A year after Nintendo's 8-bit NES peaked, the 16-bit Super NES was released into the American market. Called "Super Famicom" for its Japanese release in 1990, the Super Nintendo hit the U.S. shelves in late August of 1991. It had a retail price of $249.95 and came with two controllers and Super Mario World. Arriving almost two years later than Sega's 16-bit Genesis, analysts are stunned when the Super NES does not dominate the Genesis. Nevertheless, the SNES is a success. Just as Sega and Sonic the Hedgehog started to pull ahead, Nintendo scored a major coup in 1992 and got a one-year exclusive agreement with Capcom to bring the most popular arcade game in a decade, Street Fighter II, to the Super NES. In addition, high-profiles games such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Mario Kart were released. This shifted momentum to Nintendo's side. Nintendo also released the Super Scope and Mouse accessories this year. Unfortunately, 1993 was a down year for Nintendo. The company did release Star Fox, which was based on the breakthrough Super FX chip. On the other hand, Nintendo did not have many blockbuster hits and was lambasted by the gaming public and press for forcing Mortal Kombat to be censored. Sega strengthened its hold on the 16-bit market. Nintendo was out to regain its market share in 1994. First, Super Metroid was released to rabid fans everywhere. Then Nintendo shocked the world by allowing Mortal Kombat II to arrive on the Super NES uncensored. Finally, it surprised everyone with Donkey Kong Country, a game that had the looks to compete with Nintendo's new technological threats. With the runaway success of Donkey Kong Country, Nintendo was able to take the 16-bit lead back from Sega. From 1995 through 1997, the Super Nintendo's popularity slowly declined. The company tried to release some blockbusters each year -- most of which were based on the ACM graphics technology first used by Donkey Kong Country. The system reached its peak in 1994, though. The Genesis/Super Nintendo war is considered legendary, but the Super NES emerged as the winner, if only because Nintendo supported the 16-bit generation longer than Sega. In the end, nearly 50 million SNES units were sold worldwide.