I missed out on the NES Classic but I wasn’t about to make the same mistake with the SNES classic. My friend, Jesse, did some expert-level reconnaissance and we selected the Ceder Hill Walmart as our aquisition target. We set up shop around 6 pm, knowing that the units wouldn’t be released until 12:01am. It was a wait we were willing to endure.

And it wasn’t bad at all. For starters, they let us “camp” in the back of the store by the electronics section (so much better than waiting outside). Also, have you been to the Ceder Hills Walmart? Wow. Game changing. It’s like someone cared. Also, friends! Hanging out with friends (even in a line) is just fine with me.

This story has a happy ending. We all got our SNES Classic systems. Afterward, I even drove by Best Buy where I found people camped out for these little beauties. Poor saps.

The SNES Classic includes exactly what you’d expect: A tiny replica of the original SNES unit, two controllers, a power and HDMI cable.

The menu options are well configured and the games played exactly like I remember. I hate to be the bearer of bad (good?) news but the games also look exactly like I remember (minus the scan lines- an option you can add in setup if you’d like). The controllers seemed a little stiff (possibly edging into unresponsive territory) so hopefully they will break in a bit. I don’t think I’ll spend a ton of time playing on the SNES Classic but it’s definitely a cool little toy.