Super Nintendo Classic Edition (Star Fox 2)

[bigbadboaz]

I don't think you're giving Tetris Attack enough credit for its popularity. Regardless, it probably suffers from licensing trouble with The Stupid Company.

[Guspaz]

I don't think you're giving Tetris Attack enough credit for its popularity. Regardless, it probably suffers from licensing trouble with The Stupid Company.

The NES Classic didn't include Tetris, which I'd wager sold a lot more units than Dr. Mario, so that's telling.

[Sumez]

Not including Tetris on NES could definitely be related to TTC's infamously ridiculous regulations.
Tetris Attack is only a "Tetris" game in name, but that's definitely enough to warrant some sort of license, since it's a trademark. :\

[Ikaruga11]

Almost 33% less games while being almost 33% more expensive than the NES Classic. Great deal!

[bobrocks95]

Almost 33% less games while being almost 33% more expensive than the NES Classic. Great deal!

A lot of games on the NES Classic were just plain bad (Ice Climbers), or stripped-down arcade ports. The first thing I did when I modded it was remove 6 or 7 titles I knew I wouldn't play. I wouldn't remove anything from the SNES Classic.

[bigbadboaz]

Yeah, but they could have matched the 30 without any of it being padding. I do find the drop to 21 games odd.

[Ikaruga11]

Honestly, the NES Classic's emulation is garbage compared to what we have on PC. So will the SNES Classic's emulation.

I am eager for the inevitable N64 Classic though since N64 emulation isn't that good at all. Nintendo will have more experience with emulation by then, and will hopefully deliver us a definitive method of playing N64 games. Since N64 games are 3D, perhaps they could increase the native resolution from 320x240p to 960x720p or 1440x1080p. The GameCube and Wii quadrupled the native resolution from 320x240p to 640x480p to fit within the constraints of the GameCube and Wii.

Would like to see a clean scanline option, and an option to add the hardware and software blur.

[RocketBelt]

A couple of questions: is there a save state function? will europeans be fobbed off with gimped pal 50hz massive bordered roms?

[Sumez]

European release will be 60hz, and Contra will be called Contra, etc.

NES Classic had savestates, so I'm expecting this unfortunately will, too.

[RGBSource]

Here's a quick preview.

CRT Mode:


4:3 Mode:



Pixel Perfect:

[bigbadboaz]

You get yours early?

[Sumez]

Uh. Is "CRT mode" just a gaussian blur?

[bobrocks95]

Uh. Is "CRT mode" just a gaussian blur?

It has scanlines, but is indeed quite blurry.

4:3 mode is fixed, as far as I can tell there isn't any dot crawl like the NES Classic had.

[Kez]

Pixel Perfect looks kinda horrible, but I guess since Yoshi's Island is on there too might come in useful.

[RGBSource]

Blog post with more details:
SNES Classic Edition - Observations and Captures

Spoiler

[citrus3000psi]

Just got the rom, I need to update my repro now

I got a preorder from gamestop, But nothing still beats real hardware.

[bobrocks95]

Do the SNES controllers feel better than the originals to anyone else, or do I just have some really old beat-up SNES controllers?

[bigbadboaz]

Don't have mine yet, but that would sure be nice.

There was also a lot of variance among the different pads I had for the original SNES.

[cr4zymanz0r]

I wonder how long before we get in-depth write-ups on the differences between the Starfox 2 rom in the SNES classic and the one that's been in repro carts for years now.

[Josh128]

By pure chance, snagged a US version this morning. Having never laid hands on an actual NES Classic mini, Im kinda giddy . Havent opened it yet though. I must say I really prefer the look of the European/Japanese Super Famicom though. The North American SNES is too bland, industrial looking. No idea why they felt the need to alter the look of the console to sell it in a different part of the world.

[citrus3000psi]

By pure chance, snagged a US version this morning. Having never laid hands on an actual NES Classic mini, Im kinda giddy . Havent opened it yet though. I must say I really prefer the look of the European/Japanese Super Famicom though. The North American SNES is too bland, industrial looking. No idea why they felt the need to alter the look of the console to sell it in a different part of the world.

Gotta have some place to sit our soda cans when sitting on the carpet.

[syboxez]

Got the Star Fox 2 ROM. Debating on getting Stunt Race FX and a SuperFX ROM to EPROM adapter and throwing a socket on that. The_Real_Phoenix has a PCB up on OSHPark for this: https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/JSVJHBhz. Although the only reason I want a socketed GSU board is so I can play various Yoshi's Island ROM hacks, so I'd need Yoshi's Island and (probably) a different PCB adapter.

Either that or I'll be patient and wait for the SD2SNES to get SuperFX support if it ever does.

Also looks like the final ROM uses the GSU-1 instead of the GSU-2 according to ucon64 just like the old almost complete beta ROM. Same clock speed and all, just lower max ROM size from what I can tell, so it makes sense since it's only 8Mb.

[bigbadboaz]

@bob: Got my hands on controllers from two different units today and I actually think these are slightly lower quality than the OG controllers (doesn't surprise me as this box is obviously built to a much lower pricepoint).

There was nasty variance just across the four controllers I saw, with different shades of printing and different-feeling buttons. In particular, the top row of buttons tend to be extremely loose to the point where one set looked like they would fall out of the controller if turned upside down!

All four controllers had L/R buttons with far superior tactile response than on any old-school pad I've ever seen. This was the one clear plus and will be great for SF2 .

Overall, they're close, very close. But the button tolerance thing is glaring and they certainly don't feel any BETTER than the best of the old pads I have.

[CobraKing]

You guys think there'll be any type of controller support for 4 player games (when they're inevitably added)?

[bigbadboaz]

No, I don't. I'm very glad Nintendo don't seem to care about the hacking going on, but there is precisely zero reason for them to follow on with any hardware support for this unit. It's a one-off, and move on.

edit: I suppose they might accomplish 4-player on the upcoming N64 with an external adapter - I'd been wondering how they would fit four ports on a system this small. If they do that, the adapter will probably plug into the SNES also. But I'd say no chance at all they release something specifically for the SNES, or anything else for it hardware-wise during this short run.

[Josh128]

Finally had some time with the unit. Ive changed my mind about the US version, its cute. The power and reset buttons actually work like the original US SNES, as does the little power LED. The controller ports are strange though-- there is a cover with faux controller ports that look like the original SNES ones, but you have to pull it down and off the unit (its attached by a rubbery cord) to expose the actual controller ports.

About the controllers, mine seem fine, actually very impressive--they are very snappy and responsive, the weight feels identical to my actual SNES controllers. The screw locations are identical, the L and R buttons are engraved rather than printed-- something cool I never noticed until comparing them to my real SNES controllers-- some SNES controllers L and R buttons letters were printed, some were engraved, as I have both. The size is also identical.

Thus far I have not noticed much in the way of lag-- I tried the Classic Mini on my 1080p plasma, which has about 38ms of lag, and to be honest it feels really close to the actual SNES on that set. I would love to see some actual numbers, but the lag definitely seems less than the Raspberry Pi SNES emulator my buddy has that we tried on my same plasma. I'd be willing to bet that the lag of the mini is 20ms or less. I could be wrong, but it feels pretty damn good.

As for the graphics, both 4:3 and pixel perfect modes are ultra sharp on my plasma. TV mode looks Ok to me if you dont get too close to the set. Basically it looks like bilinear filtering with ~25% scanlines to me. Sure its nothing like you can get with a serious retro setup, but I actually think it looks fairly authentic/retro all things considered. Games like DKC and Yoshis Island definitely look better to me with this mode, as they look too sharp and grainy in the other modes.

If this mini had cost $59 like the NES Mini, it would be a 10/10 for me, as it is, **EDIT (you are right Boaz I was thinking I paid $89 for it!!)** $20 more, I give it an 9/10. For the extra $$$ ,they could have thrown in a few more classics and hit the 30 game mark. Games like Actraiser, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 2, and UN Squadron or Axelay or Space Megaforce could have made a great selection of games incredible.

Anywho, as a whole package I must say I dig it.

[bigbadboaz]

Yeah, I always liked the US version. I agree the original design did not need to be changed, but I never thought the new design was offensive taken on its own.

This was actually only $20 more than the NES . Considering they threw the second controller in the box rather than make you hunt all over the world for a second controller they refused to actually ship, I think it's a wash. The 21 games are still a far superior set to the 30 in the NES, and within two weeks we'll all be able to hack whatever the heck we may want into the thing anyway.

With Nintendo finally getting serious and getting tangible amounts of units into the stores, I really couldn't be happier overall.

[bobrocks95]

The first thing I did with my NES Mini was remove around 10 of the games, so the SNES Mini having 21 isn't a negative at all imo, though a few big titles are missing (you'll be able to add them soon enough).

@bob: Got my hands on controllers from two different units today and I actually think these are slightly lower quality than the OG controllers (doesn't surprise me as this box is obviously built to a much lower pricepoint).

There was nasty variance just across the four controllers I saw, with different shades of printing and different-feeling buttons. In particular, the top row of buttons tend to be extremely loose to the point where one set looked like they would fall out of the controller if turned upside down!

All four controllers had L/R buttons with far superior tactile response than on any old-school pad I've ever seen. This was the one clear plus and will be great for SF2 .

Overall, they're close, very close. But the button tolerance thing is glaring and they certainly don't feel any BETTER than the best of the old pads I have.

So are original controllers supposed to have that textured feel? The texture on mine has completely worn off then haha.

I think the A and B buttons feel great while the concave Y and X buttons are kind of mushy. I have a European console on the way that will hopefully fix that complaint.

[bigbadboaz]

Yes indeed. I think the texture is a touch rougher on these new ones.

The X/Y buttons were the ones that fit very loosely on a few of the controllers I saw. Looks like that's where they let the tolerances get too loose.

Still, very happy overall, particularly with the better two controllers of the four I tested.

[DoomsDave]

Just a warning: Hori Fighting Commander for the SNES Classic is garbage. The dpad is absolutely horrible which is surprisingly since the FC DPAD for PS3/4 is amazing.