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A stunning tribute book to the Super Nintendo is capturing the hearts of retro gamers on Kickstarter

The unofficial SNES compendium is a hardback love letter to the Nintendo console.
The unofficial SNES compendium is a hardback love letter to the Nintendo console. The unofficial SNES compendium is a hardback love letter to the Nintendo console.

Nintendo’s classic games consoles of the 1980s and 90s retain a special place in the hearts of many – having introduced and immortalised franchises such as Super Mario Bros and the Legend of Zelda.

So perhaps it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that a new Kickstarter campaign around an unofficial tribute to the Super Nintendo is causing quite a stir on the crowd-funding site, especially when you see some of the artwork involved.

SNES compendium
SNES compendium
SNES game Axelay (Bitmap Books)

The unofficial SNES/Super Famicom: A Visual Compendium is the work of UK-based Bitmap Books, a small team whose trademark is coffee table books on classic gaming systems and the various games that made them famous.

SNES compendium
SNES compendium
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe (Bitmap Books)

The book contains a range of tributes to the pixel art style of the day and the games that made use of it.

SNES compendium
SNES compendium
The ‘RPG style’ fold-out map (Bitmap Books)

There are also box art appreciation spreads and developer profiles, with Bitmap saying the book is structured like a classic RPG game, “featuring a fold-out map which includes the various destinations, such as the Cemetery (unreleased games), Skyscraper (Developer profiles), Art Gallery (Box art) and so on”.

SNES compendium
SNES compendium
The book also contains information on the SNES hardware (Bitmap Books)

There are sections dedicated to SNES hardware itself, detailing how the design came together for the legendary console, which first went on sale in Japan in 1990 and the UK in 1992.

At the time of writing, the Kickstarter campaign has already collected more than £78,000 in backing – smashing its target of £25,000 with almost a month left of the campaign.

If you want to contribute and get hold of a copy of the book yourself – which is expected to start shipping in November – you can do so here.