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Nintendo Super Famicom games

The Nintendo Super Famicom was Nintendo's second major home console with interchangeable game cartridges and software. It was first released in Japan on November 21, 1990 and was reformatted as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System for international sale. Nearly 1500 different licensed cartridges were produced for the Super Famicom. When I was in middle school I found a local game store that sold import games - usually for a decent bit cheaper than their American counterparts - and I bought many games there in middle and high school and eventually bought a Super Famicom there so that I didn't have to play the games on my dad's Super Nintendo hooked up to the living room TV. Shown here are some of the vaguely interesting Super Famicom games I have come across.

Super Famicom Cartridges

Also called "cassettes," Super Famicom cartridges were rounded, matching the style of the console. The European SNES cartridges used the same style of case while the American cartridges were reformatted to match the more angular style. If the physical lockout tabs inside a North American Super Nintendo are cut out, Super Famicom cartridges can fit and run perfectly fine in the also-NTSC systems.

The rear cartridge label and tooling on earlier cartridges has Super Famicom Cassette molded right into it. When this casing began being used for European Super Nintendo games around 1992 the back tooling changed to just have Nintendo and Made in Japan tooled it so the same plastic moldings could be used for both regions. To the right is a later revision of the rear cartridge sticker from the mid 1990s.

Super Famicom cartridges have the option of including a variety of additional hardware, and although most games use only the standard center section of the cartridge pin connector additional pins were available at either end of the connector that could be used to add extra graphical or coprocessing capabilities.

Front		Description
		Super Mario World, the pack-in game and probably my favorite game of all time
		F-Zero, the first in a series of racing games and an early use of "mode 7" psuedo-3D graphics on the Super Famicom - the other launch title alongside Super Mario World
		Bullet Proof Software's Super Tetris 2 + Bombliss
		Mario Paint, an art, animation, and music-making program that used a mouse controller
		Starfox, an early home console game with polygonal 3D graphics thanks to extra coprocessing hardware included in the cartridge
		A "Nintendo Power" flash memory cartridge - these came out relatively late in the Super Famicom's life (after the Nintendo 64!) and let users download copies of games to the internal memory for less than the regular game

Super Game Boy

The Super Game Boy was released in 1994 was allowed for the playing of Game Boy (type I and II) games on a Super Famicom or Super Nintendo. More details are covered on the Super Game Boy page.

Years ago in that import game store I saw one of these Super Mario World-themed Super Famicom cartridge holders. I think it was a little expensive but years later - I think when I was importing my Famicom Disk System - I picked up one of these nice cases with a few games still inside. When opened the cartridges can easily be flipped through with a smooth motion - its a bit like one of those K-Tel record selectors from the 70s except not horrible. I like it a lot, and keep my favorite few games in it.

There's an even bigger version of this case that can also hold the Super Famicom itself! I've seen that one with Yoshi's Island decorations. There's a Yoshi's Story Nintendo 64 cartridge case of a similar design as well.