By Oli Welsh Published Oct 25, 2026, 10:44 PM EDT Polygon Lists There's never been a better run than this
Image: Nintendo via Polygon Add Polygon.com on Google Add as Preferred Source Follow on Google Discover Sign in to your Polygon.com account Summary Generate a summary of this story Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap The Super Nintendo Entertainment System has one of the finest game catalogs of any console ever released, and there's a strong selection of 77 games available on Nintendo Classics as part of Nintendo Switch Online. Sadly, most of the console's great third-party games aren't represented; you won't find Chrono Trigger , Final Fantasy 6 , or Street Fighter 2 Turbo on the service.
But it doesn't really matter, because you will, of course, find many of Nintendo's own games — and these represent an incredible golden age for the studio, when Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka's teams were pumping out masterpiece after masterpiece. It's one of the best runs any game developer has ever had, a time of perfection between the innovation of the NES before and the bold leap into 3D with the N64 that came after.
Here are the 10 best SNES games you can play on Nintendo Classics.
Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo Nintendo loves to put together oddball game-and-accessory bundles, and in 1992 it sold a mouse for the SNES with this delightful art creation suite. There are funny minigames, brilliant tunes, authentic Nintendo sprites to use, as well as drawing, animation, and music creation suites. You'll need a USB mouse to play it on Switch, but Switch 2 owners can use the Joy-Con 2 in mouse mode.
Image: HAL Laboratory/Nintendo Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai's restless imagination and love of remixes and mash-ups can be found as far back as this barmy 1996 anthology platformer. Kirby Super Star is a compilation of compressed ideas and stories expressed through the medium of the ability-copying pink blob: a racing game, a Metroidvania, a boss rush, scrolling shmup levels, and various rule variations on the classic platformer. It’s a glorious, throwaway blizzard of ideas, perfect for dipping into.
Image: Rare/Nintendo Rare's SNES platform game trilogy was visually flabbergasting at the time, and its rendered technique and huge sprites still look unique now. They can't compare with the in-house Nintendo platformers of the time for sophistication and invention, but they're slick, stuffed with secrets, and have amazing soundtracks and ambiance. Of the three games, Diddy's Kong Quest is surely the best.
Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo via Polygon Known as Tetris Attack in the West — where Nintendo of America jazzed it up with characters like Yoshi and a rather spurious application of the Tetris licence — Panel de Pon is an immaculate match-three puzzle game made by Intelligent Systems ( Advance Wars , Fire Emblem). There's nothing fancy about it, it's just brilliant, endless block-matching action for one or two players.
A weekly cheat sheet to what you’ll eventually love to play. No buying, no commitment — just saving for later.
Image: Ape Inc./HAL Laboratory/Nintendo The SNES was home to so many great RPGs, it's a shame there aren't more of them on Nintendo Switch Online. But we do have this gloriously kooky cult classic from Shigesato Itoi a…