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Nintendo SNES Mini

Started by Link Prime, 26 June, 2017, 05:42:37 PM

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IndigoPrime

I've no idea what the thinking was with the NES Mini. They could still be cranking them out NOW and making a tidy profit on the things. Odd.

Pyroxian

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 27 June, 2017, 09:19:39 AM
Still not sure why these retro minis generate so much excitement, you can set up a Retropie with a SNES controller for next to nothing and stick as many SNES games as you want on it. 

I wouldn't say next to nothing - It cost me about £100 for a PI, plus all the gubbins and two decent SNES USB controllers. And after all that, I still can't get it to save games properly, so can't really play any RPGs  on it :( Easier to just get the old SNES out of the attic :D

My PI is great as a MAME machine though. I'm considering building it into my X-Arcade stick so I just have a self-contained Arcade console.

Link Prime

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 27 June, 2017, 11:11:34 AM
I've no idea what the thinking was with the NES Mini. They could still be cranking them out NOW and making a tidy profit on the things. Odd.

In a nutshell;
They didn't realize how popular it would be.
They were busy with the Switch launch.

SIP

The nostalgia of old games machines is always more appealing than actually playing the games.

The SNES is my most fondly remembered games machine, and I instantly want to buy this DESPITE still owning my old snes and all of the games that are on this. Besides that I have a great snes emulator on my pc with every snes game ever released.

The reality however is that I put something like secret of mana on (one of my favourite games) or chrono trigger, play it for abot 15 minutes, then go back to something like PS4 Skyrim, or Fallout, or Doom, or Tomb Raider.  I loved F Zero and played it for hours and hours, but it doesn't exactly stand up by today's standards.

The games that fare the best are the platform games. Those games can still play as well today (super ghouls is great) or the side scrolling shooters (super probotector). But they can be fiendishly difficult and very frustrating. Over the last couple of decades games have become almost childishly easy in comparison to snes games.

Anyway, nostalgia, it's not what it used to be.

JamesC

My favourite retro machines are my Megadrive and my Speccy. Both of which are great for firing up for quick blasts of arcadey fun.
While Super Mario World and Secret of Mana are great games, I just don't have the time or inclination to play through them.
If I get one of these Snes minis my most played games will be Kirby's Dream Course, Mario Kart and Super Punch Out.
(Having said that, I also have all of those games on original cart. maybe I won't bother with one of these new ones after all.)

IndigoPrime

It's notable that although I've written for well over 100 issues of Retro Gamer (along with retro stuff for Edge, games™ and M!), and thoroughly enjoyed doing so, dealing with the actual games has often been a slog. Most of them simply don't hold up. The stories are often interesting, but the games are, by modern standards, bloody awful.

There are exceptions, of course. I'll still happily play the original Boulder Dash, a small selection of arcade games (Robotron; Defender; Tempest; Bubble Bobble; and so on), and the truly superb Stunt Car Racer. But even many classics of the day just don't hold up. Same as any media, really.

radiator

QuoteStill not sure why these retro minis generate so much excitement, you can set up a Retropie with a SNES controller for next to nothing and stick as many SNES games as you want on it. 

Imo it's because emulators just don't offer the same experience. For one thing, the controllers on this thing will be authentic and perfect, not some cheap knock-off. Also, every emulator I've ever used has been glitchy as hell, with sudden crashes, inconsistent frame rates, input lag, graphical and audio bugs etc (especially running the likes of Star Fox, Mario Kart and Yoshi's Island). They also tend to have universally ugly, and poorly designed UIs. I've always had to juggle between various emus to see which runs which game better. There's a lot to be said for having everything in a neat, streamlined and beautifully presented package and a smooth, polished UI experience, not to mention the aesthetic, tactile appeal of the unit itself.

QuoteThe nostalgia of old games machines is always more appealing than actually playing the games.

The SNES is my most fondly remembered games machine, and I instantly want to buy this DESPITE still owning my old snes and all of the games that are on this. Besides that I have a great snes emulator on my pc with every snes game ever released.

The reality however is that I put something like secret of mana on (one of my favourite games) or chrono trigger, play it for abot 15 minutes, then go back to something like PS4 Skyrim, or Fallout, or Doom, or Tomb Raider.  I loved F Zero and played it for hours and hours, but it doesn't exactly stand up by today's standards.

The games that fare the best are the platform games. Those games can still play as well today (super ghouls is great) or the side scrolling shooters (super probotector). But they can be fiendishly difficult and very frustrating. Over the last couple of decades games have become almost childishly easy in comparison to snes games.

Anyway, nostalgia, it's not what it used to be.

I'm with you up to a point, and that point is the 16 bit era. Even the NES - probably the most universally beloved console ever made - to my mind only has a handful of titles that hold up today (Mario 3, basically). Without the rose-tinted spectacles (I never owned a NES), even apparently iconic games like Mega Man 2, Duck Tales and the original Zelda I personally find pretty much tedious and unplayable now.

I think the SNES is a different beast though. Just look at the lineup of titles for this thing; Mega Man X, A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Final Fantasy III (VI), Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Metroid, Contra III (Super Probotector), Yoshi's Island...

These are phenomenal games by any standard. And it's not just nostalgia saying this - for example, I've only really properly played Super Metroid, Mega Man X and Yoshi's Island in the last five years and they hold up superbly. Imo, these games offer a much deeper and more satisfying experience than anything on the NES (which I would argue offers more of an occasional five minute blast of nostalgia).

IndigoPrime

I suspect it to some extent depends on your era, though, and how likely someone is to allow for creaky visuals. Robotron, for example, remains one of the very best twin-stick shooters, but it looks basic and is hard and nails. Would it appeal to that many people who weren't there at the time? And the same's probably true of quite a lot of SNES fare.

The platformers, though, tend to have a kind of timeless quality about them, as, to some extent, do the RPGs. I can't imagine that many kids having a lot of fun with F-Zero, though, despite how ground-breaking it was at the time.

Greg M.

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 27 June, 2017, 05:53:08 PM
I suspect it to some extent depends on your era, though, and how likely someone is to allow for creaky visuals.

I'd argue that artistically-speaking, SNES titles hold up surprisingly well - the best of them have a level of pixellated charm that dates them far less than, say, most PS1 or N64 titles. Not every SNES game is great, of course, but the sheer volume of timeless titles the console has to offer is unprecedented and remarkable. The likes of Super Metroid and Link to the Past are about as expertly designed as games get.

radiator

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 27 June, 2017, 05:53:08 PM
I suspect it to some extent depends on your era, though, and how likely someone is to allow for creaky visuals. Robotron, for example, remains one of the very best twin-stick shooters, but it looks basic and is hard and nails. Would it appeal to that many people who weren't there at the time? And the same's probably true of quite a lot of SNES fare.

The platformers, though, tend to have a kind of timeless quality about them, as, to some extent, do the RPGs. I can't imagine that many kids having a lot of fun with F-Zero, though, despite how ground-breaking it was at the time.

To some extent, yes, but I still maintain that games reached a much higher level of sophistication in the SNES era, and hold up far better as a result. I think a large part of that is the wider implementation of the battery backup, which allowed proper saving (rather than having to type in passwords), which allowed for games that were much richer home console experiences and less arcadey and trial and error by design. Definitely agree on platformers and RPGs having aged the best, though - can't imagine anyone having much fun with something like Star Fox coming to it fresh nowadays.

On your example of F Zero, tbh I always found it quite basic even at the time. It was essentially a proof of concept for (the far superior) Mario Kart, in any case, whereas I totally have seen my young relatives playing and enjoying stuff like Super Mario World. And there's a solid case for A Link to the Past being the pinnacle of the Zelda series - it's not just fueled by nostalgia.

Third Estate Ned

I'm really pleased this has finally been announced. I've been searching for it every week since the rumours started and I've put a deposit down on Gamestop for one already. Sure, nostalgia plays a part in the enjoyment but I wouldn't be forking out €80 for nostalgia alone. The lineup of games fills me with joy, especially Ghouls 'n' Ghosts and Castlevania being in the list. As a teenage fool I sold my SNES and all the games for something like a quid each to a second hand shop to get beer money.

I understand the lukewarm response from some of the gamers here but I haven't played video games with any kind of dedication since the first Playstation and I'm not looking to catch up with anything immersive or groundbreaking. I just want 20 mins of what I remember being loads of fun to plug in and play after work.

No complaints whatsoever about the lineup but just for fun, if I could choose, I would exchange one of the RPGs for Zombies Ate My Neighbors or Smash Tennis, two-player games both.

Does anyone know what the deal is with paid pre-orders if the stock doesn't meet the demand, or has anyone dealt with Gamestop before in this respect?


radiator

There's an extra level of complication for me trying to get one, as I'm based in the US but ideally want a UK model, the US SNES being the bizarrely ugly, boxy, mauve monstrosity that it is.

JamesC

I really hope people give Kirby's Dream Course a go and don't just see it as filler.
It's a really fun, inventive game that's great with 2 players and really rewards experimentation and practice.
I bought it really cheap in a Woolworths sale and it turned out to be one of my most loved games on the system. I'm very pleasantly surprised to see it included.

F Zero was always cack though. They should've swapped it out for Pilot Wings.

radiator

Kirby is one of my Nintendo blindspots - never really played any of them.

SIP

#29
Eeeeesh.  Pilot wings is not a good game,  at all, and I would certainly say F zero kicks super mario karts ass all the way.  Mario Kart came into its own on the game cube, then became a true great on Wii.

As for nostalgia driving this, all I would say is that I've been a hard core gamer all of my life and still own my atari 2600, commodore 64, commodore amiga 500 and 1200, my snes, my dream cast, n64, game cube, ps1, 2, 3, 4, Xbox, 360 and a pc with a healthy volume of steam games and emulators.  I have given both my kids a good amount of exposure to "retro gaming", and despite the rose tinted spectacles and insistence by me that a lot of these older games are my all time favourites, I have a 9 year old and a 12 year old who look at me with an expression of bemusement that says "nah".

It is nostalgia.
There are great ideas here, but the reality is that it's all being done a lot better nowadays. I love some of these games, give me defender, armalyte, chaos engine, gods, speedball 2, street fighter 2 turbo, secret of mana, midnight resistance, golden axe and the MIGHTY Turrican 2 - I LOVE them, but then I'm completely biased and have emotions invested in what those games meant to me at that given time. You won't find many modern children sacrificing another go on the latest multi million dollar incredible console game for just one more go at wizball!

As I said, I'm not rubbishing the games, but most of them are pretty crude by modern standards. I appreciate that it was this very invention that lay the foundations for what comes now, but Street fighter 2 doesn't really compare to injustice 2, secret of mana doesn't top skyrim and Alien breed isn't quite gears of war.