Best Platformer Games on the SNES

Platformer Games are one of the things the Super Nintendo is genuinely for. The ones worth playing start with Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country.

The SNES and Platformer Games

The best-balanced 16-bit library there is. The SNES is where the NES generation's ideas got room to breathe, and where the Japanese RPG became a genre people outside Japan cared about.

This is one of its strengths. RPGs, platformers and a Mode 7 racing line nobody else had. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and Earthbound are the reason this library is still studied.

Filtering to platformer means you want the movement itself to be the pleasure. It is the right filter when the thing you liked was getting from one place to another.

The Platformer Games Worth Playing

  1. 1. Super Mario World

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  2. 2. Super Metroid

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  3. 3. Donkey Kong Country

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  4. 4. Yoshi's Island

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  5. 5. Mega Man X

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  6. 6. Kirby Super Star

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  7. 7. Super Castlevania IV

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  8. 8. ActRaiser

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

What Makes a Good Platformer Game

A game you can judge in ten seconds. Platformers live or die on the jump, and a good one feels right before anything else happens.

Weight. Platformers rarely carry a story you will think about afterwards, and the collectible-led ones can become checklists if you let them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best platformer game on the SNES?

Super Mario World is the usual first answer, and there are 8 in the library we cover.

Was the SNES good at platformer games?

Yes — it is one of the things the machine is known for, and there are 8 in the library we cover.

What separates a good platformer from a bad one?

Whether the move set is complete early. The great ones give you everything in the first level and spend the rest asking better questions of it; the weak ones drip-feed abilities to disguise thin level design.

2D or 3D?

Different games. 2D platformers are about precision on a single screen; 3D ones are about reading space and camera. Each pick below says which it is.

How is this list put together?

From the games this site covers on the Super Nintendo, matched against hand-mapped gameplay categories rather than a storefront's genre tag. A page only exists where there are at least four, which is why some console and genre combinations have no page at all.

Platformer Games on Other Consoles

More From the SNES

Or browse the whole Super Nintendo library.