Update 27/09/2017 – John Lewis are taking pre-orders from 8pm tonight!
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) brought the official announcement of Nintendo’s new retro console – The SNES Classic Mini. Put simply, one of my favourite consoles of all time, miniaturised, pre-loaded with some of the greatest games of all-time and compatible with your HD TV!
The SNES Classic Mini is official, from Nintendo (shiny new SNES pads!) and pretty much the fastest selling item on the planet…and it’s not even out yet!
All of the above are strong selling points but Nintendo haven’t stopped there. Starfox 2 (never released…anywhere!) will also be pre-loaded, complete and unlocked once the first level of Starwing (as it’s known here in the UK) has been beaten.
Starfox 2 for SNES Classic Mini – 22 years in the waiting
Starfox 2 was meant to be released for the SNES in 1995. However, due to the release of the PlayStation and Saturn, Nintendo couldn’t risk gamers seeing their latest 3D FX 2 tech as ‘outdated’, so opted to pull the sequel and shift 3D focus to the Ultra 64 (which would later be renamed to the N64).
@Swery65 posts a photo of the original Starfox 2 dev team celebrating the games official release on the SNES Classic Mini. They’ve all been waiting 22 years for that drink!
Starfox 2 and Starwing are accompanied by 19 other fantastic games, including amazing RPG’s such as Earthbound, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy 6 (FF3) and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
Where to pre-order the SNES Classic Mini
Major UK retailers seem to have already sold their allocated pre-orders. However, bookmark the following links and make sure you’re ready for the next allocation!
Pre-order/register your interest for the SNES Classic Mini with:
Update 27/09/2017 – John Lewis finally get their pre-order allocations from 8pm tonight!
– John Lewis – Taking pre-orders from 27/09/2017 from 8pm!
– Amazon – Restocked recently. Sign-up to the email alert!
– Argos – Where I got mine (through an email alert). Sign-up and keep checking!
– Play Asia
– Nintendo
– Tesco Direct
– Gameseek
– SMYTHS
– Toys R Us
– Shopto
– Simply Games
SNES Classic Mini Top Questions (FAQ)
Q: How is the console sold-out??? It’s not even out until September!
A: Major UK retailers are being told that on release, they’ll have X amount of units shipped to them. These retailers are simply selling pre-orders for their allocated numbers.
Q: Now pre-orders seemed to have sold-out, should I go to ebay?
A: NO! The SNES Classic Mini may be experiencing the same heavy demand as the NES, but Nintendo have stated that more will be produced. This could be more pre-order allocations (before release) or late shipments for the consoles September release (or even both!). Only consider paying ebay’s ridiculous prices when you’re 100% that you won’t get one!
Q: Can the SNES Classic Mini use SNES cartridges?
A: No. This is simply due to the sheer size of a SNES cartridge (it wouldn’t be so ‘mini’ if it did).
Q: Are the SNES Classic Mini controllers wired or wireless and how many are there?
A: The controllers are wired. This was so Nintendo could keep the price down (especially since it includes TWO of them!). Yup, you read that right. TWO shiny new official Nintendo SNES pads!
Q: I read the SNES Classic Mini is missing a power plug. Is this true?
A: Yes. Just like the NES Classic, you’ll need to buy a separate power adaptor for your region. This was so all Classic Mini units could be enjoyed anywhere (so you’d just need to buy whatever adaptor you require for your current region).
Q: Why 21 games and will Nintendo ever update this?
A: Nintendo tried for more but not all the top games were owned by Nintendo. Many of these devs/publishers preferred to earn royalties on Nintendo’s current/future Virtual Console services instead. As for game updates, the SNES mini has no announced expansion slots (e.g. SD Card slot) to make this possible.
D4G wish all our readers the very best of luck in finding a SNES Classic Mini. Any big questions we’ve missed? Let us know via the comments below and we’ll do our best to answer them.
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