411 Games Top 5 10.08.09: Week 32 - Top Super Nintendo Games

Posted by Todd Vote on 10.08.2009

In week 32, the 411 staff breaks down their favorite Super Nintendo games. From Super Mario World, to Donkey Kong Country. From Final Fight to Killer Instinct. Come inside to see if your favorites made the list.

Welcome back to another week of the Top 5. Last week, we went full on geek and detailed our top 5 video game vixens. Of course what top 5 would be complete without varying lists from the readers, let's jump right into the feedback from last week.


Comment Time with Toddo!
First up, it appears there were several readers bummed about a lack of any Street Fighter characters.

What?! No love for Cammy?!?

How about Jesse from Dead Rising? You got points for taking photos of her huge rack! Plus she has the whole 'Velma from Scooby Doo' thing going on. You know when she takes off the glasses and bureaucrat suit she is a (virtual) sex kitten!
Posted By: Armitage Shanks (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 03:55 AM

No love for Cammy? I'd die a happy man if I was hit by her frankensteiner
Posted By: Ryoga (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 09:09 AM

No Chun-Li?!
Posted By: Mark (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 01:09 PM

Man. How can there not be an entry for Chun-li in any of these lists? I don't even play Street Fighter and even I would have included her. Do you guys actually play video games?
Posted By: Guest#4636 (Guest) on October 02, 2009 at 12:24 PM

No guest... We don't actually play games. That would take up to much time out of the day, and we can't have that. Instead we just like to sit here and act like we play them, and hope that nobody catches on. You've caught us... the jig is up.. To the rest of you, the lack of SF ladies can be blamed solely on the Robbins' brothers not participating. They love the Street Fighter, so if there is none on the list it can be blamed on them not participating. (Just kidding Drew, and Derek.) On a more serious note, the lack of SF girls from me, is as simple as me not being as big of a SF fan as I am of other certain fighting games. But good call on Chun-Li, and her hips.

I've always thought Mona Sax from the Max Payne games was pretty awesome
Posted By: Guest#1980 (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 10:42 AM

Excellent call here. Mona was quite the femme fatale, especially in the movie with Mila Kunis playing the part... YUM!

No Kitana from MK?
Posted By: CL (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 04:23 PM

What can I say here? She's no Sonya Blade. How about some lists?

I'd say Orchid could be played by Paula Abdul, looks-wise if nothing else. Here's my list:

1. Lara Croft (2 hit movies and millions of games sold can't be wrong)
2. Ivy from Soul Calibur
3. Sonya Blade from Mortal Kombat
4. Chun-Li from Street Fighter 2
5. Pandora from Guitar Hero 2
Posted By: His Bubbliness (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 04:28 AM

5. The Dog (Duck Hunt)
4. Toad (Mario Kart 64)
3. Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet)
2. Lolo (The Adventures of Lolo II)
1. Elmyra (Tiny Toons: Buster Busts Loose)
Posted By: Deathpool (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 06:02 AM

Honorable mention: Heather (Silent Hill 3)
5. Lulu (FFX)
4. Nariko (Heavenly Sword)
3. Sniper Wolf (MGS)
2. Cammy (SSFII)
1. Aya Brea (Parasite Eve)
Posted By: Havok (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 12:10 PM

This is the kind of subjective list that nobody will ever agree with! But I'll go with:
Honourable mention to Lara Croft (when the history of hot female game characters is written, she'll get her own chapter).

The other 5 in no-particular order:

Tifa Lockheart (FF7)
Elaine Marley-Threepwood (Monkey Island)
Karin Koenig (Shadow Hearts: Covenant)
Joanna Dark (Perfect Dark)
Claire Redfield (Resident Evil)
Posted By: Steve B (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 02:39 PM

5. Nina Williams (tekken series. What? She kicked ass, you know it.)
4. Tifa (ff7)
3. Meryl (MGS, she whooped ass, and you got to see her semi naked)
2. Ivy (soul calibur)
1. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) For obvious reasons.
Posted By: Russonomics (Guest) on October 01, 2009 at 05:59 PM

Deathpool may have had the funniest list of the week. The dog from Duck Hunt...


This column is approved by Christina Hendricks


Another wonderful week brings a new list for all to enjoy. This week we are tackling the Top 5 SNES games. Yeah, I know another list that is almost impossible to narrow down to 5, but the things we do so you guys have some shit to read while at work... you're welcome. No but all seriousness, when choosing something like an entire system as a subject in the top 5 is sure to cause us to leave out plenty of great titles. I'm just saying this again so none of you feel like we are complete idiots for certain exclusions that you may have in your top 5. Sit back, have a little fun and get ready for the Top 5 SNES games.

First up this week is Jeffrey Harris, be sure to check out his History of Pride series over in the MMA zone. Good bit of nostalgic fun looking back on some good fights, some bad..

Jeffrey HarrisHONORABLE MENTIONS

Mega Man X Series - Hmm hard for me to name just one. But I'll go ahead and put the entire Mega Man X series down here which is awesome. Also I love Mega Man 7 for SNES, that one also rocked. Mega Man games seemed to go into decline after SNES IMHO.

Super Mario RPG - Amazing graphics, incredibly fun to play, and it was a great freaking RPG. Love the fireball attack.

Kirby Super Star - Kirby finally made it to the SNES and hit it big time with this awesome game. It took long enough but definitely delivered. Kirby is one of the few platform series that IMHO rivals Mario.

5.Donkey Kong Country - Seriously amazing stuff. The graphics for the system were unbelievably ridiculous. DKC was like the ultimate platform game. Sometimes hitting the barrels just right was really frustrating, but man turning Donkey Kong into a super hero you get to play as is awesome. None of the sequels measure up to the original IMHO. Also, using Winky rocks.



4.Super Mario Kart - Freaking badass awesome all the way! I would go over to my extended family's house and we would do the multiplayer battle royals for hours (using the multi-port controller accessory for the SNES). Those were the days. I forget who the best racer was, but the most suspenseful was being able to get the red turtle shell, the ultimate power-up. Green was rubbish.

3.Super Street Fighter II Turbo - Street Fighter II was awesome, but the version I liked best on SNES was the Turbo edition. Why? I loved the turbo speeds and also getting to play as the bosses. Loved the soundtrack for this game and playing as Bison. The ending cut scenes rocked.

2.Star Fox - This was one of the first ever 3D console games wasn't it? Or at least the first 3D one on SNES, right? Regardless, Star Fox, the original is one of my favorite games ever. When it debuted on the SNES I would spend hours at Target playing the one on display before I got my own. I mean the graphics were just very simple polygon shapes, but it was still incredibly effective and easy to pick up and play. I instantly loved characters like Fox and Slippy. Also the comic strips that were published with the game in Nintendo Power magazine were awesome. Not to mention the awesomeness like the Black Hole and the hidden level. Star Fox would eventually be topped by Star Fox 64 which is probably the most badass awesome game ever.

1.Super Mario World - Sega Genesis? PATOOEY! That's what was on my mind after getting an SNES and Super Mario World. SNES was the true evolution of video gaming, but even more evident in Super Mario World which was freaking awesome and even topped Super Mario Bros. 3 which is another freaking awesome game. People trash Yoshi, but I say to hell with that. Yoshi was awesome! I loved Yoshi and the cape power up. The Bowser fight was awesome. Still amazing graphics at the time for a console game.

Next up is Adam Larck, Adam joins us fresh off a review of Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS. What have you got for us Adam?

Adam LarckHONORABLE MENTIONS

Tetris Attack - I always liked the story mode in this game. Battling against enemies found in Yoshi's Island by matching blocks was fun to do.

Donkey Kong Country - This platformer offered a lot of various levels and other animals to ride. It spawned a great trilogy for the SNES.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - I'm not sure who came up with the idea of only controlling Yoshi through the game, but it was a great one.

Kirby Super Stars - I'm a big Kirby fan, and I still consider this one of the puffball's best games today. The variety of modes and power-ups were great.

5. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - One of my two favorite SNES games, I still want to see an actual sequel to this game. I've said a lot about this game in the past in various columns, so I'll keep this short. A great cast of characters, various areas to go and interesting storyline still makes this game rank up in my top RPGs today.



4.Tie: Earthbound & Chrono Trigger - The SNES had quite a few good RPGs, but my favorite ones were Earthbound and Chrono Trigger. Both games had a lot of memorable characters and great storylines. Plus, both games will probably never see true sequels that actually follow the original cast again, which is disappointing.

3.Super Mario World - The first of the Super trilogy on the SNES, SMW picked right up where SMB 3 left off. New worlds, some with multiple ways to exit, gave gamers a reason to explore their first time through. The Ghost Houses and Castles were a nice midway point and boss stage to fight. Plus, the switch houses were fun to do as well. I still like to see the various mods people have made for this game. They're always interesting.

2.Super Metroid - This is really the game that got me into the Metroid series. The various power-ups in the game were great to collect and use, and the boss fights were huge and interesting. I still remember the fights with Ridley and Mother Brain. Definitely one of the top games for the SNES…

1.Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - But not the top game for me. A Link to the Past gave me so much entertainment. The dark world was interesting, especially seeing Link as a rabbit for the first time. The hidden, unnecessary items were also fun to go after. I remember having both canes and all the medallions. Overall, this is still one of the best Zelda games in the series for me.

Joining us next we have a member of the Movie Zone staff, Steve Gustafson. Steve recently reviewed the film Paranormal Activity for the Movie Zone. I'll surely be checking out this film, as the trailers are just creepy as hell.

Steve GustafsonHONORABLE MENTIONS

Saturday Night Slam Masters! - What? You were expecting Super Punch Out? Although I didn't take advantage of the multi-player option, I had hours of fun with this wrestling free-for-all.

Secret of Evermore - Why wasn't this game more popular? And where is the movie based on it? The story follows a boy and his dog as they are transported to a fantasy world created by a nutty inventor. A fun and creative RPG that doesn't get enough love.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - An easy pick. While I'll always be a sucker for the original, this is superior and richly deserves the accolades it gets. Just writing about it makes me want to run and play it again and again.

5.Zombies Ate My Neighbor - Way before Zombieland there was...Zombies Ate My Neighbor! I never owned this game but my friend Adam did. He was the type of kid that had the cool stuff. The off-beat indie comic book. The quirky indie band bootleg cassette. The video games that you never heard of but were totally awesome. I want to say I was playing Ogre Battle over his house when he first told me about this game. The basics were you play as either a boy or a girl and you are armed with a gun with limited ammo and in every level you have to save your neighbors before the zombies get them or you! Old people, babies, cheerleaders, you get the picture. Pretty basic stuff. The levels are fun to play and keep you on your toes. You get to use trampolines to get over fences and make your way to the mall with different floors and stores to pillage. The real standout is your weapon selection. You get a gun, with limited ammo, so you collect as you go, but you can grab a soda, shake it, and use it as a bomb. Gotta love that. But Steve, what do the zombies look like? Glad you asked. Nothing to get crazy excited over but they are the green skinned variety that slowly make their way towards you, ready to feed! No set walking pattern, impossible to kill for good, and you have to fight a rack of them! Good hunting!



4.F-Zero - It's been a while since I played F-Zero but I remember thinking, "This is the greatest game ever! How will they ever make something better than this?" What can I say? I was dumb with no vision for the future. Looking at it now, it seems pretty ordinary but coming out when it did...it was AWESOME! Controlling a fast as lighting ship around courses...Ok, I'm doing a lousy job hyping it up, but trust me, it took things to another level back in the day. I didn't care about the "story" at that time, but the game takes place in the year 2560, where multi-billionaires with lethargic lifestyles created a new form of entertainment based on the Formula One races called...F-Zero. Worked for me.

3.Super Smash TV - "I'd buy that for a dollar!" I was really debating at putting this higher because I have so many fond memories of this game. If you've see Running Man then you understand this game. You compete in a violent game show in the FAR FAR future of...1999. Sad thing, they weren't too far off. I bet at studio, somewhere, a script for this show is sitting, collecting dust. Yeah, it's a crazy shooter game and it was perfect for days you just wanted to run around destroying everything in sight. Add in some cheesy phrases, "Total carnage! I love it!" and the hope that you could earn your freedom, along with some cash and prizes, made this a great game!

2.Chrono Trigger - I still love this game! The story, game play, character...it's all good! Chrono Trigger is an RPG that follows a group who travel through time to prevent a global catastrophe. That right there has a lot of possibilities. I don't know about now but for some reason this game had some backlash against it that I never understood. Who knows with the fickle feelings of fans? There's a ton to love about this game. Highly developed graphics for its time, subplots that enhanced the game tremendously, numerous endings, character development, and a really cool battle system. But the coolest part was it included TIME TRAVEL! Each time era brought new enemies, new allies, new adventures! I could put this on right now and you wouldn't hear from me for a week.

1.Super Mario Kart - The granddaddy of the Kart games! What can I say about this game that hasn't been said already. Even after all these years, it's still fun to play. The addictive factor for this game is off the charts and I credit this game for many restless nights of sleep due to hand pain. Yes, it was this game alone and nothing else. Anyways, this game not only invented the kart racing genre, it set the bar high. To me this was the perfect game to play alone, with friends, before work, late at night, while talking on the phone, or just to unwind. Thank you, Super Mario Kart!

That brings us to Mr. Lee Price. Lee writes Retronomicon for the site, this week he talks Grim Fandango, so go check it out.

Lee PriceHONORABLE MENTIONS

Star Fox - This was the perfect showcase for the SNES's powers at the time, and is still a good laugh to play now.

5.Final Fight - Granted it is nowhere near to arcade perfect, missing Guy I believe, but that still doesn't change the fact that it is one of the greatest beat em ups of all time. The graphics are beautiful and chunky and the collision detection is perfect, which is a must for games of this type. Though I marginally prefer the Streets of Rage series, Final Fight is a must have for the SNES and one of the greatest beat em ups of all time



4.Super Street Fighter II - Before the arrival of ports to more powerful consoles, the SNES version of Street Fighter was the one to have. Superior graphical and in terms of gameplay to the Genesis efforts, this was as close to arcade perfect as you were going to get for the time. I still bust this out from time to time, though I must admit it was surpassed both by Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Capcom vs SNK 2 in my eyes.

3.Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past - I'd be surprised if there's a list that doesn't include this game somewhere to be honest. An absolutely brilliant game which has spawned many imitators, not least Crusader of Centy on the Genesis which I think matches this game though I'm probably in the minority, this is an Action-RPG done right. While not my favorite Zelda game, that crown goes to Link's Awakening for me, this is still amongst the best games of all time.

2.Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - Certainly a superior technological achievement to Super Mario World, there is little to choose between the pair in all fairness. Again the graphics for this game are absolutely lush, with the hand drawn quality coming out of the screen quite beautifully. Of course you get the superior Nintendo platforming ability added in too and the baby carrying dynamic adds a little more challenge to the game as well. Top platforming through and through.

1.Super Mario World - I got this in the Super Mario All-Stars collection, which is hands down one of the finest compilation packages ever released. Super Mario World is simply platforming perfection in ever sense of the word. Everything is perfectly balanced, the graphics are great and the game plays like a dream. Its arguable whether it is superior to Mario 3 on the NES, but in my view it is and regardless it should be played anyway.

Last, but certainly not least is the man who gives me my weekly dose of MK, or KI girls in the Ultra Combo News Report Armando Rodriguez

Armando Rodriguez

5.Zombies Ate My Neighbors - I spent countless hours playing this game with friends. The game was funny, charming and challenging as hell. I have always wanted a sequel for it, but for some reason they never made it.



4.TMNT: Turtles in Time - Even if the SNES port was inferior to the arcade original and even when I played Hyperstone Heist more than this one, I still spent a long time playing this game. It was released at the right time, just when Turtle Power was at its peak in Puerto Rico, so everyone wanted to play this title. My favorite was Michelangelo, although for some reason all of my friends where fans of Leo. I still believe both 16-bit titles where better than the recently released remake, but that might be nostalgia talking.

3.Super Mario World - I liked SMB3 on the NES better, but this game was still all kinds of awesome. Yoshi is the best character addition to Mario ever! Usually I enjoyed levels in which he was around better than Mario only. Still, they put too much Yoshi into SMW2 and killed that game for me.

2.Chrono Trigger - With an awesome story, multiple endings and the character direction of one Akira Toriyama, Chrono Trigger is one of my favorite games of all time. It blows away all SNES RPG's (minus one) and is the best Square game of that generation. I know fanboys will cry, but this game was a thousand times better than Final Fantasy 7! Come to think of it, it is the best Square RPG ever! *NOTE* Sadly, I never played Chrono Cross, but most of my friends think Trigger is the better of the two. *END NOTE*

1.The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - My favorite Zelda game of all time and the only SNES RPG better than Chrono Trigger. I have played it on the SNES and also the GBA port and I love it more every time. Ocarina of Time is hailed as the best Zelda game of all time (I declare it a tie with A Link to the Past) but I admit to enjoying the gameplay of A Link to the Past a lot more. If they made A Link to the Past with Ocarina of Time's graphics, I would cream my pants.

Todd Vote

5.MKII - Mortal Kombat was an infinitely better game on the SNES, even without the blood. So imagine my giddy little schoolgirl attitude when it was announced that MKII would feature full blood on the SNES... Oh yeah, I was excited, and it payed off as this is easily the better of the two versions.



4.Super Mario World - This was like Super Mario 3 turned up to eleventy billion. More of all the great things that we love about Mario, plus a few new tricks also.

3.NBA Jam - Well if it was a favorite on the Genesis, wouldn't it stand to reason that the better counterpart would be a favorite as well?

2.Donkey Kong Country - Still one of the funnest games of all time. Donkey Kong Country was just a huge deal for Nintendo making Donkey Kong as reliable a franchise as any Nintendo has not named Mario.

1.Killer Instinct - Just as the first MK was the reason I chose a Genesis, Killer Instinct can be blamed for me finally breaking down and getting a Super Nintendo. Killer Instinct remains at the top of my all time top 5 games ever. Now... if Rare would just get their ducks in a row and give me KI3. Bastards.


Bonus Video:

Screwattack Top 10 SNES games:

Video Games | ScrewAttack | Top 20 SNES Games (10-1)

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Well that wraps yet another week. Be sure to check back in seven for another exciting edition of the Top 5. Once again you will have to come back to see what subject we will be discussing. I can promise it's not something I have thought of at the time of this writing, but I can promise it will be fun. See you then.