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    NES Remix

    Game » consists of 3 releases. Released Dec 18, 2013

    8-bit NES classic games with new twists and challenges.

    mento's NES Remix (Wii U) review

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    Blasts from the past framed with a novel delivery system

    NES Remix initially seems like a bizarre concept; a WarioWare-inspired history lesson through Nintendo's early console history. When examined closer, however, it becomes apparent that this is a game meant to homage a lot of NES classics through a retro-gaming conceit that has existed previously with the developers' Retro Game Challenge franchise, based on a popular Japanese TV show where a comedian plays through old Famicom games to varying levels of success. NES Remix tests players in a similar way by presenting little self-contained challenges using each of the sixteen featured games' presentations and mechanics, and finds a balance between revisiting the familiar tricks and techniques of those games with presenting something entirely new and unrecognizable via the game's "remix stages". In that regard, it provides something new for fans of those older games to sink their teeth into, and to a new generation of players a guided tour through some significant Nintendo games in perhaps the best "hands-on" exhibition imaginable.

    The Nintendo games featured include bona fide industry changers like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, fun but basic fare like Excitebike, Donkey Kong, Wrecking Crew and Pinball and a lot of games that may have aged a little too much over the years, like the NES's rudimentary Golf and Tennis, or oddball experiments like Clu Clu Land and Ice Climber. Many of these games were part of a "Classic NES Series" for the Game Boy Advance in recent memory, and seem to be the same ones Nintendo picks for any product that focuses on their inaugural home console. It seems like a very small sample of what the NES had to offer, especially in the NES's later years when its library escaped the system's originally Arcade-derived roots and presented ever more complex and layered experiences for its owners to enjoy. Still, there's no telling how much more challenging highlighting such games would've been with these smaller, self-contained challenges, and the games they include have plenty going on from which to draw some great ideas.

    Take, for instance, the original The Legend of Zelda. I was someone who never played the original back when it hit the zeitgeist in the late-80s. I have become familiar with it in the intervening years, of course, but I've never felt I was truly in the moment as far as discovering its unique personality and clever tricks; I'd already played sequels in the series and Link to the Past and Link's Awakening are known especially for building on the original game's template. The way NES Remix frames its Zelda challenges, however, demonstrate adroitly the game's sensibilities, many of its notable mechanics and some of its trickier challenges all while skipping something like 90% of the game's content. You learn about secret entrances, farming for rupees and health, using bombs effectively, getting through rooms of enemies without losing health, the trick to reaching the mountain dungeon and fighting several bosses in these small, seconds-long challenges, many of which rely on the player's skill and intuition (or memories of playing the original) to figure out. Conversely, the Zelda remix challenges might place Link in that iconic first Donkey Kong stage, forcing him to make that climb up the slanted girders without the ability to jump in a fresh perspective on that particular game.

    Though largely lacking in the sort of side-content that made modern Super Smash Bros. games feel like a celebration of the games and developers involved, NES Remix does include a stamp collection that unlocks gradually as the player earns points completing challenges, and each stage has between one to three stars to earn depending on how fast the player completed it, which lends a certain amount of replayability until the player is able to nail the challenges quickly enough. There's even a "triple rainbow star" tier to reach for the truly celeritous. However, with only sixteen games featured, NES Remix seems a lot shorter than it could be. Nintendo produced a hell of a lot of first-party games during the NES's lifetime and there's a lot of conspicuous absentees like Metroid, Kid Icarus or Super Mario Bros. 3. It seems many of the games featured have been sitting on various Virtual Console stores for years, and were probably leased out to the developer in order to raise their profile a bit. Still, even with a few stages elucidating on the quirks of Ice Climber or Urban Champion, I doubt anyone will be chomping at the bit to purchase them off Nintendo's online store. Likewise, it's a bit of a shame that none of the full versions of these games are included, given the $15/£9 asking price: the cost is fair for the amount of content offered but still a bit high compared to other digital distribution pricing ranges, but then Nintendo's always been adamant about how much they perceive their classic games to be worth.

    NES Remix is quite well-stocked with challenges, even though a few seem to repeat themselves and others are so ludicrously challenging to make one wonder what the designer was thinking - the game's hardest challenge is to collect all 44 of Super Mario Bros.' Super Mushrooms, most of which are guarded by enemies or in deliberately tough-to-reach places, with a scant six lives. With the Wii U's ubiquitous Miiverse features, you might get a hint about a particularly tough challenge, but it's more likely you'll see a few goofy jokes using the various unlockable stencils than anything useful. Importantly, the game serves as a CliffsNotes introduction to an era of gaming many of its players might not have been alive to see, really digging deep into how each game ticks. It also packs in plenty of outlandish scenarios to appease veterans that are already familiar with the games featured, should nostalgia alone be insufficient for them. It's a solid little package altogether and the sort of strange little experiment Nintendo should be commended for trying. It's certainly a better way of getting their vintage games out there than sticking NES Golf on VC for $5 and expecting anyone to care. I'm hoping it does well enough for a greatly expanded sequel, perhaps one that even tinkers with what the Super Nintendo has to offer.

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