The SNES Classic Is The UK's King Of The Micro-Consoles

Well, I did buy four of the SNES Mini and only one of the NES Mini, so that probably explains it.

I would happily pay a little extra for a N64 mini to be released, the NES and SNES minis are excellent pieces of hardware

It has the best lineup of games and it can easily be hacked to add countless more, of course it outsold the rest

I've really been enjoying the Turbografx mini and the Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro.

It's a pity that these systems were only out for a limited time. I still prefer original hardware plugged directly into an HDTV with AV inputs, but these were the next best thing (and a LOT cheaper, to boot).

Love the SNES mini, but the TurboGrafx mini has gotten the most use in my house by a wide margin. I have a TG16 and a decent library but never have been able to find the CD addon at a reasonable price (not to mention the crazy prices of the games themselves) so this was an awesome alternative. I just wish someone would release a means to load more roms on it.

Why is the PlayStation TV on there? That wasn't a Retro console. Just PSVita capable of playing on a TV

Best Nintendo games 2D Mario 3D Zelda
They really need to do more on the side for Mario
I just need a GC Mini have discs but no Cube

@KevTastic84 "Retro, Micro and TV" is a weird category isn't it? Seems like they tried to name the category after they picked the consoles.

@gutsdozier

I don't know why they aren't available. It would be a great idea to rerelease them at least every couple of years with maybe different games or different colors.

My experience with original hardware on hdtvs is that it really only works with an appropriate scaler. Most hdtvs don't come with analog inputs anymore, but the ones I've used that do don't properly accept 240p. They try to de-interlace and then it adds a significant amount of lag that makes it unplayable. 480i consoles seem to work okay though a scaler would still have less lag.

I haven't gotten them all, only the Nintendo ones including both Game & Watch, but from what I've heard of the mini consoles, most of them are great even without modding or hacking, especially the SNES and Mega Drive. Unmodded Playstation Classic is debatable though.

NES (and subsequently SNES) minis were the first time I'd seen an all-in-one system on a chip style retro emulation console done "right". They are beautiful things, reasonably priced, and almost perfectly executed. I don't understand (other than potential chip shortages) why they were so scarce and why they don't continue to manufacture them. I'd buy an N64 one in a heartbeat but of course, emulation of that system is much more difficult and requires more powerful hardware. A Gameboy device would be cool but not sure which form factor would please fans the most - personally, I'd only be interested in a DMG style unit and it shouldn't really be "mini" as such, more a 1:1 recreation with built in games and a more modern screen.

The Megadrive Mini is equal in build quality and packaging than the Nintendo efforts, and even better as far as going above and beyond of including third party games, unreleased games, different regional variants of games etc. also making the 32X, Megadrive and Master System adapter accessories was awesome but a shame it was only really done for Japan, with an extremely limited edition run for European journalists/youtubers. Also weird to not have the 6 buttons pads available here, but the official Sega Retrobit ones are brilliant.

I'd LOVE a Master System mini (though personally I'd like it to be in the shape of the SMS 2, I am sure that in Europe and Brazil (the two biggest markets) they sold far more of those units, so more people are nostalgic for it... I'd practically froth at the mouth for a Mini Saturn or Dreamcast but I feel, for now, those are too expensive hardware required to emulate properly to make such a device feasible. The Game Gear minis were super cute and well made, but clearly novelties aimed at the Japanese market rather than for serious play.

I was SO excited for the Playstation mini but it was a complete nightmare of terrible decisions and is just awful in every way except as a (very pretty) paperweight.

The PC Engine / Core Grfx / TG16 Mini is brilliant and its a crime it didn't sell enough to get on this list. I guess it's too niche of a system. But for me, as an easy and cheap way for people to try amazing games for an amazing system they probably never experienced IRL, it was the perfect way to get acquainted with it.

[I may delete this next bit, or mods feel free to if it seems innapropriate]
I wanted to like certain other mini systems that will remain unnamed but then the people behind them went and sued half my friends and alienated the whole UK retro scene. So.... yeah. I've a strong feeling if they hadn't have done that, at least 50 youtubers I know personally (with several million of combined subs) would have covered them and gave them great support. Shows you can't really come in as a corporation and dump on the community you are trying to extort money from. Making a quick cash grab to exploit nostalgia is precisely why the Playstation mini failed. That should be a lesson for other people looking at the same cash pot. Work with the fans, or invest in fan lead passion projects to get them better exposure etc.

@ShadowofTwilight22 it just seems out of place amongst the others. Even if it was small in scale, it was a current Gen device at its time of launch.

the PSTV is a really infuriating little device.
I love having all the PSOne Classics and PSP games on a tiny little device with HDMI out, but I absolutely hate how it keeps forgetting the date and keeps wanting to connect to the internet to verify itself with Sony's servers.

I just wish it was as simple as the SNES/Mega Drive/TG-16 Minis where it was just plug and play with no extraneous rubbish.

@Damo everything but regular then lol

A500 Mini has had more of my attention than the other Mini Consoles I have. Nostalgia plays a significant part

@ShadowofTwilight22

PSOne Classic outselling Mega Drive Mini is even more baffling.

The PSOne Classic did get heavily discounted shortly after its release though, so maybe that's why it's charted so high.

I own 4 of those mini consoles and my favourite of the bunch is the Snes classic. Hacked it and it's become my favourite way to retro game. Had a blast playing through the Snes Fire Emblem games that I loaded onto it.

@Damo just a bit random to me I guess

@RushDawg The Playstation sold nearly 4 times more consoles than the Megadrive, (or any console before it). Picked up lots of more casual fans as well as the hardcore gamers and vastly expanded the market.

Even though it became very clear even before release to anyone who reads games websites, news etc that Playstation Mini was a complete shambles, just putting both the Megadrive and Playstation Minis on shop shelves (especially in places like supermarkets rather than dedicated game shops) and it was inevitable they would sell more of the Sony consoles, even before they started discounting it, as 4 times as many people would be nostalgic for it.

I agree theres no justice in this, and it doesn't reflect the quality of the product, but sadly it makes perfect sense.

I wish I bought an snes mini at launch. I really want one lately and it's now double or more in price. I wish Nintendo would re-release the mini consoles.

Easy to understand why the CoreGrafx Mini isn't on this list, but it definitely deserves to be (I mean, other than it being joined at the hip to Amazon). Curated collection of a corner of gaming a lot of people don't know about and can no longer buy into easily on the collectors market. Only one I've bothered with personally.

(Well, I have both Game and Watch releases and would happily buy more of them, but they feel like a different proposition entirely).

It’s unfortunate that the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pak killed any chance of a Nintendo 64 Classic Edition (Mini) release.

N64 Mini will come just as soon as they are able to make more of the NSO N64 Controllers (and potentially introduce a wired SKU).

@Don yes you can certainly argue it that way, but I'd also argue that the NSO and the existance of the N64 controllers makes the N64 mini more likely...

If only they could make the controllers fast enough...

You can never say never. I for one didn't think they would ever make N64 controllers again...but here we are! It's difficult to see them doing something like an N64 mini while they are in such a strong position globally (The other classic consoles came out during the Wii U days) and I dare say the will be focused on growing that business. But, yeah, we will see one someday, but with Nintendo, it's usually better to appreciate what they release rather than hold your breath for stuff you want (and that's not a bad thing.)

It really all comes down the personal tastes. I own only the SNES & Core GraFX (PC Engine) Mini and I love the latter a little but more as so many of its titles are not available elsewhere at reasonable prices.

That and I’m a Shm’up fan or which the PCE was renowned for.

I want a GameCube classic. Play all favorite GC games with a small box.

Steam Link is interesting, wonder how many of their sales were from when they all got flogged a fiver each.

I’ve given up on an n64 classic ever happening. I’d say Nintendo would have no interest as it may interfere with their premium online upgrade subscription. I’d sure love one tho. I have a sega classic,famicom, super famicom, snes, and nes just so I could add more games. I wish I had gotten the tg16 mini, now they’re way high.

The Snes is the king of all consoles, my favourite system ever!!

Didn't know the Super NES Classic Mini was that popular in the UK. I usually thought that nation was Mega Drive Mini fans territories.

Honestly, I don't care about an N64 mini.

A GBA Mini on the other hand would be a day one purchase for me.

My favorite of the bunch...

I think an N64 mini is pretty unlikely... and honestly, I don't care, I own most of the best games anyway... though I'd bite if they give it something exclusive the way the SNES got Starfox 2 😂

@Caryslan
> A GBA Mini on the other hand would be a day one purchase for me.

Isn't that called a GBA?

Or you could get an Anerbic and then you'll have the lot.

@Leuke
> I think an N64 mini is pretty unlikely

It will probably happen one day, but in these days of chip shortage getting the power on board to emulate an N64 isn't quite cheap enough.

I'd love to see a Game Boy (Color) classic!

@arnold337 use a Wii. They were backwards compatible with the GCN. They have ports for the controllers too.

I actually held off buying my Switch because I was already buying the NES classic. Priorities people! 😁

@charlieonholiday Could do thanks

Ive got a snes classic didn't bother with a nes classic because the snes one plays all the nes ROMs anyway , they should've made the controller's usb so you could plug them into the switch

@Specter_of-the_OLED SNES and Gameboy were both very popular and common in the UK, though SNES took a while to get started as by the time it was released, Amiga and Megadrive already had a huge install base. Street Fighter 2 got many people to make the jump, and later technically impressive exclusives like Star Fox and DKC swung it for those who held out even longer, especially as by that point the price had dropped considerably. By late 94-95 I knew almost as many SNES owners as Megadrive, and quite a few people had both.

The historical perception that "UK wasn't a big market for Nintendo" mostly comes from the fact that the NES was almost non-existent in the UK in the 80s, a few selling for Xmas 1990 because of the Turtles bundle, but really, it was a non-entity until its price was reduced to £60 or less and was advertised as a budget or "younger kids" alternative to SNES, around 93. By 94 Action Sets were £40 and still they weren't really selling. By comparisson, the Master System (especially the SMS 2) was extremely popular, and because of this headstart many upgraded to Megadrive and were Sega brand loyalists by that point... even though half of them also owned a Game Boy and got a SNES later on when the later more technically advanced games became too tempting.

TL:DR - its not that Nintendo wasn't popular in the UK, its just that Sega has more brand loyalty with those around in the 80s to mid-90s because the NES flopped while the Master System and Megadrive soared, and Nintendo got its markethold a little later in the SNES' lifespan than in other countries where the NES/Famicom were popular.

@ShadowofTwilight22 hacking it is really easy & you can use a dualshock or an Xbox pad when it's hacked aswell as put alot more games on a USB stick

The SNES mini and Game and Watch were good consoles at launch, but the hacking community has made them brilliant consoles. Perfect form factor and great emulation. I would love to see an updated GBA console with backwards compatibility with GB/GBC games, until then I’ll be playing them on my 3DS

How is the Zelda Game & Watch not even on the list, it's like, the best thing ever.

N64, is in my opinion the worst retro Nintendo console. Yeah it was amazing back then but it has aged poorly. The Zelda's, Mario 64, Paper Mario and Mischief Makers are probably the only games I would be interested in playing on it. Many of those I have access to...I would consider a whole console for Mischief makers though.

Sega Saturn and Neo Geo AES mini please

Sega saturn mini is all i need! Everything else is easily emulated anyway.

Never mind the N64 Mini. When is the GBA Classic coming out?

I have both the NES and SNES Mini, Megadrive Mini, C64 Mini, TG16 Mini, Astro City Mini (LRG English Variant) and both the Mario and Zelda G&W consoles.
I will be getting a PCEngine mini and the A500 mini.
They're the best way to play those obscure and the expensive games you have no other way of obtaining.
Keep em coming

Love my SNES mini.... Somebody at a starbucks "tricked" mine out with about 280 SNES games.....

Lots of hate on the PSX mini but nobody says why.

...So, why? Serious question. I realize the emulation is not perfect, but i like mine! I'm enjoying playing through Wild Arms again! And Rayman, FFVII, and MGS later! 👍

not bad for a paperweight : )

@Gerald I had avoided buying any of them until the 500 mini which I bought with a C64 mini.

would love a 3do mini then either a Saturn or Dreamcast..

The PS1 Mini was a complete failure due to it's lack of any iconic titles that made the PS1 a million unit seller.

It's a bit like the console got a selection of games selected personally by the clueless Jim Ryan...

Genesis is the best of the bunch, imo, but mainly because it doubled what SNES Classic has. If Nintendo just put 10 extra games in that machine, I'd probably say that's the best of the bunch.

PS1 Mini is trash. Say that even as a big PlayStation fan.

@UltimateKGB I have quite a few Mini’s. But only ever have 1 hooked up at 1 time (I use the same leads, just swap them over every now and then. But the A500 Mini has a different power connection to the other Mini’s so that is permanently connected.
Would love a Saturn, or Dreamcast Mini, would also like a Master System Mini.

@sanderson72

not a twisted metal, metal gear solid, wild arms, FFVII, ridge racer, or tekken 3 fan i take it?

what do you consider the iconic games of the psx? i can think of way more but those are certainly iconic and part of the playstation story...

I figure the classic consoles were just a way to keep Nintendo afloat and relevant during the lame duck period of the Wii U. So no need for an N64 mini now.

@sanderev I hadn't even thought of a GameCube mini before, but it would certainly go viral for being even tinier and cuter. And that handle would finally get some usage for a change. It would create the dilemma for Nintendo though of whether to affirm or antagonize the Smash Melee community, I suppose.

I still think there's one more mini console they could try, that would have a reason to exist. Obviously an N64 Mini would be weird and unlikely with them trying to push the Nintendo switch Online+, but what about a Mini console that has games that used the Zapper and similar accessories? Those games don't work on modern TVs, and aren't typical games, so it'd warrant a revision if possible.

@-wc- I only just saw your message, perhaps "paperweight" was unfair, sorry, I'm glad that you enjoy playing yours.

Firstly: weird set of games. Sure, some great ones but many of the series that defined the system were skipped. Tomb Raider? Wipeout? Crash? Spyro? Gran Turismo? Fifa? Parappa? Ape Escape? etc etc. There's a licensing/costs hurdle for some of them of course, and would have been easy enough to overlook if the device was otherwise up to scratch as they could be easily put on there unofficially. But as far as legal games, only 20 seemed stingy compared to other mini consoles too, especially as at launch it was selling for £30-40 more than its competition.

Secondly: No dualshock, BUT several of the game selection requires them to play properly. For example Metal Gear Solid needs the force feedback for the later parts of the game and Ridge Racer Type 4 needs analogue steering to play optimally, though these aren't the only examples. I actually was fine with including the original non-analogue pads for people nostalgic for the early years, but they should have stuck to games from that era if thats the case (Why pick Ridge 4 when 1/Revolution/Rage didn't need analogue?) then maybe later release a new unit or expansion with a dual shock pad and more modern games.

Thirdly: 9 out of the 20 games are the PAL versions which are inferior and run 17% slower, and at squished resolution with borders that shouldn't be there. Arguably that's because they wanted multi-language support so used European versions, but the emulator should have at least run them at 60hz which would have sped them back up and removed the aspect problems. And lets be realistic - for a game like Tekken 3, which is more important: the menu text, or the graphics and speed and fluidity of the gameplay?

@-wc- (continued) But the REAL problem and nail in the coffin for most people, is a combination of the emulator they used, and the ultra weak hardware inside the unit. Its simply not up to snuff. EVERY game has very noticeable stuttering (for example, Rayman skips at least 1 frame every second, inconsistently) so nothing moves smoothly or predictably, and none of them run at their original framerates.

Digital Foundary did an excellent video (and article on Eurogamer) that shows this with realtime stats and graphs far clearer than I can write in text but it was super obvious even in the original trailers that the footage was slow and jerky compared to how they run on original hardware. The emulator is poor/unoptimised for the hardware, but even if you jailbreak it and put a better one on there, the system on a chip they chose isn't remotely powerful enough to run these games smoothly at full speed. Not to mention that the HDMI out is fuzzy and has electrical noise/interferance in the dark/black areas due to a combination of cheap parts and bad board layout.

All these issues were well known and reported in gaming media before the unit was released, and despite all that, I still kept my pre-order, because I primarily wanted to have it as a cute little device that would give me an excuse to replay FFVII from start to finish again. I was looking forward to it. Being a turn-based rpg rather than a twitchy arcade game I didn't care if was slow or slightly jerky as that wouldn't bother me too much. However, upon trying to play it, it became evident that there were all kinds of emulation issues, especially in battle mode, and the music kept bugging out, sometimes stopping and not looping, othertimes continuing when it shouldn't, like the battle mode music still playing when the battle was over. It even softlocked on me once in my limited time trying to suffer through. At that point, in my book at least, it was a £100 paperweight.

Considering Sony's usual excellent track record with quality hardware (not just consoles but tvs, stereos, laptops etc have always been market leading!) this felt like lazy exploitation of the retro market rather than a loving tribute to their history, which made many people sad, and many others angry.

That said: If you enjoy playing yours and don't notice or aren't bothered by the issues, I'm genuinely glad you got enjoyment out of it. I didn't mean to disparage you, invalidate your experience or take away from any fun you had. I'm a retro fanboy who never stopped playing these games, and so are most of my circle of friends and social media groups, so perhaps its more noticable to us. Most of the 20 games included are great! Its just that there are other, better ways to play them, when it should arguably have been one of the best.

@samuelvictor

first off!

"If you enjoy playing yours and don't notice or aren't bothered by the issues, I'm genuinely glad you got enjoyment out of it. I didn't mean to disparage you, invalidate your experience or take away from any fun you had. "

my friend, please do not even worry about it! i mean like at all, i wasnt taking it personally in the least! 😊👍

I had a wtf moment when i played tekken 3, like "this is the game i thought was so damn incredible?" but i fogured it was just my perception changing. it hadnt fully occurred to me that it could be an inferior version running with inferior emulation, on inferior hardware!

wild arms is crazy fun to get back into! but i will admit, it seems like it drops a frame about every 20 or so frames. it doesnt bother me at all really, but its there and i didnt remember it being there on original hardware.

i had the same thought about dual shock games being on there and everything. its a fair point!

you are right that wipeout and others are notably absent. also i just in general think ridge racer or maybe especially rr: revolution would have been a better fit and are more "iconic" and emblematic of the playstation style.
it also would have been a great time to introduce xenogears back into the bloodstream. : /

but as you also mentioned, licensing issues might be a real challenge, and id imagine you or i might have ended up with similar compromises as they did, in the end.

fwiw:
xenogears
ff7
ff tactics
chrono cross
einhander
tekken 2
soul blade
ridge racer
ace combat 2
worms
tomba!
rayman
wipeout
gran turismo
crash bandicoot
wild arms
parappa
suikoden
SOTN
metal gear solid

thanks for a very thorough, thoughtful, and kind, answer to my question 😊

@-wc- What a lovely reply. Thank you for taking my response in the spirit it was intended. Seems you noticed some of the issues but were able to overlook them and maybe assumed these were always there and you just had rose-tinted spectacles because of teh time that past. Frankly, I think this is what Sony execs assumed may happen, so they cut corners with the hardware to save money and exploit this. That makes me sad as people will have bought the system either because of happy memories they want to relive, or because they are new fans wanting to experience some classics for the first time. And the system painted them in a bad light. To me thats really disrespectful and should never have happened, hence my emotional and originally kurt response. Thanks for reading my long rambling reply as I tried to explain myself!

Your list is all classics that I own, (and owned most of them back in the day) still play to this day, and would have loved to have had on there! You're obviously a real fan of the original Playstation! Love to see it. And whilst I think R4 is an excellent game, I absolutely agree that Revolution would have been the best pick for a retro system with the most iconic titles.

@-wc- twisted metal & metal gear solid were good and FFVII had a LOT of fans (not for me, sorry).

I was thinking about the other big hitters such as Tomb Raider, VRally, etc. but I suspect that were a lot of licence problems as Sony were only the publishers and not the IP holders.

@sanderson72

of course, that's fair. i listed my 20 above, no twisted metal on it. i was just pointing out that there are plenty of iconic psx games in the mini, but we all have our faves and i think my list only had 4 or 5 games in common with what we got.

tomb raider was never my thing but talk about iconic! even my mom weighed in on what she thought of that one haha.

i remember vrally but i never played it, good stuff then? i loved rally races in GT2, top gear rally on 64, and sega rally on saturn and then 2 on dreamcast.

@samuelvictor

great conversing with you about one of my all time very favorite subjects ☺️ you are right, i love Playstation 1!

I was an early adopter and 10 years old, so these games are in my bones. it's the first non nintendo console i ever owned, and it felt like michael angelo batio just gave me the keys to the lamborghini. every game i played was exciting, even mind blowing. finally i could see what all this "FMV" and "polygonal 3D" was all about! id been reading Gameplayers Magazine, all hyped up on 3DO and jaguar screenshots, and grapejuice : )

@-wc- If I want, I can always reminisce about Tomb Raider as I still have the original and Anniversary on my (possibly dust covered) Vita.

VRally was one of the first rally games to feature split screen so my mate and I were often trying to get the handbrake turn just right!

@-wc- Ah, good times. I was born in 81, and I clearly remember all that hype around systems like the Jaguar and 3DO, Neo Geo, M2, CDi, CD32, 32X+MegaCD... and the forthcoming "super consoles" the Saturn, Playstation and Ultra 64. It was a crazy exciting time. Every single one of them was several hundred pounds and there was zero chance of my family being able to afford them, and there were so many new systems coming out, even the richest kids wouldn't be able to have them all. It was so cool to see each new slight upgrade on each other, and seeing companies vying to outdo each other with spectacle and invent new genres for the new tech.

Because my family was having some money issues I was always at least one generation behind in tech. But in in '95 when everyone else was getting Playstations, I managed to pick up a Megadrive with MegaCD and 32X plus a huge catalogue for peanuts. That gave me at least a window into "next gen / 32 bit" games with both 3D and FMV stuff. I actually held off on getting a Playstation til around early 98, because by that point the prices had come down and many games I'd drooled over but couldn't afford were super cheap by that point, and amazing new titles were still coming out. By that point I'd already picked up a second hand Saturn, and been gifted an N64.

I love all 3 main consoles of that generation, each one has some of my absolute favourite games on them. That first generation of "proper 3d" games get a lot of flack nowadays but there was such innovation and genuinely unique stuff happening. Not to mention the 2D games of that generation which took everything learned and perfected from the 16bit systems but had a tonne more power and storage capability to make them even better. Its quite possibly my favourite console generation, and many games from my own personal top 100 are from those 3 systems.

@sanderson72 V-Rally was great! Didn't quite topple Sega Rally at the time but it was a darn fine answer to it, and had a bigger selection of cars and tracks. I never played the sequels as I'd moved onto the Colin McRae series by then, but the first V-Rally will always be a fond memory for me.

And perhaps its nostalgia but I'm one of those weirdos that actually likes the original 5 "tank control" Tomb Raider games more than the remakes and modern ones. I still replay the first 2 fairly often. And yeah, Vita (or even PSP) plays PS1 games wonderfully!