Last week, reports surfaced about Nintendo releasing the natural successor to the NES Classic for this upcoming holiday season.
While Nintendo hasn’t officially announced the SNES Classic, many people assumed it would be a matter of time before we see a mini version of Nintendo’s second system.
Over the past week, the SNES Classic sparked a barrage of wish lists from gamers who chose which games they would love to see on the new system and the staff of The Comeback is no different. Each of us chose five games we would love to see in the SNES Classic. And to eliminate the possibility of everyone choosing Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart with three other games, the two most famous Mario games are exempt. Based on what we all said, we could also probably exempt Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but oh well.
Consider this an informal focus group consisting of people with various backgrounds and tastes in games. Hopefully we included your favorite games but if we somehow didn’t, feel free to let us know in the comments.
David Rogers:
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – Other Zelda games on other platforms earn more praise than Link to the Past, but this is one of the best Zelda games ever made as well as one of the best games ever made for the SNES. The story was rich while the gameplay was rich and exciting. The thrill of teleporting to the dark world/shadow world made for a game which sticks with you years later.
Contra III: The Alien Wars – Holy crap, this game was amazing. This side-scrolling game was loaded with cool guns, bad aliens and the thrill of destroying anything that moves around you. Co-op mode was great too. To this day, the argument over which gun is better (homing vs. crush) still rages on.
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior – This was my introduction into the Street Fighter world and it’s an experience which still holds up. Others may put a version of Mortal Kombat on this list or even a different Street Fighter game from the SNES, but for me, this was the ultimate experience. Oh and Sagat is still a jackass.
F-Zero – The beauty in this game is its simplicity. In hindsight, it may seem crazy to realize all of the hours played on this extremely basic racing game, but the music and the scenery made a memorable experience. Anyone who spent lots of time in F-Zero knows just how iconic the music and sound effects of that game are and how easy it was to spend an entire afternoon racing.
NHL ’96 – The previous installments receive all the glory, but the ’96 edition fine-tuned some of the best aspects of its predecessors and delivered a game with an insane amount of replayability. The menu song alone was deserving enough to make this list. Though it had its glitches (if you were defending the bottom goal, you could almost always score if you were right next to the bench shooting to the top goal), but it’s a game that had a ton of great memories and great arguments between siblings.
Terry Johnson:
NHL ’96 – Admittedly, I knew very little about hockey when I purchased this game back in the day. However, I was able to create custom players, which is why my beloved Red Wings never lost. This is definitely a great game for players of all ages.
NBA Jam – “Oh my, he’s on fire!” Even people who didn’t play this video game (like my mother and father) know that line because NBA Jam is so much fun to play. I couldn’t imagine playing SNES without it.
College Football USA ’97 – What a shock, the college football writer picked a college football game. All kidding aside, I remember enjoying this game much more so than the original Madden game (which was also a lot of fun), so it deserves a spot on the list.
Super Punch-Out!! – It would be a little bit weird to play now, considering that Mike Tyson isn’t in the game (yes, I know I’m old). However, this game is still as awesome as the original thanks to characters like the Great Tiger, the Bald Bull, and Mr. Sandman. Just remember to duck when the Super Macho Man winds up.
Mortal Kombat II – I know my family and friends will question this choice, given that every single one of them beat me senseless in this game. Yet the fact that I kept going back for more speaks volumes about how much fun this game is to play. This gets the nod over the original, since there are more ways to taunt your opponent after you win (e.g., animality, babality, friendship, etc.).
Joe Lucia:
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars – It took so damn long for Nintendo to put this on the Virtual Console. It lived up to all of my memories and then some. Every Mario RPG Nintendo has done since has paled in comparison.
Chrono Trigger – I never played this on the console, but did play the re-release on the DS years later. What a magnificent game.
Shadowrun – I spent hours upon hours playing this as a child, having no idea what to do. Then I decided to look online years later, found an obvious thing I wasn’t doing, and actually got to play the rest of the game, realizing how damn awesome it really was.
Super Metroid – I have this on multiple systems. I don’t care. It’s probably my favorite game ever. I still can’t believe Nintendo has let the Metroid franchise wither and die over the past few years. It’s embarrassing.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time – I have no idea if this is actually “good” or not, but I spent so many summer days playing this game in co-op mode with my best friend. It would be nice to see if those hours were wasted or not.
Kevin McGuire:
SimCity – I cannot tell you how many times I rented this title from my local video rental store back in the day. I may have been the only one to rent it in my area because my saved city was always there, but the SNES version of SimCity introduced me to the city-simulation franchise and genre, and my love for the franchise today can be traced back to this early SNES title.
Pilotwings – Another one of the early titles for the SNES, Pilotwings helped show off the system’s Mode 7 features in a well-designed flight simulator. But this wasn’t the typical flight simulator PC users grew accustomed to. Parachuting through rings, strapping on a rocket pack and going on helicopter rescue missions gave you a little bit of everything to work with.
EarthBound – I won’t hold my breath given Nintendo of America’s apparent reluctance to embrace this franchise, but the fun and spunky RPG title remains one of my favorites in the genre to this day. The humor and colorful gameplay made EarthBound stand out in a category that was stacked on the SNES.
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – There are now three titles worth discussing for greatest Zelda game in the franchise; Breath of the Wild, Ocarina of Time, and A Link to the Past. A Link to the Past went back to the overhead view and laid the groundwork for many of the things that would make Zelda what it is today. Getting this masterpiece is a no-brainer.
Stunt Race FX – Considering the SNES had Super Mario Kart and F-Zero, it is likely a good number of people missed out on Stunt Race FX. Using the same Super FX chip technology introduced in Star Fox, Stunt Race FX was a fun racing game as well. Multiplayer was a bit clunky with small screen sizes, but I’d be willing to give it another shot.
Randy Capps:
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball – The only baseball game on any console that I ever played all 162 games of a regular season with. The straight-forward controls and fun gameplay set the standard for baseball games on the SNES.
Tecmo Super Bowl – I don’t care if the rosters are updated, the classic version would be fine. A fun football game that doesn’t take an advanced understanding of the Cover 2 to enjoy.
Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III on initial North American release) – The ultimate RPG for this console provides more than 50 hours of gameplay with bonus battles and more than a dozen playable characters. I still have a mod of it on my laptop.
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – A classic, and for good reason. This game anchored the console early on with one of Nintendo’s poster boys.
Secret of Mana – A rarity even in modern gaming, a co-op RPG you can play on a couch with a friend. A decent story and graphics make it fun, too.
Jeff Snyder:
Donkey Kong Country – Another series that would become a staple for Nintendo. The Kong games are incredibly fun, and this is where it all started. It was really close between this and Donkey Kong Country 2. Ultimately, I had to go with the original.
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – This is one of the best Zelda games. It basically took everything that worked in previous Zelda games and expanded it. It also set the precedent for almost every Zelda game after it. Just a great, fun game.
Super Metroid – If you’re making a list of games that need to be on the SNES Classic, Metroid needs to be on there. This gives some diversity to the choices in the system, but keeping the quality high.
Final Fantasy IV (Final Fantasy II on initial North American release) – Many argue that IV is the best Final Fantasy, and it’s really hard to argue with them. It offers a deep story, classic Final Fantasy style, and hours of gameplay. This has to be on the list.
NBA Jam – There’s got to be some sports on the list. NBA Jam is probably the best sports game on the SNES. I can still remember “He’s heating up!” “From downtown!” and the flash of camera as you pull off a particularly stylish dunk. Come on, Nintendo. Give us what we want, dammit!
Andrew Bucholtz:
Super Soccer – This was the first SNES game I owned, and it was a much more normal take on soccer, but a great one. It had no licensing rights to actual names, but still managed to give each team an appropriate feel, and the gameplay was awesome. It led to a ton of fun figuring out just where the optimal spot to shoot from was, how best to curve a corner, and when to risk a hard tackle and a potential red card. The tournament mode of “beat each progressively harder team” was also awesome, especially when it got to the end and Team Nintendo stole the World Cup and made you play them for it.
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition – Both the original and Tournament Edition have their merits, but T.E. was the one I grew up playing. It had so many great rosters, from Kemp/Schrempf/Payton in Seattle to Rodman/Robinson/Elliott in San Antonio to Malone/Stockton/Hornacek in Utah. I can still hear the “He’s on fire!”
Hit The Ice – This game always felt like the unlicensed hockey version of NBA Jam to me, even though it’s actually older (the arcade version dates back to 1990!). Hilarious two-on-two hockey game with long power-ups for slapshots that drive opposing goalies into the net, punching opponents being a perfectly legitimate defensive strategy, and players whose pictures take bruises as they get hit.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars – This was one of my favorite games. Loved the story, loved the level-up system, the equipment, the interesting party choices, and the minigames and Easter Eggs spread throughout. It also had some of the graphics I liked most on the SNES.
Head-On Soccer – There were many more serious soccer games available, of course, but this one was my favorite, and long before I actually owned it. I remember reading about it in Electronic Gaming Monthly and loving the idea of players with special abilities, from the Brawler to the Cheat to the Trickster (who just held the ball in his feet and jumped down the field) to strikers who could deliver banana kicks or fireball shots. When I finally tracked down a copy, it lived up to my imagination. The campaign mode where you slowly add better and better players to any team was particularly cool.
Matt Clapp:
NBA Jam – I actually had this for Sega Genesis, but I assume it’s basically the same on SNES. I had never been more excited to get a video game after dropping so many of my parents’ quarters into the arcade version.
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past – I think it would be an especially fun experience to play this for the first time in over 20 years after Breath of the Wild has taken over my life.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time – Like NBA Jam, I had played a crap ton of the TMNT games at the arcade and was thrilled to get the chance to play this on the console. A classic, timeless side-scrolling arcade-style game. We would’ve still bought these games if they were awful back in the day just because they were TMNT. But this game was legit fun.
Aladdin – Usually, video games based on movies are pretty awful, but SNES and Sega Genesis had a good run with the games based on Disney movies. Aladdin, The Lion King, and Toy Story were all very fun, and should still hold up pretty well, especially for kids. I prefer Aladdin which was very Zelda-esque.
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball – Simple, fun baseball, and pretty funny… Ken Griffey Jr. is the only real player in it due to MLBPA licensing. I recommend looking at the names of players in the game.
Liam McGuire:
Mortal Kombat II – This violent, fighter arcade port is what really launched the series into the all-time great it is today. I’ll pick Sub-Zero every single time.
Super Metroid – Gaming perfection. It’s difficult, rewarding and entirely engaging. Its open-ended level design keeps players constantly moving. It might be the best side-scrolling action-adventure game ever.
Mega Man (All of them on SNES) – Yes, this is cheating. However, Mega Man is such an iconic sidescrolling platformer that all of the games deserve to be on here. Part amazing fun, part incredibly frustrating, the Mega Man series is replayably simple. Well, except Mega Man Soccer (YES THAT’S A REAL THING).
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – This game was so damn fun, it made cutting grass and looking for rupees feel amazing. I love the graphics, the story and the high perspective. Zelda has released some mammoth games (Windwaker, Ocarina of Time and most recently, Breath of the Wild) but Link to the Past might be the best.
There were so many RPG’s to choose from, but ultimately, this one stands out.
Batman Returns – This game blew me away when I first played it, as the real-life images and batmobile cut scenes looked amazing.
But beyond those visual treats, the game was a perfectly fun beat ’em up featuring everybody’s favorite caped crusader. It’s one of the few good licensed properties on the console. Well done, Konami.
Phillip Bupp:
Family Feud – This isn’t necessarily a good game, but the glitches sure are outrageous. It must be included. It’s set up in a way where you can say anything and if the order of the letters match up to a correct answer, it will show up on the board. Leading to situations like these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5tyMXXDPX4
Super Mario All-Stars – Including this game which features four classic NES games (Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 2, 3 and The Lost Levels) would be a nice gesture from Nintendo for those who couldn’t get an NES Classic.
John Madden Football – Yes, the original that started it all. The game that brought us 11v11 play and the standard for future football games. Sure, the game improved over the years, but there’s nothing beating the original.
Any of the ESPN sports games – In the early 90s, ESPN released a game of each of the major sports they had rights to at the time. Baseball Tonight (MLB), Sunday Night NFL (NFL), Speed World (NASCAR) and my favorite, National Hockey Night. It’s been a while since we heard ESPN’s National Hockey Night theme.
Bulls vs. Blazers and the NBA Playoffs – NBA Jam is a better game but if you want 5v5 basketball action, you can’t go wrong with this. It was also one of the rare video games that included Michael Jordan.
If Nintendo is launching a classic SNES, there’s no doubt they will showcase some of these games. Some games, while they’re worthy of being in the system, may be difficult (especially the sports games) due to various rights issues that may or may not have been expired. Either way, this is a very diverse list that would make for a great SNES Classic. Now, if we can just get our hands on one when it comes out.
