Most gamers today—hopefully--have had at least some interaction with the world of the Nintendo Entertainment System. The saving grace of the games industry following Atari’s infamous crash, the NES smashed into the homes of millions with the likes of Mario, Kirby, Zelda, and myriad other iconic gaming franchises.
A celebration of Nintendo’s history, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition brings you into the colourful, nostalgic world of 8-bit fantasy with unique challenges built into classic games. From the original Super Mario Bros to Balloon Fight, most of Nintendo’s first-party NES games are here in full with brand-new ways to play.
Much like the Wii U masterpiece NES Remix, you’ll play through challenges built into 13 classics. The challenges start off easy, asking you to grab the first mushroom in Super Mario Bros in a few seconds or nabbing the Morph Ball in Metroid. However, unlike the uniqueness of every challenge in NES Remix, Nintendo World Championships is only about speed.
The offline Speedrun mode moves from easy-to-master challenges, allowing you to unlock more difficult missions with stars you earn depending on your mission rank. It’s a simple but engaging system that not only keeps you trundling through scenarios in your favorite games, but also invites you to try titles you may not have much experience with.
While I love myself some Super Mario Bros and Metroid, I’ve never spent much time with titles like Excitebike or Balloon Fight. However, over the course of unlocking extra challenges, I was able to not just play through select parts of the games, but even master some scenarios.
If Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition only included its offline speedrun mode, it would be a pretty naff product for anything other than a free NSO add-on. However, outside of its mainline mode, Nintendo also offers an incredibly fun and competitive online mode to test your skills against other NES buffs.
These online modes pit you against other players as you battle for the fastest times in given missions. It’s not anything special in design, but very special in execution as classic NES titles come alive in ways you never thought they could. Clambering up a long selection of hallways in Metroid or racing to get to the sword in The Legend of Zelda feel exhilarating as you race against a handful of others down to the millisecond.
On its own, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is nowhere near as exciting as NES Remix or NES Remix 2. But in its online component, Nintendo’s simple collection of old ROMs becomes a brand-new way to play some of the best classics ever made. Its game selection may be slim and its variety lacking, but it's a fantastic way to duke it out online across Nintendo’s world-changing catalogue.
