The rumour is true: Legendary Nintendo magazine Super Play returns for launch of SNES Mini

Legendary '90s Nintendo magazine Super Play, regarded by fans as one of the greatest games magazines of all time, is returning for a one-off special. Issue 172 of Retro Gamer will be packaged with a 52-page special edition of Super Play magazine to celebrate the forthcoming launch of Nintendo's SNES Classic Mini hardware.

Save 20%! Grab a six month subscription to Retro Gamer for only £26 and look out for the new issue on-sale in UK newsagents from Sep 7th.

In case you weren't around between '92 and '96, Super Play (or SPlay, to the ultra-dedicated) was one of the most vibrant, era-defining magazines of the period, famed for its smart, witty, and puristic SNES coverage, as well as being one of the first mainstream publications to really embrace and promote Japanese gaming and anime culture in a big way.

This one-off edition has been produced by original Super Play staff including Jason Brookes, Jonathan Davies, Tony Mott and Zy Nicholson, along with the Retro Gamer team and a band of seasoned Nintendo experts including Nathan Brown (Edge), Mark Green (NGamer), Keza MacDonald (Kotaku), Damien McFerran (Nintendo Life), Jeremy Parish (Retronauts) and Chris Schilling (Edge, Eurogamer). As art editor, Warren Brown (senior art ed of Future's videogame division) has resurrected Super Play's searingly distinct visual style to ensure it will be immediately familiar to fans of the '90s magazine.

Crucially, the new issue's cover is illustrated by Wil Overton, the artist behind every cover of Super Play's original 47-issue run. Along with him, comes Fox McCloud.

So, here’s a thing. pic.twitter.com/AAu50EqPEEAugust 30, 2017

Features include:

- New reviews of 20 SNES games featured on the Mini console, alongside a cover story focused on Star Fox 2, including an exclusive interview with Dylan Cuthbert, one of the key developers behind the game.

- The opportunity to win the original Wil Overton artwork used for Super Play's Secret Of Mana cover (issue 25), hand-painted on celluloid and signed by the artist.

Is it too late to pre-order a Mini-SNES?

Probably, yes, but if any SNES Classic Mini stocks appear you can find them right here

- More prizes to win, including a SNES Mini console, the Contra III soundtrack on vinyl, Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection, and more.

- Plus: Super Play's SNES Mini hands-on test, Helen McCarthy's Anime World, What Cart?, import reviews, Fanhunter, the origins of the SNES and Super Play, and... some unfortunate news about Neko.

Retro Gamer issue 172 is on sale from UK newsagents and online from September 7.

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