I got an SNES Classic! I still can't believe my luck! What a nightmare it has been! It all started back in July when Walmart jumped the gun and started preselling the SNES Classics too early. I was one of the unfortunate few that locked down a preorder only for it to be canceled four days earlier. I was so upset, I wanted to boycott. Then, there were the official preorders that went live in August, and I missed every single one of them. Amazon and Best Buy sold theirs while I was asleep. The rest sold theirs while I was at work and unable to get to the computer in time. Then, last night, I missed out on another round of online preorders by minutes.
The only recourse I had then was to hunt one down in a brick and mortar, and that meant camping or showing up really early. The thought of having to wait so long in line causes me great anxiety. I have stomach and bladder issues, so I would be completely miserable should I camp, so that wasn't an option. The plan then was to wake up early and try my local Walmart first. As much as I didn't want to because I'm still pissed at them for making me go through all this shit, I figured they would be my best bet.
I had a game plan ready. I was going to try Walmart first, fail. Then I'd swing down to Best Buy which was just down the parking lot and try to score a ticket they were to be handing out at 7, fail. I'd swing over to Target at 8, fail, then head over to Toys R Us and fail again. I wasn't even going to try GameStops, since most of their allotments were already preordered. I'd then go home after failing at Toys R Us and spend the afternoon looking up store stocks and calling around and then travel across Colorado to find a store that had one. I took today off from work thinking I'd being doing all this. I gave myself very low odds of succeeding, but I was still going to try.
My plan was to be at Walmart at 5, an hour before opening. Sadly, that did not happen. Snooze instincts took over and kept hitting the damn snooze. When I finally looked at my phone, it was 5:30. I jumped up, got ready and flew down to the Walmart arriving at 10 minutes till 6. As I pulled into the parking lot, lo and behold, a line. I eyeballed it at least 30-40 people. The line looked to be growing in size the closer and closer I got to it, and then my stomach had that lurching feeling when I estimated the line to be over 40 people. I knew this location had 39 units and I almost convinced myself to leave and immediately stand in line at Best Buy. What made me even more anxious was hearing people talk about how they were selling them via tickets. I thought at that point, "Why even bother now?" I was SO close to leaving, but something held me there in line.
As the doors opened, the mob of people hurriedly - but in an orderly fashion - marched down to the electronics department. The line was so long that people were walking out of the department with their SNES Classics before the line slowed down enough to where I was standing still. The dread would not go away. I kept feeling that I was going to miss out and would have to start the long process of standing in line at other stores and calling around. I just wanted this all over with. I even prayed to Jehovah to help me, as petty as a prayer that was. But He heard me.
I don't think I overestimated my count. There was a good 40 or so people in front of me, but what I didn't take into account was that they weren't all buying their own machines. Some were together to just keep the people waiting in line company. The line moved very swiftly and a guy I was chatting with in line named Will stood on his toes and looked over the counter to see how much stock they had left. It looked like at least 10 units, he said. We only had a couple more people in front us.
Then it started setting in. I was going to get one! I was next in line as Will was checking out to my right. We both had this sense of euphoria surrounding us. Before I knew it, I was sliding my card into the machine and the clerk handed me my bag. I had it! I took it out of the bag and felt the box. This was real. I even pinched myself thinking I'm dreaming! I even had this weird dream last night that someone jumped the counter, grabbed one and tried to run off with it but I gave chase, took him down with a slide and did a citizen's arrest. Because of my heroics, I was awarded with the opportunity to purchase the SNES Classic I had saved.
Will and I walked out of the Walmart with our SNES Classics beaming brighter than 1,000 Watt flashlights. And suddenly, I realized, "My entire day just got freed up!" I came home happier than I have been in a long time, set the SNES Classic on a counter top and took pictures to post on Facebook to further cement the reality of the situation. All this waiting, all this anxiety, the frustration, the fear of disappointment; it all faded away leaving me in a state of blissful joy. The hunt was over, and I landed my five point buck on the first shot!
As the doors opened, the mob of people hurriedly - but in an orderly fashion - marched down to the electronics department. The line was so long that people were walking out of the department with their SNES Classics before the line slowed down enough to where I was standing still. The dread would not go away. I kept feeling that I was going to miss out and would have to start the long process of standing in line at other stores and calling around. I just wanted this all over with. I even prayed to Jehovah to help me, as petty as a prayer that was. But He heard me.
I don't think I overestimated my count. There was a good 40 or so people in front of me, but what I didn't take into account was that they weren't all buying their own machines. Some were together to just keep the people waiting in line company. The line moved very swiftly and a guy I was chatting with in line named Will stood on his toes and looked over the counter to see how much stock they had left. It looked like at least 10 units, he said. We only had a couple more people in front us.
Then it started setting in. I was going to get one! I was next in line as Will was checking out to my right. We both had this sense of euphoria surrounding us. Before I knew it, I was sliding my card into the machine and the clerk handed me my bag. I had it! I took it out of the bag and felt the box. This was real. I even pinched myself thinking I'm dreaming! I even had this weird dream last night that someone jumped the counter, grabbed one and tried to run off with it but I gave chase, took him down with a slide and did a citizen's arrest. Because of my heroics, I was awarded with the opportunity to purchase the SNES Classic I had saved.
Will and I walked out of the Walmart with our SNES Classics beaming brighter than 1,000 Watt flashlights. And suddenly, I realized, "My entire day just got freed up!" I came home happier than I have been in a long time, set the SNES Classic on a counter top and took pictures to post on Facebook to further cement the reality of the situation. All this waiting, all this anxiety, the frustration, the fear of disappointment; it all faded away leaving me in a state of blissful joy. The hunt was over, and I landed my five point buck on the first shot!
Today, I'll spend a good amount of time with my SNES Classic revisiting some of my favorites. I probably won't play them all for a quite a long time. I just wanted to make sure I had this thing in my possession so I wouldn't have to keep looking for the damned thing. I did actually play a bit of it this morning. I played the first level of StarFox, which is required in order for you to unlock StarFox 2, the only reason why I wanted the Classic this badly. Unfortunately, I need to be honest and say StarFox 2 just isn't any good. It's not because it's dated, although that does play a part in making it hard to appreciate. The structure of the game just isn't that fun. It's a bunch of mini-missions scattered around a map where you constantly have to stop what you're doing to fight off missiles that's threatening Corneria. Playing in first-person with a d-pad is also not very fun at all. Still, disappointed as I am in the game, I'm glad I found an SNES Classic. There were also a few games I used to have, and now I have them again, and a couple I never even played. I'll get to them eventually.
As for the system itself, it really is tiny. You don't really get a feel for just how small it is until you hold it in your hand. Even Will and I were surprised by how small the box was. The replication of the system is near perfect, catching every detail of the old 16-bit system. The cartridge slot and eject buttons are purely for cosmetics but the power and reset switches behave exactly like the original SNES. The controller is also an exact replica and feels about the same as I remember the original feeling. Sadly, even at five feet, the cord is still too short. I had to bring the unit down to right under my TV in order for the controller to give me enough slack as a result, it hangs a little off my desk. I don't think I want to spend more money on an extension cord. I'll just make do.
As for the interface, I like how the menu is done. It has a nice 16-bit style background and the music that plays is very reminiscent of what you'd hear in one of the old Wii apps. I also discovered that if you idle long enough, Mario will come along and bump the underside of whatever game you currently have your cursor on and it'll launch. While the game is demoing, you can hit Select to go back to the menu but if you're actively playing a game, you'll need to get up and hit the reset button. Once a game has been reset, you'll be given the option to select a save state, which I found odd. This should have been an automatic thing, but you're required to MANUALLY do a save state. If you get a Classic, don't forget that when you reset.
The library of games is a great collection, but I'm still bothered by the fact that there's only 21 in comparison to the NES Classic's 30. There are a few glaring omissions, most notably Chrono Trigger, but considering you have Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy III and Earthbound, you'll have plenty of RPGing to do. One omission I don't get is PilotWings. The Classic has legendary launch games Super Mario World and F-Zero, but no PilotWings? No SimCity? I appreciate the fact that a Street Fighter 2 title is in here, but it's Turbo edition which isn't bad by any means, but there's a few better editions they could have included instead.
I'm not trying to be nit picky. I should count my lucky stars that I even have reason to write this blog, but I've always been the Nintendo gamer that expects more from them. I felt to reduce your catalog by nine games and charge 20 dollars more while you're at it is a bit insulting to your customers. The SNES is a lot more special to most than the NES was, and I honestly don't feel Nintendo did enough justice with their library this time. Still, being able to play StarFox 2, a game published 21 years ago but never released until now, as disappointing as it is, is a very special feeling. I'd do this all over again. So glad I don't have to, though.
As for the system itself, it really is tiny. You don't really get a feel for just how small it is until you hold it in your hand. Even Will and I were surprised by how small the box was. The replication of the system is near perfect, catching every detail of the old 16-bit system. The cartridge slot and eject buttons are purely for cosmetics but the power and reset switches behave exactly like the original SNES. The controller is also an exact replica and feels about the same as I remember the original feeling. Sadly, even at five feet, the cord is still too short. I had to bring the unit down to right under my TV in order for the controller to give me enough slack as a result, it hangs a little off my desk. I don't think I want to spend more money on an extension cord. I'll just make do.
As for the interface, I like how the menu is done. It has a nice 16-bit style background and the music that plays is very reminiscent of what you'd hear in one of the old Wii apps. I also discovered that if you idle long enough, Mario will come along and bump the underside of whatever game you currently have your cursor on and it'll launch. While the game is demoing, you can hit Select to go back to the menu but if you're actively playing a game, you'll need to get up and hit the reset button. Once a game has been reset, you'll be given the option to select a save state, which I found odd. This should have been an automatic thing, but you're required to MANUALLY do a save state. If you get a Classic, don't forget that when you reset.
The library of games is a great collection, but I'm still bothered by the fact that there's only 21 in comparison to the NES Classic's 30. There are a few glaring omissions, most notably Chrono Trigger, but considering you have Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy III and Earthbound, you'll have plenty of RPGing to do. One omission I don't get is PilotWings. The Classic has legendary launch games Super Mario World and F-Zero, but no PilotWings? No SimCity? I appreciate the fact that a Street Fighter 2 title is in here, but it's Turbo edition which isn't bad by any means, but there's a few better editions they could have included instead.
I'm not trying to be nit picky. I should count my lucky stars that I even have reason to write this blog, but I've always been the Nintendo gamer that expects more from them. I felt to reduce your catalog by nine games and charge 20 dollars more while you're at it is a bit insulting to your customers. The SNES is a lot more special to most than the NES was, and I honestly don't feel Nintendo did enough justice with their library this time. Still, being able to play StarFox 2, a game published 21 years ago but never released until now, as disappointing as it is, is a very special feeling. I'd do this all over again. So glad I don't have to, though.
