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SNES Classic library likely to be expanded thanks to compatible NES Classic hack

By Steven Petite September 27, 2017

Les Shu/Digital Trends

The SNES Classic offers an impressive lineup of about 20 classic Super Nintendo games (plus the previously unreleased Star Fox 2), but there’s a good chance plenty more games will be playable on the machine via hacks. And soon. The system doesn’t launch until Friday, September 29, but modders have already determined that Hakchi2, the hack used to expand the NES Classic‘s library, indeed works on the SNES Classic .

According to Polygon, a Redditor who received the console early thanks to a Best Buy shipping error tinkered with the system and learned that it behaves exactly like the NES Classic when Hakchi2 is used. Like the NES Classic, the SNES Classic’s kernel (the core of its operating system) can be dumped and written over, making it compatible with Hakchi2.

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This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Digital Foundry performed a system teardown and concluded that the SNES Classic reuses the NES Classic’s technology and processing components. Essentially, the SNES Classic has a different shell, but its virtually the same system — just with the capability of playing 16-bit games rather than 8-bit games.

The Redditor tried to use the NES Classic kernel with the SNES Classic, but the only thing that happened was the power light blinked. In other words, don’t expect to turn your SNES Classic into an NES Classic. Do expect, however, for the SNES Classic to eventually support more games.

Less than two months after the NES Classic launched last year, the Hakchi2 program gave NES Classic owners the power to have up to 90 games on the system — 60 more than the 30 in the retail version. Even better, the process for expanding the library was fairly simple, as was outlined by our guide earlier this year.

Shortly after the news of the SNES Classic’s compatibility with Hakchi2 was broadcast on Reddit, users already started discussing ways to optimize the tool for SNES Classic use.

It remains to be seen when the first hacked SNES Classic will be shown running a Super Nintendo game not included in the 21-game library, but we imagine it will happen sooner rather than later.

The SNES Classic hits stores September 29. If you’re looking to pick one up on launch day, check out our buying guide to see which stores will have them in stock.

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Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…

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