Hey everyone, it’s Whatever Wednesdays and this post is late. I was planning to write a short post about going back to California for my friend’s wedding and leaving it at that. However, an announcement by Nintendo piqued my interest. So let’s talk about “Should I pre-order the SNES Classic?”

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From nintendo.com

What is the SNES Classic?

Well, it’s basically a repackaged Super Nintendo that comes with 2 controllers, 21 pre-loaded games, and HDMI.

It’s tiny by the way.

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From nintendo.com

It’s the expected follow-up to the ridiculously popular NES Classic. However, the NES Classic was also a relatively limited run. Nintendo only sold 2.3 million units and that was it. To be honest, I considered trying to pre-order one when the NES Classic released… but it’s game list wasn’t all that great (to me). I mean, it has Final Fantasy, Metroid, Castlevania, Legend of Zelda, and the Super Mario Bros Trilogy, which are great. However, although I grew up with NES, to me the “Golden Age” was really the time of the SNES.

Either way, the NES Classic has come and gone. You can still get them on Ebay, but they fetch the same price as what the retailed for. I’m over it.

When I first read that the SNES Classic was coming (as I knew it would), I was pessimistic that it would include a lot of weak games. However… I was wrong.

What games does the SNES Classic come with?

These ones:

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From nintendo.com

Honestly, this list of games is pretty epic. Literally every single game included here is great.

Here’s a good game by game breakdown from Forbes.

However, here are my reasons for why I think the SNES Classic is worth it.

Final Fantasy III

Final Fantasy III (which is VI in Japan) is considered by many hardcore JRPG (Japanese Role Play Game) fans as the pinnacle of RPGs for the 16 bit era. When I was a kid, I remember printing out a 150 page FAQ (Frequent Asked Questions) guide to try to learn every single aspect of this game. It had a rich storyline that you never wanted to end. I do wish they had included Final Fantasy II (IV in Japan) as that was the first RPG I ever played… however, beggars can’t be choosers.

Secret of Mana

Isn’t it interesting, that I literally just wrote about how awesome Secret of Mana was. Still one of the best RPGs every made, and likely one of the best multiplayer action RPGs ever made. The ability to have 2 (or even 3) people play an RPG at the same time was very uncommon during the 16 bit era. Secret of Mana was one of the few games that got it right. It also has one of the best soundtracks ever made as well (along with Chrono Trigger).

Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting

I also just talked about Street Fighter II the other day as well. However, this particular version is the Turbo version (which also included Champion Edition). This was the last Street Fighter II to be released during the 16 bit era. My friend had this version, but I never really got into it because I was so used to the original version which I owned. Either way, it’s a great game.

Super Mario World and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

Super Mario World came with the SNES and everyone loved it. It had so many secrets to find. I never played its sequel, but I heard it was great.

Super Mario Kart

Friendships were created and lost over Super Mario Kart. This was before the crazy shells that came after in the 7 other Mario Karts that were to follow. If you had the red shell in Super Mario Kart, you were a force to be reckoned with. Rainbow Road on 150cc was a nightmare to behold. Good times.

Super Mario RPG

I must admit, I only played a little bit of this. It came out during the tail end of the SNES’s life and I didn’t own it. My friend let me borrow it for awhile but I never beat it. However, I do remember it being a great game… and one that I wanted to finish someday.

Earthbound

To be honest, I never played Earthbound because it also came out at the end of the SNES’s life and I didn’t own it. It also had a relatively limited release so I had not even heard of it until many years later. However, my little brother recently got into retro game collecting and bought a copy for our still working SNES. He says it’s a great game and so I did want to play it eventually.

All the other games are also at least Good, if not Great.

So how much does it cost then?

It’s $80.

Now, that’s not chump change. However, to a gamer who pays $60 + tax for every game, then it’s totally worth it.

Now then, for me, who doesn’t really play anymore, is $80 worth it? 

Probably not. With my full-time job, this blog, another side project, and family stuff I won’t have time to replay the time intensive games I listed above.

However, my daughter just turned 4 and my son turns 2 in September. It was always part of my plan to let them play the “Golden Age” of gaming. I wanted the SNES to be their first foray into gaming because of the storylines and because hyper realistic graphics weren’t necessary back then. Sprites died with the Golden Age. For that reason, I kept my SNES in good condition along with a lot of games. My little brother was able to enjoy some of those games and has even added to the collection. Ideally, I would like to hold on to my original SNES and its carts. However, in the event that it dies (or my little brother steals it), having an SNES Classic would be nice.

So, if I am able, I will be pre-ordering the SNES Classic for my kids.

So how do I pre-order?

Right now there is no active pre-order.

However, Amazon and Best Buy have landing pages and notify buttons. Nintendo has said that it will be producing “significantly more” SNES Classics than the NES Classic, but I still believe that there will be a shortage. If you want one, probably a good idea to just put your info in to be alerted when it goes live.

Here is the full statement from Nintendo:

“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.”

Anything else I should know?

Yeah. The NES Classic got a lot flak for having “too short” of cords for its controllers. As such, the SNES Classic has cords for its controllers which are 2 feet longer (~5 feet).

No Chrono Trigger for the SNES Classic. I don’t know why they did this. To include Final Fantasy III and Secret of Mana, but no Chrono Trigger. Those three games are considered the Holy Trinity of JRPGs for the Golden Era. I feel as if they missed an opportunity here.

There is a high likelihood that these same games will become available in the Nintendo Switch in the near future. Nintendo may be showcasing these games for the “collectible” SNES Classic, only to dump them onto the Nintendo Switch a few months later. The Nintendo Switch already has some SNES style and NES style control pads from 8bitdo. A new one is coming out as well that has analog sticks.

TL;DR

Just some more reminiscing about the Golden Era of 16 bit games and talking to myself about the SNES Classic.

$80 for the SNES Classic, 21 games (all of them good), 2 controllers, 5 foot cords, using HDMI.

Worth it? Maybe.

SNES games to be seen on the Nintendo Switch soon…? Likely.

-Sensei

Agree? Disagree? Questions, Comments and Suggestions are welcome.

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