Number 5: Sony PlayStation Mini
After the success of the NES and SNES mini consoles it would only be so long before Sony got in on the action with a PlayStation classic. Unfortunately it wasn’t anywhere as well received, with people not happy that some versions of games were PAL versions instead of NSTC versions which meant they ran slower than people were used to in the US. That shouldn’t bother those of us in the UK, but the truth is we did get slower versions originally back in the day and there’s no reason we should still get them 20 years later.
People also weren’t quite happy with the line up of games as it was felt that many important franchises to the history of the PlayStation were not represented here. Like other consoles on this list many people would quickly find ways to hack the device to add more classic games, but assuming you didn’t want to do this I can understand why people missed the likes of Tomb Raider or Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation Mini.
Alas as this didn’t do well enough we shouldn’t ever expect a PS2 Classic to release in any near future.
So, with all this negativity why is it ranked number 5 on the list? Because despite the PAL versions of games (no issue to me in the UK) and some missing hits, I still love a lot of the games that were included and this ranks it this high for me!
I mean, can any of the consoles listed before this boast the likes of Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil Director’s Cut or Tekken 3? Of course not! Add to this that you get Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, Rayman and Ridge Racer Type 4 and it’s got hours and hours of fun on here.
Number 4: Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Mini
Over the years there have been many mini versions of the Mega Drive/Genesis. They pre-dated the boom in mini consoles that the NES Mini started and when Sega saw that the mini console idea had gone big, they only took a little while before they put one out themselves.
After initially being announced as being created by AT Games who previously made bad mini Mega Drives, Sega changed course and produced one of the best mini consoles themselves. The line up of games may lack Sonic and Sonic & Knuckles because of Michael Jackson (it sounds weird if you don’t know the backstory but it’s true – music rights issues) but otherwise it has a brilliant line up of games.
Street Fighter 2: Special Champion Edition, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2, Shining Force, Virtua Fighter 2 (Mega Drive version not the Arcade or Saturn game) and ToeJam and Earl lead the way in the classic line up.
Rare games on the list include the Mega Drive version of Tetris, Castlevania Bloodlines and a new port od Darius not released before this mini console came out.
Number 3: Nintendo Entertainment System
The mini console that started the revolution. The NES Classic Mini blew people away when it first released and was one of the hardest gaming products to get for a good two years. It was amazing that it released during the era of the Wii U which Nintendo couldn’t shift off shelves to save themselves, but the original Nintendo Entertainment System became the hot product.
Featuring 30 games on a mini system that only cost £50 was insanely good value. And unlike some other consoles from this era, the NES is home to some all time classics which are still as fun to play today as they were back then.
The original Super Mario Bros trilogy is all here, as are the first two Zelda games and other Nintendo classics like Metroid, Kid Icarus, Kirby’s Adventure and Excitebike. Nintendo also went the extra mile to get a bunch of third party games on the system like Final Fantasy, Castlevania, Mega Man 2 and Pac-Man.
Nintendo also did everyone a solid by ensuring that cult favourite Tecmo Bowl saw a release on the NES Classic Mini.
The downside to the console was that the controllers that came with the machine had insanely short cables and Nintendo’s idea was that you could use a longer HDMI cable so that you weren’t sat right up to the TV. Also strangely, the connection on the joypad was the same as seen on the Wii Remotes, which was cool if you wanted to plug this into your Wii and use, but these days I’m sure more people would have preferred a USB connection.
Number 2: The Amiga A500 Mini
I’m sure the high position of the Amiga A500 Mini will be controversial for many reading this list, but do hear me out. Having been released more recently than any other on this list it does have the benefit of being designed with a lot of features which make this one of the very best classic mini consoles.
Following on from the C64 Mini form the same company (Retro Games LTD), the A500 Mini is designed to be able to let players very easily add roms of their favourite games to the system. It’s as simple as dragging and dropping roms onto a USB stick and plugging it into the A500 Mini. This gives you easy access to thousands of games, and the truth is, the Amiga line of computers had some fantastic games.
Built into the console are classics like Worms The Director’s Cut, Zool, The Chaos Engine, Simon the Sorcerer, and Arcade Pool. The built in games list doesn’t instantly trump the NES or PlayStation Mini, but whilst you have to hack them to add games, you can nearly instantly add Amiga games like Lemmings, Monkey Island, Gloom, Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Mortal Kombat 2, and Alien Breed 3D.
The console is also the only one on the list to come with both a gamepad and a mouse, so it makes a ton of games that are best played with a mouse accessible. A downside is that like the C64, the keyboard is still cosmetic only, but you again can add a USB keyboard easily enough.
Number 1: Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic
The best mini console in my opinion is the SNES Classic Mini. Nintendo gave a longer cable on the controller after the NES controversy (still could have been longer but oh well). The console still has the perfect design and interface which made the NES Classic great and with an excellent line up of some of the greatest games ever, it’s hard not to be impressed.
Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Donkey Kong country, Street Fighter 2 Turbo and Final Fantasy III (which is Final Fantasy 6) are some of the most beloved games of all time. Add to this the likes of Super Punch-Out!!, Secret of Mania, Kirby Superstar and Super Mario RPG and the list goes on and on.
Also, famously when this was announced it featured the previously never released Star Fox 2 game which had been scrapped after being completed back in the 90s so Nintendo could focus their 3D game efforts on the N64. Oh and Yoshi’s Island is on there – the list of built in classics is unrivalled on this list.
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