RFGen's Top 20 Super NES games

[singlebanana]

Well, there goes three more of mine. Ha ha!

[Crabmaster2000]

Well, there goes three more of mine. Ha ha!

Lol, 4 of mine on this update. Love the blurbs you guys have been writing!

[Disposed Hero]

I've had 3 games in total appear on the also-ran lists. Should be interesting to see the final results.

[bickman2k]

Yeah, these updates are very fun to read through. Lots of games that I wouldn't have even thought of when writing my list out, mostly because I haven't played them yet.

[EZ Racer]

While I was putting everything together for the final list results, there was something that struck me about certain games. I didn't notice it as much with the NES list, but with the Super NES list, certain games from the same series seemed to be cannibalizing each other. All I mean by that is when there weren't exorbant differences between games coming from the same series, the votes were spread across the series, limiting the total votes the specific game could accumulate. Also, I don't consider it 'cannibalizing' when multiple games from a series appeared on a single list.

Let's get into what I mean-

Mortal Kombat II- 2 votes (#17, #12)
"The essential port of the best Mortal Kombat game. Brings a version of the game that is pretty close to the arcade home, along with the blood this time!"

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3- 1 vote (#18)

-Together they would rank just outside the Honorable mentions-


Super Bomberman- 1 vote (#9)

Super Bomberman 2- 1 vote (#6)
"The battle mode in this iteration of the game was awesome, and set a standard for local multiplayer games that very few games have achieved. It also has an underrated single-player mode, rounded out with excellent graphics and sound."

-While it's only two votes, together they would have ranked solidly in the HM's-


NBA Jam- 2 votes (#10, #10)
"BOOM SHAKALAKA! Brings the fun of the arcade home with up to 4 players."

NBA Jam Tournament Edition- 1 vote (#20)
"It took everything the original did right, amped it up with more secrets and tricks, and added another coat of polish"

NBA Hangtime- 1 vote (#13)
"Great arcade basketball that kills it with multiple players. Up to 4 players can play this blast of a game."

-The four votes put together would have ranked #18-


This next one's a little more of a stretch, considering that each game does have its own identity, but it seemed right to put it here:

Final Fight- 1 vote (#1)
"This game may not even appear on most peoples snes list, but it is without a doubt a top 3 video game for me (across any console)... It just brings back so many great memories, both at home and at the arcades. I have beaten this game more times (well over 100) than any other game, no other games even comes close. I would play this game alll the time at the arcades, or whenever my family would go to pizza hut on the weekends and I was never able to beat it... Finally being able to play it at home and master it on the SNES was pure joy! Best Game Ever!!!

Final Fight 2- 1 vote (#12)
"Thoughts when this game first came out... Another Final Fight! Dreams do come true!"

Final Fight 3- 2 votes (#16, #10)
"I own all three Final Fight games on the SNES and I can say that without a doubt, Final Fight 3 is the best on the system. I love the original, but the lack of a 2-player option really kills it for me; beat 'em ups are simply made for multiplayer or GTFO! Final Fight 2 is also a great game, but because they are pricey, if you have to choose, go for 3."

-Now, there was a list that had two different Final Fights on it, but even when considering that, put together the Final Fights would've hit #18 on the list-


There's one more egregious example, but considering both games made the top 25, but neither in the top 20, I'll save that for the Honorable Mentions section of the final list when it drops later this week.

There were a few other series' games mentioned in previous posts, like Earthworm Jim and Lost Vikings, but even put together they were still well outside the top 20, so it didn't seem to fit the spirit of what happened with the games mentioned here.

One last update of also-rans upcoming...

[Disposed Hero]

I didn't think about it until after I submitted my list, but I completely neglected the Mortal Kombat series while putting my list together. I played all three of them a ton as a kid, and I think MKII would have made my list had I remembered to include it. 

[EZ Racer]

The last of the also-rans

All these games had at least 2 votes, but not high enough to get them to Honorable Mention territory. Still some great games here, and one that I was floored that it ended up on this list and not higher.


Tecmo Super Bowl (#19, #16)
"The SNES took a great game on the NES and made it even better. Great graphics and apt character abilities based on stats. Who doesn't want to pass for 600+ yards per game?"


Gradius III (#17, #16)
"I hadn't put a lot of time into Gradius III before it was part of last year's shmup club. Boy had I been missing out on a gem. Surprisingly approachable for a Gradius game, and great graphics to boot."


Super Smash TV (#16, #15)
"Another game I played to death when younger and still come back to it a few times a year if Im just looking for mindless fun."

"Obviously taking inspiration from the movie Running Man, Super Smash TV is crazy hard but crazy fun. Looking back on it, it pushes the line of Nintendo's censorship of the time. It also has one of the most quotable announcers in VG history. 'Big Money, Big Prizes, I Love It!'"


Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (#17, #12)
"A fun entry-level RPG that has pretty good humor to go with it. The overworld is limited as far as travel and the story is super linear, but new players can grind to level up and possibly gain some new items with Battlefield levels. Experienced players can skip them to sort of make their own difficulty level."


Contra III: The Alien Wars (#20, #19, #18)
"Brings the tough as nails action of Contra to the SNES with new types of levels that showed off Mode 7 early in the console’s life."

"This one is at the bottom of my list, because I am not overly fond of hard games. I do have fond memories of this one though, and playing many co-op hours, to the point of actually getting good and beatting it, with good buddies."


Earthworm Jim (#12, #11)
"What a great blend of comedy, action and style! It can be pretty hard at times, but it's fair in its design and with the jamming soundtrack and stunning look I've always found it impossible to get frustrated with this gem."


Wild Guns (#20, #6)
"Such a fun 2-player shooter on the SNES. Learning how to dodge enemy fire and attacks is critical to your success. Super challenging, but not overly difficult when you learn the boss battles. Though this is one of the pricier titles on the SNES, in my opinion it holds its value. If cost is an issue, pick up Wild Guns Reloaded on the PS4."

"An extremely fun and unique shooter that shouldn't be missed!"


Shadowrun (#12, #9)
"I have much love of the Shadowrun IP. Never played the pen and paper game, but read many novels as a kid, and spent much time with both the SNES and Genesis iterations of Shadowrun. A very cool IP that has a fictional, futuristic Earth, combining Magic and Technology. I love the soundtrack to this one so much, I just bought it on vinyl."

"Probably one of the most underrated rpgs.  Solid writing built on top of an interesting cyberpunk universe.  It took me a few tries to get into it at first, but once I did, I couldn't put it down.  Feels very much like an old CRPG (think Fallout) simplified for console.  But for being in this style, it was very easy to control and play unlike other console rpgs of its type."


Super Ghouls n Ghosts (#18, #14, #14)
"It takes the appeal of Ghosts n Goblins, gives it a gorgeous look, and takes away many of the frustratingly cheap moments. It's still Brutally Difficult, but fair this time around."


Uniracers (#20, #4)
"A quirky racer that combines speed, memorization, and the fun of being able to perform stunts as a similar but legally distinct version of the Pixar logo (at least that’s what should have happened!)"

"There is so much to like about this game. Fun intense racing mixed with a brand of humor that never takes itself too seriously. This was meant to be Nintendo's answer to the Sonic games, and while they're not the same type of game, the gameplay style of each is fairly similar. Besides, for all shots Sega took at Nintendo during the console wars, it's nice to see Nintendo take a 'dig' back, with super-slow motion being deemed 'Hedgehog Speed' and not being able to name your character Sega or Sonic because it's 'Not Cool Enough'"


So that's takes care of all but 27 games that either ranked in the top 20 or just outside. It's been a lot of fun to put the Super NES list together, and while there are some predictable mainstays near the top, there still a few surprises left...

[Crabmaster2000]

When you put out these lists for the NES there were a lot of games that made me scratch my head and think "really? Out of nearly 700 games THAT'S in your top 20?". This time around there maybe 2 games like that and these rest are all solid contenders.

[Disposed Hero]

That's one more for me on the also-ran list. 4 in total if I'm not mistaken.

Cool to see Shadowrun getting some love. I played this game some as a kid, and even though it was too complicated for me to figure out, something about it kept drawing me back to it. I tried to play through it last month and hoped it would make my list, but I had a hard time sticking with it after some of the opening sections. It felt very much like a mix of a point-and-click adventure game and a CRPG, two genres I could never get into, and I just couldn't get past the crypticness and clunky controls. I still think it's a cool game that deserves some recognition though, and that soundtrack is indeed awesome!

[singlebanana]

Awesome write-up man. Another two picks of mine down the drain....  Apparently, some of our participants have poor taste.   

[Crabmaster2000]

Awesome write-up man. Another two picks of mine down the drain....  Apparently, some of our participants have poor taste.   

At least one of them

[MaterialHandlerMike]

I think that was 8 also-rans, for me.

[EZ Racer]

Not that I had it in my personal top 20, but I'm still surprised at how things came out for Contra III. Curious to know what others found to be surprising, either the love or lack of it.

[Crabmaster2000]

Not that I had it in my personal top 20, but I'm still surprised at how things came out for Contra III. Curious to know what others found to be surprising, either the love or lack of it.

Doesn't surprise me. It's well liked, but it's not on the level of the original in terms of nostalgia.

[shaggy]

When you put out these lists for the NES there were a lot of games that made me scratch my head and think "really? Out of nearly 700 games THAT'S in your top 20?". This time around there maybe 2 games like that and these rest are all solid contenders.

You do have to remember that we had to have played the game to put it on our list.  There were a few I wanted to put on my list but couldn't because I have never played it.