Yesterday, Nintendo finally revealed the long-rumoured SNES Mini, or the Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System as it’s officially called, with 21 games bundled in. That makes the SNES Mini game library nine games short of the list of games included with 2016’s NES Mini.
Seeing as the SNES games library is rather extensive, and includes classics like Chrono Trigger, Mario Paint, Pilotwings and Super Bomberman – all not included with the SNES Mini – it’s not hard to see why fans are a little peeved the SNES Mini game library is so limited.
It’s fair to say that fan reaction to the SNES Mini game library has been tepid at best:
So my only gripe about the SNES Classic….only about 20-25 games on it….the SNES LIBRARY IS HUGE MAN!
— EJ (Josk91) (@JosKuc) June 26, 2017
I question why the SNES Classic only has Donkey Kong Country 1. If you're only going to include one DKC game, make it DKC2.
— Tomokocchi (@itsTomokocchi) June 26, 2017
Only game missing from that list is Super Bomberman tbh
— Globulous (Taylor's Version) (@GlobuIous) June 26, 2017
The SNES Classic lineup is great and I'm trying to get one but I wish it had International Superstar Soccer, Mario Paint, & TMNT or X-Men
— Avrin Ross 🎇👨🏾💻📲 (@8bitavrin) June 26, 2017
But then there’s this tweet that actually sheds some light on the SNES Mini game library’s limitations:
You might remember that the Nintendo Switch’s subscription service is launching in full sometime in 2018. By signing up for a monthly payment, you’ll get access to a rotating library of classic NES and SNES titles to download and play.
If SNES Mini stock is going to be as limited as Nintendo is suggesting, perhaps the Switch subscription service is to blame.
But let’s remind ourselves of what games you will be getting with this new/old mini console. The list of games included in the SNES Mini game library for the UK and the US is as follows:
- Contra III: The Alien War Donkey Kong Country
- EarthBound
- Final Fantasy III
- F-ZERO
- Kirby Super Star
- Kirby’s Dream Course
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
- Mega Man X
- Secret of Mana
- Star Fox
- Star Fox 2
- Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
- Super Castlevania IV Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts
- Super Mario Kart
- Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
- Super Mario World
- Super Metroid
- Super Punch-Out!!
- Yoshi’s Island
In Japan, the game library swaps out Earthbound, Kirby’s Dream Course, Street Fighter 2′ Turbo: Hyper Fighting, Super Castlevania 4 and Super Punch-Out!! in favour of the following five games:
- Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
- The Legend of Mystical Ninja
- Panel de Pon
- Super Soccer
- Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers
Some argue that this is the better line-up, but we’d rather have Kirby and Super Punch Out!! to be honest.