The SNES Classic Edition was announced as a surprise from Nintendo back in June that no one, and everyone, saw coming.

This new addition to the "Classic" line Nintendo started with the release of the NES Classic Edition from 2016 hopefully marks a series that could continue for at least a few more iterations.

The SNES Classic will come with two controllers now, instead of the standard one with the NES Classic, a HDMI cable, and a micro usb power supply.

THE GAMES:

The NES Classic edition came with 30 games built in, but the SNES Classic will only have 21...but there is a difference in the quality that more than makes up for it. Included in the SNES Classic Edition will be:

Super Mario World
Super Mario Kart
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 Superstar
Final Fantasy III
Kirby's Dream Course
Starfox
Starfox 2
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

Of all of these amazingly well loved games Nintendo has picked out, the surprise came in the form of Star Fox 2 which never saw an official release even though it was basically completed over 20 years ago. The game was scrapped at the last minute because Nintendo had the Nintendo 64 coming out and wanted to focus on the 3D for that system instead of having the SNES be a weaker comparison, even though what it was doing at the time was a masterworks in technology for gaming back then for consoles.

The system will be available in retail on September 29th, 2017 for a suggest retail price of $79.99.

THE SYSTEM:

(LEFT) Original SNES, (RIGHT) SNES Classic Edition

The SNES Classic Edition follows in the footsteps of the NES Classic from last year in the fact it will be a MUCH smaller system compared to its original, will use the Wii Remote connections just as the NES Classic did, and will include full size controllers. The nice change is that we will get a second controller instead of having to fight to find an official one.

The controller ports are hidden now on all models of the SNES Classics behind a front panel that makes it look more like the original system without losing connection.

The front panel opens to help keep the look clean, while maintining the necessary new ports.

Japan and Europe will be getting the Super Famicom edition of the system with the look of the system as it was released in their respective countries all those years ago. Got to love those colors on the controller!

WHAT WE WISH WAS THERE:

Sadly, no collection will EVER be complete as many different people remember and loved many different games. Personally, I would have loved to have seen a few more titles added to the system that I remember playing (and honestly still play some now) back when I was a kid with my friends. Here are my top 10 games I wish had been included:

Zombie's Are My Neighbors - Excellent co-op as you shoot your way through neighborhoods with your water guns to rescue civilians while fighting off a strange group of monsters from Frankenstein, to werewolves, to zombies, and even giant babies!
Stunt Race FX - A racing game that supported the Super FX chip to allow for up to 2 players to race on 3D rendered tracks with animated cars. It was a lot of fun and impressive at the time.
Chrono Trigger - Really...what can I say that hasn't been said. It's not on the SNES Classic edition so I would recommend you find the DS version as it was the best release to date with ALL of the content from every version included.
Illusion of Gaia - A surprisingly simple yet engaging action RPG that throws out most conventions like Experience, Money, and more. With 3 main characters you can change up how you play over time (though one of them comes in pretty late...Shadow....)
Secret of Evermore - You can have an electronic dog that is also a toaster. Time travel is wonderful.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - See if you can find a way through the Kobayashi Maru, take on Khan in a nebula, or just try not to anger the Kingons. This game let you control all of the ships from the Original Series generation of Star Trek while you went through an assortment of missions to prove you could be the Captain.
Tetris Attack - Just lose the Tetris name somehow and give us this addictive puzzle game asap!
Sim City - Build up your city as you see fit, or destroy it with a bunch of disasters. You choose!
Super R-Type - One of the best shooter ever made. Beautifully designed and incredibly difficult.
King Arthur's World - A personal favorite that introduced me to strategy gaming as well as being the gift from a family member that is no longer here. Its a mix of real time strategy (RTS) and Lemmings style gameplay in many ways. Use your archers, engineers, knights, wizards, and more to fight your way across a ton of maps so that your King can safely make his way to the end.

In the end, what Nintendo has to do is make sure that this device is available for the market to buy this time. The NES Classic Edition became a hotly fought after gaming system that just braced up the scalpers market while punishing the gamers with a MUCH higher cost...of which Nintendo didn't see an extra penny of.

WHAT I WANT TO SEE NEXT:

With the huge success (if you could find one) of the NES Classic Edition and the hype around the SNES Classic coming out later this year, I find myself thinking of what would be coming next if they continue the series. The Game Boy will probably get a portable edition at some point, but I wonder if they should combine titles from the Game Boy, the Game Boy Color, and the Game Boy Advance into one larger, portable, collection somehow. I believe this could help offset the higher cost it would have for the screen, batteries, and portability.

The other system I could see them doing is the Nintendo 64, but I also feel like this would be the furthest they go. Beyond that would be the Gamecube, and with the size of the files when they moved to DVD, the games may just be too big to be affordable to emulate and store. Plus with both the N64 and the Gamecube, they have to support the native 4 players which makes it even harder to design and sell unless they supply enough controllers or have them included with a higher cost to the consumer. But man, Super Smash Bros in a small portable system I can carry with me could be a lot of fun.

Jeremy -