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The Super Nintendo produced some of the greatest video games of all time, with names that ring out through history, standing the test of time, even in an era of 4k resolutions and frame rates with too many zeroes.
This isn’t to say that even the best SNES games have fully withstood the test of time. These games were produced in a time when developers were still getting their heads around the basics of gameplay loops and teaching mechanics to players with limited resources to hand.
While the games on this list have earned the title of classic, there are niggling issues that can get in the way of their enjoyment. Some are due to technical problems, being held back by old hardware, while some were just annoyances thrown in due to poor decisions by the developers.
10 Glitches Can Wipe Saves & Crash At The Ending
Final Fantasy 6
Image Via Square Enix
Final Fantasy 6 is the culmination of years of planning and learning on the part of the developers at Squaresoft. Final Fantasy 4 & 5 walked so 6 could run, their clunkier moments being teaching moments for the producers.
While Final Fantasy 6 is a peak experience in terms of gameplay and story, it lacks in one key area – polish. The game is riddled with bugs, some of which let you defeat powerful bosses with ease.
The battle bugs aren’t the problem, however, as there are glitches that can wipe your save, forcing you to start over this lengthy quest from the start. There are also recurring issues with the ending not loading, forcing players to stare at a black screen after having defeated Kefka.
The reason Final Fantasy 6 has placed so low is that it has been ported many times, with versions that have fixed the issues. The SNES version might be the worst way to play, lacking the new content of the GBA port and the polish of the HD Remaster.
9 It Takes Ages To Get Party Members
EarthBound
EarthBound is the game that single-handedly created the quirky indie RPG genre. We wouldn’t have games like Undertale were it not for EarthBound’s bizarre, hilarious, and sometimes scary take on Americana.
That being said, EarthBound isn’t perfect. It’s definitely not an RPG for beginners, being quite challenging during the early hours.
The biggest issue with EarthBound is that Ness spends a good chunk of the early game on his own, making combat especially deadly. This is alleviated by Ness being an all-rounder who can fill many roles, but any KO results in a game over.
Things get a little better when Paula joins the party, but her power comes attached to a fragile body, and she can get knocked out very easily. Once Paul and Poo join the group, things become a lot easier, as losing a party member isn’t as detrimental as before.
8 It's Too Easy To Complete
Super Mario World
Nintendo has produced some amazing launch titles for its systems over the years, but it also has a reputation for being short. Luigi’s Mansion on the GameCube is a prime example of this, with its gorgeous visuals coming at the cost of a brief runtime.
Super Mario World is a little better in this regard, with a massive overworld full of secrets to find and levels to complete. While not the longest game in the world, it should still satisfy platform fans.
The issue is that the game is far too easy, as it’s extremely charitable with extra lives and power-ups. Indeed, one of the easiest secret levels just provides the player with two power-ups and Yoshi.
That massive overworld that Super Mario World is so proud of will be conquered easily, even by kids, who will quickly want to move on to other titles.
7 You Can Hide In Battle Areas
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario Kart was a pioneer in the kart-racing genre, especially when it came to the multiplayer. Facing the tracks on your own was fun enough, but doing it with friends was even better.
Those who wished to fight instead of race could have smacked each other in the face with SNES controllers. Or, if they were smart kids, they could try out the Battle mode, where players could face off in an arena and the first to strike the opponent three times with items is the winner.
Unfortunately, being the first Mario Kart meant that the developers didn’t quite have the Battle mode level designs worked out. This is why it’s possible to hide in certain end areas with a Red Shell in hand, ready to strike the opponent as soon as they jump in.
Hiding in the Battle mode wasn’t quite as annoying as some of the tricks in GoldenEye 007 years later, but it was still frustrating for ’90s kids to deal with. If a family member ever pulls this on you, maybe the controller-hitting method is the way to go.
6 Pausing Whenever You Cast A Spell
Secret Of Mana
Secret of Mana might not have the amazing reputation of a Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 6, but it had its fans, especially in Europe, where few RPGs ever saw a release.
Another reason fans fondly remember Secret of Mana is its multiplayer modes. Three players could team up to take on the game together.
The multiplayer in Secret of Mana had a huge issue, though — spells. Two of the three party members were spellcasters, and their magic was a vital tool for completing the game. The problem is that the game pauses every time someone tries to select a spell from the menu.
Pausing to cast a spell was incredibly annoying for the other players, as Secret of Mana is a challenging action RPG where movement is important for landing/dodging hits. If the other person keeps pausing, then it throws off their timing.
5 Pausing At The Start Of Fights
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Image Via Capcom
The SNES and the Sega Genesis were fighting a war with the arcades, as home consoles just couldn’t match the speed and visual quality of the cabinets. This was especially apparent with fighting games, which were pushing technical boundaries.
Street Fighter Alpha 2 was mostly a technical marvel, with gorgeous visuals, awesome music, a jacked roster of diverse characters, and some of the most advanced fighting game gameplay on the system.
Unfortunately, the SNES wasn’t quite up to the task, as the game has a notable recurring issue that slows it down. At the start of each match and round, there’s a notable pause, where the game just stops running, including the music.
This pausing is a result of sound chip issues, and it was a compromise that had to be made to get the game running. It’s just a caveat players in the ’90s had to deal with.
4 That Baby Won't Stop Crying
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Image Nintendo
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island is one of, if not the best platformer on the SNES. It had a colorful world, an incredible soundtrack, creative levels, and transformation power-ups that let the designers go wild with unique and fun ideas.
There’s just one aspect of the game that holds it back. One unforgivable sin that condemns Yoshi’s Island to the bad half of «Best SNES Games Of All Time Lists» until the end of time.
See, the main goal of Yoshi’s Island is to escort Baby Mario to safety. Every time Yoshi takes a hit, Baby Mario goes flying and starts crying. And boy, does he love to cry. There are few sounds more annoying than OG Baby Mario.
Luckily, players in the ’90s had the option of playing while muted. That meant missing out on the game’s amazing soundtrack, but it was a small price to pay.
3 The Opening Hours Are Brutal
Shadowrun
People love to applaud the Baldur’s Gate series for emulating the Dungeons & Dragons rules on PC, but Shadowrun had beaten them to it, on a console no less.
Shadowrun is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the tabletop RPG rules, bringing its magic in a Cyberpunk setting to life with a game world that was full of allies to find and enemies to slay.
The only problem with Shadowrun is that it doesn’t do a good job of explaining its various systems to the player. This isn’t helped by some brutal early game foes and a bomb mission that can leave players unsure of how to proceed without dying.
Once the player has grasped the systems and gotten some decent gear, Shadowrun becomes a lot easier and its world more interesting to engage with. It’s just tough getting to that point without being obliterated by the threats that wander the streets.
2 The Runtime Is Too Short
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time
Image Via Konami
The 16-bit era was the age of the scrolling beat ’em up, especially in the arcades, where its gimmick lent itself well to flashy visuals and a gameplay loop that kept people putting in the quarters.
The home consoles had their fair share of games, but the best one on the SNES was easily Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. All four members of the TMNT were here, and they were ready to kick some shell across time itself.
While the time travel gimmick allowed for level variety, it didn’t do much to alleviate the biggest issue of beat ’em ups in the era: the runtime. Most beat ’em ups were extremely short, but that didn’t matter in the arcades, as they were so difficult that kids wouldn’t see the end without pumping in lots of dough.
The home console versions let players have infinite tries in their games, revealing that Turtles in Time only has a runtime of around an hour. Sure, you’ll burn a few hours actually learning the stages, but it’s still a very short game, even for the era.
1 Two People Can't Pick The Same Character Without Cheating
Street Fighter 2
Image Via Capcom
The competitive fighting game scene has had decades now to hammer out the rules for what makes things fair and fun. This dates back to Street Fighter 2, which, for many, was the title that started it all.
One surprising fact about the SNES port of Street Fighter 2 is the fact that two players couldn’t select the same fighter without inputting a cheat code at the start of the game. If two people wanted to play as Blanka and do the electric shock move in the corner, they needed extra knowledge to do it.
Sure, nowadays people can just Google this stuff, but in the ’90s, kids would have no idea about this feature unless a friend told them, or they read it in a magazine.
The SNES port of Street Fighter 2 was awesome, and for many people, it’s what got them into fighting games. It’s just a shame that Capcom locked one of its main features behind a cheat.
