Nintendo’s biggest successes — and fumbles — from the era of the Super NES

It’s been 25 years since the Super Famicom — better known to us Westerners as the Super Nintendo, or SNES — launched to long lines and countrywide sell-outs in Japan. While the console enjoyed a healthy dominance in its homeland, it was a participant in an incredibly fierce marketing battle against Sega abroad — the story of which has been turned into a hit book titled Console Wars and an upcoming movie of the same title.

A lot happened during the 16-bit generation, and the emergence of real competition in the arena kept Nintendo on its toes. To counter the increasing threat that Sega’s Genesis hardware posed, Nintendo made a lot of strategic moves — some very smart, and some with absolutely dire consequences for the legendary company.