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Nintendo announces upcoming release of Super NES Classic Edition

6 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

While its insistence on doing things its own way can sometimes make Nintendo a stubborn company, recently it’s been giving fans exactly what they want. Want a brand-new Zelda game available at launch for the Switch? Sure! A real-life Super Mario level as part of their tie-up with Universal Studios Japan? OK!

And now the company’s surging goodwill is rising even higher, thanks to the announcement of the official announcement of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition.

While the system itself has gotten smaller, the two included controllers look to be an exact match to the original spec units. A  follow-up to last year’s phenomenally popular NES Classic Edition, the Super NES Classic Edition is a miniature recreation of the, well, classic video game system (which launched in the early ‘90s, before “console” was the standard parlance) which comes loaded with a number of hit games from the era. Nintendo isn’t being quite as generous this time around, as the SNES Classic Edition contains 21 games, instead of the even 30 for the NES version. However, whereas the 8-bit lineup had a few questionable inclusions (only the most hardcore historians were itching to play the non-super Mario Bros. or NES Galaga), the SNES Classic Edition’s library is incredibly strong.

The North American and UK versions will let you play:

● Contra III

● Donkey Kong Country

● EarthBound

● Final Fantasy III

● 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 II Turbo: Hyper Fighting

● Super Castlevania IV

● Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts

● Super Mario Kart

● Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

● Super Mario World

● Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

● Super Metroid

● Super Punch-Out!!

In case you missed it, of special note is the inclusion of Star Fox 2, a game that was developed for the SNES, completed by Nintendo, but never released. So even if you’ve got no interest in “old” games, the SNES Classic Edition offers something new.

Still, the primary appeal here is retro fun, and Nintendo has gone above and beyond in delivering on that. Not only do you get a collection of landmark games from the 16-bt era, the SNES Classic Edition is an opportunity to relive the frustration of Japan-exclusive titles and releases. The Japanese version of the mini system, called the Nintendo Classic Mini Super Famicom, also comes with 21 games, but only 16 of those align with the North American/UK set.

Gamers in Japan won’t get to play EarthBound, Kirby’s Dream Course, Super Castlevania IV, or Super Punch-Out!!. Given that the Punch-Out!! franchise has always had a larger following in the West, it’s not a surprise that Nintendo left it out, but scrubbing EarthBound, which was released as the middle installment of the popular Mother franchise in Japan, is a curious choice.

Also missing from the Nintendo Classic Mini Super Famicom is Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, but that’s because it gets replaced with the upgraded semi-sequel Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers. Also exclusive to the Japanese system are Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Super Formation Soccer, Panel de Pon (which was repurposed into Tetris Attack outside Japan), and Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, which revives the proud tradition of teasing English-speaking 16-bit gamers with an untranslated Japanese RPG.

Again, I can’t overemphasize how Nintendo has gone all out recreating the experience of being a gamer in the 16-bit era, as the regional differences also mean you can enjoy griping about box art differences and whether Final Fantasy III or Final Fantasy VI is the proper way to refer to the series last new mainline installment on a Nintendo system.

boxart.png

Although the UK and North American versions share the same library of games, the UK does get the rounded, colorful Super Famicom-styling for its Super NES, just like it did in the ‘90s, as opposed to the aesthetically awkward North American design.

The Super Nintendo Classic Edition launches on September 29 in North America and will cost $79.99, and on the same day in the UK for an as-yet undisclosed price. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Classic Mini Super Famicom hits stores in Japan on October 5 for 7,980 yen. Clamoring for a Nintendo 64 Classic Edition is expected to start by mid-October at the latest.

Source: Nintendo

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

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© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

6 Comments
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I loved this console as a kid, but don't see the appeal anymore... I'm curious how it would look on a 4K TV though!

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Star Fox 2 was never even finished.

I presume someone has gone back to finish and localize it?

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To this day the US version looks ugly as sin, never did find out why Ninty released it in that form instead of the nicer looking JAP/PAL version.

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I wanted the remake of the original NES, but the damn things sold out before most could get their hands on it. And it doesn't seem they'll be making any more. Now they sell on Amazon for $300 or so. Eff that. I hope they learned their lesson and make a tonne of the SNES version. It looks like great fun.

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I am not much for classic remake consoles. I find them cheaply made, both the hardware and the software and most of the Atari and Sega Genesis games can be found on countless retro cartridges and disks. And the supposed 80 Sega Genesis games half are home brew crap, so really you are only getting 40 Genesis classics.

However Nintendo, as far as I know, has never offered any of those type of retro consoles and hardly any cartridges or disks that have large amounts of collections of their greatest games. At only $80, provided this is not cheap emulation as the other retro consoles use, (sound is off, lag, etc.) this will be an extremely good offer. Considering Super Castlevania IV itself is $50 used, that is more than half the console already paid for. And Earthbound could be much more.

The only thing better, provided as I said these are not cheap emulations or roms, is that they add a cartridge slot to allow for most SNES games to be played. Maybe not Star Fox because it uses the more advance FX chip, but you could essentially buy other games and play them in the system. Have ports for original controllers. (Eventually these controllers will wear out.) Stuff like that, even if a little more expensive. 

But if they make another retro SNES system, never include the majority of the same games and then only add a few new ones. I hate when companies do that. Also a little sad they did not include Super Street Fighter II in the US version.

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If it's like the Mini NES Classic, it'd be in very limited quantities and can't add anymore games

Seems Nintendo just uses these Classic remakes more as a commercial to remind people of their love for Nintendo and keep itself in the mainstream attention (instead of a regular mass-produced good)

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