The Video Game Critic

So Nintendo recently released 3 SNES games on the 3DS VC with a few more released soon. Not as sweet as it sounds. Check the fine print.

They will only work on their "new" 3ds lineup. Pretty much requiring you to purchase another portable. One that's on its last legs and almost dead. Oh, and don't forget the charger. Because they were too cheap to throw in an AC adaptor.

They are priced at $7.99 a piece. Seriously. For 20+ year old Snes emulations. Nintendo is officially smoking something. Do they not look at the competition at all? They should be selling these things as a bundle. Greed. Nickel and diming people just like all the dlc crap they're promoting now.

They look awful and blurry in the default set up. These are obviously games made back when 4:3 was the standard so there's going to be black borders on the sides. Switching to pixel perfect mode clears up the blurriness but shrinks the picture even further. Ruining the whole experience, realizing you're squinting to see a tiny picture inside a larger screen.

No stereoscopic 3d or anything extra. They could've included a theme or something. Lazy quick cash grabs. Stick with emulating on your phone/tablet if you want Snes on the go.

Too bad they didn't go the "collection" route all on cartridges. I've got the Capcom, SNK and Taito collections on PSP and they're awesome. $8 sounds ridiculous for an old emulated SNES game. I guess they're finding a reason to justify the "new" 3ds, but what an awful way to do it.

I feel like I'm being a bad Boy Scout because I'm actually picking up a New 3DS just to have a SNES library on the go. However, there are a few questions I wish I could have answered before taking the plunge:

1). I understand that perfect emulation can be very tricky, but I'm having a tough time understanding how the PSP can perfectly emulate PS1 games but the 3DS can't perfectly emulate SNES games? Isn't one more powerful than the other?


2). Is Nintendo going to completely abandon SNES on New 3DS like they did the NES on 3DS? I am still ticked off about that, and I've had people try to tell me that there wasn't anything left to release! Oh, really? How about Final Fantasy 1 and Shadowgate, which are available on the Japanese eshop? How about Startropics 1 and 2? How about Double Dragon III, the Adventures of Bayou Billy, Mother 1, which are all available on Wii U's VC? I never bought Iwata's lame excuse as to why games came out at such a slow trickle. Okay, if that's true then why are you wasting time and resources porting the same game multiple times? Why are you porting the GBA Super Street Fighter II when it's already out for the SNES?

I'm sorry to gripe, but their handling of the VC has been so frustrating!

BanjoPickles wrote: I'm actually picking up a New 3DS just to have a SNES library on the go.

There are other options for SNES goodness on the road. Hyperkin and Retro-Bit each make a portable player you can pop your own SNES carts into.

BanjoPickles wrote:I feel like I'm being a bad Boy Scout because I'm actually picking up a New 3DS just to have a SNES library on the go. However, there are a few questions I wish I could have answered before taking the plunge:

1). I understand that perfect emulation can be very tricky, but I'm having a tough time understanding how the PSP can perfectly emulate PS1 games but the 3DS can't perfectly emulate SNES games? Isn't one more powerful than the other?


2). Is Nintendo going to completely abandon SNES on New 3DS like they did the NES on 3DS? I am still ticked off about that, and I've had people try to tell me that there wasn't anything left to release! Oh, really? How about Final Fantasy 1 and Shadowgate, which are available on the Japanese eshop? How about Startropics 1 and 2? How about Double Dragon III, the Adventures of Bayou Billy, Mother 1, which are all available on Wii U's VC? I never bought Iwata's lame excuse as to why games came out at such a slow trickle. Okay, if that's true then why are you wasting time and resources porting the same game multiple times? Why are you porting the GBA Super Street Fighter II when it's already out for the SNES?

I'm sorry to gripe, but their handling of the VC has been so frustrating!

1. A $20 smartphone can emulate Snes games better with more options. Heck, the Psp probably emulates Snes games better. There is no reason why these games require a "new" 3ds, just Nintendo forcing more hardware to try and save face.

The launch hardware was running GBA games with their ambassador program. They never even folowed up on that. Just teased people who didn't purchase one at launch. If the old hardware could run GBA, it could run SNES. Would be embarrassing, if it couldn't.

2. Most likely, it's Nintendo. Don't get your hopes up in building some huge library of Snes games. Only like 10 were announced and I suspect that will be the end of that. Just a small cracker.

Other than a lack of cross-buy with the Wii U, I don't see any specific issues here.

The price point matches that of the Wii and Wii U and while I'd argue that $5 would be more appropriate, it's simply matching their existing standards. And quality SuperNes emulation requires a fair bit of resources so it doesn't surprise me that the feature is limited to the much more powerful New 3DS hardware.

Even the lack of 3D which surely is an issue for some, is consistent with the rest of the Virtual Console lineup that utilizes emulation and unchanged source code (That once in a blue moon is slightly modified here and there, such as to minimize hit flashes in their zeal to combat epilepsy).

SilveryFire wrote:A $20 smartphone can emulate Snes games better with more options. Heck, the Psp probably emulates Snes games better. There is no reason why these games require a "new" 3ds, just Nintendo forcing more hardware to try and save face.

I really doubt that it's an artificial limiter to sell New 3DS hardware. SuperNes classics simply don't have that selling power in 2016, regardless of how great many of them are. Nintendo's marketing department often is sorely lacking, but they're surely not as inept as to actually think that classics like Super Mario World are system sellers for the New 3DS.

All emulation isn't created equal. Many a homebrew emulator is far from perfect and while able to seemingly run some games perfectly, can easily show its flaws with others. Nintendo seeks out quality emulation that can run 99% of the library with no issues like frame skipping, with little worry that a technical issue will crop up as titles are added. Just check out the PC specs for the world's only cycle accurate videogame emulator, which just so happens to be the SuperNes emulator bSnes.

Quality emulation doesn't come cheap, neither from standpoint of the development resources needed to create it or the horsepower necessary to power their creation. I see no ulterior motive in this addition being exclusive to the more powerful New 3DS hardware.

SilveryFire wrote:The launch hardware was running GBA games with their ambassador program. They never even folowed up on that. Just teased people who didn't purchase one at launch. If the old hardware could run GBA, it could run SNES. Would be embarrassing, if it couldn't.

Except that it wasn't emulation at all. The ARM7 GBA code runs natively on the ARM9 processor of the 3DS, thanks to the processor having an ARM7 BC mode.

The problem that kept it away from the Virtual Console is that this trick only worked with GBA titles that didn't have Z80 functions. The GBA included that older processor to enable backwards compatibility and many titles make use of it as a secondary processor such as for audio purposes.

There's supposedly some technical issue that has kept a hybrid native/emulation setup away, despite a dual core ARM11 at their disposal with every 3DS. And Nintendo apparently has been unwilling to sell just a subsection of their GBA library that didn't rely on the Z80 in any way.

SilveryFire wrote:Most likely, it's Nintendo. Don't get your hopes up in building some huge library of Snes games. Only like 10 were announced and I suspect that will be the end of that. Just a small cracker.

I bet its Virtual Console ends up receiving most of the content that's shared across the Wii & Wii U SuperNes lineups today, especially the 1st party titles. And really if it's only 10, unless one is foolish enough to run out and buy a New 3DS just because of this announcement, does it really matter?

It's still 10 great games that couldn't previously be enjoyed on this handheld. It's hardly a negative even though you're sure trying to twist it around to be one. Fair enough to be uninterested in this news; But in no way, shape, or form is this news a problem for anyone.

Atariboy wrote: The price point matches ... their existing standards. And quality SuperNes emulation requires a fair bit of resources...All emulation isn't created equal. Many a homebrew emulator is far from perfect and while able to seemingly run some games perfectly, can easily show its flaws with others. Nintendo seeks out quality emulation that can run 99% of the library with no issues like frame skipping, with little worry that a technical issue will crop up as titles are added.

Fair enough to be uninterested in this news; But in no way, shape, or form is this news a problem for anyone.

I disagree.

If you want to replicate the SNES experience of 1994, you cannot play it on a 3DS handheld, period. Its not the right screen at the right distance and its not the right controller. Its already flawed by definition of being on a portable.

What's left is "Is this worth it enjoy to enjoy SNES games on the go?", where it has to compete with many other products that already do that. Any minor improvement that this new 3DS emulation has are not decisive given the merits of the competition, especially if you already own such a device.

You may personally see this emulator worth the cost, but its just not for most of us.

I don't see this as anything more than buying a ROM file. I play this stuff on my PSP, and its OK.

I will give them credit for releasing a title like earthbound though, as a casual gamer would have to drop some serious $$ to play it otherwise.

Get one of those generic emulation handhelds that will probably do a better job of playing SNES ROMS, this is a waste of both Nintendo's resources and your time.

I dislike the way Nintendo handles the Virtual Console. The games are overpriced, there should be cross-console support, and releasing SNES games on the New 3DS only is ridiculous; the original DS probably had enough power to run an SNES emulator.

However, I think that when you start making the argument that they are overpriced because you can get them for free, that's pretty ridiculous. Nothing is cheaper than stealing.