Thoughts on the "SNES Classic Edition"

I preordered my SNES Classic from the UK because I like the original case better. It arrived the Wednesday after launch to much anticipation. I had seen videos and pictures of this thing before, but it really shocked me how small it was. The length of the controller's wire was also shorter than I had imagined. Four feet may be an improvement from two feet, but it's still too short. I had trouble opening the door for the controller-ports. As much as it is nice to have it look like a SNES without the door open, I think it would have been better without the door at all, and the controller-ports where the door would be and not recessed.

As an owner of one broken SNES, a working SNES, one New-Style Super NES (the original SNES Mini from 1997), and one Super Famicom, I have to say that the SNES is a neat little gimmick, but it's not satisfying. I realize now that I would rather play with a real cartridge and real system.

Most of the included games are not pick-up-and-play. They take too long to get going. They are more single-player experiences than fun games. If you look at the games on the NES Classic, you could play most of them without reading an instruction-manual, and have fun. With the library on the SNES Classic, most of them are the opposite. They are long, single-player adventures that require the reading of an instruction-manual, and are slow. They take a long time before they become fun, because you need to sit through lots of text, dialog, and world-setup.

I've come to a realization that the Sega Genesis had far better action-games than the SNES. Contra III is SNES's best run-and-gunner. The Genesis beat it with Konami's own Contra: Hard Corps, and Treasure's Gunstar Heroes. The shoot-em-ups on SNES are all too slow, although fun can be had with these slow, methodical shooters. R-Type III looks better in image-quality than any shooter on Genesis, but the Genesis had technically superior shooters that scrolled faster and had far less slowdown. The SNES had far better RPGs, however; there's no contest there.

When I read how people think that the SNES was better, by far, or very matter-of-factly, I wince. They both had different strengths and weaknesses. If you educate yourself enough, you'll realize that they are incomparable and are both equally great.

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