On Monday, Nintendo announced the latest miniature console of its classic lineup: the SNES Classic Edition. It launches on September 29 for $79.99 with 20 preloaded games plus the never-before-released Star Fox 2. North America and Europe will have different models but the same games.
Rumors about the Super Nintendo’s comeback in palm-sized format started earlier this year. While the announcement itself was not as surprising, the introduction of Star Fox 2 as a new retro game certainly pleased nostalgic fans.
The mini SNES follows the NES Classic Edition, the wildly successful yet controversial system released for last year’s holiday season. Nintendo has said the upcoming SNES wouldn’t present the same shortage issues.
How to unlock Star Fox 2 on the SNES Classic Edition
By far the most notable feature of the SNES Classic Edition is the stellar list of games it comes with. Nintendo has carefully selected 20 games that capture the “classic” essence of the console’s experience and added a little something extra for its loyal fan base.
Star Fox 2 will make its debut on the mini-console more than 20 years after its planned release on the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game has been available online as a ROM for PC emulators for quite some time, though.
Nintendo and Star Fox’s lead developer Dylan Cuthbert have both confirmed the official release of the 16-bit sequel on the SNES Classic Edition. Players will have to clear the first level of Star Fox to unlock Star Fox 2.
Here is the full list of games preloaded on the SNES Classic Edition:
• 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
Nintendo promises enough consoles in 2017
That rich game list got fans pretty hyped for the new mini console, but what everyone wanted to know was if this time they were going to be able to get their hands on the tiny gaming system. Nintendo says yes, but only this year.
The Japanese giant was not keen on providing any numbers, but they will produce “significantly more units of Super NES Classic Edition than we did of NES Classic Edition.” The downside is that the plug-and-play system will only be available “until the end of the calendar year 2017.”
This timeframe gives players three months to get their hands on the SNES Classic before scalpers get down to business and start selling them as collector items for hundreds or even thousands of dollars on sites like eBay.
Nintendo’s SNES Classic Edition will ship with two Classic Controllers out of the box, and it will come in two models: the traditional gray and purple rectangle in North America and the mini version of the round-edged Super Famicom in Europe.
Source: Nintendo