Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Switch
Tested on: Switch
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition – Review
With the WarioWare series, we have been treated to so-called micro-games in the past. Wario and his friends always ensure players have a good time thanks to the wacky games that are featured. The Mario Party series is a bit on the other side of the spectrum, as mini-games tend to be meatier, and completing a full board in the game is often the recipe for a full night’s entertainment. Now, we are taking a look at something else that could provide a fun evening or two with your friends with Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. Here, you’ll be playing through tiny segments of NES classic titles to break records and take on other players locally or online.
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is basically a collection of original NES titles, but you’ll only be able to play through tiny segments of said titles. This typically means killing a few enemies, grabbing an item, doing a small platforming section, etc. Most of these challenges are often only a few seconds long, and it’s up to you to complete them in the best possible time. It’s all straightforward stuff, especially because the game does show you a preview of what is required of you. We see familiar titles here such as the first three Mario Bros games (including the Lost Levels), but also other familiar titles such as Metroid, Kid Icarus, The Legend of Zelda I & II, Excitebike, and so on. It’s a great collection, and it actually puts you in the right mood to consider playing the originals again in their full glory.
In terms of presentation, you’ll have a clear menu that helps you navigate to the correct mode. You’ll get a clear timer on the screen to show you how long you have been trying to beat the challenge, and you can also see prior ghost data. You do have the option to make your playing field a bit bigger than that of the others, but other than that, there’s not that much to say. As the collection consists of original NES titles, you’ll be able to enjoy the 8-bit challenges on the go. The original chiptunes are still present as well, and the SFX also sound like they did on the NES or Famicom.
To be completely honest, there isn’t that much to the game. You can either choose to tackle the Speedrun mode offline in single-player mode, or you can take on other players locally, with up to eight players on one console. Outside of that, you can either take on other players’ online ghost data, to come out on top, or you can opt to play the Survival mode, in which players get knocked out every round. These last two modes do require an online subscription, so that is something to keep in mind before getting this one. With the challenges being as short as they are, you do get a proper sense of progress and accomplishment. You’ll easily be able to clear quite a few challenges in one sitting, and even Survival sessions only take a few minutes at best, depending on how well you perform. Keep in mind, the game does try to make you play online, as you’ll have to earn enough currency to unlock all the stages in the Speedrun mode.
For emulated games, we have to mention that the controls are very responsive, and even the stick controls feel smooth. We played the originals with the D-Pad, but we actually preferred playing this title with the joystick. Nintendo did a good job updating the overall controls for modern controllers. Other than that, no significant updates happened, and for most games, you’ll still see the command prompt of what button does what. When you progress, however, the UI sometimes omits showing the basic controls.
Conclusion
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is an entertaining experience for speedrunners and fans of the original games that are featured here, even though the latter will probably enjoy playing through the entire individual games more. The overall collection is decent, the challenges are fun, and this is an easy title to pick up in between bigger releases, to play with friends, or if you love playing competitive games online. The asking price is fair, but for casual gamers, this isn’t a title you’ll be spending hours on end on.
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