"Super Nintendo" redirects here. For the Universal Studios Japan & Hollywood attraction, see Super Nintendo World.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Top: North American (NTSC-U) Super NES (c. 1991) Bottom: Japanese (NTSC-J) Super Famicom (the European (PAL) Super NES has the same design) Other variations are pictured under Casing below.
Also known as
SNES Super NES
JP: Super Famicom
KOR: Super Comboy
Super Nintendo
Developer
Nintendo R&D2
Manufacturer
Nintendo
Type
Home video game console
Generation
Fourth
Release date
JP: November 21, 1990[1]
NA: August 23, 1991[a]
UK and IRL: April 11, 1992[2]
EU: June 1992[3]
CHL: June 8, 1992[4]
AU: July 3, 1992[2]
BR: August 30, 1993[5]
RU: November 1994[6]
Lifespan
1990–2005[7]
Introductory price
¥25,000 (equivalent to ¥27,804 in 2019) US$199 (equivalent to $445.16 in 2023)
Discontinued
EU: 1998
NA: 1999[8]
BR: 2003
KOR: April 1, 2003[9]
JP: September 25, 2003[10]
UK: May 23, 2005
Units sold
Worldwide: 49.10 million[7]
North America: 23.35 million
Japan: 17.17 million
Other: 8.58 million
Media
ROM cartridge
CPU
Ricoh 5A22 @ 3.58 MHz
Sound
Nintendo S-SMP
Online services
Satellaview (Japan only) XBAND (US and Canada only) Nintendo Power (Japan only)
Best-selling game
Pack-in: Super Mario World, 20.60 million[11]
Stand-alone: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, 6.3 million[12]
Predecessor
NES
Successor
Nintendo 64
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo,[b]Super NES or SNES,[c] is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea,[16] 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania and 1993 in South America. In Japan, it is called the Super Famicom (SFC).[d] In South Korea, it is called the Super Comboy[e] and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics.[17] The system was released in Brazil on August 30, 1993,[16][18] by Playtronic. Although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent cartridges for one version from being used in other versions.
The Super NES is Nintendo's second programmable home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other systems at the time, like the Sega Genesis. It was designed to accommodate the ongoing development of a variety of enhancement chips integrated into game cartridges to be more competitive into the next generation.
The Super NES received largely positive reviews and was a global success, becoming the bestselling console of the 16-bit era after launching relatively late and facing intense competition from Sega's Genesis console in North America and Europe. Overlapping the NES's 61.9 million unit sales, the Super NES remained popular well into the 32-bit era, with 49.1 million units sold worldwide by the time it was discontinued in 2003. It continues to be popular among collectors and retro gamers, with new homebrew games and Nintendo's emulated rereleases, such as on the Virtual Console, the Super NES Classic Edition, Nintendo Switch Online; as well as several non-console emulators which operate on a desktop computer or mobile device, such as Snes9x.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^"Retro Diary: 08 November – 05 December". Retro Gamer. No. 122. December 13, 2013. p. 11.
^ ab"Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform)". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
^"History | Corporate". Nintendo. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
^C. Portilla (November 21, 2015). "Los juegos más recordados a 25 años del lanzamiento de la Super Nintendo". La Tercera. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
^"Nintendo chega hoje ao mercado". O Estado de S. Paulo. August 30, 1993. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
^"Соглашение Steepler и Nintendo". November 1994. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
^ ab"Consolidated Sales Transition by Region" (PDF). Nintendo Co., Ltd. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
^Reisinger, Don (January 21, 2009). "Does the Xbox 360's 'Lack of Longevity' Matter?". CNET. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
^Wolf, Mark J. P. (November 21, 2018). The Routledge Companion to Media Technology and Obsolescence. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-44266-2. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
^Cite error: The named reference End was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"The Nintendo Years: 1990". Edge. June 25, 2007. p. 2. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
^"Platinum Titles". Capcom. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
^Nintendo of Europe. "Super Nintendo". nintendo.co.uk. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
^"SNES Development Manual" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 6, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
^"Do you say NES or N-E-S?". Nintendo NSider Forums. Archived from the original on May 5, 2008. Retrieved September 23, 2007. Additional archived pages: 2 3 4 5 8 9 ; "Pronouncing NES & SNES". GameSpot forums. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
^ abBrian Byrne, Brian (2017). History of the Super Nintendo (SNES): Ultimate Guide to the SNES Games & Hardware. Console Gamer Magazine. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-5498-9956-0.
^Brian Byrne, Brian (2017). History of the Super Nintendo (SNES): Ultimate Guide to the SNES Games & Hardware. Console Gamer Magazine. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-5498-9956-0.
^Coelho, Victor (November 24, 2014). "Super Nintendo completa 24 anos" [Super Nintendo turned 24 years old]. Exame (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
and 24 Related for: Super Nintendo Entertainment System information
The SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem, commonly shortened to SuperNintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo...
The SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem has a library of 1,739 official releases, of which 722 were released in North America plus 4 championship cartridges...
The NintendoEntertainmentSystem (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983...
Also included is access to a library of NintendoEntertainmentSystem (NES), SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem (SNES), Game Boy (GB), and Game Boy Color...
The SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Game Pak is the system's default ROM cartridge medium. It is called Game Pak in most Western regions, and Cassette...
history of the NintendoEntertainmentSystem (NES) spans the 1982 development of the Family Computer, to the 1985 launch of the NES, to Nintendo's rise to global...
The list of SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem accessories encompasses first- and third-party hardware in the 1990s. Cleaning Kit - the cleaning device...
although the 1990 SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem (SNES) was a strong seller, the Sega Genesis was a very strong contender. Nintendo and Sega would both...
game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem (SNES). It was released in Japan in 1990, North America...
Subscribers have access to games for the NintendoEntertainmentSystem (NES), SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem (SNES), Game Boy (GB) and Game Boy Color...
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a 1996 role-playing game developed by Square and published by Nintendo for the SuperNintendo Entertainment...
List of NintendoEntertainmentSystem games List of Famicom Disk System games List of Game Boy games List of SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem games List...
The Nintendo Gateway System is a version of the SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, or GameCube...
by Nintendo. Originally published by EMAP as Nintendo Magazine System, the magazine first covered the NintendoEntertainmentSystem, SuperNintendo Entertainment...
The Super Game Boy (スーパーゲームボーイ, Sūpā Gēmu Bōi) is a peripheral that allows Game Boy cartridges to be played on a SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem console...
list of Super NES enhancement chips demonstrates Nintendo hardware designers' plan to easily expand the SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem with special...
The Super FX is a coprocessor on the Graphics Support Unit (GSU) added to select SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem (SNES) video game cartridges, primarily...
Super Castlevania IV is a 1991 platform game developed and published by Konami for the SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem. It has been re-released multiple...
developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem in 1996. It is part of the Kirby series of video games by...
Global Information
