The top 10 SNES platformers everyone should play

The Super Nintendo had its fair share of great games spanning plenty of genres, but 2D platformers especially shined in the system’s heyday. Trying to parse through all of the excellent platformers on the system is daunting, and filtering that into a top ten is even more challenging, but there are a few classics that especially stand the test of time with their creative approaches to gameplay and the progress that they imposed on the genre. Stunning art and music, crafty level design, and loads of content are present in many of the titles on this list, and several use other genres in inventive ways. Consider every game on this list a necessary adventure if you consider yourself a platformer fan.

1. Donkey Kong Country 2

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest is rightfully remembered as a classic. More than just the best platformer on the Super Nintendo, Donkey Kong Country 2 is one of greatest platformers ever made. The challenging levels are a delight to slowly conquer thanks to the tight controls and gameplay, and even if you’re having a hard time navigating a particularly tricky set of platforms, Donkey Kong Country 2’s excellent art style and soundtrack will see you through.

After Donkey Kong Country laid the foundation, Donkey Kong Country 2 built on that and solidified the series as Nintendo’s greatest platforming offering. Despite the less-solid third entry and a long hiatus afterward, Donkey Kong Country finally returned to form last decade and built on the legacy of this fantastic sequel. In the eyes of many, myself included, Donkey Kong Country 2 remains the high-point of this incredible series.

2. Super Mario World

Many fans who grew up with the SNES would place Super Mario World at the top of this list, and it’d be hard to blame them. Super Mario World epitomizes the pure joy of running and jumping through a delightful, colorful world loaded with secrets and excitement. Thanks to excellent level design, tight controls, simple and pretty retro graphics, and a catchy soundtrack, the core adventure to rescue Princess Peach is wonderful enough as it is. For players that want even more - and there have certainly been millions of such players over the years - the loads of secret exits and challenging extra levels on Star Road offer a deeper, more rewarding experience that encourages players to engage with every corner of this masterfully crafted platformer.

3. Super Metroid

While not often thought of as a traditional platformer, Super Metroid boasts enough standard elements of the genre, and its incredible quality makes it too good to leave off this list. The game is rightfully remembered as one of the hallmarks of the Metroidvania genre (it’s in the name, after all), one of the greatest games on the Super Nintendo, and one of the greatest games of all time.

While the series has never enjoyed the same pull as Mario or The Legend of Zelda, games like Super Metroid have helped solidify Metroid as one of Nintendo’s central software pillars. If only they’d treat it like one.

4. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island does not have a ton in common with its predecessor, aside from the Super Mario World name and, more importantly, incredible quality and joyous design. It’s a unique follow-up that stands as the best of Yoshi’s many platforming adventures.

The lovely art style sticks out in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, but so does the sheer amount of care put into the game. Loads of content and secrets lurk within every inch of Yoshi’s Island, demonstrating the immense enthusiasm that the developers held for the game.

5. Mega Man X

Mega Man X launched the beloved Mega Man spinoff series of the same name with great success. Showcasing the same eye-popping retro graphics, excellent soundtrack, and tight, challenging, power-up-based gameplay that made fans swoon for the original series, Mega Man X pulls out all of the stops to create a top-of-the-line action platformer.

6. Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country set a very high bar when it kicked off Rare’s legendary relationship with Nintendo. The game completely redefined the personality of Donkey Kong, whose previous claim to fame was being an angry, stompy clump of pixels in Donkey Kong, with a lovable and silly family of Kongs.

Brimming with this new personality, Donkey Kong Country takes players on an incredible adventure with all of the hallmarks of a great 2D platformer: tight controls, wonderful music, fair difficulty, and beautifully stylish graphics and environments. The biggest downside, the underwhelming boss battles, only barely dampen the experience.

7. Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts

With equally massive helpings of fun and challenge, Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts is rightfully remembered as some of Capcom’s best work on the SNES, and in general. Players will have to get a great grasp on the many available upgrades and hidden advantages if they are going to conquer Ghosts ‘N Goblins. Thankfully, learning the ins and outs of the game is a joy. It looks and feels great, and making a few extra inches of progress is appropriately rewarding.

8. Kirby Super Star

Kirby Super Star is one of Kirby’s best outings, or eight of his best outings, depending on how you look at it. An omnibus package of several smaller games, Kirby Super Star sends everyone’s favorite pink puff on a series of adventures spanning from classic platforming escapades to high-octane racing, and featuring plenty more.

9. Super Mario All-Stars

A touched-up collection of three wonderful NES titles, Super Mario All-Stars compiled the first three Super Mario platformers all in one wonderful, updated package. While Super Mario Bros. 3 does most of the heavy-lifting in Super Mario All-Stars, there’s some pretty impressive variance title to title that shines even more when all three games are brought together on one SNES cart. Super Mario Bros. is great as an iconic, straightforward platformer, Super Mario Bros. 2 has all sorts of fun with its characters and world, and Super Mario Bros. 3 is still recognizable as a Mario Bros. classic. You can’t go wrong with Super Mario All-Stars.

10. Actraiser

Actraiser is a beloved, unlikely, and long-abandoned combination of platforming and city-building. A perplexing combination of genres, certainly, but Actraiser made it work. The game won many hearts and minds with its engrossing music and atmosphere and its overarching goal of building up a thriving civilization from scratch.