Detail of a hand picking up a vintage Nintendo SNES controller from a glass table, surrounded by bowls of snacks, taken on July 9, 2013. (Photo by Philip Sowels/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Hard to believe, but the Super Nintendo turned 25 this week
It’s hard to believe it, but the Super Nintendo is now 25 years old!
Nintendo officially launched their Super Nintendo console in the North American market on August 23, 1991.
An upgraded version of the Super Famicom that had been sold in Japan for a few months, the 16-bit gaming platform offered players crude 3-D simulations and improved colors and audio over the original Nintendo Entertainment System.
The iconic console would go on to sell nearly 50 million units worldwide and easily defeat it’s major rival the Sega Genesis. As well as also-rans of the time — like NEC’s TurboGrafx-16, and the ill-fated Neo Geo.
The SNES was priced at $199 and sold out immediately upon launch.
What made Super Nintendo really special was the lineup of games. The console came along during a creative golden age for the company.
GameTrailers ranked the Super Nintendo as the company’s greatest console of all time, noting: “The list of games we love on this console completely annihilates any other roster from The Big N.”
They go on to make the point that “many of Nintendo’s cherished franchises were born on the SNES — like Pilotwings, Star Fox, F-Zero, Donkey Kong Country, and Mario Kart.”
If you’re feeling some pangs of nostalgia for the SNES, you can pick up a used one on eBay for less than $50.
Some consoles still in their original packaging run into the hundreds of dollars.
There are also a number of emulators online that allow you to play some of the classic games that first appeared on the SNES.
What was your favorite console when you were growing up? Share in the comments section below!
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