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Fun, addictive gameplay that will keep you aiming for the top score; multiplayer modes are especially engaging; great UI that harkens back to the glory days of Nintendo Power
Can become redundant in single-player after awhile; challenges should keep objectives in sight during gameplay to help remind the player what to do
The Nintendo World Championships was a video game competition held back in 1990. At the core of the event was a special cartridge, fittingly dubbed Nintendo World Championships, that contained on it pared down versions of Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and Rad Racer. Players were tasked with beating these chunks of each game within a six minutes and 21 seconds time limit and gain the highest score. While the competition itself is interesting, the cartridge is arguably even more so. It’s unknown how many were made exactly, but there are gray versions of the game and special gold copies that were given away to Nintendo Power subscribers. It is so rare and desirable that copies of the game can sell for north of $100,000!
Now, 34 years later, the game is back in reimagined form as Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. This iteration has within it 150 curated bits of gameplay (or moments, as Nintendo puts it) from across 13 different classic NES games. The games include the Super Mario Bros. trilogy, both Legend of Zelda games, Metroid, Donkey Kong, and more. As with the original NWC, NES Edition features timed competition with an eye towards playing other people. Compete to get the best times either locally or online in a party game for the ages.
And as a party game, NWC is a thrill. There are Speedrun, Survival, and Party Modes to partake in, all offering different experiences. Speedrun is a solo mode where players unlock the 150 different moments to play through. Beating a given challenge rewards coins, and then the player can use those coins to keep progressing deeper into a given track of a particular game. So, beat a moment in Super Mario Bros. for instance, and then use coins to unlock more SMB content—or switch on over to a different game and its challenges. NWC doesn’t really force players onto a set path, instead allowing them to pick and choose what they want to play, which keeps things nice and loose.
Survival Mode, meanwhile, is where the game’s online shines. There are two sets of weekly challenges to undertake and make a name for yourself. These challenges are separated by Silver and Gold Divisions, with the former being the lighter challenge and the latter being a real back-breaker. Players compete indirectly here, tackling the ghost data of seven others to see who can come out on top. The game will let you take on either division as many times as you want before the week’s winner is declared. And if you’re wondering, “does that become rather addictive, trying to outdo other players and yourself?”, the answer is YES.
Both Survival and Speedrun Modes are highly addicting. When I sat down for the hands-on preview of the game, I had to restrain myself from redoing challenges over and over. There is always a sense of room for improvement, even in the challenges where I got an S ranking, the highest NWC offers. Part of the joy for me also comes from having played these games for decades. Muscle memory kicks in and old routes and habits suddenly become advantages as I try to whittle away seconds at every opportunity. With the final build in my hands, well, let’s just say that I no longer had to be embarassed as I took on the same moment 20 or 30 times in a row.
Party Mode, meanwhile, is arguably the real heart of NWC. Mainly because it’s where you get to see the in-person reactions of your friends and family while playing the game. There’s always a thrill as someone comes close to breaking a high score or nabbing an S ranking, especially when they’re foiled at the last second by a stray Goomba or an overheat in Excitebike. I remember when New Super Mario Bros. Wii was announced and so many journalists mocked that the game only had local co-op, only to find that this was what made NSMBW so fun. The joy of being around other people, cracking jokes and laughing it up while playing NWC, is the sort of Nintendo magic that few other studios can come within sniffing distance of.
Another smaller aspect of NWC that I completely adored was its UI. There are vestiges of Nintendo Power, old school Nintendo Power, baked right into the menu screens. The aesthetic skews very hard to the early days of the magazine and really captures the retro goodness that NWC is comprised of. Players can customize their user profile with various, unlockable sprites from the games, and even adorn themselves with descriptors like “NES Generation,” or “Lost My Save Data.” It’s charming stuff, and again, the sort of thing that really is only possible with a developer like Nintendo whose pedigree is so rich. There are other clever quality of life touches, too, like the ability to increase the size of the player’s field of view to be larger than the others, so it’s easier to see, which I really appreciated.
In terms of complaints, I have two. One is that the game is at its best when played with others. Played alone, there’s only so many times in quick succession that I could sit and try to beat high scores all by myself. It’s addicting at first, and after some time away, but as a daily habit, not so much. The exception being Survival Mode, which is more compelling because of its competitive nature. The other gripe that I have is that once a challenge begins, the objective of a given moment isn’t displayed on-screen. I realize these challenges take place in rapid pacing, but there were times I clicked into a moment and, as it started, couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do. It would be nice if in a future update, Nintendo could make the objective stay somewhere on the screen, or make it an option. This shouldn’t be too hard to implement, either, as there’s plenty of open space around the playing window.
Beyond that, however, I really loved NWC. It’s a bonafide party game staple and easily captures the spirit of the original Nintendo World Championships from back in the day. It’s best played with others, but even alone there’s enough to keep you entertained for a while. Once the initial enjoyment starts to wear off, however, it remains a joy to head into Survival Mode and go for the top ranking. Here’s hoping Nintendo is secretly at work on an SNES followup. In the meanwhile, I strongly recommend adding NWC to your collection.
Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard criteria.
