What were the best games for the Super Nintendo and why?
Two that immediately come to mind are Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG. The former was arguably the best RPG ever to hit the SNES, and the latter was just so dang fun. And both had some really catchy music, to boot. All in all, tons of replay value; I’m still playing 'em!
Dr. Mario (the one where you stacked the pills to crush the germs) because of the “chill” music. I honest to god played that for like 10 hours straight on night when my brother rented it. The next day I was all shakey and psycho about it. BWAHHAHAHAHA! Like that. You can have your Sims and your Tomb Raiders, for me it’s ALL ABOUT Dr. Mario.
IMO (not having played Windwakers) the SNES saw Mario (Super Mario World), Zelda (Link to the Past) and Final Fantasy at their best.
When you swooped Mario under the gate to get to the secret gate, when you discovered the gnarly and groovy levels, it was all so amazing. And damn addictive.
Maybe I might say that Yoshi’s Island was slightly better but that’s a difficult one. It starts off looking like such a babies game but boy-o-boy are you in for a surprise. That is an extremely challenging game to get 100% on.
Link to the past was the tightest game of all the Zelda series. The story line was fun and engrossing. The quests were a blast.
Final Fantasy VI blew me away. It kept surprising me. When you wake up as Celes alone on that island. That was the most melancholly I’ve ever felt about a game. Now this game had scope.
What a great system.
Did I pick the most obivous ones or what? But it’s true, they were all perfect.
I always thought multiplayer MarioKart was about as good as it got in the 16-bit world.
I tell people that as far as I’m concerned, Super NES was the pinnacle of home video games. Today’s are too graphics-oriented and not about fun anymore (in my opinion). I see these commercials now and the football video games, for example, look like you’re watching a cartoon. There’s just too much eye candy for the games to be fun. (Yes, I’ve tried some of them, briefly.)
My vote is…a tie, between every game featuring Mario for Super NES. I think if I had to narrow it down, it’d be Super Mario World, with all of the Yoshiis. Yoshii’s Island was great, too.
I’ll second most of the above mentions, and add:
-Prince of Persia. This was the only good POP game I ever played. Every other one sucked big time.
-Contra.
-Axelay. Dunno if I remember any other shooters for the system anywhere near as good.
-Super Metroid.
-Street Fighter II. Yeah, I’ve played every other incarnation of it and am kinda tired of the series, but it still ranks as one of the best games for the SNES and one of the greatest fighters ever.
I started a thread like this a month or two ago. My top pick is the ever-elusive E.V.O: Search for Eden. It sells for $50-60 on Ebay nowadays. If you’ve played it, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Infidel! Take a look at the title of this thread! Dr. Mario is an NES game!
Now then, pretty much all of mine have been said. 
The only ones I have left are Super Mario All-Stars, if for nothing else than The Lost Levels, and Donkey Kong Country, which still amazes me that it’s not for N64. I also had a blast with Rock N Roll Racing.
-Terranigma
-Zelda: A Link to the Past
-Super Mario World
-All 3 Donkey Kongs.
Those are my personal favorites! I think everyone should give Terranigma a try, the only way to play is through an… well it rhymes with Discombolulater and starts with an E.
Well, I came in to mention Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 3 (6) but it looks like others have beat me to it. I also wanted to nominate the Mega Man X games. I always found them to be a fun way of killing a afternoon.
BTW Achernar, your post made me laugh. 
I second most of what was already said, and also have to mention Earthbound. Even today it’s still one of the most original and unique RPGs.
STARFOX, dammit!
IMHO, there weren’t that many, but these really stood out:
Super Punch-Out: A constantly fun and challenging game with an amazing amount of depth. I rented this one at least twice and still didn’t feel I’d seen it all. It was that good. Best Punch-Out game for a while; arguably the best boxing game for any Nitendo system ever.
Super Buster Bros.: One of the few “nonviolent” games that was actually a blast to play. Ahead of its time.
Street Fighter 2: Yes, it really was that good. One of the most seamless conversions to a 16-bit system I’ve ever seen.
Art of Fighting: The only Neo Geo game that actually was better on SNES. I’m amazed it didn’t get national publicity for this.
WWF Royal Rumble: The last of the great “mindless button mashing” wrestling titles. Tons of fun, especially with a rapid-fire controller that allowed you to dominate the opposition at will (DAMN, I miss these days). The only SNES game I rented a third time.
Top Gear series: Thrilling pedal-to-the-metal racing with really simple upgrades. I loved it.
Smash TV: For pure blood-soaked carnage, no other SNES game came close (especially after that “family system” BS hit). Hell of a game.
Special mention to Final Fight 2, Final Fight 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, Knights of the Round, and all the other mindless sidescrolling clobberfests. Great for bragging rights, killing an afternoon, or just blowing off steam. They don’t make 'em like this anymore, I tell you.
DKW, in me you’ll find another huge supporter of the venerable beat 'em up games.
But overall, I think I’ll cast my “best SNES” game vote to Mario RPG or Mariokart.
Honorable mention to Mario Paint for being so damned innovative.
Chrono Trigger
Terranigma
Super Metroid
FF6
What can I say about these games? They were so great I can hardly describe what I liked best about them.
Ah, heck I’ll give it a go.
CT- four dimentional problem solving great characters and storyline plus you could have any set of people you wanted for certain bits.
Terranigma- It really is cool to have an rpg that plays sorta like a planformer. Ever notice how the main guy in a lot of games looks just like Crono or Cloud from FF7?
Super Metroid- Best moves of any character ever even without all the abilities Samus rules. Best looking hero of any game in or out of her power suit. Laura Croft eat your heart out and leave real adventuring to a girl who knows how to dress.
FF6- Good lord you play that thing and you can practically live in it. best heart wrenching music ever. coolest backgrounds. excellent character development. Damn it was sweet.
I’ll second Mario RPG, Sir Dirx; just beat it again with my little brother the other day. We’re currently going through and trying to get every secret. Great game. Nice RPG set up, lots of strategy involved, lots of secret areas, good storyline.
Definitely the Donkey Kong games. Tons of hidden stuff, amazing graphics, great gameplay, good bosses, the ability to switch between the two characters/tag team/versus…just an amazing game. It’s better than most of the stuff we’ve got now, and the first was released in what, 1996?
Mario Kart, and Mario World get honorable mentions. Oh! And Clue! Granted, it’s an adaptation of the board game, and that’s it, but there’s something that I really enjoy about it. The music was great. Soooo dramatic. Plus the computer players are positively idiotic. Not one of the greatest, for sure, but one I couldn’t not mention after all the fun I’ve had with it.
We’ve got a Super Nintendo console in the school lounge and for the last month or so, we’ve been having Mario Kart and Goldeneye evenings. Those two games are seriously addictive.
super mario kart and street fighter 2