Last Generation Gamer: Super NES Classic Edition
/Another day, another blog about presents. But this time, it is all love.
In my family we do secret Santa with all my brothers and their spouses. It is much easier this way. Instead of buying chintzy crap for everyone, we can focus our full attention on the one person we draw from the hat. I love it this way. I like to get unique gifts that are specific for whichever person I pick. I love to make it a theme if at all possible. For example, tis year I got RD. He is very much into all things "Star Wars", as you all know, so I got him a bunch of random "Star Wars" stuff. Last year I got my oldest brother, who is notoriously hard to shop for, but I still found stuff that fit into what he likes. He likes absinthe, so I got him a specific glass that is used for absinthe, but he also likes The Grateful Dead. I searched long and hard on the internet for a Grateful Dead gift, and after about 20 minutes I got it. I found a Lego Jerry Garcia, and purchased it immediately. The very next night I got a text with a video from him which showed me him using his absinthe glass while Lego Jerry Garcia sat by as he listened to The Grateful Dead. I take very much pride in my gift giving ability.
I was outdone by my oldest brother this year. He drew me, and I heard that he had a gift in mind for me since November. On Xmas morning, he handed me the gift and it was a mini Super Nintendo! I was pretty bummed that I didn't get my hands on a mini Nintendo last year, and I'm pretty sure my brother made a note of that. I was just as excited when I heard that Nintendo was going to make a mini SNES. That was the system I played the most as a child. I didn't really get to play too much Nintendo, being the youngest of 4 boys. But, the Super Nintendo came out right around the time of me being a pre teen, and while I didn't personally own one, most of my friends did. We played it all the time when we weren't outside. So, when I opened this gift I was thrilled. My brother knew it, my other brothers knew it, and my parents saw it. They all smiled because they all knew, and I had no idea. I was shocked that they all kept it a secret for over a month. My oldest brother is the type of guy that knows people. He knows people that help with cars, that can get sports tickets, that can get you good home insurance, and apparently, people that can get hard to get video game systems. He totally crushed it with this gift.
Needless to say, when we returned home and went through all the gifts, you all know how I feel about opening my kids presents now, my wife and I immediately set up the mini SNES. It was everything I could have hoped for. It brought me back to a time in my life that I loved. The games, there are 20 installed, are the best of the best. The range from Donkey Kong Country, my wife is AMAZING at that game, Super Punchout, Street Fighter, 2 different Kirby games, Starfox, Earthbound, Mario Kart and Super Mario World, amongst others. I played a lot of Street Fighter as a kid, so this was the first game I played. It was great. It was so cool to see the 8 bit game on my big TV in the living room. I then checked out Super Punchout. Again, it was tremendous. All the fighters I had forgotten about flooded my memory the further I got into the game. Then I did some Mario Kart. Mario Kart on the SNES, and this may be a hot take, is the best version of that game for me. It is so much easier to control compared to any other system.
The best of the best for me was Super Mario World. This is the best version of Mario Bros. Come at me. I will defend this version forever. It has the best worlds, graphics, the best side characters, the best bosses, it just flat out rules. I say again, come at me. Super Mario World is the one game that I have played every day since I got the mini SNES.
Taking my love for Super Mario World away, this is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. It is so much fun. It is nostalgic. It's a throwback. It can be played by everyone in my family. It is great. I'm forever indebted to my older brother now. He really upped the game this year with secret Santa. I'm am in awe of the greatness that is my mini SNES. I highly recommend you get one if you are a child of the 90's, and you can find one. They are the best.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has obviously not played a Mario game since the Super NES days. Super Mario World is good, but it sits well behind Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and of course Super Mario Odysey.
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