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SNES Multi-Player Adapter

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A Super NES Multi-Player Adapter, or Multi-Player 5 in Japan, is a standard name for any peripheral designed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that allows up to four additional controllers to be connected onto the second controller port of the console for up to five possible players. While Nintendo never produced its own multitap for the Super NES, a few third-party companies produced such peripherals based on their official specifications, the first being the Super Multitap by Hudson Soft, released in 1993 in conjunction with their own Super Bomberman game, setting the standard for all subsequent multi-player adapters for the platform.

While two multitaps can be connected onto a single Super NES console for up to eight theoretical players, Nintendo's specifications forbade this and all official Super NES titles with multitap support are programmed to display an error message if it detects a multitap connected onto the first controller port. One single homebrew Super NES game, titled N-Warp Daisakusen, was designed to bypass this and support dual multitaps for up to eight players.

Likewise, most multitap-supported titles will display an error message if it detects a specialized input device such as the Super Scope receiver or the Super NES Mouse connected onto any of the ports on the multitap, as the official multitap specification was only designed to support standard controllers.

All official multitaps were also required to have a switch to toggle between 2-Players mode or 5-Players mode, allowing the device to remain plugged-in onto the console without affecting incompatible titles. When set in 2P mode, controller ports #3 through 5 are disabled, leaving only controller port #2 active, essentially turning the multitap into an extension cord.

List of multi-player adapters[]

Super Multitap

The Super Multitap was the first multi-player adapter for the Super NES.

  • 3 Way Multiplay Adaptor (Gamester LMP) (with only 3 sockets)
  • 5 Player Game Plug (Laing) (same polygonal case as SN-5)
  • HORI Multitap HSM-07 (HORI) (4 "top-loading" connectors)
  • HORI Multitap Super Tetris 3 edition (HORI) (red case, otherwise same as HORI HSM-07)
  • Multi Adaptor Auto (Partyroom21)
  • Multi Adaptor Auto (OPTEC) (same case as Multi Adaptor Auto, but without the Super Famicom Logo and words "Partyroom21")
  • Multi Player Adaptor (unknown manufacturer) (roughly PS1 shaped)
  • Multi-Player Adaptor (Super Power) (same case as Multiplay Adaptor from LMP)
  • Multiplay Adaptor (Gamester LMP) (square gray case, "crown" shaped LMP logo)
  • SN-5 Multitap (Phase 9) (same polygonal case as Super 5 QJ/Super 5-Play)
  • SNES MultiPlayer 5 Schematic Diagram (1 May 1992) (Nintendo) (book2.pdf)
  • Super 5 QJ (same polygonal case as SN-5)
  • Super 5 Multi-Player Adapter by Innovation (same polygonal case as SN-5)
  • Super 5-Play (Performance) (same polygonal case as SN-5)
  • Super Link by BPS (Bullet-Proof Software) (same case as HORI HSM-07)
  • Super Multitap (noname) (polyshaped, but different than the SN-5 case)
  • Super Multitap (Hudson) (long slim device with 4 connectors on front panel)
  • Super Multitap 2 (Hudson) (square device with yellow Bomberman face)
  • Super Multitap Honest (same polygonal case as SN-5)
  • Tribal-Tap 5 (Nakitek) (same case as Multiplay Adaptor from LMP)
  • Tribal Tap, 6 Player Adaptor (Naki) (this adapter actually has support for 5 players like the other multitaps)
  • Tribal Tap, 6 Player Adaptor (Fire) (same as Naki, but without Naki logo) (this adapter actually has support for 5 players like the other multitaps)

Supported titles[]

Super NES[]

Due to the sheer number of games released for the Super NES, it is difficult to determine exactly how many games utilized the multitap. There were at least a hundred games known to have utilized the multitap, and quite possibly double that. An incomplete list of games can be seen below:

Game Boy[]

Certain Game Boy titles can also support a Super NES multitap when played on the Super Game Boy.

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