Accele Brid

Actraiser

Actraiser successfully combined side-scrolling action with town simulation segments, creating a mixture that to this day remains original and unique. It was developed by Quintet (founded by some of the top names in Falcom after they left the company) and set a template that many of their later games would follow. Great graphics (though not so much in the town mode), and an atmospheric soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro which showed just how far the system's sound capabilities could be pushed. The action is wrapped up in a narrative that has you taking the role of God in a fight against Satan.

-Macaw

Actraiser 2 ~Chinmoku he no Seisen~

Actraiser 2 ditches the town segments, focusing entirely on side-scrolling action. Most people tend to ignore it for that fact alone, which is a shame because this is a great platformer in its own right. It features more complex fighting and platforming mechanics and much more impressive graphics, which represent some of the finest pixel work around. Unfortunately, the soundtrack, again by Yuzo Koshiro, is a huge step back, with most of the tracks being quite bland. Storywise there's more commentary on humanity and so forth, and far more Biblical and religious references.

-Macaw

Akumajou Dracula XX

Alcahest

Appleseed

Area 88

Bahamut Lagoon

Biometal

Horizontal shooter from Athena with a unique weapon system that allows you to utilize blue orbs that circle around your ship in various ways. The action moves at breackneck speed, with the screen constantly filled with bullets and enemies, but despite that many of the stages get quite repetitive. The soundtrack is superb, though, but be sure to stay away from Western releases of the game, as for some reason the original tracks are replaced with poor music loops from some eurodance act called 2 Unlimited.

-Macaw

Bombuzal

Bounty Sword

Casper

Chou Makaimura

Clock Tower

Clue

Why are you playing Clue on your Super Nintendo? Clue is already a fundamentally flawed board game. Not to mention that the modern rules currently make no mention of what purpose the weapons serve, as you can be in a room with the rope and asking questions about the wrench. And yet they still include them with every edition of the game. A tedious and horrible game, not made any better by the fact that the other players are cold unfeeling scripted A.I. routines. Don't play Clue, it isn't 1950 anymore.

-endless

Contra Spirits

For Contra's SFC iteration Konami didn't hold anything back. Utilizing every graphical technique possible by the Super Famicom hardware and throwing non-stop special effects and imaginative challenges at the player, they created one of the greatest side-scrolling run & guns ever. The only downside is that the two overhead stages are mostly for show (Mode 7, etc.), and really should have been left out. Still, the quality of the rest of the game more than makes up for this indulgence.

-Macaw

Cotton 100%

Darius Twin

Dark Half

Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban

Very much inspired by the SFC versions of Kiki Kaikai, only with more emphasis on melee combat, this is one of the crazier titles on the system. Taking control of either a "Japanese idiot" or a "Western idiot", you travel through a series of very creatively-designed stages filled with a huge amount of unique enemies and situations, as well as numerous bosses and mini-bosses. You can also transform into a gigantic "muscle man", which gives you a 'flex' button that makes you flex your muscles in a number of different ways -- pointless, but very funny. Remaining fresh and exciting throughout, Deae Tonosama in many ways even outdoes Kiki Kaikai.

-Macaw

Der Langrisser

Demon's Blazon: Makaimura Monshou Hen

The third -- and best -- game in the Red Arremer series (an offshoot of the Makaimura series) does away with many of the RPG elements of the previous titles, focusing on side-scrolling action. Graphics and music are superb throughout, creating a dark and melancholic atmosphere which is very different from the comic feel of the previous games. Stage design and boss fights are universally excellent, and the game also has multiple endings determined by various factors. It's well worth finding all the secrets in order to see the true final bosses, all of which are nothing short of awesome.

-Macaw

Dimension Force

Very poor vertical scrolling shooter from Asmik. As the titles suggests, you are supposedly travelling to different dimensions, making for some very varied stages, but that doesn't change how incredibly dull they are. The graphics are decent but nothing impressive, the music is all very basic short tracks that loop over and over, and the shooting action itself just feels boring. After the first stage a type of 'zooming' is introduced, where you can press a button to zoom down to the ground to shoot ground-based enemies, but this idea totally sucks and only makes the game worse.

-Macaw

Dragon Quest I-II

Dual Orb II

Elfaria

Elfaria II

Emerald Dragon

Energy Breaker

F-1 Grand Prix Part III

Easily one of the best and most fleshed-out F-1 games ever created, F-1 Grand Prix Part III delivers a realistic and fun simulation of F-1 racing while offering every mode a fan could want. There's also a cool story mode that lets you create and run an original F-1 team, allowing you to manage and spend money on various things, attend test races and so on. Almost every aspect of the cars is tuneable and every detail such as weather conditions is taken into account. The actual racing action itself is also superb, shown from a top down perspective but being far, far more realistic than every other F-1 game out there. It is however one of the most difficult racing games of all time, requiring insane reflexes and track memorization.

-Macaw

F-Zero

Feda: The Emblem of Justice

Final Fight Tough

Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo

Front Mission

Front Mission: Gun Hazard

G2: Genocide

Gaia Gensouki

In the second chapter of the Soul Blader trilogy a young boy finds himself suddenly thrust into a quest for six ancient statues, traveling to various locations such as the fictional lost city of Mu and The Great Wall of China. This is one of the few wonderfully melancholic SFC experiences, with a plot that is surprisingly deep at times. Between the scenes of drifting hopelessly at sea, the death of your childhood friends and the self-sacrifice of one noble pet pig, you'll wonder if all the heartache is worth it. For the ending, I would say rightfully so.

-endless

Gouketsuji Ichizoku

Gunforce

Hagane

Amazing side-scrolling action game by Hudson and Red. Very much inspired by Strider, but with plenty of original elements, Hagane is set in a futuristic Japan and has some incredible art design that is easily its best aspect. Think of futuristic cityscapes mixed with feudal Japanese elements -- it's been done a million times before but rarely this good, and the music is a similar fusion of styles that perfectly suits it all. Stage and boss designs are top notch and the entire game just feels extremely polished.

-Macaw

Hiouden: Mamonotachi to no Chikai

SFC port of Wolf Team's fantastic PC-98 strategy-RPG. Unfortunately, its origin is the reason why this version is nowhere near as good. Even with the SFC mouse it controls far too clumsily, and because of the SFC's much smaller resolution there's almost no room to properly move around and view information in the various windows. These problems, while major, still don't prevent it from being enjoyable in its own right, though you are really much better off playing the original version.

-Macaw

Holy Striker

Original take on the Breakout style of game where you move a character around the field in eight directions while hitting the ball to break through to the next area. There are however monsters on the field that can attack and damage you, so this is kind of a cross between Breakout and a standard scrolling action game. You can tackle the story mode together with a friend, and there is also a multiplayer-focused mode where up to four players can complete against each other in an event that resembles soccer. Fairly lengthy and with nice graphics and good variety.

-Macaw

Hoshi no Kirby Super Deluxe

Hyper Iria

HyperZone

HAL Laboratory tries their best to show off the impressiveness of Mode 7 graphics in this forgettable rail shooter. Lazily fend off waves of uninspired alien creatures and boring boss encounters over the course of eight stages worth of pretty visual effects. The few thrills come from momentarily forgetting that what you're playing isn't F-Zero.

-endless

Ihatovo Monogatari

Adventure game developed by Hect based on the literary works of Kenji Miyazawa. A very slow, calming experience that has you mostly walking around the town of Ihatovo and other regions solving various mysteries and puzzles. Its best aspect is easily the amazing soundtrack, which can be very hypnotic and relaxing (due to fan request an OST was finally released in 2002). Ihatovo Monogatari succeeds in providing an immersive and relaxing adventure while incorporating elements of Miyazawa's stories.

-Macaw

Ikari No Yousai

This side-scrolling action title starts out in a fairly standard fashion for the genre, but then it begins to slowly unfold a narrative in a very original and creative way. You must investigate a laboratory that has ceased all communication, and the game succeeds in immersing you in an aura of mystery. There is no text at all; instead, you discover what has happened via flashbacks and video recordings of events that happened just before you arrived. A very intriguing and exciting experience that goes beyond standard 2D action game conventions.

-Macaw

Juusou Kihei Valken

Valken is an absolutely fantastic and influential action game. Apart from the realistic mech movement mechanics, Valken is most famous for really emphasizing dramatic storytelling in real time. In other words, instead of simply having story cutscenes in between stages, the story and dramatic aspects would unfold during the stages themselves, with characters often talking to each other and such. This made the stages much more interesting and exciting. Spectacular side-scrolling mech shooter following up on Assault Suits Leynos released on the Megadrive three years before, Valken expanded the mech action idea to really emphasize the weight of the mech as you controlled it in addition to adding many story and dramatic elements that happen during the stages themselves which makes them not only much more exciting and involving but also makes things much more intense. Superb graphics and music contribute to making this one of the best action games on the Super Famicom.

-Macaw

Kabuki Rocks

Karuraou

Absolutely superb side-scrolling action game developed by an internal Sony team, surprisingly enough. Has a kind of Indian-Middle East theme to it and one of the most mind-blowing soundtracks of any game on the system, pushing the SFC sound hardware even further than games such as Actraiser. Soundtrack aside, there's heaps of creativity and variety in stages and boss designs and some really great graphics. If the above was not enough recommendation, let me just say this game is worth playing through just to see the final boss.

-Macaw

Kidou Soukou Dion

Vertical scrolling shooter from Vic Tokai, inspired by the PC Engine shooter Spriggan. Fairly unremarkable, with long, boring stages and graphics that are decent but nothing that great. The most interesting feature is the levelling system used to increase the power and amount of your weapons, but apart from that it's a fairly sub-mediocre shooting experience.

-Macaw

Kirby Bowl

Last Bible III

Libble Rabble

Live A Live

Majin Tensei

Mario no Super Picross

Mario to Wario

Mazinger Z

Milandra

Militia

Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu

Mystic Ark

Nosferatu

Panel de Pon

Phalanx

Pilotwings

Prince of Persia

Jordan Mechner’s classic dungeon platformer, revised, reworked and revitalized by Arsys (the guys behind the faithful PC98 port of the same game). The graphical update might be the most obvious change, but if you remember the original well, you'll notice various stage design tweaks, extra levels, characteristic bosses and finally, a great soundtrack to boost the atmosphere! These subtle but thoughtful additions result in a slightly more epic and varied experience, just enough to keep fans of the original interested and perhaps attract some new ones.

-zinger

Psycho Dream

Seiken Densetsu 2

Seiken Densetsu 3

Shadowrun

Shin Megami Tensei

Shin Megami Tensei II

Shin Megami Tensei if...

Shinzui Taikyoku Igo Gosennin

This is about as standard as you can get for a Go game, with a basic selection of modes and so forth. The only interesting aspect of the title is that the game opens up with a picture and some music that I find quite relaxing and enchanting, and which goes a long way in making the game have a great atmosphere to play Go in. It may sound like a redundant point to bring up, but in games like this it is the type of thing that sets them apart, and many times I would prefer to play this instead of other much more feature-packed Go games, just because of the atmosphere.

-Macaw

SimCity

Soul Blader

Space Bazooka

Spriggan Powered

Star Ocean

Starfox

Super Bikkuriman

Easily one of the worst SFC games, and one of the worst 1 on 1 fighters ever made. Super Bikkuriman, based off the Bikkuriman animation, is poor in every possible way. The graphics are terrible, obviously done by absolute amateurs, the music and sound sucks and the fighting mechanics are incredibly basic. The collision detection is also crap and there is a tiny roster of characters. It’s hard to imagine how on earth they managed to get this game published, it’s just that poor. Only people with a desire to play horrendously bad fighting games should ever bother checking this out.

-Macaw

Super Donkey Kong

The game that for better or for worse introduced the world to the idea of “Pre-Rendered Graphics.” Despite this, the game features some very solid platforming, and is a blast to play. As either Donkey Kong or his little buddy Diddy Kong, roll, jump and bash your way through a variety of intense almost-3D action. It should say something that 10 years after its release, the advertising for Rare’s classic flop “Grabbed by the Ghoulies” was “From the makers of Donkey Kong Country.” I would’ve opted for “From the makers of R.C. Pro Am” myself.

-endless

Super Donkey Kong 2: Dixie to Diddy

Super Donkey Kong 3: Nazo no Kuremisu Shima

Super Keirin

There are many titles on the SFC and other systems that are all about just betting on races (horse or others) and making money, and most of them are not worth playing to anyone beyond a die-hard fan to this type of gambling. Super Keirin however is the first game to expand far, far beyond this and provide almost a ‘life simulator’ where your character just happens to enjoy betting at the keirin (Japanese cycling) races. You start out as a standard Japanese male living in a small apartment with no direction in his life, so what else to do of course than try to make a living out of race betting. The game plays more like a RPG than anything else, you can freely walk around your apartment and the velodrome where the races take place. Over time you make money and buy more stuff for your house (such as furniture), go on dates with your girlfriend and so on. Many elements clearly served as inspiration for other titles such as Harvest Moon that came later, however in my opinion Super Keirin still outdoes those titles in many areas. The sheer amount of stuff you can buy for your house is crazy, and the sense of going from living in a tiny apartment with barely anything of value to a huge house is quite remarkable (you also buy a Nintendo and games to play on it, something done much later in Animal Crossing), and yet this ‘life’ aspect of the game isn’t even the focus, the focus is still on the highly fleshed out betting and racing aspect. In my opinion the whole ‘betting’ core of the game greatly limited it’s appeal, and that’s why most people (even in Japan) remember Harvest Moon for this style of game and not Super Keirin.

-Macaw

Super Mario Collection

Super Mario RPG

Super Mario: Yossy Island

Super Mario World

Super Metroid

Sword Maniac

A decent sidescrolling action game with a cyberpunk theme. Despite the great character designs and cinematics, the core action is rather dull and can be hard to appreciate. The game also includes a 2 player VS mode that lets you select the bosses and fight each other, which is actually better than the story mode, although still not that great (don’t expect proper fighting game mechanics, most characters only have a few moves), its mostly just fun to mess around in due to the novelty value of some of the characters (for example there is a mad scientist character that mutates into a giant bug after getting hit a few times) The music is quite good but just like in Bio Metal, be sure to never touch the western releases as the soundtrack has been completely replaced by crappy loops from some band. The great cutscenes and gimmicky VS mode are certainly interesting enough to make the game worth checking out, especially for people into cyberpunk type stuff.

-Macaw

Syvalion

Tenchi Souzou

The King of Dragons

Trinea

The sequel to the Gameboy game Penta Dragon (Also developed by JAM) Trinea is a scrolling action game. The game contains numerous interesting ideas and strong points such as great graphics and animation, great music, awesome time-travelling story that intertwines the paths of the 3 different playable characters, and also just the sheer amount of different moves you can do in combat. Unfortunately it’s all greatly dragged down by a very poor framerate, collision detection and stages that eventually just get dull and repetitive. The game still has enough novelty and interesting elements however to be well worth checking out.

-Macaw

Ushio to Tora

A very ordinary but still decent sidescrolling action game based off the somewhat popular comic. Choose from 2 different characters and then battle through a bunch of mostly boss fights with some story elements thrown in between stages. The action mechanics are good but the weak graphics don’t help. Considering the game is mostly focused on boss battles it’s a pity that most of them aren’t that interesting to fight and have very basic patterns. There is enough variety in them and the stages however to make it somewhat interesting and worth playing.

-Macaw

Yoshi no Road Hunting

Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

This Lucasarts throwback to the cheesy horror movie genre is an enjoyable one. Play as either the nerdy Zeke or the babe Julie and fight against swarms of chainsaw-wielding lunatics, evil dolls, giant ants, mummies and of course, hordes of brain-hungry zombies. Each stage finds you searching for your neighbors to rescue them from this carnage, along the way picking up an incredibly diverse assortment of weaponry; soda cans, lawnmowers, and perhaps most crucial of all, your trusty water gun. The adventure can be tackled solo, but it’s best enjoyed with somebody to fight with over who gets which power-ups.

-endless

Wild Guns

Wild Trax