Even if you discount all the rumors, the announcement of a Super NES Classic to follow-up on last year’s excellent but infuriatingly impossible to find NES Classic Edition seemed like an inevitability. Today, Nintendo finally took the wraps off its next miniaturized throwback console, and it’s looking like a great package. The Super NES Classic Edition is set to launch on September 29 for $80. It’ll come with 21 pre-installed games and, in a shockingly merciful move, two controllers, perfect for playing the several classic multiplayer games that made the roster. Hopefully, Nintendo has enough kindness left in its heart after that decision to make more of these things than it did last time.
All in all, the game selection is about as good one could reasonably expect. The overall number is down from the 30 games that came with the NES Classic, but these are much more rich and fully formed experiences. It includes the holy trinity of Nintendo’s Super NES masterpieces—Super Metroid, Super Mario World, and The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past—and most of the other Nintendo games you’d want out of a collection like this. There are a couple of pleasant surprises as well, including EarthBound, Super Mario RPG, Star Fox, and Yoshi’s Island, all of which had been wrapped up in various woes that held them back from official re-releases in the past. The biggest shocker of all is the inclusion of the previously unreleased Star Fox 2, which never made it to shelves despite being a finished product.
The selection of games from third-party publishers is also solid. Three of Capcom’s most popular games for the system—Mega Man X, Super Ghouls ’N Ghosts, and Street Fighter II—made the cut, as did Konami’s Contra III and Super Castlevania IV. And while Final Fantasy II and Chrono Trigger are nowhere to be seen, Nintendo did manage to snag two other legendary Squaresoft RPGs: Final Fantasy III (A.K.A. Final Fantasy VI, A.K.A. the best Final Fantasy) and Secret Of Mana. You can check out the full list of games, and while you’re at it, why not see how it compares to our own wishlist?
- Contra III: The Alien Wars
- 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 Metroid
- Super Punch-Out!!
- Yoshi’s Island