SNES - The World's Greatest Console Remembered

For many, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (or SNES to most of us) was, and remains, the best console ever released - the successor to the NES and direct combatant of the 16-bit wonder, the Megadrive. Launched in Japan on 21 November 1990 (it hit the US in September 1991 and in Europe in April 1992) along with the highly anticipated Super Mario World and F-zero another classic in the making. In Japan alone, demand for the new console rose to near fever pitch so much so that Nintendo have to deliver the shipment of consoles at night for fear that the rumours that Yakuza gangs might hijack the lorries to sell the consoles on the black market would prove true.

Thought the SNES was by anyone's standards incredibly successful, it was nowhere near as popular as the NES which sold upwards of 50 million units in the U.S. alone.  The reason for this was two fold: on one hand the success of the NES meant that gamers were reluctant to give up their or console for the SNES as it was not backwards compatible with NES games. This along with some pretty stiff competition from the mega drive ensured that sales, whilst good, were unimpressive when compared to those of its predecessor.  Nevertheless, the SNES is an enduring favourite due to the sheer vareity and quantity of games avaliable. Whatever your gaming prediliections you could be sure that that nintendos gaminf delight had it covered. The list is endless, but it's hard not to go all moist-eyed at the fond memopries of such games as Secretof Mana, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Contra 3, R-Type 3, Darius Twin, StarFox, Pilot Wings, Super Bomberman, Super Castlevania, Zelda and countless others. What's more all of the above and the hundreds we have omitted are every bit as playable today as they were then.

The design of the console (certainly the Japanese and European models) is elegant and the joypad is still functional, if a little basic when compared with the sleeker Megadrive pad. But of all the retreo videogames systems, this is the one that any self respecting gamer simply has to have.

It could have been so different...

In a peculiar twist of fate, it was Nintendo that was pertly responsible for bringing Sony into the world of videogames. From 1988 onwards, Nintendo courted the skills of Sony regarding a disc-based add-on for the SNES. Over the years, Nintendo flitted from Sony to Phillips and back againuntil deciding to dispense wiuth the idea altogether, due possibly to concerns regarding privacy and the dismal performance of the Mega CD.

Thanks to this dalliance, Sony, clearly not wishing to waste thew time and resources spent developing the add-on, went on to develop something called the PlayStation. At a time when Nintendo has something like a 70 per cent share of the video games market, some wondered whether Sony could challenge the combined might of Nintendo and Sega. Little did they know...