30 Years Ago, One Console and Two Games Changed My Life
This Sunday marks the 35th anniversary of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System’s North American release, and Polygon is celebrating the milestone with a series of articles throughout the weekend. In this personal retrospective, the author reflects on how the SNES and select games profoundly shaped their gaming journey. Growing up with 1980s home computers in the UK, the author’s formative gaming experiences included classic titles like Manic Miner and early works from Rare (then known as Ultimate Play the Game), alongside the homebrew creations of independent developers. While the full piece promises deeper exploration of the console’s technical brilliance and Nintendo’s remarkable first-party lineup, this excerpt focuses on the author’s personal connection to the hardware and specific games that defined their childhood. The article is part of Polygon’s ongoing “Switchboard” newsletter, a weekly column dedicated to Nintendo news and culture, typically published on Thursdays and featured on the site on Saturdays.