Learn SNES development step by step. 88 examples organized by topic, building from basic concepts to complete games.

Learning Path

A curated progression — it doesn't list every example. Use the category table above for the full set; anything not listed here is a variant or deep-dive of a step below.

Level 1 – First Steps

#	Example	What You Will Learn
1	text/print_string	Your first ROM: text on a background, the VBlank rhythm
2	text/scroll_message	Move text – bgSetScroll on the text layer
3	text/pixel_text	Proportional text composed at the pixel: tileBlitGlyph2bpp() into a 2bpp layer
4	sprites/simple_sprite	OAM, sprite display, CGRAM split
5	input/two_players	Joypad reading, multiplayer input

Level 2 – Graphics Fundamentals

#	Example	What You Will Learn
6	backgrounds/mode1	Mode 1 multi-layer backgrounds
7	backgrounds/mode1_bg3_priority	BG3 priority bit in Mode 1
8	backgrounds/mode1_lz77	LZ77-compressed background data
9	sprites/animated_sprite	Frame animation, sprite sheets, H-flip
10	sprites/dynamic_sprite	VRAM streaming, dynamic tile uploads
11	sprites/sprite_sizes	OBJSEL sprite size configurations
12	transitions/fading	Brightness control, screen transitions
13	transitions/mosaic	Mosaic pixelation effect

Level 3 – Scrolling and Effects

#	Example	What You Will Learn
14	scrolling/continuous_scroll	Streaming background scroll with dynamic tile loading
15	scrolling/mixed_scroll	Multiple BG layers scrolling at different rates
16	hdma/hdma_wave	HDMA wave: build the table by hand (krom port), then use the hdma module
17	hdma/hdma_indirect_gradient	Indirect HDMA: pointer table drives a backdrop gradient (krom port)
18	color/hicolor_1792	H-IRQ CGRAM streaming: 1792 colors from a 4bpp BG (krom port)
19	mode7/perspective_rotate	Full Mode 7 matrix per scanline: rotating perspective (krom port)
20	backgrounds/mode5_hires	BG Mode 5 + interlace: 512x448 hi-res text (krom port)
21	windows/window_multi_hdma	Both windows shaped per scanline: HDMA porthole grid (krom port)
22	color/direct_color	Direct color: 8bpp pixel bytes read as BBGGGRRR, CGRAM bypassed
23	color/pseudo_hires	Pseudo-hires: a 50 % blend of two layers without colour math (SETINI bit 3)
24	backgrounds/mode4	Mode 4: offset-per-tile on a 256-colour layer, one row of H-or-V words
25	backgrounds/mode6	Mode 6: offset-per-tile on a hi-res layer, 16-half-pixel columns
26	hdma/gradient_colors	HDMA + CGRAM color gradients
27	scrolling/parallax_scroll	HDMA parallax scrolling
28	color/transparency	Color math (add/subtract blending)
29	windows/window	Hardware window masking
30	windows/transparent_window	Color math + HDMA windowed transparency

Level 4 – Advanced Topics

#	Example	What You Will Learn
31	mode7/rotate_scale	Mode 7 rotation and scaling
32	mode7/perspective	Pseudo-3D perspective (F-Zero style)
33	mode7/dsp1_ground	Super Mario Kart floor: DSP-1 Raster streams the per-scanline Mode 7 matrices
34	mode7/extbg	Mode 7 EXTBG: one plane, two layers split by bit 7, a sprite between them
35	sprites/metasprite	Multi-tile composite sprites
36	sprites/aseprite_pipeline	Full asset pipeline: Aseprite → gfx4snes -P + aseprite2snes → animated metasprite
37	sprites/world_sprites	World-space sprites: a camera, culling and OAM in one call per batch (oamPlaceWorld)
38	input/mouse	Mouse detection, cursor, sensitivity
39	input/superscope	Light gun detection, PPU H/V counters
40	memory/hirom_demo	HiROM vs LoROM memory mapping
41	memory/save_game	SRAM persistence (battery saves)
42	audio/snesmod_music	SPC700 music playback via SNESMOD
43	audio/snesmod_sfx	Sound effects via SNESMOD
44	audio/speech_synth	Phoneme-bank speech synthesis: the SNES says "OPEN SNES" (krom port)
45	audio/play_noise	Drum kit from the DSP noise generator — zero samples (krom port)
46	audio/pitch_mod	Hardware vibrato: PMON pitch modulation + LFO voice (krom port)
47	audio/apu_switch	Hot-swap APU programs at runtime: apuReset() + IPL re-entry
48	audio/soundboard	The audio v2 engine from pure C: dynamic samples, pan/pitch, echo

Level 5 – Maps and Complete Projects

#	Example	What You Will Learn
49	maps/dynamic_map	Dynamic tile map streaming
50	maps/slope_collision	Slopes and tile-based collision
51	basics/collision_demo	Bounding-box sprite collision
52	games/breakout	Complete game: sprites, input, game logic
53	games/likemario	Platformer with scrolling and animation
54	games/mapandobjects	Maps with interactive objects
55	games/mode7_racing	F-Zero-style racing: the Mode 7 camera, fixed-point physics, banked data
56	games/mode7_flying	Pilotwings-style flying: altitude-as-scale, shadow depth cue, landings
57	games/rpg	RPG template: a Tiled (.tmj) map drives terrain, collision and entities; 9-slice dialog box

Building

# Build all examples
cd opensnes
make
 
# Build a single example
make -C examples/text/print_string
 
# Clean and rebuild
make clean && make

Running

We recommend Mesen2 for accurate SNES emulation:

mesen examples/text/print_string/print_string.sfc

Use Mesen's built-in debugger to inspect VRAM, OAM, palettes, and registers in real time.

Tips

Follow the order – each example builds on concepts from earlier ones
Read the source – every main.c is commented to explain the "why"
Experiment – change values, break things, see what happens
Use the debugger – Mesen2's PPU viewer is invaluable for understanding VRAM

Ready? Start with text/print_string and build your first SNES ROM.

Audio Backgrounds Basics Examples Enhancement chips Colour Fundamentals Complete Game Examples HDMA & raster Input & peripherals Maps Memory Examples Mode 7 Scrolling Sprites Text Examples Transitions Windows

Category	Examples	What It Covers
text/	3	Text display, fonts, tilemaps
fundamentals/	1	Under-the-hood: raw tiles, direct VRAM writes
basics/	7	Collision, timing, scene stack, randomness, fixed-point, aiming, HUD panels, game skeleton
backgrounds/	9	BG modes 0/1/2/3/4/5/6, priority, LZ77, hi-res, offset-per-tile
sprites/	9	Sprite display, animation, OAM, metasprites, VRAM streaming, swarm, Aseprite pipeline
hdma/	4	Per-scanline HDMA effects: gradients, waves, raster
color/	6	Palette cycling, colour math, shadow/tint, direct colour, HiColor, pseudo-hires blend
windows/	3	Hardware window masking, shaped per scanline
transitions/	2	Screen transitions: fade, mosaic pixelate
scrolling/	3	Layer scrolling: parallax, streaming, per-scanline HDMA
mode7/	5	Mode 7: rotation, scaling, per-scanline perspective, DSP-1 ground, EXTBG
input/	4	Joypads, mouse, Super Scope, multi-player
audio/	10	Music and sound effects: SNESMOD and raw APU/DSP
maps/	4	Tile maps, dynamic streaming, slopes
memory/	2	HiROM mode, battery-backed saves
chips/	8	Enhancement chips: SA-1 and SuperFX/GSU coprocessors
games/	8	Complete game projects (Tetris, Breakout, Mario-like, map+objects, 1942-style shmup, Mode 7 racing + flying, Tiled-driven RPG)

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