SNES Classic (PAL)

★★★★☆ — As you’d expect

Gloss Staff

Sep 30, 2017 — 5 min read

Gaming — The SNES Classic is exactly what I was expecting from Nintendo. It’s a cute package, packed to the brim with nostalgia and an attention to hardware detail. The box is classic, the console looks like a trophy you could keep powered off and in an glass cube at an art gallery, and the controllers feel like what I remember of the SNES. Even better, it comes with two controllers this time, thank goodness.

Game selection is slightly questionable. I’d love to have seen Donkey Kong Country 2 for example. But future mods will likely satisfy me, in the same way that they did on the NES Classic, where you could load hundreds of other games and even non-Nintendo emulators with limited risk. (Check out /r/miniSNESmods for updates on that). If I could figure it out, you can too, and the ability to backup your console’s current kernel means it’s almost risk-free, though still not covered by warranty or law.

Little additions, like a minute-or-so of rewind for each game, means the SNES Classic is also a great console for people new to the SNES library. The ability to save a game at any point, for example, or to even go back and rewind a game by a minute and start playing from that previous point is a nice addition.

Personally, while it’s apparently blasphemous in emulation circles, I’d have loved to see a 16:9 stretch mode in the SNES Classic’s display settings, but the included CRT, Pixel Perfect and 4:3 display options are fine. I hate black bars and always feel better when the game is filling the screen, even if it is stretched a bit.

The SNES Classic’s menu system is also fun and simple to use, in true Nintendo style.

My main complaint about the package is still controller cable length. I understand a lack of wireless controllers in such a cheap package, and while the SNES controllers now stretch further, they don’t actually make it from my TV to my lounge without an extension cable. I’d recommend checking out Target and buying a $10 extension cord if you don’t want to play the SNES Classic on the floor in front of your TV. There was a 2-pack available for about $15, which isn’t the best but definitely makes the console a more fun thing to use.

As well, the collection just makes me yearn for a Nintendo Switch bundle of SNES games, which would presumably work portably and with the Switch’s wireless controllers. But every single person under the sun has begged Nintendo for such a release so I’m sure they’ll figure something out by the time the SNES Classic has sold as many units as possible, maybe next year.

As a blast from the past, the SNES Classic is a classic. Games perform well, new features help more casual gamers, and the console and controller designs are really special. I adore my console, even more than the NES Classic which didn’t really have a place in my memory. And when I’m done playing back through Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country I’ll probably just keep the console on my desk because of how delightfully sweet it feels.

Hopefully Sony’s listening to the demand for this thing too and considers bringing back PSone classics on PS4 or, hey, maybe even a PSone Classic. But I doubt it.