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Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition Review

Casey ScheldJuly 31, 2024

Envious millennials, rejoice; the long-running Nintendo World Championships are now open to all with the release of Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. Featuring more than 150 challenges across 13 titles, is this game rad or bad?

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition Review

Inspired by the international competitions held by Nintnedo between the late ’80s and early ’90s (what a glorious time!), Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition lets players experience the championships of this bygone era in a convenient package on more modern hardware.

Nintendo fans might have played through the likes of such Nintendo Entertainment Classics like Super Mario Bros. and the Legend of Zelda countless times before, but Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition turns these time-honored classics on their head.

For instance, in its Speedrun Mode, players will be tasked with becoming a speed run master by taking on challenges AQAP (as quick as possible), netting clear times, coins that unlock additional challenges, and those oh-so-important bragging rights.

How does this play out? Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition reaching Goal Posts, defeating Bosses, and even taking on an Octorok Onslaught. For those who have been there and gotten the Triforce, there’s also Master Challenges to be cleared.

These are all rudimentary tasks, but the chance to get a high letter grade (including the coveted – and shiny! – S Rank) and hit a Personal Best is a thrilling feeling that had us attempting even the most rudimentary of challenges multiple times.

It’s just a shame that Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition doesn’t take this concept far enough. Titles like Kid Icarus and Ice Climber weren’t designed to be multi-hour epics, but at the same time the challenges feel a lot smaller in scope.

As a result, it can be far too easy to see everything that Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition has to offer sooner rather than later – especially when considering the small cut of titles it has chosen to pull from compared to the massive Nintendo Entertainment System library.

To be fair, there’s some other content in Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition to keep players going. The titular World Championships lets players test their skills against others from around the world, with certain competitions popping up in a set period of time.

The heat is also on with Nintendo World Championships: NES Editions’ Survival Mode, which has players taking on an elimination match against ghost data worldwide. This is nothing that will have players clocking in hundreds of hours, but it is still welcome nonetheless.

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition gives a number of Nintendo classics a new lease on life, but the overall package is a bit light on content. Those who live and breathe the Big N will enjoy this new take on the classics, but there’s not enough for more casual fans to enter the competition.

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition Review

Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: July 18, 2024
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Alternative Reviews: Hardcore Gamer, Pocket-Lint, Trusted Reviews
Aggregate Scores: Metacritic, OpenCritic

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