[SNES] Super NES 20th Anniversary - How the 16-Bit War was Won

GlueGun18
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This month marks the 20th anniversary of the historic launch of the Super NES console in North America. Now that Nintendo's second home console child is all grown up, we take a brief look at this remarkable console's dramatic history.

Succeeding a Legend

Nintendo had the home console market cornered in the 1980s. The company almost single-handedly revived the video game industry from an early grave with its dramatic arrival, launching the Famicom console in Japan in 1983 and in America two years later as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The NES quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, selling over 60 million units thanks to popular titles like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid, to name just a few. Due to the immense success of the NES and the lack of any worthy competitors, Nintendo was understandably in no big rush to release a successor to the NES even as the 1980s drew to a close. Publisher Hudson Soft and IT technology giant NEC, however, partnered up to release the PC Engine in Japan in 1987 and in 1989 in North America as the TurboGrafx-16, touting its superior technology to the NES in order to grab a chunk of Nintendo’s monopoly on the industry. Despite thriving sales in Japan and modest success across the Pacific, the TurboGrafx-16 failed to threaten Nintendo’s stranglehold on the worldwide market. Rather, it wasn’t until popular arcade developer Sega launched its Genesis console in 1989 that a sense of urgency began to emerge from Nintendo, igniting perhaps the most intense console war in the history of the industry.

Early concepts for the Super NES console.The Mega Drive, as it was known as in Japan, failed to inspire Japanese gamers when it launched there in 1988. However, Western gamers were much more enthralled with Sega’s 16-bit technology when it landed in North America a year later and perhaps to an even greater extent in Europe in 1990. Now with the TurboGrafx-16 seizing a significant share of the home console market in Japan and the Genesis briskly racking up sales in North America, it became apparent that Nintendo needed something new in order to re-establish its iron grip on the home console market. In 1990, Nintendo finally announced the Super Famicom, or the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES) as it was known outside of Japan, as the 16-bit successor to the NES. Constructed by NES designer Masayuki Uemura, the Super NES was flaunted as being technologically superior to Sega’s thriving Genesis console. The Super Famicom launched in Japan in November of 1990 with just two launch titles: Super Mario World and F-Zero. Despite its diminutive launch line-up, the console was a huge success, selling out across the country within hours of hitting store shelves. Less than a year later in August 1991, the Super NES hit North America for a price of US$199 (including a copy of Super Mario World) along with additional launch games Pilotwings, Gradius III, and SimCity. Finally, Nintendo’s newest phenomenon landed in Europe in April 1992. But despite enjoying massive launch sales worldwide, the Super NES had a steep hill to climb in order to erase Sega’s two-year head start.

Round One...Fight!

If there was a flaw in Nintendo’s ability to hold its audience, it was its strict censorship policies that prohibited developers from releasing exceedingly violent games on Nintendo consoles. Sega, on the other hand, recognized this flaw and exposed it, inviting a greater variety of more adult-oriented content to the Genesis. Perhaps the most famous example of this contrast came in 1993 when publisher Acclaim Entertainment decided to bring Midway’s extremely popular and equally controversial arcade fighter Mortal Kombat to home consoles. The Genesis version of Mortal Kombat was modified to tone down the gore; however a cheat code (“ABACABB”) that restored all the over-the-top violence of the arcade version soon became common knowledge. The Super NES version, on the other hand, was heavily censored due to Nintendo’s “Family Friendly” policy, altering or removing several Fatalities and replacing blood with grey “sweat”. Unlike the Genesis version though, there was no cheat code to allow players to experience the blood and gore of the arcade original. Despite superior sound and graphics, the SNES version was dramatically outsold by its Genesis counterpart, giving Sega an important edge in the console war.

The grey "sweat" effect in Mortal Kombat.The Super NES and Genesis remained neck-and-neck throughout the early 1990s, with Sega’s system actually holding a slight edge thanks in large part to its more adult-oriented content and the extremely successful introduction of a new mascot: Sonic the Hedgehog. The Super NES gained ground early though thanks to releases of high-profile first-party exclusives like Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. A huge win for the SNES came in 1992 when Capcom’s wildly popular arcade fighter Street Fighter II became a Super NES console exclusive and went on to sell a whopping 6.3 million copies. Nintendo also began to recognize the folly in its censorship policies, and the company slowly began to relax its family-friendly stance, allowing games like Mortal Kombat II to appear on the system uncensored, making it the console version of choice for most gamers.

For the Win

Prototype for the CD-based SNES PlayStation.Early in the 1990s, both Sega and NEC pursued CD-ROM add-ons for their respective consoles, provoking Nintendo to follow suit. Nintendo approached Japanese electronics giant Sony with a proposition of developing a CD-ROM add-on for the Super NES called the “Play Station”. Despite an extensive development process, the two corporations butted heads over how the revenues would be split, eventually prompting Nintendo to nix the partnership over the dispute. In an ironic twist, Sony decided to continue on its own with the development of the CD-based platform and launched the PlayStation console in 1994, which went on to become one of the most successful consoles ever produced and made Sony one of Nintendo’s biggest competitors in the industry, a rivalry that remains even today. Nintendo, on the other hand, formed a new partnership with Phillips to pursue a CD-based format for the SNES, but this deal also soon collapsed. Phillips proceeded to release its ill-fated CD-i console without the help of Nintendo and actually retained the rights to use some of Nintendo’s IPs, resulting in disastrous entries in some popular franchises with games like Hotel Mario and three forgettable Zelda titles (Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, and Zelda’s Adventure).
DKC challenged the SNES' technical limits.Nintendo finally scrapped the idea of a CD-based SNES, but it was hardly a condemning blow for the console. In fact, it was during the mid-90s that the Super NES really separated itself from the competition. The Sega-CD add-on for the Genesis failed to significantly boost hardware sales for Sega, so the company released another add-on called the Sega 32X in 1994 that would improve the console’s technical capabilities, but this gimmick also failed to capture the attention of gamers. Sega proceeded to launch its 32-bit Sega Saturn in 1994 in an attempt to beat the competition to the next-generation, but was unable to recapture any kind of substantial audience in the way that the Genesis did. Meanwhile, the Super NES was going stronger than ever with huge releases throughout the mid-90s including Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy III, and Super Metroid, to name just a few. Developers were also pushing the limits of the Super NES hardware with games like Donkey Kong Country and its two sequels Diddy's Kong Quest and Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Stunt Race FX, and Super Mario RPG, challenging the technical merits of the new 32-bit Saturn and PlayStation consoles.
The 1997 SNS-101 redesign.While Nintendo launched its own next-gen console in 1996 with the Nintendo 64, the Super NES was not abandoned. Big titles continued to come out for the SNES, including Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble!, Star Ocean, Super Mario RPG, Kirby’s Dream Land 3, and Harvest Moon. A final push to move more hardware units came in the form of a sleeker-looking redesign of the SNES (called the SNS-101) that was launched in North America late in 1997 for US$99 and came with a copy of Super Mario Land 2: Yoshi’s Island. Nintendo of America finally ceased production of the console in 1999, but continued production in Japan until September 2003, well into the lifespan of another generation of consoles that included Nintendo’s GameCube, Sony’s PlayStation 2, and Microsoft’s Xbox. By the time the dust had settled the Super NES had sold 49.1 million consoles, considerably more than the rival Genesis which estimates suggest had sold approximately 35-40 million units. The Super NES remained Nintendo’s most commercially successful post-NES home console until the Nintendo Wii surpassed its mark in recent years. Its legacy, however, will remain for many years to come, as many consider it to be among the greatest game consoles ever released with its vast library of software and long list of classic titles. The system is also a testament to Nintendo’s ability to hold strong in the cutthroat video game industry, having endured an impressive push into the market by Sega and its Genesis console, leaving Nintendo as the only remaining console developer from the 16-bit era or earlier.

By the Numbers

Box art for Star Fox, featuring the "Super FX" logo.200 - cost of a Super NES at launch, in US dollars.
128 - kB of RAM contained in the Super NES.
49.1 million - SNES units sold worldwide: 23.35 million in the Americas, 17.17 million in Japan, and 8.58 million in PAL territories.
721 - number of games released for the Super NES in North America.
48 - Super NES titles to sell over a million copies worldwide.
40 - Nintendo-published SNES titles.
14 - games that received the "Player's Choice" designation in North America.
8 - games utilizing the Super FX graphics enhancement chips.
4 - M-rated Super NES games.
1 - of the above M-rated games that was not a Mortal Kombat game (it was Doom).
48.9 million - number of copies sold of the six Mario titles available on the Super NES.
1997 - the year in which the final Nintendo-published SNES title, Kirby's Dream Land 3, came out in North America.
4 - IGN's ranking for the Super NES on its 2009 list of greatest gaming consoles.
19 - SNES titles on Game Informer's 2009 list of the top 200 games of all time.
The defining game for the SNES.Ten Best-Selling Super NES games
1. Super Mario World - 20.61 million
2. Super Mario All-Stars - 10.55 million
3. Donkey Kong Country - 9.3 million
4. Super Mario Kart - 8.76 million
5. Street Fighter II - 6.3 million
6. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - 5.15 million
7. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - 4.61 million
8. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - 4.12 million
9. Street Fighter II Turbo - 4.1 million
10. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! - 3.51 million
Super Metroid: greatest game ever?Ten Highest-Rated Super NES Games (GameRankings)
1. Super Mario World - 96.50%
2. Super Metroid - 95.79%
3. Chrono Trigger - 95.10%
4. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - 95.00%
5. Super Mario Kart - 94.00%
6. Final Fantasy VI - 93.68%
7. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - 92.78%
8. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - 92.24%
9. Donkey Kong Country - 90.50%
10. Super Mario All-Stars - 90.12%

Super NES Technical Specifications CPU: 16-bit custom 65C816 running at 1.79, 2.68, or 3.58 MHzRAM: 1 MB (128 kB)Video RAM: 0.5 MB (64 kB)Cart size: 2 MB - 48 MBMax resolution: 512 x 448 pixelsColors available: 32,768Max colors on screen: 256Max sprite size: 64 x 64 pixelsMax sprites: 128Sound chip: 8-bit Sony SPC700Sound channels: 8Controller response: 16 msPower input: 120V AC, 60 Hz, 17 WattsPower output: 10V DC

Gallery

Japanese Super Famicom
North American Super NES
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PAL Super NES
Super Famicom Jr. redesign for Japan
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Super Scope light gun peripheral.
The Super NES Mouse came packaged with Mario Paint.
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Play Game Boy games on the Super NES with the Super Game Boy.
The Super Advantage gave serious players an arcade-style controller.
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Multitap peripherals allowed for up to four-player multiplayer.
The Japan-only Satellaview could download gaming news and games.

Written by: Mike Glubish

(This post was last modified: 08-24-2011 10:53 PM by GlueGun18.)

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