Request for advice: should I get a Super Nes Mini?

The Dutch Ghost

The Dutch Ghost

Grouchy old man of NMA
Moderator
Hello all,

I have a question on which I need some advice from others as right now I am rather fifty-fifty on this.
Since a couple of days I have been considering getting myself a SNES mini as back in the day I was a big SNES fan, though it may also be my desire to buy something that is at play here.

Back during the 90s I had a Sega Megadrive/Genesis and while I enjoyed games such as the Sonic series and Gunstar Heroes on it (I really should have bought Phantasy Star IV because when I played it a couple of years ago I enjoyed it a lot) I always had a fascination with the SNES as it had quite some great looking exclusives such as Turtles in Time, Alien 3 (much better than the Sega Megadrive version), platformers like Twinbee adventures, Cybernator, and The Lost Vikings.
I did not know about a lot of the JRPGs at the time, I discovered Chrono Trigger much later.

Occasionally I got to rent one but it would be several years, a couple of years before the end of the SNES age that I got one of my own.
Sadly I traded it and my Sega Megadrive for a Nintendo 64. I was so disappointed with it I became a complete PC gamer afterwards.

When Nintendo announced the NES mini I did not care much for it as I was never raised on it (I had a Sega Master System and even then I realized I should have picked the Megadrive) and it felt like Nintendo was once again playing on the nostalgia of their better years like they have been doing for ages now.

But the SNES mini is a different case, especially since I have figured out how one can mod it to play additional games.

I do occasionally play SNES games through an emulator, old favorites like Zombies ate my neighbors and Big Sky Trooper; and games that I missed during that time because they were available for rent or did not have a European version, or even an English version at all. It is criminal how many JRPGs or games with unique gameplay were left in Japan while a lot of crappy and average games did get a port.

But playing on an emulator is rather different than playing on a console even if it is not the original hardware.
I would love to buy all my favorites physical again, especially in a very good or almost mint/new state but a lot of these games are just hideously expensive now.

What makes me reluctant is that I do not want to drown myself in nostalgia again as I tend to think to much of how the past was so much better than the current state of my life including gaming.

A SNES min would also not be cheap for me as I am still unemployed at this time (I do have some reserve but if I spend it on everything I like that would not last long)

Are there people here who have a SNES mini or are in the same situation as I am?
What would you advice me?


A bit disappointing that it can't also play Gameboy Advance games as I would love to add Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission to it.
 
My 2¢: don't do it. I think a USB SNES pad for your PC would be a better investment than the Mini.

Disclaimer: I still have my SNES so I'm biased against it. Just wish my carts hadn't been mostly stolen. As for nostalgia, I don't think it's a dirty word. I miss the "old days" a lot of the time and not just with the SNES.
 
I do have a gamepad that emulates the SNES controls very well. I tried playing with a Keyboard but I just could not stand it.

I also still have a regular SNES somewhere and like you said I would much rather use the real original hardware and the actually physical carts, though I do like savestates for some of the more difficult games.

Well as I mentioned before, sometimes I feel I am to preoccupied with the past myself, and it seems that a lot of publishers/developers play to much on "remember this?"

Not just the SNES and the Megadrive, but also movies, television, comics. I thought that in the future those would only become even better over time but it has in general been a big dive into mediocrity and average.
One of the few things I feel has continuously improving are action figures. The quality of those are much better than they were in the 80s and 90s.

One of the few "good" consoles I remember is the Gameboy Advance which I mentioned earlier. I have a GBA player for my Gamecube so I can also play them on my television though I do have an emulator on my PC as well.

So far one advice against getting a SNES mini.
 
For the same kind of money, you can get a Raspberry Pi, install RetroPie, plug it in to your telly and play everything, not just the SNES. Give or take the form factor, the Pi is a much better choice. To be honest, I still kinda want a mini-SNES, but really, it's difficult to justify it just because the shape of the plastic triggers something nostalgic in you when the Pi can work just as well, and for more systems, and can do lots of other neat stuff in addition.

Even with the Pi, I have to admit I do most of my retro gaming on a GPD XD, but that's more because I work away a lot than anything. Also, a completely different price range.

The biggest downside of the Pi is I got it for SNES/Megadrive/PSX emulation, but ended up spending half my life playing Chuckie Egg on the Amstrad CPC instead.
 
Hello Pariah Dog and Beardy Unixer,

Thank you both for your feedback, you helped me make a decision on this matter; I am not going to buy a SNES mini. I rather buy any games I really would like to play again without an emulator physically though that may take a while though.

Beardy Unixer, I may look into the device you mentioned in the future if I would like to do any retro gaming in the future.
As I am not as technically knowledgeable or skilled I am thinking of getting one of the pre made Raspberry Pi packages that are mentioned on the Retropie website. I am not sure which one I would want to go for though, perhaps I would ask you advice on which one is the best choice.

I miss the "old days" a lot of the time and not just with the SNES.
Click to expand...
Other classic consoles 90s PC gaming, and television, movies, and comics like I do?
 
I want one purely for ease of use for my wife, but also as something separate from my actual PC, which does everything around the house. Earlier I had a brief scare when I cleaned this PC when it would not turn back on. Moments like those make me wish I had some sort of backup device.

If I still had my old SNES I would just collect the cartridges.

This boils down to a budget/technical skill question.

Can you rig up your own Raspberry Pi emulator box because it would be similar price with more functionality but not as pretty?

Do you have the money to blow? If so buy it and the controller extender.

This is the answer I would give to anyone. Buxbaum modded his to have more games so there ya go really.
 
The pre-made kits are nice because they come with joypads, HDMI cables, power adapters, SD cards, retro-ish cases, etc so they're saving you fiddly bullshit in collecting the hardware, but they're not really saving you much from a setting it all up perspective. It'll cost more than buying the individual components seperately, but only by a matter of pennies. So, if you have all the accessories, just buy a Pi and a case. If you don't, get a bundle.

The device you want is most likely the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, or B+. That'll get you emulation up to, and including the PSX. The Raspberbry Pi 2 is a worse device, but can also run most PSX games. Oddly, it actually costs more than the 3B+ now, so only consider it if it's part of a package.

"I am not as technically knowledgeable or skilled" is quite a large spectrum, so the technical ability you need:

You need to install an operating system, and RetroPie.

Either

1) Download a RetroPie image, extract it to a blank SD card, turn the Pi on for the first time, and click a few options in a graphical menu, and get a standard install.

2) Download a Raspbian image, extract it to a blank SD card, turn the Pi on for the first time, click a few options in a menu, configure your RAM/GPU memory split in another menu, download the RetroPie script, follow a text menu, and get a custom install.

Personally, I opted for 2, but mostly because my Pi does a lot of shit on top (Git hosting, dev server, NAS, Firewall, Access Point, Video/TV/Music player/streamer, etc, etc). Option 1 should be fine for most people.

Either way, if you want to use an external harddrive, you'll also have to edit a couple of text files to change the path locations - no harder than editing sfall.ini or ddraw.ini to get Fallout working. There is also some fiddly bullshit in setting up the screen resolution. It's simple enough, it's just another menu, but it is fiddly bullshit requiring a reboot each time. This is a minor pain the arse if you've got a telly with sane aspect ratios, and a massive pain in the arse if you've got a telly that thinks stretching the resolution and cutting the edges off is a good idea.

But yeah, it depends on whether you put the greater value on versatility, or if you put it on being saved fiddly bullshit.
 
Beardy Unixer said:
The pre-made kits are nice because they come with joypads, HDMI cables, power adapters, SD cards, retro-ish cases, etc so they're saving you fiddly bullshit in collecting the hardware, but they're not really saving you much from a setting it all up perspective. It'll cost more than buying the individual components seperately, but only by a matter of pennies. So, if you have all the accessories, just buy a Pi and a case. If you don't, get a bundle.

The device you want is most likely the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, or B+. That'll get you emulation up to, and including the PSX. The Raspberbry Pi 2 is a worse device, but can also run most PSX games. Oddly, it actually costs more than the 3B+ now, so only consider it if it's part of a package.

"I am not as technically knowledgeable or skilled" is quite a large spectrum, so the technical ability you need:

You need to install an operating system, and RetroPie.

Either

1) Download a RetroPie image, extract it to a blank SD card, turn the Pi on for the first time, and click a few options in a graphical menu, and get a standard install.

2) Download a Raspbian image, extract it to a blank SD card, turn the Pi on for the first time, click a few options in a menu, configure your RAM/GPU memory split in another menu, download the RetroPie script, follow a text menu, and get a custom install.

Personally, I opted for 2, but mostly because my Pi does a lot of shit on top (Git hosting, dev server, NAS, Firewall, Access Point, Video/TV/Music player/streamer, etc, etc). Option 1 should be fine for most people.

Either way, if you want to use an external harddrive, you'll also have to edit a couple of text files to change the path locations - no harder than editing sfall.ini or ddraw.ini to get Fallout working. There is also some fiddly bullshit in setting up the screen resolution. It's simple enough, it's just another menu, but it is fiddly bullshit requiring a reboot each time. This is a minor pain the arse if you've got a telly with sane aspect ratios, and a massive pain in the arse if you've got a telly that thinks stretching the resolution and cutting the edges off is a good idea.

But yeah, it depends on whether you put the greater value on versatility, or if you put it on being saved fiddly bullshit.
Click to expand...

This is what I need to make the jump on Prime Day. Thanks.
 
Somewhat SNES related. Were US SNES games faster than UK/EU SNES games because of the 60hz/50hz television differences?
I know that was the case between the Genesis and the Megadrive.
 
Some conversions were better than others, but yeah, PAL gamers were screwed back then on all systems. Nothing on the SNES felt as bad as Sonic 1 - though emphasis on felt. Some games were just as bad, but they didn't rely on speed as the core gimmick.
 
Okay then I know that if I want to collect original classic SNES cartridges that I should go for the NTSC versions.
 
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