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Nintendo SNES Mini

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

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radiator

What's also cool is that these are all presumably the NTSC versions of the games. Easy to forget that most of the versions of these games we played back in the day ran %17(?) slower, often with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

I imagine that the speed really changes the way they play, especially something like Star Fox.

JamesC

I'd have to play more of the games to see if the increased speed really jumps out at me. Star Fox doesn't seem any faster but maybe the speed was always limited by the processor on this anyway? It's been awhile since I played the original so hard to judge really.
Super Ghouls and Ghosts looks lovely (I still think the Megadrive version plays better but that's a whole other conversation!) and Contra will be fun with 2 players.
I still have my old SNES but this is more convenient to play on the big telly in the lounge.

I urge anyone reading this to give some time to Kirby's Dream Course. It's a hard game to describe but is really excellent, especially with 2 players. My friends and I spent many, many hours on this in the 90s.

radiator

Contra III is so damn awesome, and unlike a lot of contemporary platform/action games (coughSuper Ghouls and Ghosts cough Super Castlevania IV), isn't punishingly difficult and frustrating to play.

IIRC it's fairly easy to blow through on 'easy' mode with the life count maxed out, while 'normal' offers a more substantial challenge.

I'll have to check out Dream Course - I don't think I've ever really played a Kirby game before.

I'm really looking forward to playing through SMW and Yoshi's Island again, and will be taking it into the office for some multiplayer Mario Kart/Street Fighter II action.

JamesC

Dream Course has a Kirby veneer but isn't really linked to the core Kirby games. It's a sort of crazy golf thing with puzzle and action elements. It's really unique and rewards experimentation.

I really want to put some time aside to play through A Link to the Past and Super Metroid again. I've played both and still have my SM big box with guide (I paid £19.99 for it on special offer in Boots. It's worth a lot more now!) I still play quite a lot of retro games but it tends to be in short bursts - more arcadey stuff. The convenience of this mini unit with its save point feature means I should be able to play these games in decent size chunks on the main telly. Lovely stuff.

The Monarch

super mario rpg was never released here either

but yeah somehow my mom and my bro managed to get me one for my birthday

Tiplodocus

It was all night Mario Kart and Bomberman sessions at a mate in Stevenage that got me into games but as a late starter, my first console was a Nintendo64. So there's no nostalgia here for me but it still looks great!
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

radiator

Got mine last week. It's bloody glorious, isn't it?

I've used emulators for years - and actually own a NVidia Shield purely to play emulators on.... but it just doesn't compare to the experience of sitting in front of the TV playing the real thing. Even something as simple as an official SNES controller makes a world of difference from using dodgy third party controllers with imprecise dpads, and the user interface is sublime. I've clocked up hours of playtime on it already, and have barely scratched the surface of the 21 titles - haven't even loaded most of them up yet.

People moan about having to hit the reset button to get to the home menu, and on reflection I think this is a deliberate decision on Nintendo's part to dissuade players from save-scumming. And I think it works - I'm playing through Super Mario World, and for the most part I'm playing it old school as it was intended - that temptation to cheat with save states when I get stuck on a tricky level just isn't there. As a result I'm enjoying the game much more than at any time since I played it back on the original SNES.

It's also just adorable to look at, as a physical object, and fit perfectly under my tv next to the Apple TV. When I show the little SNES to people they react like it's a tiny kitten or something, and immediately want one!

An absolute steal for $80.

Professor Bear

Users have already cracked how to add your own roms, and it's surprisingly easy to do.  You only have about 200MB or so to work with, but the average SNES rom clocks in around 200-500kb, so the image/box art you use for the game on the system's front end menu will likely be larger than the actual game.

Link Prime

Quote from: radiator on 11 October, 2017, 10:39:17 PM
It's bloody glorious, isn't it?

Yep.

Like yourself, my sister and bro-in-law moved to the states a few years back.
They've been pestering me to pick them up a PAL version (they despise the US version too), so I'm on the hunt again for some of that elusive "extra stock" promised by Nintendo, T-Minus December 24th.

The Enigmatic Dr X

I'm giving this to one of my kids as "his" Christmas present.
Lock up your spoons!

radiator

Quote from: Link Prime on 12 October, 2017, 10:01:14 AM
Quote from: radiator on 11 October, 2017, 10:39:17 PM
It's bloody glorious, isn't it?

Yep.

Like yourself, my sister and bro-in-law moved to the states a few years back.
They've been pestering me to pick them up a PAL version (they despise the US version too), so I'm on the hunt again for some of that elusive "extra stock" promised by Nintendo, T-Minus December 24th.

Apparently they are starting to dispatch weekly shipments to shops as of yesterday, at least in the US. While getting one for RRP before Christmas might be tricky, I'm sure you'll manage to get one with a bit of patience - nintendo did explicitly tell customers not to pay more than retail price for one, which indicates that they are confident about eventually fulfilling demand.

QuoteUsers have already cracked how to add your own roms, and it's surprisingly easy to do.  You only have about 200MB or so to work with, but the average SNES rom clocks in around 200-500kb, so the image/box art you use for the game on the system's front end menu will likely be larger than the actual game.

Yeah, but each suspend point takes up 1mb (x4 per game) so in reality you have even less space to play with, or else risk messing up your ability to save games. I think I'll leave mine as it is - it'd be nice to have a few more titles on there - mostly Konami and Capcom's licensed Disney/WB games (and a few others like Wild Guns/Demon's Crest etc), Mortal Kombat II and a few others, but pretty much all of the 'essentials' are covered in the existing 21 pack-in games.

The Enigmatic Dr X

When's the GameCube mini out?
Lock up your spoons!

radiator

Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 12 October, 2017, 06:31:33 PM
When's the GameCube mini out?

I heard a rumour a while back that they're going to launch a Gamecube Virtual Console for the Switch.

I could conceivably see them doing a N64 Mini next year, though presumably they wouldn't be able to include any Rare games (with the possible exception of Donkey Kong 64 and Diddy Kong Racing?) which honestly wipes out about half of the decent games on the whole system. There's also other complications like the RAM expansion and the larger, more expensive controllers). If they did do one I imagine it would be more expensive (probably $100 or more) and would probably only come with 10-15 games, pretty much all of which would be first party titles (with about half of them having 'Mario' in the title).

radiator

Edge magazine awards a rare 10/10 to Super Mario Odyssey (their last 10/10 was given to Breath of the Wild):

http://nintendoeverything.com/super-mario-odyssey-receives-first-review-in-edge-awarded-with-a-perfect-score/

JamesC

There are rumours that a Gameboy mini will be next. There are some fantastic games on that system so it could be really good.