Year of grace 2017, retrogaming lovers can finally get their hands on the mini version of the SNES
Love or hate, the miniature versions of the consoles that have made the history of retrogaming, including ours SNES mini, have reintroduced those same consoles to the general public, with more or less successful experiments. It would be enough to think of the “starter” made with the NES which followed the first PlayStation, strictly without the analog sticks, the thousand versions of the legendary Atari, the primordial Famicom Mini, the big biscuit Commodore 64, the archenemy Sega Mega Drive, the curious Capcom Home Arcade, the microscopic NEO GEO cabinet and so on.
Console in an even more portable version, some of these can easily fit in your pocket of the jacket excluding cables and controllers, which caused much discussion both for the price and for their very essence. If indeed the eighties and nineties are back in fashion, TV series such as Stranger Things also testify, the same can be said for the play of that period. A video game perhaps less complete than today, but no less challenging or whatever compelling.
We take into account that many pixel heroes still known today, just think of Super Mario, Link, Crash Bandicoot, Sir Daniel Fortesque, Spyro and many others, have seen their origins in those machines, reaching us with sequels, remakes and even special editions. Having said that, it is useless to get lost in chatter too much, it’s time to unpack the packaging of ours piccolo Super Nintendo Entertainment System, better known in Japan as Super Famicom, attach it to television and play a game with it.
First impressions and unboxing
The SNES mini box is, as the name suggests, of really small size and pinwheel can already be seen as on the back there are some of the best known titles of the original console that made retrogaming history. Obviously we’ll get to those later, still have a little patience.
Finally opening the box, in addition to the console, we find inside the HDMI cable appropriately branded, that ofsupply and, surprise of surprises, ben due controller with a decent length cable. The one included in the little NES was very short indeed and to play the best you had to stick to the screen or buy a similar one belonging to a sub-brand.
An element that, however, is missing from the inside, like its miniature “colleagues”, is thepower supply. If that of the consoles of the eighties and nineties was like a cell phone of that period, big and heavy, here is enough only insert the USB cable into the smartphone charger to remedy the problem. Not really a problem, that’s true, but it would have been nice to have everything inside the box anyway. Patience.
Taking it all in hand (connecting it will take you only a few seconds) the feel and rounded shapes of consoles and controllers send the mind back until the early nineties. The period in which, the first consul a 16 bit of the Big N, made its appearance in Japan and it was almost immediately “war” with the rival SEGA.
Obviously the console is smaller, but the controllers are about the same size as the original and they respond very well to commands without blocks or problems whatsoever. Of course, if you are an avid collector, there are also the dwarf versions of the American edition in gray and purple much more square and elongated, but they are tastes. Anyway, now that we have everything attached to our screen, we have made ourselves comfortable and have had our fill of Operation Nostalgia, the time has finally come to start playing.
The Games Inside – Retrogaming: SNES mini
Once everything is turned on we can see how, accompanied by a cheerful old arcade music, but it seems before us the whole choice menu of the console. Basically it is a roundup, a bit like in the NES and in the other “branded emulators”, with all the titles available and also several options. In addition to those on bailouts and on the tonguein fact, the possibility has been added to record a video of the game and personalize your experience even more.
For example, you can choose one cornice, colored or vintage “digital” patterns, and set the screen resolution on the original, 4: 3 or the cathode ray tube with a lot of small lines on the screen. In short, an authentic leap back in time even if you have a latest generation TV! The experience then becomes more complete with the presence of a QR Code to be scanned which will take you directly to the manuals of the selected game on your smartphone.
Anyway, going back to the opening speech, what appears to us is a list of ben 20 games already installed plus one “surprise” which is obtained by finishing another one. The other mysterious game is none other than that Star Fox 2, title never released, and playable only if you finish the first Star Fox on the list of games. Among the titles present, however, 10 less than the small NES, we can find authentic ones must and others pleasant surprises.
I veri BIG are icons such as Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Kart, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting. There are also some chapters of the tender Kirby saga to accompany some authentic videogame pearls come Earthbound, Final Fantasy III, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Secret of Mana, Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, F – Zero e così via.
All the games work great and then, importantly, the feeling it is the same and you can also have three different save slots. An operation that you can do at any time in the game and then resume it when you are more comfortable, having had a choice so in the nineties!
A few flaws and big absences – Retrogaming: SNES mini
Unfortunately, Operation Nostalgia was successful up to a certain point and even this product is not exactly free from defects. In addition to some negligible graphic effect (will disturb only the most attentive probably) the real problem is another. First of all, the reset button and it flap for cartridges they are not functional. It’s okay that it’s a smaller-scale version, but it wouldn’t have been bad to find a button to press and a flap that can be opened, just to give that extra feeling.
Other than that, it too flap where the controllers are connected it could have been thought better. Perhaps with a direct insertion of the cables instead of the “small trap door”, also because, by dint of opening and closing, you never know what could happen. To rest assured, leave them both attached and forget about it!
The price then, right now, it is certainly not the cheapest since on Amazon it abundantly exceeds 100 €. To get it, you need to look for it in the second-hand market or be lucky in a video game store who still has some boxes in stock. But even these are not real problems, perhaps excluding the price, since in this reunion of the Big N there are some big absentees that would really make a difference and make it even more unique and desirable.
In fact, if Super Mario World has its following here Donkey Kong can’t say the same, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest, and also on the other side of the titles there is some concern. Maybe a couple of Kirby chapters could have been deleted, respectfully speaking, to include titles like Chrono Trigger, Killer Instinct, Demon’s Crest, Blood Bros., Sunset Riders or Asterix & Obelix just to name a few.
Final remarks
If you are gods lovers of originals, then it is very likely that this product is not for you, but if you grew up in that period to the sound of cartridges and afternoons of challenges with friends this little one could be interesting. There are not many games and the machine cannot be updated, unless you try other less legal avenues of which you will take the risk, but who fondly remembers the old games e those who want to jump into the realm of eighties and nineties titles, and those who love retrogaming will be delighted by this SNES Mini!
Perhaps those who grew up with more modern consoles may not initially understand the world behind these 16-bit titles, but I am sure that, by just playing a few more games, they will increase their knowledge on the subject and will notice how some mechanisms are in act ever since. So if you can get one without spending too much, the better! In the hope that a Nintendo 64 or a scaled-down Nintendo GameCube will come out, how about recover other similar stocks at a good price?
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