Some nuclear mass formulas are reviewed and applied for the heavy and superheavy nuclei. A new mass formula composed of the gross term, the even‐odd term, and the shell term is also presented. The new mass formula is a revised version of the spherical basis mass formula published in 2000, that is, the even‐odd term is treated more carefully, and a considerable improvement is brought about. The root‐mean‐square deviation of the new formula from experimental masses is 641 keV forZ⩾ 8 andN⩾ 8. Properties on systematics of the neutron‐separation energies, alpha‐deacy Q‐values in the superheavy nuclidic region, and Q‐values of the fusion reaction for the heavy nuclei are compared with some mass formulas. Furthermore, a method of estimation for fission half‐lives for the superheavy and neutron‐rich nuclei is presented. With this estimation, the chart of nuclides for the nuclear decays are drawn, and the prediction of limit of the existence in the nuclidic region is discussed. © 2004 American Institute of Physics