Cartridge battery database
SNES games with save batteries
1991–1998 · Typical cell: CR2032 · 56 of 58 listed cartridges carry a battery
If you own one shelf of cartridges with dying batteries, it's probably the Super Nintendo shelf. The SNES arrived just as RPGs got long enough that passwords stopped being practical, so Nintendo and its third parties put battery-backed SRAM on board and left it running for the next thirty years.
The overwhelming majority of SNES save carts use a 3V CR2032 with solder tabs. A handful of boards use a smaller cell or an unusual holder, which is why the board gets read rather than assumed.
Battery purpose
Showing 58 games
Dead save battery?
If your retro game no longer saves — or you're worried about losing a decades-old file — I can replace the cartridge battery properly, with a tabbed cell soldered to the board and save-tested afterwards.
SNES battery questions
Do all SNES games that save have a battery?
Nearly all of them do — battery-backed SRAM was the standard save method on the platform. A small number of later carts used other storage, so the board is still worth checking before ordering a cell.
What battery does a SNES cartridge take?
A CR2032, and it should be a tabbed cell soldered to the pads. A bare coin cell held on with glue or spring pressure works loose and takes your saves with it.
Will I lose my Chrono Trigger file during a battery swap?
Not necessarily. If the old cell still holds charge, the board can be kept powered through the change and the file survives. If the save has already vanished, the data went with the voltage and cannot be recovered.
Looking at another system?
The full database covers NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Genesis and 32X in one searchable table.