Like Nintendo‘s Mini NES, the SNES Classic is exactly what it says on the box; a small version of the original console with 21 games built-in. Most notably, one of those games is the unreleased Star Fox 2, which has nerds all over the world clamouring for preorders ahead of its release next month.
Considering the company failed to make even close to enough consoles last time around, it’s easy to see why everyone’s worried about stock levels, regardless of their promise of making more this time. Don’t be fucking with us, Nintendo.
Games were a lot harder back when the console was originally released. They were generally unforgiving and if you lost all your lives, it was back to the beginning of the level for you, sucker. The SNES Classic has a nifty little feature that will alleviate the stress this can cause.
The re-released console will allow you to suspend a game at any point and resume it whenever you like. In other words, you can save a game at any point at all and pick it up again from that exact point later on.
Even better still, you can re-watch up to a minute (depending on the game) of your gameplay up until the save point and resume it wherever you like. So if you fucked up just before you hit save, you can rewind to seconds before that point and start from there. Brilliant.
It’s not a new feature by any means. Console emulators (programs that allow you to play console games on PC) have been using the method for years, but it’s cool to see it implemented on the physical unit. The Mini NES had similar functionality.
Another cool feature is the “Frames” option, which lets you whack custom art in the black bars that surround the games due to their 4:3 aspect ratio. There’s also a screensaver mode that will play you your own gameplay rather than something lame and generic.
The SNES Classic is due for release on September 30 and will cost you $199.95. You can suss the full list of games below.
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Donkey Kong Country
EarthBound
Final Fantasy III
F-Zero
Kirby Super Star
Kirby’s Dream Course
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mega Man X
Secret of Mana
Star Fox
Star Fox 2
Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Super Castlevania IV
Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
Super Punch-Out!!
Yoshi’s Island
