SNES - Great game system or Greatest game system?

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is 20 years old today.  I'm an old fucking man.  Jesus Christ.  20 years ago the SNES came out, when I was 10 going on 11 and now I'm... 20 going on 21.  Crazy.  Here now are my favourite SNES games EVAR.

9.  Mega Man X

BEW!  BEW!

Mega Man 2 for the NES is one of my favourite games of all time but there's no denying how beautiful the Blue Bomber looks in glorious 16-bit.  There's a reason why the newest Mega Man game has been made in a 'retro' 16-bit style.

8. TMNT:  Turtles in Time

Turtle Power!

Side scrolling fighting games are nothing new, even back in 1992 when this game came out for the SNES.  A year earlier it showed up in arcades (remember those?) and I played the shit out of it.  Right now I'd like to thank my mom and dad for giving me my allowance in quarters.  I was a huge Turtles fan as a kid and I remember being amazed at having an arcade game in my own fucking house on my own fucking TV.  I probably didn't use the world 'fuck' so much when I was a kid though.  FUCKING NINJA TURTLES!  This remains the greatest TMNT game of all time.  If you argue I'll shove a sai up your butthole.

7.  F-Zero

That speedy yellow and blue piece of shit.

The best racing game on the SNES and one of the best and most fun racing games of all time.  Never before on a home gaming system had anyone experienced something so fast and furious

and not since have I ever had as much fun playing a racing game.

6.  Final Fantasy III

Lord of the Rings would have been so much better with Mechs.

Final Fantasy on the NES was an RPG revelation to me but the added graphical firepower and the usual compelling (if not convoluted) story on the SNES was something else entirely.  Final Fantasy III took everything part II on the SNES had and made it even better.  Remember save points in games?  There were many times playing this game when I wasn't near a save point and had to stop playing, so I simply paused the game and turned off the TV.  Sometimes I wouldn't be able to come back to play for an entire day.  Marathon World of Warcraft sessions doesn't make you a hardcore gamer.  Pausing your game and going outside to ride a bike or play street hockey for 5 hours and then coming back to resume your game, that makes you a hardcore gamer.

5.  Street Fighter II:  Turbo

Hadouken and shit.  Word.

Street Fighter II (the original) coming to the SNES was a life changing moment.  The game was never available at the local video store, for obvious reasons, but I had finally got it on reserve.  When the call came that the game was in the store and I could pick it up I dropped everything and ran my little ass up the hill to Champlain Video and finally got to have my day with it.  So why is Turbo on this list instead of the OG?  New characters and playable bosses.  'Nuff said.

4.  NHL '94

"I'm the Kings!"  "Awwww, shit."

NHL '94 added the NHL license (NHLPA '93, the predecessor, only had a license to use player names, no team names were in the game), added one-timers, shots breaking the glass behind the net, team-specific organ songs and the shootout as a game mode.  The controls were so good you can still choose to use NHL '94 controls as an option in today's EA hockey games.  This game was the fucking tits.  I don't know how many hours I spent in Chris Narduzzi's basement, trash talking the fuck out of each other and literally standing and cheering every time one of us scored a goal on the other.

3.  The Legend of Zelda:  A Link to the Past

Oh shit!  Bunnies!

This is the greatest Zelda game ever.  Fuck all you Gamecube fanboys and your Ocarina of Time or whatever the crap.  The graphics were simple and beautiful.  The game play was simple yet exhilarating.  And the story, with the parallel dark world, was compelling as shit.  I was never a huge Zelda fan, and I'm still not, but this is one of the most iconic console games ever created.  And most importantly, one of the most fun.

2.  Super Mario World

I wish I was half as athletic as a fat, Italian plumber.

Super Mario Bros. on the NES is undoubtedly one of the greatest video games of all time.

"Of all time!"

But Super Mario World changed gaming forever.
Super Mario World came packaged with the SNES and upon first popping it in you were amazed at the bright, wonderful colours.  The original game was on an 8-bit system and was limited in its graphical capabilities, with only a few muted colours.  When Super Mario World came out with it's vast colour scheme and bright, beautiful graphics it caused everyone who first experienced it to almost have a heart attack (*citation need).  This was the future of gaming.  This was a child's imagination come to life, on a TV screen.  The best part about this game is you can still go back today, 20 years later, and lose hours playing and playing.  Try it drunk!  Everything's better when you're drunk!

1.  Chrono Trigger

The pinnacle of RPGs.

13 unique endings.  Depending on choices you made during your game and when you complete the final battle, you would receive 1 of 13 unique game endings.  This blew my 15-year old mind.  I think I only saw 3 or 4 of the 13 endings but that didn't matter.  Getting there mattered.  Chrono Trigger's main story device was time travel and you visited 7 different eras of the game world's history, acquiring allies and completing quests in all of them.  The battle sequences were fun and exciting and the leveling up, a staple in RPG gameplay, seemed important and not just a gimmicky device.  Best of all, after you beat the game you could play through again, as your full-powered leveled up characters, to try and achieve the other endings.  Chrono Trigger took up so much of my time it's probably one of the main reasons I didn't lose my virginity sooner than I did.  Who needed girls when you had a Super Nintendo anyway?

Yeah, video games are much better.