For retro gaming fans, there was something stellar about the Super Nintendo consoles. Game designers took full advantage of SNES’s capabilities to create some of the most perfect and best-selling games of all time.
Let’s take a look at the ten best-selling SNES games of all time! How many of these have you played?
10. Star Fox (1993)
Star Fox is a 1993 rail shooter video game that led to a flagship franchise for Nintendo, selling more than 4 million copies. It’s notable for the inclusion of the Super FX chip inside the game’s cartridge that made it the first Super Nintendo game to fully use polygon graphics.
It was re-released in 2017 as part of the Super NES Classic Edition. In 2019, a version of Star Fox was released for subscribers of Nintendo Switch Online.
9. Street Fighter II: Turbo (1992)
Street Fighter II: Turbo is a fighting game released in 1994 as the fifth installment in the Street Fighter II sub-series of the Street Fighter games franchise. It was hugely popular due to its impact on the competitive fighting game community. The game added several new gameplay mechanics and the secret character Akuma.
Street Fighter II was originally released for arcades in 1991, and “Turbo” allowed players to play as characters from the original. The introduction of “super combos” allowed players to execute a multi-hit which dealt significant damage. Even today, Super Street Fighter II: Turbo is still played competitively.
8. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (1995)
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island is a 1995 platform game that’s considered a masterpiece and one of the greatest video games of all time. It sold over 4 million copies. The game introduced a new aesthetics, a “scribbled crayon,” coloring book style of backgrounds.
In Yoshi’s Island, Mario takes a backseat as players control Yoshi. The friendly dinosaur is on a quest to reunite baby Mario with his brother Luigi after being kidnapped by Kamek. This was the last Super Mario platformer with 2D gameplay for over a decade.
7. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a 1991 action-adventure game and the third installment in the franchise. It’s considered one of the greatest video games ever made, both for its presentation and innovative gameplay.
For Zelda fans, A Link to the Past presents some of the best dungeon design and boss battles in the entire series. It was the best-selling release of 1991. It was ported to Game Boy Advance in 2002, selling 6.5 million copies. You can play the game now on Switch Online.
6. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (1995)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest is a 1995 platform game. It is considered one of the greatest 2D platformers ever created. The game received high praise for its graphics, gameplay, and soundtrack. It’s the second-best-selling game of 1995, and the sixth-best-selling game on SNES.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest was so popular upon its release that retailers struggled to keep up with demand. The game sold 4.37 million copies. The unique graphics were the result of producing pre-rendered 3D graphic assets, which was very advanced at the time.
5. Street Fighter II (1991)
Originally released for arcades in 1991, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior is a 2D fighting game released for Super NES in 1992. The best-selling game since “The Golden Age Of Arcade Video Games” (late 70s to early 80s), selling 6.3 million units on SNES. It’s considered one of the best fighting games of all time.
Street Fighter II was the first game on SNES to use a special 16-megabit cartridge. It was also the first to allow two players to control the same player against themselves. The franchise inspired Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, released in Japan in 1994.
4. Super Mario Kart (1992)
Super Mario Kart is a 1992 kart racing game that sold 8.76 million copies worldwide. It became the fourth-best-selling SNES game of all time. The cartridge had a special DSP chip that boosted graphics and was revolutionary at the time.
In Super Mario Kart, a player controls one of eight Mario series characters, each having different capabilities. The 20 unique race tracks were based on Super Mario World locations. There were also four unique Battle Mode courses. The game featured single and multiplayer modes, the latter making it a great party game.
3. Donkey Kong Country (1994)
Donkey Kong Country is a 1994 platform game that rebooted the Donkey Kong franchise. The game sold 9.3 million copies worldwide, pushed by a $16 million marketing campaign in America alone. It’s the third-best-selling SNES and the best-selling Donkey Kong game of all time.
Donkey Kong Country reestablished the popularity of the Donkey Kong franchise, as well as helped Nintendo win the 1990s console war. The game follows gorillas Donkey Kong and his nephew Diddy Kong on a quest to recover their stolen bananas from the crocodile King K. Rool and his army, the Kremlings.
2. Super Mario All-Stars (1993)
Super Mario All-Stars is a 1993 compilation of platform games that remakes four Super Mario games originally released for 8-bit NES into 16-bit for SNES. It includes Super Mario Bros. (1985), Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986), Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988), and Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988).
Super Mario All-Stars received rave reviews over its updated graphics and music. It’s one of the best-selling Super Mario games of all time, with 10.55 million copies sold. Three of the games follow Mario and Luigi in a quest to rescue Princess Toadstool from Bowser, while Super Mario Bros. 2 features a different storyline and gameplay style.
Read More: The Best SNES Games of All Time
1. Super Mario World (1990)
Super Mario World is a 1990 platform game that takes the crown as the best-selling SNES game of all time with 20.6 million copies sold worldwide. It is considered one of the greatest video games ever made and one of the best games in the Mario series. It also spawned an animated TV series of the same name.
Players of Super Mario World control Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach and Dinosaur Land from the villains Bowser and the Koopalings. Putting all things together — the game’s graphics, gameplay, new mechanics, sound, and replay value — players consider this game perfect.
Read More: The 10 Best-Selling Nintendo Games Ever
