Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (Nintendo Switch) Review

At its core Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is just that. A selection of pocket-sized challenges from classic NES games to try to overcome. It could be as simple as getting that first mushroom in Super Mario Bros. or perhaps defeating a handful of octorok in the original Legend of Zelda. With a little bit of careful pacing, most can be handheld with relative ease.

But completion is not the draw here. The main appeal is speed. The faster those baddies are vanquished, the faster the items collected, the better the ranking. First it might be a comfortable "B" or perhaps even an "A" for a job well done. Great, work, player! There's a sense of quick and cheerful accomplishment. But after a few repeats and experiments to shave a fraction of a second, the coveted "S" rank emerges.

That's where the bigger appeal creeps in. Earlier challenges are basic on paper, but incredibly fiddly to master and earn the highest speed-running plaudits. It becomes an itch to try to find the optimum way to improve and better yourself after each run. It is oddly satisfying to keep replaying these over and over to improve the score. Even something as low as a tenth of a second can make all the difference.

To help, each trial or stage comes with a guide video from those gameplay gurus at Nintendo to try and highlight a route to take. But the joy really comes in trying to discover little shortcuts to improve those times. Earlier challenges are short enough to encourage replay value, only really taking five to ten seconds to devour, satisfying that speedrun itch.

The later stages, however, are more of a trial - involving infuriatingly hard, yet rewarding, set pieces from those 80s gaming staples. Its almost as if Nintendo were training players from the start. It's these levels that have that classic Nintendo World Championships feel to them. Each jump, each swipe of the sword, every arrow fired being absolutely pivotal to a successful fun.

There's something timeless about NES games. Throughout the years Nintendo has shown consistency in their beloved franchises (well, some more than others). Genre defining, genre breaking experiences that keep these ageing franchises still very much in the spotlight.

The NES selection of games is ideal for Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition due to their simpler controls. Two buttons and a D-Pad. There's no need to fiddle about with shoulder buttons and thumb-twisting combos - learn the route, give it a go, repeat. The games on offer span 13 of the NES hits. From the iconic Mario and Zelda fare to classics like Donkey Kong, Excitebike, Ice Climber and Kirby's Adventure. Even the elusive Kid Icarus makes a welcome appearance. Admittedly some of these games are slightly more enjoyable than others, but there is something for everyone's different play styles and pace. With over 150 challenges to conquer, there's quite a fair bit amount to master!

Beyond the core content and goal to climb up those personal rankings, there are a handful of collectables to celebrate those achievements. All welcome for a game that thrives on nostalgia. It is a shame, however, that there hasn't been much done to enhance the classic NES experience. Instead of the crisp resolution of games found on the Nintendo Switch Online apps, these are - perhaps purposefully - presented in a small crop with a standard-definition blur.

More options to customise the look could have been a simple addition, likewise button mapping - especially for games like Super Mario Bros. would have made the experience a little bit more refined.

In some ways the game feels like a slight step back from the likes of NES Remix as the challenges, for the most part, follow the original games they draw from. Additional remix stages and reworked ideas could have really helped flesh out the Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition experience, especially for games that have a lot less stages.

After the challenges have been well practiced, it's time for the true test: the online Survival Mode. There is an opportunity to put those skills to good use by playing against other players in a set of elimination challenges. It's not quite a live affair, but instead features "ghost" or replay data from their existing runs. Despite it being against replay data, there is surprisingly still that sense of urgency and the thrill of trying to make it to the finals.

For those who do prefer the more human touch, there is a local mode, too - helpful for getting quick rounds in with friends and introducing newcomers to the world of speedrunning.