Around 35 years back, Nintendo of America kicked off the inaugural Nintendo World Championships; a nationwide competition that challenged players to accumulate the highest cumulative scores in three NES classics: Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris, all within a specified time limit. The event saw two revivals in 2015 and 2017, but neither matched the impact of its 90s predecessor. Now, in an exciting new endeavor, Nintendo is bringing forth a reimagined Nintendo World Championships, redesigned for home or on-the-go play via the Nintendo Switch. With its official launch set for July 18, 2024, let’s explore whether Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition offers a genuine nostalgic experience or simply capitalizes on nostalgia without depth.
The game features a roster of 13 beloved NES titles: Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Kid Icarus, Super Mario Bros. 2, Excitebike, Ice Climber, Balloon Fight, Super Mario Bros. 3, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and Kirby’s Adventure. This impressive lineup includes most of Nintendo’s first-party NES catalog; however, it lacks key third-party games, notably Rad Racer and Tetris, which were part of the original Nintendo World Championships. While the inclusion of 12 additional first-party titles is commendable, the absence of these historical games still stands out.
Players can navigate through a series of speedrun challenges that gradually increase in complexity. The journey begins with one task available per game, which unlocks subsequent challenges through coins earned based on performance. Your rank is determined by how swiftly you can complete a challenge, with the highest ranking being the coveted S-tier. In total, there are 156 challenges, categorized into Normal, Hard, Master, or Legend levels. To illustrate, the opening challenge in Super Mario Bros. requires simply collecting a super mushroom, while the final task involves finishing the game using warp zones.
Prior to tackling any challenges, players are shown gameplay clips that demonstrate exactly what to do. For the tougher Legend-difficulty tasks, players can also access “Classified Information” pages that pay homage to classic game manuals, detailing the most efficient routes for swift completion. While engaged in a challenge, your personal best is displayed alongside your current attempt. If you get injured or die, the game rewinds a few seconds, enabling you to resume from where you left off, losing only time—a fantastic feature that alleviates the stress often associated with speedrunning.
Chasing personal bests within challenges becomes highly addictive, and the challenge structure makes the titles enjoyable for both newcomers and veteran NES players alike. Only an A-rank is necessary to complete a challenge, which sometimes feels too easy, but achieving an S-rank can offer well-deserved bragging rights. The exact speed required for each rank remains a mystery, encouraging players to continue striving for personal records. Earning an A-rank in every single challenge unlocks the “Legendary Trial” mode, which strings together all of the Legend-difficulty tasks for an intense speedrun requiring all the skills developed along the way.
A significant letdown in Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is the inability to perform speedruns of the complete games. While this makes sense for titles like Donkey Kong, where levels loop indefinitely, it raises questions when most final challenges only require the player to complete a small segment. For example, finishing Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is capped at just reaching the 8-2 flagpole. Although NES games are well-known for their difficulty, the lack of an option to speedrun them in their entirety is perplexing. Sure, fans can turn to the classic library on Nintendo Switch Online, but they would miss out on attributes like personal best scores, instant rewinds, and competitive multiplayer options.
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition offers several multiplayer modes. Party Mode allows 2-8 players to enjoy speedrun challenges locally, while the World Championships mode introduces a weekly online competition where personal-best timings contest against players worldwide in five pre-selected challenges. The Survival Mode pits players against ghost data from seven others for three selected challenges in either Silver or Gold divisions. Although fun, the lack of real-time online multiplayer is disappointing. A mode reminiscent of Tetris 99 but tailored for speedrunning could dramatically enhance the game’s replayability.
When creating your user profile, you’ll find plenty of customization options. Players can unlock hundreds of icons that represent 8-bit sprites from the 13 NES games through the earned coins while completing challenges. A specific “hype tag” can be chosen to accompany your username, and you can select your favorite NES or Famicom game spanning both first-party and licensed titles. Additionally, players can gain various pins as achievements for reaching specific milestones, with many earned by achieving an A-rank across single-player challenges.
The digital version of Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition will retail for £24.99/$29.99, with a “Deluxe Set” available at select retailers for £49.99/$59.99. This special edition includes a physical copy of the game, a gold NES Game Pak replica, 13 collectible art cards, and five pins. While I cannot comment on the Deluxe Set’s quality, it appears to present a great value for collectors seeking a hands-on experience.
In conclusion, while Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is centered around speedrunning, it ironically feels somewhat hasty in production. Despite the enjoyment derived from pursuing S-tier rankings in challenges, notable omissions render it feel like a missed chance rather than a thorough gaming experience. If you’re keen to explore speedrunning’s fundamentals or wish to take a nostalgic journey through these classic titles, this game certainly offers hours of enjoyment; however, those with access to the broader NES catalog on Nintendo Switch Online might find it sufficient for their needs.
7/10
A review copy of Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was provided by Nintendo UK.