I look at 5 of the mini "Classic Consoles" released by the companies that made the original hardware. I give the pros and cons of each system, and give an overall rating for each classic mini console (out of 10).
You can dual boot the SNES Classic with the NES Classic OS which will also play Famicom Disk System games too using the official NES Classic emulator, and you can use NES Classic controllers with it also.
lol. Sorry, but I grew up with the NES. By 1985, those games still had name recognition, but we were playing the new releases. I never even played those games on NES until I got the classic.
I’ll give you _Donkey Kong,_ even though the Atari 800 (1979) and Commodore 64 (1982) could do what Nintendidn’t, in 1985: play all four boards. Actually, they played all four boards, in 1983 - and somehow hung on to that “name recognition” for two years. Same with _DK, Jr.,_ and _Mario Bros._ (also 1983) played more faithfully on the Atari 800 and Commodore 64 than it did by Nintendo, on Nintendo hardware... So, yeah, “Mario games” were hardly “introduced on the NES.” Nintendo couldn’t even put their own games, in full, on their own premiere console - but Atarisoft put them on Atari 8-bits, C64, IBM clones, and Apple II, among others, years earlier, all in 1983, and those ports killed the 3/4 NES versions and Coleco-made console versions. I think you misremember 1985 completely (although, to be fair, it sounds like you were about five, then, and living in Saskatchewan... ). Most of the games you’re lauding weren’t close to coming out in 1985. _Metroid_ was released in August, 1987, and the OG _Castlevania_ was released in May, 1987 (two years later) - and the latter was originally ported to DOS, C64, and Amiga. To the contrary, _Donkey Kong_ and Pac-Man were released for the NES in 1985 (two years later than on home computers/consoles, and those came out two years later than their first arcade games). That’s not to mention that Pac-Man and Donkey Kong were_launch titles_ on the NES - games Nintendo made and licensed to sell the NES, with that bit of “name recognition” they still had, in 1985. 🤣 I suppose Tetris, the most popular video game in history, would be “filler” on a Game Boy mini... ... To top it off, you show ten seconds of _Bubble Bobble,_ while talking about “iconic NES games,” which is untrue, no matter how you interpret that phrase. 🤦♂️
@@mechamania That is all great, but I don't know a single person, not one, that was lined up to get an NES Classic so they could play Pac man or Donkey Kong. Ìt doesn't matter that they were popular, these games don't come close to units sold for franchises like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, or even Castlevania. I showed Bubble Bobble because I happen to like that game.
@@mechamania I love Pac-Man, but in 2024, there are plenty of ways to play better versions of Pac-Man than the NES one. By the time we had the NES in the states, it was nice to have a decent Pac-Man port, but Mario mania was pretty much running wild so those arcade classic games didn't seem as exciting since most kids' first NES experience was Super Mario Bros which was just a revolutionary game in the mid 80s
I got my PS mini for $20. But now that everyone knows it’s the easiest mini console to hack, I’m glad I bought it (although I haven’t even opened it yet). 😂
Actually, the Atari Game Station Pro is the easiest mini system to hack. In fact, just put games in a “games” file on a micro SD, and pop it in the slot. Voila! I know what you mean, though - and love the PS Classic, too. I bought about five or six PS minis at around $20-$30 apiece-along with a ton of great 2.4 GHz, USB dongle wireless controllers, for $2.50 to $5, on clearance at GameStop. They actually work really well with the Atari Game Station Pro. Both are PS1 controller replicas. The $5 ones have turbo and can be USB charged, while the others went the X-Box controller route. Damn, those were a steal! I will say that my Wii was easier to hack than the PS Classic, but the Wii isn’t a mini console... 🍻
I have the nes mini, snes mini, sega mini 1 and 2, and the TG16 mini. All great. Not sure which is my favorite. I know one thing, i wish sega would release a master mini.
@@cultivatedgamerThe Original is not much expensive .but some Games like GoldenAxeWarrior and PhantasyStar and Power Strike could be 200 Bugs or maybe more i think.
I 'm not a big modern gamer. My kids have a Switch and I'll sometimes pick it up and play when the mood strikes me, but I LOVE retro gaming. I grew up in the 8 and 16 bit eras and I still own many of my original childhood games, but I was super stoked when Nintendo announced they were releasing an NES Classic console and I was among the few who was actually able to pick up a copy on launch. I also own the SNES Classic, Playstation Classic and both the Sega Genesis Mini and Sega Genesis Mini 2 consoles. My favorite one of them all is the SNES Classic for the game selection alone. I was a massive 16 bit RPG fan when I was a teen and I owned nearly all of what the SNES had to offer: Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire I & II, Final Fantasy II & III, Mystic Quest, Illusion of Gaia, A Link to the Past, Secret of Evermore and Mario RPG, but sadly, I sold all of them (except for Mario RPG) on eBay back in 2015 because my finances got a little tight. Sad thing is, I sold them at auction as a bundle and only made $260. I refuse to capitulate to aftermarket prices and will likely never own those titles again unless they fall into my lap at a good price. But the Classic systems have been a means to pacify my craving to play them again, because playing them on the Wii or Switch just isn't the same. I've modded my SNES Classic to include the missing RPG's that I used to own. I actually bought 2 NES and SNES Classics in case anything ever happens to one of them. My wife only grew up with a Commodore 64, so I'll likely buy her a mini. BTW, why did you exclude the Genesis Mini 2 from your list?
I only left it out because I don't have one, so I don't have any experience with it. I hear it is good, but I just didn't have any first hand knowledge.
I'm so mad at myself for missing the turbo graphix mini, came out right when covid hit and I sorta just forgot about it coming out then next year they were done making them. P.S. first time viewer, good stuff, new subscriber!
Hey Thanks. Appreciate the sub and the view. Everyone in the comments says the TG16 mini was one of the best. I am still pretty torn up about not being able to get one myself.
I love all the Mni Consoles, they are like mini replicas, plus being able to hack them and add more games makes it 100% better. I agree as well that the Sega console is the best one out of all of them, but I play the Nintendo Classic the most. I don't know if the D Pad for the Mini Nintendo is smaller than the original controller, but I find myself pressing the wrong direction quite a lot when I am playing some fast paced games, the Sega controller feels just like the original controller to me. I don't have the original consoles anymore to compare the controllers, but all these mini consoles should have made sure the controller feels exactly like the original. The Playstation doesn't have many fun games, but Metal Gear Solid was enough to convince me, I still have not hacked the Playstation, but when I do, it's gonna be great. I also don't have a TurboGrafx, but I have bought 1 unofficial mini console, this one is called Super Console X Pro, and I did like it, but it was not easy to use. I had to learn how to use Emuelec, and fix a lot of broken games, with 116 thousand games, there is a lot of fixing to do.. like for example, Silent Hill was Brazil version, so I had to download Silent Hill USA version, Nintendo 64 controls had to be re-calibrated, many MAME games were for a different emulator version so did not play, etc.. every time something went wrong I spent hours trying to fix it and figure out why
I'm a huge fan of the mini consoles as they were my way back into gaming so I'm anxious to hear your thoughts in comparison to mine. You might want to check out the PC Engine Mini as an alternative for the Turbo16 as that's sometimes affordable and is just missing Splatterhouse (though that's a big loss in my opinion) and I can also say the Neo Geo Mini is a lot of fun but I'd highly recommend getting a bundle that includes at least one controller and the micro HDMI output cable.
It sounds like you like the mini consoles even more than I do. I would be happy with the PC Engine, but that wasn't available here in Canada. Not sure why we were unable to get either here.
Did you add more games to them? I added the entire NES, SNES, and a few specific games to Sega 1-2 minis. Pretty cool stuff. Haven't done the Turbo, or PC engine yet.
I added games to all of them. Not that they all needed it. The Playstation classic certainly need a bunch of games added (I did a video on the games I added to that one).
I only own the first Sega Genesis Mini. I wish I could get my hands on the second one myself. The console was a major part of my child hood, I absolutely love this!!!
I wish I could get the second one too. It had a really limited release for some reason. The first one did well, so you would think Sega would have done another world wide release.
Good list. I mostly agree with your rankings and evaluation. I have my Genesis Mini as my favorite and best overall with the Turbo16 Mini second (they really nailed their presentation and offerings in a similar way to the Genesis). I have the SNES Classic third which is crazy with A Link to the Past and Super Metroid as 2 of my top 5 favorite games of all time but I think with only 21 games it's a bit too rpg heavy and I really miss some of the genres (I bought the Super Retrocade from RetroBit and in addition to the many awesome arcade games it has the Final Fight and R Type games so I feel like that fills in my SNES beat em up and shooter cravings but wish they were included with the SNES Classic). I'm a gigantic Sega homer so the AT Games Genesis Flashback 2018 edition (note: very much improved over the 17 edition) just sneaks ahead of the NES Classic as it offers more games and I'm always annoyed I have to get up to access the game menu on the NES. My last two would be the Neo Geo Mini which is still really fun and I'm so glad I got it for the Metal Slug games and Shock Troopers but I'm not a big fighter fan and that's half the game list and the PS Classic comes in dead last. FFVII is the only game I really play on it and I only picked it up because it was on sale for $20. So my final ranking is #1 Genesis, #2 Turbo16, #3 SNES, #4 Genesis Flashback 2018, #5 NES, #6 Neo Geo and last PS. If you include the Super Retrocade that would come in behind the NES and ahead of the Neo Geo.
I wish the TG16 Mini and PC Engine Mini came with a power supply. I really want one but am scared of bricking the thing the first time I plug it in since it's supposed to be pretty finicky on what power brick you can use.
@@homerthompson416 I heard that same thing but I just use a standard brick that I picked up from Amazon that I also used to charge my kindle and once I saw it worked I packed it in the box and now its only use is for the Turbo. I do agree it's annoying they didn't include one though.
I'm in Canada and I was lucky enough to get a TG-16 mini sent to me out of Amazon Japan literally 3 days before they locked down exports from the country due to covid. It arrived a few days before the actual release date of the console! Were you able to get a Genesis 2 mini? That kicks almost as much ass as the original, and it comes with 6-button pads
Yeah, it was one of the better mini systems. I like that Nintendo actually listened to what people didn't like about the NES mini (one controller, length of cables, filler games, etc.) and made the upgrade for the SNES mini.
I love these mini consoles because they are a convenient way to play games that represent the history of video games. Probably the best, as you said, is the Genesis Mini, the one made with more passion and love, like those from Nintendo. I grew up with the Commodore 64 and especially the Amiga 500 (later I played on the PSone), but I don't have any of these three. The C64 does not have games that I would enjoy now (I only know few games), The A500 Mini costs too much for me (I could buy it in the future if I ever found it with a big discount, since it is the gaming device with which I have the most memories, even with friends) and the PlayStation Classic was made without respect. I got the two Nintendo mini consoles and the Retro-Bit Super Retro-Cade, fortunately all three found in stores with big discounts. I wanted to have the Nintendos because as a boy I had never played it and I wanted to catch up on those beautiful and important games. I would like Nintendo to continue with the Classic Mini series.
I have 4 of these minis you shared. I don’t have the Commodore because I didn’t really want one. I had experience on the Commodore as a kid due to my cousins owning one as well as two different friends but I always thought those games and graphics kinda sucked..lol I got pretty lucky to get my NES mini on the first run but the only thing harder to get than the console was an additional OEM controller. Luckily when they did the second run a couple years later I managed to snag 2 more controllers. I also acquired two Wii Pro controllers that work great on both the NES/SNES minis if you want a more modern feeling controller. My consoles might have an hour played across all of them, as to just test them upon purchase to make sure they worked. I’d like to add more roms to them someday but I honestly just get enjoyment out of them sitting in front of my TV as nostalgia ornaments, two on each side. It’s just nice knowing I have them sitting there if I feel like going back in time.
A con few miss on the PS1 mini is they compressed the game files even though it has multiple times the needed space for them, that made it so the game play has just enough slop in execution to be noticeable. Uncompressed roms of the same games from the same regions have a noticeable improvement. Best thing to do with every PS Mini is to hack it and use it as an emulator. I have all of final fantasy before the PS2 on mine, using my own disk images that I made myself not DLed. Well almost all there was no playstation port of one of the NES final fantasy games. But its fun playing an emulator within an emulator for them.
I'd cheerfully get a c64 Maxi if they were actually available without a massive markup. It's a gaming history machine and a cure for modern DLC/Subscription-heavy games.
My favorite is the SNES/SFC minis. I got them both for the different games rosters. FYI, I like to use the Wii/WiiU Classic controller for the NES/SNES minis. If you do, the Home button acts as the reset.
i have all of these, plus the amiga mini. my favorite is actually the Playstation classic. when it came out i laughed at all the people complaining about it, i knew it would be hacked because of the lazy way they released it. because it runs ps1 games, i knew it would be powerfull enough to run most classic systems, so i bought mine and waited. now i have a stock system that i just plug in a usb and plug in the power cord to get full classic game box. plus full line up of ntsc ps1 games that run great for the most part. think only 1 of my games messes up, gran tourismo 2 and only the videos dont play correctly. my only gripe is the non-dual shock controller, even a sold separately dual shock i would have bought i was super excited for the C64 mini, because i grew up with c64. i drove 130 miles to pick one up at the nearest store to get them. i also have 2 c64 maxi's. i preordered one, but it was backordered on release day because they didnt get enough at amazon. so i ordered the limited Vic 20 version from the UK so id have one before xmas to revive an old tradition my father had. the maxi has the C64 and vic 20 emulators and the ability to boot straight to basic for either, so mine is set up permanently at a retro desk of old 80s things as a C64, i forget there is a carosel lol. i even have it running on a classic commodore 1702 monitor for the nostolgia
I have the SNES, NES, Sega Mini 1 & 2, and the Turbo Grafx/PC Engine mini. All 5 are incredible. However, if I had to choose only one, it’s the Turbo/PC engine mini as it has so many games that are very expensive to individually buy. We in the US really only scratched the surface on what the console had to offer. I find myself returning to this mini more than the other 4.
@@cultivatedgamer That really sucks. I think it would have done well in Canada. I think they completely underestimated the potential of that mini, and they should be doing a rerelease/reissue based on preorders. Can’t be that difficult, but they probably don’t see enough incentive…
@@ChannelCortez33I’m in shmup heaven with my TurboGrafx-16 mini. Did you get that in addition to a PC Engine mini? I heard that there were only a very few different games between the two of them. I also seem to recall that Europe got their own version of the mini-console with only a couple different games. Either way, you can’t go wrong with any of them!
@@craiganderson7986 No, I just got the U.S. version. Love the shumps on it too! The Bomber Man games are so great too! The Bonk games and Air Zonk are amazing. Ninja Spirit. My favorite version of Ghouls n Ghosts is on it. The list goes on and on! If I can get my hands on Japan or Europe version, I’ll definitely get it!
@@craiganderson7986I’m in Europe and we got the Coregrafx Mini which was based on a redesign of the PC Engine. Same shape but it was grey instead of white. The games on it were the same as on the US TG16 Mini. The Coregrafx Mini remained available over here for quite a while, which might have been because we didn’t officially get either the PC Engine, TurboGrafx or Coregrafx here back in the day, so there probably wasn’t as much nostalgia demand for it. Of the mini consoles, it’s the one I find myself returning to most too. That and the Mega Drive Mini.
I own alot of the mini consoles that came out. The ps1 was a disappointment but there was a plug and play hack with a usb drive called the tru blu. Ironically it was named after drugs because they had a weed and a crack pack. I bought the weed pack which had a shitload of games that the ps1 mini didn't have which kind of made up for its shortcomings. The only issue i had with the usb drive was you had a few games that ran like crap but most ran good. I do own the c64 mini , nes, genesis, snes, pc engine mini
I'm 53 so I started with the c-64. I'm from the UK so back then it was the zx spectrum Vs The c-64 which had some great games like, He who dares wins, way of the exploding fist and The last Ninja too name a few🙏🏿
I got into so many arguments with co-workers and other non-gamers about these mini consoles. How you can buy these consoles at Family Dollar and other discount stores. None of them seemed to understands what an "Official licensed product" is and not a b.s nock off product.
Ugh AtGames consoles are such trash. They all use crap composite connections too so even if the emulation was good (it isn't) it would still look trash on a modern TV. Those actually are licensed though.
I bought the Japanese version and the American version of the genesis mini because the American version didn’t include Revenge of Shinobi for what ever reason. But SEGA did great with the Genesis mini 1/2 and the Astro City minis are great. The sleeper is the Capcom Tron Mini if you add games to it. The size and mechanics are perfect but have only have the Street Fighter series/megaman series…. TG16 mini is very solid…
I have a Genesis mini and Genesis 2 mini. Also have Neo Geo international mini and Neo Geo Samurai Shodown edition mini. The Neo Geo minis are cool. Most of us never got a Neo Geo back jn the day because they were so expensive. I love my Genesis mini the most out of these because I was a teen when Genesis was around and played a lot of the games on friends system as I never got one myself. Would also like to get a C64 mini as I did have one of those as a kid and had a shitload of games for it.
The C64 maxi is way better than the mini. The firmware is more reliable too. You can edit the carousel now on mini and maxi using the 64 Game Tool on Windows. It just takes time to get all the media collated so you can write your own firmware, and update through USB stick. Yep, the included games are meh. The Amiga mini is okay, and you can run Pandory emulation through USB mod and loaded workbenches full of games, such as AGS, yet it can be a pain to use whdload etc etc. Hopefully the Amiga maxi (late 2024) will take on board all the criticisms of the mini. These are the two mini consoles I have experience of.
I wish SNK/Neo Geo would rerelease a more complete package, and I don’t think I’m alone (not some miniature arcade thing…a mini AES console with a fuller package of games)
You are not alone. NEO GEO games are really awesome. Loved the arcade cabinets when I was a kid. The only thing that really killed their home console was the crazy prices.
I would have to say my number one favorite console would be PS3 simply because the first ones that came out were backwards compatible to PS1 and PS2 games. I also like the N64, GameCube, Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles.
The North American version of Genesis Mini was missing A LOT of the best games from the Japan and Asia versions though, and didn't come with 6 button controllers either even though it had Street Fighter built in plus some of the games like Virtua Fighter 2, Alisia Dragoon, Eternal Champions, Sonic Spinball, and Vectorman felt like filler...I'd give it a 6/10 (maybe 7, but it's NOT better than the NES Classic) whereas the Genesis Mini 2 corrected the mistakes made with the first one by having more games, coming with all of the best games missing from the first one, including a 6 button controller, and having Sega CD games many of which were the best in the system's library. THAT one deserves a 9/10!
I was disappointed with the PS1 game selection also; I would have preferred Destruction Derby 2 and Rage Racer. I used to have the NES and SNES classic but they were both stolen in a house robbery 😩
I always wanted the TG16 Mini or the PC Engine Mini, but it doesn't come with a power brick and supposedly most power bricks will instantly fry the USB ports the controllers plug into, making the system completely unusable.
You are correct. You have to use a power brick that is lower than what it comes with. I have both of those minis, as well as the COREgrafx mini, and they are all still sealed in plastic 😁
Got the Japanese versions of a few of these. I was too late getting the Japanese PlayStation which is the only one I would get. Also have the PC-Engine mini which is great considering Konami was involved and has the Konami titles as well as Cd-Rom games. As much fun as I have had with the other consoles the PC-Engine/Turbo Grafix 16 is definitely worth mentioning. As much as I love the 16-bit era I have to go with the Famicom/NES mini. These games are timeless and the reason why almost every household had one back in the day.
It really boggles my mind why the TurboGrafx 16 mini was not available in Canada. It was in the US, but only through Amazon. That was one I really wanted to try out for myself.
I guarantee the reason Sony couldn't include most of the games you wanted was because of rights issues. For instance, Tomb Raider has gone through like 3 hands since it came out. I believe Crash Bandicoot is the same way.
I have 4 of these. The NES mini was "meh" just because IMHO the games didn't age well from what I remembered. The SNES Mini was super fun and gave me lots of nostalgia feels. PS1 Classic was meh on games, but the super-simple mod to add USB games made it #1 for me. The C64 mini reminded me of how bad games were back then. I forgot how it stunk.
@@cultivatedgamer It's not that it had a limited release, it's that it's sold exclusively by Amazon Japan. So because of that, the shipping cost is around $20+. It is still readily available from the original source. It even goes on sale from time to time. You want to talk limited release, TG16 mini was ridiculous. It was only available on Amazon, and most were purchased by third party resellers and put right back on amazon for 3-4 times the price... I was lucky and found a 1AM restock drop towards the end of the run and got it for MSRP.
I still waiting for a, N64, Dreamcast or Saturn Mini. PS2 mini or Gamecube I really doubt that any of those would happen. I own NES,SNES,GENESIS & TG16 minis.
Game selection, PAL versions mixed in, no analog controllers, didn't include a power block, had to hit reset on the console to get to game selection menu. I feel I missed one.
The C64 Mini was not so bad .First You can put a Adoptor with 4 USB Ports in one USB Port, then the C64 Mini was the easyest to add more Games to the System...you had just to put a USB Stick with C64 Roms on it ( With many Legal Roms)you dont need to hack the C64 Mini to that like the other Minis.
I imported an asien mega drive mini. they come with 2x 6 buttons. Hacked it with retroarch for GG, SMS, SMD, SCD and 32X I have a hacked NES mini with internal SD mod and 2 times brook wireless bord and 8bitdo wireless kit for both Controllers. Same goes for my SNES mini. A hacked Playstation mini with internal 8bitdo wireless dongels and 8bitdo wireless controller kit. also have C64 mini and CoreGrafx mini. a hacked Playstation mini is the best imo. But really, you are better off with a hacked nintendo swithc and its NSO controllers.
1/10 for the PSX. That's damn harsh. Oh dear. As for the Megadrive, another option is a Pi 3 inside a Retroflag megadrive case, running Blast 16. It's a great GUI, with shutdown script. It just takes patience to fix all the artworks if you do it manually. The PCEngine is probably the best mini console, albeit the Snes, Nes and PSX seem easier to mod.
It was harsh. I know that. I am a Sony fan through and through. I buy everything Playstation. It really tore me up when they released it, because Sony was capable of so much more. But you are right, it was harsh.
I like the retro looks of those Mini consoles but I personally prefer Emulator On my PC and a complete library using launcbox or HyperSpin using my PS4 or PS5 controllers ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3PAtpCWkTTM.htmlsi=SEgjg_29Z58R8Kgo
@@cultivatedgamer Bummer. If you can manage to find one, grab it. I'm sure you know all the details of the TG16/PCE mini, but to play it in person is truly special.
You didn’t cover a major console that came out weeks before this video dropped (March, 2024) - a video _named_ “Classic Mini Consoles _in 2024?”_ The 400 mini, a replica of a computer that had the first separate graphics and sound chips, ever, and for which the daisy-chainable, hot-swappable Serial I/O connector-the precursor to USB-was created? Seems a horrible oversight, when doing a video about mini consoles in 2024... I also don’t think you have much knowledge about home computers-the elite consoles of the 1980s-especially to say that games on the C64 stayed there. Literally hundreds of games were in their shared libraries - and don’t blame your lack of knowledge on Canada, because you can _easily_ get all the games on the other minis-“official” or not, including the Colecovision and Intellivision Flashbacks, which were *far better* than the NES mini. It seems you did no research, at all, for this video, and just said what you remember from when you were a kid. This video should be called, “My Experience with Mini Consoles Made Prior to the Covid Pandemic, Compared to What I Thought of the Original Systems, from the 1980s, for What that’s Worth.”
I covered the mini consoles that I actually own and have first hand experience with. I don't buy or play the AT Games Flashbacks. I am sorry you didn't like the scope of the video. Thanks for the comment.
i was able to get an snes classic, modded it, love it, mostly play sim city and the original street fighter 2 these days. Then when PSclassic came out I got 1 and kept it sealed thinking it would become similar to the nintendo minis but I was wrong its worthless trash. Still sealed in a box in the closet tho lol.
The amount of stuttering, pausing, repeating yourself, and moments where it seems like you don't even know what to say... Seems like you have the potential for really good content, but you should definitely put more effort into your editing and script.
I don't like these mini consoles. For me, you can get better and cheaper emulation elsewhere. Im glad they got people into, or back into, the hobby though
