Analogue, the company behind the terminally out-of-stock Analogue Pocket and Analogue 3D, is trying to draw you back to 1991… again. Its new Super Nt+ and Mega Sg+ play original Super Nintendo and Genesis cartridges natively, all while scaling them to a more modern screen resolution.
The new $220 miniature consoles are both a redux of the previous Super Nt and Mega Sg first launched in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Both devices were left to languish over the last few years without a meaningful update. Now, eight years later, the Super Nt+ and Mega Sg+ add a few quality-of-life improvements. Chief among them is the inclusion of a built-in 2.4GHz receiver that Analogue claims is compatible with several 8BitDo controllers and arcade sticks (such as the SN30 or M30 SNES and Genesis recreation controller), alongside Bluetooth compatibility. Of course, both still have two ports apiece for plugging in your ancient gamepads.
If you were hoping for even more compatibility, there’s a USB-C and USB-A port in the rear of both consoles. While you could use these ports to plug in more wired controllers, Analogue suggests you can plug in a DAC (digital-to-analogue converter) for video output or for headphones and speakers. The cables mean you can power each console with a typical USB cable, which may save you extra space on your already-crowded power strip.
Each console is running an FPGA chip, specifically the Altera Cyclone V. That acronym stands for field programmable gate array. These processors attempt to recreate the chip logic of the original device, meaning you can play your games natively without running any software emulation. There are other devices that attempt the same, like the Epilogue SN Operator, for playing old Super Nintendo games on your computer. The issue there is that they rely on software emulation, which attempts to recreate the console as software.
The Super Nt+ and Mega Sg+ both upscale your retro games to 1080p, though that may come as a disappointment to those used to the Analogue 3D’s 4K upscaling for Nintendo 64 titles. Each box still supports widescreens (though you’ll be playing your games in the traditional 8:7 aspect ratio with black bars around each picture). You’ll also get access to a special menu when running each title that can let you adjust audio levels, resolution, and screen size.
Analogue also claims its console supports 100% of the games released for both SNES and Genesis, including both the PAL and NTSC versions of each game. Both the Super Nt+ and Mega Sg+ go up for preorder on Oct. 19 for $220 a piece. You have a few options for front plate colors, but who knows if Analogue will release yet another drool-worthy limited edition colorway that will make you regret life’s choices?
