Nintendo released the Super Famicom in Japan in 1990, and in North America in 1991 (as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System). The system came with Super Mario World, and Mario continued to be a massively popular mascot for the company. The SNES/Super Famicom continued the success of Nintendo's major franchises like Zelda, Metroid, and Donkey Kong, as well as retaining rights with several third-party developers such as Capcom (Mega Man, Breath of Fire), Square (Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger) and Konami (Castlevania, Contra). The SNES/Famicom didn't enjoy the same market domination as the NES, due in part to lack of backwards compatibility, and to Sega's aggressive marketing of the Mega Drive/Genesis. However, it was still a very successful system, right up until the end of the 16-bit era.
