Hardware Review: The Super Famicom Mini Is For Hardcore Collectors Only

That really is a spectacular box, and I don't normally pay attention to these things. I can't see spending the kind of money it would take to own one, but it is certainly eye-catching.

I kinda figured it was common knowledge that these systems were basically just for hard-core fans... Or scalpers.

Konami's Fighting Eleven (or as we know: International Superstar Soccer Deluxe) IS the best football game on the console. I wonder why they didn't got this one. Even the players names are fake, so that wouldn't be an issue too.

If money wasn't an object, I would buy this purely for the box!

I think Super Soccer makes sense. It was an early release for the console and it's iconic in part because of that. They need a sports game (especially with Kirby's Dream Course and Punch Out being cut) and it's completely unlicensed so it ticks a few boxes.

Super Tennis would have been a better pick though.

Panel de Pon is the one that I'm really jealous about though. Nintendo really should have hacked Tetris Attack and given it a new name. That game is incredible, there's no puzzle game on the SNES Class and it's also a great multiplayer game. I'd rather have had it in place of FFVI personally.

At least we know that Nintendo will, eventually, get around to a Switch Puzzle League release at some point.

It's for Japanese people you fools. You don't need to be a hardcore collector if this is the version you remember and can read.

Keep hating on the North American design, I still prefer it too the European/Japanese design.

Goemon makes it worth the purchase all day every day.

Nothing should ever replace Kirby's Dream Course.

Mystical Ninja and Panel de Pon are the only reason I would want this, other than that the Super NES Mini already got everything for me.

I'm not bothered about owning the Super Famicom Mini. My SNES Classic Mini is more than enough for me.

Or if you already have one of the other 2 simply add whatever games you want in about 5 mins 😃

Man, the timing of this article! I actually did import an EU version with the intention of collecting all three regions, but upon realizing it was simply the design of the Japanese one with the library of the NA one, I decided to sell my EU one to a friend for MSRP.

And coincidentally my JP one should be dropping at my door in the next few hours.

Turning Japanese?
I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so.

No need to continually bash the US SNES appearance. Those of us who grew up with it don't mind. I admit, the other version is prettier to look at, but this 90s kid still sees the US version and associates it with the same great games you do.

Sony PS Mini

I’m picking one up for sure. For collectors, it’s a must have!

sure the NA version is boxy, but i like the purple grey color and dont see how its 'downright ugly'. to each their own i guess, but its completely subjective

It gets somewhat tiring to hear how inferior the NA SNES design is all the time, come on guys. I love both versions, but I honestly prefer the boxy design. That plus those concave controller buttons, it’s a win!

Edit: why would they take of castlevania and earthbound on the Japanese release? Pure classics.

Thought it was for anyone wanting a Small Mini SNES...or just a NEW SNES overall I mean once you mod it... it's a bit pointless having a real SNES. (not counting Mouse and Super Scope games)

Well, I don't miss any of these games, at all. I hacked my SNES Mini in mere minutes thanks to 8 Bit Flashback's excellent YouTube tutorials, and I added 185 games to the standard 21, making a nice total of 206 games of ALL regions, including those Japanese games worth having.

And perhaps good to know: the European and the American Mini are completely similar on the inside, so there's absolutely no reason whatsoever to exchange one for the other, or for the Japanese one, other than a personal preference for the outer appearance.

This is also the reason that the console only accepts NTSC ROMs by default, once hacked. I did add some EU games, because there simply aren't any NTSC versions of these games available (such as Worms and Cannon Fodder) but I had to add RetroArch to the SNES Mini hack to be able to make them run.

Which, by the way, is ridiculously easy to do, once the console is hacked, and it amps up the game compatibility from 75% to a full 100%, so well worth adding, and it doesn't change anything to the interface or the way you start your games.

And another nice feature: the hack also adds a reset function to your controller (hold select + down), so no more walking over to the console to reset it...

As for the American version being "downright ugly", well...

It sure is boxy, bulky or whatever label you wish to slap onto it, and personally, I also prefer the European or Japanese version, but I can also understand that having grown up with that American version, that it is THAT version of the SNES that you loved, and not the other one, so yeah...

Some people like sleek shapes, and some people are more interested in having something that looks solid, meaty, something that seems to be able to take a punch.

And the North American version is easier to balance a soda can on...

What actually annoys me WAY more about it besides its shape, is the purple controller buttons: games show colored buttons, NOT purple ones, and the colored ones are more easy to remember/find when playing games, in my personal opinion.

An opinion somewhat supported by the fact that Nintendo themselves decided to make one set of the purple buttons concave, to make it easier to navigate across them when your eyes are glued to the TV screen, so apparently they had also figured out that they had to offer some kind of additional solution due to the lack of the four different colored buttons...

This reminds me: I do feel sad for you folks and your silly-looking European SNES, rather than the classier NA SNES.

@Sakisa I like the NA version as well. The European version looks soft, almost generic to me. I suppose it's what you are used to though. The SNES was a huge part of growing up for me and the first thing I worked and saved money for. I'll always love the boxy design and purple buttons.

EU and JPN are look-wise pretty much the same... If I were to get another from a different region I'd surely go for the US one.

Sure the JPN has a cool box but it also has games in Japanese which I can't read and ultimately wouldn't play. Also I kind find the US cool looking especially because it has 2 buttons depressed.

@Hokanchu I completely disagree. I would trade dream course for Dreamland 3 on the snes classic in a heartbeat

Downright ugly? Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

I got my Super Famicom Mini yesterday, it was the only choice for me as I had the Super Famicom as a teenager (I’d been waiting to import the US machine back then but then I saw what it looked like...)

While I can’t read Japanese most of the games are perfectly playable without being able to read it. In fact when I finally played Super Mario World in English I was quite disappointed because my imagination ran away with all sorts ideas about what the game could be saying. In the end it turned out to be mundane stuff like which button was for jumping!

I’ll definitely be adding some extra games to mine, including replacing a few with romhacks like the one for Zelda that lets you switch items using the L and R buttons.

You shut your mouth. The American SNES is a thing a beauty.

@flummerfelt I can only speculate, but I suspect the games just didn't do as well in Japan. I assume Konami had good reason to go back to the original Castlevania style for the next few games rather than continue the style they used in CV4.

If Hakchi2 can change the menu text, I’d pick it up, heck I probably still would have picked it up if not for Kevtris and Analogue dropping the news on the Super NT this week. All my extra gaming money for the next few weeks went towards it

I picked up all 3 versions to add to my collection. Yeah I can use Hakchi and put tons of games on them. But I could also use a Pi and Retro Pi or RetroArch

Hey, I'll take my weird but distinctive-looking North American SNES over the Japanese/European version, which is easily mistaken for a generic VHS rewinder from 1994.

I think the author is just jealous of the NA design. It looks like a powerful and iconic car frame. It looks like something that would give the Sega Genesis a run for its money. The Super Famicom shell just looks so weak and forgetable, to me at least.

@8Darky I think it's just insecurity on the part of Europeans, who know deep down in their souls that their version looks like a crappy knockoff of the first-generation Discman.

@Alikan And don't forget about those buttons. How satisfying it was to click those purple things up and down, and how supernaturally good it felt to push the eject button when there's a cartridge in the slot.

I'm salivating over the box art but apart from Legend of the Mystical Ninja I wouldn't have anything else.

Is it just me, or is the Japanese title roster better overall? Maybe not from a popular American perspective, but... 9 different platformers is way too much representation for one genre on the SNES Classic.

But yeah, definitely prefer the strong rectangular violet design of the SNES over the weak curved technicolor design of the SFC. Just like circular vs square pizza, you're getting ripped off if it's not a full box. Oh, and don't forget the thumb indents on X & Y for SNES...

Didn't know the SNES design was considered ugly as a matter of fact. Maybe someone has a low opinion of the design, but I like it. Although I always did like the multicolored buttons as opposed to the light purple/dark purple. To each their own.

This is a marginally better list. I can see how Super Formation Soccer's inclusion might baffle some, but that was one of the games I was hoping to see included on the SNES Mini (in its NA iteration).

Lack of Pilotwings still feels so wrong though.

ok, we get it. all of Europe feels an inferiority complex and takes any opportunity to insult "North America" or USA.
But come on, the NA SNES is not "downright ugly". Boxy? Sure that describes the design. You don't like boxy? Fine, but that's opinion. A lot of people share it? who cares?
I LOVE the NA design BECAUSE it's boxy. I like the SFC controller better because it's colorful. Why insult the NA SNES EVERY SINGLE TIME!?!?!? it gets old and it's a petty / bad look.

@BAN ooooh. Such great tactile pleasure!😆

Lol. In this comments section:
“How dare you insult the shape of the US SNES”
:: proceeds to insult the shape of the European SNES ::

@Kid_Sickarus If I could have given your comment 20 likes, I would have. So much nail on the head. And just so you know: I'm an American living in Europe.

It's sad sometimes, because even though it's all opinions, some are definitely with blinders on. Like "we had version X of the console, so that's the superior one, no matter what other people say", instead of a bit of mutual understanding.

I tried to do that in my tl;dr comment earlier in this thread, but I see it hasn't done much good nor has it made some people think or reconsider why things are as they are or why we might just respect that people choose certain things for their own reasons.

And for reference's sake: even though I'm a yank, I still prefer the Super Famicom/EU model. I never had a SNES to begin with, so I don't have that sentimental "burden", so to speak.

I just look at the two designs, and the more colorful one looks sleeker, more modern and more future proof. In my opinion of course...

And as I already said in my original comment, games were clearly made with that JAP/EUR design in mind, seeing as the in-game button references were always the colored buttons, NOT the purple ones.

But even so, I choose to take the high road and try to be as objective as I can, or at least understand the other side, so I do see why people would like the other version, and I don't feel the need to bash them, or their version of the console because of it.

Oh, well...

It is the sexiest of all three models. I mean, it's nearly identical to the European version but the slight difference in the way the system name is written on it just edges it above that version imo. Also, the box is just leagues ahead of the others.

@sleepinglion You took the words right out of my mouth

@sakisa I as well like the NA design better , I've noticed on this site they like to simply BASH the NA design of the Super Nintendo but I say the NA version looks better than the Japan and Europe version which looks like an out dated wireless router.

@Pichuka97 Rock on, man. It's a needless dispute.

I still hold that these micro consoles are a waste of an HDMI port. I simply hope they use the learned info in emulation to make a spectacular Switch VC.

They are neat collector's items for sure. But I would glad trade that collector's aspect and retro controller for the ability to play those games anytime, anywhere.

I will sit here and continue to dream of a Switch VC that supports NES/Famicom/Game Boy all the way to Gamecube/GBA...

I'm in the boat of loving the famicon controllers, but hells no... the snes us version is gorgeous in a post-modern kinda way. the euro/japan version is a modernist version, which is great, but i prefer the post-modernist version of Nintendo's console.

Good thing I have thick skin, because I still side with the American design and Kirby’s Dream Course. 😎 Still, I have intently pondered about this particular list.

Meh. They are both pretty ugly tbh. Those colorful buttons on the Super Famicom controllers make me jealous though.

Atleast the NA SNES doesn't look like the underside of a vacuum cleaner.

@Romeo-75 - I would buy SNES-looking wireless router

@N-Gage LoL, I would too Ive been a life long Nintendo fan.

@tonyhoro ISS Deluxe is the best football game, period! Back in the day I had a website called the ISS Realm (it's still online), and even boxed editions of Fighting 11, not to forget its predecessor Winning 11, nor all the western ISS releases, including the rare ISS 2000 in N64 and PS. I had ISS 3 on Gamecube at one point before selling it. It had lost the magic.

@ClassSonicSatAm There's a decent rom hack for Mario Paint that allows you to use a controller instead of the mouse. Works fine on my expanded SNES mini's library.

So instead of really celebrating the games it's mostly about defending/attacking the different territories design aesthetics?

Okay.

Most of us are merely fond of the particular version of SNES that we remember/grew up with.

Personally I think each of the two designs has its own charm; and would love to add a US one to my shelf.

@retro_player_22 Absolutely. Goemon and Panel de Pon are AMAZING. They should have been on the Western version as well.

@sleepinglion That's true, and I just added Mario & Wario with patch to make it work with controllers.

All it's missing Light gun games...if someone could get it working with Wii remotes or something then it's basically you all need for a full Mini SNES set!

@ClassSonicSatAm Agreed. I could see a crosshair controller hack working, but a dongle that allows Wiimote usage could do well with the light gun games. Emulators on a hacked Wii console allowed such a setup with light gun titles.

@sleepinglion Can't see why not, most other Wii controllers work, Bluetooth stuff also work.
atm that's how I play my lightgun games that aren't Dreamcast or Saturn ones, but a crosshair mod would be simple (as that's all software related. )

@ClassSonicSatAm Agreed. Even a VC release on the 3DS that allows tapping with the stylus could bring these oldies to a new audience.

@ComposedJam Amen. Super unprofessional. If they absolutely HAD to take a swing at the aesthetic, as if it were relevant to a hardware review, they could have said having grown up with the European version it's their favorite visually. But to call it downright ugly... not cool.