New Arrival - SNES Classic Mini

I suppose it's a bit ironic that, out of all these trendy 'mini' consoles that have been doing the rounds recently, the only one I've covered here at Red Parsley prior to its release has been the PS1 Classic... which has gone on to be the only one to receive almost universally bad reviews from critics and owners. It's a shame really, as it does look like a nice piece of kit. The mini consoles to have earned the most attention and many positive reviews, however, have been the Nintendo ones.

While admiring both from afar, I'm not sure I ever expected to own one of them, especially given the startling prices they had started fetching almost straight after their respective launches thanks to the dastardly scalpers. Happily, things seemed to calm down eventually, but even the fairly-reasonable £70 RRP was a little high for me at the end of a financially challenging year. As it turned out, I needn't have worried, for Santa Claus had a very jolly surprise in store for me (no, not that sort of surprise - groo!). Actually, there's a chance it might've been my wife rather than that porky, mince-pie-eating oaf, but it matters not. What matters is that my Christmas morning was made all the more joyful that it might otherwise have been when I discovered the very SNES Classic Mini pictured here under my tree!

Although I'm sure the NES Mini is pretty sweet, I have always found the SNES more desirable than its predecessor and so the SNES Mini appealed to me more too, so I was ultra-happy my wife (or indeed Santa) opted for it. So far I've only played a handful of games but the emulation appears flawless at first glance and it looks great on my 56 inch HD TV. The teeny little console itself is a delight too. So, allow me to publicly convey my thanks to my lovely wife for this splendid, not to mention unexpected Christmas gift. I look forward to spending a great deal of time immersed in its delights - both discovering the gems I haven't played before (such as Earthbound - oops!) as well as rediscovering old favourites (OMG F-ZERO OMG!). But only while wifey is out or asleep, obviously (chuckle!).

Of course, once I've had the chance to spend a decent amount of time with each game, and by extention the console itself, I'll return here to give it a proper review, but for now I'm just happy to have it. Any other owners about? What were your first impressions of the device? And were they maintained after extended use?