So the SNES Classic was announced a little over a week ago from when this journal was written, and everybody has been discussing it since its announcement. As shown on the official SNES Classic announcement page, the system will have the following games (at least in the US version):
Super Mario World Super Mario Kart The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past F-Zero Super Metroid Super Street Fighter II Turbo Super Punch-Out Super Castlevania IV Donkey Kong Country Mega Man X Kirby Super Star Final Fantasy III (the original name for the US release of Final Fantasy VI) Kirby's Dream Course StarFox Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Contra III: The Alien Wars Secret of Mana Earthbound Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts StarFox 2 [Previously Unreleased]
The system will also ship with two controllers, taking full advantage of the multiplayer capabilities of the games on this list that support it. I find this list of games rather interesting, covering a broad spectrum of the more popular games, either previously or currently, on the system along with a bonus game that sees its first official release since its cancellation 21 years ago. Just like the NES Classic before it: the system is scaled down to fit onto the hand of an average grown adult, and has classic controller ports accessible from the front. If you're wondering where they are, they're accessible by opening a lid that opens showing the original controller ports. Apparently, the SNES Classic controllers will have five foot long cables like the original controllers for the system, which is a godsend considering how more multiplayer-focused this "Classic" system is compared to its predecessor.
Since the topic of games included in both the NES and SNES Edition have been a cornerstone of any conversations revolving around these consoles, I'll give my two cents on each game listed.
As SNES Drunk (a lesser known gaming Youtuber I highly recommend) put it in his video discussing the SNES Classic: Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Super Punch-Out, Donkey Kong Country and Kirby Super Star were "no shit" shoe-in titles that were going to end up on the system simply because they were first party releases that were among the top 50 bestselling and highest praised games on the console, most of which were even bundled with the SNES at some point over its lifespan.
F-Zero was a launch title like Super Mario World, and was also another pack-in title due to how popular it got, but I can't help but to outright hate its inclusion on here. It was technically impressive back in the day, and it started the incredibly popular yet continually neglected F-Zero racing series, but it's a one player racing game. Sure, it'll be fun for a while, but it's not going to get nearly as much playtime as Super Mario Kart which was cut from the same cloth.
Kirby's Dream Course is one of the few games in this collection that isn't a best seller, despite the critical praise it got back in the day. It's a great multiplayer game for sure, but it feels like an odd pick that came out of necessity for needing more games that take advantage of multiplayer. The popular theory going around is that this game was chosen because of its more recent rise in popularity thanks to the playthrough of it done by the Game Grumps. Considering one half of them did end up going to the 2015 Nintendo World Championship, and that they've had a decent working relationship, it's possible Nintendo took notice of the LP and the possible rise in VC sales of the game afterwards.
StarFox's inclusion seems rather obvious considering the inclusion of its formerly unreleased sequel, and the fact that it started a series that got pretty popular. The game hasn't aged well in numerous areas, most specifically in visuals and controls, but it's easy enough to pick up and play and has a certain charm in its antiquity.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was a pleasant surprise. It's the only game on the list to use the second iteration of the Super FX chip, and is one of the few SNES classics the Nintendo had difficulty in releasing onto the Virtual Console. While most of my experiences came from playing the GBA re-release of the game, I still ended up getting the SNES original from a friend a few years back. It's a blast either way.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was a late first party release for the SNES. It was released in early 1996, mere months before the N64 hit the scene. However, it still proved to be one of the bestselling games for the SNES, and with very good reason. Squaresoft developed the game, and it plays like a simpler Final Fantasy game. The game looks very beautiful with its pre-rendered 3D graphics, and it has a sense of humor to future Mario titles. For Mario's first JRPG outing, it was a spectacular one.
Earthbound is a cult classic RPG that bucked the trends that other JRPGs had established at the time. It's a goofy, quirky RPG with some dark, almost Lovecraftian undertones. I enjoyed this game a lot when I first played it, and still do whenever I revisit it from time to time. While it flopped stateside sales-wise when it was originally released, it has sense enjoyed a public resurgence thanks to over a decade-and-a-half's worth of internet word-of-mouth up to the Wii-U's virtual console release of the game.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo is one of the few third party titles on this list, as well as the only fighting game on it, but it is in the top ten bestselling games on the SNES, and the second bestselling third party title only being beaten by the original release of Street Fighter II (which was a pack-in title). While I have never been the biggest fan of Street Fighter, I have enjoyed one-on-one with friends before, so I do see merit in its inclusion on the system.
Mega Man X is probably one of the best Mega Man games ever made, and is one of the best games made for the SNES hands down. It can be difficult at times, and it requires some precision and finesse at times, but it is a game that rewards you when you do it right. While my preferences with Mega Man games lie elsewhere, I still enjoy X and am glad to see it inclusion.
Final Fantasy VI (formerly released as Final Fantasy III on the SNES) is usually seen as the very best of the pre-PlayStation Final Fantasy games, and was the best selling JRPG on the system. I have no real personal history with this game, as I didn't get a chance to play it until I happened to get a copy of FF VI Advance a few years back, but I think it's a nice addition all the same.
Super Castlevania IV is often considered to be one of the best games in the Castlevania series along with Symphony of the Night, and it isn't hard to see why. The game is ostensibly a remake of the original Castlevania for the SNES, but features more advanced gameplay, far superior presentation and more variety in level layouts and gimmicks. I liked it well enough, it was one my better experiences with the series.
Contra III: The Alien Wars is everything its NES predecessors were and then some. Hectic action from start to finish, with your only goal being to shoot everything that moves and not die in the process. It's most basic coop game on the list, but if you and a friend just want something to occupy an hour or two of your time, this game is it.
Secret of Mana is another Square made JRPG in this collection, and is the bestselling one they made without the name "Final Fantasy" in the title. This one is unique in the fact that it can be played coop with the second player taking control of another character. While I myself have never played it, I've enjoyed seeing others play it over the years.
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is one of the most challenging games for the SNES, and is easily the most difficult game in this collection. While it's a pseudo-sequel/remake of the infamous Ghosts n' Goblins, most known for its BS NES port, this game carries more from the original arcade version which relied more on genuine difficulty than the cheap difficulty most associated with "NES difficult" games. While I am not a fan of this game, many others are, so I can understand its inclusion in this system.
The most surprising inclusion is having the previously unreleased StarFox 2, making its debut with this system. This game has been known about since the heyday of Nintendo Power, and many people who were fans of the original saw that the game was quietly cancelled in favor of StarFox 64 a couple years down the line. There has been a lot of speculation as to why the game got cancelled, but the most reasonable explanation is that the game was cancelled right after completion due to the upcoming release of the Nintendo 64 in 1996 and Nintendo already having a handful of late 3rd party releases slated for that year (Super Mario RPG, Kirby Super Star, Tetris Attack, Donkey Kong Country 3).
Despite this, a lot of people, including myself, found a way to play a prototype ROM of the game that was patched to fix issues with it and translate the text to English. However, as Dylan Cuthbert stated in interviews revolving around the development of StarFox Command for the DS, the game was fully completed before it was cancelled. This means that there's a fully developed and polished version of the game that not even those who've come across the game online has been able to play until now. It will likely only mean that this version was more polished, better translated and adds in some seminal content compared to the prototype, but this does mean that the world finally gets to play StarFox 2 for the first time officially and legally. This makes me happy because this brings hope that Nintendo may actually do the same for other games down the line.
Overall, with one exception, I'm very happy with the list of games included on the SNES Classic Edition. Subjectively, there are other games I wish would've been included over others, but some of those games wouldn't have been even possible to put on it since it would require wading through some legal bullshit to be released. I do, however, have a few more realistic games I would've added in:
Super Mario All-Stars - Sure this game is technically just a compilation of 16-bit remasters of the NES Mario games, but this game has remained pretty popular over the years. It was the template used for the Super Mario Advance games on the GBA, one of the most vocally requested games to go on the Virtual Console, and it even got a straight Wii port in conjunction with Mario's 25th anniversary.
Pilotwings - Sure this amateur flight sim has aged a bit, and to some it looks little more than a technical demo, but it was still a bestseller and it spawned the popular game series by the same name that made a handful of really good games up to the Wii. It's also easy to pick up and play, but challenging to master.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - If we got both of the Super Mario World games, so why not have both of the universally accepted good DKC titles? I heard this one a lot, and I have to agree with this: despite how good the original Donkey Kong Country was, the second one was superior in almost every way. It was more challenging, had more variety in levels and gameplay gimmicks, and overall a better experience. I would've gladly taken this game over F-Zero if I was given the option.
Wild Guns - This game is a fun, arcade shooting gallery with some over-the-top western flavoring, and is one of the most challenging, yet satisfying, coop games to ever come out of the 16-bit era. A perfect fit for the SNES Classic in my opinion.
Brawl Brothers - I was going to put any of the Final Fight games on here, but the first one didn't have multiplayer in its SNES port, and the other two were alright comparatively speaking. The SNES Classic didn't include any beat-em-ups in its roster, a damn shame considering just how many truly great ones were released on the original system. Brawl Brothers is a fine example of the genre, only suffering from a few drawbacks due to localization. But, hey, you could easily access the original Japanese version, "Rushing Beat Ran", by using a cheat code (one of the few SNES games that allowed you to do so).
Legend of the Mystical Ninja - Despite the Nintendo 64 sequel being more popular, the original Legend of the Mystical Ninja was a favorite among the many who got to play it on the SNES back in the day. It's a quirky action-adventure game with a sense of humor, and even featured a multiplayer mode with competitive minigames in between stages being played together.
Chrono Trigger - You knew this one was coming. This is one of the best RPGs ever made by Squaresoft, and is the best JRPG on the SNES. It's a classic, and has been ported and re-released multiple times. Sure, Final Fantasy VI and Secret of Mana were better fits because the former is part of one of the most critically acclaimed RPG series ever and the latter is a nice coop affair, but there was already four RPGs on the system and I'm far from the only one who took notice of this game's exclusion. It's not the worst thing that this game wasn't included, as this game got re-released multiple times as I stated, but I still wish it was there all the same.
As I said, I'm overall quite happy with the selection of games on the system, and I look forward to its September release. I also await to see what crazy hacks people come up with for it since I imagine people will likely get into it the same way they did with the NES Classic before it. Have a good one.
