SNES Classic Review

Here's my short review of the SNES Classic. Overall, I liked it, but a SNES Mini & OSSC is still a better option for hardcore gamers.

[liquidsnake]

Correction; it is not a "toy". It is an "entertainment system" :P

[DrLilo]

Hundreds of similar reviews, but yours is the only opinion I actually care about.

[pwnswoggle]

The best thing about the SNES Mini for me is being able to use the controllers on a Wii.

[RandomAssaultPodcast]

I think one of Nintendo's greatest strengths is their UI design and presentation, I love the menu on the SNES Mini, it's just so cute and fun to look at

[Ace]

I just want to point out that it looks as if the Super NES Classic Edition recordings appear to have been done using the wrong colorspace. What I found is that, unlike the NES Classic Edition, the Super NES Classic Edition is outputting in limited colorspace rather than full range, and the end result is that because color values can only be between 16-235 and not 0-255 like full range, whites end up slightly dimmer, blacks turn gray and the colors lose saturation. On the flip-side, with the NES Classic Edition, if this were recorded in limited colorspace, whites would get overly bright (crushed, even), blacks would get crushed and gamma levels would be messed up because the colorspace of the NES exceeds the possible values in limited colorspace. Recording in limited colorspace will give a proper representation of the final output from the Super NES Classic Edition, and I can say from my own Super NES Classic Edition testing that colors are not as dull as they are shown here when the TV and/or capture hardware being used is set up for the appropriate colorspace.

[RedArremer]

Hey Bob, not sure if you accounted for this in your captures, but I discovered the SNES Classic expects 'limited' RGB range for output. If you use 0 - 255 'full' RGB range for capture and/or display, the image will appear very washed out.

[AtomicZepherino]

One thing I noticed was that plastic used with the new controllers felt much rougher than the original controllers. That was kinda strange, but easy to get used to. The buttons and Dpad felt pretty close though, and certainly better than almost any attempt by 3rd party companies.

[airrun]

Thanks for the comparisons. I plan to play games I own like Zelda on my SNES mini through FM. But, games I do not own like Earth Bound I have no choice but to use the SNES CE, but the game image looks great and lag is not a problem.

[Manatarms]

The Lag test is very impressive for a emulator! I have been playing SMW on mine and it feels very responsive and natural when compared to a Pi or a Retron5
Thanks Bob

[tjanas]

Thanks for the review! I also suspected the SNES Classic has less lag than the NES Classic even though both are reported to use the same hardware.

I have a 1Chip SNES connected to a Trinitron CRT via HD Retrovision cables as well as the SNES Classic, but a nice perk of the latter is the rewind and save state feature, which I cannot do with the former.

[ChadTi]

Great comparison, the black level is def too high on the SNES Classic as seen at 4:59. Would adjusting the display get it closer to SNES Mini levels?

[neoinfinity]

Did they fix the audio lag on this one that was present on the NES mini?

[ryoandr]

The black level is horrible. Is it outputing limited range (16-235) ?

[emmettturner]

Looks like they got rid of the flashing on the Zelda title screen (epilepsy concerns). They did this in the Squawks level of Donkey Kong Country too (Torchlight Trouble) so the light no longer flashes the screen when Squawks turns around. I don't know if it was a ROM edit, a game-specific emulator hack, or a system-wide video filter.

[SylvainJoly]

Thank you for that lag testing. Like you I’m very sensitive to lag and I would honestly prefer not to. Sometimes I feel I’m the only one noticing it and a lot of times it prevents me from fully enjoying playing. Since it’s such a personal feeling, it’s also difficult sometimes to inform us about lag on various devices. Some people even claim the SNES mini has less lag than their old SNES connected to their CRT...

[einfacharthur]

as far as i know there is only 720p output, so on 1080p/4K screens there is more inputlag? which snes version is the best for PAL region (germany)? i've never seen a snes mini here. so snes 1 chip + OSSC is the best combo? can you compare snes classic with higan emulator or wii VC?

[hotcoffeebreath]

Hi there. Thanks for making and sharing this. I'm currently planning to get an OSSC to use with the NES Classic/Mini (and a clone system that plays original carts but also outputs HDMI. I am curious what cable and/or converter you use to connect from the SNES Classic/Mini into the OSSC box, since the SNES Classic outputs HDMI but as I understand correctly OSSC does not accept HDMI input? Thanks in advance.

[RetroGamerBB]

i saw the cheapo rgb scart converter in the shop it has 3 to 4 more frames of lag than the framemiester, still not bad really. the cheapo box does 480i and 240p the same so 240p looks odd, drop shadows and so forth, still better than composite

[Douglie]

The only issue I found was that Star Foxes sound, and game play seemed a little off. It might just be me nit-picking. did anyone else feel that way?

[Random.Walker.]

SNES Classic can only output 720p and if play 1080p or 4k tv you get extra more Input lag + emulation Input lag + TV own Input lag.