When I first found out about emulation I went completely beserk lol. Downloading everything under the sun. I don't bother with it anymore though. It feels hollow. I have a FC Twin which plays NES and SNES games. It's not perfect and a couple notable games don't work. Like Battletoads, Castlevania 3, and Super Mario RPG, but that was the best 40$ I ever spent. I do have a NES, but need to replace the 72 pin. Hopefully one of these days I can score a true SNES. There are ways to clean those old games! 
Super Nintendo Lives! How To Play Today
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 On 06/04/2013 at 09:34 PM by Coolsetzer See More From This User » |
This is a follow up from my last one about the SNES.
Basically, just because the system is discontinued doesn't mean that you'll never be able to play those fun games! Here, I'll show people many different ways to play the games of yesteryear.
First and foremost, there is emulation. Just in case you don't know, an emulator is a computer program that imitates the hardware of a video game console. In this case, it lets you load rom files, which are copies of games. So basically, you can play those games on your laptop or home pc. Although, legally it is against the law to emulate any game that you don't own a physical copy of. Now, I won't/ can't point you in the direction of where to get these things off the internet, but you can get anything these days by googling it, now can you? 
There are a couple of really good emulators out there. The ZSNES and Snes9x are the most popular. If you buy a Logitech game controller, you don't have to use a keyboard. There are also USB adapters that let you use your old SNES controllers, which I can verify. I don't know about the knock off SNES controllers that already have a USB dongle, though. Also, if your computer has an HDMI port, you can connect it to your modern televisions and play them on that source input. Also, there are emulators for Android smartphones and the PsP if you're interested.
Another way to play is to get a retro console. Since Nintendo never renewed their patents for the NES and SNES, some companies have produced their own versions of the systems. I haven't done too much digging into this area, but they are commercially available. A couple of them that I have seen are the Retron 3 and Retro Duo. They are units that play the old games, but I heard that they have some compatibility issues. You might want to check out some user reviews online to find out if they are for you. One interesting one that I saw was the SupaBoy, which is a portable, and can also be connected to your television. I don't know if the price matches the value you get, but it looked cool nonetheless.
The SupaBoy, which is also supposed to play Super Famicom import games.
One thing that I do want to talk about is the hacking community. Some enterprising people have figured out how to modify rom files and change different things about the game. Probably one of the most complete of these you can check out is Super Mario World 2: Return to Dinosaur Land. Also, one of the coolest things is the translation projects. What they usually do is replace the Japanese text with English, as in the case of Seiken Densetsu 3. It's the only way that I know of how to play that game. Basically, these are patches that are applied to the rom image with an outside program. These ips files overwrite the rom images using an application like SNESTool or Lunar. While emulators and roms are a grey area, patches are 100% legal.
A relatively new thing I have seen is something called repro games. They are essentially reproductions of SNES cartridges. What some people have done is solder their own circuit boards using a "donor cart", thereby modifying and uploading their own rom images, usually by an eprom and wiring. It's a skill that's technical and not really recommended, seeing as how someone could be sued for copyright infringement. Although I do see the benefits to do something like this, I can also see the bad. A flood of fake games to the used market can be harmful to the industry, especially on eBay. That being said, the idea of making your own carts can be appealing.
An example of a repro game, with reprinted box and instruction manual.
Another way to find SNES related items is to scour second hand stores. In my experience, pawn shops and flea markets might have what you're looking for. Also, mom and pop video game stores are still around. In Indiana, there's a chain of stores called Game X Change, which is privately owned. You can also find stuff online through sites like Amazon. Just be careful, because some of the stuff listed is ridiculously expensive.
Well, I think that's about it for the Super Nintendo. I hope I helped someone find what they're looking for. =) 'Til next time, happy gaming.
But yeah, SD3 is probably the best game for that system that was never released here. Why we got Secret of Evermore and not that one is a shame. Some of the other RPG's did see releases in English like Tales of Phantasia, but not Squaresoft's. They really need to remedy that situation.
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