Tech: Nintendo will release a mini Super Nintendo with 21 classic games for just $80

Nintendo is re-releasing its Super Nintendo console as a mini standalone package with 21 games for $80.

Nintendo is making a miniature version of its Super Nintendo, called the SNES Classic Edition.

For $80, it comes with 21 packaged Super Nintendo Entertainment System classics, from "Donkey Kong Country" to "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past."

The console arrives on September 29, and it includes the best Mario game ever made: "Super Mario World." But what else is on there?

Here's the full list of games:

• 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 console is officially named the "Super NES Classic Edition" — a shortened version of the console's name from 1991 when it was released as the "Super Nintendo Entertainment System." Unlike the original SNES console, the "Classic Edition" won't play cartridges. It's only capable of powering the 21 games included on the box.

The console is small enough to fit in your palm:

The Super NES Classic Edition is much more akin to Nintendo's "NES Classic Edition" console that launched last year, and has since been discontinued, than the original SNES.

The NES Classic Edition was a miniaturized re-creation of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, albeit with built-in games rather than the ability to play cartridges. As a stand-in for being able to play all your old cartridge-based games, the console had a concept called "save states" — a virtual system for adding saves to all games on the console. In practice, this meant stopping wherever you want and picking back up right where you left off, which was impossible in many old games.

The Super NES Classic Edition will assuredly replicate that functionality for its 21 games. though Nintendo hasn't confirmed as much just yet. Here's what we do know: The Super NES Classic Edition comes with two (wired) controllers and an HDMI cable for the $80 it costs; it also comes packed with the 21 aforementioned games.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about this package is the inclusion of "Star Fox 2" — a game that was never released by Nintendo. It was actually completed back in the 1990s, but was never released to the public for a variety of reasons. Its inclusion in the Super NES Classic Edition is both bizarre and delightful.

The SNES Classic Edition arrives on September 29, and costs $79.99 — and we'd suggest getting one while you can, as Nintendo's likely to stop producing it at some point.

Nintendo is re-releasing its Super Nintendo console as a mini standalone package with 21 games for $80. Read Full Story