In 1991 Nintendo released the SNES, this was well after the release of the Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx-16, Nintendo was playing catch-up. The rivalry between Nintendo and Sega produced the fiercest console war in the history of video games, with Sega running attack ads "Genesis Does What Nintendon't" and "Super Nintendo is what Genesisn't" being Nintendo's answer. Market share reached equality in the U.S. by 1992 and eventually Nintendo pulled well ahead as the SNES and its games lasted well into the 32-bit era.

Another innovation of the Super Nintendo was the controller. The controller had a more rounded dog-bone like design and added two more face buttons, "X" and "Y", arranging the four in a diamond formation. Another addition was the "L" and "R" shoulder buttons, which have been imitated by most controllers since.