Nintendo surprised us all with the announcement of Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition back in May 2024. The concept of the game is simple. Players are tasked with taking on various speed run challenges across several NES games and even have the ability to compete on a global level. Whether you’re an older gamer, or just a fan of retro Nintendo titles, is this something that you should have in your Switch library? That’s exactly what we’re going to talk about today. Let’s get into it.
Background
I mentioned this on a previous video, but I will mention it here again. Although the announcement and release of Nintendo World Championships might seem a bit random, it’s not. Starting in Japan in July 2023, Nintendo began running a number of events celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of the Famicom. With that said, the game is the culmination of all things Famicom.
Gameplay & Modes
Nintendo World Championships has over 150 challenges from 13 Nintendo published NES titles. These range in length from a few seconds to several minutes. The idea here is super simple - beat the challenges as quickly as you can. There are a handful of modes that are on offer - Speedrun Mode, World Championships and Survival Mode. Speedrun is the place to be to practice and unlock everything that the game has to offer. Clearing the challenges don’t require perfection. As long as you meet the criteria, you clear the challenge. If you do die, get hit or go the wrong way, the game does have an auto-rewind feature to put you back in a position to get the all-clear.
World Championships offer a series of challenges that change every week. In this mode, fans compete with players from all over the globe to try to reach the top of the rankings. These can be tried as many times as you like while the challenges are open. At the end of the week, players are able to see how their scores stack up against others in a global ranking as well as a birth year ranking. This is a really cool feature and is definitely an incentive to keep coming back to the game every week.
In a similar vein, Survival Mode puts eight players head-to-head against each other in three random challenges. Like Championships, these reset every week, however, they offer two divisions, Silver and Gold. These can be played as much as you like, however medals can only be awarded once per week. Although players are competing against others, this is not done in real time, but rather puts players against Ghost Competitors, or the clear times of others. Nintendo could have opted to make this mode happen in real time, however I think the decision to keep this competitive play as a passive experience was the right move. In this way, even if there aren’t people playing literally at the same time, you can still find a match. These elements for both the World Championship and Survival are a seamless, smart way to tackle online competition.
Local multiplayer is also available with Party Mode. This allows for up to eight players to take on challenges on one system. Challenges can be chosen individually or via some pre-made sets. I found the latter to be the funnest way to experience the game. Although I couldn’t get an eight person game going, I did manage to play two player with a friend (special shout out to Will from Raccoon City Cinema) and then later my wife for some fun play sessions. If you have the means to play with others in the same room, it’s an absolute blast.
I spent the majority of my time playing with my Famicom Joy-Con, but I did play the game quite a bit in handheld mode. For me, both of these felt great. There are two disadvantages to using the Famicom controllers. When playing in handheld mode or via a Pro Controller, you can do a quick reset with a press of both L and R or exit the game with ZL and ZR. Obviously, the Famicom Joy Con lack the additional buttons, so a quick restart isn’t possible. In addition to this, when playing some games that require the Select button with the Famicom II controller, there is no select button. If this is the case, for example when chasing to misses in Metroid, the game will give you a message and let you know what to press.
Outside of the games themselves, there are a variety of collectibles and ways to personalize profiles. There are over 500 player icons that can be “purchased” with in-game coins and a Pin Collection that are unlocked by completing challenges. On top of this, players can edit their profile to include their favorite NES or Famicom games and more.
When it boils down to it, NWC is a game that will likely appeal to an older crowd and/or hardcore Nintendo fans. If you grew up with the NES or Famicom and like the idea of mini-speed runs, you’re going to feel right at home. While the modes and game list are a bit small, players can easily sink ten hours or more unlocking all of the challenges and trying to get better times.
Future Expansion?
With 13 games directly from Nintendo, it would be nice to see more titles added to the game over time, perhaps via some kind of DLC. Obviously, there are tons of possibilities, even with third party titles hitting the game. Setting expectations for this is paramount. IF this were to happen, looking at the existing lineup of games on the Nintendo Switch Online NES/Famicom app would be a good indication of what we COULD see for possible additions. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see things like some of my favorites, such as TMNT 2 or 3, but licensed games like that are probably not going to happen. Maybe we could see Punch-Out!!, Gradius, Xevious, or others join the list. What do you think are some games that could realistically appear on potential DLC? Let us know what you think in the comments, social media or the Discord!
Special Editions
Special Editions of the game were available to pick up all across the globe. While English speaking territories all got mostly the same package, gamers in Japan could get a slightly different set that included Famicom Joy-Con. I covered this previously and you can read (or see) more about that here. Since then, I managed to pick up the North American version of the Special Edition while on a work trip to the US. It would have been great to have the practicality of the NES Joy-Con included in the North American set, but I still think the gold cart is pretty cool.
Visuals, Audio & Performance
Of course, giving fans a way to play various speed-run challenges of old NES games, Nintendo World Championships likely won’t blow many away visually. While playing, the games are presented in separate windows that only take up a fraction of the screen real estate, leaving room for various timers and information about the user. While this is fine, I kind of wish that the presentation of the games themselves were a bit larger. You are able to change this for Survival Mode to some extent. Even so, it’s not really a big deal, just a minor complaint. Outside of this, other elements, such as the trophies and pins, look great and give a nice “collection” feel once you earn them. The music is also top-notch and really brings the product together nicely.
Conclusion
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is an enjoyable game that will appeal to fans of Nintendo’s classic games. The library may be a bit limited, but the weekly Championships and Survival mode may be an incentive to some to keep coming back for weekly plays. If you’re going in to just unlock and clear all of the challenges, you could be done with the game in less than ten hours. If you’re looking to get high ranks or see how you rank against others online, this game might have a bit more staying power.
But let’s turn things over to you. What do you think of Nintendo World Championships? Are you having fun with it? Did you get to try out multiplayer? What is one of your biggest accomplishments in the game so far? Sound off in the comments down below. We’d love to hear from you!
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