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SNES Mini sold out? How to get your retro fix
The slimline new Super Nintendo is likely to be in as much demand as the NES Classic Mini, but don’t despair for scalpers – here’s how you can play the console’s amazing library right now.
Nintendo dropped a bombshell announcement this week, unveiling the SNES Mini, or to give it its full name, Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Just like the NES Mini before it, it’s a slimmed down version of the original, beloved console with lots of games pre-installed (everything from Super Mario RPG to Contra 3) and designed to work on modern day HDTVs. It’s out in September, priced at around $79.99 (€70).
Just like the NES Mini before it, unfortunately, it’s also going to be rarer than a shining Pokémon card. Pre-orders are already sold out on many sites across the globe, and worse, scalpers and hoarders are already selling their reservation spots on eBay for three times the RRP.
Nintendo has done little to dispel concern about scarcity either – they pulled the plug on NES Mini production after just months, and have refused to confirm that SNES Mini production will continue into 2018. It seems likely that come the Christmas rush there will be plenty of disappointed Nintendo fans, but all hope is not lost. While you might not be able to hold one of these in your palm and stroke it, which we’ll be the first to admit is quite a lot of the appeal, you can play lots of classic SNES games on modern devices today with ease. Here’s how.
Fire up your 3DS
Fancy taking your retro fix on the go? Exclusively available on New Nintendo 3DS (and New Nintendo 2DS XL) handhelds, the Japanese giant has plenty of SNES games available for you to download via their Virtual Console service, with 30 classic titles on offer for you to take on the road. While you won’t find the unreleased Star Fox 2 which is exclusively making its way to the SNES Mini, you can find gems like Super Punch-Out!!, Earthbound, F-Zero and Street Fighter Alpha 2 waiting for you on the New 3DS, making it one of the best ways to enjoy these classics.
Kick back at home with the Virtual Console
If you’ve got yourself a Wii or a Wii U in your house and you want to squeeze some retro life out of them, you’ll find they’re home to Virtual Console ports of SNES games too, letting you kick back with all of your favourite 16-bit titles on the big screen. You’ll find more games on offer on the home consoles than you will on the New Nintendo 3DS, with the Wii having the largest Super Nintendo library on offer, while the Wii U has been updated much more recently; and depending on which region your console is from, you might find some games that aren’t released in other regions. Still, with the Wii U, you get the best image quality and rendering settings, and you can play your games around the house thanks to the Wii U GamePad. Now, where’s the Virtual Console on Switch?
Pick up a port
While Nintendo have kept all of their own first party games off of mobile, there are lots of classic SNES games from third party developers available on the iPhone App store and Google Play Store for Android smartphones. Square Enix RPGs like Final Fantasy VI and Secret of Mana (both featured on the SNES Mini) have been ported to touchscreen, as well as other classics like Chrono Trigger which have inexcusably been left off Nintendo’s own shopping list.
Capcom’s Mega Man X is also available on the iPhone, while several of Nintendo’s own first party games have been ported to its various handhelds over the years, so if you’ve got a New Nintendo 3DS you can (finally) play EarthBound on the go, as well as Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting.
Retro via another route
If you’ve got a few SNES carts of your own knocking about that you want to put to good use on your modern HDTV, you’ll find your original SNES will look pretty pants on your modern telly, unless you buy an expensive upscaler – but you could look at investing in a third-party console with much more modern features. Hyperkin, for example, have crafted a multi-retro console called the RetroN 5 which not only packs in Super Nintendo compatibility, but also NES, Mega Drive, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance ports, and outputs them all in high-def. Hyperkin have also created a portable SNES called the SupaBoy S, which lets you play your original cartridges on the go, but it’s not quite as handy as Nintendo’s modern way of playing SNES titles on the New 3DS.
Get a Sega Mega Drive micro console instead
How about a Sega Mega Drive?
© AtGames
Former nemeses turned bestest buddies Sega have been wise to the whole micro console trend for years, and sell slimmed down Mega Drive / Sega Genesis consoles for both HDTVs and in handheld form with scores of games on board. So if you really can’t get hold of the SNES Mini but must have your retro fix, you could always go for one of these instead. After all, there are many gamers out there who still swear blind Sonic was better than Mario, and really, we all know that Mortal Kombat was much better on the Mega Drive too, right?
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