This Nintendo Switch Hack Could Enable SNES Classic Retro Gaming Goodness
For retro gaming, Nintendo will politely point you towards the SNES Classic Edition or the upcoming rerelease of the NES Classic Edition. However, thanks to some newly exploitable Switch hacks (courtesy of the NVIDIA Tegra SoC used in the console), one adventurous gamer has managed to port the SNES Classic Edition software over to the console.
In a YouTube video that was uploaded this week, Sam Breadman shows a fully functional SNES Classic Edition UI running on the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, the video ends before we see any games being played. However, the fact that Breadman was able to get this far with the port is an accomplishment, and the Switch is more than powerful enough to run ported games from 25+ years ago.
The SNES Classic Edition include 21 games including fan favorites like Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country and Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting.
With that being said, we just wish that Nintendo would implement a true Virtual Console on the Switch with access to its back catalog. That would bring true retro mobile gaming to the Switch platform, but Nintendo is still dragging its feet. Even the upcoming Switch Online service doesn't go far enough, and will provide a few dozen or so 8-bit NES titles to play for free (included in your yearly subscription).