The best SNES game is comparable to Nintendo’s Tetris game. Dr. Mario is trying to fight the deadly viruses from taking over the lab, but he needs the assistance of the player by matching the vitamin pills with the correct viruses to eliminate them of existence. In order to do this, the player needs to be actively working his or her brain to make the correct decisions on where to place the pills. Each pill is split into two halves with a different color combination: red, blue, and yellow. The viruses are also different colors.

The player needs to match the same colored pills with the same colored viruses. In order to eliminate the virus, the player needs to correctly match four squares of the same color. This could be done a few different ways. If there is pill with two halves of the same color, it can be stacked on top of a virus of the same color along with another half of a pill with the correct color. This would equal four squares and eliminate the virus. The player needs to be careful because he or she may make a mistake and start stacking the pills without the corresponding colors. After too many pills have been let go by Dr. Mario, the game will end. The pills can be moved around the screen horizontally or vertically. This enables the player to slide pills around themselves. Once the player eliminates all of the viruses in the lab, he or she will continue on to another level. The speed of the pills and the number of viruses increases with the number of levels achieved.

Dr. Mario is most definitely classified as one of the best SNES games because not only is it fun for the family, but it is also a good way to challenge the minds of individuals. This game can be played if the player only has a few minutes or a few hours. Dr. Mario was created for organizers that like to play a fun, mind-activity game for everyone. Playing this game can become a good addiction for many of the thinking gamers out there.

1 – Super Mario World (Nintendo, 1991) – I’ve seen Super Mario World in the top ten of many different best SNES lists. I personally don’t rank it at #1, but it is hard for me to put a huge argument up against it. It was a huge leap ahead of previous 2-D platform games. It also combines familiar characters and a familiar play style with a pretty solid overall game. Pretty much anyone who ever played a SNES played this game at some point.

2 – Super Metroid (Nintendo, 1994) – The awesome thing about Super Metroid was the twist at the end of the game. I’ve gone over this in other posts I’ve done about Super Metroid, but needless to say the game had a pretty good storyline and cool ending. It is a great action game and actually probably ranks near the top of any type of console game.

3 – The Legend of Zelda: A Link To the Past (Nintendo, 1992) – Definitely one of the best RPG games ever. A Link To the Past is just a spectacular game. With the release of Zelda and Zelda II on the NES, this game followed that series up on the SNES and just kept the ball rolling for the series. The success of those first three games definitely set it up to become one of the best-selling RPG series ever.

4 – Chrono Trigger (Square Soft, 1995) – Definitely one of the more controversial SNES games when it comes to how good (or not good) it really is. Chrono Trigger is one of those games that some people consider to be the best game ever created, while others consider it to be one of the most overrated games ever created. The game definitely is a good game with a really unique storyline. It’s too bad that it never really grew into much else like other similar games (Final Fantasy) were able to do.

5 -Super Castlevania IV (Konami, 1991) – To me, this was just another Castlevania game. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely love the Castlevania series. In fact, it was one of the first games that got me really, really hooked on the NES. I think Super Castlevania IV was a pretty solid game, but I’m not sure if I would rate it as high as number five on an overall list.

6 – Super Mario Kart (Nintendo, 1992) – This game rocks. On my own personal list I’d rank it much higher than number six. This game had so much replay-ability with a group of friends. I graduated college in 2003 and we were still playing this game fairly often. I remember there was even a Super Mario Kart tournament on our campus. I did pretty well, but unfortunately didn’t win first place.

7 – Street Fighter II Turbo (Capcom, 1993) – Street Fighter II Turbo was definitely an awesome game and an evolution for fighting games. I think it did a little more to help the players that were already good at SF2 by speeding it up. So the gap between good players and bad players seemed to widen a little. But it definitely helped continue to expand the popularity of the game and fighting games in general.

8 – Final Fantasy III (Square Soft, 1994) – FFIII usually ranks considerably higher on best SNES games lists. It is widely considered the best Final Fantasy game, which is widely considered the best RPG series ever created. Final Fantasy III kept making improvements on the previous Final Fantasy games, which were already darn good. FFIII is definitely one of the best RPG games ever created and also one of the best SNES games ever created.

9 – Contra III: The Alien Wars (Konami, 1992) – Contra III was one of those games that didn’t really strike me as a huge change from the previous versions of the game. It was good, no doubt. But it didn’t really seem to modify and add as much to the game as you would hope the third version of a game could bring. It was an extremely challenging game though and that is something that really gave it the replay factor that some games lack.

10 – Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (Nintendo, 1995) – Although I played Super Mario World a ton, I can honestly say I never played Super Mario World 2 very much. I didn’t think that it really expanded too much from the first Super Mario World. In all honesty, this game probably wouldn’t even make my own top 25 SNES games list if I created one today.

11 – Zombies Ate My Neighbors (Konami, 1993) – It’s crazy to think that this was one of the first ‘Zombie’ games ever created. Now that type of game has its own genre with different successful series and a whole following with fans. It’s gotten so big it spawned into a little internet phenomenon as well as broken into pen and paper roleplaying games. Zombie games are great, and this was one of their granddaddy games.

12 – Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo/Rare, 1994) – Although I’m not a huge fan of this game, I can appreciate what it did for the gaming platform and the Donkey Kong series. It definitely was a step up from previous Donkey Kong games. The game looked and played great when compared to other games of that era. For whatever reason though, it just wasn’t a game that I personally really got into.

13 – Super Punch-Out!! (Nintendo, 1993) – This game was one of those games that didn’t have a lot of similar competition. But it managed to be good at what it was designed to do without having the pressure of much other competition to make it good. It definitely filled a void with a different type of fighting game that you could play on the SNES.

14 – Madden NFL ’94 (EA Sports, 1994) – I’m not sure where I’d rank this game on my own best SNES games list. I think it definitely has to be on most lists, just due to the fact that it has spawned so many follow-up games and copycat games. The Madden NFL series pretty much sets the standards for other football games even today. So just off of that, you really have to give this earlier version of the game props.

15 – Actraiser (Enix, 1991) – Another one of the 2-D platform games that were so popular during that time. Although I did play Actraiser, I never owned it. I probably wouldn’t put it on my personal list of the best SNES games just due to the fact that I never played it much, but I know a lot of other people who really liked the game.

16 – Pilotwings (Nintendo, 1991) – I don’t even really like flight simulator types of games, but I loved this game. My brother and I used to play this game a ton. There was something about the true 3-D feel that it had when you were flying that made it just really feel a lot better than other flying games out at the time. I remember the game was challenging, but not so challenging that you wanted to quit when you failed.

17 – Mario Paint (Nintendo, 1992) – I never played this game and I probably never will. To me it looks like a ghetto version of the Windows paint program. I’m sure at the time it came out it was fairly unique and had some novelty value or purpose for someone who was an artist, but for me I could care less about this game.

18 – Demon’s Crest (Capcom, 1991) – I liked this game but never played it a ton. I always thought Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts did this genre better than Demon’s Crest did. This is one of those games that I’ll have to replay and give it a second shot to ‘Wow’ me.

19 – Super Star Wars (JVC, 1992) – I’m a sucker for most Star Wars games, so Super Star Wars would definitely make my list of SNES games that I have to play. I don’t know exactly where I would rank it in comparison to the many other awesome SNES games that are available out there, but just cause of the fact that it is Star Wars it ranks considerably higher than normal.

20 – Batman Returns (Konami, 1995) – A great game for a great character and comic. Batman Returns doesn’t reinvent the wheel with this type of 2D game. It just takes a character everyone really wants to play, puts him in a 2D game, and does it well enough to keep you happy. There isn’t anything earth shattering about Batman Returns but it is definitely a fun game.

21 – Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Nintendo/Square, 1996) – This game was actually fairly highly praised by most reviewers. It also tends to be near the top of my top SNES games lists. But I personally didn’t like the game that much. If I was going to play an RPG on the SNES I’d play a game in the Final Fantasy series or Chrono Trigger. Mario is for 2-D platform games in my humble opinion.

22 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time (Konami, 1992) – I didn’t actually play this game a lot on the SNES. I mostly was completely addicted to the arcade version. The SNES ported version was extremely highly rated though. With the exception of one or two boss changes, the SNES version of the game stayed pretty true to the arcade version. It was just one of those games that was done really well and had characters that were madly popular at that time.

23 – StarFox (Nintendo, 1993) – Another bad-ass flying game similar to Pilotwings. StarFox had that boxed feel though that some of the other games of that era had. The graphics really just strike me as something out of the late 80’s or early 90’s. It definitely has that classic video game era feel to it. The game was even fun to boot.

24 – Blackthorne (Interplay/Blizzard, 1994) – I never actually played this game that I can remember, which sucks because it is a Blizzard game so it must be good. It looks like a 2-D action/adventure game that I’ll have to check out the ROM version of when I get some time. It’ll be nice to see what type of products Blizzard was making back at that time, prior to their other massively successful games.

25 – Prince of Persia (Konami, 1993) – I love this series of games. I’ve read that the SNES edition wasn’t the best version of this game, but that doesn’t really matter to me. It was just another step in the creation of the Prince of Persia series which I’ve enjoyed since it came out. The game itself has some unique innovations that you don’t see in a lot of other similar games.

As I stated, this list was originally created by GameDaily and all credit goes to the for picking and ranking the games. I believe it is one of the more solid lists of the top 25 best SNES games of all time. There are definitely other games I think should be on this list and some that shouldn’t have made it. But we’ll save that for a future discussion.

What do you think of GameDaily’s “Playing With Power: The 25 Best SNES Games of All Time” article?

The game’s story follows Samus Aran as she attempts to retrieve a stolen Metroid from the Space Pirates. The game begins as she follows the leader of the Space Pirates, Ridley, to the planet Zebes, where she searches for the stolen larva in a network of caves. Samus brings a Metroid larva to Ceres Space Colony, where scientists learned that they could harness its power. After Samus left the colony, she received a distress call and returned to find the scientists dead and the larva stolen.

Samus eventually tracks down and defeats four of the Space Pirate bosses. At the Space Pirate base, she encounters the Metroid larva. The larva attacks Samus and nearly drains all of her energy before it realizes who she is and leaves. Samus then confronts Mother Brain, the biomechanical creature that controls the base’s systems. Mother Brain nearly kills Samus, but is then attacked by the Metroid larva. The Mother Brain destroys the Metroid, but in turn is destroyed by Samus with an extremely powerful weapon created from the energy given to her by the Metroid. Samus then narrowly escapes a planet wide self-destruct.

When the game was released, it was given near-universal acclaim. Although it was released along with the launch of the PlayStation and Sega Saturn video consoles, the game and series eventually reached commercial success years later. It was noted at the time of release by different game review sites that the game was released “at the wrong place, at the wrong time.” The game was praised for its graphics, dramatic plot, and crisp and clear control system.

The Metroid series did not reach the level of commercial success that the Mario or Zelda series reached, especially in the series beginning. However, the Metroid series did begin to gain momentum with the release of Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion on the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance many years later. Overall, Super Metroid received many awards and honors. The game is considered a must own for SNES fans, and is considered one of the best SNES games ever.

The game focuses on Link as he travels on a journey to save Hyrule, defeat Ganon and rescue the seven descendants of the Sages. To save Hyrule, Link must rescue the Seven Sages from different dungeons scattered across the Dark World. Once they are freed, Link must use their power to break into Ganon’s Tower. There, he must face Agahnim and defeat him. Ganon then rises up from Agahnim’s body and flies away. Link chases after him and eventually confronts him inside the Pyramid of Power in the Dark World. After Link defeat’s Ganon, he touches the Triforce and restores Hyrule to how it was before Ganon intervened.

Most SNES games of this era had 4 Mbit (512 KB) of memory. This game broke the mold and used 8 Mbit (1 MB), which allowed Shigeru Miyamoto’s development team to create a much larger and more expansive world. The game added mechanics and concepts to the series that have become commonplace. These additions include multi-level dungeons and new equipment.

The game is one of the best-selling SNES games of all time. The game had more than five consecutive years in the number one spot of Nintendo Power’s top games list. It is widely recognized as one of the greatest video games of all time, not just on the SNES but on all gaming platforms. It has been voted onto top games lists in Entertainment Weekly, GameFAQs, Famitsu, Electronic Gaming Monthly, GameInformer, Nintendo Power, Edge, ScrewAttack, and many more magazines and websites.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past may not be number one on every list of the best SNES games, but it is definitely in the top ten (of any list that matters). Link remains one of the most popular video game characters of all time, inspiring fanboys (and fangirls) around the world to jump on the bandwagon. The Zelda series also remains one of the most popular video game series of all time for any gaming platform. It should be no secret why this game ranks so highly on our, and many other, top SNES games list.

One thousand years ago, warring gods created powerful magical beings called Espers. These Espers were then sent against each other. The world was left in complete ruin after a vicious battle that ensued. The vast majority of humanity was destroyed and it was believed that the Espers were eradicated. As the generations passed, the story passed into legend. The magic that had nearly completely destroyed the world was almost forgotten. However, there was a small fraction that did remain. The Empire led by the evil Gestahl and his top general Kefka had learned of the old magic. The two of them decided to pursue it to assist in their bid to conquer the world. Then, the Empire finds a frozen Esper in an old mine. As the evil plan begins to come to fruition, a motley group of heroes stands in the way to defend civilization.

Final Fantasy III actually let the player pick which party you wanted to follow and the order in which you chose to do so. Couple that with the fact that there was no true main character. The cast was bigger, the world was larger and more varied, and the story situations were both incredible and bizarre.

The graphics in Final Fantasy III are some of the greatest 2D graphic ever made. Many players consider the Final Fantasy III score to be the greatest videogame soundtrack of all time. The game was a massive success in Japan (obviously). In the US, Final Fantasy II was the most successful RPG up to that point in time. The game appealed to those who considered themselves hardcore RPG players, but it also caught the attention of people who had never played an RPG before. Even though the game could not overcome the fact that RPGs remained trapped as a niche genre played by only a devout few, it still didn’t prevent Final Fantasy III from becoming one of the best SNES games ever.