One thing that always strikes me as funny is looking at how old school games are viewed today. Back then, playing a game like Castlevania or Zelda and so on were par for the course, today they’re treated as trials and extreme challenges for younger gamers to see how crazy things were back in the day.
With Nes Ultimate Remix, we have a game that shows bits (no pun intended) of Nintendo history with a little something for young and old gamers.
Micro-tendo:
Nes Ultimate Remix is all about looking at the history of classic Nintendo Nes titles. At the start, you’ll have a few classic games unlocked like Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. Each game has a set of challenges that are micro versions of playing the full game: Such as collecting 10 coins in Super Mario or picking up an item in Zelda. Some challenges are about playing a series of sections in a row and gives off a Wario microgame kind of feel.
Beat a challenge and you’ll be rewarded with stars which act as the game’s progression model. Getting enough stars will unlock new games and challenges for you to attempt. The stars are tied to how fast you complete the challenge with some challenges are made up of multiple segments. While the gameplay is the same as it was back during the Nes era, these challenges are streamlined around the single action or requirement of each section so it’s not like you can play through the entire game.
What’s great about these classic challenges is that each game is presented almost like a “who’s who” snapshot of important moments from that game. Mario starts off with simply playing through the now famous world 1-1 and the final challenges are about fighting Bowser. Many challenges are about hidden secrets or memorable moments from these series and it’s great to see these again as someone who played them as a kid and for someone new to get a piece of history.
There’s plenty of variety thanks to the selection of Nes titles that are all recreated down to their soundtracks and controls. But there is more to Nes Ultimate Remix and what it does provide something new for older gamers.
Flip the Script:
The “Remix” in the title belongs to the other types of challenges in the game and where the developers were able to do something different. Remix challenges are taken from the first two Nes Remix games that were available on the Wii-U. These challenges feature brand new situations based on the classic games either with having some new element or combining series.
This is where Nes Ultimate Remix truly shines as the remix situations are the highpoints for the game for older gamers thanks to the randomness of what’s there. One challenge turns Super Mario Bros into a speed runner, another forces you to take on Donkey Kong as Link and a lot more. Everything is kept to the 8 bit style and being an older gamer, it’s a hoot to see these classic games altered in such a manner.
Classic moments from Nintendo’s past is part of the charm of the game.
Besides the remix challenges, you can also play Super Mario Bros sped up to ludicrous speed and a championship mode where you’ll play challenges for an online ranking.
Overall Nes Ultimate Remix is a great slice of classic Nintendo games but I do wish that there was more history here.
History Lesson:
My main problem with the game is that despite honoring some of the best games from Nintendo during the Nes era that there isn’t any information about these games — No manuals, promotional materials, factoids, etc. That would have been a great icing on the cake to learn more about these classic games and situations especially for titles like Punch Out and Kid Icarus that I never played growing up. If the remix series are meant to appeal to old and new gamers, having this kind of information would have been great to educate them about these classic titles.
This also presents the problem of the game not really explaining how to play the titles and leaves out advance information. For instance, no where does it mention that you can fly as Kirby and some challenges are a bit obtuse. For instance, pulling off the Mario bros one shell 1-up trick, I could never do that growing up and I still can’t do it here and there are no tips or hints about how it’s supposed to work.
I still can’t do this trick even today and there aren’t really any instructions in game to help.
Another random issue is that some challenges rely on the randomness of the game and it can be frustrating to miss out on a perfect score due to nothing that was in your control.
And I noticed some technical issues like stuttering during certain events which I wonder if it had to with how the game files were altered to run the remix versions.
Journey Down Memory Lane:
Despite those issues, Nes Ultimate Remix is a great trip through some of Nintendo’s classic lineup and it’s a great way for old and new gamers to appreciate some of the most memorable moments from these titles without needing a NES and dealing with some of the more obtuse moments of classic games.
I do hope that Nintendo takes a page from the Sega collection series from a few years ago that featured reference materials, interviews and more to flesh out these games and become a handy source of information about Nintendo and their classic titles.
