With all the talk and hype surrounding the power of the upcoming next generation of consoles with thePlayStation 5and theXbox Series X, it’s easy to forget just how good the previous generations were. The 16-bit era, in particular, showed just how clever and how creative developers were at getting every last bit of power out of consoles like theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System(SNES).
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It’s also surprising just how much technology was under the hood of the SNES so that developers could create something not deemed possible at the time. Even though the 16-bit consoles were better known for developing 2D games the SNES featured the Super FX chip and the Super Accelerator 1 chip to get the most out of a selection of games. Unfortunately, not all games took advantage of the SNES’ hardware – so let’s take a look at 5 of the best and 5 of the worst looking games on the system.
The original arcade version ofRace Drivin’was released in 1990 and its main draw was that it offered arcade gamers a chance to race car around the state of the art 3D polygonal race tracks. Unfortunately, that appeal was completely lost on the Super Nintendo port that arrived on the system in 1992.
Race Drivin’didn’t make any use of the Super Nintendo’s built-in Super FX chip and as a result, the arcade port’s 3D visuals looked hideous, it suffered from terrible framerates and the slow down was intolerable.
9Looks Good: Star Fox
When the PlayStation came along and made 3D graphics at the forefront of its biggest selling games it is easy to forget how well the Super Nintendo could handle it when developers really pushed the system.
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Released in 1993,Star Foxwas one of the best examples of how well 3D polygons could look when developers made good use of the built-in Super FX chip to achieve it. Not only did the game look great for the time but the gameplay was smooth, fast and responsive and it remained one of the best examples of arcade-style space shooting untilStar Fox 64was released in 1997.
Released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo,RapJam: Volume Onewas a cartoonish no-rules urban basketball game that featured real-life rap stars like Coolio, LL Cool J, Warren G, and others. It is often highly regarded as one of the worst games ever created and its choppy graphics and ugly art-style certainly didn’t help.
Despite sounding like it was the basketball version of theDef Jamwrestling series that arrived on consoles years later,RapJamwas just a poor clone of the far superiorNBA Jam.
7Looks Good: Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Stars
Released in 1996 and developed by RPG veterans Square,Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Starsisone of the most beautiful games on the SNES and easily rivals most of the RPGs of the PlayStation in terms of its visuals and art design.
Legend Of The Seven Starssprites were created on SGI workstations and the SNES' Mode 7 techniques were used to give the game a 3D look and feel to the environments. It’s also one of the few games released in western territories to use Nintendo’s SA1 enhancement chip to make use of the extra processing power to give the Mario RPG its unique look.
The Super Nintendo had some great looking games that released on the system toward the end of its life cycle. Unfortunately for gamers,Frogger,despite being the last game that released on the system was just another rushed 3D arcade port that made no use of the Super FX chip.
Froggerwas released at the same time as the PlayStation version which featured simplistic 3D graphics that SNES probably could have handled with some work.Froggeris unfairly difficult, frustrating, and terrible to look at on all systems but the 16-bit version was the worst by far.
5Looks Good: Street Fighter Alpha II
WhenStreet Fighter Alpha IIreleased in 1996 for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn it showcased just how much of a step up in terms of animation and visuals when it was compared to theStreet Fighter IIseries.
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So it was something of a surprise that the game ran so well on the Super Nintendo and it was all thanks to the same enhancement chip that allowedSuper Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Starsto look so good. It was ported by Nintendo instead of Capcom so they knew exactly how to get the best out of the machine to getStreet Fighter Alpha IIrunning as well as it did.
Originally known as aNeighborhood Combat Chapterin Japan,Street Combatwas part of theRanma ½fighting series based on the manga of the same name. Unfortunately, when it was released in the US all of the anime style characters were completely redesigned to give them a more “Americanised look”.
The new character models ended up looking like generic westernized superheroes and military types. In addition, all of the backstories and history that was established in the series were completely rewritten for the American version.
3Looks Good: Trials Of Mana
Originally released in 1995 in JapanTrials of Manawas an incredible looking title that impressed gamers with its Mode 7 effects for the map and clever sprite rotations. It took fifteen years forTrialsto finally make it to the west when it was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2020.
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The game can now be picked up as part of theCollection of Manawhich also includesFinal Fantasy AdventureandSecret of Mana.Even now,Trials of Manais still impressive with its cinematic flair and art-design that would later become a standard for theFinal Fantasyseries. Many fans considerTrials of Manato be the best in the series which is why it’s getting a full 3D remake due to be released in 2020.
Atari games’Pit-Fighterwas first released in arcades in 1990 it became well known for its use of digitized actors for the characters and blue screen methods for the animations. While the game looked great for its time the animation by today’s standard looks awkward and clunky and the characters move as if they are fighting underwater.
When compared to similar titles like SNK’sStreet Smartwhich used a more cartoonish albeit timeless anime style the visuals and gameplay have not aged well at all. However, the SNES port looks even worse than the arcade original in every way.
1Looks Good: Super Punch-Out!!
Super Punch-Out!!is a boxing game released on the SNES in 1994. It wasn’t a boxing sim likeEvander Holyfield’s Real Deal Boxingon the Sega Genesis/Megadrive it was more of an arcade fighter where the player had to work out their opponents tells, wind-ups, and openings.
One of the biggest draws inPunch-Out!!is the incredible visuals. The outlandish cartoon characters look great, they fill the screen, and the animation is still impressive to this day and the main reason why this game works so well.
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