The screen looks weird because this modern device is actually meant to be played on a widescreen modern tv.

The NES mini is assuming that it's being played on a modern wide screen display (which is why the menu screens look stretched vertically). It adds the bars to maintain the original aspect ratio of the games. In the video settings of the console switch the ratio to 16:9 and the games will fill the screen.

My favorite hockey game was Blades of Steel

Aside from the aspect ratio problem that everyone mentioned, you are also converting a digital signal to analog and likely introducing input latency along with some visual degradation. These devices are made for modern tvs. You are better off buying an Everdrive flash cart to play on your original NES to play on your CRT, and store your NES Classic Mini for whatever modern tv you have in your home.

Double Dragon 2, Bad Dudes, Ninja Gaiden, Gunsmoke, castlevania, Mike Tyson were my favorite games!

Weird that you insist on a CRT for authenticity while using emulation. Ironically, this is the source of the distorted image. The NES classic is not designed for a CRT, it’s designed for a modern flat panel. Whatever DAC you’re using to display it on a CRT is squeezing the 16:9 image into 4:3. I recommend you look into getting a flash cart. They can be a bit pricy, but they allow you to play any game on real hardware, on a CRT, in a manner indistinguishable from using original cartridges.

Great video and comparison. I’ve seen one person comment that you just have to switch the NES classic to 4:3 and it will display correctly on your CRT. That is 100% false. Someone else said that the NES classic has a 16:9 setting. That is also 100% false. It won’t display properly on your CRT regardless of settings. I will never understand why people make completely false comments on videos.

Here is the issue I am seeing, the NES classic defaults to "Pixel Perfect," that will not display properly on a CRT. It looks too narrow. You have to use the 4:3 setting WITHOUT scanlines, unless you want them to be doubled. There will be a little lag even if it is a real NES Classic, that is just unavoidable with emulation. Nice vid.

So I also modded my NES classic, and SNES classic if you download onto your PC the modding software Hakchi While you’re device is hooked up to your PC, you can go into the options and change the file format so that you don’t have individual folders, but rather all the games are displayed all on the same menu. 😊

As others have said, the NES Classic Mini is assuming it's plugged into a modern 16:9 aspect ratio HDMI television, not a 4:3 standard analog set. You need to switch the system's aspect ratio in the settings menu.

Id love to buy one of each of these. I want to keep my original classic systems un modded and want to play every single NES/SNES game 🎮 in these classic consoles. This is the perfect way to do it.

Waiting for link to order this min nes

The screen will never be original you are using a system designed for a flat screen TV. You can stretch it out using the widescreen option

YT algorithm in your favor. Nice video! I have both a modded NES and SNES Classic. They are the same hardware wise with 256MB on-board storage. You can add the entire library of NES games on the system w/o USB storage so I'm not sure what the original modder's thought was. My NES has all NES titles, and I picked around the top 100 of the Famicom (Eng friendly) Atari 2600, GB, GBC, SMS and PC-E/TG-16 non-CD, all loaded on-board with plenty of space. (Going above 200MB can cause issues) My SNES has an SDCard slot mod with 32GB card. That one is loaded with all SNES games, NES, and basically every system below the N64/PS1 and that includes Sega CD and PCE/TG-16 CD. I got two BT adapters from 8bitdo on it and I use old Wii U Pro Controllers with it. Anymore though, I just use an Analogue Pocket and Dock with the CRT filter and it is damn good and responsive. What are you using for the HDMI to Composite adapter? Maybe that is part of the ratio issue? I did just pick up an NES really cheap and a CRT. I have a flash cart coming soon so I hope to be checking out Zelda on original hardware and CRT once again. Personally, on the cheap, a modded Wii and a Classic controller will cover all your NES/SNES needs. I can't say how it will look exactly on a CRT compared to the real deal but there are palette options. Of course you can use the controllers from the mini systems on your Wii and vise-versa. I know, lota rambling I guess.

Good video, I liked the comparisons....I have several of the mini systems, I also still have my original consoles and games which all still work....The thing I like about the mini consoles is the fact it's more portable but typically if I'm at home I usually play the actual games on the original consoles, they just feel different to me than the emulation, although the mini consoles with the emulation are great too, I have never done a side by side comparison like you did here, though. If I did it might help confirm whether I can tell the games play differently or if it's just my nostalgia feeling of popping in a cartridge into an original console, it could be a little of both I guess...Really enjoyed your unboxing and demo video, NES was a good system with a lot of memorable games.👍

You got to understand, you have a HDMI to AB Adapter, It doesn't convert it to 4:3..If your playing it on my Newer TV, it will look right I have the HDMI to AV Adapter & a NES Classic, I went in RetroArch change the Video to 16:9, and it looks like normal playing on a CRT, That's why it's like that

I believe you are having color issues because you are using a hdmi to analong converter , they wash the colors out completely. That’s your issue

When it comes to the controller extension cables, I actually needed to have two of them in order to have enough length to reach the console from my couch. My NES Mini sits about 6 to 7 feet from my TV and using just one of them wasn't enough. I should have bought two sets of extension cables at the time when I bought my NES Mini at Best Buy. As for the games on my NES Mini, I found an application which runs through my computer that allowed me to patch the NES Mini's operating system to allow me to upload my own game ROMs onto it. With the amount of memory space that the NES Mini has on it, I could upload every game made for it onto the console itself. Instead, I just uploaded my personal favorites onto the console. I have over 100 games currently on it.

The NES & SNES is before my time N64 is my era but I did try a lot of Mario,Zelda & Metroid games from the NES/SNES era

At the game selection screen, it appears there's a display and setup cog at the top. Maybe check for screen adjustments in there.

I think you should have tested the emulator on a modern wide-screen TV. I would assume that's what it was designed for since most people no longer have a CRT.

The exact reason why I picked up a raspberry pi 5 and botacera.. I grew up on the old consoles and still play them to this day 👍 Via emulation anyway haha

There’s no shame in playing Zelda. It’s been my favorite game since 1987 Easter and I just played through it recently with only the wooden sword. Still strong!!

I need to find out where to the memry stick with all of the games on it! How I so wanna play Little Samson on my NES Classic!

How do you play the zapper games?

I have the Nes classic back when it first launched, managed to find two of them at a local Walmart at like 2am.. but the nerdy clerk with glasses running the only lane open (before self checkout at the time was everywhere) and he would only let me buy ONE of them. I was mad, but glad I grabbed one. I never did grab a Snes Classic though new from the store, so I still need to get one, but felt like it was not needed since I could just put all the Snes classic games onto my Nes Classic, but had to get a Snes Controller converter plug to plug into it.

I was so excited when I heard the OG minis were coming then I heard how few games they would have. After that all thought of buying one left my mind.

super Metroid is definitely a game that if missing would hurt

The famicon mini is worse. Has short cables but hard wired so cannot make them longer. I have it hooked up in the car cause about the only place to use it.

I always thought they kind of needed another NES classic with just the sports games, Tecmo SB is obvious #1, but Pro Wrestling, Bases Loaded, MLB, Ice Hockey, Super Dodgeball, track and field, Rad Racer, Super Sprint, etc etc It was such a great console. What I noticed though is that my controller was not as responsive especially when playing Punch out.

I don't have the mini, but I've watched a lot of videos about the emulation and what I think may be up is there should be settings for aspect ratio for the screen, pixel size or ratio, and color filters. I've never seen a video where emulation gets it perfect, but you can get it closer. Good to know about the fakes, I hadn't thought of that, but of course it makes since.

Over the year, I convinced myself that I wasn't good at SMB3 due to emulators. I mean, beefy PC emulating a NES, that can't be slow. I bought an original nes, with original SMB3 and played on my CRT. Well, I was really good at convincing myself 😂 It happens that muscle memory can last 30 years 😅 Game a thousand time "easier", flying through the levels, not like the best speedrunner, but way better than what I was doing on emulator. I bought a N8, put all the games and tried Quart and Circus Charlie, same thing ^^ And those are not fast paced games, but timing is still very important. So, I shopped for the gun, tried duck-hunt and saw I didn't lose my hand. Later, I got a guest at home, showed him the nes. He said he was good at shooting games when seeing the gun. So, I had him play duck-hunt. He had many troubles and accused the gun, so I played with the gun from my waist (it's how I played as a kid). Hit all the ducks😂 So, he wanted to do round 2 and lost it. Then I put "wild gunman", because you don't need much aiming. But you need some reflexes. He got obliterated😅 Yeah, you're good 😅 And then he said he was better at fighting games on the SNES, so I showed the SNES 😂😂😂 We didn't play the SNES 😁 Morale of the story: don't say you're good at nes games to a guy who invested in retro gaming unless you're really good ^^ It's a joy to see people who master games, so you'll be challenged ^^

You should buy an everdrive

If I had one of these I would use my flat screen to play these games because that's what the screen setting is for lol.

Would be smart to include the duck hunt gun in NES or super scope for SNES n gun for all Sega systems

I feel there is a lag in my NES games, but my SNES games work fine. I bought a modded SNES with both NES and SNES games on it.

I’ve owned one of these since it came out and modded it right away. My opinion is that the color is terrible. The Switch’s NES emulator colors are terrible as well. NEStopia and Mesen on my PC have colors much closer to my actual NES.

The black bars down the sides are because it's been made to have a 4×3 picture on a modern widscreen tv, same issue with movies and tv episodes that were originally made in 4x3 all the Blu-ray, dvds and streaming services add the bars as they are expected to be played on s widescreen tv as that has been the standard for the last 25 years, you can stretch the picture back out using a scaler but its not perfect.

I just boy original gear, if I can afford it. There's something about struggling with getting the game to work in the slot. Kinda like love for the first time.

My favorite NES game was the chibi Superman game. I've been trying to find a way to play short of buying an original NES. Although I would totally buy the game again. The Atari consoles can add games. Can this do the same? The bars are because they assume you are on a new TV. Many new sets will let you set up for 480P, which is an old set.

The NES emulation is programmed for HD 16:9 widescreen video. What are you using to convert HDMI to composite SD 4:3 video for the CRT? A cheap adapter is not going to fix and stretch the aspect. My $30 PlayStation Classic literally has full sets of dozens of systems on a 32GB flash drive plus loads of other goodies, like HD widescreen Mario 64. The full RetroArch menu also lets you set any aspect ratio you want. I like 16:10, fills the screen more on HD. But I could choose full 16:9 screen and it would look normal output to a CRT. You can run RetroArch on a $20 Android box and get better results. and not have to search through dozens of folders either.

The fact that they claimed the snes classic had every North American game gave it away to me, because it doesn’t have that much memory to begin with

Can you use the Game Genie with one of these. A local antique store near me had one and im thinking of getting it

if you are hooking it up to a crt then just use your original console and by a multicart

I was curious as my original snes doesn't work on my modern tv, so i had i got a snes mini, and i couldn't see any difference, other than the upscaling to 1080p, but it seemed like the emulation was much better than @games devices for example.

It also depends on the rom dump they used

Is that played on the original 30 games or from the USB drive?

Why don't they bring back iron sword to switch?

There isn't enough room on the SNES classic to hold all the games... Also, how exactly are you playing an HDMI system on CRT?

one word: openemu

Does the super Nintendo have the tecmo super bowl games ?

Playing MTP on a non-CRT TV is a problem: I can no longer beat Sandman on it and Tyson is not as hard as Sandman on a new TV...The strange thing is--I could be one step of him all of the time if playing the CRT(hitting him more than most and dodging his punches, as well)...

My totally not modded Wii may or many not have all the game on it. So it's kinda redundant to own a SNES or NES classic. The Wii classic and pro controllers are top tier tho.

Does it have Baseball Stars?

Another way to tell a knockoff which is very easy to spot, the knockoff controller has 2 extra turbo buttons that are not on the Nintendo licensed controllers.

Looks like you need to adjust your screen so it will fill it out.

I just got the nes everdrive with all the games and play them on the original hardware

I think you theres an issue with your HDMI to composite converter. Try using a different one.

any hints on how to get one online? i'm only finding the fake ones.

Is this the 16:9 to 4:3 crunch?

The NES says 30 classic games. Definitely more than 30 were released in north America as last i counted i had 72. I know i dont have them all.

I have the extensions, and they do cause a lag in the controls. Definitely sucks when you need definitive/quick movement in certain game. Could also be the ROM. All the games ARE the actual game. They're just ripped from the original game program. Why they appear "different".

Interesting video thanks 🙏

It matters whst emulator is being used too.

Can you play the awesome yet underrated game xexyz?

NES is Missing several games… baseball stars, Tiger Heli, Bad Dudes - just to name a few…

Do I have to use a remote control to hold the game cartridge down?

Its good. Only problem is punchout is unbeatable with the lag

I don’t know if anyone has already tried, but if you go into the display settings on the nes mini Home Screen and set the aspect ratio to 4:3 that may solve your black bars problem. The other options are pixel perfect, and CRT filter. Pixel perfect is more for HD TV’s as the screen shimmers whilst scrolling, and crt filter is self explanatory. Also I don’t know what box you are using to convert the HDMI signal to AV, but is there a switch or setting on that?

Do you have the link for the system yet?

Do you have the link so we csn buy it ?

the reason the games look wierd is that the classis editions had everything set up for modern TVs.

I have a NES Classic, where did you get the USB with all the nes games on it?

Pushes CRT as the only true way to play. Plays his video games with a fucked off malformed aspect ratio. Not a lot of faith in the average person identifying that the image doesn't even fill the screen. Yeah, that about tracks. Emulation has nothing to do with this by the way. You're taking a 16:9 source and shoving it in a 4:3 destination and that makes it worse when that 16:9 source renders a 4:3 inside that window which just gets squished to high hell on your CRT. If you use RetroArch instead, you can set it to render in true 4:3 instead and not have this issue.

You can also get gameboy games running on it!

First off, your console absolutely looks authentic. And the Hackchi mod does NOT work on counterfeits. The rest of my message may be a little but technical, but I tried to keep it simple. I hope it helps you understand why the video looks off on a CRT. It's probably been said, but the Original NES and the Classic Mini are sending different video signals intended for different types of monitors. The original system sends a specific 320x240 image to the CRT TVs and they know how to display it properly. The NES Mini is sending a widescreen 720p signal. (1280x720) It doesn't even know how to talk to a CRT. But it will look correct proportional on a modern monitor. The NES mini's signal includes black bars on the sides so that the game will look correct on a widescreen. Most solutions that convert modern display signals to something a CRT can understand will convert the Classic's 720p signal to a standard CRT interlaced 640i signal that your CRT can understand. This is still going to look a little wrong on your TV because the black bars are part of the video and they get squashed into the TV screen along with the game. Getting the signal to a true 240p to match the original NES requires some more specialized hardware to convert the signal, and some technical knowhow on how to set it up. From what I can deduce from your video, it looks like the best you can do with the equipment you have will be to go into the NES Classic's display settings and choose 4:3 instead of pixel perfect. (Even when connected to a modern monitor, 4:3 mode is how the games looked on CRTs. Pixel perfect mode accounts for another element of putting these games on modern screens that is well outside of this issue). this will be the closest you can fix the image unless there are settings on your video converter that you can dig into to correct it even more. The NES mini is a fantastic console for what it is, but it really wasn't made with CRTs in mind. Good luck!! Edit: The controls may feel laggy if the video converter isn't fast enough to convert the signal in true real time. it depends on the quality of your converter. Though any conversion will add a frame or two of lag, not matter what because it does take time to convert the signal. It's literally unavoidable. Even when playing on a modern TV which will convert the signal on it's own to make it fill whatever panel size you have.

Is having every game good? I’m gonna say yeah

i had trouble get one first one i finally got hold of secound time around

NES mini looks bad on CRT because it was meant to be played on a HDTV thats why it has a HDMI also the input lag converting digital to analog signal shesshh

The controller was too short, it was super annoying

Where do I get a setup like yours?

Where's that link at I wanna get me one 😊

Where do i get the mini nes?

The snes classic didn't like the good games of tiny toons adventures and others

Where is the link to find the system?

You're acting like emulation sucks compared to the original, but if you had any idea how to modify your own hardware, your NES Classic would perform identically to what you remember.

all the flashing content is removed from the Nes games they look really dull now.

neat

Pro wrestling was awesome

why level three is a swastika tho?

Inner resting

I really want both of these or something similar or better if possible.I grew up with these games. Want all NES/SNES/ & GENESIS games the most & also would like sum Neo Geo/Nintendo 64/Gamecube/etc. CAN YOU & OR ANY1 IN THE COMMENTS PLEASE GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS & OR LINKS TO SOME OF THE BEST OPTIONS,(& the prices)THERE'S SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM & I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO PICK. I'LL REALLY APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH! Don't want anything crazy technical where I have to change a bunch of stuff I'm not good with computer's I just wanna plug & play the old school games I grew up with. THX ahead of time to you or any1 who responds. (Sorry so long 🙂I just really want 1)

Does the Classic let you blow vainly on an errant cart over and over? Lol

I have this but it's a Japanese version

This guy is just trying to make this comparison video all talking about how if you play Nintendo it should be on a CRT but yeah

I'm just here to argue

Where do people buy these old systems? I’m 50 and not tech savvy as my son tells me. I still have my n64 but have ps1 games and ps2 games I can’t play……..

Vertical letterbox is annoying

Technically the NES systems aren't complete without all accessories controllers including the gun for duck hunt or if snes the super scope

I was at an Air Bnb recently and they had a NES Classic for tenants to play which was cool so when I played the games it was horrible. Knockoff to the bone. Sure the games were there but the games were modified. Contra wasn't right, 10 Yard Fight had a timer and all the games were modified and I didn't enjoy the games like the real games that I have original so I don't what's up with that. The controllers were shit as well and knock off cheap plastic controllers and I couldn't play the games right.