Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition Review – Retro Speedrunning Bliss

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition Review

Considered one of the first esports events, the Nintendo World Championships toured America in 1990 in search of the ultimate gamer. While garnering huge media attention, it took the Japanese giants 25 years to revisit the concept with the 2015 and 2017 competitions. Looking to deviate from the traditional format, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition allows players worldwide to compete against one another in an array of speed run challenges. Will this new approach attract a broader audience and rejuvenate interest in competitive retro gaming?

With over 150 challenges from 13 iconic titles, Nintendo manages to celebrate the era with this fun and addictive take on competitive gaming. The very concept of rivalry can disaffect a particular audience as it pits your skills against another player. While Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition does center around this notion, it does so in an accessible manner.

Climbing to the Top

Challenges vary from Normal to Legendary, with each unlocking through the in-game currency you earn from completing missions. Although you regularly earn coins when replaying and beating your previous attempts, I did reach a point where I had to replay missions to earn enough currency to unlock the final stages. While this may sound like a chore, it’s anything but. As your personal best plays out simultaneously with your current run, you try to shave milliseconds off your attempt by learning the nuances of the courses.

With ranks tied to your completion time, it becomes incredibly addictive trying to acquire the coveted S rank on each level. Some of the challenges are simple, such as grabbing the Super Mushroom in the first stage of Super Mario Bros., whereas the Legendary option challenges you to complete the entirety of Super Mario Bros. in the fastest time possible. Whether designed to introduce mechanics or to help you get to grips with the gameplay, each micro-game gradually increases in difficulty, preparing you for upcoming challenges.

Missions include on-screen prompts to guide you through and will rewind if you die on your way to the objective. This is a great way to keep the goal alive, incentivizing you to replay to avoid previous mistakes. In addition to this, a wonderful instruction-style manual accompanies the last objective, giving you hints and tips to complete the task. This helps to anchor the time period further, building an additional layer of nostalgia.

Invite a Friend

Local multiplayer is a key factor for Nintendo and it comes as no surprise that the option is included in this speedrun-focused title. With the ability to play with up to 8 players, the quick burst challenges are perfect for casual competition with friends and family. The hectic nature of the micro-games creates a wonderful atmosphere that welcomes players of all ages and skill levels. You can select curated missions that suit the ability of your party and the length of time you wish to play. The non-committal premise helps to make this a title that will be a mainstay in your party playlist.

For those who want to compete against the very best, online options tailored to this are available. Although unavailable during the review period, the World Championships mode sees you tackle weekly challenges to top the world rankings. Survival Mode is where you compete against ghost data from players from around the globe in a series of challenges to be crowned the winner. These improve the longevity of the game giving you plenty of reasons to revisit tasks and improve your skills.

The games on offer highlight the quality of the era with a range of releases from iconic franchises. From classic titles such as Metroid to Kid Icarus, players who grew up during the period will be hit with a wave of nostalgia. Each game is in its native format which means that original graphical glitches and slowdown remain. While I would have liked Nintendo to clean up elements, I understand the philosophy around celebrating the game in its original format. This adds authenticity to the release as every awkward movement persists.

A Charming Celebration

Small elements add a reverence for the era which helps to ramp up the charm. The UI has an 80s aesthetic and you collect pins when you hit the A rank on challenges. You can also purchase sprites to set as your avatar and add tags to your online profile to add further personality to your online presence. Strangely, you can even select from an exhaustive list of releases to advertise your favorite NES game. Although this adds nothing in terms of gameplay, the fact that Nintendo allows for releases from other publishers to feature on the game shows a real willingness to embrace the broader gaming community and celebrate the rich history of the NES period.

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition perfectly translates the simple gameplay of the 8-bit era into a competitive-focused release that adds a fresh spin on retro titles. The UI is well designed making it quick and easy to replay challenges, incentivizing you to improve on your last attempt. Each game remains in its original format and due to this, newcomers may struggle to get to grips with the more rigid movement of certain games. With a wealth of online options on its way and chaotic multiplayer, this could be a standout title for retro enthusiasts and become a staple in the speedrunning community.

***A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher***