As a brazilian gamer from the 90s, I feel that it's important to give a background fact of why South America loves Top Gear more than other racing games from this generation. In the 90s, Nintendo didn't had an official representative here, so most SNES had to be imported, which in conjunction with all the economic issues of the time, meant videogames were a luxury. But some people figured out they could rent out time for kids to play their videogames, and that turned into a large cultural background that we had large shops with nothing but TVs lined up with a console in each. The reason why people loved Top Gear at that time, is because unlike F-Zero, you could play it with a friend. And that means they could combine their allowance so that instead of each one paying to play for one hour each, they would play together for 2 hours. This kind of rent-a-time arcades are unheard of in north america and europe, because consoles were relatively cheaper, and even poor families were able to pay for them.
In the 2000's North America had LAN centers. Pretty much the same thing you are talking about but with computer games. Gaming PC's cost like $1,000+ back then. Not only was it cheaper to play at LAN centers (like $2 an hour) but it made it possible to play computer games with friends. Most popular game was probably Counter Strike. Some LAN centers also offered console gaming systems aswell...
@@lextor4712 Not really, the N64 fever was Goldeneye and Mario Kart. At the time, people were playing FIFA and Winning Eleven/PES for soccer games. Mario Party got banned from my local arcade after 4 joysticks destroyed in one week, and we didn't had Smash.
Me and my dad OWNED one of this places, it grew up to 36 TVs, and it lasted all the way till the PS3 era, it became cheaper to run with CD based system with pirated discs, cause cartridges where EXPENSIVE and youll need to like a dozen of the popular ones (we sell them after a while when people stopped playing them, also N64 was a problem cause people wanted to play 4 at a time and the controllers kept breaking, matter of fact after the 16 bit era the only controllers that where durable where the dreamcast ones
When I was a kid growing up in the 90's I lived in South Lake Tahoe California. We had a video rental store called Video Maniacs that closed down and remodeled one year. I think in 94 0r 95. But they closed up for several months and had this big grand reopening. Much to the children's surprise the major remodel they did was committing a huge chunk of the store, maybe an entire 3rd of it, to rows of Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo consoles each connected to their own 13inch color TV. Then there was a room of its own with a projection screen, probably 6 foot by 6 foot and a stereo surround sound home theater system. In here were both a Genesis and Snes as well. The idea was that anyone with an account could rent a game for a dollar for the afternoon and play until the store closed if they wanted to. It was hugely popular for a couple of years. But by the time the Playstation and N64 generation hit they only put out a single PSX and a couple N64s. And the big room had an Atari Jaguar. Nobody really cared as the novelty wore off after some time during the 16 bit generation and I think Video Maniacs shut their doors in 1999 or the early 2000's but I always wondered where they got the idea for this from. Guess the owner must have taken a trip to Brazil at some point in the early 90's and was inspired... but as a kid from a poor family in the 90's, I loved it, and played so many matches of Mortal Kombat 2 there.
Here in Argentina during the '90s we did not have access to the consoles or the original cartridges due to their high costs. Most of us had some clone of the Japanese Famicon (renamed "Family Game") and some clone version of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (in my case, the "Super Senga"). Same for the cartridges in both cases (clone copies that came without a box and without an instruction manual). Since there were no SNES clones, only those who could afford it (a small minority) were lucky enough to have it. I remember that "the rich kid" in my class (son of a businessman who owned a supermarket chain) was the only one who had SNES and Game Boy. For most of us it was an unknown (and much desired) world. The same thing happened to us with N64. That's why I appreciate these videos, now that I'm older (I'm currently 36) I'm discovering the wonderful world of the SNES, something I couldn't do as a child. Thank you!
As an argentinan i confirm this comment... only rich kids in my class had a SNES or a N64... the playstation ruled argentina because of piracy I played Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, FF16 emulated years after !! such a great journey !
The whole continent of South America is very pleased by your recommendations of not only Top Gear and International Superstar Soccer Deluxe, but also Sunset Riders and Metal Warriors, which are very popular around here as well. Excellent video, as always!
I personally prefer the original International Super Star Soccer than the deluxe edition, sure it has a lot less content, but my problem with deluxe is that the angles for making goals are way more limited than in the original verison.
@@SNESdrunk Excellent video. Do you think that you may be interested to do a video review about all of rare and expensive games, starting by 250$usd to the most expensives ones? A list of exemple: Final Fight Guy, Bronkie, Wild Guns, Hagane, Zero the Kamikaze, Pocky Rocky 2, Aero Fighters, etc. Thanks.
@@SNESdrunk HOW DARE U never mention Uncharted Waters II amongst the best SNES rpg games?? )) seriously - I recommend everyone to try this brilliant sea open world strategy/RPG game from KOEI - the systems (quests, economics, character interactions, RPG, etc.) they implemented are impressive and ahead of time. One of the hidden gems for SNES and timeless classics. Thank you for your great channel, SNESdrunk )
I can go months, even years without thinking about Chrono Trigger, but then I hear simply a few seconds of that soundtrack, like at the end of this video, and it really transports me. Not to my memories of first playing it, but to its actual world. I listen to other OSTs more, and that may be because it’s simply too much to handle as a casual, background listen. There is something so evocative and emotional about it, like fantasy made real. Such heart and soul to it. Still genuinely so moving. Then I remember the lone sound of that swaying, ticking clock. Not saying anything remotely new here, of course, but god, what a masterpiece.
Super Metroid left an indescribable impression on me when I played it at like 11 or 12 years old, and it easily still holds up today. The atmosphere, non-linear progression, graphics, that sense of triumph when you discover new upgrades and abilities that allow you to access new parts of the map. That heart breaking moment at the end when you realize the magnitude of your new friend's sacrifice. I'll never forget that sound. I will forever sing its praises. In my opinion it's the greatest game ever made. The SNES really is the greatest console of all time, and I've played them all.
I was 14 and played it in 2003 for the first time. Coming hot off of Metroid Prime and Fusion, I had to give it a go. Got it for $20 at my local GameStop and it was the last copy available. I've beaten it so many times since.
The SNES library is truly impressive. You curated a collection of wonderful games, yet there are still so many great ones to explore. Congratulations on the video!
@@joyasmusicales603 Certainly, the Mega Drive undeniably boasts an impressive library. The hardware that Sega assembled in 1988 was groundbreaking. Yet, for me, the Mega Drive's narrative is rife with "what if" scenarios. What if the Mega Drive had found success in Japan akin to its triumph in the USA? Imagine the array of sensational titles we might have witnessed. What if there hadn't been peripherals like the Sega CD and the 32X, both with tepid support and treated merely as technological curiosities? What if Sega had introduced a genuine hardware upgrade mid-life for the Mega Drive? It could maintain backward compatibility with old titles, but all new games would be tailored for this hardware update, perhaps incorporating the NEC V60 or Motorola 68EC020. And what if Square and Enix had thrown their support behind the Mega Drive? Countless fantastic titles might have been developed. If Konami and Capcom had treated the Mega Drive on par with the SNES, how different might the gaming landscape have been? The fascinating aspect is observing the current Mega Drive community actively exploring these "what ifs," developing games, and rectifying poorly executed ports from that era.
I am glad you mentioned "Top Gear" and "International Superstar Soccer Deluxe". I won't have to burn down your house! 😂 I still missed "UN Squadron" for shumps though. That is my favorite of all time!
Loved the list. Some extras I would add are Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Actraiser, E.V.O., the other Final Fantasies, Trials of Mana, the first Power Rangers game, and two personal favorites, Saturday Night Slam Masters and Plok.
Agreed that ActRaiser was a big miss, as was Seiken Densetsu III. Plok and ZAMN were also pretty cool games, though I personally don't think they quite represent the best of what the SNES has to offer.
Glad to hear Clyde’s still kickin’ man! I actually watched the old video forever ago! I loved your old videos on essential transitions and hacks. I found some great games I hadn’t heard about from other content creators on your channel, nice job!
I'll admit that I'm influenced by nostalgic bias here, but I do believe that ActRaiser is another essential Super Nintendo game. A good mix of action and platforming combined with building settlements for your people, all with a soundtrack that's easily in the top ten of SNES OSTs.
Absolutely killer title! I played it for the first time as an adult around 24 (so no nostalgia here) and I couldn't put it down. I have to revisit it every once in a while, there's something addicting about the pacing of the varying gameplay.
I was looking for actraiser too, there is no game that blends action, simulation and Rpg together like this game. The sound track pushes the snes to its limits.
I played it for the first time very recently and I was absolutely amazed of how forward thinking this game is. The mix of genres, the simple and intuitive UI, the easy way to save and how fast you can play it make it feel like a game made yesterday. And yes, u can be a bit easy, but when you don't have much time can be a blessing. That's without mentioning the astounding music and the timeless pixel art. I'm really surprised with this game, to me it should be even in the top 10 of the SNES.
I grew up with the SNES and it's still my favorite console of all time. At 41 years old, I am still playing and discovering games that are new to me. But I was lucky enough to grow up with a lot of the games on your list. The only game I would add to the video is Sim City - the SNES port is not only excellent, it is arguably the best version of the original Sim City!
I turned 39 Monday I got snes when it came out that Xmas and it’s my fav console I have sega now too but I don’t play it as much. I play alot of nes as well
I'm 46 and these were halcyon days in gaming, my friends! I'm still chasing the dragon and trying to get that early 90's feeling back of being a kid again, haha.
Great video! Honestly, this is a rock solid list. Heck, you could probably even have a sequel to this list and still not even scratch the surface of all the fantastic games on the system! The SNES library is just that amazing! This is one of my personal favorite retro game systems and I feel like many SNES games have aged even better than most early 3D games on the N64 and PS1.
The SNES was the pinnacle of the old world 2D gaming experience. You finally had the graphics and processing power and amount of buttons to properly recreate what had only been in arcades. I got an N64 in 1997 and a PS1 a couple years later but never played them much for long, I lost interest in games when things went 3D (and games took months to complete). I still play SNES games though. Though my GBA SP gets the most use.
There's no competition for me.. The SNES is my favorite retro game console of all time. While I imagine nostalgia plays some role in that, I owned nearly all of the game consoles following it up until (and including) the PS2 and Xbox 360 (excluding the Sega Saturn and all of the low production consoles like the Jaguar and 3DO), but none of them had the impact, fun, or memories that the SNES did. There just wasn't any other console that had games that transported me into another world like so many titles on the SNES did (A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Chrono Trigger, Act Raiser, etc). It will always be the golden era of gaming to me, despite also having so many wonderful memories attached to other consoles and games like the N64 and Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, and others.
Final Fantasy IV, Legend of the Mystical Ninja, the Parodius games, and Actraiser are the games I'd consider most essential that didn't make this list, but it is so easy to keep going with games like Wild Guns, Ninja Warriors, Final Fantasy V, Kirby's Dream Course, Mario's Super Picross, Mario Paint, Metal Combat, UN Squadron, Sparkster, Hagane, Bomberman... The Super NES has such a great library. -Sturat
Harvest Moon, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Secret of Evermore, Trials of Mana (Secret of Mana 2), Super Star Wars trilogy, Earthworm Jim, Mickey's Magical Quest, The Lost Vikings, Ogre Battle, Aladdin (SNES > Genesis), Shadowrun, Sparkster, Uniracers, Out of This World, Pilotwings...
Great list! I finally played Super Metroid just a few years ago I was mindblown by how insanely good it is and how well it holds up today, absolute masterpiece.
As a brazilian and 40+ old, I can confirm that Top Gear, even 3 decades later, is still our favorite SNES racing game! LOL PS: Congrats for the video, I really love your channel. Brings back good times in the 90's.
How's the Evercade family of systems selling over there? Both of the Top Gear games are available on it on multicarts with 12-19 other games on them for $20 U.S. or 25 CAD each and the systems start at $60 U.S. or 80 CAD for handheld and the handhelds have 12-18 Capcom or Taito arcade games built-in or the console version starts at $100 U.S. and supports 2-4 players on games that allow it.
I did as well back when they were first released, but now I don’t have the patience for them. I seriously have no idea how I beat the 2nd Death Star run in RotJ back in the day?!
Yea they were a breath of fresh air after the ridiculously hard NES star wars and empire games . Like another poster said, one might not have patience for them . But they do offer decently solid gameplay and cool effects. Was wowd. When I first saw the lightsaber in action.
I wouldn't say this one is an essential, but I still recommend playing it. Super Adventure Island II is an plattform-adventure game (no shit), one of the last in the Adventure Island series until Adventure Island the beginning came out as Wii ware in 2009 Tina and Master Higgins went to their honeymoon, but when a tropical storm hit their raft, they got separated and both lost their memories. Tina was about to marry another man when a hawk kidnapped her, and after Master Higgins heard her screams, he embarked on an Adventure through different islands to Chase the captors, recover his memories and save his girl It plays pretty much like Zelda II, since the main weapon are the swords, though you can choose some others like the boomerang, a shovel or your bare fists, every Island is very unique and different where you will find the right equipment to go thorugh it , get the loot, beat the boss and find your way to the next Island I feel the need to let more people know about it and play it since I feel like no one has played it, like no one talks about it, no one even mentions it, and therefore no one makes romhacks for it, just a spanish translation patch, which I find weird for such a solid fun game, despite being so different to its antecesors
I’ve had a SNES since I bought my friend’s once the generation was over. Always loved it. Played the heck out of it. But over the past 5 or so years your channel has turned up more great games that I missed than I ever would’ve imagined. So, thank you, SNES Drunk. 👍
Hey man, thanks for posting this video literally while I'm having an existential crisis of sorts (and can't sleep). It's truly a blessing for me and hope you know that your videos reach out more than just to the vidya game soul. Have a happy Thanksgiving fam.
It's so unbelievably sad that Chrono Trigger wasn't released in Europe back then. I could play it waaaay later with an emulator. But hell I would've bought it right away. Great video as always! Very glad you mentioned Soul Blazer, this is genuinely overseen but it's a real unique game with hooking mechanics.
That is tragic indeed. The feeling of standing in a game store when I was 10 years old and the Chrono Trigger box art captivating me to buy it was irreplaceable.
I still wish you'd finished your Chrono Trigger playthrough. Watched it at a low point in my life and it made me smile. I love that game. I am totally blind, and one of my childhood memories is of my best friend at the time playing through it and including me as much as he could, by describing things, narrating dialogue, that sort of thing. So to see these games is nice, especially in a low-key setting. Anyway, just wsaying I appreciate what you do.
Nah, it's a lot more simple than that. I use these words because watching and seeing are not exclusively eye-related. They bespeak vigilance and attention. Usually they refer to vision, but don't have to. I simply prefer to use the same terms everyone else does for what amounts to the same action. I have been totally blind since birth.@malice5121
So I was waiting all video for Chrono Trigger to pop up and felt my blood pressure rising until you placed it at the end. If this was an attempt to get people to comment, it totally worked.
Mega man x2, yoshi’s island, contra 3, and breath of Fire 2 are probably my snes games with the most hours on them. But mystical ninja and Front Mission Gun Hazard are the ones I’ve put the most time in recently. I’ve slowed way down on collecting for most systems, but I will always pick up a good snes game whenever I see one:) Great list!
U.N. Squadron is up there for me as far as shooters go. Looney Tunes B Ball was also a fun sports title. Good list overall. Thanks for the Thanksgiving Day content!
I personally think it’s one of those rare arcade ports that’s actually better on console, too. While you do run into frame drops there’s better gameplay, with the ability to upgrade to new planes and choose your missions on a dynamic battle map ala Bionic Commando
Yep. One of maybe three games I'd gripe wasn't in the video if I was that type. Probably my favorite shooter on the console, and the manga it's based on, _Area 88_, is superb in it's particular genre as well
This was a blast of a trip down memory lane. I got my SNES back in 1994, and I remember having to trade in Mortal Kombat III because it was too violent. Picked up Secret of Mana, which was a great introduction to JRPGs, a genre that kept me company from SNES to PSX and then emulators for nearly 15 years. I have cooled down on them the past decade, but I cannot help but smile whenever I hear of Terranigma, or Secret of Mana 2 (I still remember downloading the english ROM on one of the early local netcafes, having to break the *.zip into 2 floppies). Thank you.
I have double nostalgia from SNES. From both the console and Zsnes. I played Emulators (up to 3DS)...those good times. Snes, GBA Emulators, Fallout games (mostly 2 and Tactics), RPG Maker...years playing them. Then Indie Pixel games became a thing and I said goodbye to Emulators.
Emulation is how I first played Pokemon before it was released in the U.S. There were some awesomely janky fan translations of the Japanese gen 1&2 roms floating around on the internet before they became available in North America, so I just had to download them for a bit of a sneak peek to see what everyone was talking about in Japan...I was NOT disappointed, and got the official U.S. carts as soon as they were available!
@Branden-vl9sl - Each system had a good handful of superior exclusives, I had to own both to get all of the best games really...you can't just play the Final Fantasy games OR the Phantasy Star games, you can't just play Earthbound OR Buck Rogers, you can't just play Warsong OR Ogre Battle. Shining in the Darkness OR Arcana? Beyond Oasis OR Secret of Mana? Master of Monsters OR EVO? Actraiser OR King's Bounty? Ultima games OR Shining Force games? Star Control OR Wing Commander? The 7th Saga OR Starflight? AD&D: Eye of the Beholder OR D&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun? Drakkhen OR Beast Wrestler? Pirates Gold OR King Arthur's World? Metal Marines OR Herzog Zwei? Final Fight 2&3 OR Splatterhouse 2&3? Demon's Crest OR Wonder Boy in Monster World? Dungeon Master OR Faery Tale Adventure? Cadash OR Ninja Warriors? Streets of Rage OR Mega Man X? Golden Axe OR Super Metroid? Mario OR Sonic? No, you really CAN'T choose just one of the two systems from that gen or you lose half of the 16-bit library!
Great video. You have some really good taste in games and you're aware of some real gems most don't know about. Seeing things like Metal Warriors, Space Megaforce, and Gundam Wing Endless Duel on here was impressive. Some titles I wish I'd seen on here: Side scrollers: UN Squadron Fighters: Claymates 33 1/3 Beat 'em ups: Maximum Carnage and X-Men Mutant Apocalypse Random gems: Sky Blazer Adventure: Act Raiser
This video just flew by! with some great picks! I'm really curious about the Great Battle games and I'll be checking into their English friendliness. These list videos of yours have always introduced me to some great new experiences, so thank you for taking the time to make them!
@@RedSpade37 Totally agree! Those tunes live rent-free in my head and I run them in the background when playing dungeon-crawl board games. Treasure in the Old Castle is fantastic, and I especially like the song for Trent Woods. It creates the perfect creepy & mysterious vibe for that stage.
It's just kind of redundant to include butchered console versions of arcade games. The snes version has like half the enemies on screen at once compared to the real version, same goes for final fight. And it's so easy to play the real version these days, either on the capcom beat em up collection, or (even better)emulators like retroarch or mame.
@@jaykelley103 There is no such thing as a Final Fight 3 arcade game. Only the first one was a port: 2 and 3 are SNES exclusive. I get your point about King of Dragons though, but it wasn't that easily available until somewhat recently in modern platforms.
Happy to report having and enjoying the majority of these wonderful titles. Thank you for all of the videos over the years pointing us all towards the best the SNES has to offer.
Love the shout-out for ALTTPR. For anyone looking to relive the magic of working thru the puzzles of A Link To the Past, the randomizer brings that back over and over again, in so many different ways that can be finely customized to what experience you're looking for. I love being able to play my favorite game with that fresh excitement each time I roll a seed.
I don't know if there's really a reason to play the original "Wild Guns" over the updated "Wild Guns: Reloaded". It does just about everything better with a wider field of view, 2 new characters, and new stages.
Both of the SNES Final Fantasies are must haves IMO. Both stories are fantastic, and the growth between the two titles is apparent, and gives you an understanding of just what kind of arc Square was on.
@@joyasmusicales603 maybe it’s a testimony of the era. I got my genesis late so I didn’t “grow up with it”. Still this SNES fanboy views the sega genesis as Legendary. Christmas ‘92 was a winner no matter what camp you were in.
Awesome video as always! It's sad to me not to see Terranigma one of my favorite games of the SNES as the prefered choice of the three. To me Terranigma is a trip of emotions and by the end of it I even cried in the end and feel really empty. The OST, the adventure and the story is top tier. I don't know if you have finished it but if you didn't I really recommend it!
What shocks me about Turtles in Time is that it is so much better on the SNES than the arcade version. This fleshed out the levels and added better bosses to fight.
I've always been that guy online who's always been saying that Turtles in Time is overrated. Stupidly of me, I played Hyperstone Heist, not Turtles in Time. I thought they were basically the same so I just called something I'd never played overrated
@@pointblank0020 I played that on the Cowabunga Collection for the first time last year. I'm sorry for you. It was like a repeat of the few levels followed by a boss rush. Simplified as much as possible.
Tales of Phantasia deserves an honorable mention, I think. Had it been released in the US, it would be right up there with Chrono Trigger, Lufia II, and FFVI. It's also interesting to see where so many of the gameplay elements we see in other "Tales Of..." titles got their start. And sure, it's been ported to other consoles, but those translations don't hold a candle to the work that deJap did back in the day.
king of dragon is so freaking hype, so much fun to see the characters psych themselves up at the start of each level. (WOOOOOO) the boss design was great too. sigh each time i see a list like this i'm putting back one of those game in my to play next.
You introduced me to two games I have never seen before despite SNES still being my number 1 console. Magical Pop'n and Great Battle 4 and 5 are now on my to play list
Great list! I absolutely agree about Super Metroid. If you haven’t played it you should check out Rock n Roll racing. So addictive. Spent countless hours playing that one with my best friend growing up.
I am really glad you gave a shout-out to Dragon View. I learned about that game from your channel specifically and loved it to death. A real hidden gem that is not talked about much at all!
Lots of childhood titles on this list, nice! Wario's Woods was a favorite of ours in the puzzle game genre, really fun 1v1 mode with some crazy voiceovers (WOOOW)
I'm always torn between the Playstation and the Super Nintendo when it comes to my favorite games and consoles. I can't decide, but I love those SNES days. Playing Illusion of Time and Megaman games all day. I'm thankful for growing up in the 90's man. Just pure love. Your videos always ewoke that love and nostalgia I have for the SNES.
Soul Blazer, Illusion of Time and Terranigma are all really good games, though I never really understood why folk never considered ActRaiser to part of a quadrilogy with those games: It's an ARPG made by Quintet that has numerous thematic similarities to the 'Soul Blazer trilogy'.
Also, Mario Kart 99 sounds AMAZING... with F-Zero 99 doing so well it would just make sense... Unless Nintendo had s problem with it for some reason... Which they tend to have weird problems with certain games, licensing, copyright and things like that. (Basically comes down to 💰 most of the time)
Huh, just re-watched the video because why not and noticed a few missing gems like Demon's Crest, Zombies ate my neighbors and Secret of Evermore. Spots are limited even in a 20min video, but I think they should still be mentioned somewhere.
This is great video and I feel you really picked the games that standout on the SNES/SFC. You have more experience than many in all games the console has to offer and therefore I decree this video be unchallenged by those who might attempt to dispute its validity.
The Koei games were great on the SNES. Games like Aerobiz as well. It's not like it used to be since they started focusing on action games, but there are companies like Paradox still doing great map painters.
Trials of Mana (Seikendensetsu 3) aka Secret of Mana 2 - it's like Secret of Mana but you get to choose 3 out of 6 factions at the start of the game that the entire game story & progression is based on so you can play it in 20 different ways if you wanted to.
I never see ANYONE talk about Uncharted Waters: New Horizons. Like ever. Can we get a video one day of just this and it's game play and lore. It's SOOOOOOO good.
For me it's Super Metroid, ActRaiser, FF6, Chrono Trigger, and LoZ 3 for the SNES. Those were my favorites. And I didn't even get to play Chrono Trigger until relatively recently.
DKC 3 is an incredible playthrough, my only DKC game as a kid, chock full of secrets and absurdly difficult levels, with crazy special moves that even in the first few levels are necessary to get some of the bonus coins. Skipping Kiddy across the water, anyone?
I've always thought that DKC3 is weirdly underrated compared to the 2nd game, or even the original. I think it may even be the best of the trilogy. Having Dixie and Kiddie to play as rather than Diddy and Dixie was much more interesting (since Diddy was too much like Dixie except he couldn't fly), the graphics were possibly the best on the entire console, and I loved all the open world exploration elements like the upgradeable water vehicles, the hidden banana birds, and the bear brothers.
My sister and I spent many hours playing DK3. We were literally like 2-3 DK coins away from 100%ing the game. One morning we were playing it and my dad ripped the cart out of the console without shutting it off first because we were running late to go somewhere. Thus by doing so it had erased all of our saved games. Still brings a tear to my eye thinking about it...
No, DKC 3 is way worse than the first 2; The First One Has the Wow Factor, The Second Has the Badass Factor, this is the kid, baby brother that cries all the time and does a lot of been-there done-that, and is frustrating to 103% complete only to get b**** slapped by “not fast enough” BS.
I love this channel so much. Especially these deeper cuts that last a bit longer with lots of great suggestions and information. One thing I've always wondered. Does it help if I watch the commercials in their entirety? That's a small, easy thing I could do if it's at all beneficial for you and the channel. Be well my man! Hope you have a nice holiday season. Oh, and a great rest of your day. Ha! 🖐
Glad you mentioned Magical Pop'n. It's fantastic with the only drawback being a lack of save or password feature that's less of an issue depending on how you play it today. I highly recommend it
Pretty solid list. I agree that it's tough to narrow things down when there are so many good games. I probably would included FF4, as I think it's a great entry-level RPG, but 6 has probably aged better. Thinking about it, I think the only games I would add (besides some of my personal favorites) are Harvest Moon and Lost Vikings. Harvest Moon was pretty unique for its time, especially on consoles, and Lost Vikings just feels very polished and creative for a puzzle/platformer.
The only game I would add is Dragon Quest III (w/ the English patch) as an essential RPG game. Other than that, your list is PERFECT. All bases covered!
Can confirm Genealogy of The Holy War rocks. The gameplay has a lot of unique aspects, like how big the playing field is, and how you can make your characters interact. The big draw is definitely the story though. I’m probably biased cause it was one of the first JRPGs I played on snes, but the story is one of the best I’ve seen from that era.
@@thebossbaby7402 - From what I've played of it I found the plot to be drawn out, convoluted, and mostly just explained in boring text while scrolling all over the map screen and then in interminable, superfluous conversations between boring characters who we barely know and have no investment in and no cutscenes or action happening between them and the characters feel totally generic and less engaging than the ones in the previous 3 games or the latter ones, and the gameplay in turn feels boring and repetitive to me due to these factors. It feels like a chore to play with little return for the time and effort invested in it...
@@JohnnyProctor9 I like the story because it felt more grounded and political. You get to see all these powerful figures scheming and making advances, while the good guys try to deal with their current situation. I actually thought the map screen was really satisfying; felt like I was watching a history documentary or something (and the music rocks). But I can understand why some people are put off by the amount of exposition. I don’t agree that the characters are more generic though. Because of the conversation system, the characters are a lot more fleshed out and interesting than the previous games. Not to shit on those games because they’re underrated. I also highly recommend playing the whole game cause the story as a whole is really good and has a lot of tragedy and elements fitting of a war story. If this game came out today, it would get compared to Game of Thrones or something lol. The characters in these games are usually pretty memorable and I don’t think this is the exception.
@@thebossbaby7402 - I don't know, it seems like some pretty vast walls of text to slog through...I liked how the stories in the first 3 games and the later ones were political without being too cumbersome, sort of like in Vandal Hearts on the PS1, or Ogre Battle. I guess that the Shining Force and Langrisser games are really more my speed as far as the mixture of plot and action go...I'll surely give it another chance at some point in the future though, the sequel Thracia 776 looks a bit more interesting.
Beat ‘em ups 1:Super Double Dragon 2:Batman Returns 3:Final Fight Guy Top Gear? Heck yes!!!! “Bury with my money!” Claymates was a repeat rental for me! Thank you for mentioning
Three decades in, Super Metroid is finally starting to struggle in the face of modern gems like Hollow Knight. That's not saying it's bad, quite the opposite, it's sure a hell of a long time to spend in a top ten list of best games ever.
I sunk hours into Axelay. The different weapon load outs, the fact that some stages had somewhat branching paths, and that you could even remap your controller made this one a real treat
This is a great list! The one I would add is Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons. It's an open-world game where you have a boat and can sail anywhere in the world in the 1500s, trading, exploring, being a pirate or privateer, etc. The satisfaction you get from circumnavigating the globe is just so satisfying.
Demon’s Crest is a must played!! It went under the radar because it was released at the very end of the SNES life but this game is a gem. It gets everything the console could give at that time. The music, the atmosphere and the adventure is one of the best memory I have from that console.
The gameplay with some gargoyle forms is wonky though, but I agree it's a gothic gem in the dark. The last boss and secret boss were probably the most difficult of the entire SNES catalogue!
Well done. There are only a handful of games I would have squeezed in… but as you said… that’s only shows how strong the library is. Games I really enjoyed that are always only “play through it every year or two” are: -ActRaiser -SimCity -Super Conflict -Prince of Persia (best port on any platform) -E.V.O. Been following your channel for a while and I am always delighted to see new games being reviewed that I might have missed.
What a great selection. What a legendary console! This really captures the enthusiasm we felt during the console wars. There are games here that I've never heard of, but that I'm now itching to try.
I would probably have highlighted Terranigma more because the world still manages to overlook one of the top 3 or 4 games in existence, ever. Also Zombies ate my neighbors is actually insane and I am so bummed the Switch remake screwed the old controls and didn't give it as a setting option. Also the savestates don't often work and I found a skeleton key as a random drop in the shelf found in level 1. This probably can skip a boss fight at the very least and was the only time I was able to get that luck since at least 1999. Another always underrated gem to me is DKC 3 which is FAR superior to 1 and sometimes even 2
Man! I love your review vids, especially because you usually try to balance out critiques with things that you like about the games you talk about. This was a great watch during my lunch break 🙂👍 thanks!
I'm not always leaving a comment, but keep doing this ! your channel is mainly what motivated me to full retrogaming and enjoy a lot of games and consoles :)
For shoot ‘em up fans, I gotta throw in UN Squadron. 3 playable characters, a leveling up system that doesn’t punish you for deaths, and a stage select map. On easy, it’s still a good challenge that rewards practice. I finally beat it on hard last month after GREAT effort lol. Give it a try! My number 1 shoot ‘em up.
That's right! Superstar Soccer and Top Gear are absolute classics in Brazil. In the 90's you simply could not step into a game rent store and not immediately hear a song from Top Gear or the crowd sound from ISS. Good times!
As a brazilian gamer from the 90s, I feel that it's important to give a background fact of why South America loves Top Gear more than other racing games from this generation.
In the 90s, Nintendo didn't had an official representative here, so most SNES had to be imported, which in conjunction with all the economic issues of the time, meant videogames were a luxury. But some people figured out they could rent out time for kids to play their videogames, and that turned into a large cultural background that we had large shops with nothing but TVs lined up with a console in each.
The reason why people loved Top Gear at that time, is because unlike F-Zero, you could play it with a friend. And that means they could combine their allowance so that instead of each one paying to play for one hour each, they would play together for 2 hours.
This kind of rent-a-time arcades are unheard of in north america and europe, because consoles were relatively cheaper, and even poor families were able to pay for them.
In the 2000's North America had LAN centers. Pretty much the same thing you are talking about but with computer games. Gaming PC's cost like $1,000+ back then. Not only was it cheaper to play at LAN centers (like $2 an hour) but it made it possible to play computer games with friends. Most popular game was probably Counter Strike. Some LAN centers also offered console gaming systems aswell...
Thank you for giving context! Is International Super Star Soccer 64 just as popular as the SNES variant over there?
@@lextor4712 Not really, the N64 fever was Goldeneye and Mario Kart. At the time, people were playing FIFA and Winning Eleven/PES for soccer games.
Mario Party got banned from my local arcade after 4 joysticks destroyed in one week, and we didn't had Smash.
Me and my dad OWNED one of this places, it grew up to 36 TVs, and it lasted all the way till the PS3 era, it became cheaper to run with CD based system with pirated discs, cause cartridges where EXPENSIVE and youll need to like a dozen of the popular ones (we sell them after a while when people stopped playing them, also N64 was a problem cause people wanted to play 4 at a time and the controllers kept breaking, matter of fact after the 16 bit era the only controllers that where durable where the dreamcast ones
When I was a kid growing up in the 90's I lived in South Lake Tahoe California. We had a video rental store called Video Maniacs that closed down and remodeled one year. I think in 94 0r 95. But they closed up for several months and had this big grand reopening. Much to the children's surprise the major remodel they did was committing a huge chunk of the store, maybe an entire 3rd of it, to rows of Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo consoles each connected to their own 13inch color TV. Then there was a room of its own with a projection screen, probably 6 foot by 6 foot and a stereo surround sound home theater system. In here were both a Genesis and Snes as well. The idea was that anyone with an account could rent a game for a dollar for the afternoon and play until the store closed if they wanted to. It was hugely popular for a couple of years. But by the time the Playstation and N64 generation hit they only put out a single PSX and a couple N64s. And the big room had an Atari Jaguar. Nobody really cared as the novelty wore off after some time during the 16 bit generation and I think Video Maniacs shut their doors in 1999 or the early 2000's but I always wondered where they got the idea for this from. Guess the owner must have taken a trip to Brazil at some point in the early 90's and was inspired... but as a kid from a poor family in the 90's, I loved it, and played so many matches of Mortal Kombat 2 there.
Here in Argentina during the '90s we did not have access to the consoles or the original cartridges due to their high costs. Most of us had some clone of the Japanese Famicon (renamed "Family Game") and some clone version of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (in my case, the "Super Senga"). Same for the cartridges in both cases (clone copies that came without a box and without an instruction manual). Since there were no SNES clones, only those who could afford it (a small minority) were lucky enough to have it. I remember that "the rich kid" in my class (son of a businessman who owned a supermarket chain) was the only one who had SNES and Game Boy. For most of us it was an unknown (and much desired) world. The same thing happened to us with N64. That's why I appreciate these videos, now that I'm older (I'm currently 36) I'm discovering the wonderful world of the SNES, something I couldn't do as a child. Thank you!
As an argentinan i confirm this comment... only rich kids in my class had a SNES or a N64... the playstation ruled argentina because of piracy
I played Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, FF16 emulated years after !! such a great journey !
@@EmilioGalicchio 🤜💥🤛 🇦🇷
The whole continent of South America is very pleased by your recommendations of not only Top Gear and International Superstar Soccer Deluxe, but also Sunset Riders and Metal Warriors, which are very popular around here as well. Excellent video, as always!
I personally prefer the original International Super Star Soccer than the deluxe edition, sure it has a lot less content, but my problem with deluxe is that the angles for making goals are way more limited than in the original verison.
@@javierortiz82But Deluxe has a dog as a referee.....a dog!!!
@@poethefallen1333Didn't the og ISS had it too?, I'm pretty sure it had it as well.
Futbol*
@@javierortiz82 Deluxe is the better game. Deal with it.
Now THIS is something to be thankful for, thank you SNESdrunk for the consistent quality and passion :D
Thank you for taking the time to watch
@@SNESdrunk Excellent video. Do you think that you may be interested to do a video review about all of rare and expensive games, starting by 250$usd to the most expensives ones? A list of exemple: Final Fight Guy, Bronkie, Wild Guns, Hagane, Zero the Kamikaze, Pocky Rocky 2, Aero Fighters, etc. Thanks.
@@fran6octobre That would be a good video, when he mentioned "Space Megaforce" I think I actually heard my bank account scream in horror.
@@SNESdrunk HOW DARE U never mention Uncharted Waters II amongst the best SNES rpg games?? )) seriously - I recommend everyone to try this brilliant sea open world strategy/RPG game from KOEI - the systems (quests, economics, character interactions, RPG, etc.) they implemented are impressive and ahead of time. One of the hidden gems for SNES and timeless classics. Thank you for your great channel, SNESdrunk )
Tetris Attack is an amazing game and one of my favorites. The strategy, levels of difficulty, and soundtrack especially are all immaculate. 10/10
Isn't it just Candy Crush
I can go months, even years without thinking about Chrono Trigger, but then I hear simply a few seconds of that soundtrack, like at the end of this video, and it really transports me. Not to my memories of first playing it, but to its actual world. I listen to other OSTs more, and that may be because it’s simply too much to handle as a casual, background listen. There is something so evocative and emotional about it, like fantasy made real. Such heart and soul to it. Still genuinely so moving. Then I remember the lone sound of that swaying, ticking clock. Not saying anything remotely new here, of course, but god, what a masterpiece.
dat Guardia Forest bass
I think about Chrono Trigger hourly.
If you can, buy the OST.
@@LordMalus I like your name!
I literally cannot go a day without CT in my life.
Super Metroid left an indescribable impression on me when I played it at like 11 or 12 years old, and it easily still holds up today. The atmosphere, non-linear progression, graphics, that sense of triumph when you discover new upgrades and abilities that allow you to access new parts of the map. That heart breaking moment at the end when you realize the magnitude of your new friend's sacrifice. I'll never forget that sound. I will forever sing its praises. In my opinion it's the greatest game ever made. The SNES really is the greatest console of all time, and I've played them all.
I was 14 and played it in 2003 for the first time. Coming hot off of Metroid Prime and Fusion, I had to give it a go. Got it for $20 at my local GameStop and it was the last copy available. I've beaten it so many times since.
Awesome video. Goes to show just how amazing the SNES library really is.
The SNES library is truly impressive. You curated a collection of wonderful games, yet there are still so many great ones to explore. Congratulations on the video!
So is the Genny!
@@joyasmusicales603
Certainly, the Mega Drive undeniably boasts an impressive library. The hardware that Sega assembled in 1988 was groundbreaking. Yet, for me, the Mega Drive's narrative is rife with "what if" scenarios.
What if the Mega Drive had found success in Japan akin to its triumph in the USA? Imagine the array of sensational titles we might have witnessed.
What if there hadn't been peripherals like the Sega CD and the 32X, both with tepid support and treated merely as technological curiosities? What if Sega had introduced a genuine hardware upgrade mid-life for the Mega Drive? It could maintain backward compatibility with old titles, but all new games would be tailored for this hardware update, perhaps incorporating the NEC V60 or Motorola 68EC020.
And what if Square and Enix had thrown their support behind the Mega Drive? Countless fantastic titles might have been developed.
If Konami and Capcom had treated the Mega Drive on par with the SNES, how different might the gaming landscape have been?
The fascinating aspect is observing the current Mega Drive community actively exploring these "what ifs," developing games, and rectifying poorly executed ports from that era.
You'd need a list twice as big for Genesis essentials...
I am glad you mentioned "Top Gear" and "International Superstar Soccer Deluxe". I won't have to burn down your house! 😂
I still missed "UN Squadron" for shumps though. That is my favorite of all time!
Best console ever. This could have been a list of 100 games and you still wouldn't have run out of good ones
No but Genny is!
Eh, SNES and Genesis are kinda overrated but there are some good games, imo
@@LavaCreeperPeople whats not? Wii and x box?
@@joyasmusicales603 fair
@@joyasmusicales603- Genesis certainly had the larger library and hence more great games for a list like this...
Loved the list. Some extras I would add are Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Actraiser, E.V.O., the other Final Fantasies, Trials of Mana, the first Power Rangers game, and two personal favorites, Saturday Night Slam Masters and Plok.
Agreed! Was looking for the ZAMN comment as that was one of the best.
Hell yeah, ZAMN is such a fantastic game!
One game I'd add is Gradius 3, i spent many hours as a kid grinding to beat that game lol.
Agreed that ActRaiser was a big miss, as was Seiken Densetsu III. Plok and ZAMN were also pretty cool games, though I personally don't think they quite represent the best of what the SNES has to offer.
I would have put Captain Commando instead of final fight but i get FF may be more popular.
Super Mario World is my all time favorite. The music, the pixel quality, the colors, the sound effects, the level designs so on and so forth.
SMW is a timeless classic. It's the one I've played the most along with Super Castlevania 4.
I think it's the only game I ever finished on an emulator (never owned a snes). Difficulty was perfect for casual play.
Glad to hear Clyde’s still kickin’ man!
I actually watched the old video forever ago! I loved your old videos on essential transitions and hacks.
I found some great games I hadn’t heard about from other content creators on your channel, nice job!
I'll admit that I'm influenced by nostalgic bias here, but I do believe that ActRaiser is another essential Super Nintendo game. A good mix of action and platforming combined with building settlements for your people, all with a soundtrack that's easily in the top ten of SNES OSTs.
Most definitely. I only recently played it for the first time and I couldnt stop. It's easily an essential title.
Absolutely killer title! I played it for the first time as an adult around 24 (so no nostalgia here) and I couldn't put it down. I have to revisit it every once in a while, there's something addicting about the pacing of the varying gameplay.
Agreed! The only thing that kills ActRaiser for me is the boss-rush at the end.
I was looking for actraiser too, there is no game that blends action, simulation and Rpg together like this game. The sound track pushes the snes to its limits.
I played it for the first time very recently and I was absolutely amazed of how forward thinking this game is. The mix of genres, the simple and intuitive UI, the easy way to save and how fast you can play it make it feel like a game made yesterday. And yes, u can be a bit easy, but when you don't have much time can be a blessing. That's without mentioning the astounding music and the timeless pixel art. I'm really surprised with this game, to me it should be even in the top 10 of the SNES.
I grew up with the SNES and it's still my favorite console of all time. At 41 years old, I am still playing and discovering games that are new to me. But I was lucky enough to grow up with a lot of the games on your list. The only game I would add to the video is Sim City - the SNES port is not only excellent, it is arguably the best version of the original Sim City!
I turned 39 Monday I got snes when it came out that Xmas and it’s my fav console
I have sega now too but I don’t play it as much. I play alot of nes as well
I'm 46 and these were halcyon days in gaming, my friends! I'm still chasing the dragon and trying to get that early 90's feeling back of being a kid again, haha.
Great video! Honestly, this is a rock solid list. Heck, you could probably even have a sequel to this list and still not even scratch the surface of all the fantastic games on the system! The SNES library is just that amazing! This is one of my personal favorite retro game systems and I feel like many SNES games have aged even better than most early 3D games on the N64 and PS1.
The SNES was the pinnacle of the old world 2D gaming experience. You finally had the graphics and processing power and amount of buttons to properly recreate what had only been in arcades. I got an N64 in 1997 and a PS1 a couple years later but never played them much for long, I lost interest in games when things went 3D (and games took months to complete). I still play SNES games though. Though my GBA SP gets the most use.
There's no competition for me.. The SNES is my favorite retro game console of all time. While I imagine nostalgia plays some role in that, I owned nearly all of the game consoles following it up until (and including) the PS2 and Xbox 360 (excluding the Sega Saturn and all of the low production consoles like the Jaguar and 3DO), but none of them had the impact, fun, or memories that the SNES did. There just wasn't any other console that had games that transported me into another world like so many titles on the SNES did (A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Chrono Trigger, Act Raiser, etc). It will always be the golden era of gaming to me, despite also having so many wonderful memories attached to other consoles and games like the N64 and Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, and others.
Very happy you put the spotlight on Claymates. Loved that game back in the day!
Final Fantasy IV, Legend of the Mystical Ninja, the Parodius games, and Actraiser are the games I'd consider most essential that didn't make this list, but it is so easy to keep going with games like Wild Guns, Ninja Warriors, Final Fantasy V, Kirby's Dream Course, Mario's Super Picross, Mario Paint, Metal Combat, UN Squadron, Sparkster, Hagane, Bomberman... The Super NES has such a great library. -Sturat
Legend of the mystical ninja definitely got shafted here in the states. The sequels on snes kick ass! That goes for super bomberman games!
Final Fantasy and ActRaiser were the two games I immediately thought of.
Tales of Phantasia + English language ROM patch.
Harvest Moon, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Secret of Evermore, Trials of Mana (Secret of Mana 2), Super Star Wars trilogy, Earthworm Jim, Mickey's Magical Quest, The Lost Vikings, Ogre Battle, Aladdin (SNES > Genesis), Shadowrun, Sparkster, Uniracers, Out of This World, Pilotwings...
Great list! I finally played Super Metroid just a few years ago I was mindblown by how insanely good it is and how well it holds up today, absolute masterpiece.
Arguably the best game on the system tbh
My favorite game of all time and I didn't play through it until 2015 so no nostalgia clouding.
Masterpiece is a word that's used far too frequently by the retrogaming community, but it is absolutely the correct word to describe Super Metroid.
The most expertly and precisely crafted 2D game of all time imo, even 30 years later. A true work of art
Super Metroid, what a glorious piece of art. Great list ♥
The atmosphere & feelings of desolation of this game is unmatched among all of the SNES library.
As a brazilian and 40+ old, I can confirm that Top Gear, even 3 decades later, is still our favorite SNES racing game! LOL
PS: Congrats for the video, I really love your channel. Brings back good times in the 90's.
How's the Evercade family of systems selling over there? Both of the Top Gear games are available on it on multicarts with 12-19 other games on them for $20 U.S. or 25 CAD each and the systems start at $60 U.S. or 80 CAD for handheld and the handhelds have 12-18 Capcom or Taito arcade games built-in or the console version starts at $100 U.S. and supports 2-4 players on games that allow it.
I personally loved the Super Star Wars games. All three give you the feeling of being the different characters and being in the movie.
I did as well back when they were first released, but now I don’t have the patience for them. I seriously have no idea how I beat the 2nd Death Star run in RotJ back in the day?!
@@TheABEliaThat is easy. Every time you see an orange wall tap in the opposite direction.
Yea they were a breath of fresh air after the ridiculously hard NES star wars and empire games . Like another poster said, one might not have patience for them . But they do offer decently solid gameplay and cool effects. Was wowd. When I first saw the lightsaber in action.
@@TheABElia Those games were VERY challenging!
I wouldn't say this one is an essential, but I still recommend playing it.
Super Adventure Island II is an plattform-adventure game (no shit), one of the last in the Adventure Island series until Adventure Island the beginning came out as Wii ware in 2009
Tina and Master Higgins went to their honeymoon, but when a tropical storm hit their raft, they got separated and both lost their memories. Tina was about to marry another man when a hawk kidnapped her, and after Master Higgins heard her screams, he embarked on an Adventure through different islands to Chase the captors, recover his memories and save his girl
It plays pretty much like Zelda II, since the main weapon are the swords, though you can choose some others like the boomerang, a shovel or your bare fists, every Island is very unique and different where you will find the right equipment to go thorugh it , get the loot, beat the boss and find your way to the next Island
I feel the need to let more people know about it and play it since I feel like no one has played it, like no one talks about it, no one even mentions it, and therefore no one makes romhacks for it, just a spanish translation patch, which I find weird for such a solid fun game, despite being so different to its antecesors
I’ve had a SNES since I bought my friend’s once the generation was over. Always loved it. Played the heck out of it. But over the past 5 or so years your channel has turned up more great games that I missed than I ever would’ve imagined. So, thank you, SNES Drunk. 👍
I just found this channel and this is the first video I have seen. Very good! Information without being boring. Subscribed
Thanks for taking the time to watch
Hey man, thanks for posting this video literally while I'm having an existential crisis of sorts (and can't sleep). It's truly a blessing for me and hope you know that your videos reach out more than just to the vidya game soul. Have a happy Thanksgiving fam.
Time to vibe out with snes relaxing 2 after this vid
Not sure what your beliefs are, but I have been there and kept you in my prayers this morning.
Happy thanksgiving!
Hang in there, and thank you for taking the time to watch
@@chriskoschik391prayers doesnt help silly.
@@Dara321AAAi dont think thats good advice when having a crisis.
It's so unbelievably sad that Chrono Trigger wasn't released in Europe back then. I could play it waaaay later with an emulator. But hell I would've bought it right away.
Great video as always! Very glad you mentioned Soul Blazer, this is genuinely overseen but it's a real unique game with hooking mechanics.
That is tragic indeed. The feeling of standing in a game store when I was 10 years old and the Chrono Trigger box art captivating me to buy it was irreplaceable.
I still wish you'd finished your Chrono Trigger playthrough. Watched it at a low point in my life and it made me smile. I love that game. I am totally blind, and one of my childhood memories is of my best friend at the time playing through it and including me as much as he could, by describing things, narrating dialogue, that sort of thing. So to see these games is nice, especially in a low-key setting. Anyway, just wsaying I appreciate what you do.
What a lovely story.
I'm not trying to be mean but you say you're totally blind but enoy seeing and watching this stuff?
Nah, it's a lot more simple than that. I use these words because watching and seeing are not exclusively eye-related. They bespeak vigilance and attention. Usually they refer to vision, but don't have to. I simply prefer to use the same terms everyone else does for what amounts to the same action. I have been totally blind since birth.@malice5121
Homeboy how did you type this shit or watch his LP if youre totally blind tf
Something doesnt add up here...and i dont belive you.
So I was waiting all video for Chrono Trigger to pop up and felt my blood pressure rising until you placed it at the end. If this was an attempt to get people to comment, it totally worked.
Mega man x2, yoshi’s island, contra 3, and breath of Fire 2 are probably my snes games with the most hours on them. But mystical ninja and Front Mission Gun Hazard are the ones I’ve put the most time in recently. I’ve slowed way down on collecting for most systems, but I will always pick up a good snes game whenever I see one:) Great list!
i forgot breath of fire 1 and 2! both great games
Breath of Fire II has a great plot, very dark for SNES. However, I didn't care much for the gameplay. Other than that, fantastic.
Great to see King of Dragons. I think this port went over the heads of most back in the day.
Youre a nerdy one arent't ya
U.N. Squadron is up there for me as far as shooters go. Looney Tunes B Ball was also a fun sports title. Good list overall. Thanks for the Thanksgiving Day content!
Came here to plug UN Squadron as well. One of the best shooters ever made! And that soundtrack! 💋🤌
@@ASFalcon13 the OST is truly underrated
@@jorycole4742 Absolutely! One of the best soundtracks on the console.
I personally think it’s one of those rare arcade ports that’s actually better on console, too. While you do run into frame drops there’s better gameplay, with the ability to upgrade to new planes and choose your missions on a dynamic battle map ala Bionic Commando
Yep. One of maybe three games I'd gripe wasn't in the video if I was that type. Probably my favorite shooter on the console, and the manga it's based on, _Area 88_, is superb in it's particular genre as well
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is my favorite SNES game, so thanks for putting it on the list! :)
This was a blast of a trip down memory lane. I got my SNES back in 1994, and I remember having to trade in Mortal Kombat III because it was too violent. Picked up Secret of Mana, which was a great introduction to JRPGs, a genre that kept me company from SNES to PSX and then emulators for nearly 15 years. I have cooled down on them the past decade, but I cannot help but smile whenever I hear of Terranigma, or Secret of Mana 2 (I still remember downloading the english ROM on one of the early local netcafes, having to break the *.zip into 2 floppies).
Thank you.
I did the exact same .zip break, just with Secret of Mana 1. Good times.
@@vguy488 The worst of all, I recall, was Tales of Phantasia, which required 4 floppies at over 4 MB. The struggle was real!
I have double nostalgia from SNES. From both the console and Zsnes. I played Emulators (up to 3DS)...those good times. Snes, GBA Emulators, Fallout games (mostly 2 and Tactics), RPG Maker...years playing them. Then Indie Pixel games became a thing and I said goodbye to Emulators.
Emulation is how I first played Pokemon before it was released in the U.S. There were some awesomely janky fan translations of the Japanese gen 1&2 roms floating around on the internet before they became available in North America, so I just had to download them for a bit of a sneak peek to see what everyone was talking about in Japan...I was NOT disappointed, and got the official U.S. carts as soon as they were available!
You make a number of EXTREMELY good calls on this video. Excellent choices dude.
SNES is the greatest. I still regularly go back to DKC2, Super Metroid, Super Mario World, FFVI... The SNES will always be in my living room.
Genny!
Genesis has a bigger library, and more essential games than SNES...it was a close fight though.
@@JohnnyProctor9but not better games?
@Branden-vl9sl - Each system had a good handful of superior exclusives, I had to own both to get all of the best games really...you can't just play the Final Fantasy games OR the Phantasy Star games, you can't just play Earthbound OR Buck Rogers, you can't just play Warsong OR Ogre Battle. Shining in the Darkness OR Arcana? Beyond Oasis OR Secret of Mana? Master of Monsters OR EVO? Actraiser OR King's Bounty? Ultima games OR Shining Force games? Star Control OR Wing Commander? The 7th Saga OR Starflight? AD&D: Eye of the Beholder OR D&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun? Drakkhen OR Beast Wrestler? Pirates Gold OR King Arthur's World? Metal Marines OR Herzog Zwei? Final Fight 2&3 OR Splatterhouse 2&3? Demon's Crest OR Wonder Boy in Monster World? Dungeon Master OR Faery Tale Adventure? Cadash OR Ninja Warriors? Streets of Rage OR Mega Man X? Golden Axe OR Super Metroid? Mario OR Sonic? No, you really CAN'T choose just one of the two systems from that gen or you lose half of the 16-bit library!
Great video. You have some really good taste in games and you're aware of some real gems most don't know about.
Seeing things like Metal Warriors, Space Megaforce, and Gundam Wing Endless Duel on here was impressive.
Some titles I wish I'd seen on here:
Side scrollers: UN Squadron
Fighters: Claymates 33 1/3
Beat 'em ups: Maximum Carnage and X-Men Mutant Apocalypse
Random gems: Sky Blazer
Adventure: Act Raiser
This video just flew by! with some great picks! I'm really curious about the Great Battle games and I'll be checking into their English friendliness. These list videos of yours have always introduced me to some great new experiences, so thank you for taking the time to make them!
I absolutely love Claymates! Glad to see another person who likes it too! Great recommendation vid!
Oooh, this morning's "SNNNNNNESDRUNK" intro sounded different from the others. Like it was sung by a barbershop quartet of robots.
He's slightly less drunk, after all these years of Drunkenness his alcohol level must have gone down a point or two...🍺🍻🥂
The intros are always cringe as hell :(
Intro is great leave it alone xd
@@mathieuvallee8283your mom is cringe 😢
I skip that part in every video
This is a great essentials list! I have a few friends who are getting into retro games for the first time, so this is definitely something I’ll share.
Love seeing King of Dragons on here. It captured so much magic for me as a kid. Love that game.
The OST is divine, especially the track Treasure in the Old Castle.
@@RedSpade37 Totally agree! Those tunes live rent-free in my head and I run them in the background when playing dungeon-crawl board games. Treasure in the Old Castle is fantastic, and I especially like the song for Trent Woods. It creates the perfect creepy & mysterious vibe for that stage.
Agreed. King of Dragons is an amazing game that no one talks about. Very nice inclusion.
It's just kind of redundant to include butchered console versions of arcade games. The snes version has like half the enemies on screen at once compared to the real version, same goes for final fight. And it's so easy to play the real version these days, either on the capcom beat em up collection, or (even better)emulators like retroarch or mame.
@@jaykelley103 There is no such thing as a Final Fight 3 arcade game. Only the first one was a port: 2 and 3 are SNES exclusive. I get your point about King of Dragons though, but it wasn't that easily available until somewhat recently in modern platforms.
As a south american building a snes collection since 2013 I'm stoked to see that I got a lot of the Drunk essentials 😎. Great video man! ❤️
Happy to report having and enjoying the majority of these wonderful titles. Thank you for all of the videos over the years pointing us all towards the best the SNES has to offer.
Love the shout-out for ALTTPR. For anyone looking to relive the magic of working thru the puzzles of A Link To the Past, the randomizer brings that back over and over again, in so many different ways that can be finely customized to what experience you're looking for. I love being able to play my favorite game with that fresh excitement each time I roll a seed.
Imo, Wild Guns is one of the best co-op games on the console and holds up extremely well today. I'd definitely throw it on an essential list.
Wild Guns is great! A top ten SNES game for me.
I don't know if there's really a reason to play the original "Wild Guns" over the updated "Wild Guns: Reloaded". It does just about everything better with a wider field of view, 2 new characters, and new stages.
Both of the SNES Final Fantasies are must haves IMO. Both stories are fantastic, and the growth between the two titles is apparent, and gives you an understanding of just what kind of arc Square was on.
The sheer volume of quality titles for the SNES has never been replicated.
The Genny's library has surpassed it?
@@joyasmusicales603 maybe it’s a testimony of the era. I got my genesis late so I didn’t “grow up with it”. Still this SNES fanboy views the sega genesis as Legendary. Christmas ‘92 was a winner no matter what camp you were in.
Awesome video as always! It's sad to me not to see Terranigma one of my favorite games of the SNES as the prefered choice of the three. To me Terranigma is a trip of emotions and by the end of it I even cried in the end and feel really empty. The OST, the adventure and the story is top tier. I don't know if you have finished it but if you didn't I really recommend it!
What shocks me about Turtles in Time is that it is so much better on the SNES than the arcade version. This fleshed out the levels and added better bosses to fight.
I am very proud to still own the TMNT IV in complete in box.
Better moves on arcade
I've always been that guy online who's always been saying that Turtles in Time is overrated. Stupidly of me, I played Hyperstone Heist, not Turtles in Time. I thought they were basically the same so I just called something I'd never played overrated
@@pointblank0020 I played that on the Cowabunga Collection for the first time last year. I'm sorry for you.
It was like a repeat of the few levels followed by a boss rush. Simplified as much as possible.
@@Trancymind
I still have a boxed and complete copy to.
Tales of Phantasia deserves an honorable mention, I think. Had it been released in the US, it would be right up there with Chrono Trigger, Lufia II, and FFVI. It's also interesting to see where so many of the gameplay elements we see in other "Tales Of..." titles got their start. And sure, it's been ported to other consoles, but those translations don't hold a candle to the work that deJap did back in the day.
Same for Terranigma. Had it been released in the US it would be up there with Chrono Trigger.
king of dragon is so freaking hype, so much fun to see the characters psych themselves up at the start of each level. (WOOOOOO)
the boss design was great too. sigh
each time i see a list like this i'm putting back one of those game in my to play next.
You introduced me to two games I have never seen before despite SNES still being my number 1 console. Magical Pop'n
and Great Battle 4 and 5 are now on my to play list
Great list! I absolutely agree about Super Metroid. If you haven’t played it you should check out Rock n Roll racing. So addictive. Spent countless hours playing that one with my best friend growing up.
My favourite racing game of all time
Thank you for mentioning Genealogy of the Holy War! That's the Fire Emblem game I most wish would get a re-release/remake.
Great list, and we need more Clyde on camera 😎
I love his buttnose
I second this 🐕
I am really glad you gave a shout-out to Dragon View. I learned about that game from your channel specifically and loved it to death. A real hidden gem that is not talked about much at all!
Lots of childhood titles on this list, nice! Wario's Woods was a favorite of ours in the puzzle game genre, really fun 1v1 mode with some crazy voiceovers (WOOOW)
I'm always torn between the Playstation and the Super Nintendo when it comes to my favorite games and consoles. I can't decide, but I love those SNES days. Playing Illusion of Time and Megaman games all day. I'm thankful for growing up in the 90's man. Just pure love. Your videos always ewoke that love and nostalgia I have for the SNES.
I’m so glad you mentioned Soul Blazer, that’s one of my favorite games not too many people have actually played. And yes I love the music 😊
Such a good game. Funner than the other two in the series, but I still have a soft spot for Terranigma.
Soul Blazer, Illusion of Time and Terranigma are all really good games, though I never really understood why folk never considered ActRaiser to part of a quadrilogy with those games: It's an ARPG made by Quintet that has numerous thematic similarities to the 'Soul Blazer trilogy'.
Killer Instinct was actually the most sold of those fighting games, it s a legendary entry.
And Another World is a great game.
Happy Turkey Day, SNES Drunk and everyone else! Great video man! Every time I watch your channel I just want to go out and get an SNES and just play.
Also, Mario Kart 99 sounds AMAZING... with F-Zero 99 doing so well it would just make sense... Unless Nintendo had s problem with it for some reason... Which they tend to have weird problems with certain games, licensing, copyright and things like that. (Basically comes down to 💰 most of the time)
Thanks for this video. Finally tapping into SNES games that I missed out on 30+ years ago and this list is great.
Man what a trip down memory lane. I still vividly remember the times I played some of these for the first time and how much fun I had with them
Huh, just re-watched the video because why not and noticed a few missing gems like Demon's Crest, Zombies ate my neighbors and Secret of Evermore.
Spots are limited even in a 20min video, but I think they should still be mentioned somewhere.
This is great video and I feel you really picked the games that standout on the SNES/SFC. You have more experience than many in all games the console has to offer and therefore I decree this video be unchallenged by those who might attempt to dispute its validity.
Wonderful List. I would add Actraiser, Trials of Mana (Seikendensetsu 3), Rock & Roll Racing, Sparkster and Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV.
The Koei games were great on the SNES. Games like Aerobiz as well. It's not like it used to be since they started focusing on action games, but there are companies like Paradox still doing great map painters.
Trials of Mana (Seikendensetsu 3) aka Secret of Mana 2 - it's like Secret of Mana but you get to choose 3 out of 6 factions at the start of the game that the entire game story & progression is based on so you can play it in 20 different ways if you wanted to.
@@ItsGroundhogDay "Map painters". Great description. Thank you.
I never see ANYONE talk about Uncharted Waters: New Horizons. Like ever. Can we get a video one day of just this and it's game play and lore. It's SOOOOOOO good.
Absolutely thankful for SNESDrunk. I hope you have a good holiday buddy
For me it's Super Metroid, ActRaiser, FF6, Chrono Trigger, and LoZ 3 for the SNES. Those were my favorites. And I didn't even get to play Chrono Trigger until relatively recently.
This list shows why the SNES Classic was so amazing.
I own two of them 😅
They're even more amazing if you mod them.
Glad you and Clyde are still around. You are a true treasure on RUclips!
DKC 3 is an incredible playthrough, my only DKC game as a kid, chock full of secrets and absurdly difficult levels, with crazy special moves that even in the first few levels are necessary to get some of the bonus coins. Skipping Kiddy across the water, anyone?
I've always thought that DKC3 is weirdly underrated compared to the 2nd game, or even the original. I think it may even be the best of the trilogy. Having Dixie and Kiddie to play as rather than Diddy and Dixie was much more interesting (since Diddy was too much like Dixie except he couldn't fly), the graphics were possibly the best on the entire console, and I loved all the open world exploration elements like the upgradeable water vehicles, the hidden banana birds, and the bear brothers.
My sister and I spent many hours playing DK3. We were literally like 2-3 DK coins away from 100%ing the game. One morning we were playing it and my dad ripped the cart out of the console without shutting it off first because we were running late to go somewhere. Thus by doing so it had erased all of our saved games. Still brings a tear to my eye thinking about it...
No, DKC 3 is way worse than the first 2; The First One Has the Wow Factor, The Second Has the Badass Factor, this is the kid, baby brother that cries all the time and does a lot of been-there done-that, and is frustrating to 103% complete only to get b**** slapped by “not fast enough” BS.
I love this channel so much. Especially these deeper cuts that last a bit longer with lots of great suggestions and information. One thing I've always wondered. Does it help if I watch the commercials in their entirety? That's a small, easy thing I could do if it's at all beneficial for you and the channel. Be well my man! Hope you have a nice holiday season. Oh, and a great rest of your day. Ha! 🖐
Happy Drunksgiving, we're thankful for your vids SNES Drunk
Glad you mentioned Magical Pop'n. It's fantastic with the only drawback being a lack of save or password feature that's less of an issue depending on how you play it today. I highly recommend it
Rock & Roll Racing is a fun racing game that never gets talked about.
I love you saved the best for last! Chrono Trigger will always be my fave game of all time!
Pretty solid list. I agree that it's tough to narrow things down when there are so many good games. I probably would included FF4, as I think it's a great entry-level RPG, but 6 has probably aged better.
Thinking about it, I think the only games I would add (besides some of my personal favorites) are Harvest Moon and Lost Vikings. Harvest Moon was pretty unique for its time, especially on consoles, and Lost Vikings just feels very polished and creative for a puzzle/platformer.
The only game I would add is Dragon Quest III (w/ the English patch) as an essential RPG game. Other than that, your list is PERFECT. All bases covered!
Can confirm Genealogy of The Holy War rocks. The gameplay has a lot of unique aspects, like how big the playing field is, and how you can make your characters interact. The big draw is definitely the story though. I’m probably biased cause it was one of the first JRPGs I played on snes, but the story is one of the best I’ve seen from that era.
To be honest it was my LEAST favorite Fire Emblem game, I'd recommend Mystery of the Emblem over this one...
@@JohnnyProctor9 What didn’t you like about it?
@@thebossbaby7402 - From what I've played of it I found the plot to be drawn out, convoluted, and mostly just explained in boring text while scrolling all over the map screen and then in interminable, superfluous conversations between boring characters who we barely know and have no investment in and no cutscenes or action happening between them and the characters feel totally generic and less engaging than the ones in the previous 3 games or the latter ones, and the gameplay in turn feels boring and repetitive to me due to these factors. It feels like a chore to play with little return for the time and effort invested in it...
@@JohnnyProctor9 I like the story because it felt more grounded and political. You get to see all these powerful figures scheming and making advances, while the good guys try to deal with their current situation. I actually thought the map screen was really satisfying; felt like I was watching a history documentary or something (and the music rocks). But I can understand why some people are put off by the amount of exposition. I don’t agree that the characters are more generic though. Because of the conversation system, the characters are a lot more fleshed out and interesting than the previous games. Not to shit on those games because they’re underrated. I also highly recommend playing the whole game cause the story as a whole is really good and has a lot of tragedy and elements fitting of a war story. If this game came out today, it would get compared to Game of Thrones or something lol. The characters in these games are usually pretty memorable and I don’t think this is the exception.
@@thebossbaby7402 - I don't know, it seems like some pretty vast walls of text to slog through...I liked how the stories in the first 3 games and the later ones were political without being too cumbersome, sort of like in Vandal Hearts on the PS1, or Ogre Battle. I guess that the Shining Force and Langrisser games are really more my speed as far as the mixture of plot and action go...I'll surely give it another chance at some point in the future though, the sequel Thracia 776 looks a bit more interesting.
Beat ‘em ups
1:Super Double Dragon
2:Batman Returns
3:Final Fight Guy
Top Gear? Heck yes!!!!
“Bury with my money!”
Claymates was a repeat rental for me! Thank you for mentioning
Three decades in, Super Metroid is finally starting to struggle in the face of modern gems like Hollow Knight. That's not saying it's bad, quite the opposite, it's sure a hell of a long time to spend in a top ten list of best games ever.
I sunk hours into Axelay. The different weapon load outs, the fact that some stages had somewhat branching paths, and that you could even remap your controller made this one a real treat
The entire country of Sweden mourns the lack of Pocky & Rocky, Terranigma and Secret of Evermore
I was going to mention Secret of Evermore, which was one of my personal most anticipated and loved games of the system.
This is a great list! The one I would add is Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons. It's an open-world game where you have a boat and can sail anywhere in the world in the 1500s, trading, exploring, being a pirate or privateer, etc. The satisfaction you get from circumnavigating the globe is just so satisfying.
Demon’s Crest is a must played!! It went under the radar because it was released at the very end of the SNES life but this game is a gem. It gets everything the console could give at that time. The music, the atmosphere and the adventure is one of the best memory I have from that console.
It wasn't released THAT late in the SNES's lifespan. I mean, games like Terranigma and Street Fighter Alpha 2 were released years after this.
The gameplay with some gargoyle forms is wonky though, but I agree it's a gothic gem in the dark. The last boss and secret boss were probably the most difficult of the entire SNES catalogue!
Well done. There are only a handful of games I would have squeezed in… but as you said… that’s only shows how strong the library is.
Games I really enjoyed that are always only “play through it every year or two” are:
-ActRaiser
-SimCity
-Super Conflict
-Prince of Persia (best port on any platform)
-E.V.O.
Been following your channel for a while and I am always delighted to see new games being reviewed that I might have missed.
The SNES really was fantastic. I don't think there will ever be another system that will ever age as well.
Genny is!
The Mega Drive runs it pretty close. I love them both almost equally.
The PS2 is close
What a great selection. What a legendary console! This really captures the enthusiasm we felt during the console wars. There are games here that I've never heard of, but that I'm now itching to try.
I would probably have highlighted Terranigma more because the world still manages to overlook one of the top 3 or 4 games in existence, ever. Also Zombies ate my neighbors is actually insane and I am so bummed the Switch remake screwed the old controls and didn't give it as a setting option. Also the savestates don't often work and I found a skeleton key as a random drop in the shelf found in level 1. This probably can skip a boss fight at the very least and was the only time I was able to get that luck since at least 1999. Another always underrated gem to me is DKC 3 which is FAR superior to 1 and sometimes even 2
Yeah Terranigma is slept on. Easily a top 5 (hell maybe even top 3) snes game for me.
Couldn't have asked for a better video on thanksgiving. This video is the gift that keeps on giving.
The Sim City mention there at the end saved the whole list. 🙂
Man! I love your review vids, especially because you usually try to balance out critiques with things that you like about the games you talk about. This was a great watch during my lunch break 🙂👍 thanks!
0:30 Clyde!!!
I'm not always leaving a comment, but keep doing this ! your channel is mainly what motivated me to full retrogaming and enjoy a lot of games and consoles :)
No Terranigma :(
He mentioned it
No Pilot Wings(barely mentioned at the end), no On The Ball, no UniRacers....im PISSED! LOL
Great video dude!
For shoot ‘em up fans, I gotta throw in UN Squadron. 3 playable characters, a leveling up system that doesn’t punish you for deaths, and a stage select map.
On easy, it’s still a good challenge that rewards practice. I finally beat it on hard last month after GREAT effort lol.
Give it a try! My number 1 shoot ‘em up.
That's right! Superstar Soccer and Top Gear are absolute classics in Brazil. In the 90's you simply could not step into a game rent store and not immediately hear a song from Top Gear or the crowd sound from ISS. Good times!