With Nintendo’s foray into the home console market with the NES, the company proved that there was an appetite for gaming beyond arcades. Home consoles were viable, even if they weren’t as powerful. The SNES followed up on that game, continuing some of Nintendo’s own ground-breaking series.
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Much of the SNES’ library was also bolstered by other developers and publishers, like Square Enix and Konami. The SNES has to this day a world-renowned gaming library in terms of variety. But just how many games make up the console’s entire library? Let’s check it out.
How Many Games Were Released On The SNES?
The SNES became the foundation for many series and gameplay conventions, many of which still stand to this day. Metroidvanias, the massive catalogue of Square Enix JRPGs, platformers and so on. It’s a veritable treasure trove of genres and ideas that defined games then and now.
And that’s not exactly surprising when you see the number of games the console has. Over 1,700 thereabouts, give or take a few based on region exclusive entries and the like. Sure, they aren’t all the remembered masterpieces but there were a shocking number of hits in there that people still talk about and reference for modern games.
When Was The Last Game Released For The SNES?
The SNES was succeeded by the N64 in 1996, six years on from its original launch. Its support didn’t end there though. While it was discontinued in some regions at this time, in many others it continued with new games for a few more years. Adapting to 3D was a comparatively slow process after all.
To that end, the final game that launched on the SNES was Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 on September 1st, 1999 exclusively in Japan. This was the last physical cartridge on the console.
The actual very last game was Metal Slader Glory: Director’s Cut. It didn’t get a dedicated cartridge, and was only distributed through the Nintendo Power Catridge system, where the game would be put onto an empty cartridge to cut costs. This was released on November 29th, 2000. This marked almost exactly ten years to the day of the SNES’ Japanese launch.
What Were The Launch Titles For The SNES?
As the successor of the NES, the SNES had a big spot to fill. And in the years following its launch, it’s fair to say it lived up to that legacy. But the launch titles wouldn’t make you think that.
- Japan – November 21st, 1990
- North America – August 23, 1991
- Europe – June, 1992 (UK and Ireland, April 11th, 1992)
The SNES had something of a staggered release, launching in Japan first, and then North America almost a year later, followed by Europe almost another year later. And yet despite all that, the number of games at launch in each region didn’t really increase, either.
|
Launch Titles In Japan |
Launch Titles In North America |
Launch Titles In Europe |
|---|---|---|
|
Super Mario World |
Super Mario World |
Super Mario World |
|
F-Zero |
F-Zero |
F-Zero |
|
Pilotwings |
Super R-Type |
|
|
Gradius III |
Super Soccer |
|
|
SimCity |
Super Tennis |
In Japan, only two games were available at launch, with these same two games also present in the NA and EU launches as well, along with three more games to bring the total up to five. Not a stellar start, though at least the games on offer, in North America especially, had quite a bit of variety that really showed off the diverse range of games on the SNES.
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