NES games are difficult to revisit. They’re easy to find and play, but they are showing their age and have been for some time. To play the original Legend of Zelda, for example, rewards a difficult-to-control, often obtuse puzzle game whose importance to the industry is undeniable, but its contemporary fun factor is low. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition counters this with a strategy that WarioWare has been using to great effect since its inception: you only play classic Nintendo games for exactly as long as they’re fun – which in 2024 is anywhere from three seconds to a few minutes. The result is a game that lets you challenge yourself and experience the highlights of Nintendo’s ‘80s library without much need for commitment, but it’s not without its annoyances.
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition features a few modes, but they’re all built off the Speedrun Mode. In it, you play through a series of challenges that, at its lowest levels, force you to jump on a platform in Ice Climbers, to its highest levels, which might task you with beating a full dungeon in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link as fast as possible. Each of the 13 games has a handful of short challenges that range in difficulty. This is where I had the most fun, defeating a number of microgames based on a series of titles that most people probably only know for their appearances in Super Smash Bros.
Successfully completing challenges rewards coins, which can be used to unlock more challenges or avatar icons, but the economy of the unlocks is frustrating. I always felt I was scrounging for money to unlock the next challenge when I was getting A++ and the occasional S rating. If you want to exclusively challenge yourself, you have to do exceptionally well to see everything, and it is an unnecessary hurdle.
Thankfully, playing in the online modes rewards additional (and ultimately necessary) coins, and it is fun to compete with others’ high scores. You don’t compete live, like with Super Mario Bros. 35, but instead, play through a collection of the Speedrun games against other players’ ghosts. I like this approach as it lets you tackle the challenges at your own pace as often as you want without worrying about network connectivity.
Local multiplayer is a highlight, and I had an especially joyful experience playing with my child, who understandably has no nostalgia for this era of Nintendo games. It was borderline educational to see her slowly appreciate what is fun about these games, thanks to the bite-size presentation that never overstays its welcome. The microgames are also varied and offer enough practice options that I was rarely an automatic winner just because I am old. As a local party game for up to eight players, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is definitely a success thanks to its fast pace and nostalgia.
Though barebones, I also like the presentation and explanation of what the Nintendo World Championships is and were. Nintendo understands that, ideally, most players jumping into the game did not see 1989’s The Wizard and probably don’t know that before esports, there was this bizarre thing where people competed in single-player games. It was a different time.
I have my frustrations with the game’s coin system to unlock additional content, and unfortunately, most, if not all, of the games in the collection do not stand up to the test of time. But as a means to highlight Nintendo’s history, participate in some nostalgia with local friends, and play classic games for exactly as long as they’re fun, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition succeeds in its intention.