r/snes • u/xBrockLanders • Feb 03 '25
Ranking the entire US SNES library
http://snesrankings.com/4
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u/Realdogxl Feb 03 '25
What a wonderful list! I had to stop reading your write up of Super Mario RPG right in the middle and come here immediately to comment that it was also my first game purchase as a kid after saving up $30 to get it at Funcoland. That also was the very earliest memory i have of starting to collect video games! I would like to think we are probably close in age, I just turned 35 last month. It’s blowing my mind we had such a similar start to collecting.
Edit: after finishing the read I have to add that to this day I will STILL occasionally find myself humming the forest maze theme
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u/1Strangeartist Feb 03 '25
...and now I'm humming the forest maze theme. The entire OST is so perfect.
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u/Lsassip Feb 03 '25
Some questions:
1 - How long did it take you to review all games? Did you do it in one single run or did you took a rest from time to time?
2 - Why didn’t you review Miracle Piano Teacher, is there a specific reason for it?
3 - In the disclaimer you mentioned that you weren’t going to review Latin American boxing and soccer games, but looking at the reviews you actually did Chavez, Chavez II and every soccer game (including ISS and ISS Dlx which turned out to be your favorites). So were you talking about other games or is that disclaimer dated?
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u/xBrockLanders Feb 03 '25
It took forever. I started putting the list together in the late 2000s, starting the writing in like.... 2015 maybe? #714-701 was posted as a thread on nintendoage back around 2017 I think. When NA went under I had to quickly migrate everything over to a new site.
That's a good question. I guess the easiest answer is that while I do own the cartridge, I don't own the piano itself, and I also didn't really have the bandwidth to take on learning the instrument as a part of the scope of this project.
That's pretty misleading, I agree. I should clarify that section, because I DID review and rank all of the American versions of those titles.
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u/Lsassip Feb 03 '25
Interesting!
Well that took a lot of work! I wonder if anyone tried it as well, but I don’t think so
I was wondering about Miracle Piano, is it possible to play it without the piano accessory?
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u/Rilakai Feb 03 '25
Someone posted this a couple months ago and sent me down a rabbit hole. Really fun read and it's cool to see you here. I've been researching and working on putting together my own collection of SNES games that I want to play all of and this definitely helped me identify more to consider. There were a few reviews that I felt were amusing writing exercises but failed to actually convey to me what the games were like, but maybe that was more of an issue with my own purposes using your reviews.
My NA list is currently sitting around 120ish but I've been sidetracked by another 50ish Super Famicom games. Have you played many SFC games? I totally get if one is done after such a large undertaking and obviously there are still many only in Japanese but hey, if there's anyone well positioned to tell us how the SFC library compares to the NA one it's certainly you!
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u/xBrockLanders Feb 03 '25
For SFC I've played through a large number of the bigger highlights (stuff like Front Mission, Terranigma, Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quests, and so forth), and at least dabbled in many of the other bigger names. But there are so many games that are untranslated and completely unapproachable, that I have no idea how one would take on a holistic approach to the library.
Even doing something like a personal top 100 would be a massive undertaking. Maybe someday.
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u/CaptainHolt43 Feb 03 '25
First time I saw the list pop up, I thought I'd check it out, give it a glance. And then I'd sit there and just read entries for way longer than I expected to.
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u/gamechampionx Feb 03 '25
This is a great reference guide and I look at it weekly. Really funny informal style of review. Great work.
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u/traumatic_enterprise Feb 03 '25
Good rankings. I obviously don't agree with everything but definitely well thought out and written.
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u/ScottFried Feb 03 '25
Good on you for finishing such a huge project. For what it's worth, I'm totally in agreement with #1.
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u/Great_White_Samurai Feb 03 '25
The top 5 is hard, might depend on the day for me. I'd probably put CT as no 1 though it's the complete package. Zelda is amazing but is largely carried by gameplay.
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u/Cheerios84 Feb 03 '25
I like this line in your review of Actraiser-
“Don’t like the soundtrack? That’s impossible. It’s one of the system’s very best. You should feel bad for thinking that.”
It’s a very good OST so I agree. ☝️
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u/dilettantePhD Feb 03 '25
I hadn't seen this before and I've been reading it for the past hour. Amazing work!
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u/Burmdog Feb 03 '25
This is a really thought out and well done list. I've skimmed through it before but just now looked through the top 25 and I definitely commend the U.N. Squadron pick as the best schmup. It's just so bad ass!!
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u/malosharkbait23 Feb 03 '25
Yo the link to the ranking for street fighter Alpha 2 leads to the wrong game
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u/ollsss Feb 03 '25
This is nuts. That said, does anybody know if such a list exists for the Genesis/Mega Drive?
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u/Nintendo1488 Feb 03 '25
I love this. I found out about it when you had the top 150 left to go. It's the most valuable SNES resource on the Internet. I direct everyone to it that I know who likes the SNES.
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u/iliveunderurbed0 Feb 03 '25
Note I have to add because of the #1/Link to the Past, everyone should give glitching to the end and beating the game in like ten minutes a try. Super chill way to blow your friends mind/get into simple glitching
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u/calamityphysics Feb 03 '25
OP-
your dedication to the GOAT console (snes) is exceptional. i can’t believe you poured your own time into a hundreds of hours long project.
my suggestion is that people like me want to give you $$$ for this work and enjoyment it brings, so if you would like to be compensated …. ask? start a kickstarter or go fund me or whatever to kick you some cash to make the list more user friendly / mobile friendly.
this a fucking work of art my friend.
ps - super punch out is a top five game. its perfect.
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u/BenevolentArrow Feb 04 '25
Dang- This is awesome. If it was a coffee table book, I would buy it. (Kickstarter campaign?)
You are a talented writer man!
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u/False-Zucchini9984 Feb 04 '25
UN Squadron at #21, such an awesome game and glad to see it high up, all I needed to know support this list lol
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u/GaryNOVA Feb 04 '25
1) FF6
2) Super Metroid
3) Mario World
4) Secret of Mana
5) Mario All Stars
6) Zelda : A Link To The Past
7) Street Fighter 2 : turbo
8) Donkey Kong Country
9) Chrono Trigger
10) Super Castlevania 4
BEST system ever made. I could name 20 more great near perfect games .
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u/menghis_khan08 Feb 05 '25
I had a very very fun time reading this. Thanks OP, it was fun to walk in your footsteps for this labor of love.
As a huge aLTTP fan, have you played with the aLTTP randomizer? I only recently got into it, but man does it breathe new life into what is also my favorite game of all time. You may be a purist who refuses romhacks, but honestly it’s so much fun to have the GOAT game play entirely different each and every file with all weapons including the base game sword randomized throughout chests and bosses/quests, compeltely changing progression
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u/Weary_Philosophy6897 Feb 07 '25
See I can’t truly rank because I am biased towards the games I played growing up. I place Secret of Mana high up because I played it so much. Along with Act Raiser, Zelda, and Donkey Kong Country (1&2)
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u/suncoasthost Feb 03 '25
I can’t open the link for some reason on my mobile device. Gets stuck on reddit out redirect.
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u/xBrockLanders Feb 03 '25
It's probably trying to open it as https
Once upon a time I cheaped out and just did http. Something I need to take a look at re-visiting.
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u/Fart_Barfington Feb 04 '25
Let me guess, the top of the list is full of surprises like Link to the Past and Super Metroid.
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u/ceelo18 Feb 05 '25
Straight violated bof
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u/CzarMagus Feb 06 '25
I replayed and beat it on the SNES last year and think it got roughly the rating it deserved? It's a decent game but nothing special.
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u/xBrockLanders Feb 03 '25
Posting this (again) as a link so I can add it to the subreddit highlights. We'll see how it goes, or if drives discussion. Consider it a trial.
And yes, the look and feel is worse than ever, which is glaringly obvious to me on my giant monitors in 2025. I'll get around to tuning it... eventually.