New SNES Classic Edition trailer highlights ‘rewind’ feature and ‘Star Fox 2’

By Brad Jones Published August 22, 2017

The SNES Classic Edition isn’t set to hit shelves for another month, but it’s already proving very difficult to secure a pre-order. Despite the fact that hype is already reaching similar levels as last year’s NES Classic Edition, Nintendo has unleashed a new trailer showing off some of the throwback system’s features.

Anyone who’s every played retro games on an emulator will know how saved states can make classic titles much easier to beat. Much like the system implemented for the NES Classic Edition, this year’s Super Nintendo rerelease will offer up four suspend points to allow players to return to specific points in the game.

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However, there’s also a new bit of functionality that could help out with particularly tricky sections of gameplay. The rewind function allows players to zip back to a slightly earlier point in their progress, retrying a difficult challenge if their first attempt doesn’t quite go to plan.

The ’90s-inspired clip also touches on one way that SNES Classic Edition owners can customize their experience. A host of different frames can be selected in order to fill out the perimeter of the display between the 4:3 image output by SNES hardware and today’s standard 16:9 television screen.

The trailer ends with a special look at perhaps the most exciting game included in the SNES Classic Edition: Star Fox 2. The sequel to Fox McCloud’s 1993 debut is something of a holy grail for Nintendo fans, being canceled just ahead of its planned launch date and never officially released to the public.

The SNES Classic Edition is the first time that Nintendo fans have been able to get their hands on Star Fox 2 without resorting to emulation. Even then, the iteration of the game that has previously been available was an alpha version, rather than the final release that’s included with the retro console.

There was no shortage of demand for the NES Classic Edition last year, and it seems clear that the SNES Classic Edition is set to be just as popular. The console is set to be released in North America on September 29 — but supplies will likely be very limited.

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Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…

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