SNES Classic Edition Thread (No 56K)

[JLTucker]

I'm not sure how active this thread will be, but I'm going to gamble and make it anyway. I picked mine up about two hours ago and have given it a look.

Nintendo released the SNES Classic Edition today, 9/29. For $79.99 you get a miniature replica of the console with 21 games, an HDMI cable, two SNES controllers (they use the Wii cable end), and a USB cable for powering the console.

The major downside is that the provided HDMI and controller cables are not long enough. They're about 5' each. Best Buy has some extension cables for cheap that work with the NES Classic and will work with this. Also, if you do not have the Wii Classic controller, you cannot go back to the menu to change your game unless you get up and press the "Reset" button. This is utterly ridiculous. There's no button combination on the SNES controlelrs that will take you to the menu.

The game list is quality, IMO. I've played most but will be concentrating my time on Earthbound and Final Fantasy III.
The full list of games:

Contra 3: The Alien Wars
Donkey Kong Country
EarthBound
Final Fantasy 3
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 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Super Castlevania 4
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

Here are some rudimentary photos:

[Gandalf]

Will they ever expand on that games list?

[JLTucker]

Will they ever expand on that games list?

Nope. They're all built in. Hackers managed to dump the Star Fox 2 rom, so maybe they'll figure out a way to load more games on it. I'll be getting a RetroPi so I can play more games, like the Dragon Ball Z RPGs.

[Gandalf]

Yeah, for that price I'd want the complete canon of Nintendo SNES content.

Also Mortal Kombat.

[houser2112]

Will they ever expand on that games list?

Nope. They're all built in. Hackers managed to dump the Star Fox 2 rom, so maybe they'll figure out a way to load more games on it. I'll be getting a RetroPi so I can play more games, like the Dragon Ball Z RPGs.

Why these inferior products exist when there are emulators out there, I'll never know. Is using a SNES controller that compelling?

[JLTucker]

Will they ever expand on that games list?

Nope. They're all built in. Hackers managed to dump the Star Fox 2 rom, so maybe they'll figure out a way to load more games on it. I'll be getting a RetroPi so I can play more games, like the Dragon Ball Z RPGs.

Why these inferior products exist when there are emulators out there, I'll never know. Is using a SNES controller that compelling?

Do these emulators scale as well as this does? These look better than the emulators on the Wii and Wii U.

[houser2112]

Why these inferior products exist when there are emulators out there, I'll never know. Is using a SNES controller that compelling?

Do these emulators scale as well as this does? These look better than the emulators on the Wii and Wii U.

I have no idea what the SNES emulators on Wii were like, I was talking about emulators on Windows like ZSNES or SNES9x. (I think I used one of those; it's been a long time since I was into retrogaming)

[JLTucker]

I have no idea what the SNES emulators on Wii were like, I was talking about emulators on Windows like ZSNES or SNES9x. (I think I used one of those; it's been a long time since I was into retrogaming)

I've used them too and they are not as good as what's on this retro console.

[RogueIce]

I have no idea what the SNES emulators on Wii were like, I was talking about emulators on Windows like ZSNES or SNES9x. (I think I used one of those; it's been a long time since I was into retrogaming)

I've used them too and they are not as good as what's on this retro console.

So you can play through Super Mario World and not hit slowdown when lots of stuff is happening?

[JLTucker]

So you can play through Super Mario World and not hit slowdown when lots of stuff is happening?

As i said, I haven't played any of the games. My guess is that it's probably still there given none of these games have been changed in any way.

[RogueIce]

So you can play through Super Mario World and not hit slowdown when lots of stuff is happening?

As i said, I haven't played any of the games. My guess is that it's probably still there given none of these games have been changed in any way.

IIRC the SMW slowdown is only on emulation, not the original hardware. So I guess it'd depend on how Nintendo is handling the emulation on here.

[Jub]

Even if the quality is somewhat better than the emulation provided by a PC emulator, it's really hard to justify $80 (likely more up here in Canada) for games I can play for free on my PC or on a RetroPie.

[JLTucker]

Even if the quality is somewhat better than the emulation provided by a PC emulator, it's really hard to justify $80 (likely more up here in Canada) for games I can play for free on my PC or on a RetroPie.

How is the RetroPi’s scaling? I’m considering it in case I am too scared to hack my console.

[Jub]

How is the RetroPi’s scaling? I’m considering it in case I am too scared to hack my console.

I don't own one myself, but a friend bought one a while ago. To my eyes, it looks pretty good but I've never noticed any game breakers with SNES emulators on my normal PC so YMMV.

If you tell me what to look for I might be able to test it tomorrow and get back to you.

[TheFeniX]

Odd that they stuck with the 3 label for FF6. I wonder if this is an old hat licensing issue. The Genesis was unable to run FF6, so the SNES would have been the only viable console for it to be developed for. Nintendo might straight up own the rights to distribute SNES Final Fantasy 3 for life or something.

Why these inferior products exist when there are emulators out there, I'll never know. Is using a SNES controller that compelling?

Because there's something to be said about Plug and Play. Also, nostalgia at having a box with physical similarity to something you owned as a kid that, due to HDMI and resolution scaling, can be used in the modern day with little difficulty.

I still have my N64 with a (albeit, much small) cadre of games, but most of them look like a mud pile on a large 1080p TV.

Also Mortal Kombat.

If ever there was a terrible port, especially when put along-side the Genesis port. Forget that the SNES could push better graphics, the control response for the SNES version was atrocious. Delays into at least the 100ms area made the game play like molasses.

[JLTucker]

I've spent a few hours playing it. The games I played still hold up, except for perhaps Mario Kart. Super Mario World and Street Fighter II Turbo are still a lot of fun to play.

Right now I've spent most time on Earthbound. Not a bad game, IMO.

[TheFeniX]

I've spent a few hours playing it. The games I played still hold up, except for perhaps Mario Kart. Super Mario World and Street Fighter II Turbo are still a lot of fun to play.

Star Fox doesn't hold up well either because Star Fox/Mario Kart 64 were basically just better versions of them. Whereas Mario World still stands as a really solid platformer. Mode 7, in general, also doesn't hold up well. Both, while great games, were also basically tech demos for the SuperFX chip.

Right now I've spent most time on Earthbound. Not a bad game, IMO.

High-Octane Nightmare Fuel. Love that game, but I find it hard to replay. Beat it once, never could bring myself to get into it again. It's so bad, I remember very little about it. Something about it always fucks me up. Likely has something to do with how light-hearted it is on the surface.

Bit of trivia: the game code is a total mess. Instead of having an interface that prints text and waits on a multiple-choice response, the thing is a jumbled mess of scripting. But it's also incredibly powerful if you were able to use it. A joke I heard before-hand (and is mentioned on that page) is that Earthbound could emulate itself in the same running instance.

[houser2112]

Why these inferior products exist when there are emulators out there, I'll never know. Is using a SNES controller that compelling?

Because there's something to be said about Plug and Play. Also, nostalgia at having a box with physical similarity to something you owned as a kid that, due to HDMI and resolution scaling, can be used in the modern day with little difficulty.

I could almost get on board with this product for those reasons if it had any expandibility, but my nostalgia is not strong enough to justify spending that much money on a fixed set of games.

[Jub]

Because there's something to be said about Plug and Play. Also, nostalgia at having a box with physical similarity to something you owned as a kid that, due to HDMI and resolution scaling, can be used in the modern day with little difficulty.

You could always get a Retron and some multicarts for that for roughly the same price. More systems and more games that way with all the plug and play you could ask for.

[TheFeniX]

Yes, there's better options. That doesn't mean there isn't value in other products.

Otherwise consoles would have lost out to PC years ago.

[RogueIce]

Otherwise consoles would have lost out to PC years ago.

A lot of PC ports, even modern ones, not having native controller support is really fucking annoying, though.

I don't care what the M+KB purists say, controllers really are easier and more convenient to play with.

[JLTucker]

Because there's something to be said about Plug and Play. Also, nostalgia at having a box with physical similarity to something you owned as a kid that, due to HDMI and resolution scaling, can be used in the modern day with little difficulty.

You could always get a Retron and some multicarts for that for roughly the same price. More systems and more games that way with all the plug and play you could ask for.

I’m telling you, none of these have better emulation and scaling.

[TheFeniX]

I don't care what the M+KB purists say, controllers really are easier and more convenient to play with.

You mean something that is flat-out worse, or more useful in other areas but worse in others, might have value?

Sorry, but I'm going to use you to take a jab at the idea that because something "better" exists it's difficult to understand why something "worse" exists as well, though I'm pretty sure you don't have a dog in that fight.

As for your post, I've had good luck with native controller support. In fact, many games ported to PC I've played tend to have better controller support than KB/M because that's what they want you to use.

Oddly enough, what should have been a textbook case of "terrible control porting" in Resident Evil 5 takes advantage of mouse acceleration and even gives the player a reticle when using the mouse. In fact, a complaint I heard about RE6 was that the KB/M could make the game trivial at times as it seems to be balanced around the speed of a controller.

[TheFeniX]

So, I met some guy in a parking lot and gave him $100 for one of these.

While not as bad as the NES: remember when games used to be hard? I'm not talking about Veteran Difficulty Grenade of Grenade: Grenade Grenade. I mean the game itself was challenging. Remember that? I kind of did, but now I am once again well aware.

Within 5 minutes, I had heard this:

so. many. times.

But MAAAAAAAAn, am I kicking ass on my way through Super Metroid. I really need to get another copy of Zero Mission for my DS. But for now I'll have to settle for arguably the best game in the series.

[Darth Lucifer]

This is a great product for average people or young kids who don't know about Emulators and such. They have a SEGA one also, it's like 40-50 dollars. Really cool if you like Sonic and the SEGA library of games.

I'd like to get this just for StarFox and StarFox 2; it's been a while since I've used an SNES emulator, but last time I dabbled, there were proprietary issues with the FX chip games (I think there was an off-road racing game too), and it didn't work too well. Slowdown was an issue with some other games (Mega Man X), but most of them worked perfectly fine for me and my mediocre laptop.