30 games we want in Nintendo’s miniature SNES

We want Zelda and Metroid, but let’s not forget the Mystical Ninja and Earthbound

by Chris Plante

Apr 19, 2017, 2:54 PM UTC

Analogue SNES adapter

Analogue

Nintendo will release a miniature Super Nintendo this holiday, according to a report at Eurogamer. The news comes within the same week Nintendo discontinued its NES Classic Edition, a tiny NES that came with a controller and 30 pre-installed 8-bit games. Eurogamer’s report suggest the mini SNES will be similar to its NES predecessor, coming with a controller and only playing a collection of bundled games.

It’s unclear what games will ship with the mini SNES. Unlike the NES, many of Super Nintendo’s most beloved games are tied to complicated agreements with third-party companies. Role-playing games like Final Fantasy IV came from Square Enix; sports games like NHL ‘94 and Madden NFL ‘96 were published by Electronic Arts and involved contracts with their respective professional sport leagues; and Disney games like Aladdin were made by Capcom but used Disney intellectual property. All of which is to say, there may be some legal barriers preventing your favorite game from appearing on the hardware.

But we don’t need to worry about that just yet. Without an official list of games, we can live in the happy, hazy zone in which we know the mini SNES exists, but can still speculate on what will and won’t make its roster.

The NES Classic Edition featured 30 games, so we’re limiting this SNES list to the same number. Let us know what you would include in the comments.

[If you can’t wait for the SNES mini, you might want to try the Analogue wireless adapter. Pictured above, the dongle lets you play a classic SNES without the headache of wired controllers.]