It’s absolutely fascinating to take a step back and see how far gaming has come in my lifetime. I got my start with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES — a side note, if you ever played The Mask (yes, based on the infamous Jim Carrey film) on SNES, we are now friends — and I only just recently got my hands on the PlayStation 5. This might not need to be said, but the difference is astronomical.
Having said that, it’s amazing that some games on this retro system boast play times as long as modern titles. And it’s not just grinding padding out the time; some of the system’s longest games are also beloved classics. While a long game doesn’t necessarily make a good game, the titles offered a lot of bang for your buck back in the day. And for an era before Steam backlogs, that really meant something.
Let’s take a look at the twenty longest games available on the SNES (according to HowLongToBeat). For those nights when you’d like to wrap yourself up in a blanket, cry, and sink into nostalgia, these are for you.
Top 20 longest SNES games
- Secret of Mana (1993)
- Time to Complete: 25 Hours
- Chrono Trigger (1995)
- Time to Complete: 26 Hours
- Robotrek (1994)
- Time to Complete: 26 Hours
- Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (1995)
- Time to Complete: 29 Hours
- Lufia & the Fortress of Doom (1993)
- Time to Complete: 28 Hours
- Harvest Moon (1996)
- Time to Complete: 29 Hours
- EarthBound (1994)
- Time to Complete: 30 Hours
- The 7th Saga (1993)
- Time to Complete: 30 Hours
- Sid Meier’s Civilization (1991)
- Time to Complete: 30 Hours
- Breath of Fire (1993)
- Time to Complete: 30 Hours
- Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (1981)
- Time to Complete: 30 Hours
- Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen (1993)
- Time to Complete: 31 Hours
- Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation (1988)
- Time to Complete: 31 Hours
- SimCity 2000 (1993)
- Time to Complete: 33 Hours
- Ultima VI: The False Prophet (1991)
- Time to Complete: 39 Hours
- Breath of Fire II (1994)
- Time to Complete: 40 Hours
- Final Fantasy VI (1994)
- Time to Complete: 41 Hours
- Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (1991)
- Time to Complete: 46 Hours
- Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (1991)
- Time to Complete: 50 Hours
- Ultima VII: The Black Gate (1992)
- Time to Complete: 54 Hours