NES Classic, At Last

It took me an insane four and a half months to track one down, but I finally got my NES Classic Edition earlier this week. I posted about the NES Classic when it was first announced last July, but now I own one for myself.

I knew the NES Classic was going to be small, but it didn’t fully sink in how small it is until I saw it first-hand. For comparison, here’s the NES Classic next to my New Nintendo 3DS XL.

THE GOOD

I really like the game library overall, and it really helps that it includes third-party games. The 30 games provide a good variety of genres and include many of the system’s best games.

I also like that there are different ways to sort the game list. Sort them alphabetically, by publisher, by two-player games, by recently played, by the number of times played, or by release date.

You can also save your progress with “suspend points,” and you can keep up to four suspend points per game. Very helpful.

And of course, I also like the HDMI cable. You get a much better quality picture than composite video or RF. My top-loader NES only has the RF connections, so the quality isn’t very good. That’s also a reason I haven’t made many NES game videos on my Youtube channel. You can expect videos of some of these games in the future.

THE BAD

The controller cord is too short. WAY too short. Only 2.5 feet (76cm) long. So you’ll need to be sitting very close to the system. Also, you can’t change games by using the controller alone; you have to press the reset button on the system itself. Well at least it won’t be more than a couple feet away, I suppose. 😛

And while the menu has a tab for manuals, that tab only provides a QR code. You’ll need to scan that QR code with a smartphone or tablet to view the manuals. Why aren’t they built in, as they are in Virtual Console versions? Nintendo keeps making it more and more difficult to access game instructions.

The Games

The NES Classic has 30 games built-in, and while I haven’t played them all in depth yet, I have at least sampled each one. There are many that I’m already quite familiar with, and some others that are new to me. I’ll talk about them in groups, based on my previous experiences with each game. You can also view my page of NES Reviews for my thoughts on the games I’ve already played on the original hardware.

2-Player Favorites

Dr. Mario, Super C, Double Dragon II: The Revenge, and Tecmo Bowl have long been among my favorite two-player games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. While I do already own these four games in one form or another, the NES Classic provides an easy way to take it all with me without having to lug around a bunch of cartridges. And fortunately, the second player can use a Wii Classic Controller or Classic Controller Pro.

Single Player Great-NES

The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. 1-3, Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, Mega Man 2, Metroid, Kirby’s Adventure, Excitebike, and StarTropics are enjoyable NES games I’ve played in the past. But a few of these, particularly The Legend of Zelda and Ninja Gaiden, are games I haven’t owned in years. So it’s good to have them back in my collection.

Nintend-ordinary

Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros., Balloon Fight, and Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest are games that I’ve played before, but aren’t really anything special to me. Galaga and Pac-Man also fit into this category, even though I haven’t played them on NES before–just on other platforms. They’re decent games, but they’re not as great as the games mentioned above.

Know the Series, But Not the Game

Final Fantasy, Gradius, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link are games that I haven’t played before, but they’re from series that I am familiar with. These should be good games to delve into.

Mostly New to Me

Ice Climber, Kid Icarus, Punch-Out!!, and Bubble Bobble are mostly new to me. Why mostly? Because three of the four (all but Bubble Bobble) were featured in NES Remix Pack on Wii U. The full games weren’t included of course, just very brief challenges from those games.

Overall Thoughts

I’m really happy with the NES Classic so far. I will probably end up buying an extension cable for the controller, though. I’m enjoying playing some of these old games once again, and the system itself is just a cool collectible that I’m happy to add to my collection.

I particularly have an urge to (fully) re-play Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and the original Legend of Zelda. It’s been a very long time since I’ve completed those games, and I’m looking forward to enjoying them once again. I will likely talk about them in a future blog entry, although at the moment, I want to get back into Breath of the Wild soon.

If classic games (and the NES in particular) appeal to you, I think you’ll be pleased with the NES Classic Edition. If you’re able to find one, that is. Good luck and happy hunting!