Super Mario All-Stars
While a good argument can be certainly be made for Super Mario World and Yoshi’s Island (the proper Mario sequels on the system), both of those games were in many ways evolutions of the Super Mario Bros. 3 formula. Super Mario All-Stars on the other hand was a breath of fresh air by reaching back to the past. While console gaming was still young, Super Mario All-Stars marked the first major release in a special genre known to many other mediums. In music one might label it a greatest hits album. In film you would label each game a remake, or perhaps just a restoration. Whatever the case, this compilation would change how gaming looked at its past. Whenever you enjoy a retooled classic for Xbox Live Arcade, remember that it was this game that laid the groundwork.

Donkey Kong Country
As noted, whenever mentioning a platformer for the SNES there is a strong argument to go with Super Mario World or Yoshi’s Island. Yet, it was Donkey Kong Country that marked both the most influential SNES platformer, and the beginning of the end of the platforming genre. Donkey Kong Country arrived to much fanfare near the end of the SNES’s life cycle, mostly due to its slick pre-rendered graphics. Go back and play it today and you will note the graphics don’t really hold up, and without their shininess to enthrall you there’s the revelation that the actual game isn’t that great. Of course, it isn’t terrible by any stretch. It’s simply mediocre. It marked the beginning of flashy graphics and mediocre gameplay in the platforming genre. Titles such as Yoshi’s Story and others in the 32/64 bit generation were content to sell players on icing and little cake.

Super Metroid
While many consider the original Metroid the beginning of the Metroidvania genre, it was this title that really defined it. From the opening escape scene to traveling back through the original Metroid’s world, Super Metroid hooked players and wouldn’t let go. The open world and upgraded abilities combined two popular 16-bit genres-platformers and RPGs. Years later the Castlevania series would adopt the new format as the standard for the franchise, thereby giving Super Metroid the distinction of influencing one of the most influential game series of all time. This is, of course, to say nothing of the many adventure style games that followed in its footsteps (Beyond Good & Evil in many respects). Super Metroid may be the third in the series, but it’s number one when it comes to influence.

Final Fantasy II (IV)
While Final Fantasy VI was recently featured in The Great Games column, it is Final Fantasy IV (referred to as II in the USA) that laid the groundwork for all RPGs that followed. It wasn’t that Final Fantasy IV was that divergent from the series’ past. Indeed, it was the logical evolution of the previous three games. The graphics and music were a bump up. The play mechanics were tweaked from lessons learned in the previous three titles. Yet, it was the story that truly changed RPGs. It wasn’t the first RPG to feature a character driven epic storyline, but it’s the one that everyone has attempted to copy ever since. Many would argue it hasn’t really been topped in the many years since. Whatever your personal stance on the game’s greatness, it is difficult to argue that such classics as Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII and Suikoden would exist today without it. That quality alone makes it worth the reverence of gamers.

F-Zero
It may be worth questioning where Super Mario Kart is on this list, until one realizes that F-Zero was the template for the definitive kart series. The Mode 7 graphics may have been gimmicky, but they produced a racing game unlike anything gamers had experienced before. The tight races were decided not by rubber band AI or luck, but fine tuned skill that made replay of courses over and over again required. Each lap brought faster times and better insights on the best way to take that third corner. Its impact has been far reaching. As noted, as the template for Super Mario Kart it in turn influenced all the kart racing games that followed it. It also spun a genre more closely related to it that has wowed gamers with titles such as Wipeout ever since. Futuristic racers ever since have not only looked like F-Zero, but secretly hoped to match its perfectly balanced gmaeplay. It may not be the first racer on the SNES one would think of, but it is the one with the most far reaching impact.

Related posts:

1. Top five most influential NES games
2. The Great Games: Final Fantasy VI
3. The precarious problem with the Wii’s first year
4. The Great Games: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
5. Smash Bros. Masterpieces are a good idea done badly