The NES put Nintendo on the map in North America in 1985. Its successor console, the SNES, was highly anticipated and did even better when it launched in 1991 in the West. By that point, companies had started to figure out how to design games more efficiently across the board.
1993 was an even greater year as developers had even more time to experiment with new ideas. This year saw the birth of some famous series that are still alive to this day, along with some fan-favorite sequels. These may not be the absolute best games on the SNES overall, but they are certainly beloved.
8 Secret Of Mana
Secret of Mana is the first game in the West to have Mana, the overall series name, in the title. The first entry was called Final Fantasy Adventure on the Game Boy, but this would get later revised to Adventures of Mana.
This action RPG is one of many great titles Square put out during this era. It feels like their answer to The Legend of Zelda if Link could level up through experience points. It’s one of the few RPGs on the console to feature three-player co-op. It was a pain to set up because a peripheral was needed, but two-player co-op was thankfully more accessible.
7 Star Fox
2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the Star Fox series. It all started on the SNES, which features dated polygonal graphics now. However, at the time, they were mind-blowing to see rendered on the SNES, and it was also one of the more engaging space shooters on the console.
The last game in this series was Star Fox Zero on the Wii U in 2016, and it wasn’t exactly a smash hit. Technically, Star Fox 2, which was released on the SNES Mini in 2017, was the last new game, but that was more like a prototype that was finished than something completely brand new. Will there be a new game to celebrate this anniversary in 2023 or a collection? Don’t let the fans down, Nintendo!
6 Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario All-Stars is one the first big examples of a series of games getting remade for a Mario collection. Players got to experience the first three games in 16-Bit graphics along with other improvements such as save files.
The biggest addition to this collection was Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, which was the second game in the series. Japan got that, while the West got the rebranded version of Doki Doki Panic as Super Mario Bros. 2. Players got to experience the original sequel for the first time, which was a challenge but a treat.
5 E.V.O.: Search For Eden
E.V.O.: Search for Eden was an Enix-published action RPG made before they merged to become Square Enix. It was also a simulation game as players started as a simple fish in the ocean but would evolve through time. Players could change forms by eating lesser lifeforms or fighting bigger enemies.
There were branching paths in the evolutionary chain, and eventually, players could get out of the water. It was ahead of its time on the SNES when it was released first in 1992 in Japan before getting a Western port a year later.
4 Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shogun Magginesu
Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shogun Magginesu is the sequel to an underrated platformer on the SNES, The Legend of the Mystical Ninja. There were two more sequels after this, and all three features similar gameplay mechanics to the original. There were top-down segments where players could explore towns and shops to beef up their heroes through equipment.
Most of the action gameplay was handled in 2D segments, though. It was never released outside of Japan, like many games in the overall Goemon series, but it is easily accessible since there is a fan patch for it in English.
3 Goof Troop
Goof Troop was a Capcom-designed Disney game and one of the last collaborations before their partnership ended. This game is significant because Shinji Mikami worked on it. One can find a lot of DNA here that would later influence the Resident Evil series, which Mikami helped create.
Players could go at it alone with Goofy, or another player could take control of Max for some co-op gameplay. There were action elements to the game, but it was largely focused on exploration and puzzle-solving in a top-down environment.
2 Plok
Plok doesn’t have the same status as Mario in the SNES era of platformers. It’s often overlooked as one of the more interesting platformers on this console though.
The titular Plok had a lot in common with Rayman's character, as his limbs would detach as weapons. Instead of a health bar, getting hit would limit would what body parts Plok had left to toss. Sometimes players could get reduced to nothing but a torso hopping around. For those that missed it in 1993, it’s well worth a visit in 2023.
1 Torneko no Daiboken: Fushigi no Dungeon
Torneko no Daiboken: Fushigi no Dungeon is the first game in the Mystery Dungeon franchise. That series encompasses original titles such as Shiren the Wanderer along with Dragon Quest spinoffs like this one based on the fourth game. Torneko was one of the playable characters in that game and was a shopkeeper by day and a dungeon explorer by night. They are a series of hardcore roguelikes before that term became popular within the past decade.
There is a fan patch for this game in English, but the first official Mystery Dungeon entry the West got was Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon 2 in 1999.