Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo · 1990 – 1998

The SNES delivered a 16-bit leap over its predecessor, producing some of the most celebrated games ever made. Its Mode 7 graphics, stereo sound chip, and deep library of RPGs, platformers, and action games made the early 1990s a golden era for Nintendo. Over 49 million units were sold worldwide.

Released in Japan as the Super Famicom in 1990 and in North America in 1991, the SNES launched directly into the Sega Genesis's territory and quickly established superiority with superior colour output, built-in stereo sound, and a deeper software catalogue. The SNES's custom chips — the SPC700 sound processor and the Super FX chip used in Star Fox — enabled capabilities the competition couldn't match. Nintendo's partnership with second-party developers like HAL Laboratory, Rare, and Argonaut produced genre-defining titles year after year. The SNES library remains the most critically praised in console history, with multiple entries in any list of all-time greatest games.