The North American Super Nintendo Entertainment System (top) and PAL Super Nintendo Entertainment System (bottom).
Super Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges. Top: North American design Bottom: PAL/Japanese region design
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System has a library of 1,739 official releases, of which 722 were released in North America plus 4 championship cartridges, 522 in Europe, 1,448 in Japan, 231 on Satellaview, and 13 on SuFami Turbo. 295 releases are common to all regions, 148 were released in Japan and the US only, 165 in Europe and the US, and 28 in Japan and Europe. There are 978 Japanese exclusives, 111 US exclusives, and 34 European exclusives.
The Super NES was released in North America on August 23, 1991, with its launch titles being Super Mario World, F-Zero, Pilotwings, Gradius III, and SimCity.[1] The last game to be officially published on a physical cartridge was Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 on January 21, 2000 – with the last game officially made and Nintendo-published during the system's lifespan being Metal Slader Glory: Director's Cut on November 29, 2000, via the Nintendo Power downloadable cartridge system. In North America, the final first-party game on the SNES was Kirby's Dream Land 3, released November 27, 1997. The best-selling game is Super Mario World, with over 20.6 million units sold.[2][3] Despite the console's relatively late start, and the fierce competition it faced in North America and Europe from Sega's Genesis/Mega Drive console, it was the best-selling console of its era.[4]
Games were released in plastic-encased ROM cartridges. The cartridges are shaped differently for different regions; North American cartridges have a rectangular bottom with inset grooves matching protruding tabs in the console, while other regions' cartridges are narrower with a smooth curve on the front and no grooves. The physical incompatibility can be overcome with use of various adapters, or through modification of the console.[5] Internally, a regional lockout chip within the console and in each cartridge prevents PAL region games from being played on Japanese or North American consoles and vice versa. This can be overcome through the use of adapters, typically by inserting the imported cartridge in one slot and a cartridge with the correct region chip in a second slot. Alternatively, disconnecting one pin of the console's lockout chip will prevent it from locking the console, although hardware in later games can detect this situation.[6]
The list is by default organized alphabetically by their English titles or their alphabet conversions, but it is also possible to sort each column individually. It is arranged with the different titles being listed once for each program that it contains; the various titles are listed by the majority name first. When two English regions released a game with different names, the title in the region it was first released is listed first. All English titles are listed first, with an alternate title listed afterward. This list also includes the games that were released exclusively for the Nintendo Power. In the case of a game that was distributed in Japan both for the Nintendo Power and as a standard cartridge, it's the release date of the latter that is mentioned here regardless if it came out first digitally. For release dates specific to the Nintendo Power, see Nintendo Power (cartridge)#List of games.
These non-retail releases were not available for purchase and were given away in limited numbers. The games included in this list differ from their retail counterparts.
Title
Developer(s)
Promoter
Date
Notes
From TV Animation Slam Dunk: Dream Team Shueisha Limited
This is a prize version of the retail game From TV Animation Slam Dunk: Yonkyo Taiketsu!!. It differs from the retail release featuring all-star teams, however the story mode was removed. It was given away though the shōnen manga comic Weekly Shōnen Jump.
This version has no single player mode, it only supports 2 players. Technōs Japan held several tournaments and the winners received the game as a gold cartridge trophy.
This version was linked with the Japanese radio program Terumi Yoshida Yaoruki No Mama! It includes a team of the JOQR Japanese radio station, including the radio presenter Terumi Yoshida [ja].
This limited edition has a contest mode with 60 new levels, a puzzle mode with 150 new puzzles, new music, jingles and background graphics. It was later re-released in 1997 for general sale.
This is the original version for which Nissin ran a draw allowing buyers of their Yakisoba UFO [ja] cup noodles to win a copy of the game. It was later released for general sale with some changes. This version includes in-game Nissin branding and a congratulatory message. The box art includes photos of actors of the TV series rather than illustrations.
This was originally planned for retail however its release was postponed before being cancelled and was then used as prize for a high-score contest. Also released digitally for the Satellaview.
These games received aftermarket official releases licensed by Nintendo, but were not released during the console's lifespan. They can be considered Super NES games as they were developed for the console and consist of code assembled for this hardware. They have since been distributed in their original Super NES format to be played on other platforms through emulation authorised by Nintendo, albeit in a manner transparent to the gamer. This list does not include aftermarket licensed games for western regions, previously released in Japan, that were left in Japanese language without being localised.
A previously unreleased English localisation from 1996. Not to be confused with the English localisation of the game found in the Data East Classics Collection cartridge released in 2018 for the Super NES.[11]
A North American release had been planned during the console's lifespan but was cancelled due to bugs that they deemed impossible to fix in a timely manner. Released as part of Collection of Mana.[12]
Unlicensed games
For cancelled games see List of cancelled Super NES games. Only two of the unlicensed games were released during the console's lifespan. The others were produced much later.
