My Take on Best SNES Games of All Time

My Playstation broke... My computer crashed far to many times... Yet the console that is older than all the fancy ones combined still works like a charm. Super Nintendo has always and will always have a special place in my heart. I enjoy paying games which I have played more than 100 times a lot more than any new best-selling. And I imagine many of you do too. SNES games always had something special to them. The graphics just good enough to not make you crazy (they look great on the big screen), the game play fun enough an challenging enough but not to much as to make you want to throw the console out of the window... The games were made to entertain and to relax (not to frustrate and anger as the new ones can).

So I figured it was about time to show some appreciation and make a tribute to this console by making a best of SNES games list. This is my personal list so you might not agree with it completely (or at all) and I will love to hear what you have to say about it. I had the chance to play many games, some as a kid and some as soon as I learned how to shop online.

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I have a story to share!

I was probably 9 (or 8) years old when I got my SNES so you know I was way past believing in Santa Claus. But that Christmas I really second guessed the fact that there isn't such a thing as Santa.

It was Christmas eve and my family has a tradition to stack the gifts under the tree a few days prior to Xmas and open them on the Christmas eve. That year there was nothing under the tree. As a kid I can't say I was to happy about it but as I did understand that my family isn't very well of financially I wasn't making much fuss about it... As there was a fair in the town we decided to go check out the stands and get into the festive mood. I remember there was a stand where you had to knock some figures with a ball in order to get the bunny shaped balloon... My mother insisted on me and my sister to try to win it and so did my grandparents. While me and my sis were and still are in good condition we both suffered with a condition called "can't-hit-anything-with-a-ball-sitis". It's a serious defect with which I still have to live. And my parents knew it. It took ages and lots of agony to get that helium filled big red bunny balloon. We went home and to my and my sisters surprise there were gift boxes under the tree (wrapped in newspaper). And the unwrapping began! When we realized we have gotten a SNES and 3 games (Looney Tunes, Jurassic Park and Top Gear 2000) there was a lot of pleasant screaming (well I assume it wasn't that pleasant for my family).

I was puzzled. When we left home there were no gifts, everyone went to the fair and we were there together, went home together and when we came home the gifts were under the tree. And there was no way my family could afford it. It mush have been Santa! Well actually when my and my sis were preoccupied with getting the rabbit balloon my father sneaked home and put the gifts under the tree. Clever man!

I later found out that my father got a really good deal as a few of his co-workers were getting the console too and they all got a decent discount at the store. The whole family (including aunts and uncles) decided to chip in to give me and my sister something that we will enjoy and hopefully be using for a long time (they weren't mistaken).

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I don't have it but I would lie if I said I don't want one.

Personally? One of the best ones!

I remember the time when this game came out. I was subscribed to one SNES magazine which showcased all the soon to be released games. When I saw the awesomnes that is Mega Man I knew I need to have it. My parents didn't agree as they have just bought me a game so I went on a MMX fundraising campaign. Cleaning, gardening, crafting... Everything! And the game was freaking expensive... But all the work was worth it.

Megaman X is without a doubt one of the best SNES games. The music still gives me the chills (listen to Mega Man Enter Zero best game theme song ever).

The game is awesome from every way you look at it, game play is great, graphics are really good, characters are well developed, I liked the way you upgraded Mega Man throughout the game.

The only thing I find funny in this game is the fact that most of us who played it love Zero more than Mega Man X. And here's a little secret... I think I cried when they destroyed Zero.

Don't have it? Give it a try. You can get a used one for a reasonable price while new ones get sold for impressive sums.

Beats Mortal Kombat in My Book

My friend owned Killer Instinct and when he brought it to my place to play it the bunch of us were all admiring the black cartridge. It was something special indeed. I haven't played this one for ages but a while ago I finally (and it was long over due) decided to get this game from eBay. To my surprise it really isn't that expensive - I got my copy for under $5. Lucky, lucky.

I know Mortal Kombat fans won't be too happy about my selection but I always preferred Killer Instinct to Mortal Kombat. I think the characters are more interesting, combos are fun and well the graphics were amazing for that time. I loved Orchid and can't wait to play the game again. My least favourite? Never was a fan of Spinal and Glacious.

I love Dixie!

I feel a bit guilty to write about this game as I can't brag that I actually finished it. I mean I did beat King K Roll in the last level but I have never, ever collected all of the Kremkoins so I never got to the 100%. While writing this my printer is printing the walk through (lame I know) so after many, many years I will be finishing the game. I also found a cheat that would give me all the coins in first level but that would probably kill all the fun.

I had the chance to play Donkey Kong Country and I was instantly in love with the idea and the graphics. At the time it was not like anything I have ever seen (on my SNES) so I was hooked. When I learned there was a sequel I knew I had to have it and so I did. It was worth every penny. Donkey Kong Country was more than I could expect, the characters were cool and I could easily play this game for hours. Graphics were phenomenal back then and still look pretty much awesome today (you can see how the game looks on my 32" TV on the picture). I did mind the difference between Dixie and Diddy a bit as she (Dixie) was by far superior with her hair-chopter.

I also love the fact that two players can play this one, even though not at the same time. As a kid I would play it with my neighbours and friends and now I play it with my partner although he sometimes moans as he has to be Diddy.

Here comes Yoshi

I was so lucky that my friend who got this game didn't like it. I really don't know what his problem was as Mario is awesome but I didn't mind as I borrowed the game and didn't have to return it for over a year. In that time I could save up enough money to get my own copy (and the price was way lower).

This is in my opinion the best Mario game for SNES and I did have the chance to play them all (Yoshi's Island included). Yoshi is the best thing that could happen to Mario!

I have played platform games across many consoles and computers as well but I still didn't find one that would surpass Mario.

A Link To The Past

I wasn't exactly a fan of this game when I got it as my grasp of English wasn't all that good and there was a lot of things I couldn't understand. Don't get me wrong I loved the game, the part where I had to ask for help in translation was not to my taste. I nagged everyone to help me understand it and more often than not no one had the time to help me out. Well at least this inspired me to learn English and I could speak it fluently way before kids in my age group did... And modern parents say games are bad for the kids eh? On that note I also learned some German as I had a German version of Wing Commander...

One of the greatest games of all time? I would have to agree.

Seeing this picture I think I really should give it a cleaning. All of the components are original I never had to replace anything and everything still works almost perfect. The only fault it has is that the image can go black if someone would bump into the console too hard (by someone I mean the pesky cat).

I can't believe the joysticks still work as they are supposed to as over the past years, well decades actually they have gone through hell, so much button pressing, falling on the floor, being sweated on and they survived it all. If I drop my Playstation joystick I fear it won't work any more (it happened).

Thing is when this game was released the shops were always running out and I couldn't get my copy. And now the game is a bit expensive. I had the chance to play it when I was on vacation with one of my friends cousins but not enough to get all out of it.

However I did get it for Nintendo DS! And I love it! I am all up for RPG and as far as the genre goes this one is one of the best (on Nintendo naturally).

I really, relly liked a game... Battletoads in Battlemaniacs. I really liked the team play and I borrowed the game to a friend. Something happened, you know he said, she said and somehow we ended up in a fight and decided to not talk to each other (kids, right? I don't even remember why we got into a fight). He still had the game. Needless to say almost two decades later I still don't have it.

Now while the NTSC (US) version has a buyer friendly price, the PAL version which I need is a bit of a stretch as far as the price goes and even if I find a good bargain they don't ship it to my country... Ah well, one day...