When Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System, it packed-in 10 titles throughout its lifecycle. In 1991, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System followed suit, upping the ante by packaging 19 separate titles in various bundles. They even had a Super Game Boy box set, and while the Super Game Boy isn’t a game, it did come with one. The many titles released throughout the life of the SNES, which unsurprisingly included some of the systemโs best games, helped drive sales. There were some comparative duds, but for the most part, an SNES came with some serious cartridge-based entertainment. Weโve ranked all 19 packed-in SNES games based on their contemporary criticsโ reviews, sales, and overall popularity.
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19) Super Play Action Football
Super Play Action Football was bundled in the Super NES Competition Set alongside three other sports games. Itโs the sequel to NES Play Action Football, released two years earlier, and itโs not the greatest football game of the time. That said, its gameplay mechanics are fun and easy to learn, so the learning curve isnโt nearly as high as something like a modern Madden game. Much of the gameplay involves running toward the end zone while avoiding a pileup of players trying to take possession of the ball. It features three levels: high school, college, and professional, but without the proper license, only the NFL players of the era are featured, leaving NCAA players out of the game.
18) Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball
One thing that Nintendo did differently with the SNES was to package additional “bonus” games in some of its sets. The Super NES Control Set was one such package, which could come with one of several titles, including Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball. The baseball game was released on the SNES and Game Boy, and itโs a bit unusual. Due to licensing, it features real stadiums and teams, but none of the players, save for Griffey, are real. Regardless, itโs a fun game that came with a special Griffey baseball card inside the SNES version. Some fans didnโt appreciate the made-up playersโ names, but it holds up as a fun baseball game of the era.
17) Tetris Attack
Nintendo released an exclusive, redesigned console for Toys โะฏโ Us stores, which came bundled with Tetris Attack. Despite the name and the fact that itโs a puzzle game, itโs not actually related to Tetris and only bore the name outside Japan under a license from the Tetris Company. Regardless, itโs somewhat similar, offering players the chance to arrange colored blocks in rows, either horizontally or vertically. They drop continuously, and the game features a fantasy setting. It sold well and received several remakes and re-releases, but itโs nowhere near as popular as its namesake cousin.
16) NHL Stanley Cup
Gamers got their hands on copies of NHL Stanley Cup in the Super NES Control Set – Big Score Bundle alongside two other sports games. NHL Stanley Cup was fairly similar in gameplay to other hockey games at the time, but it featured a 3D playing environment rather than a more traditional top-down or overhead view of the ice. This made it a standout game on the SNES, as it utilized the consoleโs hardware to display the game in a relatively unique manner. NHL Stanley Cup is properly licensed, so it features all 26 NHL teams, including the expansion teams new to the sport at the time of release, which was in 1993.
15) F-Zero
The Super NES Competition Set came bundled with three games, including F-Zero, a futuristic racing game. It was one of the systemโs launch titles and features hovercars that can race along 15 tracks in three separate leagues. The gameplay is much faster than traditional racing games, making F-Zero a standout title and one of the most popular racing games of the era. It helped reinvigorate the genre on home consoles at a time when most popular racing titles were in arcades. F-Zero spawned a franchise, and the game has since been re-released
14) NCAA Basketball
Another sports game included in the Super NES Control Set – Big Score Bundle was NCAA Basketball, though it was called World League Basketball outside of North America. The game was distinctive for its display of a 3D players’ perspective, which utilized the SNESโ hardware capabilities. This became the standard for basketball games that followed, making NCAA Basketball an important title in sports gaming history. Sculptured Software developed it alongside NHL Stanley Cup, using the same view in both titles. The game was relatively unique among sports titles at the time, and it remains fun to this day despite being outdated.
13) Super Tennis
Super Tennis is the third of three games bundled in the Super NES Competition Set, and it plays similarly to many tennis games released around that time. Gameplay involves three modes: Doubles, World Circuit, and Singles, allowing for gameplay between AI players or human opponents and partners. The tennis players are unnamed representations of real-world tennis pros from the early 1990s, and the game was incredibly entertaining upon release. Super Tennis is regarded by many as one of the best sports games on the SNES, though there are many good ones to choose from.
12) Stunt Race FX
The third and final game packaged with the Super NES Control Set – Big Score Bundle was Stunt Race FX, a racing game featuring anthropomorphic vehicles. Think the movie Cars, but a video game on the SNES, and itโs similar to that, as it allows for three types of vehicles for a variety of racing scenarios. Gameplay includes three modes: obstacle courses, time-attacking, and test-driving, as well as multiplayer racing between two players. The game utilizes the systemโs hardware to maximize its 3D polygons, making it more technologically advanced than similar racing games of the era.
11) Mario Paint
Players who had an eye for art scored a copy of Mario Paint alongside the Super NES Mouse Controller inside the Super NES Super Set. The game is, by modern standards, a simple graphics editor, animation program, and music composer. It incorporates elements from Super Mario World in this capacity, and it also features a point-and-click minigame, utilizing the Mouse Controller to maximum effect. Mario Paint was a huge success, selling over 2.3 million copies, and it spawned a franchise that saw a 2025 re-release. By modern standards, Mario Paint is fairly simplistic, but when it was released on the SNES, it was as entertaining as it was exceptional.
10) Kirby Super Star
Kirby Super Star came packaged with a Target-exclusive Super NES Control Deck, the only one to include the game. Of course, you could buy it independent of a system, and many people did. Kirby Super Star was advertised as having โ8 Games In One,โ because it did, in a sense. It features multiple short games with similar gameplay, plus two minigames, in one as an anthology platform game. Itโs similar to other Kirby games, featuring the same sort of side-scrolling platformer gameplay across several genres, including a racing game, a Metroidvania-style game, and more.
9) Super Mario All-Stars
Players who wanted to get their hands on Super Mario All-Stars could grab it in the Super NES Super Game Boy Set, or they might get it inside the Super NES Mario Set. The game is a re-release of four NES games: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3. It offered many players the first opportunity to play The Lost Levels, which was released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan. Each game was upgraded with graphical enhancements, music, updated physics, a save feature, and several tweaks that improved gameplay over the original releases.
8) Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct first arrived in arcades before jumping exclusively to the SNES and Game Boy. The fighting game came packaged in the Super NES Killer Instinct Set, as well as some versions of the Super NES Control Set. The game elevated graphics to new heights, improving on previously released fighting games with expanded mechanics. It features three-round fights, with players having two life bars, and it uses a variety of combos and combo-breakers to counter them. Killer Instinct was a huge success, eventually making its way to a variety of consoles, and it spawned a franchise.
7) Star Fox
Star Fox was Nintendoโs first video game presented in 3D after X was released on the Game Boy the year prior. It came packaged in some versions of the Super NES Super Set as a bonus alongside Super Mario World. Star Fox is the first game in the franchise, which continues to this day, though releases are few and far between. Regardless, Star Fox was a huge success when it was released in 1993 for the SNES, selling over 4 million copies. The game is a rail shooter that takes advantage of the console’s advanced graphics capabilities, allowing players to fly through levels, shooting enemies while dodging fire.
6) Super Mario Kart
Super Mario Kart was a huge hit upon release, so itโs no wonder that Nintendo packaged it inside multiple versions of its Super NES Super Sets. This is the game that launched a franchise thatโs continued on every single console generation Nintendo has released since, and it did amazingly well. During its time on the SNES, Super Mario Kart sold nearly 9 million copies, making it one of the systemโs best-selling games. Gameplay involves players taking control of characters in kart races across multiple race types on 20 tracks. Battle Mode enabled multiplayer by having players attack one another with power-ups, and the game remains fun to play more than 30 years after its release.
5) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Several Super NES Sets included copies of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, so it found its way into many playersโ hands. It is the third game in the hit franchise, and unlike its predecessor, it returns gameplay to an overhead, top-down perspective like the NESโ The Legend of Zelda. It is easily one of the best Zelda games in the franchise and is widely considered one of the best games on the SNES, so unsurprisingly, Nintendo packaged it with so many variations of the console. A Link to the Past sold incredibly well, keeping the franchise going with excellent content ever since.
4) Super Metroid
Super Metroid found its way into one of the Super NES Control Set bundles, and it quickly became a fan-favorite. The game is the third in the Metroid franchise, having been released after 1991โs Metroid II: Return of Samus on the Game Boy. Gameplay involves controlling Samus in an effort to find an infant Metroid thatโs been stolen by a space pirate. While the game follows the same format as its predecessors, the SNESโ hardware capabilities enabled various gameplay upgrades, including an automap and the ability to fire in eight directions. This made gameplay more dynamic and greatly enhanced the franchise, which continues to this day.
3) Super Mario World
When the SNES was released, it had several launch titles, but the one included in the most bundles, often alongside other games, was Super Mario World. The game offers several enhancements over previous Mario titles, though it follows a similar format. Gameplay involves saving Princess Peach and Dinosaur Land from Bowser via a series of platform levels. Super Mario World introduced Yoshi, who has become a mainstay of the franchise. His introduction brought new mechanics to gameplay, including a sacrificial mode that allowed jumping higher and further. Unsurprisingly, itโs the best-selling SNES game, thanks to being included in almost every console.
2) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was packaged with the Super NES Control Set and the Super NES Control Deck and offered several gameplay enhancements over its predecessor. For many players, the two Super Mario World games are comparable, but Yoshiโs Island takes a slight lead for its innovative gameplay that features new mechanics centered around Yoshi. Unlike other games in the Mario franchise, Yoshiโs Island focuses on Yoshi and an infant Mario. Theyโre on a quest to find baby Luigi, whoโs been kidnapped by an evil wizard. Itโs the first game to star Yoshi as a playable character, and Yoshiโs Island is as timeless a platformer as its predecessor.
1) Donkey Kong Country
For anyone lucky enough to grab it, the Super NES Donkey Kong Set came bundled with Donkey Kong Country and its game guide. When it comes to Donkey Kong games, Donkey Kong Country is often considered to be the best in the franchise, and itโs usually listed at the top of the SNESโ best games. Itโs a platformer, but it incorporates pre-rendered 3D models and graphics that set it apart from the console’s contemporaries and competitors. It was the fastest-selling video game of its time and the third-best-selling SNES game, with more than 9 million copies sold.
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