20 Years of the SNES

[badinsults]

Obviously, I am a huge SNES fanboy. September 9th marks the 20th anniversary of official nationwide rollout of the SNES, though some stores had it as early as mid-August. Here is a newspaper article from the Orange County Register in late August 1991 discussing the release of the Super NES:


Last weekend, months after video-game addicts started calling, Dave Adams finally was able to sell them what they craved: Super Nintendo.

Adams, manager of Babbages in South Coast Plaza, got 32 of the $199.95 systems Friday. By Monday afternoon he had five left.

"Everybody that calls up (to see if they're in stock) seems to hop in their car and come down to get one," he said. "I expected to blow them all out the first day."

Nearly one-third of all American homes have Nintendo systems, according to the company. The last big-selling Nintendo game, Super Mario Brothers III, grossed $450 million at $49.95 a set.

Super Nintendo features greatly improved graphics and color because of its 16-bit microprocessor. Until now the video giant had sold only eight-bit systems, leaving the more sophisticated machines to competitors Genesis and Sega of America. The new system offers 256 colors at once, 16 times more than the old system.

Nintendo is getting into the 16-bit arena late. It continued to push its eight-bit system while Sega of America and NEC Technologies surrendered that market and started selling 16-bit systems earlier this year.

At Software Etc. in the Mall of Orange, manager Don Leon was counting the minutes until his shipment of Super Nintendos arrived. He had ordered eight and already had reservations for most of them. He takes reservations only for particularly hot items, he said.

Super Nintendo began showing up in Southern California stores Wednesday, nearly three weeks before the official Sept. 9 release date.

"The people that really wanted to get it right away knew it was out," Adams said. "People have been calling for months on this thing."

The Toys R Us store in Cerritos got 80 on Wednesday and was down to a handful Monday afternoon, a store spokeswoman said.

Answering players' questions Q. Where is the 16-bit Super Nintendo available? A. Until the official nationwide release Sept. 9, availability will be limited. Toys R Us and some smaller distributors had it early. Nintendo says Kmart, Target and FAO Schwarz will have it.

Q. Can you play games from the eight-bit Nintendo system on the new 16-bit system? A. No. Nintendo says it will continue to supply games especially for the eight-bit machines.

Q. What games are available for the 16-bit system? A. Nintendo is packaging "Super Mario World," the fourth game involving the mustachioed video hero, with Super Nintendo. Two other games, a flight simulator called "Pilotwings" and a "space-age racing game" called "F-Zero" are available for $49.95 each. Nintendo intends to offer two more games in October -- "Sim City," a city planning game, and "Super Play Action Football." A sixth game, "Zelda III," will be available by Christmas.

[Steven]

My favorite system ever.

That will never change.

[jeffg]

Yep my favorite system, I was in 8th grade when it came out and spent many of my nerdy high school nights playing SNES.

It also consists of my largest part of my collection 350+ boxed games so far

The rpg's is what really got me into video games

[WesternNYCollector]

So many important anniversaries this week.

I did not get my SNES until June of 93 but this is the day that matters.

[NayusDante]

I got mine for my 7th birthday, September 2 1995. It was one of the Donkey Kong Country bundle SKUs, but I really only wanted it so I could get Mega Man X.

SNES was the last hurrah of traditional cartridge-based gaming, with expansion chips like SuperFX and C4 doing things that weren't possible after the transition to optical media. The Sega CD was pushing its limits pretty early, while devs were just beginning to really push the SNES. Gaming hasn't been the same since.

[nickerous]

My favorite system also. Here's a write up I did for the SNES 20th anniversary:

http://videogamecowboys.com/archives/3629

I remember trying out Super Mario World at the local Service Merchandise store. Loved it instantly, but for some reason, kept dying while playing it. A kid was watching me. He said, "Dude, you stink at this". I responded, "That's ok, I got the money to buy this". That kid wasn't happy after that. :)

[treismac]

The Super Nintendo sure did have its share of magic. :)

Super Mario World
Super Mario Cart
Yoshi's Island
Street Fighter II (with all the Super, Turbos, Hypers, and what-have-yous)
Super Bomber Man
Donkey Kong Country
Pocky and Rocky
Super Puyo Puyo
Tetris Battle Gaiden

Okay. The last two are Super Famicom games but they're still part of the family.

[treismac]

Oh yeah! One more note: Super Mario World is probably one of my favorite games of all time, and it is arguably the best Mario game.

[nickerous]

Oh yeah! One more note: Super Mario World is probably one of my favorite games of all time, and it is arguably the best Mario game.

I would not dispute that claim.

[Berserker]

Parents Upset Over New Nintendo Console - Super Nintendo - Circa 1991 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTzyz2TgGls)

My favorite console as well. Happy Anniversary!

[pixelsnpolygons]

I still have a happy memory of a local toy store that had rows and rows of the pack-in SNES boxes (Street Fighter II, Star Fox, etc.,) and how awesome they looked. Rows and rows of Xbox 360 boxes or, really, any other modern system wouldn't look that good. The artwork was just so cool - perfect representation of the fun waiting inside. I got the Street Fighter II pack for Christmas and played it to death. I remember hearing the old, "Don't you think you should take a break?" quite a lot for the first week with the game. I'd just sit there all day and night. There were so many fun games - the very first Pilotwings for example - that was a real unexpected surprise for me. I remember some store accidentally marked Super Mario All Stars at less than 1/4 of its price the week it came out. Probably the best deal I ever got.

[Ludwig]

I still have a happy memory of a local toy store that had rows and rows of the pack-in SNES boxes (Street Fighter II, Star Fox, etc.,) and how awesome they looked. Rows and rows of Xbox 360 boxes or, really, any other modern system wouldn't look that good.

They don't really have anything good on the box these days. Remember the Box of the original Gameboy? When you saw that as a child you knew you just had to have one. I remember this peeled out of a wrapper one glorious Christmas-Night.
http://haxornoob.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Game-Boy-Box-300x225.jpg
Being a child was so much better back then.

[Nirvana]

The system that introduced me to video games and that I grew up with...it'll definitely be my all time favorite.

Honestly...I feel like if you were to make top 10 lists of every genre, each respective genre would have multiple games from the SNES on it.

[Sinizar]

The SNES is one of the few games I didn't buy at launch. After all I had the Sega Genesis, Sonic the Hedgehog, and a Turbografx 16 with Bonk's Adventure. One month later I couldn't stand knowing I also didn't have Super Mario World and had my wife pick one up on her way home from work in Hawaii. She purchased it at Toys 'N Joys and I still have the original box to it. The SNES eventually yellowed so much and the plastic became brittle so I traded it in on one of the new ones that didn't fade. I still play it to this day. Rock 'N Roll Racing, Sunset Riders, Secret of Mana, Secret of Mana 2 (flash cart), and Chronotrigger are some of the favorites.

[starchildskiss78]

I don't remember too much about the SNES launch myself. I certainly was old enough (13) when it came out. I was interested primarily in the NES we got two years prior and the awesomeness that was the Sega Genesis. (Service Merchandise made it look SO COOL behind the display! I opted for the Altered Beast model over the Sonic the Hedgehog model, but I digress...)

I got turned on to the SNES a couple years later when Nintendo Power sent out the Donkey Kong Country demo VHS tapes. I saw how awesome it was and that fueled my hunger for the system. A friend of mine who lived next door had a SNES and two games (Super Mario World and something else...wasn't too memorable for sure!)

Long story short....I traded my Sega Genesis for his SNES. I got good games like Donkey Kong Country, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, and I rented a bunch of games.

I will admit it wasn't one of my favorite systems growing up, as that love was reserved for the NES and my missed Sega Genesis. I have to admit the system aged well (except for the yellowing plastic!) and the fact I can use the same component video cable for the SNES and N64! (I know the Gamecube was compatible too, but I gave it to a friend in favor for the Wii's backward compatibility...again I digress).

Bottom line....the SNES is a system with a great library of games, great graphics and sound, and it lives on through collectors and the Virtual Console!

Happy Birthday SNES!

[Baloo]

The SNES is definitely an excellent system, a lot of classics to be found! I got mine from a family friend around 2003 or so for $15, for the system and about 15 games, most of the good ones too. I've gotten more and more games over the years and now I have about 31-32 SNES games. And there's still more for me to find and play!

Happy Birthday SNES!

[thom_m]

I was a Sega boy back than, and my parents could never afford - and I suspect they wouldn't allow if they could - mantaining two systems at once. I had tons of fun with my Mega Drive and would argue with my friends to defend it, but always loved the SNES as well, and would sometimes trade systems with a cousin of mine for a while.

I wouldn't have my very own SNES until a couple of years ago, and it was worth the waiting. It's one of the consoles which gets the most playing here - by me AND my 7yr old daughter, who loves Mario games. Some of my all-time favorite games are for the SNES, like Rock'n'Roll Racing and Super Metroid.

Although it makes me feel old, I treasure the fact that I witnessed its launch - as the Mega Drive launch, and the 2600/NES golden years as well. Gaming is not quite much like that anymore and the SNES was, at the same time, the pinnacle and the beggining of the end of that era.

[MarioMania]

I love the SNES, behind the Genesis

[XYXZYZ]

I going to explain to him how people market things to make you spend more money.

I wonder how that shit turned out.

[AMG]

Tied as my all time favorite console with the PSX, the SNES IMO is Nintendo's crowning achievement. Long live the SNES.

[tom]

I love the SNES
First time I had one with approx 90+ games, cib, got an awful lot of playing out of it....
Traded it in for a PSX and a few games, when Sony's awesome machine arrived in UK.

[InsaneDavid]

Parents Upset Over New Nintendo Console - Super Nintendo - Circa 1991 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTzyz2TgGls)

My favorite console as well. Happy Anniversary!

LOL Great video.

While I love the SNES and played a ton of it during its release time, I'll have to admit that the games were just too damn expensive. It definitely was the era of weekend game rentals rather than monthly game purchases. Superb games though, including my all time favorite game, Illusion of Gaia.

[Greg2600]

Great system. I was so impressed with it that I chose it as my "Christmas" gift in 1992, and essentially gave up on my Genesis, which I'd had for about a year and a half. 2D gaming at its best.

[The Dord]

Oh yeah! One more note: Super Mario World is probably one of my favorite games of all time, and it is arguably the best Mario game.

Super Mario World is in my top game for the SNES for sure.

[Greg2600]

Here's an old ad I found with an actor you might recognize!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mVmFq4sc4k

[Kevincal]

I loved my NES in 1991 but I distinctly remember going to Toy's R Us around the time the SNES came out. It was more expensie than the Genesis and Sonic had just come out. I remember trying to make up my mind right there in the store which system to buy. Mind you I was about 10 years old with not much money. I chose the Genesis because it was a bit cheaper and Sonic seemed so new and cool.

I didnt get a SNES until 1996. Of course it is a great system. I wish I had the money for both the Genny and SNES in 1991. Though the Sonic series kept me a loyal Genesis player from 1991-1994. :)

[jwmollman]

The SNES is my favorite console of all time. I remember being a kid in the mid 90s playing in the basement family room for hours and hours with my older sisters, or my cousin would come over and we'd have a blast with the Donkey Kong Country series. So many memories.

I'm glad these systems still run. I was always curious, though, does anyone know if the systems will ever die from age? I hear something about capacitor rot? (I'm not too sure on that subject.) I hope my SNES doesn't give out one day, and I'm not too good with repairing circuit boards, so I wouldn't be able to fix it if something ever were to happen.

[Berserker]

Here's an old ad I found with an actor you might recognize!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mVmFq4sc4k

I got a kick out of this.

[Kevincal]

just keep the cart contacts clean on games and your snes should last forever :) a super nes cleaning kit used once every 5 or 10 years could help too, and make sure the snes is never dropped, thrown or beaten around too much or left in direct sunlight for too long, or anywhere where it would get really dirty. maybe also dont leave it powered on for super long periods of time and also dont have it plugged into the wall power for months on end.

snes is one of the most reliable systems ever. n64 too.

[Kevincal]

oops.

[jammajup]

I have good memories of the Snes too,i remember walking into a local store that imported consoles and i saw a US Snes running Super Ghouls`n Ghosts and my jaw dropped,it was level 2 the ship graveyard and i was amazed - it just looked so cool.
It did take a while but i did get my own uk machine eventually with F-Zero,Mario Kart and i did get my own copy of Super Ghouls `n Ghosts 8-)

[genesisguy]

I got my SNES used at Funcoland in 1997(still have it). I went the NES route in 1988 and then Genesis in 1992. But what's scary is that I remember the SNES launching and now that was 20 years ago! I never could get into the system but I remember friends who had it early on in 1991 and 1992 and just thinking that some of the games on it were so cool. Some of those memories, even though I didn't own one at launch are like the ultimate gaming nostalgia moments in my mind.

[RPG_Fanatic]

I bought mine in late August of 1991 and I still play 2 of my fav. games of all time Super Mario World & Zelda - Link To The Past. The best 16-bit system of all time.

[ReaXan]

The SNES had a higher number of "great games" over the Genesis but the Genesis library as a whole is better overall than the SNES one. Alot of good games even though there is a lack of great ones.

I had more fun with the Genesis but the SNES had some truly special games on it.

[SNESAustin]

I will never forget the good times I had during this era of gaming, playing all of these great games at eight and nine years old. It's enough to bring a tear to my eye.

Later on, my family sold the SNES to get the new N64, which I enjoyed but never quite as much.

Fast forward to three years ago, when my Xbox360 RROD for the third time, and while waiting I found a SNES for cheap at a local pawn shop.

I have never looked back!!!

[Manga4life]

I got my SNES for Christmas of 1993 along with Super Mario World and Super Mario All-Stars, I had wanted the SNES for a few months prior and even sold my NES and all it's games to the flea market in anticipation of getting the SNES. I greatly enjoyed the time I had with the SNES but I wouldn't call it my favorite system ever, though It's in the top 5 or 6, I just didn't connect with it like I did with systems like the NES, Atari 2600, or even the 3DO (yeah). Still, certain games for the SNES have touched me deeply and I'm glad to have had the fun experiences with it that I did, I may even fire it up for the first time in a few years this upcoming weekend if I can find the time.

I'll always remember games like Super Mario World, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Saturday Night Slam Masters, WWF Royal Rumble, Breath of Fire 1 & 2, as well as other classics and fun games I've enjoyed on the system. It was a true gem.