Underrated Super Nintendo Games

What if you’re tired of the same old games on the Super Nintendo and are looking for something new?

In today’s review, we’ll be covering some of the more underrated Super Nintendo games?

Dare I call them Hidden Gems?

There are ten games in total and this isn’t a top 10 so they’ll be in no particular order. We'll be covering the most underrated SNES games from multiple genres like Sports, Platformers, Racing, Fighting, RPGs. Heck, even a shmup is on here.

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Saturday Night Slam Masters

At number ten is Saturday Night Slam Masters. This wrestling game is an arcade port by Capcom. You can tell that these characters look a lot like the players in Final Fight.

Haggar himself is one of the playable characters for crying out loud. You can do special moves by using some of the street fighter combinations in the ring. This is one of the games you can have a multitap and play up to four players with and that’s a blast if you’re looking for a good coop wrestling game on the SNES.

Phalanx

Number 9 we have Phalanx. This is the Shmup that always gets dismissed from having the old guy with the freaking banjo on the cover. If you just saw this cover, what else could you have expected? An old guy racing on his banjo while the notes can hit the other racers like some of Mario Kart ripoff?

Under the hood, Phalanx is a decent shooter. It’s approachable since you can take three hits before dying and you can actually replenish your health! So if you’re looking for a good Shmup that's not insanely hard I would suggest checking out Phalanx.

The Adventures of Batman and Robin

Number 8, The Adventures of Batman and Robin. Now this is how you take a legendary cartoon series and give it the 16 bit treatment. Everything you would expect is here. You have an arsenal of weapons you can choose from. Batman can climb upwards using the grappling hook.

They've even brought back the wall jump like in the Batman on the NES and that was great to see. The animations are fantastic and they’ve totally stood the test of time. The only real problem with The Adventures of Batman and Robin is finding a copy.

Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

Number 7, Lufia 2. Notice how every conversation about the best RPGs on the SNES always starts with either Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 3? Yeah Lufia two is a prequel to part one of the series.

The dungeons in Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals turn you from a traditional turn based RPG into an action puzzle game. Lufia 2 has a killer story, great soundtrack and tons of side quests you can go out and seek out. Some may argue that Lufia 2 is a better game than other popular Role Playing Games like Earthbound or Secret of Mana.

Actraiser

Number 6 is Actraiser? Really? Isn’t Actraiser in the top 20 of IGNs top 100 Super Nintendo games of all time? Well yeah of course it is. But if you consider the amount of people who actually will say Actraiser when platforming games are mentioned it’s mind blowing how low Actraiser is on the list?

I just don’t get it. It’s a fantastic blend of simulation and platforming. Think about it as if you threw SimCity and Castlevania into a blender and let it rip. Actraiser also has a great boss rush at the end of the game.    

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Number 5 is Zombies Ate My Neighbors. I love blasting away in 8 directions running around mindlessly looking for keys to open doors while rescuing cheerleaders, babies or some dude barbecuing.

Yeah I’ll take mine medium rare please. There’s 55 stages in total and the game does get progressively harder as you make your way saving each of the neighbors. What you see is what you get with Zombies Ate My Neighbors and it makes for a great co-op experience as well.

Gundam Wing: Endless Duel

At Number four we have Gundam Wing: Endless Duel. Could This be the best fighting game on Super Nintendo? It’s got everything, a killer soundtrack. Some great opening cutscenes and a fantastic use of the Gundam Wing License.

The game looks fantastic, there’s a ton of things happening on the screen. You can string combos together or dash to unleash a super move on your friend in a versus mode.

Top Gear 2

Making our way at number three is Top Gear 2. When it comes to racing games on the Super Nintendo, F-Zero and Super Mario Kart are always the ones that come to mind. If you scratch the surface a little, Top Gear 2 flies in and hits you in the face.

You get to race for money and get to spend to upgrade your car. You can choose from tires, a gearbox and numerous engine upgrades.

Looney Tunes B-Ball

Number two is Looney Tunes Basketball or B-Ball or whatever the cool kids are calling it nowadays. And yes, it’s a basketball game on the Super Nintendo. You get to choose your roster of Looney Tunes characters, each having their own sets of stats.

This game is essentially a clone of NBA Jam with the Looney Tunes license stamped all over it. Looney Tunes basketball is also a fun multiplayer experience with up to four players so it surprises me that more people don’t mention this game as one of the best basketball games on the Super Nintendo.

SkyBlazer

Not like this is by any means a top ten list but the moment you’ve all been waiting for at number one is SkyBlazer and the first thing I think about is why? What happened here? How did I miss this in 1994. Was I just too busy playing other platformers wasting my time like Bubsy? What could possibly go wrong?

Skyblazer makes use of the abilities very well and is a ton of fun. The music has an orchestra vibe to it and I really liked that. The only real downfalls to SkyBlazer is that it’s a bit easy and only having 17 levels makes it a bit short and you can complete it in a couple of hours or so.