Top Super Nintendo Games

The Thursday feature is the SNES, the golden era of Nintendo before the Wii came out. Plenty of good games, improvements on the 8-bit games, and nice hardware made for many great games. A top 15 should cover it nicely.

15. Super Star Wars - All three original Star Wars movies were made into a great set of SNES games, but this first game was the best of the bunch. Taking Luke Skywalker and shooting down enemies or kicking ass with a lightsaber was just simply outstanding. Enough challenge to keep you going through all 15 levels also.

14. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Quest - Took the fantastic graphics of the original and made the levels a bit more original and varied. The game was still a little too easy to do after you got good at DKC, but the controls and graphics were solid enough.

13. Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting - This was one arcade game that seemed to eat everyone's quarters in bulk back in my childhood, so when an improved version hit the SNES it was a dream come true. No more quarters after quarters and better controls on the SNES controllers than at the arcade. The combos were better in Turbo and the characters were slightly better than those on Mortal Combat (although I have a soft spot in my heart for Sub-Zero, Scoprion, and Rayden). Definitive 2-person combat.

12. Super Mario All Stars - Yes this game was just SMB 1-3, but there was a lot more to like here. Not only were the graphics updated and improved for all three of the classic Mario games, but the previously Japanese-only SMB2 was offered as the Lost Levels. This alone was enough to make the list, but revisiting three of the best NES games was also very nice.

11. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - While I was not a huge RPG fan as a kid, there were just some games that you could not miss. SM:RPG finally branched Mario out past the regular platformer and saw characters such as Luigi and Bowser in new roles. An interesting twist on the Mario story that was so successful it opened the door for Mario Party, Tennis, Golf, and more Kart games.

10. Final Fantasy II - Speaking of RPG's, the most famous RPG series came back for the sequel on the SNES and was no disappointment. Just squeaks my Mario because this game was a lot more in-depth and not an introductory game to the RPG market.

9. Final Fantasy III - Unfortunately this game was destined to be the final FF game to arrive for Nintendo as Square took a first step toward fighting Nintendo's policy of exclusivity and short supply. Another solid version of the classic RPG though.

8. Starfox - This was the game that sold the FX chip graphics in the SNES, making a relatively realistic flight combat game. While the graphics are still a little polygonal, the effect was very high-tech for the time. Controls of the Arwing were easy and the game had tons of replay value. The best early space/flight and fight game.

7. Super Mario World - While this game arguably was not all that much better than SMB3, SMW brought my favorite Nintendo character of all time into the mix, that being Yoshi. Every hero needs a sidekick, and Mario finally got one in the green dino. An excellent start for the SNES, and the game is still fun today.

6. F-Zero - Again a game makes much more out of the graphical capability of the SNES than seemed possible for any console games at the time. F-Zero really did a nice job of making you feel like you were racing futuristic hovercars at ridiculous speeds. The only downside to this game was that it needed a good multiplayer mode to be the best racing game on the system. As it was, it ends up getting beat by...

5. Super Mario Kart - While it is true that SM:RPG smashed the door open for other Mario types of games, SMK was the first new type of Mario game. Still the absolute best racing game on the SNES, this game was very challenging despite the lack of really good graphics. The multiplayer battles were genius as well.

4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - The second Zelda on NES was too different and hard for me as a kid, so I grew away from Zelda in the SNES days. Looking back this was a mistake because this console's Zelda went back to the original and improved everything about it. The dungeons and bosses were better, the graphics were better, and the story was improved. A great addition to the Zelda line.

3. Donkey Kong Country - This game began to show gamers what we could expect from the next generation of systems. The graphics and backgrounds are stunning and pretty. The game was simple yet somewhat challenging and fun at the same time. The only downside to the game was that it was a bit short, but still a very solid game.

2. Super Metroid - Many will choose this game as their number one, but I never got into Metroid until Prime came out. Looking back and playing the original and Super Metroid, these were great games that were inexplicably stopped after this version (until the current Metroid Prime series started). Even the current Game Boy Advance and DS versions of the sidescroller are not as fun as Super Metroid, so it earns the number 2 spot.

1. Chrono Trigger - As someone who did not get into RPG's, this game was far and away the one I spent the most time playing for 2 solid years of the SNES. The game is so good you still cannot track down a copy for less than $40-50, and this game defines what a good RPG is. Not only are the story and characters good, the game has around 15 separate endings to try and get for beating the game in different ways. This game therefore is so deep and re-playable that it easily takes the top spot on this list.

One final day to go, and the Friday feature will finally take us back to the 1980's and the console that brought us into the modern era of console gaming, the Nintendo Entertainment System. No longer would Atari and Intellivision rule the world of games.