Best SNES Platform Games, Ranked

Of all the classic consoles from the 8-bit and 16-bit generations, the SNES is the one that holds up the best. Its catalog of games is astounding across all genres. One of the biggest games on the system has to be The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

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The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is visually impressive, and it could stand next to modern pixel indie games and not look a day out of date. That’s a great example of an action-adventure game from the SNES library, but today, let’s instead focus on the platformer. It’s the genre that made Nintendo what it is today, and the SNES had no shortage of good platformers, so let’s hop to it.

8 DoReMi Fantasy

DoReMi Fantasy was only released in Japan, but there is an English fan patch for it. Even without the patch, it is easy to pick up and play because the story bits are few and far between. Players take on the role of a young child who has a magical pipe that can blow bubbles. Players can trap monsters in bubbles to avoid danger or hop on top of most enemies to vanquish their evil energy for good. It’s a cute, whimsical little SNES platformer with animations that rival that of Nintendo’s internally developed titles.

7 Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shogun Magginesu

Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shogun Magginesu, or roughly translated to Let's Go! Goemon 2: Very Strange General McGuiness is the sequel to The Legend of the Mystical Ninja. That latter game is the only one the West ever got on the SNES, and there were many. Players can take on the role of three characters, and each hero has special abilities.

It’s a shame more Goemon games haven’t crossed the pond because this game is peak Konami. It looks good, plays good, the music is upbeat, and the wackiness makes it stick out. Yes, there is also a fan translation.

6 The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse

The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse is a mouthful of a title, but the series is often shorted to Magical Quest. There were three games on the SNES, although the final one didn’t leave Japan until it got a Game Boy Advance port.

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They all play the same, with Mickey as the star being backed up by a rotating cast of friends, including Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. Mickey can pick up objects and hurl them at enemies, but the big hook revolves around costume changes. These costumes will give Mickey astounding abilities like the Firefighter’s hose. All three games are worth playing as classic SNES platformers, but the original is a good place to start.

5 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest, for starters, has one of the best title screens in the series. It lets players know right away that this is going to be a pirate-based adventure from the music to the art. In this one, Diddy has to find his pal Donkey Kong with the help of his cousin Dixie. Dixie added a new edge to the formula by allowing players to glide around via her hair.

It’s a lot like the floating mechanic Peach used in Super Mario Bros. 2. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest was better in every way than its predecessor because it did everything better mechanically and added enough to make it feel like a true new experience.

4 Kirby Super Star

Kirby Super Star was a collection of mini Kirby adventures, kind of like the collection that was Super Mario All-Stars. While there were some remakes of older Kirby titles, most of the games in this collection were originals. One standout game was called The Great Cave Offensive, which was kind of like a Metroidvania. Kirby didn’t get permanent powers he could use to unlock new areas like Samus in Super Metroid, but he did get classic copy abilities.

Kirby did, however, traverse a sprawling, interconnected map laced with treasure. Of all the Kirby games on SNES, this is probably the one that gets remembered the most.

3 Super Metroid

Speaking of Super Metroid, this is an all-time classic on SNES that still holds up. The original game had a good idea of what formula this series would follow, but Super Metroid perfected it. The pixel art is spot on, the platforming is solid, along with the blasting, and it was kind of spooky, too.

All of these things and more helped create the modern Metroidvania that indie developers are going wild for, along with the help of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Super Metroid may be more action-oriented, but it still deserves a place on this list as one of the system’s best platformers.

2 Mega Man X

The Mega Man games leading up to Mega Man X were starting to feel stale. Capcom seemingly knew this, which is probably why they decided to rethink the wheel for a new generation. X, this version of Mega Man, still fought colorful bosses and collected their powers, but there was more to it. There were secrets hidden in levels from heart containers that could increase health to special armor parts like the boots that let X dash.

The idea of allowing players to go back into levels was huge on its own. It was a mega-hit then, and it is a mega-hit now.

1 Super Mario World

It is seemingly impossible to have a better 2D Mario experience on any system than Super Mario World. Like with the Mega Man X example, Nintendo decided to improve on the formula they created for the past several games. The world map returned from the third game, but players could replay stages.

There were new power-ups like the Feather that gave Mario a cape, and players could also hold one power-up as a backup in a level. Yoshi gave Mario his first true mount in the series, and the list of improvements goes on. The music is great, it looks wonderful, and it is infinitely replayable thanks to the inventive level design.

MORE: Every Final Fantasy (& Other RPGs) Squaresoft Released On The SNES