Super Nintendo Entertainment System
- Manufacturer
- Nintendo
- Production
- 1991–1999
- Generation
- Gen 4
- Type
- Home
- Region
- JP / NA / AU
- Launch price
- $199
- Media
- Cartridge
- Units sold
- 49.1M
About Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released as the Super Famicom (SFC) in Japan on November 21, 1990, as the Super NES in North America on August 23, 1991, and internationally throughout 1992. It was Nintendo's second programmable home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). A fourth-generation console, the SNES primarily competed with the Sega Genesis in the console war, a fierce battle for market share in the United States and Europe.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Lifetime sales
Official manufacturer-reported figures.
49.1Munits
379.1Mgames
7.7games / console
Worldwide total, includes the Super Famicom.
Source: Nintendo Co., Ltd. IR — Dedicated Video Game Sales Units, as of June 30, 2026.
Library & collector facts
717licensed games
- North America: 717
Lineage
Release timeline
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- November 21, 1990
- 🇺🇸 North America
- April 11, 1992
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- April 11, 1992
- Lifespan
- 8 years on market
Pricing
Launch price (1991)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $199
- 🇯🇵 JPY
- ¥25,000
Launch titles & exclusives
Super Mario World · F-Zero · Pilotwings · SimCity · Gradius III · Sim Earth · Final Fight · Big Run · Bombuzal
Super Mario World (NA/EU launch bundle)
Super Mario World · The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past · Super Metroid · Chrono Trigger · Final Fantasy VI (III in NA) · EarthBound · Star Fox · Donkey Kong Country trilogy · Super Mario RPG · Yoshi's Island · Super Mario Kart · Secret of Mana
Frogger (1998, NA) was among the last NA releases; JP support continued briefly into 2000
Nintendo World Championships 1990 cartridge variants; EarthBound CIB with strategy guide (~$500–$2000+); Hagane (~$1000+ CIB); Stunt Race FX Competition (rare)
Hardware specs
- Cpu
- Ricoh 5A22 @ 3.58 MHz
- Gpu
- S-PPU1 and S-PPU2
- Ram
- 128 KB "work" RAM, 64 KB SRAM, 64 KB PSRAM
- Sound
- Nintendo S-SMP
- Weight
- ~1.14 kg
- Dimensions
- 200 × 68 × 242 mm
Hardware revisions
- Original SNES / Super Famicom(1990)
original launch hardware
⚠ capacitor failure and yellowing of NA plastic the dominant aging issues
- SNES Mini / SNES Jr. (SNS-101)(1997)
cost-reduced redesign, no RF output, no power LED, smaller — does not yellow
- Super Famicom Jr. (SHVC-101)(1998)
JP equivalent of the SNES Jr.
Launch colorways & special editions
- Campus Challenge 1992 and Powerfest '94 cartridges (handful of known copies); Nintendo Power-only mail-order titles
Modding scene
- Difficulty
- soft-mod
- Custom firmware
- N/A (ROM-based); flashcarts: SD2SNES / FXPak Pro (gold standard)
Reception & legacy
Strong launch despite Genesis having a 2-year head start in NA; praised for graphics and audio (Sony-designed SPC700 sound chip)
Sony-Nintendo CD-ROM partnership (the 'Nintendo PlayStation') collapsed publicly in 1991, directly leading Sony to build the PlayStation; Donkey Kong Country marketing aggressively positioned vs Genesis
16-bit-era victor in most territories; defined the JRPG era with Square/Enix's golden age library; the most-emulated console in history and the gold standard for retro game preservation
References
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