Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Switch
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $29.99 – Available Here
Overview
Just hearing anything about the Nintendo World Championships brings me back to a simpler time, when cartridges ruled the marketplace, and 8-bit was the way to go. Nintendo know how to market, and have dipped their toe into this medium before with their NES compilations before, and while the titles didn’t have a lot of legs, they were a good way to celebrate the platform and garner modern interest. Can Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition do one better, or is it a random release forced out to simply give the big brand one more for the road? Let’s find out.
Story
There is no story here! Well, not really anyway. You will not be getting any of the thirteen titles included in full, but instead moments, chopped up into speed-run opportunities. That is the concept here, which I guess is fine, but I think having an over-arching motive with a little tale tied in would have worked a bit better than the bare-bones package here. Maybe playing as a kid who is a part of this competition in a quick story mode, perhaps? Well, its best not to wonder, as this package is one of value, and we will speak more of the gameplay that brings it to life.
Gameplay
Its no secret that where Nintendidn’t, players did. Over the years, the speed-running community have made all gamers think on their toes and attempt to compete for their best times. Its a concept that goes all the way back to the original titles in this collection. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is that, but fragmented. Players take part in little sections of the titles included, where they must grab a mushroom or access a door in a quick format. Once finished, that score is kept, and they can continue to best their score to obtain leaderboard glory.
To do this, we now have some interesting tools at play. Players can see an actual screen to their right of their better score, and use it to monitor moments where they can improve. There are also tips throughout the game, given to the player in order to get a bit of an edge. Its all about scratching that competitive itch. At first, the game kind of starts out slow, but the more you play it and get minor moments of satisfaction, the more enjoyable the concept becomes. Its a game built to be addictive, with a focus on speed. Where NES Remix acted as a tribute of sorts, this is simply a first party romp made for leaderboard hunts and quick bites.
There are four modes here, but they all really don’t pivot enough to feel different outside of adding extra players. Sure, the game is fun, but I don’t understand why we never really get the ability to play the full game and aim for special times after trying the bite-sized pieces. These are very old titles and I know Nintendo love their licenses to be sacred, but I feel like that my biggest takeaway from this experience was that “I want to play Kirby now” or “Let’s go play Metroid” so I could work in these new tricks from this title into the full game, and attempt a faster fun as a whole there. Its a weird game with a lot of missed opportunities, and one that may be addictive, yet never manages to hold one’s attention for too long due to the light library involved.
Audio
The music is fine. Its all the sounds and melodies you remember, mixed with some great beats that pull this together as its own thing. Hearing Metroid music and Mario tunes in bits can put you in a happy space, and the game does well with its level variation to make this feeling stick around for a good bit. Just don’t expect the full course.
Visuals
Nintendo did do the visuals well. The entire set-up here is clean and organized, with colorful visuals on menus and non-distracting additions when you are seriously competing. The games are exactly as they were, which was expected, with no alterations like NES Remix offered years ago. There are a ton of visual extras as well that are neat, such as badges that are lovingly designed, rewarding players for their efforts as they speed through these moments.
Overall
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is something. Its a great concept as the game is addicting with its format and the execution is done nearly flawless, presenting fun features such as online leader boards and badge rewards that will make players stick around. That said, just months after all the online leaderboards vanished from their last platform due to server shutdown, I don’t know how wise it was to release a game that is very temporary onto a service that kind of feels like its a ticking time bomb. Will time remember my crazy scores, or am I being a bit cynical with that thought? Either way, Nintendo World Championships isn’t too expensive and if you need some motivation to go back in time, its a good excuse as I ended going back to a few old favorites shortly after playing this little title.
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