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[DidntKnowJack]

I was browsing through Youtube, and somehow got sidetracked into some SNES videos. A lot of memories started to flood back as I watched some compilation vids of various games. Some I hadn't thought about in years.

So I thought it'd be fun to relive some of those memories. From your first encounter with the system and it's games, what games you played, what were your favorites, etc.

I personally had a somewhat odd relationship with the SNES, and didn't come to appreciate it until years later. In those days my interest in gaming had dwindled away to nothing, so I never went out and bought one. But my friend had a SNES and we would play Madden '93 all day long. In between we played a little Super Off Road, U.N. Squadron, and eventually some of the NHL games. When my friend grew bored of the system, as he never really was much of a gamer to begin with, I just sort of inherited his console.

I was never into rpg's, I never played any Mario games that much, I was unfamiliar with Castlevania and Metroid, and it wasn't until the system was dead and gone that I ever tried them out. But through my travels, I've since come across some really outstanding games like Chrono Trigger, the Final Fantasies, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Mana, etc.

Though it's been years since I've fired up either of my old SNES systems. (The original plus the slimmed down version.) I'm certain they would still work. I really ought to hook one up and REALLY relive some memories.

 

[DonMigs85]

My first console was a Mega Drive 2 in 1993 (Before that I had gotten a Game Boy in 1991 and a Game Gear also in '93). I was a bit of a Sonic/Sega fanboy at first. Then in late 1994 I got a SNES Super Set with Mario World and Mario All-Stars, and from that point I grew to appreciate Nintendo more. The other early games I got were Donkey Kong Country, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy III, and some hand-me-downs like D-FORCE, Goof Troop and Link to the Past.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Bought one in 2005 from gamestop. Great system. My favorites are Super Metroid and FF3/6j

 

[marrec]

I can't quite remember since I was pretty young at the time, but my earliest Gaming memory is of playing SMB 3. I had to have been about 4 or 5. Then my gaming memory jumps right to Super Mario World and that title screen.

I don't know if I've played any system more than the SNES, it was a hard time for our family and there was a rental store on the corner of our street. It got to the point where I'd be hanging out at the rental store more than at home because it was better there, I had friends and it was safe. I think it was called JJs, or that might have been the proprietor. Either way the SNES was the other safe-haven I had...

One of my more vivid memories of it were having my friend play MK through the window because he couldn't come inside. He wasn't very good from that angle. My favorite game from the SNES is probably Act Raiser. It was completely different from anything I'd played before being as I played it years before any Final Fantasy.

Edit:

Nobunaga's Ambition and Tactics Ogre were both pretty fantastic games too.

Such a great game, I demand a Reboot!

 

[StuBurns]

First SNES game I played was a SimCity I believe, at a party I was talking to the kid who lived at this house, and he'd just got one.

It was a while till I got mine, which was pretty much a SF2 player till years later when I dug it out and got some of the RPGs for it.

I didn't play SMW till post-Mario 64.

I have a lot fond memories for the SNES, although I think in the UK the Genesis was more common, and even for me, I played it a lot more, lots of Sonic, even after the NES being king not long before.

 

[ss_lemonade]

We never had a Snes. We had a Genesis then followed it up with a Saturn so yeah, everyone here was pretty much a SEGA fan. My brother though was able to borrow a Snes from a friend in exchange for the Saturn (he wanted to play Panzer Dragoon and Dragon Force bad) with some games like Kirby, Final Fantasy 3, Star Fox, Mario All Stars and Illusion of Gaia. Jesus, despite going backwards in technology, that was some of the best gaming I've ever had.

 

[Flavius]

My go-to system in college. Roommates and I playing a ridiculous number of Street Fighter II and Super Mario Kart matches. Lots and lots of NFL Quarterback Club and NBA Jam matches that almost turned to brawls thanks to cheap plays and cheap booze. Swapping off the controller to get through the awesome, but sometimes, way too fucking difficult Super Star Wars titles.

Loved, loved, loved my SNES.

 

[conman]

The heyday of the SNES was during my high school years, so it's the one time in my life when I wasn't doing much gaming. My ten-years younger brother had one, so I played most of the classics from the era, but they're all much hazier to me than games from before and after the SNES. And my single greatest shame as a lifelong gamer is that I've never played Super Metroid...

 

[DanielJr82]

I grew up with Nintendo. The SNES gave me a lot of awesome games that I still love today, mainly Turtles in Time, Mega Man X, Star Fox, Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Super Mario World. Oh, I also got into Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, and Killer Instinct in those days.

-Edit-
NBA Jam! Hell yeah, lol. Anybody here remember Ken Griffey Jr Baseball?

 

[Snuggles]

We had a Genesis. I've never really played any of the SNES hits aside from a few that were on the VC.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

They dragged their feet releasing it so bought a Genesis instead. During the PS1 years got a little bored and bought a SNES and a ton of games off a friend for $50. Had fun with it. I always stayed away during its lifespan because Nintendo censored the games and I found that pretty insulting to be treated like a baby.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

First system I got myself hyped up for pre-release. Devoured every Nintendo Power, knew when it was coming out, I remember seeing previews for Super Mario World and Actraiser on television and just being amazed at the craaaaaazy Mode 7 graphics.

Got it for Christmas the first year it was out with SMW and Actraiser. Actraiser just fried my 13-year-old brain, I couldn't believe I was playing something on my TV that looked and sounded so incredible.

 

[Resilient]

Earliest memory would probably be playing Bubsy and then later Super Mario Kart for a long long time at my cousins house. Played it religiously at my best friends house for years, going through the DKC series and Battle mode in Super Mario Kart. Never actually owned one myself until 2005, and I played the hell out of Super Metroid on it. Lately I have started to collect as many old gems as I can. I've picked up Super Probotector 3 (Contra 3) and a mint boxed copy of A Link To The Past recently. Great system that I could play until my thumbs bleed. Love it way more than the 64 and the NES but not as much as the Gamecube

 

[krae_man]

I just played Super Star Wars last night. It was my first SNES game(along with Super Mario World) and it's still one of my favorite games of all time.

I rented so many games from my local Microplay. I loved the crap out of that store. I remember picking up that huge Earthbound box dozens of times and always putting it back down and renting something else instead. I never rented any RPG's. I wonder what would have happened to my gaming tastes if I had ever rented one back then.

 

[marrec]

I honestly think that without the SNES I would have gotten thrown in jail or something, it's very important to me.

 

[DonMigs85]

I can't quite remember since I was pretty young at the time, but my earliest Gaming memory is of playing SMB 3. I had to have been about 4 or 5. Then my gaming memory jumps right to Super Mario World and that title screen.

I don't know if I've played any system more than the SNES, it was a hard time for our family and there was a rental store on the corner of our street. It got to the point where I'd be hanging out at the rental store more than at home because it was better there, I had friends and it was safe. I think it was called JJs, or that might have been the proprietor. Either way the SNES was the other safe-haven I had...

One of my more vivid memories of it were having my friend play MK through the window because he couldn't come inside. He wasn't very good from that angle. My favorite game from the SNES is probably Act Raiser. It was completely different from anything I'd played before being as I played it years before any Final Fantasy.

Why? Did your mom ban him?

 

[marrec]

Why? Did your mom ban him?

More the state of the house I was growing up in. It was easier just to hand him the controller through the window. Divorced parents, living with dead-beat constantly drunk father, blah blah...

SNES was awesome.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

My go-to system in college. Roommates and I playing a ridiculous number of Street Fighter II and Super Mario Kart matches. Lots and lots of NFL Quarterback Club and NBA Jam matches that almost turned to brawls thanks to cheap plays and cheap booze. Swapping off the controller to get through the awesome, but sometimes, way too fucking difficult Super Star Wars titles.

Loved, loved, loved my SNES.

Oh god yes, college, how could I forget. Freshman year my roommate and I played the absolute shit out of NHL 94. Must have played hundreds of games against each other and never got tired of it.

 

[Vanillalite]

We need a remake of....

More people need to be able to play this gem! Would love to see SE do a handheld version like they've done with the rest of their old school lineup!

PS: SNES only time my mom EVER questioned what I was playing. The culprit? Mortal Kombat with all of my friends. My mom talked to my neighbor kid's mom though, and I got the ok!

 

[waicol]

Got this for 90 something xmass, can't remember the year but it was when they just released this bundle. Good memories.

 

[CrashPrime]

SNES launched Aug. of 1991, but I was an early adopter of the Genesis.

I got my Sega xmas of '89 and didn't have much interest in the SNES until Mario Paint launched. Mario Paint blew my mind when it hit, and I -HAD- to have it, so xmas of '92 (1.5 years into the consoles US life), I woke up xmas morning with the snes mario paint bundle, an SNES.

I burned out on Mario Paint and Super Mario World and went back to my Genesis for a good while until finally the accessory that defined the SNES for me landed. The accessory of the forever.

I don't know why Nintendo gave up on this awesome concept. I have a huge love for portable games, and the "pick up, put down" design mechanics. Problem is, I never seem to find myself in a situation appropriate to play thing on the go.

Nintendo would be my hero to launch a Wii U or an add-on for Wii U that was capable of playing DS(i) games, but the thing is, we live in a digital age, and I know the closest I will ever get is a method to double dip and buy the game from WiiWare VC.

 

[kokujin]

Got it in early 92, but we never had many games for it.Beyond a few titles many of the games didn't appeal to us, they were just slow and boring when compared to the Genesis.Some of my favorite games are still on the system though.Star Fox, Wild Guns, Pocky and Rocky,Super Metroid,Chrono Trigger, Ninja Warriors, just to name a few.We rented more than anything else though.We learned pretty quick not to run out and buy games without trying them.

 

[we.are.the.armada]

Check this out - in the year that SNES launched, it was the only thing that my brothers and I wanted. So during that Christmas, while we were opening presents, I was really bummed because there weren't any boxes that looked like SNES console or game boxes. So we got down to the last gifts, and they were in big gift bags, nothing even close to what a SNES box looked like...

... the gifts inside? They were backpacks. Like really 90's looking backpacks, all neon green and stuff. I looked at my brothers and we were all pretty bummed out. Then my dad was all like - aren't you guys even going to open your backpacks?

Guess what was inside - SNES games! We were all flipping out and going crazy. I don't know why, but one of my brothers was so pumped up he was doing cartwheels in the foyer. Dad brought the SNES from upstairs office and we set it up. Man, that was an awesome year.

Oh yeah my fav games are FFIV, Secret of Mana, and Super Metroid.

 

[Rikkun]

SNES.. Well I think my dad got me one in 1994, it was bundled with DKC2. He bought one just because my parents got separated so I took my Megadrive with me to mom's house and when I had to go tosee him I didn't have home consoles..
btw it was bundled with DKC2, then I got Plok, Goof Troop, Pac in Time, Super Mario World and the Super Game Boy (which is awesome, I still use it). Then I saw in a toy store this awesome thing, with this super-wide Mario game and I started dreaming of something else. A friend of mine bought the N64 with 3 controllers and Mario Kart 64 so we could play together.. then one day a boy came to my dad's house with his father. I take out my SNES, we play some SMW then he tells me "I got the N64 some days ago, it's wonderful" and I clearly remember my heart melting as I said "oh, I'd like one too, I know it's good.."

Someone must've heard me because that christmas I got a shiny N64 + MK64
I miss those days

Spoiler

and my dad

All this just to say, I didn't enjoy SNES that much back in the days because I got it late.

 

[Vanillalite]

OMG KI was THE game for my neighborhood crew for a while. We played the SHIT TON out of that at home. Enough so that we went to the two arcades (Putt Putt and Planet Extreme Laser Tag) near us to try and own the machine at the arcade. I'd almost say KI was the sole reason I wanted an N64 because we all wanted to play KI Gold! LOL

 

[Emily Chu]

1986 here I guess I was 7-8 when I first got the thing

came with Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World

some of my other friends got a sGen (FUCK THEIR SHIT) j/k

but I remember THERE was BLOOD back then between sGen and sNes...

along with all the classics DKC 123, Metroid, Mario Kart, too many to name

The system will always have a special place in my heart.

my first very own console

NES belonged to my relatives (played the shit out of that too)

<3 Snes

 

[Zerokku]

SNES was my first gaming system. I have pretty fond memories of playing Mario Kart, Link to the Past, Kirby Super Star, etc. One of my favorites was Super Bomberman. We happened to end up with a multitap so had 5 player rounds of bomberman. I honestly attribute my love of gaming to the SNES.

That being said, I didn't get into a lot of the SNES gems like earthbound and Chrono Trigger until my teenage years. Been rebuilding an SNES game collection recently too.

 

[marrec]

OMG KI was THE game for my neighborhood crew for a while. We played the SHIT TON out of that at home. Enough so that we went to the two arcades (Putt Putt and Planet Extreme Laser Tag) near us to try and own the machine at the arcade. I'd almost say KI was the sole reason I wanted an N64 because we all wanted to play KI Gold! LOL

Yep, same here. Though we didn't have an Arcade to play it, just the SNES.

 

[PigSpeakers]

Lot of memories.

Can't remember how we got it exactly. Probably as a gift from Aunts and Uncles since we were pretty poor. It's how I've gotten most of my game equipment over the years (music gear too since my uncle was in a blues band, but that's another story). I just remember going from watching my older brother playing FF1 on the NES to suddenly having an SNES one day.

I remember playing a lot of Donkey Kong Country and FFMQ. Could never get past certain bosses in FFMQ. That game was hard when I was a kid. I played FF4 and got up to at least the part with the light armor. My brother got upset with me because I sold my ancient sword (I was in maybe 1st or 2nd grade at this point in time) and I had no idea about the cloning trick. I clearly remember the christmas I got DKC3 and where in my grandparent's house I opened it and everything. And then for some reason it wasn't in my collection when I was looking through it years later. Also, most of the games I remember owning as a kid (Earthbound, Mega Man X1-3) were all rented. We rented a ton of games growing up.

Eventually, the stupid bird we had at the time chewed up the power cable of the SNES and even when we got a new ac adapter, it still didn't work Probably what started my dislike of birds.

One other small memory I have is one day I asked my dad if I could go and play the super nintendo. He asked if I would rather play outside. I made the choice to stay inside and for whatever reason that memory has stuck with me for all these years. Weird.

Sometime maybe a year or two ago, I got a classic gaming urge again. I had some money and a debit card so I finally went on eBay and picked one up. It was yellowed and the lady wasn't sure if it worked. But it came with two games, the mouse, and some random manuals. Only cost me about $21, so it wasn't a huge hole in my wallet. And it worked! It has some problem where it will lose color or go into weird colors, but if I slam it against the shelf its on it works again most of the time.

Collection of games I have now:
-Super Mario Allstars
-Mega Man X
-Killer Instinct
-F-Zero
-Zelda: A Link to the Past
-Super Mario World
-Final Fantasy III (VI)
-Chrono Trigger (with box, map, and manual all there but in poor condition!)
-Lion King
-FFMQ
-DKC
-DKC3 (bought after the other one mysteriously disappeared.)
-Mario Paint
-Star Fox
-Out of This World
-Populous

 

[JaseC]

Before my dad won a MegaDrive in a raffle at work, all we had was a Master System. One afternoon my brother tells me to come with him to his mate's place since he just bought a Super Nintendo. I raced over there just in time to see him load up Mortal Kombat. Seeing the jump from 8-bit to 16-bit was utterly mindblowing at the time.

 

[Grinchy]

I wanted one so bad that I cut our grass once per week for $10 each time to try to save up the $200 system cost. I realized that I didn't have 20 weeks of weather nice enough to need the grass cut, and that buying the system with no games would be a downer, so I just never got one. Our family had a Genesis and I settled for it. The SNES was probably better.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

FF4
FF6
SF2
Super Mario World
Ogre Battle
Earthbound
DKC
Starfox
Secret of Mana/Evermore
Romancing Saga 2...fuck you Kawazu...fuck...you...
LttP
Super Punch Out
Super Castlevania
Best Game Ever? Mario Kart. No fucking blue shells. No fucking snaking. Perfectly balanced except for enemy powers. Turtle ftw!

 

[ULTROS!]

Don't remember when I got it but it was my first system. I got it along with the Famicom and the Sega Genesis.

I played the SNES more, followed by the Famicom, then the Genesis.

The game that I've played a lot were:
Earthbound (still have it)
Secret of Evermore (still have it)
Super Mario World (still have it)
Super Mario All Stars (still have it)
Illusion of Gaia (still have it)
Super Mario RPG (still have it)
Zelda: A Link to the Past (still have it)
Chrono Trigger (still have it)

Until now, I occasionally play them.

 

[Seik]

I grew with it, which will make it a very special and nostalgic console for the rest of my life.

There are so many good titles, it really was a perfect console for kids of our generation to grow with.

 

[Amir0x]

Playing Super Mario World at Toys R Us in New York City. Was like looking into the future.

 

[blahness]

My brother and I saved up our paper route money to buy it on launch day. Still my favorite system ever.

 

[woolley]

I still have mine but the video on it doesn't work. I couldn't have been older than 4-5 ('95-'96) when my family got it. I remember playing Super Mario Bros. on it but it was probably the least played game out of all of them for me.

From what I remember my favorites were:

Ahhhh! Real Monsters
Techmo Bowl

I still have Real Monster and Animaniacs but I don't have any idea what happened to all the other games.

 

[Sophia]

Such a great game, I demand a Reboot!

Heh. I have ActRaiser in my SNES right now. Nothing beats going to the local sales barn/flea market and finding the game for $5.

 

[Oracle Dragon]

I honestly don't remember when I first got to use a SNES... certainly Super Mario World was the first game I ever played on it. I remember more about the Genesis. One of my friends at the time, his father was some kind of supplier to rental locations. We could go into his garage at there would just be boxes and boxes of all the latest games... I remember playing Super Mario 2 before it was out in stores. I also remember getting to play Genesis before it was out in stores (just Altered Beast), man that was awesome.

Anyways, this is supposed to be a SNES thread! I don't remember a lot of my original time with it, but my sister in law has a cottage we go to occasionally. It's stocked with an old SNES with a good selection of classic games and an old CRT. There isn't a more modern game system in the place and that's perfect... SNES holds up great! SMW, NBA Jam, we even get some NHL and Madden going.

And plugging in a cartridge still has this feeling associated with it. I don't care about the better graphics that an emulator can give me, I don't enjoy playing them. Personally, I'd take plugging in a real cartridge any day.

 

[kokujin]

I wanted one so bad that I cut our grass once per week for $10 each time to try to save up the $200 system cost. I realized that I didn't have 20 weeks of weather nice enough to need the grass cut, and that buying the system with no games would be a downer, so I just never got one. Our family had a Genesis and I settled for it. The SNES was probably better.

Nope, I had both, the Genesis was a better video game machine.If all you cared about were RPGs then the SNES was the way to go, if not Genesis all the way.

 

[marrec]

Nope, I had both, the Genesis was a better video game machine.If all you cared about were RPGs then the SNES was the way to go, if not Genesis all the way.

I don't want to make this that thread, but DKC games and Nobunaga's Ambition and Sim City and Sim Ant and Zelda and so on and so forth beg to differ.

Genesis was good, but SNES was a monster.

 

[kswiston]

I was a Genesis kid during the 16bit generation. I finally bought an SNES from a second hand store in about 1998. Still have it to this day. Probably my fondest memories of the system were playing E.V.O., Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III/VI. I didn't really get into jrpgs until the 32bit generation, but the SNES had some of the best.

 

[Sophia]

I don't want to make this that thread, but DKC games and Nobunaga's Ambition and Sim City and Sim Ant and Zelda and so on and so forth beg to differ.

Genesis was good, but SNES was a monster.

I had immerse fun with both of them, honestly. The SNES wins out simply because I recall more people having it.

I wanna find a copy of Pocky & Rocky 2 if I can. That game was amazing back in the day when played co-op.

 

[bhlaab]

I got one for Christmas as a kid and played it a lot

 

[Retro]

My parents had an insane rule about only having one console at a time, and we had picked up a Genesis (after being forced to sell off our NES, /sniff) because, you know, Sonic was the fucking shit back then. We did rent an SNES sometimes, and a couple of my friends had it.

I didn't get one until 1999 or so; I worked at a store that somehow had SNES 2 ("Model SNS-101") in stock, along with a shitload of games. Back then I was driving a junker and living with my folks before college started, so I had a ton of disposable income floating around and it was nothing for me to blow whole paychecks on games.

I ended up buying the SNES2, Mega Man X, Link to the Past, Castlevania IV and Super Bomberman II (all in original factory seal). I rounded out my collection with additional finds at said store (Meijer, if anyone is curious), trips to Funcoland and snatching up rental copies of such rarities as Earthbound and Super Mario RPG. I also 'borrowed' Super Metroid at some point... ahem, anyways.

One of my favorites. I just beat Mega Man X this week on the original console. So great.

What kind of monsters don't allow their kids to have multiple gaming systems? Sheeeit.

 

[Demigod Mac]

Was obsessed with Final Fight at the time (in the arcades)

Then I found out it was coming to SNES and that sealed the deal - I had to have it!
That and Actraiser blew me away completely.

Alas, Guy wasn't in the first SNES version, so I still had incentive to keep going to the arcade. But by that time, Street Fighter II had come out.

 

[Pimpbaa]

The SNES (and Genesis)? It wasted my teenaged years.

 

[Pappasman]

My earliest gaming memory is playing Super Mario World at my cousin's house, but I never had a SNES myself. I started with a Gameboy, N64, and a Playstation. My SNES experience started around 2001 when I moved to Toronto and one of my new friends had a massive gaming collection. During the GC, Xbox, PS2 generation I experienced a lot of retro gaming through that friend, and the SNES was one of our most played consoles during those years. It wasn't until 2009 when I would get my own SNES. I love that thing.

My favorite SNES games are Super Metroid, A Link to the Past, and Super Castlevania IV.

 

[marrec]

The SNES (and Genesis)? It wasted my teenaged years.

Nah, without it you would probably just be some successful and fulfilled person who has achieved stuff...

I'd take mapping out Eye of the Beholder with my now dead best friend over that shit any day.

 

[added_time]

I had a SNES and a Genesis. I remember thinking that the difference in quality between the SNES and Genesis seemed enormous. Although I still had one Genesis game that I could never stop playing: General Chaos.