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Episode 398: The Super NES launch (Patreon)

Published:
2021-08-16 12:00:06
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

We try to cover the full span of video game history as much as we can on this show, but we're not ashamed to admit that sometimes we play favorites. And so, an episode on the Super NES's early days, tied to the system's 30th anniversary. Have we talked about the NES before? Yes. Will we talk about it again? Hell yes. And it'll rule, just like it does here.

Bob, Kohler, and Stephan of The Art of Nintendo Power convene this episode to revisit the debut of the Super NES and the good (and bad!) of its early days. Exploratory Mario adventures and groundbreaking RPGs and symphonic soundtracks! As well as trite licensed games and weird graphical experimentation and horrible slowdown! Truly, the Super NES contained multitudes. Please enjoy as we touch upon as many of them as we can.

Art (including a rare Paul Rudd cameo) by Greg Melo; edits by Greg Leahy. Music selections:

05:26 - Super Mario World: Overworld (Yoshi percussion)

18:39 - Street Fighter II: Blanka's Ending

27:24 - Gradius III: Departure for Space

36:34 - Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball: Title Theme

46:06 - Pilotwings: Light Plane

56:35 - Drakkhen: Earth Area (Night)

1:08:34 - ActRaiser: Opening

1:19:06 - ActRaiser: Sacrifices / Final Fantasy II/IV: Within the Giant

1:31:13 - SimCity: Megalopolis

Closing - F-Zero: Results/Ending

On a personal note, I've kinda gone overboard on Super NES launch stuff this past week, to honest. In addition to last week's video retrospective (which I wrote with the mindset of treating as a companion piece to this episode), I've also published the first volume of the Super NES Works book series, along with a nearly-sold-out collector's edition that, I'll be honest, mainly exists as an excuse to get some Bill Mudron artwork onto my books again.

Files

Comments

Michael Castleberry

First time I saw a SNES was at a Price Club also... what a weirdly specific thing to have in common with someone on this.

littleterr0r

Thank you for addressing how wrong all those "SNESS" and "SNEZZ" people are.

John Simon

RE Mapper chips, etc: From what I can tell Super FX was the first and only extender chip that got any mention in ads or on the box. Bullet points on the box only describe things like battery backup or the size of the ROM. "Mapper" is only a term that came out of NES emulation in the 90's. I'm looking at the box of Castlevania III and nope, no mention of anything other than the game - nothing like "This is a triumph of the 8 bit era." People like me that memorized things like CPU part numbers, color palette sizes, and ate up additional trivia that magazines printed for the sake of the console wars really got a deluge of info from the emulation scene. Also, since SNES nostalgia is mainstream it's now in more accessible media. Edit: Megaman X2's box mentions the C4 chip, eh. edit2: Missed out on Act Raiser, and I don't think anyone else I knew had it. I'm kinda "meh" on action sidescrollers these days but I can see how it's a completely unique and memorable experience for players of 1991.

James Krusling

I remember the first time I ever saw a Super Nintendo, I couldn’t have been more than 4 years old but I was already playing the original NES and one of my cousin’s was like “do you want to see THIS,” and I have distinct memories of Super Mario World and the colors of it all. It’s still on my Mount Rushmore of gaming consoles to this day. Also that’s wild about Jeremy playing the Super System machine at an Arby’s! I’ve only ever seen it once and it was at the Washington DC airport, I guess the key is to look in places you’d never think to find an arcade machine!

Jonathon

Finally got around to playing ActRaiser thanks to this episode and that game rules. It's incredibly intuitive and the platforming sections offer a nice challenge without being all that punishing. Can't believe it too me this long to try it.

Cajun Baz

I was a fan of Price Club as well and still remember crowds of children around their extra large TV demo unit when Batman 89 made it to VHS. And did I hear Jeremy mention BEST Product Store? That's a retailer no one talks about anymore.

Nigel G

I'm pro-"snes" or "snez", however people want to say it. It's not for me, but I'm happy that a 30 years old system is relevant enough to have its own shorthand, and it's even better than it's a unique single-syllable word. I mean, we're talking about a language where "no" and "know" are homonyms -- how did "snes" stay available for so long?

Jeffrey P

In regards to street dates, I think it's important to remember that prior to the Dreamcast launch the technology just wasn't there to reliably track the sales prior to release date.