There have been so many good SNES games released over the years that this isn't going to be an easy list to concoct. The list could conceivably stretch on for a long, long time, and become debatable in no time.

But for the purposes of this list I'm just going to pick ten games, ten awesome games that I loved to bits from my SNES days, and hope I don't regret my choices tomorrow. Enjoy. (No particular order here. I can't place one over the other.)

1.) Final Fantasy III. III, VI, whatever you want to call it, this is an awesome game. It has a great battle system, a robust party to play with, great graphics and an awesome story. But, then, any story that includes a lunatic nut like Kefka is invariably going to be good, n'est pas?

2.) Earthbound. What a bizarre little game this is. You're saving the world with four kids: a baseball player, a girl in a pretty pink dress, an insular technology geek and the prince of a foreign land. You use yo yos and bottler rockets and teddy bears in combat. Even more astonishing, however, is that this tongue-in-cheek tale of alien invasion actually works.

3.) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Were it not for everything else fun in this game, I wouldn't like it because of Mario's crying. I HATE that crying. But there's so much other fantastic stuff - transforming Yoshis, super sized enemies, touch fuzzy get dizzy - that I'll tolerate it, just for the sake of fun.

4.) Super Mario RPG. Mario and an RPG? Inconceivable! It's true, though, and this game has spawned plenty of follow-ups with a similar aim. None have ever quite matched up to Mario's adventure against the forces of Smithy, however, and I don't know that anybody will ever surmount this Square classic.

5.) Mega Man X. The other Mega Man X games are great but they never quite manage to supplant the first game. It has the best arrangement of bosses and amazing new game play that shoots it above the original series in some neat new ways while still remaining true to Mega Man. Well worth the time to beat.

6.) Secret of Mana. Three youths take off on an enormous quest to save the world, yadda yadda yadda. Not exciting, right? Wrong. This action-RPG has yet to be topped by any other Mana title. The bosses are great, the weapons fun to play with and the magic system truly cool.

7.) Super Mario All-Stars. It has the original four Mario games with updated graphics. And, depending on your version, includes Super Mario World. Need I say more? Didn't think so.

8.) Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It was this game that really ushered me into the world of Link. There's such a nice blend of adventure and puzzling that this game is almost hopelessly addictive. I can play it over and over.

9.) Chrono Trigger. You're saving the world from a giant parasite by travelling back and forth through time! Fantastic! Chrono Trigger is made even better, though, via its awesome in-game sprites, super-cool cast of characters and awesome Akira Toriyama artwork.

10.) Super Metroid. Kraid, Ridley and the Mother Brain are back, and they've brought a whole slew of new friends along for the ride to make Samus Aran's life miserable. Will she take it sitting down? Not likely. This epic space opera reminded me a bit of the movie Aliens, though with one caveat: Samus can actually kick the aliens' butts.

Learn more about this author, Matt Bird.
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