Video games have made unbelievable progress since their humble beginnings, but the Super Nintendo is a system that’s still fondly remembered. Emulators can be a controversial tool in the gaming world, but they help make a number of games accessible in a way that is often otherwise impossible.
The SNES has dozens of iconic video games that have made undeniable marks, but there are all plenty of titles that have fallen through the cracks or just straight-up never got released in certain regions of the world. Accordingly, here are 10 rare Super Nintendo games that you can only find on emulators.
10 Batman: Revenge Of The Joker
Batman: Revenge of the Joker is a Batman title that lets the Joker loose in Gotham City and puts Batman on his trail. Oddly, the game relies heavily on shooting mechanics, going against traditional Batman lore. The game is in fact a remake of the Nintendo Entertainment System title, Batman: Return of the Joker, but it attempts to spruce up the game.
Batman: Return of the Joker was released on the Genesis, but despite the SNES version being finished, it was never actually released. A finished ROM of the title has since surfaced, which makes it an interesting title that needs an emulator to be experienced.
9 Clock Tower
When it comes to the survival horror genre of video games, it’s often Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or sometimes Fatal Frame that come up in conversation, but the Clock Tower series has been around for even longer and made an important contribution to the genre. The Clock Tower series blossoms on the Sony PlayStation, but the first game is on the SNES and never saw an American release.
Clock Tower truly pushes the limits for a Super Nintendo game and is actually scary. A patched translated ROM has been put together, which finally allows Clock Tower to be accessible.
8 Ganbare Goemon 3
It’s unfortunate that the Ganbare Goemon series appears to have died off and that Konami has no plans to revive the quirky series. Most American games likely got their first experience with Goemon, the Mystical Ninja, on the Nintendo 64’s pair of games.
However, the SNES entries that precede it are incredibly ambitious titles. Ganbare Goemon 3 is the final and most advanced of the Super Nintendo Goemon games. A language barrier forever locked this game away, but a stunning translation has allowed it to be experienced via emulation and it’s such a strong entry in the series.
7 The Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes
The Super Nintendo wasn’t lacking when it came to video games that revolved around Spider-Man. There are four SNES titles that do a lot with Spider-Man, but many gamers don’t realize that there’s also a fifth title that was exclusively released in Japan.
The Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes isn’t that different from the other Spider-Man games, but it gains points for its impressive roster of characters. The villains include the Lizard, Mysterio, Venom, Carnage, and Doc Octopus, but it also throws in the Human Torch, Iron Fist, and Speedball as allies for Spider-Man.
6 Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R
It took a long time for anime to come through to the mainstream in North America, but even before this boom took place, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z were still able to break through in the ‘90s. Despite the popularity of these anime on television, their video game equivalents weren’t given the same privilege. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R is an entertaining beat-‘em-up game that stars the Sailor Moon characters. Emulation has made a translated version of the game possible and it’s a great treat for fans of the series.
5 Shadowhawk
Superhero-based beat-‘em-ups were incredibly popular on the Super Nintendo, but in addition to all of the mainstream properties that got video games, there were also more niche heroes that tried to find greater fame through video games. Shadowhawk is very dark anti-hero who’s basically Spawn, but with a terminal illness.
Shadowhawk was fully finished towards the end of the SNES’ life, but they couldn’t find a publisher due to its violent nature. It’s a decent brawler, but the boss fights transition into more of a Mortal Kombat design. Eventually, the finished title found its way online.
4 Prime
Much like Shadowhawk, Prime is another low-tier superhero that tried to see if video games could improve their stock. The character of Prime is a 13 year-old who is suddenly turned into a powerful superhero, which basically makes this a 16-bit Shazam rip-off. Prime uses a Final Fight style of gameplay and features turning comic book visuals between levels. Prime was canceled before it was released, but it appears that a finished version of the game made it online that features five playable levels. Emulators make this niche title possible to finally play.
3 Super Shadow Of The Beast
Shadow of the Beast was one of the more popular titles to come from the Amiga and it found itself being ported over to basically any system possible. To carry on in this tradition, there was a Super Nintendo version that went into production, but it was too violent to be approved by Nintendo. The game had to go through many revisions to meet Nintendo’s standards, but it still didn’t come out. A ROM of Super Shadow of the Beast is available, which lets people enjoy this strange SNES port.
2 Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension
Modern gamers may take for granted just how long it took for there to be adequate Dragon Ball Z games. More recent titles like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot have helped redefine what’s possible in the genre. These titles indulge in every corner of the Dragon Ball universe, but things were very different on the Super Nintendo. Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension is far from perfect, but it’s a 2D Dragon Ball Z fighter that’s great for its time. An English version was never made available, but such a thing has been pursued on the emulation scene.
1 Dragon Quest V: Hand Of The Heavenly Bride
For a lot of people, the Dragon Quest RPG series is just as important to the genre as the Final Fantasy games. It’s taken some time, but North America now gives the Dragon Quest series the respect that it deserves and localization of games is practically a given. However, back on the Super Nintendo, JRPGs were still a bit of a gamble. Important chapters from the Dragon Quest series were never localized and Dragon Quest V didn’t receive an English version until the 2009 Nintendo DS remake. Emulation has allowed the original game, in English, to be appreciated.