Super Nintendo Entertainment System for a lot of people was probably the first real gaming console that allowed them to dive into the world of virtual entertainment.
This 16-bit beast dominated the gaming market in the early 90s and remains popular to this day among fans of classic experience and collectors of retro games.
Games for SNES come in all kinds of genres but for the sake of today’s article we’ll focus on horrors and scary games – check out the list down below to find out more about some of the best horror SNES games and choose your favorite. Do you know them all?
Demon’s Crest
| Release date: | 1994 |
| Genre: | Platformer |
| Developer: | Capcom |
Demonic powers are fighting for domination and now you can join the competition, too. Collect all the magical crests and unleash the infinite power stored within to rule over the realms.
Demon’s Crest is a classic side-scroller where you will be playing as a red demon tasked with exploring the land and finding magical stones that can bless the holder with the mighty power needed to conquer the world. However, the promise of such tremendous strength is a tasty morsel, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that you’re not the only one who’s trying to collect the stones. Slice your way through the ones who dare to stand on your path and unleash the energy of the stones to become the undisputed king of everything the eye can and cannot see.
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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
| Release date: | 1994 |
| Genre: | Action |
| Developer: | Bits Studios |
Based on the film of the same name and the original novel from 1818, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein will give you the opportunity to play as the monster created by Dr. Victor von Frankenstein as a result of his research on the secrets of life.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a 1994 action game that puts emphasis on exploration and solving simple puzzles, but some combat sequences in form of one-on-one arcade duels are also present. Life’s not easy when society sees you as nothing else but an otherworldly creature from hell, but you must press on – play your part in the story known from the movie and exact revenge on the one who betrayed you.
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Clock Tower
| Release date: | 1995 |
| Genre: | point-and-click adventure |
| Developer: | Human Entertainment |
Largely inspired by the works of Italian horror film director, Dario Argento, Clock Tower will surprise you on multiple occasions.
Clock Tower is a point-and-click game where you will spend most of your gaming time exploring a mysterious and seemingly abandoned mansion while trying to discover its secrets and eventually find a way out. It may be harder than it sounds, though, as it’s quickly revealed that the main character is not the only one that prowls in there. What’s more, one of the gameplay mechanics allows the character to run away from dangers but running drains stamina – you don’t want to be caught out of breath, so try to manage your sprinting and use it only when absolutely necessary.
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Sweet Home
| Release date: | 1989 |
| Genre: | Role-playing game, survival horror |
| Developer: | Capcom |
Sweet Home also has something in store for fans of horror games, but this time it’s mixed with a classic role-playing experience.
Sweet Home combines survival horror with a special type of role-playing game that was extremely popular in Japan back in the day and still serves as a base for many modern RPGs. You will be able to control a party of up to 3 characters, with 5 controllable characters in total – the game even allows players to form multiple parties and switch between them as you play, which is not something you see too often in video games. It’s also worth mentioning that Swee Home served as inspiration for the original Resident Evil, so you may be curious to learn more about the game that gave birth to this iconic horror franchise.
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Castlevania
| Release date: | 1986 |
| Genre: | Platform |
| Developer: | Konami |
Castlevania is one of the oldest games on today’s list, but don’t let its age fool you – believe it or not, people still willingly return to this old classic. Sure, it could be simply because of nostalgia, but Castlevania is, objectively speaking, one of the best games ever made.
The original Castlevania was released in 1986 and it became a commercial success – not without a reason. At the time of its release, it was praised for its visuals, soundtrack, and gameplay, as well as the difficulty level that strikes a balance between providing a challenge and not being annoyingly hard. During the game, you’ll be able to use a variety of sub-weapons which will come in handy as there are several bosses that you must defeat in order to progress further and get closer to your final target: Count Dracula.
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Ghoul School
| Release date: | 1992 |
| Genre: | Survival horror |
| Developer: | Imagineering |
Ghoul School is another game that’s worth trying to relive the past – how long can you survive in a school overrun by demons?
Ghoul School is a survival horror platformer game where you will be playing as a student who must face a local zombie outbreak on his own. As a result of certain events and the protagonist’s actions, his school became infested and now is full of deadly evil creatures who awoke from slumber to answer their master’s call. Normally, it wouldn’t be the main character’s problem, but it turns out that the ferocious devils kidnapped Samantha – a head cheerleader. Your main objective is then to explore over 200 rooms and rescue the girl before it’s too late.
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Laplace no Ma
| Release date: | 1987 |
| Genre: | Survival horror, role-playing game |
| Developer: | Group SNE, Vic Tokai |
Another game for fans of Japanese role-playing games – gather your party and figure out the strategy needed to survive deadly encounters.
Laplace no Ma is a 1987 mix of survival horror and a Japanese role-playing game where you’ll be exploring various places in a small American town, but most notably, you’ll be able to enter the haunted mansion that can also be found there. Before you begin your adventure, though, you will have to choose your class as well as the class for your three companions. There are 5 classes in total, which means you will have to decide which one to leave out. Party composition could make or break the game, but don’t be afraid of experimenting with different setups – that’s part of the fun. With your party ready you can start exploring the town and collecting clues to gain access to new places and solve all the mysteries.
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Uninvited
| Release date: | 1986 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | ICOM Simulations |
As one could’ve probably guessed by the game’s title, you can expect a ghost story from this one – and it’s quite good.
Uninvited is a game where you’ll be exploring an abandoned house in search of the missing sibling. The task won’t be easy as it’s clear that some kind of evil presence has made the house its lair. When it comes to visuals and the actual gameplay, you can’t get much more retro than that – Uninvited features a simple clickable user interface and bright contrast colors. The game occasionally tries to scare the player with jump scares combined with anxiety-inducing noises and even if it’s not the scariest game out there, it’s easy to imagine that someone could actually fall into it once or twice, especially if he was to play alone at night when it’s completely dark.
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Shadowgate
| Release date: | 1987 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | ICOM |
Shadowgate is among the oldest games on the list. This 1987 point-and-click adventure title will surely take some of your free time before you’ll be able to solve all the challenges.
Shadowgate is a classic example of a point-and-click adventure game, where you have to explore the surroundings in order to find a variety of objects and use them in a creative way. You can expect a solid adventure with puzzles and riddles that must be solved in order to push the story further. On a side note, it’s worth noting that the game received a completely reworked and reimagined version in 2014, which is also available on the Steam platform. If you’d like to give this classic a try, but you’re worried that the aged retro visuals may be too much to swallow for your taste, you should definitely grab this refreshed version instead, as it’s better suited to the more modern audience.
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Super Metroid
| Release date: | 1994 |
| Genre: | Action-adventure |
| Developer: | Nintendo R&D1, Intelligent Systems |
Finally, a game that probably rings a bell even if you’re not into the classics since its franchise started a new video game genre which is known today as Metroidvania.
Super Metroid is considered one of the best video games ever made, inspiring developers all around the world to make games that borrow ideas and explore new possibilities. It has a cult following and enjoys a status of a legendary game due to the influence it had and still has to this day. The game revolves around the character of Samus Aran as she explores the planet Zebes in search of a certain alien organism. It won’t be an easy task, but thankfully you’ll be able to upgrade the abilities of your character, which should make things a little bit easier.
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Super Nintendo Horror Games
Retro video games are a real treat as they provide players with an experience that can be hardly copied by today’s productions. It’s always great to have the opportunity to give the classics a go to better appreciate the titles that allowed the gaming industry to grow and prosper, giving us better and better games year after year.
Playing classic horror games from NES and SNES consoles can answer certain questions and explain the motives that led developers to make the choices they made for their games. Certain gameplay solutions turned out to be so future-proof that they are still used to this day, while others were scrapped and replaced with better and more polished counterparts.
Take a moment to familiarize yourself with some of the best NES and SNES horror games – learn more about what was popular back in the old days and how the classics influenced the future generations of games that were yet to come.