Nintendo Classic Mini Console - SNES

I loved Super Mario World in the early 1990's. Couldn't leave it alone. Sat there after work every evening battling away with it until the early hours until I'd finished it, three months later!

In a recent WW show, +David Rich was talking about these new re-floated retro money-making machines, suckering in buffoons like me! So I had to do it!

First impressions were that I couldn't quite believe how appalling the graphics are and that we were thinking back then that this was cutting-edge gaming! When you compare the image and movement and sound to even the most rubbish PS4 game now, it's quite stunning. How were we so satisfied?! Took me even further back, thinking about playing games like Raptor on my Acorn in the 1980's or even Pong on my black and white TV set and the like! But I digress and get lost in nostalgia!

The unit itself is about half the size of the original and replicated perfectly in detail. It comes with two full-size controllers as they were in the day, a Micro-USB to USB-A cable and HDMI cable. There's no power brick, but I guess they figure that everyone likely to buy this is going to have a phone charger or some other solution. There's a USB port on the back of my telly, so I'm sorted! The only way that you can get out of the games, it seems, is to press the console's Reset button to get back to the Menu, shown below.

So let the games begin! There's 21 games included. No Carts here. No expansion. This is what you get. Full stop! And actually, most of them if they've not been played before, are just awful! The strength of this whole concept is the nostalgia. I did play a few other games back then, but not like I did Mario. So Street Fighter II was fun for a while, Mario Kart, Yoshi's Island and Zelda I dabbled with, but again, beyond memories, it really is a tedious time waster! Dara Ó Briain's Go 8-Bit on UK TV Channel Dave is a fair judge to see what you get here if you can tune in.

But I'm not moaning. The Mario thing is worth the £60-70 purchase price alone! Shop around. There's even second hand ones out there from people who've realised what junk it is for them without the nostalgia angle - so you can probably pick one up for half that price or less. Or maybe buy one and pass it around. Chip in. Collaborate! But don't bother unless you're 50 plus and remember it all!