411 Games Top 5 02.25.10: Week 52 - Favorite Super Nintendo Games

Posted by Todd Vote on 02.25.2010

From Super Mario World to Killer Instinct, and no less than 2 versions of Mortal Kombat, the games staff breaks down our favorite Super Nintendo games.

Not much in the way of feedback last week. You guys & gals must be scared to show your guilty favorites huh? You bunch of sissies. Or perhaps the subject just wasn't appealing to you. Either way, let's get to what little feedback there was.


Comment Time with Toddo!

Salmela, once again not funny and I fail to see who actually gets your sense of humour... You are as bad as Kristopowitz over at Movies... Truly brutal seeing your crap in with all the other reasonable pieces
Posted By: Sexy Steve (Guest) on February 18, 2010 at 06:26 PM

Wow, that's talent right there. You see the way he slammed Salmela, and actually worked in a dig at a totally different zone too? I'm impressed. As with anything in the games top 5, for every one of you who doesn't like Salms particular brand of humor, there are several who do. So Salms stays whenever he wants in. If you aren't a fan of his, I simply suggest passing over his list. Lifes to short to get upset at the musings of a madman.

For not knowing the column was an "Our Favorite..." column, my bad. Sorry, Toddo. It does change the context of my post entirely and I stand corrected. Thank you.

That being said, I'm sorry you read cynicism in the comment because that was far from its intent. The reason I keep clicking is because I admire the concept of an online hub of information pertaining to things I enjoy: tv/film, games, mixed martial arts, politics, and wrestling lore... and I see other gaming-centric sites evolving with the industry and hope the same for a site I've been visiting for a few years now.

Albeit misdirected ("Our Favorite" rather than "Top"), the intent was to give a voice to readers like myself who have built a quality library of great games over the years and are loving the ascension of Gaming to the pinnacle of the entertainment industry (where we have always known it was headed...and deservedly so).

If the column is just a fun piece on your favorites, then fair play to you.

The financial scale of the gaming industry, coupled with its ever-broadening and 'maturing' audience, and driven by high quality entertainment experiences makes it a)very difficult to be cynical about things at all; and b)inevitable that delivery of industry-related news/opinions will change and evolve with the gaming population (evidenced by the success of endeavors such as the televised V.G.A's in America and pro-gaming leagues in other countries). My intent was to address the apparent gap between the Gaming industry and its journalistic representation. Again, sorry if I came across cynical and, you're right, I didn't realize the column was devoted to "Favorites." My bad.

Unpaid? ouch! Good on you for doing what you love. Anyway, sorry for the misinterpretation on my part and good luck with your column.
Posted By: The 4.1.1 (Guest) on February 18, 2010 at 04:07 AM

Thanks for clarifying your post from a couple weeks ago 4.1.1. I appreciate your apology, and offer my own up as well, sorry to seem so pissy about my position of "our favorites" over "all time best", it's just that I have to remind readers of that fact nearly every week. If we ever do try to do an all time best of any subject, I can assure you that is something that we will all take infinitely more seriously. The ouch on not being paid is not necessary. We may not get paid, but it does have it's perks. We all love to write and love to play games. Besides, it's not like it takes us a 40 hour work week to put together one weekly column. Keep reading, and perhaps someday we will try to capture the all time best, though I'm not making any promises.

Guilty pleasure: ALL VIDEO GAMES

Because I've never gotten laid, or impressed anyone, or done anything productive ever by playing them.
Also, Primal Rage.
Posted By: The REAL MP (Guest) on February 18, 2010 at 05:36 AM

HAHAHA!! I love it. That was funny right there, I don't care who you are. Video game playing hasn't gotten me laid, but it has gotten me pictures of boobies, so there is that at least.

Scorafina..do you really look at us as nothing but objects, or is it just your gimmick?
Posted By: MissyNEVERWearsSocksWithShoes (Guest)M on February 17, 2010 at 11:23 PM

and the reply was:

Yeah, that Scorafina guy is a misogynist, ain't he?
Posted By: mlsq42 (Registered) on February 18, 2010 at 06:37 AM

Mathew made mention of this in his Ask 411 Games column this week, so head over there if you want more.

LISTS
5. Kirby Air Ride- I have no issues proclaiming my love for the Kirby series. Despite the cute and kiddyness they are quality games. This one... not so much but I still love it because it has Kirby in it.

4. Rock Band/Guitar Hero- Sometimes I'll get really into singing a really crappy song.

3. Yoshi's Story- This is the N64 one. Its so over the top and ridiculous with cuteness that I can't help but love it yet simultaneously be ashamed.

2. Super Smash Brothers Brawl- The guilt here is how many hours and how seriously into Brawl I was at one point.

1. Pokemon- The core gameplay in the Pokemon franchise is fantastic. I will be catching them all till I die.
Posted By: Justin (Guest) on February 18, 2010 at 11:28 AM

Guilty Pleasures, *sigh*, alright alright, you forced it out of me.

5. Rumble Roses XX - for all of the reasons Sforcina said and more. The sad part is I actually like the gameplay. The reason it sucks is because of the confusing manner to get achievements. But we play anyway.

4. Any Leisure Suit Larry game, even Box Office Bust...BOB was the worst by far, but I still hope they bring back the original greatness of the first couple LSL games.

3. Lego Games, they are cute, adorable..and I play the living crap out of them. It's also one of the few console games I can count on my wife (she's a WoW & Facebook app junkie for the most part) playing with me too.

2. World of Warcraft - I love WoW, I can't help it. I used to be the biggest anti-WoW person that walk this great green earth. But after Guild Wars, I was willing to give the bully on the MMO playground a try. I did and I was hooked. Someday I'll have a level 80, I swear.

and
1. Any variation of Bejeweled: It can be Bejeweled, Jungle Jewels, Puzzle Quest, your Mama looks like Jewel so I plonked her last night, it doesn't matter. I secretly love these games and enjoy playing them. It's something about matching colors and watching them cascade into other matches and racking up points that keeps me addicted. I even see the crap in my sleep occasionally.
Posted By: Kedrix (Guest) on February 18, 2010 at 08:38 AM

5. Klax (Atari Lynx) - Only because holding that beast long ways makes me look like a dope

4. Yoshi's Story (N64) - It's hard to not feel like a 5 ear old playing this, but it's so much fun!

3. Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego (NES, SNES) - Neither of them were all that great, but I really took a shine to them for some reason.

2. Pit Fighter (off of Midway's Arcade Treasures 2) - It's so bad it's awesome!

1. NHL Stanley Cup (SNES) - I know that this game had almost no redeeming qualities whatsoever, but I can't get enough of it! I espcially like searing through the teams and see how many of them no longer exist (like the Winnepeg Jets and Hartford Whalers)
Posted By: Chris Scott (Guest) on February 18, 2010 at 12:22 PM

"BMX XXX - It had scantily clad women and I was a teenager who happened to like the Dave Mirra and Tony Hawk's games."

NICE! I still have that game & it upscales w/full widescreen support on the 360. Good times, but maybe just because I use to be into bmx when I was young.

I got to go with the first Rumble Roses on Ps2 for gameplay, and of course XX on the 360 for graphics.

Not to unintentionally start a theme, but I also agree to the above commenter on the Leisure Suit Larry games. I didn't try the 360 one, but the one that came out a few years ago for PS2/xbox was pretty funny but it had horrendous loading times that made it almost un-playable.

Lego games for sure are great, especially is you have a kid to co-op with. Star Wars, Indy, & Batman are all good. I actually was semi-excited to see the pre-order slip for the Harry Potter one at Toys R Us, even though it will just be more of the same.

NFL Blitz 2003 is probably a guilty pleasure when friends come over due to it being so pick up & play friendly but way past it's prime. It's backwards compatible on the 360 but not in widescreen.

Any "lightgun/Nyko Perfect Shot" game on the Wii are also guilty pleasures. Both House of the Deads & Ghost Squad. I haven't found a copy of the infamous Target Terror yet, but the Regal Cinema down the road has it in their lobby to make fun of.

Oh here's one more pretty lame game that I've been helping my 5yr old with, Superman Returns. He seen those classic Christopher Reeve movies because they've been playing them like every week on Encore or hdnet & now he's all about Superman.
Posted By: Byzdalmyt (Guest) on February 18, 2010 at 05:14 PM



We stepped away from identifying our favorites per system for a bit, but we forgot one. We forgot arguably one of the greatest consoles of all time. Of course I am talking about the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Super Scope Six aside, Nintendo was really firing on all cylinders when they released this gem. And I am not afraid to say this is probably one of the hardest lists I've had to do. Narrowing my list down to 5 was no easy task, as with most classic systems, there was just so much goodness to draw from. So many memories to be had, but we did it anyways. We narrowed our lists down to our 5 favorites, plus HM's. Without further ado, here they are: Our favorite SNES games.

Adam LarckHONORABLE MENTIONS

Chrono Trigger - One of the classic RPG's, this game is still a blast to play today.

Earthbound - Ness and company never have gotten the justice they deserved with a true sequel. A great game for the system.

Donkey Kong Country - One of the many great platformers for the system, the game had a great variety of levels that was fun to play numerous times.

Yoshi's Island - While Baby Mario may have gotten annoying when he was taken away, controlling Yoshi going through the greatly designed worlds more than made up for it.

5.Kirby's Super Stars - I've always loved Kirby, and being able to play so many games staring him on one cartridge was great. The new powers added to the game was nice to use, and the broad variety of game modes gave me quite a bit to do throughout the game. Whether it was racing Kirby around various worlds, finding treasure or taking out a gauntlet of bosses, this game offered a lot of good times.

4.Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - Mario's first RPG was definitely a great one. The characters introduced were really memorable and need to be revisited again. In fact, this great game needs to be revisited as well. The simple battle style, fun story and unique lands to see really made this game worth playing, and fans are still waiting to go back to this game again.



3.Super Mario World - Whether it was floating around with the cape or walking around with Yoshi, this game was a lot of fun. The game could range from the simple levels to the challenging to the just plain weird, mostly in the Star World zone. Still, the game was great to play and is still fun today.

2.Super Metroid - As much as I loved beating this game, I liked exploring the land just as much. I never knew when I might uncover a hidden missile tank or health container. Plus, it also helped me uncover the map completely, something I always try to do in games I like. Still my favorite game in the series.

1.Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Still one of my favorite Zelda's today, the reason this game was so much fun to me was the items. Rewarding exploration with different attack medallions and canes were great. So was being able to upgrade items to better versions, such as the red boomerang and golden arrows. Besides the items, the world was just great to explore and dungeons were fun to take care of. Still one of my top games of all time.

Lee PriceHONORABLE MENTIONS

Star Fox - Really showcased the power of the SNES and was a pretty damned good game to boot.

5.Final Fantasy III/VI - I must admit to only recently playing through this, and I must also admit that I wasn't as enamored with it as the fans of the game had led me to believe I would be. Having said that, it is still a superb RPG with a great story that has arcs for every character and a lot of surprising twists. The battle system is perhaps a mite simplistic, and I'm not the biggest fan of the graphical style, but I still loved the game and was addicted from start to finish.

4.Super Mario Kart - This is multi-player how it is meant to be done. A few years ago one of my favorite gaming magazines held a reader's poll which voted this as the best retro game of all time. While I don't agree with that result, I can understand the reasoning. For me, until Goldeneye came along, Mario Kart and Micro Machines were the pinnacle of multi-player gaming. The single player is fun too, but if you only play that you aren't even getting half of the experience.



3.A Link to the Past - A lot of people love this game and with good reason. It was one of the first proponent of the whole light/dark world theme that Nintendo seemingly fell in love with for a while. It was also a massive improvement on the NES Zelda games. However, for me it is actually fourth choice behind Link's Awakening, OoT and even Wind Waker. That still doesn't change the fact that it is a classic that needs to be played.

2.Super Street Fighter 2 - Outside of the arcade cabinet, the SNES versions of the Street Fighter games were the best of the bunch. The console's superior power showed through and put the Genesis and its rampant slow down to shame. It helps that SSF2 is one of the best fighters ever as well of course.

1.Super Mario World - A very, very strong contender for best game ever, never mind best Mario game. Super Mario World is just platforming perfection. Level design is perfect, the graphics are simply but gorgeous, with a few little tricks to showcase the SNES's power and the music is as catchy as ever. This is as good as 2D platforming ever got and in my mind the only game that competes is Sonic 2.

Armando Rodriguez

5. Killer Instict - One phrase: UUUUUUULLTRRRRAAA COOOOMMMMMBBBOOOOO! That should be enough. But since I am in a good mood, KI is perhaps the second best fighting series in the world (behind Mortal Kombat and just above Virtua Fighter) and any fighter that has Sabrewulf in it automatically rocks.

4.Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 - Just read the above statement. MK is the only fighting series that is better than KI, so it has to be at least one spot up. But really, just giving me Scorpion and Reptile back after they were absent from MK3 is enough to make me happy. Oh and let's not forget the ultimate cheap-ninja that is Rain. That thunder attack pisses me off...and my girlfriend loves him because he is purple. Yes, my girlfriend plays MK. Be jealous Toddo!
Not sure what I should be jealous of, your woman can't kick my ass in Mortal Kombat



3.Chrono Trigger - The original time traveling RPG that features Chrono and his band of misfits. With multiple endings, an enjoyable combat system and artwork by Akira Toriyama, no wonder people love this game. Those that own the original SNES game have quite a bit of cash too, since the game is selling for a ton of money on eBay.

2.The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - This is the second greatest Zelda game ever, behind Ocarina of Time. It also happens to be the first Zelda title I played and it is awesome. The ability to travel between two worlds and see the changes is something that was unique at the time. The dungeons, the puzzles...everything combined to make a fantastic game.

1.Harvest Moon - Yes, raising cows and watering crops is my favorite pastime. Well, actually, I hate those things, but on the SNES they were fun! I would say this is the third best Harvest Moon, with the Gamecube and PS1 versions ahead of it and the Nintendo 64 version as the fourth best. Yes, I have played them all.

Stephen RandleHONORABLE MENTIONS

Ogre Battle - Oh, my eternal nemesis, one day I will finish you.

TMNT: Turtles in Time - Greatness which has been soured by the poorly done remake for Live and PSN.

Breath of Fire II - A good RPG with great story, but man, it was really long and fairly hard. One of the first games I pulled an all-nighter trying to beat, which was a mistake.

5.Rock n Roll Racing - I do not have what you might call excellent video game driving skills. So if we're going to race, I'm going to need some other way to even the playing field. Cars outfitted with nitro boosts, mines, and missiles? That works. Plus, for the hell of it, let's give it a classic rock soundtrack and actually pay for licensed tunes. Is there any wonder the company behind this went on to eventually make World of Warcraft and, consequently, rule the entire MMO world?

4.NBA Jam - I don't like basketball. So if a basketball game can keep me entranced for hours as I try to run through the entire NBA, two players at a time, it must be a pretty damned good game, wouldn't you say?



3.Super Mario Kart - Somehow, in my mind, they've never really improved on the blissful simplicity of the original Kart. Back before Blue Shells of Cheapness and "elastic" AI, you lived or died by your skill with power sliding, shortcutting, and, if you were racing from the front, using only bananas and coins. Friends were lost over red shell use, man. You have no idea.

2.Final Fantasy VI - My favourite FF game, and the one I really want to see a next-gen remake of. Sadly, that will never happen, so I'm stuck with my old 16-bit memories of Terra, Locke, and the rest. And especially Kefka. I miss that evil bastard clown.

1.Chrono Trigger - It's my favourite game of all time, where did you think it was going to rank? Is there anything I can say about this that I haven't already said a whole bunch of times? No? Didn't think so. Greatest. Game. Ever.

Reader Voice Dominic Holley: Capcom WhoreHONORABLE MENTIONS

Mortal Kombat 2- If this was the Genesis version it would be in the top 5, but it's not, so it's not. Also, Todd LOVES MK, so of course, fuck MK (Just messin' wit ya, Toddo).
Keep it up Junior, I think Mark might have a spot reserved for you in the basement...

Killer Instinct-I still remember getting this game on Christmas, turning with music off and playing Killer Cuts, playing the track according to what stage I'm on. I didn't go to sleep until sometime early on December 27th, no lie.

5. Mega Man X- This is the first Mega Man game I got addicted to, mainly because I'm fairly shitty in Megaman 1-7 (I was actually sort of good on part 8). As horrible as I was in those Mega Mans', I was great in the X series. I remember when I first learned that you could actually shoot hadoken fireballs...long story short, even in the Mega Man universe, Ryu would STILL own all kinds of ass. My Capcom flag was at full mass, starting with the Super Nintendo, and Mega Man is only the curtain jerker.

4. Final Fight- Just keeping the flag wavin'. For future reference: Mike Haggar is the greatest mayor of all time. I loved this game so much as a kid...everything except Super Andore, erm, I mean Abigail. Actually, fuck the Bay Area stage altogether. If you've seen Mike Haggar, then you realize why it's so damn annoying to be harassed like a little bitch by a guy who looks like an overgrown diehard Charlotte's Day fan.



3. Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems- If a Capcom game has Hulk in it, it has to be abso-fuckin-lutely horrible for me not to like it. Needless to say, this game is awesome, which is the usual Capcom standard. Also, when this game was new, it introduced me to a small amount of mutants I didn't know of before. I am a Comic Nerd/ Video Game Freak, I may have to change my pants just talking about it. Hell, I might just download an emulator and play it right after I finish typing this.

2. TMNT 4: Turtles In Time- I have idea of what I could possibly say that hasn't been said before. Back then were the days where if I got tired of the games I was just fucked, because they came few in between. This was one game that I never got tired of playing, if for nothing else I wanted just to jam out to the music from Prehistoric Turtlesaurus. The Turtles were all the rage back then, and I would swear up and down is that I am the human spirit of Leonardo. This is a game I think will stand the test of time; even with the technologically spoiled kids we have today, Turtles in Time is just great, plain and simple.

1. Street Fighter II- SF 2 was in the first GamePro magazine I ever had. I remember falling in love with this game the first round of the first match I ever had. The characters were great in a slapstick way, I loved the music, and the skills that came along with practicing really made me feel good, especially when I would play against a button masher and while he's mashin' away I calmly, slowly press buttons and it looks as if I was the one pulling off all the finger gymnastics by the end of the match. I damn near got a Mark Salmela-like obsession wit Street Fighter 2, but unlike Mark Salmela, I'm actually obsessed with a tremendous game.
Yep… Mark will definitely have a spot reserved for you…

Drew RobbinsHONORABLE MENTIONS

Earthbound - I give this game a lot of crap, but most of that crap is because my brother professes his love for it on an hourly basis. As far as RPGs go, you would be hard-pressed to find something more original than Earthbound. Its set in a modern (well, 90's) world, based around a group of mostly ordinary kids, bashing in crazed hippies or cultists with a baseball bat. What could be better?

5.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time - Ninja Turtles? Always awesome. Time travel? Similarly great. Put them together and truly you are making magic. Everyone should have played the original arcade game, and this is just more of the same...but with time travel!

4.Super Punch-Out!! - I'm not usually skilled at most video games I pick up, but there was something in me that just clicked with Super Punch-Out!! Perhaps its my lack of nostalgia for the original, but I enjoy this one quite a bit more as can be seen by my unholy knockout records. Really, they are incredible. I have witnesses, ask Derek!

3.Chrono Trigger - Last time I appeared in Top 5 I told you why Chrono Cross was one of my all-time favorites. This time, we'll step it back a bit and look at where the series got off the ground. Chrono Trigger is a very memorable game, there quite simply was nothing out there like it at the time. Its writing just alright but it made up for those weaknesses with, shock, a killer soundtrack. If you've played this game and say that one of these tunes didn't get caught in your head, you are a filthy liar.



2.Donkey Kong Country - Before he was relegated to mediocre racing games and even his own instrument peripheral rhythm series, Donkey Kong was my favorite platforming hero. Running and jumping from platform to platform as an ape and his tiny chimp friend just felt so right. It really is a shame that Donkey Kong hasn't gotten his time to shine since Rare left him in the hands of Nintendo, but one can only hope that a return is on the way. Punch-Out did it!

1.Super Metroid - I've wrote about this game so many times on this site that I no longer have anything to add. Just play the game, dangit!

Todd VoteHONORABLE MENTIONS

C2: Judgment Clay - And you think I like some fighting games now? I used to have to own them all back in the day, well minus Street Fighter of course.

5.The Death and Return of Superman - In my humble opinion, Superman has yet to be featured in a better game than this one right here. Arguably the most famous Superman story of all time was adapted for this side scrolling beat em up game.

4.Donkey Kong Country - Before anyone gets in an uproar, asking why this one is featured when the series had better games, the answer is as simple as this is the only one I ever got my hands on. For me and a buddy this game was all we ever played for like two months. I think that might be a big part of why I never touched any of the other DKC's. I got played out on the first one. Same thing happened to me last year when MW2 was released.

3.Super Mario World - Is it just me or does it seem like every time Nintendo releases a new system, the first Mario game usually ends up being the best one for the system? Either way, this game took the formula for awesome that was perfected with Super Mario Bros. 3, and turned it up to 100.

2.Mortal Kombat 2 - The Genesis version of MK 1 gets the nod simply for the inclusion of blood. Well Nintendo erased that from our memory with a near arcade perfect version of MK2. Many a weekends were lost to this game.



1.Killer Instinct - Did you have any doubt?


Bonus Video:
Hitler will not Job to Hogan:



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Well there you have it. Our favorite SNES games. I know there is so much missing from the lists, but thats the beauty of the comments section. You can tell us all about it, along with your favorites. I know I look forward to seeing what you guys have to offer. We'll see ya back in seven for a new edition of the Top 5. Which I just realized will be the 1 year anniversary of the column... Maybe we'll do something different.... Eh, probably not.

Around the site:
Silicon 10 & 1 by Steve Gustafson

Retronomicon by Lee Price

Fact or Fiction with Mark Salmela

Four Player Coop with host Stephen Randle

Declamations and Diatribes with Aaron Koehn

And I leave you to ponder this thought:

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