NES Mini has four save states for each game

Nintendo's new NES Mini has four save states for each game, and here's how they work.

@DeekeTweak

Published Nov 5, 2016 2:08 PM CDT
Updated Nov 3, 2020 11:57 AM CST

2 minutes & 35 seconds read time

Up until now certain features of Nintendo's new NES Classic Edition (aka NES Mini) have been rather vague, especially in regards to how save states work. Now we can clear all that up and provide some extra info on the console and give you a better idea of what to expect from the tiny box.

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We've already covered that the NES Mini is basically a cheaper Raspberry Pi 2 in a stylish box, and the controllers have audaciouisly short cords. Now we can report that the retro emulator console features four save states for every game. That means each of the 30 classic NES games will have their own set of four save states (aka suspend points) to allow players a nice bit of flexibility with their playthroughs.

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Sadly, the save states don't work like those of Nintendo's Virtual Console: you have to hit the NES Mini's reset button in order to make a state save. This is due to the fact that most NES games use the entirety of the NES controller's buttons, and there isn't any extra buttons to trigger a state save.

What's more is that you can't load a suspend point on-the-fly while playing a game, and they can only be loaded via the main menu screen.

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But there's a potentially big problem here...what if you forget about the reset button trigger save states and press it to reset the console, thereby accidentally deleting your 10-hour run of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link?

Luckily, you can actually lock your save states to prevent deletion, so don't forget to do this for your beloved run-throughs.

Sadly, there's no way to back up your saves just in case, as the NES Mini doesn't support any sort of expandable memory. There's no way to hook it up, either, unless you're really good a soldering: the 512MB flash memory chip is fused directly to the Mini's cheap PCB.