Nintendo announces SNES Classic mini console

As a follow-up to last year’s NES Classic, Nintendo announced today the Super Nintendo Classic, a miniature model of the famous ’90s home console with 21 pre-installed SNES games. The console will be available September 29 for $80 and will come with the two SNES controllers in the box.

The SNES Classic’s lineup of pre-installed games includes Donkey Kong Country, Earthbound, Final Fantasy III (AKA Final Fantasy VI), The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, and the previously unreleased Star Fox 2, which will only be unlocked after players beat the first level of Star Fox (also included).

Here’s the lineup of 21 games included:

• Contra III: The Alien Wars™
• 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™

The miniature console will also come with a charging cable and an HDMI cable. No word yet on whether or not preorders will be available; judging by last year’s NES Classic Edition debacle, it’s possible that preorders may not be offered at all.

Last year, Nintendo released its NES Classic at an absurd scarcity, reportedly shipping less than ten units to a multitude of popular distributors (e.g. Best Buy, Amazon, Game Stop). The mini console, having gained much pre-launch popularity, was all but impossible to find both online and at retail for months at a time, going for nearly ten times its retail price of $60 on resale sites like Ebay, before finally (and inexplicably) being discontinued by Nintendo earlier this year.

Here’s hoping the Super Nintendo Classic does not follow in the footsteps of its 8-bit predecessor.