In November, Nintendo will release the NES Classic Edition, a mini retro console that includes 30 classic NES games for $60. Naturally, many gamers expect Nintendo will eventually release a similar product that will include a selection of classic Super NES games.
But why wait for Nintendo to announce an official product? Let’s come up with our own list of 30 SNES games for the assumed SNES Classic Edition!
EZK and I will share our lists on this weekend’s episode of Molehill Mountain (streams live right here on RandomTower, Saturday night at 6p PST!). In the meantime, share your suggested list of 30 SNES games in the comments below.
Have fun!
I decided to stick with my personal favorites, which probably aren’t the most representative of the system. Oh well!
Axelay
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Donkey Kong Country
F-Zero
Final Fantasy V
Ken Griffey Jr.’s Winning Run
Killer Instinct
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mega Man X
Micro Machines II
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition
Ninja Warriors
Parodius
Rock N’ Roll Racing
Star Fox
Sunset Riders
Super Castlevania IV
Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World
Super Mario Kart
Super Off Road
Super Punch-Out!!
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
Tetris & Dr. Mario
The Lost Vikings
UN Squadron
Uniracers
Wild Guns
Yoshi’s Island
Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Honorable Mentions
Mega Man 7
Plok
Super Adventure Island
Assuming that choosing from any third party publishers isn’t a problem, here is my list of 30 games that I’d like to see and feel that represent the console well.
ActRaiser
Aladdin
Chrono Trigger
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2
Donkey Kong Country 3
Earthbound
F-Zero
Final Fantasy VI
Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mega Man X
Pilotwings
Pocky & Rocky
Secret of Mana
Star Fox
Sunset Riders
Super Bomberman
Super Castlevania IV
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario World
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Super Metroid
Super Punchout
Super Street Fighter II
TMNT: Turtles in Time
U.N. Squadron
Zombies Ate My Neighbors
I actually have little to no experience with a Super Nintendo, as I grew up with a Genesis. All that would really matter to me is if it had Super Metroid.
1. Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World
2. Yoshi Island
3. Robotrek
4. Mickey Mouse – The Great Circus Mystery
5. Final Fantasy V
6. Final Fantasy VI
7. Super Metroid
8. Street Fighter 2 Turbo
9. Secret of Mana
10. Pilotwings
11. Starfox
12. Starfox 2
13. Earthbound
14. Mega Man X
15. TMNT IV: Turtles in Time
16. Chrono Trigger
17. Super Mario RPG
18. Donkey Kong Country
19. Donkey Kong Country 2
20. Breath of Fire
21. Breath of Fire 2
22. Lufia
23. Lufia 2
24. Super Widget
25. Tetris Attack
26. Darius Twins
27. Link to the Past
28. Kirby Dream Land
29. Kirby Superstar
30. Mickey Mouse – The Magical Quest
Other titles that should go on the list, but I ran out of space
Harvest Moon
Final Fantasy IV
R-Type 3
Mega Man X 2
Mega Man X 3
Super Adventure Island
Aero the Acro-Bat
Metal Warriors
Illusion of Gaia
I feel like I’m also forgetting a bunch of games as well… Also I didn’t get to include as many multiplayer titles as I would had hoped. I left Mario Kart and F-Zero off the list since I don’t quite thing they aged that well. I suppose Pink Panther and Inspector Gadget could be added to the list, but I wouldn’t class them as being up there with classic status. Though I did throw Super Widget in there, which was just to throw a interesting, yet not that great, of a game in to the mix.
Hm… Maybe.. Cool World or Out to Lunch….
What about super double dragon and final fight and of course tmnt Turtles in time those are great games back in the day’s we should take out Mario RPG I don’t care about that which we have too many Mario games already.
Several of you guys have listed Final Fantasy 5. I would assume that a console like this will focus on a US game listing, in much the same way as the NES Classic has done. If that is the case, then FF5 would be off the table.
If they were to pick a Final Fantasy game, I would suspect that Square would only let them do Final Fantasy 4 (2 in US SNES numbering). Why? Because Square is run by jerks and morons. I would much prefer to have 6 (3 in US SNES numbering). But Square does not like that game for some reason, even though it is in my opinion the best of all the FF games.
This is also why I suspect that the only other Square RPG to hit the list would be Super Mario RPG. That means that Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger would be off the list despite the fact that they are arguably the Top 2 RPGs on the SNES.
I can think of a reason why they wouldn’t use the original US titles. They haven’t show any love for that naming convention they did. They also know that FF6 sells more than the title FF3. As for FF5, it was part of the super Famicom lineup. And while it didn’t have a US release on the SNES, it did have a anthology release on the PS1. So there is source for it.
But the thing is, they wouldn’t let Nintendo have it, not even FF4. Hell, this includes Chrono Trigger as well. The reason? They “lost” the source materials. They would rather promote the newer “enhanced” versions than let people play a version with the original graphics. They would tell Nintendo to use those versions instead of letting them have access to the originals. And since Nintendo’s goal would be to use SNES classics instead of remakes, well you can see what would happen.
So you’re partially right about them being jerks. But not because they hate the games, but because they have turned into George Lucas.
I wasn’t suggesting that they use the US titles, I was just saying that FF5 would be off the table because it was never released in the US on the SNES. It didn’t come to the US until the Anthology collection on the PS1.
“They “lost” the source materials.”
Considering the console is just a bunch of ROMs running in a custom emulator, they could just pull the necessary ROMs from a cartridge like the rest of the world has done a million times. It isn’t copyright infringement when Square does it.
The whole “They lost” comment is their actual excuse when people asked why the rereleases of FFV and FFVI on iOS (and then PC) didn’t use the original sprites. Of course, when I went to look for that article where I read it I can’t find it so.. maybe a fevered dream.
I didn’t have an SNES, so most of my experience is from playing at a friend’s house. I can’t even think of 30 SNES games total, let alone 30 that I want. My short list would be:
Super Metroid. Even if nothing else, Super Metroid.
Super Mario World
A Link to the Past
Starfox
Megaman X
Chrono Trigger (I am bored to tears by JRPG “gameplay”, but the story and music on this one grabbed me and held me through to the end. Well, one of the many endings…)
SNES 30
(Personally I think if they did this, Nintendo would probably never give us 30)
1)California Games 2
2)Dracula X
3)Chrono Trigger
4)Drakkhen
5)Earthbound
6)FZero
7)Final Fantasy 3 (VI)
8)King of the Monsters
9)Out of this World
10)Populous
11)Race Drivin’
12)Secret of Evermore
13)Secret of Mana
14)Soul Blazer
15)Star Fox
16)Street Fighter II (pick one)
17)Super Castlevania IV
18)Super Mario Allstars + World
19)Super Mario RPG
20)Super Metroid
21)Super Punch-Out
22)Super R-type
23)Super Star Wars
24)Super Empire Strikes Back
25)Super Return of the Jedi
26)Turtles in Time
27)Act Raiser
28)Battletoads & Double Dragon
29)Pilotwings
30)Zelda: A Link to the Past
Gamasutra talked to game developers about the top 11 games on the SNES. I don’t think there will be much if any controversy over this list:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/279535/As_the_SNES_turns_25_devs_weigh_in_on_the_consoles_11_best_games.php
My only complaint is that if you’re going to pick Super Mario World, you might as well pick the version of Mario All-Stars that includes it.
I believe the article was the top 11 individual games, not the top 11 cartridges.
But I don’t think that Nintendo would include All Stars on a theoretical SNES Classic console. The reason being that they would consider it 4 games and since the NES Classic already has 1-3, there would be no reason to put them on this one.
But All Stars also included the real Super Mario Brothers 2, in addition to the reskinned Doki Doki Panic that we got as SMB2.
Should be noted that there isn’t a “fake” SMB2. There is only a “First”. Yes, the SMB2 the west got was a reskin of another game. However, keep in mind that the Japanese market, and Nintendo embraced the second SMB2 as being legit. The reason why the west didn’t get the original SMB2 wasn’t because they thought it was too hard for “the westerners”. It was because it WAS too hard for everyone, including for Japanese players. And instead of risking a flop by releasing a game that we would basically call today as a level pack, that had a high difficulty curve, they instead felt it would be best to reskin a game that had similar mechanics.
After the success of SMB2 in the west, they rereleased it as Super Mario USA in Japan, and Japanese gamers loved it. And now the enemies of SMB2 are now a part of the Mario Rogue Gallery. We would not have had Shyguys in Paper Mario. We would not have Ninji in Super Mario World. Bob-ombs in Mario 64. Hoopsters in SMB3. Peach would not float in Super Smash Bros. The list goes on.
Basically, my point is just that there is no single version that is real or fake. They are both real and canon. There is only a first and a second.
Fine, replace “real” with “original” if it makes you feel better. The point is, it is in All Stars, and it is not on the NES Classic Edition (and never had a western release other than in All Stars). So All Stars would bring something to the table other than just SMW and the 3 SMBs that are already on the NES CE.