The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was a very impressive gaming platform when it was first introduced to the public and the early 1990s. The first Nintendo Entertainment System was quite an achievement in itself, but when the SNES came out it was really my introduction as to how cool it came they were. The Sega Genesis and the Turbo Grafix 16 were already on the market, so the SNES was a day little late getting to the party and joining other video game consoles, but it was worth the wait. Of the third generation consoles, the SNES was gets my vote as the number one gaming platform and I've had them all. The SNES is the only one of the three I still sometimes play today.



One of my very favorite features about the system was the Super Nintendo controller. The Super Nintendo controller was a breakthrough in many ways. Not only did it have twice as many buttons on the face as the original NES controller, the Super Nintendo also featured in buttons on either shoulder. It's not hard to see where present-day videogame consoles were born Its clear that the Super Nintendo controller set the stage for the future.

The style of the Super Nintendo controller brought options and features to the SNES games that never before would have been possible. One game in particular where it really made the difference was Street Fighter II. Probably one of the most popular SNES games ever produced, and probably one of the most popular console games ever, Street Fighter II probably wouldn't have been as good if it didn't have that awesome controller. Every button was not only used but necessary, and the very arrangement of the Super Nintendo controller was intregal for playing the game. The folks at Sega didn't pick up on this right away, and came out with their own knock off version of Super Nintendo controller for their Genesis, but it didn't have those cool shoulder buttons, and wasn't anywhere near as comfortable to use either.

Looking at current game controllers, there really hasn't been that much of a change. Today they have redesigned hand grips that allow for trigger buttons as well as shoulder buttons, but the actually face of the controllers look very much like the original Super Nintendo controllers. Some manufacturers, like Microsoft's Xbox controller, even have a similar kind of color scheme to the buttons that was found on the old SNES controller. That isn't very surprising actually. There is nothing new about the copying superior products. The Super Nintendo controller is definitely a superior product, and will no doubt be type for game controllers for generations to come.