Category Archives: Super Nintendo

Super Nintendo Week

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES for short) was first released in Japan as the Super Famicom in 1990.

After the success of the NES, any follow-up console from Nintendo would really have to be “super” to keep the ball rolling, and the SNES certainly was just that.

Countless great video games were released for the Super Nintendo and the system stands out in retro gaming history as something unique and powerful – compared to what had gone before it.

We’re spoiled now. Modern consoles can render a hundred thousand polygons in an instant. But back in 1990 you were lucky if you got hardware sprites and smooth-scrolling backgrounds. Thankfully the Super Nintendo had all of that. And it had “Mode 7” too – a now legendary graphics technique that allowed flat textures to move around in 3D space. Later on it had a special chip, called the Super FX Chip, that gave it more power and better 3D graphics capabilities.

The Super Nintendo played host to thousands of games overall, and a percentage have gone down in video gaming history as some of the best ever. The allure of the Super Nintendo is still strong. Be that in real hardware, which is still quite easy to get hold of, or via the magic of emulation.

This week I’m going to be celebrating the brilliance of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by adding a collection of grabs from great SNES games. Well, ones that we haven’t featured already, anyway. 🙂

Here’s a list of links to what was published that week:

Addams Family Values,
Super Mario Kart,
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe,
Sim Ant,
F-Zero,
Dungeon Master,
E.V.O.: Search For Eden,
The Lost Vikings,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time,
Super Bomberman,
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals,
Krusty’s Super Fun House,
Pocky & Rocky,
Smash TV

Click here to list all the Super Nintendo games we’ve featured so far.

Enjoy!
The King of Grabs

Super Nintendo Week 01

Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Super Nintendo

This brilliant single and multi-player overhead shooter by LucasArts is a parody of every single horror and sci-fi film you’ve ever seen.

Chainsaws, zombies, UFOs, mummies, werewolves, demonic babies, spiders, shopping malls – you name it, the game will throw it at you during at least one of its 48 different stages.

Continue reading Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Super Nintendo

ActRaiser, Super Nintendo

Developed by Quintet for Enix in 1990, ActRaiser is a hybrid side-scrolling hack and slash platform game, with an overhead ‘God game’ type section.

Continue reading ActRaiser, Super Nintendo

Rendering Ranger: R2, Super Nintendo

Rendering Ranger: R2 is a rare run-and-gun game from the end of the life of the Super Nintendo. It was published by Virgin Interactive in Japan only in 1995. Which is strange for a German game…

Continue reading Rendering Ranger: R2, Super Nintendo

Rock n’ Roll Racing, Super Nintendo

Rock n’ Roll Racing is a brilliant isometric, combat-based racing game by Silicon & Synapse – now Blizzard Entertainment – and was first released for the Super Nintendo way back in 1993.

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EarthBound, Super Nintendo

This 1994 cult classic Super Nintendo level-grinder was originally titled “Mother 2” in its native Japan – later changed in English-speaking territories to EarthBound.

This was due to the fact that no one outside of Japan had seen the first Mother (released in 1989 on the NES) and the bigwigs at Nintendo of America worried that it might confuse people.

Continue reading EarthBound, Super Nintendo

Umihara Kawase, Super Nintendo

Umihara Kawase is a weird-but-great Japanese platform game first released for the Super Nintendo in 1994.

The game has an excellent rope-based mechanic that makes it different and interesting to play.

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Star Fox, Super Nintendo

I’m going to use the Japanese and North American name for this game – Star Fox – rather than the European name (Star Wing, which was chosen because the name “Star Fox” was apparently too similar to a German company called “StarVox”!).

Continue reading Star Fox, Super Nintendo

King Arthur’s World, Super Nintendo

Argonaut Software‘s 1992 release (through Jaleco) – King Arthur’s World – is an interesting and challenging real time action game with strategic overtones.

Continue reading King Arthur’s World, Super Nintendo

Lady Stalker: Challenge From The Past, Super Nintendo

This 1995 Japan-only Taito release is a follow-up (spin-off, rather than a sequel) to Landstalker on the Sega Megadrive.

Continue reading Lady Stalker: Challenge From The Past, Super Nintendo