Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

Wednesday 17 Dec 2008

Our gaming hobby might be movie like in this day and age, but it is because of consoles pushing the limits by outclassing each other with each new generation that this industry evolves so quickly. Some of you have been with us since the Atari 2600 days in the 70’s and some might have only joined recently without any knowledge of where it all started. Come back every week, as we will be looking at each console and what exactly it did that made us buy into it and how it helped the industry to become the monster we know and enjoy today.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Intro:

After the success of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) it was inevitable that Nintendo, who was probably the most successful in home electronics at that time, was hard at work on the successor. SEGA launched the Mega Drive in 1988 with fans waiting with anticipated breath for the next installment. It would take a whole two years (1990) of waiting for Nintendo to eventually release the console, but it was well worth the wait. Not only did it have way better specs that the MegaDrive, but it also had so many first party franchises to fall back on. The launch of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was the start of a war – the 16bit war.

Look and Design:

Nintendo has always had this knack of going down their own road and not being scared of taking risks. With the SNES they once again went down that road by introducing a “grey” looking console to the world when everything else in your house went for the modern black look, even SEGA figured that. With that colour decided they stayed with what worked on the console with the power, rest and eject button. It also only had two ports but the back of this beauty was getting ready for the digital age, not only was there an RF port but also an AV port – thus improving sound and visuals quite dramatically.

It was also in this generation that Nintendo started off with their, now famous, reinvention of controller designs. Though when looking at a glance the SNES was just another NES, it now had two extra face buttons and on the top of it there were two shoulder buttons. Games were getting advanced and two buttons alone was most definitely not enough. With SEGA heading for six face buttons with the MegaDrive, Nintendo decided to take on those two extra buttons to the shoulder area which would become industry standard from that day forward. The controller itself was not exactly as square as the NES controllers, with rounded ends which sat very comfortably in the palm of your hand. The start and select button were also intact.

There were two hardware versions of the SNES though; the UK (PAL) and Japanese consoles looked alike with the US SNES looking quite a bit different…and prettier.

The Games:

Super Mario World was included in the package with your purchase of the SNES in the US and UK which set the mood for what was to follow (with 20 million copies of the games selling worldwide). F-Zero, Contra 3, MegaMan 7, Super Castlevania, Street Fighter 2, Super Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy 3, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana, The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Starfox and Chrono Trigger to name but a few games that yet again rolled out on Nintendo’s system, pretty much copying the NES in every way possible and succeeding.

If there had to be one standout game on the system it would most probably be Super Metroid. It was the game that made the SEGA Mega Drive seem like an old museum artifact, it is the game that showed you what the SNES was capable of when it came to the sound and graphics in comparison to the consoles of its time. It was just leaps and bounds ahead of anything at the time and there has not been a 2D game (or Metroid game) with such great atmosphere since.

Near the end of its lifespan when everybody wrote it off, with 32bit systems launching, they had one last swansong, which would eventually pop out two sequels: Donkey Kong Country. It looked so real that it gave 32bit systems a go for their money when comparing it to their 2D games.

Add Ons:

The SNES for some unknown reason never had the wealth of add ons one would have expected back then. All it basically had was the Super Scope which was really just a glorified Zapper.

There was a major add on planned for the SNES between Sony and Nintendo which fell through…you now know it as the “PlayStation.”

Overall:

This console was ahead of its time, only being discontinued in 1999 (That is nine incredible years). With the 16 bit battle being so close between SEGA and Nintendo, it was Nintendo that had the last laugh as their console stayed around for so long that it outsold it by miles way after the MegaDrive was discontinued. One can only but wonder what would have been if they did release the CD add on for the SNES. Many people out there still rate this as the best console of all time, another GREAT for Nintendo.

If you missed the first four weeks of the series, check out the Atari 2600, NES, Sega Master System and SEGA Mega Drive.