Nintendo could’ve supported Super FX long before the SNES Classic

Since launching the Virtual Console in 2006, Nintendo has officially re-released dozens of Super NES games for play on modern consoles. As that emulated library has grown, though, many have noted an important gap: Nintendo hasn’t re-released any SNES games that made use of the 3D-focused Super FX chip (or the improved Super FX2 follow-up).

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That streak of Super FX disrespect will finally end in September when Yoshi’s Island and Star Fox will show up on the Super NES Classic Edition. They’ll be joined by the previously unreleased, Super FX2-powered Star Fox 2, which was completed in the mid-’90s but cancelled to avoid the shadow of more powerful 3D games on the likes of PlayStation and Nintendo 64.

While it’s nice to see the Super FX getting some official attention, the question remains: what took so long? Why has Nintendo ignored the Super FX corner of its history all these years?

It turns out that this story is a lot more intricate – and mysterious – than I thought. Since I’ve been using snes9x for ages to play SNES games, it never dawned on me that Nintendo’s own later consoles did not get any SuperFX-powered games.

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