular, I accidentally added a couple that I want to remove when I was voting on this poll.
@Benji80
1. Click on the game that you want to Remove
2. On the next window, scroll down until you see a check mark that says Have
3. Click on Have, and you should be able to Remove
Can we get the good games on SNES VC please. Also update it weekly instead every other month. Why the slow updates
Unlike the NES list, there's a few I haven't dove into yet. So to be fair, I won't assign a rating to a game I haven't played yet. I recommend others do the same rather than sandbag a game you're unfamiliar with.
That said, I do have a couple 10s this time:
No need to explain why. And I'm sure Yoshi's Island is great but I haven't had the chance to play it yet. So no rating to that.
Some notable 9s:
Honorable mention 7
Nintendo Life must have known that Nintendo's public statement about the riots and looting wouldn't go over well because they disabled the comments.
@the4seer Thank you for your help. I like to keep my list accurate 😀
I ate this spicy curry from this Indian place and got a stomach ache. I get this same feeling about the lack of any kind of first party news by Nintendo.
@Crono1973 Nintendo's statement was about Equality and Compassion...
They never mentioned Rioting or Looting.
In my humblest opinion, based on your comment alone, people like You are the reason that the Comments were disabled.
@the4seer That's right, they didn't mention rioting and looting to exclude them from their support.
Supporting what is currently going on with no mentioned exceptions is supporting the rioting and looting as well.
@Crono1973 So... Nintendo is worried about losing the support of Rioters and Looters?
And... Nintendo supports Rioting and Looting, as well?
Wow... I'm lost 💯
Super Metroid all the way!
@the4seer Nintendo supports what's going on currently and they mentioned no exceptions.
@Crono1973 Did you even read the statement?
I'm sorry, but I have to ask. I honestly have no idea what the hell you're even talking about.
Please Help, the statement that I read was about a person being murdered... I'm not entirely sure what you read, or even what you are talking about.
What does "Nintendo supports what's going on currently and they mentioned no exceptions." mean?
Also, where did you find this in their statement?
I'll wait till Square Enix stops being idiots and release their games on there.
@the4seer The riots and looting and violence are the response to that person being murdered and now more people have been murdered. For Nintendo to release a statement of support now means that they must support the current response. Are they trying to encourage the rioting, looting, violence and killing to continue?
@Crono1973
Ok... I'll Bite, because now I'm curious...
What SHOULD Nintendo have said?
@the4seer NOTHING!
@masterLEON I’m not sure what you mean by “where the franchise is currently”, other than that you might not have been satisfied with recent releases, but I highly doubt Nintendo is gonna bench the series permanently (so it’ll get more than “one more good shot”). It’s been on every home console since the SNES (except Wii) as well as DS and 3DS, despite not being one of their highest selling franchises. Yeah, they’ve sorta been all over the place in gameplay, but at this point it’s more or less Nintendo’s guinea pig franchise and I don’t think they’re gonna let that go anytime soon. And like... it’s had more of those experimental releases than the original formula at this point, so fans know to expect that. After Zero they might not want to do a regular release again anytime soon but I think it’s plausible we may have a Switch entry that tries something new again. And I wouldn’t say no to that, as my favorite two entries were Command and Adventure.
Stunt Race FX needs more love.
I think the best game is Kirby Superstar. Then Operation Logic Bomb, Pop n Twinbee and Super EDF are also tops on my list with SMB and Zelda LTTP, and Kirby Dreamland 3. I never liked Punch out or F-Zero which I think are overrated. I like Breath of Fire a lot more than BOF 2. Super Ghouls and Ghosts also gets love.
There are many classics in the collection, but it really needs some more RPGs. When I think of the SNES it is the role play games that really made it stand out from the Mega Drive and it would be good to see more of them on this service (especially as I don't view the Breath of Fire games as being among the best).
Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy IV & VI, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Shadowrun, Terranigma, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Time (aka Gaia), Secret of Evermore, Lufia I & II, Star Ocean...
@WiltonRoots ,
I don't think it's a crime.
@johnvboy I've heard so many good things about it, but I know it's a game I'd have to invest a bit of time in, at the moment I much prefer a more pick up and play style of game, throw it on for half an hour or so then walk away...it's the old school arcade in me.
@Pak-Man I had no idea Metroid Prime and BotW started on SNES 🤓
@Deltath i lust mean i dont want to be a toxic member of the community that always wants more d:
Super Metroid is an absolute masterpiece and still one of the greatest games ever made. My only complaint about that game is that the controls have a steep learning curve and don't make a lot of sense at first. I feel like Fusion and Zero Mission improved on it in the control department, but went backwards everywhere else.
My personal favorite is Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
I grew up and loved many of them, but to be honest my controversal answer is to say breath of fire 1 is my favorite of all of them. It's an under rated RPG for it's time. It was one of the first rpgs that had night and day cycles and it ACTUALLY MATTERED to game mechanics. it was something i hadn't seen before until that game and it was just one of many reasons that game really holds a place for me. When it was added to virtual console I played the most hours of it. Sure it was overly grindy and a majorty of game aws literally spent walking in circles for random battles to get money and exp. That was the JRPG experience of the time though. The game at least had many places they designed for you to do exactly this. The game had many free healing fountains throughout game that basically said "Pst, grind here"
@ShadJV I actually rather liked Zero. I even recorded my entire day-one run from start to finish, which was about 5 1/2 hours. The big reason I haven't uploaded it is because I don't think I did that great. That, and general unfamiliarity with 64's mechanics (I was never really good at picking out times to do the charge shot) probably put me at more of a disadvantage.
But yeah, it's more that the core Star Fox titles don't draw in the $$ (and Zero's "64 remake" direction and heavy handed approach to the dual-screen gameplay didn't help either). And that always has me worried that it'll be left out to limbo at some point like F-Zero, where Smash is the only place left to pay homage to the franchise.
I still haven't played all of them, either. Barely any, in fact. I'm literally placing all my fandom square on the shoulders of Star Fox 1 and Zero/64, but it's more on the original game if anything (because of my love for rail shooters). That said, I kinda want to try Assault because the flying levels, to me, look fantastic for a Gamecube game.
If Nintendo does greenlight one more Star Fox game, I hope they'll put EVERYTHING they've got behind it. Or rather, they have to.
@masterLEON I like Zero, it wasn’t my favorite but I enjoyed it.
I highly recommend Command at least - Adventures is admittedly nothing like the original games, but Command is like having a strategy game where the battles are fought like in 64.
And I’m not worried about it reaching a limbo like F-Zero, or even it only getting “one more” game. Want some numbers for comparison? The longest we’ve ever gone without a Star Fox release is 5 years. That’s for the entire history of the franchise, and it’s only been 4 years since the last release (less if you count SF2, which was never released before). Meanwhile, it’s been 16 years since the last F-Zero game. Star Fox has gotten way more love than F-Zero.
So why the disparity? Miyamoto has straight up said he couldn’t think of something new to do with F-Zero. To Nintendo, F-Zero is a racing series and could never be anything else. And Nintendo is really into innovating and experimenting, especially with their lower selling franchises. They’ve had no shortage of ideas to experiment with Star Fox though, and once again, it’s only been 4 years since Zero, and it’s never been over 5 years between releases. Now I doubt we’re getting a new Star Fox in the next year (though Nintendo has adopted a strategy of dropping announcements only months before releases), but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re at least in the planning stages for a new title.
Some hardcore fans seem to think Star Fox has been shelved for long gaps like F-Zero but honestly 5 years between releases is tiny, I think those fans just don’t like to accept the titles that differ from the first couple. I’d be very shocked if we had a 16 year drought for Star Fox... and heck, let’s be honest, F-Zero will have more than a 16 year drought. I almost wonder if that series has been shelved for good.
@masterLEON also meant to add this: I doubt Nintendo will put “everything they’ve got” behind a Star Fox game. It’ll always be an experimental series for them. Unless an entry suddenly somehow becomes a top seller, they’re not going to make it a priority in terms of resources. It’s sorta like Fire Emblem, which didn’t get a ton of love before Awakening... but when Awakening sold gangbusters, they started giving it more attention.
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