Nintendo World Championships NES Edition Review

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Close your eyes and imagine being at the Nintendo World Championships in the 90’s. The crowd cheering you on as you go up against some of the best gamers in the world. Now, open your eyes, because there’s no need to imagine with Nintendo World Championships NES Edition, a collection of mini-challenges in which you can compete with gamers all over the globe for the ultimate bragging rights. What’s it Like? Grab a copy from Blockbuster, Unplug the VHS to play your NES, and tune your TV to channel one as we review Nintendo World Championships NES Edition.

Nintendo World Championships NES Edition pits you against Switch gamers all over the world in a series of over 150 challenges that range in difficulty, focused solely on speedrunning. It eases you into the core mechanics of the game with simple challenges to start with, such as getting the first super mushroom in the original Super Mario Bros game, or doing a jump on Excitebike. They slowly ramp up to difficult challenges like speedrunning the entire Mario Bros game, or completing the final dungeon in The Legend of Zelda. These speed runs are somewhat similar to Wario Ware, and make for snappy gameplay, constantly engaging you as you play. Mess up a challenge? you can easily tap out by pressing the ZR and ZL buttons to quit out and get back to it within seconds. While some challenges may have frustrated me (due to skill issues) being able to quickly restart or drop out helped me get back on the horse and helped ease a lot of that tension.

When you are ready to challenge others, you can dive into both The World Championships and Survival Mode, and this is where the game really shines. World Championships has a series of set challenges you can complete in any order, and continuously try to improve your time, before uploading them to compete. At the conclusion of the Championship time period, you will receive your results and see how you stack up against other gamers your age. Survival mode is a more competitive side-by-side mode that plays out like a battle royale. It’s done really well because it pits you against other players’ ghost data, meaning you don’t have to worry about dropping out mid-competition and queuing for a new set of competitors is fast and easy. They also have crowd noises who cheer on players and it’s a dynamic track meaning the crowd responds to the action on screen rather than just being background noise. It made me feel like I was really there. There is also a party mode, allowing you to pair 8 joy-cons for some local challenges for ultimate bragging rights.

This mode is interesting as you see other players’ ghost data playing out the same challenge, and after getting pummeled in one particular challenge, I decided to review footage using the Switch’s built-in game recorder. Sure enough, there was occasionally a seasoned old-school gamer taking shortcuts to get to the objective quicker (not by cheating.) So I studied the pattern, went and unlocked the challenge in Speedrun mode, and then practiced until I nailed it. I then went back into Survival mode and destroyed that challenge, finally securing myself a gold World Championship Trophy, and a sizable coin reward to unlock more challenges and icons. This was one of my favorite moments of the Nintendo World Championships NES Edition, and felt almost like learning the best tips and tricks in the playground at school like we had to do in the old days.

Then there are the Master Challenges in Speedrun mode. The cream of the crop. These come with “Classified Information” on how to make the best time. I loved this as it was like picking up a Nintendo Power guidebook to find out how best to get to the end of Mario, or navigate the Labyrinth in The Legend of Zelda. The guide is just that, however, a guide, and you will need to rely on your skills to get you the rest of the way. I had a terrible time on my first Mario Bro complete speedrun, dying (which results in a small rewind while the clock ticks) only to be rewound to where I died again, and get stuck in a loop for 4 or 5 lives before the game took me further back. These minor frustrations don’t really detract from the game, although it will be a while before I attempt to best my 8-minute Mario completion time!

All challenges unlock special badges which can be used to build your profile up to show other gamers for bragging rights. You can use coins earned to purchase an icon like Luigi or Bowser, and set a pin as a favorite, as well as a hype tag, letting people know a little about you like “NES Generation” or “I had to draw my game maps.” These profiles are only currently visible when competing, but will go on the “Brith Year Ranking” leaderboards when they go live, most likely when the first tournament concludes on the 22nd of this month. Nintendo also opts to destroy us oldies right off the bat with a tongue-in-cheek opening promo… It’s surprisingly funny and well-written, and gamers of the 80’s and 90’s will get significantly more mileage out of the game.

All of this is presented in a slick and retro fashion. The UI works well, everything is crisp and colourful, and the pins you collect look stunning. While browsing the games and menus, there’s a funky 80’s synth track on loop, and the crowd noises while competing really amps you up to try to be the best NES champion you can be. For my vision-impaired NES Champions, there are no accessibility options. While you can switch the UI to give you a bigger screen in 8-player Survival modes, the game screen is significantly smaller than most games due to the nature of the UI. I recommend further research to see if the Nintendo World Championships NES Edition is for you.

Nintendo World Championships NES Edition

Finally, we have the value of the title, which I feel will be different depending on your age group. For me, I have not been able to put down the game, and have this wave of nostalgia that hasn’t worn off while playing. I keep going back to try to win more challenges and coins, as well as bragging rights among my friends. If you were a part of this generation, then the $50 AUD for the game will seem well worth it, and the $90 Collectors pack even more so. For younger gamers, the spirit of competition will keep you invested, but it really will boil down to how you feel about NES-era games so mileage may vary.

Nintendo World Championships NES Edition is a love letter to Nintendo’s defining era of games. It’s fun, competitive, and addictive. There’s plenty to do and collect, and the rapid-fire gameplay and UI keep you constantly engaged. There are moments that take you back to your childhood, and it’s interesting to see players of all ages take different approaches to challenges, and learning from them is its own reward. It’s a beautifully presented package, embracing the 80s and 90s in an unapologetic form to deliver amazing fan service, nostalgia, and some very tricky challenges.

So, What’s It Like? Nintendo World Championships NES Edition is like putting Wario Ware on the NES.

In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by Nintendo ANZ, but this doesn’t influence my score.

Nintendo World Championships NES Edition

82% Score

Review Breakdown

  • Presentation 0%
  • Polish and Performance 0%
  • Gameplay 0%
  • Content and Features 0%
  • Value 0%

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