Review: Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (Nintendo Switch)
As Pure Nintendo’s resident NES fanboy, I suspected I’d be a practical choice to take a closer look at Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. The wording makes me wonder with some excitement about future volumes like NES Edition 2, SNES Edition, and so forth. But as far as this debut installment, how does it fare in the twilight years of the Nintendo Switch? While certainly better than not, there’s undeniable unevenness. It’s a highly amusing but borderline apathetic release. It’s lively fun yet also shockingly lackadaisical. Allow me to share why that is.
I say debut, but it doesn’t take eagle-eyed players to see this release as inordinately similar to the NES Remix games. The structure, flow, and even specific individual challenges are recycled here, minus the terrific remixed stages. It makes comparisons impossible to avoid, which unfortunately does NWC: NES Edition no favors. Because while the previous games were content-rich, this package, though fun, unfortunately, is far from that.
To be clear, the 13 games from where these challenges are curated are among my favorites. For instance, The Super Mario Bros. trilogy has such consequence, high quality, and sheer fun that there’s little I could add. But let’s stick with Mario for a minute and think about some of the other NES games featuring him. He was on the cover of black box Pinball, a game with nearly 2 million copies sold. It’s sadly missing here. Similar to Dr. Mario, which sold even better, just shy of 5 million copies. How about Mario in the sports realm? He was a referee in the 3 million seller Punch-Out!!!, and graced the cover of a pair of golf games that sold over 5 million copies; where are these? I could go on, but it illustrates a significant point: Nintendo’s once-celebrated first-party NES library is now falling into neglect.
And it’s odd because some of the missing games would better fit the narrow speedrunning focus of this package as replacements. Ice Climber, with its spotty collision detection, would be preferable as a polished remake to the snippets included here. Similar to The Lost Levels, a game that continues to surprise me if only because of Nintendo’s seemingly revisionist love affair with it. Even Kirby’s Adventure (a top-five NES game for me) is questionable, as the pink puffball is better for floaty exploration rather than rushing through stages.
Still, let me stress that the bulk of these games and their associated challenges aren’t just fun, they also get you hooked. I genuinely enjoy trying to shave off a second or two when grabbing the screw attack in Metroid or the harp in Kid Icarus. I feel similar when entering the hollow tree in The Legend of Zelda and crossing the cliffs in The Adventure of Link. Lengthier challenges are also present. The final one in Donkey Kong requires beating all three levels of the NES port, for example. Each game’s last challenge (“Legend-difficulty”) has an awesome Classified Information spread that looks straight out of a lost issue of Nintendo Power! Just note that not every game has an equal number. For instance, Excitebike only has six.
As a solo player, you initially earn coins to unlock every game challenge while doubtless trying to achieve the highest letter rankings. S ranks can be demanding to earn. I cut a Zelda challenge finish time by half but stayed stuck at A++! Later, you can save up to buy all the player icons (sprites) for your profile.
With local friends (up to eight), the party mode offers some enjoyment. I played this with my wife and had good fun, and I’m sure to have fun with a bigger group of friends down the road. NWC: NES Edition won’t be a party staple, though, just one to bust out occasionally due to the limited content. Party mode ranks don’t affect your personal speedrun ranks, which is not only something worth noting, it’s something I appreciate.
Beyond that, you better hope you’ve paid for a Nintendo Switch online subscription to get longevity out of this package. World Championships and Survival modes change every few days with a mashup of random challenges. I’m someone who “Has a Lifetime of NES Memories.” Imagine how humbling it’s been to see my world rankings hover in only the top 60%. But my skill level compared to Famicom Wizards doesn’t diminish my NES nostalgia. Racing ghost data of players worldwide is mildly entertaining for as long as the service lasts. Still, I’d greatly prefer leaderboards to compare times with my wife or PN colleagues. Improved online implementation is a must for whatever hardware follows the Nintendo Switch.
The default settings have a small-screen setup, with wasted real estate for things I doubt the majority desire (replays of your personal best runs, instructions that give too much info). Ensure you fiddle with the options to your desired preferences to properly enjoy these timeless 8-bit graphics while making the gameplay as smooth as possible. Sadly, there is no option to update this game at the time of this writing (three weeks or so from release). I’ve noticed a couple of minor bugs (emulation issues with Zelda and an “Error Has Occurred” menu booter in Kirby. I hope these get patched quickly. How about some DLC while you’re at it, Nintendo? I’d like to see Donkey Kong Jr. or Ice Hockey—both million-plus sellers represented in NES Remix.
At its best, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is a game I love, and I say that as someone typically not a speedrunning fan. But Nintendo did not give the NES the same respect here that they did in the NES Remix titles. This approach is more indifferent without question, reflecting a company going through the motions with this release. Only Nintendo can still manage to pull off a game this good—possibly one of my favorites of 2024—despite such bad habits.
