Super Nintendo Classic's Valuable Versatility

Backward compatibility, check. No need to mess with physical media, check. Looks good (I’m eyeing you launch Xbox One), check. Comes with two controllers, check. Has dozens of the best games ever, check. I’m not afraid to admit it, the Super Nintendo Classic is the coolest system released this generation. There are some modern conveniences lacking like you can’t stream Strange Things from this box, but do you really need another HDMI connected piece of hardware that can? The SNES Classic has a ton of appeal out of the box as a standalone, $80 piece of entertainment. It comes with several of the best games of all time with the likes of Super Mario World, A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy 6 and many others and comes with two controllers for out of the box co-op enjoyment. I mean there is a reason Nintendo has sold a ton of these, they’re easy to setup, no worries about having kids go online and buy a bunch of things or run into curse fueled chat experiences among the strong library. But, if you’re anything like myself, you may have been wondering why, maybe some games, (CHRONO F’N TRIGGER) were suspiciously missing. Thus, I contend that the Super Nintendo Classic is the coolest system released this generation but of course, that comes with some caveats, though nothing most relatively computer savvy folks can’t overcome.

Luckily for you and I, it doesn’t take much research to figure out how easy it is to *clears throat* hypothetically add games to this small, handy box. Once you realize how easy it is to hypothetically add more SNES games you can’t help but see just how customizable and versatile the SNES Classic actually is. While the initial classic system Nintendo released caused the Tickle Me Elmo like frenzy, mostly on the back of it was the first Classic system Nintendo put out and the NES embellishes the nostalgia crazed 30-somethings right now, it’s the SNES Classic that holds the most value. A strange outcome with the Classic systems Nintendo has produced is that they have a huge amount of storage space that is just sitting there, unused. This creates a built-in flexibility for these systems to hold many more games than are factory installed, but also creates an opportunity for these systems to do even more. It turns out, one of the fairly easy things you can add to a SNES Classic is the ability to dual boot, or in other words, your SNES Classic can also be an NES Classic. This harkens back to my high school days of testing out PC’s with dual boot options of Windows XP and Red Hat (Linux), except it is far more simple, exceptionally less time consuming, and way, way less nerdy; well, somewhat less nerdy to do so. It also seems that the same can be done vice versa, so an NES Classic can be dual booted to have a SNES Classic added in, but you would have one less controller and it wouldn’t be the right controller to boot.

While adding more games and an entire other system to the SNES Classic is the main event, there are a ton of really neat smaller scale things that can be uniquely altered too. The frame art that can be chosen in the display settings of the SNES Classic can be customized to hundreds of different options now including game-specific artwork for most games that will boot up when you boot up that specific game. You can also choose to change the menu music for both the NES and SNES Classic if you’d like to add even more of a custom feel.

The community that has popped up around Nintendo’s Classic offerings is really cool and offers an easy path to creating a custom retro experience perfect for your personal wants and needs. There is a slew of guides and breakdowns online and on Youtube alike detailing what exactly you can do with this tiny grey box and the community of folks making custom music themes or frame art is a nice departure from many negative groups that have cultured lately in the medium. It will be curious to see what happens with the long-rumored though not yet officially announced Nintendo 64 Classic happens. How much extra storage space will be available with the game sizes increasing severely? Will the framework be the same on an N64 Classic as it is with the NES and SNES providing an opportunity for that Classic system to triple boot the three Classic systems? Will Nintendo try to put a hammer down on the extreme ease of sideloading custom stuff onto these systems? Will an N64 Classic be more powerful as it needs to run more intensive, 3D games making it a better Classic system for NES and SNES too? Also, does the N64 Classic actually exist is a fair question in and of itself. It seems like Nintendo has taken the route of discontinuing offering classic games on the current Nintendo games system in favor of releasing these Classic lines of mini consoles to service peoples classic gaming desires but maybe doing an N64 wasn’t going to be cost-effective as it was with NES and SNES. Anyways, at this point, I stand by calling the SNES Classic the coolest system released this generation and wait for what Nintendo’s next move is regarding their back catalog.