Mad About Nintendo Discontinuing The NES Classic? Good News: The Famicom Mini Will Return

Last July, Nintendo announced the NES Classic, a miniature replica of the NES [full specs] that came bundled with one controller (with a too-short cord) and 30 games. It released with a price of $60 last November, just in time for people to flip out about not being able to find it in stock for Christmas gifts. In other words, it was insanely popular, and therefore Nintendo is discontinuing it. Wait, what

Yep, Nintendo reportedly doesn’t want the $60 NES Classic to compete with their $300 Switch, to which we say: who the hell wasn’t buying a Switch just because they could play Techmo Bowl on a $60 nostalgia widget

Well, there’s good news. Nintendo is only temporarily discontinuing the very similar mini version of the Famicom (Family Computer), Japan’s version of the NES.

This similarly-priced Famicom Mini sold over a quarter of a million units in its first four days of release in Japan last year, and, thankfully, many of the games are the same as the NES Classic. Some of the American-specific ones (like the aforementioned Techmo Bowl) are swapped out with great games the NES Classic lacked, like River City Ransom and Final Fantasy III.

Here’s the full list of games the Famicom Mini comes with. (The list of games the NES Classic came with is available here, if you want to compare.)

Donkey Kong

Mario Bros.

Pac-Man

Excitebike

Balloon Fight

Ice Climber

Galaga

Yie Ar Kung-Fu

Super Mario Bros.

The Legend of Zelda

Atlantis no Nazo

Gradius

Ghosts ‘n Goblins

Solomon’s Key

Metroid

Castlevania

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Tsuppari Ozumo

Super Mario Bros. 3

Ninja Gaiden

Mega Man 2

River City Ransom

Double Dragon II: The Revenge

Super Contra

Final Fantasy III

Dr. Mario

Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku: Soreyuke daiundoukai

Mario Open Golf

Super Mario USA (the US version of Super Mario Bros. 2)

Kirby’s Adventure

On the downside, the Famicom Mini doesn’t have Punch-Out!! or StarTropics, but it least it still comes with Ice Climber. I have simple needs. Simple needs which include stoking a long-standing grudge with a polar bear.