The 5 Best Super NES Classic Games — And the 3 Worst

The Super NES Classic is out now, and Nintendo’s tiny plug-and-play console is packed with some of the greatest games of not just the 16-bit generation, but of all time (you can read our review here). Of the 21 games included, the majority hold up shockingly well considering the SNES launched in 1991 and technology has changed so much since then. But while there are a number of all-time greats, not everything has aged so well. Here’s our list of the five best games and the three that haven’t held up as much.

5. Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (1993)
When Capcom released Street Fighter II on the SNES in 1992, it was a revelation, proving that Nintendo’s console was capable of faithfully recreating the arcade experience at home. But this upgrade improved on it in every way, with four new playable characters and an increased speed that made the old version feel like it was playing in slow motion. This game is the best reason the Super NES Classic is packaged with two controllers, as challenging friends to battle remains as addictive and riotous as it did 24 years ago.

4. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (1995)
The prequel to Super Mario World plays surprisingly differently from the core series, with a slower, more deliberate pace and a greater emphasis on collection. You control Yoshi(es) for the first time and are tasked with escorting Baby Mario through over 50 levels of platforming bliss on a quest to rescue Baby Luigi. The game is presented in a playful hand-drawn aesthetic, where everything looks like it was drawn by crayon, and it used the Super FX chip (which powered the 3D graphics of Star Fox) in clever and unexpected ways. Koji Kondo’s playful soundtrack is one of the greatest of all time, and it’s impossible not to smile while playing… unless you make Baby Mario cry, which is equal parts heartbreaking and annoying.

3. Super Metroid (1994)
1987’s Metroid on NES was a groundbreaking title, introducing gaming’s first leading lady, but the sequel took that solid foundation and turned it into an instant classic, birthing a genre that remains relevant to this day (see the recent Metroid: Samus Returns). Super Metroid is a moody masterpiece, dropping you into a hostile alien world with little direction and leaving you alone to explore its labyrinthine levels. It’s perfectly paced, blocking off areas with tantalizing glimpses of what’s to come until you earn the powerup necessary to access them. The sense of discovery is intoxicating; solitary confinement has never felt so fine.

2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1992)
The 1986 original is certainly more influential, popularizing the action-RPG genre for consoles, but it was in the Super NES sequel that Shigeru Miyamoto’s vision fully cohered into a timeless classic. Its sprawling overworld, intricate dungeons, and introduction of series staples like the Master Sword and Light and Dark Worlds feels just as modern and delightfully playable as it did 25 years ago.

1. Super Mario World (1991)
The NES Mario games were already amazing, yet somehow Nintendo managed to 1-Up them all with this pack-in launch title for the Super NES that showed off what the 16-bit console was truly capable of. The 96 levels are jam-packed with more secrets than Gretchen Wieners’ hair, and it introduced dinosaur pal Yoshi to the series. Super Mario World is simply platforming perfection. It’s the greatest 2D Mario game of all time, and it’s up there with the best in the series. Playing it today is a glorious blast from the past that never gets old.

3. F-Zero (1991)
Nintendo’s futuristic racer was innovative at the time, showing off the console’s Mode 7 effect to spectacular effect. It was hugely influential, inspiring games like Wipeout and Rollcage. But by today’s standards, it’s pretty simplistic and, worst of all, kind of boring.

2. Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (1991)
Capcom’s Super NES followup to their hit arcade Ghosts ‘n Goblins series is punishingly difficult, which is understandable since arcade games were designed to take your quarters. But the big problem is, it’s just not very fun.

1. Star Fox (1993)
Star Fox was the first game to use the Super FX chip to introduce 3D graphics to the 16-bit console, but the simplistic polygons look positively archaic today, and the frame rate is agonizingly low. Although it was groundbreaking at the time, it doesn’t hold up at all. You have to play through the first level to unlock the never-released Star Fox 2 on the Super NES Classic, and it’s an absolute chore. That game was canceled for a reason.