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Super Nintendo by frojas

August 23, 1991 was an important day for anyone playing video games at the time - it marked the release of the Super Nintendo (SNES). Even if you were a hardcore Sega Genesis owner, like me, there was still no avoiding the mass appeal of the Nintendo's 16-bit console. In addition, it also spawned the first true console rivalry, now deemed the "console wars", which is in truth a marketing buzz that puts multiple systems of a generation against one another. There were justified reasons to compare, however, because the SNES boasted some impressive graphics and a great Sony sound chip that would make it the technical superior against Sega's Genesis console. However in the end it really is all about the games, and the SNES also had no lack of those.

Super Mario World by frojas

Things are a bit different today, but in the earlier Nintendo days one of the biggest draws to each new console was that it came bundled with the newest iteration of Mario. SNES was accompanied by Super Mario World, which many gamers still consider the best of the series and invaded big box retailers holiday 1991. I remember getting excited anytime my mother wanted to go to Sears or JC Penny because that meant I could sneak over to the electronics section and play Super Mario World. Even though my loyalty resided with Sega and Sonic, there was no denying the appeal of the newest Mario game.

Mode 7 in Action by frojas

Not only did SNES feature much more updated graphics and sound from its predecessor, it also looked and sounded better than the Genesis. Without getting technical, mode 7 graphics allowed games like Pilotwings to spin graphics around the screen and create a zoom effect. If you've ever played an SNES game that zoomed in on a few pixels and made them look huge and blocky, you've seen mode 7 in action. Nintendo was also smart to partner with Sony for an impressive sound chip (although they would later make the big mistake passing on an early version of the Playstation), which was a separate processor for music and sound effects. This little chip is why SNES games sounded so good and has proven difficult in software emulation, which is why re-releases usually can't properly re-create the music and sound of the original.

Mortal Kombat SNES by frojas

Mortal Kombat Genesis by frojas

In 1993 an extremely popular fighting game named Mortal Kombat would hit home consoles for the holiday season and change how society viewed violence in video games. Mortal Kombat was bloody and even included moves called "fatalities" in which one fighter would kill the other with graphic moves like punching off a head or ripping out a heart. You can rest assured that every teenage boy at the time wanted to get his hands on this violent fighter. Both the Genesis and SNES received versions of the game, the SNES port was much closer to the arcade, but didn't have blood or fatalities. Despite having to unlock it with a code, the Genesis version had all the blood and fatalities intact while Nintendo opted to remove blood (it was changed to sweat) and altered the fatalities to bloodless "finishing moves". Mortal Kombat would be one of the games to prompt the senate to set up the rating system that the ESRB still uses today. Nintendo also learned its lesson thanks to poor SNES sales: Mortal Kombat II released on the SNES with all the blood and gore of the arcade as would each iteration after it.

Starfox by frojas

One of the biggest advancements on the SNES was the SuperFX (SFX) chip that allowed polygons into gameplay and gave rise to the title Star Fox. This was one of the first times gamers got a look at 3D effects that would be popularized by the next generation of consoles. In addition, developer Rare would also create Donkey Kong Country, another example of 2D trickery that looked like 3D polygons. DKC stands as the second best seller on the console - Super Mario World was number one, but only because it was bundled with the system. As a cartridge-based system, certain titles required a large number of extra components that drove game prices to impressive numbers. Street Fighter II was an early title that had a $70 MSRP and titles like Final Fantasy II, III and Chrono Trigger could sell for as much as $100. Capcom even released a great translation of Street Fighter Alpha 2 at the end of the SNES life cycle that had, of all things, load times. There was almost no limit to what developers could squeeze out of the SNES hardware.

Donkey Kong Country by frojas

Whether your memories of the SNES include that first Christmas playthrough of Super Mario World, fighting with your friends on Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat or spending countless hours tackling a huge RPG, there's no denying its mass appeal. Thanks to the SNES being one of the last consoles to feature 2D sprites, games also age much better than early 3D consoles like Playstation and N64. It represents one of the most versatile eras in gaming and many people that grew up with the SNES still own a yellow-stained console to date. It's been a couple decades SNES, but you wear it well.