Conceived as a direct upgrade to the wildly popular NES, this console was the first to be launched in what is known as the fourth generation of consoles, where it primarily competed against the Sega Genesis.

The console once again had a very strong first party lineup, with Nintendo releasing titles from the Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox and other major franchises. Nintendo also managed to secure significant support from third parties such as Square who developed a multitude of popular RPGs.

It sold roughly 50 million units over its lifetime, making it the most popular console of the fourth generation.