Greatest SNES Games (Need List)

[Felizginato12]

My birthday is coming up soon and umong other things (like more RAM for my computer) i'm wanting to get a SNES. I grew up playing a Sega Genesis (which is great) and I always wanted a SNES. Anyways, i've played the basic SNES games (DK country, the mario games, ect.) but I still missed out on some greats (FF5, Earthbound, and others).

So what i'm asking is can someone make a definite list of the greatest SNES games made? I know things like Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World but can any just get a total list of everything they think is a must have for the SNES.

Also, does anyone know where I can find a cheap copy of Earthbound just in case I get a SNES? I don't wanna pay 60$-80$ for one on Ebay.

[Reinboom]

Flea Markets and rummages for Earthbound. You might get lucky (as a friend did... 1$...)

Other than that... sorry.


For my list:
Megaman X series.
Chrono Trigger
Donkey Kong Country 2
The Lion King
The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse
Aladdin (most disney games during this time were awesome...)
Kirby Superstar (Kirby Allstars)
Mario Paint (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TZo-HAx540)
聖剣伝説3 ("Secret of Mana 2", wasn't translated, but great game and modding a SNES is easy - I did mine for this game)
聖剣伝説2 (Secret of Mana - Was translated)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Contra 3: The Alien Wars

That's my highest ranked list. The system has many many others, however.

@v She actually. Gender bent avatar.
And Super Mario RPG = Woo! That deserves on this list as well.

[Dumbledore lives]

@^ most of the games he mentioned but I would also suggest Super Mario RPG, Starfox, and Super Mario All Stars is great. Also Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time was a fun game, as was a power rangers game, don't remember its name. All I can think of right now, lot's of good games though. I myself was thinking of buying an N64.

[Half-blood]

Chrono trigger, Final fantasy, zelda. 'nuff said.

[blakyoshi7]

Earthbound!
Super Metroid
Kirby Super Star
Star Fox
Rampart

These are the only ones I can recommend personally.
Also, you should consider yourself lucky if you can get Earthbound off Ebay for $60. It's quite rare, but it's very much worth the money.

[Felizginato12]

Reading up on Earthbound I heard it costs between 60$ and 80$ on Ebay but I haven't checked. Along with Panzer Dragoon Saga Earthbound is one rare game I constantly hate myself for never playing.

But nonetheless I just got back from making a list of what are considered the best SNES games made. I know these are all cliche's but when they are this good you can't hate.

Earthbound (Again, never played)
Super Mario World (Played thousands of times but love it)
Donkey Kong Country (Eh, it sorta annoys me at some parts but it's still fun)
Super Metroid (I love Metroid)
Super Mario All-Stars (Played all the old games so this is a expected choice)
Kirby Super Star (Never got too into Kirby but I hear this is the best)
F-Zero (Love racing games)
Super Mario Kart (I love Kart racing games even more)
Final Fantasy III (What's that I feel? Oh yeah, the burning self hatred of never playing this.)
Super Mario RPG (Is this a rare game? I've never played it and I always considered myself to have played all Mario games as a kid.)
Yoshi's Island (Orgasmic love for this game)
Donkey Kong Country 2 (See DK Country above)
Secret of Mana (I played the GBA one and loved it)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (obvious choice for obvious reasons)
Chrono Trigger (Never played...)
Starfox (I loved the 64 game but never played the original)
Harvest Moon (Sorta iffy on this one)
Gradius III (love Gradius)
Shadowrun (Never played but I hear it's great)
Super Castlevania IV (Love Castlevania)

Anyways, I wanna cut this list down a bit...idk i'm thinking of sticking with the following:

1)Super Mario World
2)Super Mario All-Stars
3)Super Mario Kart
4)Yoshi's Island
5)Super Metroid
6)The Legend of Zelda a link to the past
7)Final Fantasy III
8)Super Mario RPG
9)Earthbound
10)Secret of Mana
11)Chrono Trigger
12)Shadowrun

any other suggestions?

[theMycon]

While I'm echoing "Chrono Trigger" and "FFIII", Shadowrun is great for the Genesis. The SNES version I love (great atmosphere, but very little else) but is pretty universally hated.

In the rarer form... "Robotrek" is a real classic. Typos and bad engrish abound, but it's got a fantastic battle system and a fun story.

[Reinboom]

I detest FFIII (FFVI) (and not that big of a fan of Earthbound).

Also, there's a cart that contains both super mario world and super mario all stars.
It may be cheaper overall than buying them seperate.

Super Nintendo racing games are VERY dated. They do not age well.

I'm still going to have to back my suggestion for Donkey Kong Country 2.

[Tengu]

I detest FFIII (FFVI) (and not that big of a fan of Earthbound).


To the OP - this is a very, very weird unusual look on these games. They are top class for most people, and will probably be for you too.

[Drascin]

Nice list. Almost all of the truly timeless gems are in there. However, I'd like to add one little peculiar game that seems to be unknown but brought me more than a few hours of fun. Metal Warriors. This was the first mech game that managed to be really good, in my experience. A sidescroller with a neat variety of available mechs (they might be only six, but they are so utterly different form one another that it gives you more than enough variety - man I loved the Drache) and an engaging gameplay.

Also, if you like action RPGs, you can't go wrong with Terranigma. A tad hard at some points (or at least quite harder than A Link to the Past, which was what I had to compare it with at the time), but all around deserving of your time. I personally liked it better than Secret of Mana, even.

[Cubey]

I detest FFIII (FFVI) (and not that big of a fan of Earthbound).

*crosses arms to ward against evil*

[Reinboom]

To the OP - this is a very, very weird unusual look on these games. They are top class for most people, and will probably be for you too.


*crosses arms to ward against evil*

Eh?

Final Fantasy 6: Interesting boss, interesting characters, interesting setting.
Non challenging.
Lack of significant creative use of puzzles.
and worst: Repetitive fighting that equates to grinding that is placed at a random basis.

Final Fantasy 1 threw the game in to a series of nostalgia, and created a specific group of fanboyism.
However, I view this series beyond that as nothing more than that, and that most of the enjoyment out of it comes from:
"Yes, I've played Final Fantasy 6"
"Oh! I know who you are talking about, kefka!"
"I've beaten Final Fantasy 6"
"Hey, I'm in to Final Fantasy as well."

In short, the social additions that come with due to everybody recognizing the title or the gloating. Final Fantasy 6 is a heralded piece because it is arguably one of the best Final Fantasy games - however - I consider the entire series a load of rubbish (and I tend to only play them for nostalgia anymore) now.
If I'm going to play a game, I don't want to be a mindless automaton against something that provides no difficulty half the time, and reading a book the other half.
I would rather just, y'know, read a book. Or watch a good movie or watch a few series. I recommend FireFly, or perhaps Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Or a different game. There are a lot more enjoyable waste of my time at least.

I have played through, and I have beaten Final Fantasy 6. There was once a time when I thought I enjoyed it.

And yes, most console RPGs degrade to what I describe I attest here. Even the ones on the list. Chrono Trigger is at least a bit more active and lets you walk around many encounters, however, degrades the moment the black omen rises (if not, just before it). Super Mario RPG is short, and, requires a bit of interaction. But also, eventually degrades. But of these RPGs have the benefit of, that, the moment the start failing, they are close enough to the end that I might as well play them through. Usually, I require myself to set a working goal to feel accomplished at all during that time, however.

With that, I don't care about the inherent sarcasm...

*crosses arms to ward against evil*
I'm going to take that offensively if that's what you think of others with a unique opinion on the games she plays in comparison to the general public (whom of which, I consider to be just leading each other on).

I shall consider the statement narrow and not worth the finger energy used to type it.

[Tengu]

Challenge might be an important part of a game, but for an RPG, which are all about telling a story, plot and characters are much more important. I prefer an easy but involving game to one that's hard but with a weak story. That's why Planescape Torment, which has a very easy gameplay but awesome plot, characters and atmosphere, is superior to Icewind Dale which offers little apart from challenging battles.

As for the random battles... I do not see why are they so boring to some people (because I have seen more complains about them). Maybe in games where they actually ARE motonous, like FF1-4 or Earthbound... but FF6? Battles in this game were fast and fun. Maybe these people just do not like the whole concept of random encounters. But that's like playing an FPS and not liking the concept of headshots.



I'm going to take that offensively if that's what you think of others with a unique opinion on the games she plays in comparison to the general public (whom of which, I consider to be just leading each other on).

I shall consider the statement narrow and not worth the finger energy used to type it.

I think that accusing people who play games that happen to be popular of being sheep who play these games because they are popular is rather insulting, too. Especially since in computer games there is a high chance that if something is popular, it's so because it really is that good.

[Wraith]

Probably a VERY long stretch that you're going to get your hands on it, but Tales of Phantasia is another very good RPG. The characters are lots of fun and are well written, and the Street-Fighter-Style combat system is a very nice twist on what could otherwise have been a static Final Fantasy clone :smallsmile:

If you liked Streets of Rage on your Genesis, then the Final Fight trilogy won't serve you wrong.

Worms and Street Fighter 2 are perhaps a given on any platform, let laone the original. :smallbiggrin:

[Cubey]

I'm going to take that offensively if that's what you think of others with a unique opinion on the games she plays in comparison to the general public (whom of which, I consider to be just leading each other on).

I shall consider the statement narrow and not worth the finger energy used to type it.

Duh, I wonder what kind of person would write what I've written seriously, and not as a tongue-in-cheek comment. I'm not John Solomon, y'know.

[Reinboom]

Challenge might be an important part of a game, but for an RPG, which are all about telling a story, plot and characters are much more important. I prefer an easy but involving game to one that's hard but with a weak story. That's why Planescape Torment, which has a very easy gameplay but awesome plot, characters and atmosphere, is superior to Icewind Dale which offers little apart from challenging battles.
I dislike Icewind Dale as well. Constant encounters do not work for me unless they require decent skill of some kind and have the benefit of not forcing them on to you when they are no longer needed.

As for the random battles... I do not see why are they so boring to some people (because I have seen more complains about them). Maybe in games where they actually ARE motonous, like FF1-4 or Earthbound... but FF6? Battles in this game were fast and fun. Maybe these people just do not like the whole concept of random encounters. But that's like playing an FPS and not liking the concept of headshots.
[/quote]

I can avoid combats in the seiken densetsu series, and in chrono trigger. And in Super Mario RPG. This is what gives these games a significant merit to me.

Random encounters do not add to the story, except perhaps define the setting. They do not add significant amount to the gameplay. They do not provide a sense of accomplishment. And they make the game feel more like monotonous data entry temp work.
The concept behind them I find is ridiculous and destroys games. Entirely.

They are not as significant to a role playing game as I imagine headshots are considered to FPSs (modern FPSs provide me motion sickness, I can not actively discuss their importance accurately, I apologize before trying anyways...).
I do not understand the argument you provided there really.
I can understand the, rather obvious, concept of the ability to be precise with your shots, and, having a system that reacts to it both more realistically and more skillfully. It would make sense that something would like this would be a shooter. Where the game's genre name "first person shooter" includes the word "shooter", and thus, you would expect it to emphasize this portion of it and add more detail to it.
However, in "Role Playing Game", I do not see "Random" "Monotonous" or "Encounter".


I think that accusing people who play games that happen to be popular of being sheep who play these games because they are popular is rather insulting, too. Especially since in computer games there is a high chance that if something is popular, it's so because it really is that good.

If this is what my comment was read as, I apologize first and foremost. My intention isn't to insult the players, but rather, the game itself.
My comment was a out of line, and was the end result of a seeded disgust towards others who have actively pressed upon series (games, shows, etc.) with false assumptions related to the enjoyment or dislike of something based on origin alone.
Aside... I can't see the value in the game at all, except, as I stated, the social aspects and a few interesting characters and setting.
Neither of which I consider value enough for the dry tone of the repetitive game.

For the popular statement, I disagree. From what I've seen, marketing and corporate decisions has a more significant impact unless something truly is an incredible system or game that does something revolutionary or unique.
Otherwise, the 50 cent game wouldn't of sold so much, the master system would've been where the Nintendo is.
Not to mention Planescape: Torment's sales.


Probably a VERY long stretch that you're going to get your hands on it, but Tales of Phantasia is another very good RPG. The characters are lots of fun and are well written, and the Street-Fighter-Style combat system is a very nice twist on what could otherwise have been a static Final Fantasy clone :smallsmile:

If you liked Streets of Rage on your Genesis, then the Final Fight trilogy won't serve you wrong.

Worms and Street Fighter 2 are perhaps a given on any platform, let laone the original. :smallbiggrin:

I would recommend Super Street Fighter 2 or Street Fighter 2 Turbo. Normal Street Fighter 2 is very very slow...


Duh, I wonder what kind of person would write what I've written seriously, and not as a tongue-in-cheek comment. I'm not John Solomon, y'know.

Who's John Solomon?

[Volug]

>_>
<_<

Why hasn't anyone said Super Mario RPG: Ledgend of the Seven Stars yet?:smallconfused:
Best. Game. Ever.

[Reinboom]

>_>
<_<

Why hasn't anyone said Super Mario RPG: Ledgend of the Seven Stars yet?:smallconfused:
Best. Game. Ever.



And Super Mario RPG = Woo! That deserves on this list as well.


I would also suggest Super Mario RPG,


Anyways, I wanna cut this list down a bit...idk i'm thinking of sticking with the following:

8)Super Mario RPG

any other suggestions?

:smallconfused:


Also, if you like action RPGs, you can't go wrong with Terranigma.

I must echo this. However, it was only released in Japan and Europe. So, depending on where you live, you might have to import it.

[UglyPanda]

Earthbound
Final Fantasy VI (III)
Act Raiser
Kirby Super Star
Super Mario World All-Stars
The Lost Vikings 1 & 2
Chrono Trigger
Harvest Moon
Super Metroid

[Volug]

:smallconfused: .

.... Failed a spot check....
*Runs*

[Drascin]

The Lost Vikings 1 & 2


I knew I was forgetting something. Yeah, if you manage to get your hands on it, play lost vikings. Takes more than a bit of thought to get through some places, but it's worth every minute you spend squeezing your neurones to beat it.

[Felizginato12]

.... Failed a spot check....
*Runs*

Then you notice you have no points in run and it can't be used untrained.

[Hecore]

I'd strongly suggest FFIII, Earthbound, and Chrono Trigger. On the RPG front I would also give Lufia 2 a shot.

Kirby Super Star, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, and The Legend of the Mystical Ninja are also very good games if you don't just want RPG's.

[Omicroncubed]

I ain't a fan of SNES gaming, but my favourite games on it would be FFV, Contra III and Kirby Superstar. :smallsmile:

Oh and let's not forget MM7

[Cubey]

Who's John Solomon?

A petty, evil man. Well, man-troll basically.

[Setra]

My top three favorite SNES games would be...

Final Fantasy VI (Called III on the SNES)
Terranigma
Chrono Trigger

[Edan]

No one has mentioned U.N. Squadron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.N._Squadron)?

One of the best side scrolling shooters ever. Tight, responsive controls, more than enough to blow up, huge bosses and just the right difficulty curve. I wasted hours on that game growing up, and still pop it in for some quick mindless fun. I highly recommend it both as a fun shooter.

PS: The guys at Screw Attack (http://www.screwattack.com/) rated it as the #1 2d shooter, if that helps at all.

[SMEE]

If you are into beat'em ups, Rushing Beat Ran (released as Brawl Brothers in the US) is a very good pick.

Out of all Final Fight games, stick with Final Fight 3. Final Fight and Final Fight 2 for SNES lack something...

[Cynan Machae]

I'd like to mention Lufia 2 too, it's my second all time favorite game on the SNES (after Chrono Trigger). Pretty much all other games from my top 10 were mentioned already.

Killer Instinct need a mention too, it was pretty good.

[Venox]

No one has mentioned U.N. Squadron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.N._Squadron)?

Ahhhhh! I've been looking for the name of that game for years now! Thank you so much! Now I can finally add this to my collection! *dances*

I definitively second that, as #1 2d shooter. :smalltongue:

[Wraith]

I would recommend Super Street Fighter 2 or Street Fighter 2 Turbo. Normal Street Fighter 2 is very very slow...

Happy to admit my mistake on this one - I don't even have SF2, I have Street Fighter Alpha 2, which is what I meant to put the first time around... :smallbiggrin:

And since I'm remembering fighting games, Killer Instinct wasn't half bad, and it's great fun to beat your opponent with a 90 Hit Combo :smallsmile:

[Drascin]

Happy to admit my mistake on this one - I don't even have SF2, I have Street Fighter Alpha 2, which is what I meant to put the first time around... :smallbiggrin:

And since I'm remembering fighting games, Killer Instinct wasn't half bad, and it's great fun to beat your opponent with a 90 Hit Combo :smallsmile:

Ahhh, SFA2. Had that on the Saturn. Quite good game, and had some very interesting characters that sadly didn't get continued in the "main" saga - I got pretty good with Rose, myself.

[theMycon]

No one has mentioned U.N. Squadron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.N._Squadron)?

One of the best side scrolling shooters ever. Tight, responsive controls, more than enough to blow up, huge bosses and just the right difficulty curve. I wasted hours on that game growing up, and still pop it in for some quick mindless fun. I highly recommend it both as a fun shooter.

I agree on everything except "just the right" difficulty curve. It becomes simply painful on the last two stages.

I've owned it a dozen years (three different cartidges, because it the first two died. They're my only two SNES cartidges to die.) I've beaten it on "normal" once. I can get through the first few sets without difficulty on hard (exception- the big sub stage is hard without good weapons), but the one with the cave-ceiling boss is just a brick wall of death.


Also, on FF6, for "no difficulty"- this game supports "low-level games", where you can actually beat it with an average level of 6 or 7 (your main character starts at 5.) It's got specialty equipment and magic to make your characters "normally invincible", which most late bosses can counter. If you specifically try to level, it's an easy game. If you level normally, you only have to think during bosses (though you do need to think- there's a trick to lots of 'em). If you don't level at all, you need to plan everything six moves ahead of your enemy. And the writing is simply top-notch (and you do truly hate Kefka by the end), and the plot I'd give a B+. And the degree of how well you can customize your characters is great. The degree most people do is "everyone gets every spell, and I won't bother paying attention to the stats", and maybe turning the their into someone who can hit & attack 8 times in a round.

[Inhuman Bot]

Super mario rpg: legend of the seven stars.
FF6
Crono trigger
super mario world
earthbound
And the Fe games off the top of my head.

(at least I think these are all nes)

[Psychotic]

One of my personal favorites...

Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

[theMycon]

Firepower 2000- A great top-down shooter that my roommate & I just beat now. I've owned it since... when did Star fox come out? I remember my dad deciding to buy it instead, when Starfox was new and the store was demo-ing both. If you've played silkworm for the NES, think of it as 3D with more weapon. It's two-player (and it's a big help- you get more weapon upgrades, so you can specialize each have two or three weapons fully powered, instead of several mediocre weapons), and the players have very distinct play styles- the jeep (can aim in 8 directions) is heavily favored for levels 1-3, the helicopter is favored on the last level (6).


For reference on how hard it is... Until this year, the furthest I'd got was 20 seconds into level 5 (about 420K points), beating level 6 gave me 3.5 million. You run into a lot of enemies near the end.

[Khanderas]

Challenge might be an important part of a game, but for an RPG, which are all about telling a story, plot and characters are much more important. I prefer an easy but involving game to one that's hard but with a weak story. That's why Planescape Torment, which has a very easy gameplay but awesome plot, characters and atmosphere, is superior to Icewind Dale which offers little apart from challenging battles.

As for the random battles... I do not see why are they so boring to some people (because I have seen more complains about them). Maybe in games where they actually ARE motonous, like FF1-4 or Earthbound... but FF6? Battles in this game were fast and fun. Maybe these people just do not like the whole concept of random encounters. But that's like playing an FPS and not liking the concept of headshots.


I would agree, the story is the intresting thing in any RPG. Sure there were fewer games back then, but after 90 something hours played on my first playthough, I felt I was getting too near the end, so I deleted my savefile so I could start over. :smallbiggrin:
As for boring fights in FF6... well can't do much about that (until the relic that sets random attacks to 0), but atleast the fights are fast. Its not 15 closeups of a swordslash. You pick attack, the character slashes. Done. next.
Even magic and summons, are done with fast.

[Khanderas]

One of my personal favorites...

Zombies Ate My Neighbors.
I remember that one. Don't know if I would hail it as one of the great, but I did have some fun with it.