Super Nintendo Entertainment System console: specs, models and games

Overview

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES or SNES) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released as the Super Famicom (SFC) in Japan on November 21, 1990, as the Super NES in North America on August 23, 1991, and internationally throughout 1992. It was Nintendo's second programmable home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). A fourth-generation console, the SNES primarily competed with the Sega Genesis in the console war, a fierce battle for market share in the United States and Europe.

Masayuki Uemura, a Nintendo engineer, designed the 16-bit SNES in response to the introduction of the Genesis and NEC's TurboGrafx-16. The SNES had advanced graphical and sound capabilities compared to its competitors, with features such as Mode 7 to simulate 3D perspective and eight-channel ADPCM audio. Its CPU was designed to accommodate ongoing technological innovations by allowing it to interface with enhancement chips, such as Super FX, integrated into game cartridges. Its controller built on the NES's with additional face buttons and two shoulder buttons. Nintendo released many accessories, including the Super Game Boy adapter to play Game Boy games and the Japan-exclusive Satellaview modem peripheral.

Nintendo released the SNES with Super Mario World (1990) as a pack-in game. It introduced the SNES relatively late in the fourth generation amidst intense competition with Sega, which positioned the Genesis as the preferable console for adolescents through aggressive youth marketing. Nonetheless, the SNES quickly became a success, helped by Nintendo's retention of key third-party developers such as Capcom, Enix, Konami, and Square. Over 1,700 SNES games were released, and Nintendo loosened its previously strict licensing requirements to better compete with Sega. The release of Donkey Kong Country (1994) helped maintain the SNES's popularity into the 32-bit era. Nintendo sold 49.1 million SNESs, making it the best selling fourth-generation home console.

Specifications

Manufacturer: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo R&D2
Type: Home video game console
Generation: Fourth
Discontinued: EU 1998; NA 1999; BR 2003; KOR April 1, 2003; JP September 25, 2003
Units sold: Worldwide: 49.10 million; North America: 23.35 million; Japan: 17.17 million; Other: 8.58 million
Media: Super NES Game Pak
Processor: Ricoh 5A22 @ 3.58 MHz
Graphics: S-PPU1 and S-PPU2
Memory: 128 KB "work" RAM, 64 KB SRAM, 64 KB PSRAM
Video output: 256 × 224, 512 × 224, 512 × 448
Sound: Nintendo S-SMP
Online service: JP Satellaview; JP/NA XBAND; GB BT Interactive TV (Trial)
Predecessor: Nintendo Entertainment System
Successor: Nintendo 64

Models

Super Nintendo (original European version)
Super Famicom Jr. (Model SHVC-101)
Super Famicom (SHVC-001)
New-Style Super NES (Model SNS-101)
Super Nintendo (original North American version)

Model names as listed by IGDB.

Games

27 Super Nintendo Entertainment System games are written up here, with trophies, patches and what still works online.

See the Super Nintendo Entertainment System games

More from Nintendo

Sources

Wikipedia overview and specifications
IGDB model names
SNES-Mod1-Console-Set.png
Nintendo Super System controller.jpg Rina K CC BY 2.0
Super-Nintendo-1Chip-Motherboard-Top-Flat.jpg Evan-Amos Public domain

The overview is adapted from Wikipedia and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.

Checked October 2026.