Super Nintendo Entertainment System

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The **Super Nintendo Entertainment System** (**Super Nintendo** for short and **SNES** abbreviated) was Nintendo's second major console to hit North America and Europe. It was originally released in Japan in 1990 under the name **Super Famicom**. It competed against the Sega Genesis in the legendary console wars and was discontinued in 2003.

An official Plug-n'-Play version of this system, called the "Super NES Classic Edition", was released in late 2017.

## Why It Plays with Power, Super Power!

1. With the exception of its megahertz processor, the Super Nintendo was virtually superior to its competitors at the time in terms of hardware.
2. 1,538 games were released for the system and 249 of them were released in America, but not Europe, and 800 were exclusive to Japan.
3. Its best selling games was *Super Mario World* and *Donkey Kong Country*, which to this day are considered two of the best games ever made.
4. Had a large number of very great games such as:
	* *The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past*
	* *Super Metroid*
	* *Final Fantasy 3* (actually *6* due to *2*, *3*, and *5* not being released to the U.S. till years later)
	* The *Donkey Kong Country* games
	* *Chrono Trigger*
	* *Super Mario Kart*
	* *Kirby Super Star*
	* *Street Fighter II*
	* *F-Zero*
	* *Star Fox*
	* *Earthbound*
	* *Super Mario World*
	* *Super Mario All-Stars* (one version of the game came with *Super Mario World*)
	* *Super Castlevania IV* (James Rolfe's all-time favorite *Castlevania* game)
	* *Actraiser 1* and *2*
	* *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time*
5. The FX chip allowed the Super Nintendo to improve its capabilities, unlike the Genesis which relied on add-ons. The FX chip allowed for some early 3D capabilities, the game best known for using it being *Star Fox*. The FX chip also enabled a port of *Doom* to work on the console.
6. A huge number of RPGs were released for the system, including *Chrono Trigger*, which is regarded as one of the best RPG games of all time.
7. It has an accessory called Super Game Boy which lets you play Game Boy games in color on your SNES.
8. Many games that have great soundtracks. James Rolfe in his Genesis vs. Super Nintendo video claims that music from the Super Nintendo was the first time video game music sounded like real music.
9. The controller is designed to be comfortable to hold.
10. The button layout (D-pad on the left, Start/Select on the center, L & R shoulder buttons, and 4 Trigger buttons on the right positioned as a + sign) is very easy to get used to, and went on to become the standard layout in modern controllers.

## Bad Qualities

1. Some games were slightly censored and some were so heavily censored, such as *Wolfenstein 3D* and *Mortal Kombat*, that they became known as the worst ports. Nintendo did slowly start to relent towards the end of the system's lifecycle, resulting in *Mortal Kombat II* and a small number of other games being released largely uncensored, but it wouldn't be until well into the Nintendo 64 era that they completely dropped their censorship policies.
	* Some games could not be released on the system altogether like *Shin Megami Tensei* and *Clock Tower: The First Fear*.
2. The North American version of the console is known to look rather ugly and the casings of several older versions were known to turn yellow over time. This is because the ABS Plastic was susceptible to oxidation. In addition to cosmetic looks, the yellowing also created a chemical change in the casing, making it more brittle. Luckily it is possible to reverse the effects with UV light and hydrogen peroxide solutions.
3. The SNES' other plug-in accessories, notably the Super NES Mouse and the Super NES Super Scope, not only didn't sell well, but they had a very limited number of games to be played by them. The Super Scope will not work on modern television displays, since it only works on CRT television sets.
4. A lot of games, especially RPGs, were never released in the European markets which meant that they'd have to wait 25 years later to finally play some of them off the SNES Classic edition.

## Reception

The Super Nintendo is heavily regarded one of the best consoles ever made and even held its own against 32 bit consoles (the fifth generation of gaming) having more to offer against 32 bit systems at the time. It is famous for competing against the Sega Genesis during the 90s, and eventually coming victor by outselling the Genesis with a total of 49 million units sold worldwide during its lifespan, making it the best-selling console of its generation.

## External links

* Super Nintendo Entertainment System on the Nintendo Wiki