Super Nintendo

With the PC Engine and Mega Drive, two 16-bit consoles that outclassed the Famicom, on the market, Hiroshi Yamauchi revealed in September 1987 that Nintendo was working on the Super Famicom. It was designed by Masayuki Uemura, creator of the Famicom. Ricoh supplied the CPU, derived from a Western Design Center chip, and Sony's Ken Kutaragi designed the sound chip. A lack of software for outside studios and a global chip shortage pushed the launch back to autumn 1990.

The Super Famicom launched in Japan on November 21, 1990, at ¥25,000, with Super Mario World and F-Zero. The first shipment sold out within hours, and consoles were delivered at night to avoid theft. It reached North America on August 23, 1991, as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, with its own case design and a US$199 price, and the UK and Ireland in April 1992. Nintendo kept key publishers such as Capcom, Konami, Square and Enix.

Its main rival was the Genesis, in a console war shaped by Sega's aggressive advertising. Nintendo secured the first home conversion of Street Fighter II and relaxed its licensing rules; its version of Mortal Kombat, however, was censored. It received over 1,700 games, such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid and Final Fantasy VI, and Donkey Kong Country kept it relevant in 1994 against 32-bit consoles. Its cartridges could carry enhancement chips such as the Super FX.

The Nintendo 64 succeeded it in 1996. In 1997 a smaller, cheaper model arrived in North America, followed in 1998 by its Japanese counterpart, the Super Famicom Jr. Production ended in North America in 1999 and in Japan on September 25, 2003. It was the best-selling home console of its generation and is now ranked among the greatest ever. Its games have returned via Virtual Console, Nintendo Classics and the SNES Classic Edition.