How to Save Games on the SNES Classic Edition

Nintendo transports fans back to the 90s with the SNES Classic Edition, which contains 21 of the best Super Nintendo games, including the never-before-released Star Fox 2! Considering how long and difficult some of these games are, you might not have the time to beat them in one sitting. Thankfully, Nintendo lets you save your progress so you can jump right back to playing without having to restart from the beginning. This article will tell you how to save games on the SNES Classic Edition, and avoid accidentally deleting your saves… something you never want to happen with lengthy role-playing games like Final Fantasy III and EarthBound.

Suspend Points

The easiest way to save your game on the SNES Classic Edition is to simply press the Reset button on the console. Doing this will automatically create a suspend point that lets you continue from where you left off in that game, and we mean anywhere, even during a boss fight. Each game lets you create up to four suspend points. Why do you need four? Well, perhaps someone you live with wants to start his or her own game of Super Metroid, or you want to return to an earlier save in case you mess up later on in the game. Providing you manage these suspend points by deleting unwanted ones, you shouldn’t encounter an issue.

Cartridge Saves

Turns out, some of the titles on the SNES Classic Edition let you save in-game, which means you don’t have to rely on suspend points at all. Save where you are in Super Mario World or Donkey Kong Country. When you quit back out to the main menu or turn off/turn on the SNES Classic Edition system, relaunch the desired game and access your save file. Depending on who you talk to, this is the purest, most original way to experience those games, just as we SNES fans did back in the day.

Best Way to Save SNES Games

Suspend points are ideal if you want the most convenient way to save in these games. In order to do those cartridge saves, in some instances you must reach a certain point where a game like Super Mario World gives you the save and continue option. 

You can use suspend points and cartridge saves together, but you must be on top of save file management, otherwise you risk accidentally overriding a file and losing some or all of your progress.  

Remember what we said about two people playing the same game but with different suspend points? The last thing anyone wants is to boot up Super Mario RPG: Legend of the 7 Stars to learn that their hours of hard work were erased. Emotional gut punch!

We hope you were able to find a SNES Classic Edition on launch day. If not, Nintendo plans to release more systems, so hopefully you’ll grab one and experience some of the best games the Super Nintendo had to offer, gems like Contra III: The Alien Wars, Mega Man X and Super Mario Kart.