One of my favorite memories over 26 years of existence is my time with Super Nintendo games. Not the console itself, no — that came and went before I was born. But I was certainly destined to play some of its greatest hits. Long story short, my house and a few blocks around had no internet since the shared ISP went down. It was also the start of summer vacation, and my folks were out of town. I figured I could live on noodles, rice, and the friendly lady next door, while blowing my allowance on a knockoff 400-in-one SNES console from the local market.

I called a friend over so I wouldn’t die of isolation, and worried my ‘girlfriend’ might leave me since I had no way to contact her. Regardless, it mattered not, since I had a brand-new console to play on, and for five magical days, the SNES classics pulled me in — and I never even touched my PC.

13 Honorable mention — Zombies Ate My Neighbors (1993)

A cult classic that never sold as well as it should have

Long before they were making fantastic Star Wars games that I can't forget to this day, Lucasfilms made this gem for the SNES. Interestingly enough, Zombies Ate My Neighbors isn't one of the games I played over that historic week in the summer of '08. It was in 2021 that I played the PS4 port of the game online, and boy did I enjoy the heck out of this mindless game where I rescued hopping cheerleaders and shot old-man rotting zombies.

Today, playing it again on an SNES emulator, I don't have anything remotely close to the patience I had back then, which means that the only way to enjoy this game was to put cheats on. In fact, even with them, it's still hard to cycle through the inventory at later levels, and the way the zombies pounce at you continues to feel unfair, 32 years later.

12 Honorable mention 2 - Batman Returns (1993)

You’re never going to see it on Switch Online

Batman Returns was the tie-in game for Tim Burton’s movie of the same name. Konami released both a NES and SNES version of the game, and the generational leap between the two consoles was clear as day. The SNES version was also a Beat-’em-up, taking players through seven different scenes from the movie.

It’s an absolute shame that this Nintendo game won’t ever make it to Switch Online, due to obvious licensing issues. Regardless, playing it today, especially if you’re a fan of the Burton movie, is rather rewarding. The game does an excellent job at recreating sets and environments from the movie.

11 NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (1995)

Flashy, breezy, and an absolute joy to beat your friends at

The summer of 2003 was when I visited my aunt’s place for the summer break. This was where I experienced my first ever Famiclone. Of course, this led to every single cousin in the extended family fighting over who gets the most play time, and I decided to use my glorious fifteen minutes on a game called Double Dribble. Did I lose my precious time with the controllers that I would’ve otherwise spent playing Prince of Persia? Yes. Did I love Double Dribble, though? Absolutely not.

Sports weren’t a priority for the fat little kid I was, and naturally, when I came across NBA Jam: Tournament Edition on the SNES, I didn't bother with it. Regardless, the game managed to sell 1.2 million copies on the SNES, and when playing it today, it’s pretty easy to see why. The game is slick, it doesn’t take too long to throw you into the action, and the controls are simple, while the dunks are fantastic to look at and execute. Plus, it offered two-player shenanigans, and if anybody in that household had actually bothered to play the game (myself included), we just might have made some great memories.

10 Contra 3: The Alien Wars (1992)

It might never hold a candle to the first one, but it’s SNES royalty nevertheless

PSA — the first Contra game will always be my favorite, especially with the 30-lives cheat code on. A close second is actually 2024’s Operation Galuga, which beautifully recreated some of the old maps and managed to deliver the same joy I had when I picked up the Spread weapon, decades later.

However, Contra 3 deserves its fair share of flowers, too. It may not have sold as well as other Contra games or even others on this list, but by god, the music was fantastic. It’s also the very first game I loaded on the knock-off ‘Game Entertainment System’ in 2008, and boy was I blown away seeing the detail in the game, since I’d been expecting nothing but what I remembered from Contra on the NES.

9 Mega Man X (1993)

“Wait, he can do a kame-hame-ha?”

I’d never been a fan of Mega Man, and Mega Man X didn’t do anything to help that. While I couldn’t get enough of Contra 3 on the SNES, my friend clearly preferred Mega Man X over the former, perhaps due to its more forgiving nature.

Today, it’s clear that Mega Man X was one of the best games on the Super Nintendo console, thanks to its depth, visuals, music, and treatment of the character itself. Over the course of seven years, Mega Man X managed to cross the million sales mark and then some, becoming one of the more successful SNES games, and rightfully so.

8 Super Castlevania IV (1991)

This one made the generational leap from the NES ‘super’ clear

Yes, I know that Symphony of the Night is regarded as the best OST in the Castlevania series. Regardless, I still think Simon’s Quest wins over the former. That said, one game in the series I don’t often see in the great OST conversation is Super Castlevania IV. This one I had loaded to introduce my friend to the “greatest music ever”, since I’d believed it would be the same as Simon’s Quest, which I’d played on the previously-mentioned Famiclone.

We were instead greeted with a muted, dull soundtrack that neither of us liked. Of course, with the benefit of growth and hindsight, I consider the OST to be thoroughly atmospheric and impressive. When it comes to SNES games, Super Castlevania IV is an absolute must-play, as the game boldly flexed its generational advantages over its NES predecessors.

7 Final Fantasy III (1994)

The highest-selling Final Fantasy game on the SNES

Final Fantasy III (or VI) is the highest-selling Final Fantasy game on the SNES, and it deserved each one of its 3.4 million sales. Did I like it? No, I barely even knew about it when I loaded it, and my playthrough couldn’t have lasted over an hour. Call it the dopamine addiction of a ten-year-old who couldn’t stand the pacing of turn-based combat.

Regardless, Final Fantasy III deserves all the credit in the world, and its rightful place as one of the best games on the SNES ever made. It had everything — deep gameplay and combat systems, an engaging narrative, and a journey where the heroes would actually lose a fight, which wasn’t all that commonplace as a trope subversion.

6 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)

My favorite Mario game of all time, and it will never be close

I’m about to turn 27, and Yoshi’s Island is still my favorite Mario game of all time, and boy, it isn’t even close. The ultimate platformer that came at the perfect time for little ‘ol me, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was the Mario game I played before the first one, and it almost ruined the first game for me.

This was Nintendo’s last 2D platformer for the SNES, and they were definitely making a statement with it. Yoshi’s Island has aged insanely well, which is evident from the fact that I have twice as many hours on the SNES9x version than I have in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The 4 million copies this game sold are proof that Nintendo’s decision to continue making their games fun and cute was the right call.

5 Donkey Kong Country (1994)

I would've loved it so much more if I'd been born earlier

Donkey Kong Bananza is going to be the second ever Donkey Kong game I play, when I can finally get my hands on a Switch 2 in India. The first was Donkey Kong Country, which, in 2008, I found a lot like Disney’s Tarzan. Still, there was no denying just how good this game looked — Donkey Kong Country was a visual powerhouse. If you wanted to see what the SNES could do, this was the game.

With over 9 million copies sold, Donkey Kong Country stands as the third highest-selling game on the SNES. That kind of money could fill up a lot of barrels.

4 Chrono Trigger (1995)

The greatest RPG of all time?

There’s a reason that Chrono Trigger’s countless remasters and ports have rarely needed more than a slight brush-up. Not only has the game aged remarkably well over the course of three decades, but it also stands as one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

Sure, it may have ‘only’ sold 2.5 million copies on the SNES, but it has sold twice that with sales across other platforms. The time travel story may not have been for my ten-year-old self, but I can certainly appreciate it from a distance while acknowledging just how significant this SNES game was.