¶ Technical data
- Manufacturer: Nintendo
- Year of release: 1990 in Japan (Super Famicom), 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe
- Units sold: 49.10 millions
- Best-selling game: Super Mario World
- CPU: Ricoh 5A22 (16-bit 65C816 core) @ 3.58 MHz
- RAM: 128 KB
- VRAM: 64 KB
- Video: two PPU processors, 8 graphics modes including the famous Mode 7
- Resolution: 256x224 to 512x448, 256 simultaneous colors out of a 32768-color palette
- Sound chip: Sony SPC700 + 8-channel 16-bit ADPCM DSP
- Media: cartridge
¶ Presentation
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES or Super Famicom in Japan, is Nintendo's 16-bit console, released on November 21, 1990 in Japan, in August 1991 in North America and in 1992 in Europe. It answers Sega's Mega Drive, launched two years earlier, with a very different approach: a slower central processor, but a markedly superior graphics section and, above all, a superior sound section.
Its two video processors handle up to eight graphics modes, including the famous Mode 7 which can rotate and zoom an entire layer — an effect used by Super Mario Kart, F-Zero and Pilotwings. On the audio side, the Sony-designed subsystem (an SPC700 paired with an eight-voice sample DSP) delivers near-CD sound quality that marked a whole generation of composers. The cartridge could also carry expansion chips: the DSP-1 for 3D maths, the Super FX of Star Fox and Yoshi's Island, the SA-1, the CX4 of Mega Man X2/X3.
The machine's catalogue is considered one of the strongest in history: Super Metroid, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, Street Fighter II Turbo, Secret of Mana. With more than 49 million units sold, the Super Nintendo won the 16-bit war and remains one of the most played systems on Recalbox today.
¶ Emulators
New in Recalbox 10.1: netplay is enabled, with online play, synchronization mode and "GameLink". Every Super Nintendo core supports it.
Emulator availability per board:
| Emulator | RPI3/RPI02W | RPI4/400 | RPI5/500 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libretro snes9x | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro mesen_s | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro snes9x2010 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro snes9x2005 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro snes9x2002 | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro bsnes | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro bsneshd | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro mednafen_supafaust | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
On RPi3 and RPi Zero 2, only Snes9x, Snes9x 2010, Snes9x 2005 and Supafaust are available. On OGA/OGS/RG351, bsnes, bsnes HD and Supafaust are missing.
Snes9x is the default emulator: it offers excellent compatibility, including with expansion-chip games, while staying fast. Mesen_S aims for maximum accuracy at the cost of lower performance, and should be reserved for powerful machines. Snes9x 2010, Snes9x 2005 and Snes9x 2002 are older, increasingly lightweight optimised versions, to be used if a game stutters on a small board. bsnes favours cycle-accurate emulation, and bsnes HD adds HD Mode 7 rendering (rotated layers stay sharp instead of becoming pixelated). Supafaust is a performance-oriented core, very fast, but without softpatching.
Netplay works with every core. Softpatching is available everywhere except with Supafaust. CRT output is supported by Snes9x, Snes9x 2010, Snes9x 2005, Snes9x 2002 and bsnes. RetroAchievements are available. The mouse (SNES Mouse) and the light gun (Super Scope) are optionally supported, depending on the game. No BIOS is required.
For fighting games and platformers, a controller with a precise d-pad makes all the difference: the 8BitDo Pro 3 is recognised automatically by Recalbox.
¶ Roms
Put your games in:
/recalbox/share/roms/snes/
Supported extensions per emulator:
| Emulator | Extensions |
|---|---|
| Snes9x | .fig .gd3 .sfc .smc .swc .7z .zip |
| Mesen_S | .smc .sfc .swc .fig .7z .zip |
| Snes9x 2010 | .smc .sfc .swc .fig .gd3 .gd7 .dx2 .bsx .7z .zip |
| Snes9x 2005 | .smc .sfc .swc .fig .gd3 .gd7 .dx2 .bsx .7z .zip |
| Snes9x 2002 | .smc .sfc .swc .fig .gd3 .gd7 .dx2 .bsx .7z .zip |
| bsnes | .bml .dx2 .fig .gd3 .gd7 .sfc .smc .swc .7z .zip |
| bsnes HD | .smc .sfc .swc .fig .gd3 .gd7 .dx2 .7z .zip |
| Supafaust | .fig .sfc .smc .swc .7z .zip |
The most common format is .sfc (or .smc, identical apart from the header). A No-Intro romset is strongly recommended for dump reliability and scraping quality.
Some older dumps carry a 512-byte header added by the copiers of the era. Modern cores detect it automatically, but if a game refuses to start on every emulator, that is the first thing to check.
Also have a look at the Super Nintendo — playing with 3 or 4 players guide for game preparation, configuration and system-specific tips.