| Super Mini SN-03 Price: $20-$45 Find it on: Amazon, AliExpress  |
Rating: 5.5/10
Pros: Cons: |
The Super Mini SN-03 is a bit of a misnomer. For the form factor and verbiage, you’d think you were getting a retro console that plays Super Nintendo games. Alas, that’s not what you’re getting. You do get 821 fami-clone games choose from including several of the key classics (Super Mario, Contra, TMNT) in HD, but it’s still a bit of a let down if you don’t read the fine print carefully.
Let’s start off with the positives. Too often with with these cheap game players (such as the Mini Game Entertainment System), you get a large amount of repeated games with a 4:3 aspect ratio that has plenty of screen tearing. Frequently on these cheap consoles, the A and B buttons are reversed. That’s not the case with the SN-03. The games are played in full-HD and have the proper ratio for modern wide screen televisions (this appeared to be something like 16:9). The buttons were not reversed, a rarity and I found significantly less repeated games among the 821 provided. Those three features are really what make the SN-03 an overall playable system and worth the $20 that I found it for on Amazon (though it also retails for as high as $45). Some versions of the SN-03 feature wireless controllers, but the version I received (I was given a review unit), had a 9-pin gamepad.
Also for those of you who are into the SNES form factor, this is a nice throw back. The console itself does really resemble Super Nintendo from back in the day, as do the controllers. It’s not the best quality build, and the plastic they used for the controllers is prone to fingerprint smudges. But the quality is good relative to the price, and the controls are not something I’d put in the cons category.
Then again, if you are purchasing something that looks like an SNES, wouldn’t you want to be able to play 16-bit games? The SN-03 doesn’t feature any games from that era, and on top of that, some of the games are PAL region, meaning the game is sped up to 1.5x the speed, making them unplayable. I noticed that in some of the classic Mario games. Also, if I paid $45 for this console, I would’ve expected save states and potentially some customization. Unfortunately, this is not an SoC you can tinker with, so you really are just left with what comes out of the box.
Ultimately, my review comes down to what you ultimately pay for it. At $20, I think this is a good value for what it is. You can play some of the NES classics in HD, which puts it in the next class among all of the other fami-clone knockoffs in this price range. On the other hand, if you paid over $30, I don’t deem this to be worth the price.