Graphics
256×224
- Resolutions
- 256×224 · 256×239 · 512×224 · 512×448
- Colors on screen
- 256
- Palette
- 32,768 colors
- Sprites
- 128
Below: WonderSwan 241 colors · Above: PC Engine 482 colors
Super Nintendo
Also known as Super Famicom · SNES · Super NES · Super Comboy
- Nintendo
- Home console
- Fourth generation
752 Super Nintendo games, all playable free in your browser.
The Super Famicom went on sale in Japan on November 21, 1990, followed by the Super NES in North America on August 23, 1991 and other markets during 1992. Designed by Masayuki Uemura as Nintendo's answer to the Sega Genesis and NEC's TurboGrafx-16, it was the company's second programmable home console and its competitor in the fourth-generation console war.
- First released · Japan
- 1990
- Units sold
- 49.1M
- CPU
- 16-bit
- Games in the library · all playable
- 752
TIMELINE
1990–2003
- JPJapan
- NANorth America
- EUEurope
- AUAustralia
- BRBrazil
- ENDDiscontinued (Japan)
Games per release year
| Year | Games |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 3 |
| 1991 | 31 |
| 1992 | 119 |
| 1993 | 186 |
| 1994 | 218 |
| 1995 | 127 |
| 1996 | 48 |
| 1997 | 11 |
| 1998 | 3 |
| 2011 | 1 |
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2019 | 1 |
- Game BoyGame Boy: Apr 21, 1989 – Mar 31, 2003
- LynxAtari Lynx: Sep 1, 1989 – 1995
- Neo GeoNeo Geo: Apr 16, 1990 – 2004
- Game GearSega Game Gear: Oct 6, 1990 – Apr 30, 1997
- SNESSuper Nintendo: Nov 21, 1990 – Sep 25, 2003
- Sega CDSega CD / Mega-CD: Dec 12, 1991 – 1996
- CPS-2Capcom CPS-2: Sep 10, 1993 – Dec 22, 2003
- Neo Geo CDNeo Geo CD: Sep 9, 1994 – 1997
- 32XSega 32X: Nov 1994 – 1996
All 36 systems
- Atari 2600Atari 2600: Sep 1977 – 1992
- SpectrumZX Spectrum: Apr 23, 1982 – 1992
- ColecoColecoVision: Aug 1982 – 1985
- Atari 5200Atari 5200: Oct 1982 – May 21, 1984
- VectrexVectrex: Oct 1982 – Feb 1984
- NESNintendo Entertainment System: Jul 15, 1983 – Sep 25, 2003
- SG-1000Sega SG-1000: Jul 15, 1983 – Oct 1985
- MSXMSX: Oct 21, 1983 – 1993
- Amstrad CPCAmstrad CPC: Jun 21, 1984 – 1990
- Master SystemSega Master System: Oct 20, 1985 – 1996
- Atari 7800Atari 7800: May 1986 – 1992
- X68000Sharp X68000: Mar 28, 1987 – end not recorded
- PC EnginePC Engine / TurboGrafx-16: Oct 30, 1987 – Dec 16, 1994
- CPS-1Capcom CPS-1: May 13, 1988 – May 11, 1995
- GenesisSega Genesis / Mega Drive: Oct 29, 1988 – 1997
- PCE CDPC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-CD: Dec 4, 1988 – end not recorded
- Game BoyGame Boy: Apr 21, 1989 – Mar 31, 2003
- LynxAtari Lynx: Sep 1, 1989 – 1995
- Neo GeoNeo Geo: Apr 16, 1990 – 2004
- Game GearSega Game Gear: Oct 6, 1990 – Apr 30, 1997
- SNESSuper Nintendo: Nov 21, 1990 – Sep 25, 2003
- Sega CDSega CD / Mega-CD: Dec 12, 1991 – 1996
- CPS-2Capcom CPS-2: Sep 10, 1993 – Dec 22, 2003
- Neo Geo CDNeo Geo CD: Sep 9, 1994 – 1997
- 32XSega 32X: Nov 1994 – 1996
- PS1PlayStation: Dec 3, 1994 – Mar 23, 2006
- N64Nintendo 64: Jun 23, 1996 – 2002
- CPS-3Capcom CPS-3: Nov 21, 1996 – end not recorded
- NAOMISega NAOMI: 1998 – end not recorded
- GBCGame Boy Color: Oct 21, 1998 – Mar 31, 2003
- NGPCNeo Geo Pocket Color: Mar 19, 1999 – Oct 30, 2001
- PS2PlayStation 2: Mar 4, 2000 – Jan 4, 2013
- WonderSwanWonderSwan Color: Dec 9, 2000 – 2003
- GBAGame Boy Advance: Mar 21, 2001 – 2010
- OpenBOROpenBOR: 2004 – today
- TIC-80TIC-80: Mar 22, 2017 – today
A bar that fades out means the end date is unknown. Fantasy consoles and game engines are still available.
UNDER THE HOOD
Technical specifications
Processor
3.58MHz
- CPU
- Ricoh 5A22
- Core
- WDC 65C816
- Word size
- 16-bit
- Sony SPC700 — 8-bit sound CPU (S-SMP audio subsystem) · 1.02 MHz
- Sony S-DSP — 16-bit digital signal processor mixing the audio samples
- S-PPU (two chips) — picture processing unit
Below: Spectrum 3.5 MHz · Above: Amstrad CPC 4 MHz
Nominal 3.58 MHz (NTSC); slows to 2.68 MHz or 1.79 MHz depending on the memory region or peripheral accessed (1.79 MHz only for the controller serial ports). 8-bit data bus, 24-bit address bus.
Memory
128KB
- Main RAM
- 128 KB
- Video RAM
- 64 KB
- Audio RAM
- 64 KB
- Sprite RAM (OAM, 544 bytes)
- 544 bytes
Below: WonderSwan 64 KB · Above: GBA 288 KB
Sound
8channels
- Chip
- Sony S-SMP (SPC700 + S-DSP)
Eight voices of BRR-compressed 16-bit samples in stereo, with hardware echo; 32 kHz output, 64 KB dedicated audio RAM
Sales
49.1million
- Scope
- Worldwide
- Best-selling game
- Super Mario World · 20.6 million
Media
Cartridge
- Cartridge
- up to 6 MB
Launch price
¥25,000
- Japan
- ¥25,000
- North America
- $199
Family line
- This system
- Super Nintendo
- After
- Nintendo 64
THE STORY
About the SNES
The 16-bit system offered Mode 7 to simulate 3D perspective, a 32,768-color palette and an eight-channel sample-based sound system built by Sony. Its CPU was designed to work with enhancement chips placed inside game cartridges, such as the Super FX used for polygonal 3D. Super Mario World was the pack-in title, and Nintendo kept major third-party publishers including Capcom, Enix, Konami and Square; more than 1,700 games were released.
Nintendo sold 49.1 million units, making it the best-selling home console of the fourth generation. Nintendo discontinued the SNES in 1999 and the Super Famicom in September 2003. The library, which includes The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy VI and Super Metroid, has been reissued through Virtual Console, Nintendo Classics and the SNES Classic Edition.
- Mode 7 graphics were used to simulate 3D perspective.
- Cartridges could carry enhancement chips such as the Super FX, which brought polygonal 3D to Star Fox.
- The S-SMP audio subsystem, designed by Ken Kutaragi and produced by Sony, runs independently of the main CPU.
- With 49.1 million units sold, it was the best-selling fourth-generation home console.
- The largest games released (Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean) use 48-megabit cartridges.
- Accessories included the Super Game Boy adapter and the Japan-only Satellaview modem.
THE LIBRARY
752 SNES games on Back2OldGames
752
games, all playable right in your browser
Release years 1990–2019
<p class="lib-span">239 developers</p>Genres
Top developers
Players
408 games with a known number of players.
Regions
THE GAMES
The SNES library
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Sources
Specifications and history from the sources below (Wikipedia text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; facts summarized in our own words). Library numbers come from the Back2OldGames catalog.
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