Best (and Worst) SNES Games of 1994

Some of the Best (and worst) SNES games came out in 1994. Here's a brief look at a lot of them.
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[@JohnRiggs]

SNES games from 1993 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqLQlp6oo9xmgM0

[@oldschoolprowrestling2653]

i love that you are a wrestling fan.

[@Wavyhill]

Best year in gaming ever, for me. Super Metroid, Final Fantasy VI, TIE Fighter, Doom II, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Donkey Kong '94, Donkey Kong Country, WarCraft: Orcs & Humans, X-COM, BlackThorne, Illusion Of Gaia, Phantasy Star IV... it's mind-boggling.

[@Mike__P]

I had Mortal Kombat II on preorder from Electronics Boutique, back when they wrote your name in a book to save your copy.

[@mcwoods85]

Bit of trivia for Nickelodeon Guts SNES. The announcer is actually WAYNE BRADY. If you watch the credits you’ll see.

[@JohnRiggs]

TIL!

[@kuruptein]

Do do do do ya havw it...GUTS.. "Theres our competitors..lets check out the leader boards..and back down to you...MO!"

[@shenloken2]

Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid and Final Fantasy III (IknowitsVIdammit….) 1994 was the year the SNES launched some of the greatest games of all time!!

[@kazsassin]

Always get a chuckle seeing Paul Rudd 0:21 in the SNES commercial ... So 90s

[@thereviewsbrothers3854]

These videos are just so chill. Can’t wait for the ‘Vectrex games you were playing in 1983’ episode.

[@JohnRiggs]

oh man, I never played a Vectrex until, like, 1998. They are neat, though.

[@DanPantzig]

I was 12/13 in this year, the nostalgia is PEAK.

[@darktetsuya]

Super SF2 was sentimental to me because it was a post-surgery present from my dad! a lot of fond memories fighting my brothers in that one. and I will say cammy is my favorite of the new challengers, so it's got that going for them at least. :P MKII... it wasn't until recently someone on twitter posted that 'cheat sheet' that we'd received when my dad picked it up for us, was actually from the nintendo power counselors? sounds like they knew their phones would be ringing off the hook asking how to do the moves and fatalities, so I guess they sent those out to the stores that way us kids got a leg up on the special moves! I did pick it up again some time ago I'll have to find some point to hook up my retron 2 and fire it up again! Final Fantasy [6]: another one tied to my dad, this was the first FF I ever played to completion! 62 hours sank into this one. (including an embarassingly long time in Zozo because I didn't know you had to jump out the window to continue!) rise of the robots: yeah no reason to dwell on that one, my dad rented it from the grocery store's rental place... looked amazing but played like shit, nuff said. :P

[@luciousthomas6141]

In 1994 on my SNES I had Super Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat II, and Donkey Kong Country. That's what I had. I didn't have Mega Man X which I really wanted, but my cousin did so I used to play his.

[@tonyp9313]

Back then when the video game market was really small & games costed $80. You didn't have a wide selection of games & you had to go to the stores to buy video games because online didn't exist & I don't think they were mailing games either.

[@luciousthomas6141]

@@tonyp9313 Facts! I remember walking into Electronics Boutique (EB Games for the young folks) back in the summer of 93 when Street Fighter 2 Turbo dropped at launch and that bad boy was $79.99 and people complaining about game prices right now. People don't have a clue.

[@mjdf122]

1994 another amazing year in gaming blessed to see all from 1980-Now

[@tardiscommand1812]

I wish I could go back in time and let myself know that although NES games are almost gone, that in the future the best of us would be making new NES games.

[@chrisrj9871]

1994 was one of the best years for entertainment in general! Movies, music, video games... it was quite incredible!

[@tonyp9313]

Yeah I think so.

[@opaljk4835]

This is a fun vid. Ninja Warriors is one of my favorite games for the snes though! I just get lost in it like any great art cafe strike game

[@WavesNGames]

1994, I was 7 yrs old and I spent so much time standing in front of the SNES kiosk in Toys R Us playing Donkey Kong Country!

[@DialSforSam]

Same here with playing at the kiosk at Toys R Us or Wal-Mart.

[@tonyp9313]

Oh yeah I remember the Kiosks. Now everything is on your console online if you want to try games or you look at youtube vids. The Social aspect of gaming is really gone now.

[@dbzfanatic278]

Super Metroid was life changing back in 1994. And it still holds up. Im playing it right now on my super nes on a CRT

[@MrJJA714]

Me too, on a Famicom 3 plus

[@pixelsncreatures]

In Uniracers if you try to name your character a bad word it won't let you, but it will also stop you from making things "Sega" related and treats them as swears

[@inceptional]

Damn, I never realised there were so many games released in one year for the SNES. :-o

[@patg108]

that's a short list by comparison to the true amount i'd bet

[@JohnRiggs]

oh, there's a lot more, too.

[@Bakamoichigei]

And these are just the _most noteworthy_ ones! SNES library is chock-a-block with absolute bangers, it's crazy! 😁👌 (And the Super Famicom library is even crazier.)

[@patg108]

@@Bakamoichigei yes but my points are realistic unlike the video I'm not saying those games aren't awesome. I'm saying that the truth is that most people actually didn't play at least 25% to 30% of those listed that aren't common games. If not more like 66%

[@matthewstone5310]

I’ve always really liked “X-Kaliber 2097.” A very underrated SNES game. Not only can your character (actually named “Slash”) block, but the bosses can block, too; adding the difficulty curve. I think that this is the first side-scroller I saw that actually had a two-player street fighting mode. You can play as the other bosses. It’s also a game where the main antagonist is not the final boss! 😮

[@JohnRiggs]

loved the fact you could block for sure.

[@matthewstone5310]

@@JohnRiggs You need it for sure! 🤘

[@ThomasFarmer21]

One reason we aren't getting any more Uniracer games is because Pixar sued and won over the use of a red unicycle.

[@retrosc88]

Thank you for reminding me of Brain Lord. I'd forgotten all about it. Such a good game !

[@supergeoff]

For me was Mickey Mania, Donkey Kong Country, Animaniacs and NBA JAM, Earthworm Jim

[@CarboneCat]

I’m with you when it comes to FFVI, it would be killer if it gets remade like FFVII.

[@MoltoRubato88]

1994 was a great year for SNES games, except for Rise of the Robots and Shaq-Fu.

[@davidbermudez7704]

Terrible games 😂😂😂

[@DialSforSam]

1994 had quite a few bangers for the SNES. Super Metroid - I rented that from our local video store (Hit List) during the summer. I had another game on the brain, but as soon as I saw Super Metroid, nothing else was a legit option. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - Also rented that from Hit List. My sister rented The Lion King. Seems like we were both winners on that one. Quite a few games we had rented were from either Hit List or Pharmhouse. Last two stories here - We went to Sears on Black Friday after taking our sister to see The Lion King, and picked out games for Christmas. My brother got Final Fantasy III, and I picked Mortal Kombat II.... And for my birthday a few months before, I got Super Street Fighter II. A rental from Hit List (possibly) was the convincing decision on that one.

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

I was a Sega Genesis kid, but the one SNES game from 1994 I absolutely love is Super Punchout. A much more faithful port of the arcade classics than Mike Tyson's Punchout, with a fun, cartoony art style and memorable characters. Some of which carried over from the arcade titles like Bear Hugger, Dragon Chan, Piston Hurricane, and of course Bald Bull, Mr Sandman, and Super Macho Man.

[@ryanclayson2742]

I played the hell out of Young Merlin. One of my low key favorites along with Arcana

[@SuperKertiz]

NOT Nancy Kerrigan and Tanya Harding! Whhhhhhhhy!?? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!? I remember it like it was yesterday, even though I was 10!

[@marccaselle8108]

For Lion King for SNES there is a code to help you. In the options menu press B, A, R, R, Y and a cheat menu will appear. From here, you can turn invincibility on and enable a stage select option too among other things.

[@Alex_DC413]

I actually met Mo in college... tho someone else climbed the Crag

[@JohnRiggs]

jealous.

[@The_Badseed]

30 years since I first saw Jay & Silent Bob... Dang I'm old

[@MrJechgo]

Uniracers had to be discontinued, because Pixar filed and won a copyright lawsuit. They claimed that Rockstar (yep, the GTA guys) copied their sentient unicycle from a 3d short.

[@MegacoreTeamJake]

Great vid, John. I'm going to be looking out for a lot of these games for my SNES collection.

[@stephen9302]

1994 was an AWESOME for the SNES. I was in Grade 10.

[@johnq2068]

I was 10!

[@gurgamous]

I was in 6th grade and I remember playing a lot of these games. Had a lot of fun

[@JoshWeeks]

I can't even tell you how much I loved Maximum Carnage. I had it hooked up to my stereo and would just turn it on for the music all the time.

[@dbloiterer]

For some reason, as a kid playing the power rangers game, it really made it feel like I was playing the show starting in their unmorphed form. Really, there were multiple times in the show where they fought that way where you could question why they didn't just go straight to morphing.

[@JohnnyBargeldBoom]

WCW had an awesome Roster in 1994!

[@JohnRiggs]

It definitely did.

[@bryanmoberg8408]

Notably, young merlin is by westwood studios, who would go on to make the first Command and Conquer game the next year. It's also the first game composed by Frank Klepaki, who did all the cnc music.

[@insaneasock3156]

Digging the YoGabbaGabba shirt

[@ItsThatRetro]

The reason there's never been another Uniracers is because the original had to be taken off shelves not too long after release because DMA Design (later Rockstar) was sued by Pixar over the unicycle design being similar to their Unicycle from the short "Red's Dream".

[@wyldink1]

Ah, 94. I remember it well. Especially because my oldest son turns 30 years old today.

[@Bakamoichigei]

2:02 Heck yeah. I lost my collection in '98 but miraculously, my Mega Man X cart survived. 😌 6:27 No John, NHL'94 was "That game." The sports game that even people who don't like sports bought. NBA Jam is just fantastic arcade fun. NHL'94 is _supposed_ to be a proper sports game, and somehow became this transcendent entertainment experience no one can seem to explain. 8:29 If you want yet another challenge, try Super Metroid Arcade. Endless mode is some pure madness. Every door transition is randomized, enemy speed and damage increases with every room. It's amazing. 😃👌 30:00 PIXAR sued over Uniracers claiming it infringed on a short they made because of how the unicycle is animated (as if there's more than one way to animate a unicycle, come the fk on.) and they WON. The game was actually pulled from the shelves, iirc.

[@DarthMarino]

I was playing Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball.....

[@amazingeric97]

Ken Griffey Jr Presents MLB is a good pick up & play baseball video game. Most games are only 30 minutes.

[@BlackMoore82]

Shook my head yes every time you called Illusion of Gaia an excellent game. I know I’ve mentioned it several times on the channel hah. Good to see Natsume Championship Wrestling on here as well.

[@petewooding3758]

What. A. Year. Great memories - thanks John!

[@Kevinsyel]

The didn't make any more Uniracers games because Pixar sued Nintendo after Uniracers began selling a ton of units. See, Pixar had made a short film about a unicycle. And Because a unicycle is a unicycle, there isn't much you can do to differentiate it when making a game character that's a unicycle! Well, it was enough for the Courts to decide that Nintendo was in the wrong for not making a unique enough unicycle character, and they were forced to recall all unsold copies of Uniracers from stores. Funny note, I worked with a guy who's dad is a famous unicyclist in the Washington State area.

[@lordkiza8838]

I dont think i was playing any games i was only 2 ag the time 😂😂 but i understood rhe message john

[@imaca6538]

The way you couldn’t see the bullets was a game changer! Blew my mind too haha

[@DexTepa]

Some Japan-exclusives from '94 (mostly RPGs): TwinBee - Rainbow Bell Adventure, Ganbare Goemon 3, Umihara Kawase, Popful Mail, Fire Emblem - Monshou no Nazo, Shin Megami Tensei 2, Daikaijuu Monogatari, Aretha 2, Dual Orb 2, Kishin Kourinden Oni, Heracles no Eikou 4, Live-A-Live.

[@bestudesu4833]

Shaqfu was the game you had to settle for when all the other rentals were picked clean lol

[@MotherKojiro]

Another killer year for games; when GameFAQs was doing the "Top 10 Characters From [insert year here]," I was very glad to get 1994. Maximum Carnage was such a huge event, and it was so cool that Green Jelly did the soundtrack for the game; I used to be a pretty big fan of theirs, back in the day. X-Kaliber 2097 had its soundtrack done by Psykosonik, too; makes me wonder if this is also the year that BioMetal came out. Great to hear you talk about Skyblazer, Demon's Crest, Dragon View, and Mutant Apocalypse, too; they don't get nearly enough attention!

[@rrrob19]

A little disappointed he didn’t include Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball, especially since it heavily features the Seattle Mariners.

[@sideopsdiecast8181]

Great year for video games on the SNES, still my favorite console of all time. Capcom had it going on with Mega Man X, SSF2, and X-Men Apocalypse, while Nintendo gave us Super Metroid, one of my favorite games of all time, and Donkey Kong Country, which was for the time an audio and visual treat. SNES Sparkster was great, too, and had an awesome soundtrack. I'd say Rocket Knight Adventures on the Genesis had better play mechanics, but I still loved Sparkster. Sometimes it's hard to believe 30 years have already flown by, but I feel these classics just age better with time.

[@ravagingwolverine666]

1994 was a good year in gaming. I was always more of a Sega guy, but I picked up a SNES in the summer of 1994 to play more stuff. I came to this video mostly to find Ninja Warriors (Again). I wish I knew about that game back in 1994 as I would have loved it then too and is the sort of thing I wanted. I see you just found the game okay, and that's okay. I'll just say that for those that like single-plane beat-em-up games Ninja Warriors on the SNES is excellent. It seems well regarded and it's one of my top SNES games. They did a 2019 enhanced remake for modern platforms and they finally got around to publishing it on PC in summer of 2023 so I finally got to play it after around four years of extra waiting since I'm firmly a PC guy now. No idea why it was delayed, but it's a good time.

[@jhighturntup5558]

Oh ya here we go 💯🤗

[@toddburgess5056]

Wow, I never even HEARD of "Lester the Unlikely" 😳😳😳 How did this game fly under my radar for 30 years ?!?! I mean, I see that it's not as popular as "link to the past", but still !

[@Disastatron]

Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger. All of them had one goal, the Zelda experience. I have great memories of all of them but Chrono Trigger was my favorite and I wish everyday for a modern remake of Illusion of Gaia.

[@davidbermudez7704]

Whenever I rented “Lester the Unlikely” at a video store and played it I kicked my own butt 😂😂😂😂😂

[@kaihuotari4312]

A great video. Damn, I wish I could go back in time.

[@Videogamelover58]

Great video

[@joeyfarris2543]

Mo was such a cute referee and i just loved watching her. She made the show pretty cool😎👍

[@gashmcnash3537]

Waynan Tisdale in the NBA JAM clip 😢

[@toddburgess5056]

Judgement Day was an awesome arcade game, still is. You could hear that game loud and clear in the arcades back in the day Machine guns blaring, rockets exploding, and with all those Arnold Schwarzenegger one liners ILL BE BACK!

[@jeffdaigle5487]

Mario paint was such a fun game. It taught you music and has a awesome soundtrack, but my favorite was painting the mermaid and killing the flies. 😂

[@WrestlingandFilmReviews]

I have Wolfenstein 3D for GBA. Never played SNES version of Wolf 3D.

[@Lukas-kz4xm]

😁Boyz II Men were must definitely NOT directing their advances at you; best believe😁

[@JohnRiggs]

that's a relief.

[@Jake-ls2ou]

Always love learning about video game history! I love the snes aesthetic even though I'm JUST too young to have played it. Plus some games make me dizzy or feel weird haha and snes aesthetic stuff never does! anyway. Always appreciate your vids. Never thought I'd say it but I'm grateful for the "alogrithm" for leading me to ya! Always love your stuff. Your knowledge and just vibe and positive energy are so appreciated! and humor!

[@Kumimono]

Hey, when Megaman X came out, I was sure the next three games would come out on the NES. Was not, entirely wrong.

[@JLAvey]

Game I was playing on the Super Nintendo in 1994: P.T.O. Still have it, still play it. Last time I played it was February of last year.

[@DragunBreath]

You are spot-on about Super Metroid. I still play through it from time to time.

[@RayceARoni]

I love that while DKC was this unique departure from what considered a traditional Donkey Kong game at the time, Donkey Kong ('94) on the Game Boy was exactly that: Adding onto the original DK formula. Better yet, DK '94 was THE game to play on the Super Game Boy. It took advantage of all of the features, including additional audio.

[@audrisampson]

For me 1994 on the Super was all about NBA Jam. Still love that game to this day.

[@c64konami96]

I was playing Killer Instinct at the end of 1994. It also came with a music cd and would listen to it.

[@kuruptein]

You realize theres a cyberdine and skynet in japan..and T2 also said judgement day os either august 26th 2029..or aug 29 2026? I think..i forgwt..someone look that up im being lazy watching this awesome video. Thanks john. Goodbye world soonish

[@---ey6hj]

I remember Home Improvement being a lot more fun game being 12 when I rented it at Blockbuster, and it was the only rented game that the Blockbuster cashier said they wouldn’t include instructions booklet because it wasn’t worth giving to the customers 😂

[@earnestgarcia6891]

getting choked up about Mega Man X… same here… that game was AMAZING!!!

[@louong93]

Back in the 90s here in Malaysia. I remember my cousin owned a Snes. Remember he play Super mario world and Street fighter 2 turbo.

[@danielbarker5097]

My cousins had Shaq Fu, we loved it, and I still love it.

[@spitt0110]

I was glad I was late to the snes era, I got the All Star Bundle so this was some of my era, I remember getting Xmen on clearance for like $5 it was crazy and it was a good game. I remember so many bangers, and being able to play pokemon on the snes on the big screen!! and borrowing games from friends who had much larger libraries of games. good times.

[@user-dt1xu8yh2i]

LJN actually made a good game

[@JohnRiggs]

They had a few.

[@user-dt1xu8yh2i]

@JohnRiggs actually I have Jaws. 1 man's crap could be the best game to someone!

[@jamesburchill7522]

More accurately, John. In 1994 our -parents- didn't have need for a home PC and the hell if we can afford one. I had an old Compaq 386 I bartered for some labor.

[@retroman--]

Home Improvement manual was genuinely funny....glad I looked it up lol

[@shade20x64]

For my money, 1994 might be the best year in gaming.

[@shigshug8581]

Having a SNES in 1994 is the best!

[@LegoDork]

I got DooM 3 for Xbox one year for Xmas, It had OG DooM playble as well. I played more OG. I beat SNES DooM on 'Hurt Me Plenty'

[@ArcadePilot]

The year felt a bit depressing, but there where alot of good games like Secret of Mana and Killer Instinct, and yeah sequels like Mortal Kombat 2 and Return of the Jedi, and sports games that even though where made the year before had 1994 in the title like NHL 94 and World Cup 94

[@bradbla]

I'm from where Ron Simons is from. I saw him riding down the street one day in an old truck hanging out the window. It was pretty cool.

[@anthonyp6823]

DAMN!

[@johncollins9766]

Hello John I was wondering if you could help me. Im playing my SNES and Sega Genesis on a modern TV. I don't have a CRT TV anymore. I got an AV to HDMI connector but it makes the image of my games look to stretched on my modern TV and I also notice some lag input.

[@jeffdaigle5487]

Ah yes soft ware etc... we had that store here in Tucson. I pre ordered FF7 from them got the t shirt and the walk through. Damn the long ago, back in the day when dirt was new and I was a junior or senior in highschool. Great memories thanks for the reminder.

[@metal--babble346]

Ninja Warriors was fun, but they should have named it Ninja Warrior. 1 player only. Your buddies couldn't grab a controller to help.

[@Roshenbo]

LMAO! OMG how could I ever forget about GUTS on Nickelodeon. And I too, had a crush on Moe back then. (That is so freaking funny that you mentioned Guts & Moe. 😆🤣)

[@JohnRiggs]

It may have been the accent.

[@alexsvistunov620]

Super punch out is amazing... one of the only games I still play from SNES.

[@itsmatt517]

Loved the Rise of the Robots mention

[@RandyBandana]

Riggs?! I can't believe you didn't mention the character select screen on WCW SUPER BRAWL!!! It's crazy 🤪 😂

[@JohnRiggs]

haha, that's the best part! it's so silly

[@tonyp9313]

1994. This is the year Snes really outsold the Genesis with games like DKC & Mortal Kombat 2. This was also the year me & bunch of friends used to go over a said house on Friday & Saturday when school was done. I remember we were 4-5 people playing couch coop games for Genesis cuz none of my friends owned a Snes. With the Snes though I lent my Genesis to a friend I am no longer friends with because he moved away, he lent me the Snes at the time. I was playing DKC & Mortal Kombat 2.

[@ALittleSnowFairySaga]

Heck yeah! Great to see some Sonics love!

[@NikateeN]

Man, I actually enjoyed Shaq-Fu back in 94. Rise of the Robots though, ouch…

[@BlackMoore82]

Not a fan of Basketball but love NBA Jam. I enjoyed Mega Man Soccer, it’s descent once you learn the special kicks.

[@matthewa1814]

Super Metroid, best birthday present I ever got when I was a kid

[@Linuxpunk81]

This was around the time I got shiny new 486 computer in my room so my snes took a backseat and never fully recovered. By the time my pc was becoming to slow to play the newest games I moved on to psx and n64