Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment
system or SNES as its more commonly known is probably one of the best
consoles ever made. There are hundreds of quality games available
- ranging from arcade conversions such as Street Fighter 2 to RPG games
such as Zelda Link to the Past, Secret of Mana and Breath of Fire.
Known as the Super Famicom in Japan, the system is basically the same
as the UK version except that it runs at 60Hz and has territorial
lockout. Controllers have smaller leads and have super Famicom written
on them. It cost 32,000 yen when released and came with 2 controllers
and Super Mario World.
Released in the US with
a new case design. Games came on different shaped carts to the Famicom
version being more rectangular. Also later released as a slimmer version,
bit like a small UK shape but basically the same hardware with the
Rf output removed.
Not released in Europe
until 1992 the European version came in the same style case as the
Famicom. Games available at release included Super Mario world 3 and
F-Zero. PAL consoles play games approx 16% slower than an NTSC one,
with larger black borders at the top and bottom of the screen. We
can supply or fit PAL systems with a switch to allow them to play
like a US console at full-speed and in full-screen.
The new slimline version,
only released in the US and Japan. Much smaller than the original
system. Has the Rf output removed and came supplied with the Composite
cable instead. Yoshi's Island boxed set shown here. There are also
several versions released without the power supply included in the
box.
Specs
| CPU |
- Type: 65816 16-bit: 2.68/3.58 MHz
- 16-bit Picture Processing Unit
|
| Memory |
- RAM: 1 Mbit (128 Kbyte)
- Video RAM: 0.5 Mbit (64 Kbyte)
- Cart sizes: 2 Mbit - 48 Mbit
|
| Display |
- Max Resolution: 512 x 448 pixels
- Colours: 32,768 colors
- Max colours at once: 256
- Max Sprite Size: 64 x 64 pixels
- Max Sprites: 128 sprites
|
| Video Output |
A PAL SNES can output RF, RGB, and S-Video.
|
| Sound |
- Sound Chip: 8-bit Sony SPC700 Sound Channels: 8
|
| Power (UK only) |
- Input 230/240V~50Hz...17W
- Output 9V...1.3A
- Model No: NES-002(GBR)
|
| Features |
- Mode 7
- 2 Controller ports
- Some games contain additional Chips to enhance the games. Mario Kart
for instance contains a DSP. Other Titles such as Star Fox contain
the FX chip to help with processing those 3D graphics.
|
SNES Regional Protection
US systems use different shaped carts, these have square edges and
will not fit European or Japanese systems. European SNES carts won't fit
US consoles either due to 2 small tabs which correspond to grooves
on the bottom of carts (a similar method was used on the N64).
Control Decks having a security chip in the Deck and a counterpart
in every game cassette. The device is called CIC, games attempt to
communicate with the corresponding chip in the system before they
will run.
Later SNES games contain a code to check for a 60Hz or 50Hz display.
The NTSC TV system displays 30 frames of video per second (60Hz). The PAL system
displays 25 (50Hz). Games often display the following message
if used in a system running at the wrong speed:
This game pak is not designed for your Super Famicom or Super NES.
Later versions of the SNES seem to output a lower voltage to the cart
slot, as far as we know this was done to try and hamper the use of
disk copying devices which drew power from the SNES to work. That
said we have never had one that didn't work, anyone else?
SNES Enhancement Chips DSP and FX/FX 2
An interesting feature
of many SNES games is that they used special enhancement chips to enable
more powerful games to be played.
Used in many games like Pilotwings, and Super Mario Kart to provide
more realistic 3D graphics effects by doing some of the data processing
on the chip rather than the SNES itself. There is also a DSP2 chip.
Used in games using 3D polygon effects, such as Star Fox and
Vortex. A Super FX 2 chip is a faster version of the FX chip, and
is used in Doom, Dirt Trax FX, and Stunt Race FX. The FX chip makes
use of the extra twin 8 pin connectors, which can be found to the
left and right of the main cartridge contacts on FX games.
Designed by Capcom this is a graphics chip, used to create transparent
graphics effects in Mega Man X2 and X3.
Accessories
Fantastic design and quality
meant the Official SNES Controllers were one of the systems main advantages
with 6 buttons compared to the 3 on a standard MegaDrive controller.
Loads of third party SNES controllers were made which added auto-fire
etc.
With only 2 controller
ports, the SNES required a multitap to allow up to 6 players at once.
Games which support this include Bomberman and Secret of Mana.
The Super Scope was the SNES systems light gun, never really did very well as there were
only a few games that supported it and those were quite poor. Yoshi's
Safari being one of the best.
Game Genie Cheat Cart
from Code Masters. Allows games to be changed by entering
cheat codes.
Official Nintendo two button mouse, that plugs into controller 1 or controller 2 on your
SNES. Only a handful of games were mouse compatible such as Mario
Paint and Might & Magic III.
Stereo A/V Cable with Scart Connector, better quality than the standard RF lead the PAL
systems came supplied with.
The Satelliview was only
released in Japan and allows the SNES to connect to a special satellite
channel called "St GIGA". Games and demos could be downloaded
at particular times to a BS-X Special Broadcast Cassette containing
1 megabit of flash ram.
Games included BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2 (Nintendo) and Excite Bike Bum
Bum Mario Battle (Nintendo).
There are loads of different
converters available for playing import games on the SNES. The Action
replay ones also contain cheat functions to allow game parameters
to be changed. Usually work by plugging 2 games in, one for the region
console you are using and the other for the import game you want to
play.
Games
There are loads high quality
SNES games; the fact that so many were remade for the game boy
advance shows just how good they were. The SNES emulation is also
very popular with several good emulators such as zsnes.
Super Probotector Alien rebels (aka Contra III US) has to be one of the best games of the
era and the GBA version in 2002 was also a best
seller. Another Konami classic.
Super Mario Kart, one of the best games ever made. Mode 7 courses and
superb handling make this a joy to play. Also another Gameboy update
available but no feather power-up :-(
Outrageously expensive when released, the SNES version of
Street Fighter II was very close
to the arcade original. Newer versions of this have/and are still being made
today with the likes of PS2 and GC.
SNES manual
Download the full user manual in English.
Sorry, no other languages available at the moment.
Chilloutgames