15: Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Nintendo got a huge system selling hit when they got the exclusive console port of Street Fighter 2 for the Super Nintendo, but Capcom being who they are, couldn’t resist finding the loophole which meant that the Championship Edition could release for the Sega Mega Drive. This gave Sega players the full roster of characters including the bosses to play as, so it was only so long before another edition would find it’s way to the 16-bit Nintendo powerhouse.
This version not only gave us the full list of characters to play as, but also gave us the super quick gameplay of turbo mode which itself was based on a hacked version of the Rainbow edition which had been illegally seen in arcades across the world.
14: Super Mario RPG
Proving that Mario can work in any genre, this was the last Nintendo collaboration with Final Fantasy creators Squaresoft for many years. The game has you going on a big adventure as many and creating parties in true RPG style to take on classic Mario baddies in turn based combat which still felt very Mario. It’s isometric gameplay also gave us some early 3D platforming before Super Mario 64. A little mor eforgiving them other RPGs of the era, this is still a large adventure to get your teeth into and can be enjoyed by veteran RPG fans and new fans who just turned up for the Mario fun.
13: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Long after the original game caused huge waves in the media with it’s realistic graphics and graphic violence, the Mortal Kombat series received it’s fullest featured and best received game in the series for years to come with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. More characters, extra modes and all kinds of ridiculous special moves including babalities where you turn your opponent into a baby, friendships where you spare them and the famous fatalities where you kill the competition in the goriest ways yet.
12: Tetris and Dr Mario
Tetris is one of the greatest and most enduring games that has ever been created. A simple, but addictive puzzler where you have to fill a well with blocks so that they fit in as snuggly as possible to create complete lines without gaps. It doesn’t sound as if it would be one of the biggest sellers ever does it? But it was the game which did so much for Nintendo, specially with the portable Game Boy version.
But having already sold bucket loads on both the handheld and the NES, Nintendo took the Super Nintendo version and packaged it with Dr Mario, another of their big falling block based puzzle games. Dr Mario isn’t quite as addictive or universally loved as Tetris, but it’s still a great game for puzzle fans. This package also allows players to take on a challenge that integrates the two puzzle games into one mode.
11: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
After Yoshi made such a star making debut in Super Mario World, it was hardly a surprise that he would take a bigger role in the follow up, but few expected that Mario would then take a backseat to some degree as this game only gives you Baby Mario.
You still of course get fantastic Super Mario gameplay and level design, and the beautiful storybook like graphics. The levels are big and varies and provide a real challenge to collect all of the secrets hidden within.
