There are a million and one articles about what the best Super Nintendo games are. The reason is obvious as it is one of the best consoles of all time with a stellar library of games from RPGs to platformers. This baby has them all. Thinking outside the box, we took a look at some unsung heroes that deserve more attention.
We stayed away from naming any Japanese exclusive games because that would be a list unto itself. Those games are too hidden at least to people outside of that country. Anyway, hopefully we can at least get these games on the Switch someday.
10 The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey & Minnie
We know the idea of having licensed based games on here especially in this era could be considered a joke, but it isn’t. More often than not Capcom made terrific licensed based games.
The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey & Minnie is a lengthy title and the second in an already great franchise: Disney’s Magical Quest. It’s a platformer with a cool mechanic that lets Mickey and or Minnie change outfits in order to gain new powers. Plus it has co-op.
9 Robotrek
Before Enix combined with Square, they were a lesser-known company at least in the West. Even Dragon Quest, or Dragon Warrior at the time, didn’t gather that much respect.
That’s why a lot of their other RPGs didn’t find much clout among Square dominating the landscape. Robotrek is definitely a game worth seeking out despite that fact though. Think of it like Pokémon, but with robots. Players can customize their metallic friend however they please as it does their battles for them in a turn-based manner.
8 Plok
Plok is a super weird platformer starring the titular Plok in his quest to retrieve a stolen family heirloom from a thieving band of monsters. He has the ability to launch every part of his body forward just like Rayman. The big difference here is that this game precedes Ubisoft’s character by two years.
Imagine that. The soundtrack is also fantastically odd. Anyway this is a challenging, strange, but ultimately a very good and highly underrated platformer on the system.
7 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Speaking of music, this game rocks! In the sense that the soundtrack is crazy good and in the sense that this beat ‘em up based on the first season of Power Rangers are awesome.
It is one of the best sounding, looking, and playing adaptations this colorful band of heroes has ever received. A lot of the games around this era were actually pretty decent. The major problem with this game though would have to be the lack of multiplayer. It was only when the series tried to tackle 3D that things got chaotic and terrible.
6 Cybernator
In Japan this series is known as Assault Suits Valken, but for every entry released outside of that country their name changed for whatever reason.
History aside all one really needs to know is that players are in a mech and spend every waking minute blowing stuff up in spectacular 16-bit fashion. It is a bit like Contra, but a tad clunkier what with the mech and all. Still very good though.
5 The Legend of the Mystical Ninja
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja isn’t as obscure as some of these other entries on here only for the fact that we love to bring it up whenever possible.
This one is that good that it deserves every opportunity to have its good word spread. It is part Zelda with an over the top view with some RPG elements. Another part involves 2D side-scrolling. The blend of action and humor is second to none. It also has co-op, which is always nice.
4 Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Another awesome co-op game that is filled with hours of mindless fun is Zombies Ate My Neighbors. It was one of the few LucasArts games the studio created for consoles. It was an original idea not based on Star Wars and not in their typical wheelhouse of point and click adventure games.
It is like a B-Movie come to life with two teenage kids having to fight their way through zombies, mummies, and other creatures of the night all while rescuing citizens along the way. This is simple arcade action.
3 Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals
Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals, like Robotrek, is another example of an RPG overshadowed by the presence of Squaresoft in the SNES era. Because of this the series was kind of hidden throughout its small lifetime. Of the few games released, this is the cream of the crop.
Cool music, great art, a fantastic story, and an awesome turn-based system. Every RPG fan needs to play this. The only trouble is finding a copy as it can sell pretty high.
2 Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang is actually the second game in another short-lived series. The first, Makai Prince Dorabocchan, was a simple platformer about a prince fighting various organizations of darkness.
It was never released outside of Japan. This one was though and was much more ambitious as it was sort of a hybrid action RPG. It is strange to be sure and definitely one that hasn’t been covered much around these parts.
1 Skyblazer
Before Sony made the PlayStation with their own internal games, they actually made quite a few for other platforms like the SNES. Skyblazer was released under their Sony Imagesoft brand. It is actually very similar to another game they developed, Hook, which was based on the Robin Williams film of the same name.
It is very hard, but also actually good. Playing both back to back is kind of eye-opening, but Skyblazer is the better of the two.