Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading.
In this explanatory review, we’re covering Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition by developer Nintendo:
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition: (The Explanation)
In 1990, Nintendo America took the United States by storm with the Nintendo World Championships, a nationwide video game tournament that toured 29 cities to find the very best gamers who would then battle it out in the final held in Los Angeles. Competitors played on a special game cartridge for the Nintendo Entertainment System that contained a number of games and challenges that they would have to beat alongside the competition.
The Nintendo World Championships went on hiatus for a long time but returned again in 2015 to celebrate its 25th anniversary and once more in 2017. Since then there have been no more live events for the Nintendo World Championships but now there is an opportunity for Nintendo Switch owners around the world to enjoy the thrill of a retro speedrunning competition. It is the Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition with over 150 challenges from 13 iconic NES games, including but not limited to, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Kirby’s Adventure, Excitebike, Ice Climbers, and Balloon Fight.
In One Player Mode, players can take on each challenge one by one in Speedrun Mode. Aim for the best times in a series of challenges in World Championships or duke it out against the ghost data of seven random players in Survival Mode and claim victory by being lightfooted and tenacious. The challenges in World Championships and Survival Mode change weekly so even if you find them too taxing to beat one week, you can always try your luck again the week after. However, you can compete in these modes as many times as you like so if you find yourself in a bit of a rut, you can always take a break and come back at them again when you are ready for another go.
In Speedrun Mode, you can take your time playing through each the game’s many challenges that are spread out across the thirteen games included in Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. Only the first challenge of each game is available to play at the start but you can earn coins by beating the challenges and using the coins to unlock more with increasing difficulty ranging from Normal to Hard, Master, and Legend. The Legend difficulty challenge puts everything that you have learned so far into one long challenge (like beating a whole stage or dungeon of a game) To help you prepare for these longer challenges, there are tips and strategies available in the Classified Information tab that you can access on the challenge display screen.
When beating challenges, you will be given a rank with B being fairly slow, A being relatively quick and S being the best possible rank you can achieve. It isn’t a straight B to A to S system either, as there are also B+, B++, A+, and A++ Ranks in between so if you find yourself getting a B+ rank during a challenge, you know you will need to work more on refining your speedrunning skills.
Coins are not only used for unlocking challenges either. They can also be used to purchase player icons that you can set to display aside your name, which will also be displayed with your ghost data for other players to see. Another unlockable item are pins. Pins can’t be purchased but earned and will also be displayed alongisde your name and player icon. You can get pins for claiming A rank on each of the challenges, by participating the World Championships Mode and for beating Survival Mode.
Speaking of Survival Mode, this mode is divided into two divisions; Silver and Gold. The Silver division is the easier of the two with the best times being more forgiving (normally A Rank times). As for Gold Division, this is where the really fast speedrun times can be found so forget bringing your A Game, you’ll want to be aiming for S Rank times if you want a chance in clutching a win. Each division has three challenges and pits you against seven opponents in the first round, four in the second, and ultimately a head-to-head between the last two players in the final.
Well, that covers the single player experience but what about multiplayer? On the main menu, there is a Party Mode that will allow up to eight friends or family members to compete against each other locally. You can choose to play through any of the 150+ challenges singularly or you can take on challenge pack that has a selection of challenges bundles together and will award players with points depending on what position they came in. Players ranking first will get the most points (obviously) and players in last will get the least. Prepare to get competitive here because just because you come in 8th in the first challenge, you could still turn it around to your favour in the next round.
Coming to the end of this EXPlay, I will admit that this one was quite tough to write. Partly because I know some reviews have been rather mixed about this title and also because I have actually had a lot of trouble putting the game down. As soon as I booted it up and was made to get the mushroom as quickly as possible, I have been hooked. I am no professional speedrunner and yet I found myself repeating a number of challenges over and over again to get the fastest possible time because I know I can do better. Granted, I won’t be getting S Rank in every challenge anytime soon or become the worlds best Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition speedrunning champion but there is just something about this game that keeps me coming back for more and more.
One of the biggest hangups that a number of folks have with this game, especially those who are big fans of NES Remix, is that they were hoping for more variety and ingenuity with the challenges. While it is true some of the challenges are extremely straightforward, the real test is trying to secure that absolute best time and knowing you can do it even quicker. I actually quite enjoy the Party Mode and while I have only played it with my partner so far, I am quite looking forward to putting it through its paces the next time I have friends round.
Although it doesn’t reinvent the wheel or do anything completely new, I still had a lot of fun with this game and I hope this is the beginning of a new series of Nintendo games with a SNES and N64 Edition on the way. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is like having your very own eSports event in the comfort of your own home with heated competition and the glorious sensation of victory when you win (and tears when you don’t). I may not be winning any trophies but I would certainly count Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition as a winner in my book.
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition:Â (The Gameplay)
Game Specifications:
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category:Â Action, Platformer, Party, Racing
No. of Players: 1-8 (Single System)
Release Date: July 18, 2024
Price: $29.99 (Digital)
File Size: 435 MB
Nintendo.com Listing
