Super Nintendo Entertainment System

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Super Nintendo Entertainment System
SFC Logo.pngSNES Logo.png
The North American SNES (circa 1991)
The PAL version of SNES

Top: North American SNES (circa 1991)
Bottom: Japanese Super Famicom
Manufacturer Nintendo
Type Video game console
Generation Fourth generation
Release date(s) JP November 21, 1990
NA August 23, 1991
EU April 11, 1992
AUS July 3, 1992
Discontinued JP September 2003
NA 1999
Units sold 49.10 million
Media ROM cartridge
CPU 16-bit 65c816 Ricoh 5A22 3.58 MHz
Online services Satellaview (Japan only), XBAND, Nintendo Power (Japan Only)
Best-selling game Super Mario World (pack-in), 20.60 million

Donkey Kong Country (pack-in), 9 million

Super Mario Kart, 8 million
Predecessor Nintendo Entertainment System
Successor Nintendo 64


The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the Super NES, SNES or Super Nintendo) is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia (Oceania), and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the Super Famicom (スーパーファミコン) or SFC for short, officially adopting the abbreviated name of its predecessor, the Family Computer. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy (슈퍼 컴보이) and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics. Although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent the different versions from being compatible with one another.

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other consoles at the time. Additionally, development of a variety of enhancement chips (which were integrated on game circuit boards) helped to keep it competitive in the marketplace.

The SNES was a global success, becoming the best-selling console of the fourth generation era despite its relatively late start and the fierce competition it faced in North America from Sega's Genesis/Mega Drive console. The SNES remained popular well into the 32-bit era, and although Nintendo has dropped all support for the console, it continues to be popular among fans, collectors, retro gamers, and emulation enthusiasts, some of whom are still making homebrew ROM images.

The SNES sold 49.10 million units worldwide. It was discontinued in 1999-2002 well after the launch of it's successor, the Nintendo 64.

Virtual Console Compatibility List (Super Nintendo)

Help to complete the list!

  • If a game is missing or information is incomplete, go to the SNES VC Ratings Template, then press edit at the top of that page. Please put in alphabetical order!
  • If you want to update a game's rating, click the icon Note.svg.png to the right of the rating stars, and put just a number of 1 through 5 into the page. Use the compatibility guide below as a reference for what rating to use.
  • If there are problems with a game, go to the page for that game and write down the problem!
Compatibility Description
Stars5.png Perfect: No issues at all!
Stars4.png Playable: Runs well, only minor graphical or audio glitches. Games can be played all the way through
Stars3.png Starts: Starts, maybe even plays well, but crashes or major graphical/audio glitches
Stars2.png Intro/Menu: Hangs/crashes somewhere between booting and starting
Stars1.png Broken: Crashes when booting
Stars0.png Unknown: Has not been tested yet
Region indicator Region description
AU Australia
CA Canada (NTSC /w French translation)
EU Europe, PAL/SECAM territories
JP Japan and Asia (NTSC-J)
KO Korea
NA North America and NTSC territories
RU Russia

Template:CompactTOC8

Title Year Genre Region Compatibility

Template:Virtual Console/Super Nintendo