SNES Mini - Like a NES Mini with an actual reason to purchase!

It is real!

Most excitingly, it's launching with Star Fox 2 which has never been released. Even the original never came to Virtual Console!

I can't make my mind up on this, I didn't get a NES Mini and wasn't to fussed about it as do I need to own Super Mario Bros 3 again or buy a emulation system for it and a odd game I may want to play.

I sort feel the same about the SNES, I prefer the games on it overall but I think I'd only play them all for like 5 minutes and never again. Can't we just get the VC on Switch and I give Nintendo £5 for Star Fox 2.

I'm quite tempted. I do love the SNES and that's a pretty decent selection of games...

masofdas wrote:

I'd only play them all for like 5 minutes and never again.

That doesn't sound like you, mate.

Well up for getting this as that's a great selection of games to have on one system.

Even more so with retro games and stuff, Drunka but I've preordered anyway like a chump.

Disappointed no Chrono Trigger and no DKC2 (the best one) though from the games selection .

If it weren't for Star Fox 2 and the other Super FX chip games, I wouldn't be interested... and I love the SNES, best console ever. I've either already got the games or definitively don't want them.

Nintendo has put this out after being asked about numbers etc

“We aren’t providing specific numbers, but we will produce significantly more units of Super NES Classic Edition than we did of NES Classic Edition.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition is currently planned to ship from Sept. 29 until the end of calendar year 2017. At this time, we have nothing to announce regarding any possible shipments beyond this year.

Our long-term efforts are focused on delivering great games for the Nintendo Switch system and continuing to build momentum for that platform, as well as serving the more than 63 million owners of Nintendo 3DS family systems. We are offering Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition in special recognition of the fans who show tremendous interest our classic content.”

I'm glad this is happening because lots of people wanted it to, and SF2 is definitely a nice plus. I can see it being an actively bad thing though, delaying SNES games that would otherwise be on the Switch VC to avoid the weird little machine losing its USP. Especially the aforementioned SF2.

I just hope there are enough to go around this time for all who want them, and to defeat the evil scalpers (at least one of whom has already popped up on yer man's Twitter). And that we get SF2 on VC sooner rather than later, instead of tying it to a £70 box for the nostalgia fiends.

Promptly pre-ordered one. Always wanted a SNES but the crazy prices for original carts has always put me off. I was a Mega Drive kid so this is the perfect opportunity to play some classics in a neat all-in-one system that's close to the original way of playing them. I have Super Metroid on Wii VC but it's always off-putting having to dig out the Wii Classic Controller for it.

First new Nintendo product I've gone for since the Wii-U and I'm EXCITED.

Balladeer wrote:

I just hope there are enough to go around this time for all who want them.

SNES Classic is now sold out at Amazon and GAME, Nintendo I don't think have put them up for preorder as of yet but they'll be gone in seconds.

They were gone in seconds, I understand. More will become available, I'm sure... but how long that'll be is anyone's guess.

I ran fifteen minutes late for a review meeting this morning so I could pre-order this from Argos, cause I'm a top pro. I wasn't really looking at it when it was announced the other day, but now that I've ordered one I figured that I better scout it. Most of it makes full sense to me - they're just about all critically acclaimed and well-recognised big sellers. But I don't know what Kirby's Dream Course is doing there (as it's a bit mince), and I think there's just a couple too many RPGs and platformers for this sort of thing. I think Final Fight, Tetris Attack and Pilotwings might have given this a better balance, rather than Mega Man X, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Final Fantasy III. Still, "actual reasons to purchase" - there's several of the best games ever made there.

Yer man Scullion pointed out the lack of Pilotwings on Twitter, so I'll say here what I said to him: Pilotwings is a big miss. Cracking game - a lovely, relaxing showcase for that there Mode 7. Hadn't even thought about Tetris Attack, but that's a dem fine shout: brilliant puzzler.

Kirby's Dream Course is really, really hard... but I found it good fun once I got into it. It is one of the first few you'd swap for something else, though.

I didn't get a NES Mini, and I probably won't get the SNES Mini either - I'm hoping my old SNES still works, and of course I've bought a lot of those games twice. But the SNES has aged a lot better than the NES, and I'd say, even if someone had no experience of gaming from this era, that those games are still worth about 5 times the cost of that thing - it's an absolute bargain.

I think the NES and the N64 both suffer from how utterly the SNES and Gamecube outclassed them. Nintendo went from things just barely working to being mastery.

See also Wii U and Switch.

The N64 to Cube is a little debatable, N64 is not the forums fav console for nothing but I do think that's down to a handful of bangers with GameCube having an overall better library.

Jimbob - those games are still worth about 5 times the cost of that thing - it's an absolute bargain.

IGN did the maths using Amazon in the USA to buy a used unboxed SNES, an extra controller and every cart (just the cart) would cost you $877.78 (of course doesn't include Star Fox 2) with Earthbound costing the most at $160 and even on the Wii U Virtual Console would cost $167.79.

Off-topic, but "a little debatable"? Saying that the GameCube utterly outclassed the N64 is the biggest whopper in the history of this forum. The GameCube was class, but it was a big disappointment after the N64. With the exception of Smash Bros. and maybe Mario Golf, none of the major GameCube sequels were better than their N64 prequels. None at all. The N64's third-party line-up is masisvely underappreciated too, whereas I think the GameCube's is a bit overestimated, and padded out by iffy PS2 ports. I liked the GameCube a lot, but there's no denying that - in the wider scheme of gaming - it's quite an inessential console.

Shigeru Miyamoto later reflected that the GameCube "hindered progress" (or something to that effect), and he was right, it did. Nintendo 64 was masterful in itself; the GameCube was just more of the same, but not as good. As a GameCube owner, I was ready for the next thing for years before the Wii came out.

I'm inclined to disagree Cappa.

At the time, the N64 was definitely the system that I have the better memories of. It can't be stated enough how important Goldeneye 007 was - so many of my friends bought the system for that game and it was a multiplayer favourite for years. The N64 had some legit classics and revolutionary titles like Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, but it's also part of an era that has aged horribly.

I also feel that the jump from N64 to Gamecube, graphically, is hugely underappreciated. I've never seen that sort of leap in tech - look at the two Wave Race games and the difference is mindblowing. The same can be said for the two F-Zero games. Many games also played better, given the superior Cube controller and the tighter analogue stick.

What I do agree with is that the Gamecube was disappointing, but this is also because it was effectively a supplemental system. By 2001/2002, having just a Gamecube would have been tough, as times had changed. It was cheap and only played games. It was arguably the start of Nintendo's descent in to being a secondary option for hardcore gamers. But of the Dreamcast/Xbox/PS2 era, Gamecube games have aged the best and they play a lot better than their N64 predecessors.

I can't talk for Drunka who said the Cube outclassed the N64 but for myself, the GameCube is mu favourite Nintendo Console ever and only just behind the Dreamcast. I can't deny SM64 is better than Sunshine but Wind Waker and Twilight Princess even though OoT was revolutionary those two are the better games.

Which leaves Goldeneye which yeah the nearest thing to it would be TimeSplitters 2 and in a vacuum of time Goldeneye would be the better game but in 2017 where I very much think Goldeneye is still rather playable TimeSplitters 2 is better.

I disagree greatly with you gJones on having just a Gamecube would have been tough, how as it had plenty of games for games console the only thing it was missing was DVD/CD player.

I feel it was the Wii that Nintendo became the secondary option.

I might have used poor wording there. Gamecube era games have aged a lot better than PS1 and N64 games. Sure, stone cold classics like Mario 64 shine even through the dodginess, but the average shovelware from the NGC is at least playable today in a way that a lot of earlier games just aren't.

Gamecube could actually do the things N64 games pretended to do, tried to do or fudged.

On another note: my Gamecube and Wii were my only consoles, and I never wanted or needed anything else. I only bought my PS3 after my Wii U, when that console was struggling. Switch on the other hand has seen my Xbox gathering dust and will probably be my only console until I give in and buy a PS4 for Monster Hunter World.

No SNES Mini chat?

I got fired into mine last night, and - while it's mostly very familiar - I've got a few quick thoughts:

• I forgot how good Super Mario Kart is. Absolutely magic!
• Contra III is still shite. To be fair, it controls brilliantly, responds immediately and sounds superb, but it's just one of those games that's hard for the sake of being hard, and I can't be fucked with sny of that in the slightest. Same goes for Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, although that's obviously a quality game underneath it's brutally hard exterior.
• Folk who say that Mega Man X is the best run 'n gun platformer haven't played Gunstar Heroes. There's no contest.
• Starfox is a bit rough. The first boss tanned my arse a couple of times because I was struggling to aim my laser beam and bombs - it jerks about so much. It's still quite good fun, but I've got to imagine that folk playing it for the first time won't be impressed at all.
• Acht. Why didn't they stick Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers on here instead?
• There's lots of RPGs here, and I'll never boot Earthbound, Final Fastasy III or That Other One I Can't Remember up. I might give Super Mario RPG a bash though.
• I feel like I've played through Yoshi's Island two million times, even though I've only completed it once. The sequels really took the piss with how much they lifted from the SNES original.
• Donkey Kong Country: definitely style over substance, but it's okay when it's there alongside genuinely quality platformers, like Super Mario World and Kirby's Fun Pak.
• 2D Zelda bores me. Sorry everybody.
• F-Zero is the quintessential retro game; you'll have a great time playing it for a quick shot, but are you buggery going to sit down and fcomplete it.

Anyone else?

Not played too much but took MK, SF2, Kirby and Secret of Mana for a spin and enjoyed them all. On the same page as you for Contra though, that game is not fun.

I brought mine in to work last Friday and "had a meeting" at the end of the day with some colleagues. We found Super Mario Kart fun in battle mode but the levels were very empty. The rotating planes that give the game a false send of 3D have aged horribly though. In fact, I think a lot of the early SNES stuff doesn't look good at all.

Had a blast on Street Fighter II, put Contra on for 1 minute and as Cappa says, it's essentially a broken game. Way too hard to be fun. The Kirby golf game isn't particularly good. Have enjoyed some Donkey Kong Country with my daughter, although that's also a punishing game. Her favourite is actually Street Fighter - probably because it's the easiest to play and the least likely to hit you with that Game Over screen.

I had an hour or so on Super Mario World. I've never really played it but I'm impressed by how big the game appears to be, but also underwhelmed at it visually, particularly compared to the Sonic titles of the time.

The controller cords are a bit too short but otherwise, it's a nice little package. I know that Super Metroid and a Link to the Past will get played properly, but not sure I'll invest time in to the RPGs as yet. Quite enjoying dipping in and out of the platformers at the moment. Super Punch Out is an interesting game but it did feel a bit "is this it?".

I didn't have a SNES at the time so experiencing nearly all of these games for the first time and essentially, some have stood up, some haven't.