VIDEOS: NES Classic Edition New Details
Yesterday Nintendo of Japan released a new video debuting the mini Famicom and all of the games it comes with. Today, both the European and North American branches of Nintendo also released new trailers that show off some of the features of the NES Classic Edition that will be hitting stores on November 11. If you recall, the device is an all-in-one unit that contains 30 built-in games, one NES controller, and an HDMI cable to hook it up to flatscreen TVs. The games that come bundled in both the European and U.S. versions include:
- Balloon Fight™
- BUBBLE BOBBLE
- Castlevania™
- Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest™
- Donkey Kong™
- Donkey Kong Jr. ™
- DOUBLE DRAGON II: THE REVENGE
- Dr. Mario™
- Excitebike™
- FINAL FANTASY®
- Galaga™
- GHOSTS’N GOBLINS®
- GRADIUS™
- Ice Climber™
- Kid Icarus™
- Kirby’s Adventure™
- Mario Bros. ™
- MEGA MAN® 2
- Metroid™
- NINJA GAIDEN
- PAC-MAN™
- Punch-Out!! ™ Featuring Mr. Dream
- StarTropics™
- SUPER C™
- Super Mario Bros.™
- Super Mario Bros. ™ 2
- Super Mario Bros. ™ 3
- TECMO BOWL
- The Legend of Zelda™
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link™
In addition this little piece of hardware has some tricks up its sleeve. First up, each of the 30 games has four suspend states. It’s super easy to suspend any game you’re playing. All you have to do is press the RESET button on the NES and it will take a screen grab and you can place it in save slot 1, 2, 3, or 4. This should make tackling some of those really difficult games (Ninja Gaiden, Ghosts’n Goblins, and Castlevania – I’m looking at you) much more manageable. Plus, if you’re like me and enjoy playing through every single world of Super Mario Bros. 3, it will be nice to be able to take a break from the action and pick up right where I left off. Most of the NES games on this list didn’t originally have a battery back-up save feature, but both Zelda games did. Because of this, if you continue from a saved suspend point, your in-game save data will be overwritten.
There are multiple ways for you to display the game on your TV. You can select 4:3 mode, which will have the black borders on both the left and right sides of the television. You can also apply a CRT Filter to give the game scanlines, similar to what players were used to seeing back in the ’80s and ’90s. There’s also a perfect pixel mode that gives the game extra sharpness and slightly changes the dimensions of some of the sprites.
Hopefully, with all of this new information coming out, this signals that retailers are ready to place preorders. In Europe it appears that many of them already have, but in the United States for whatever reason most haven’t. Target briefly took some back in the summer, but the major gaming outlets like GameStop, Amazon, and Best Buy haven’t kicked off any sort of reservation programs as of yet. I’m hoping this will change in the coming week so hardcore gamers can secure one for the holidays. This thing could potentially be huge and that could lead to major sellout conditions for Christmas. If Nintendo plays its cards right and can mass produce enough of these, it could have a major hit on its hands. It could use something to fill the void that the Wii U has left.
The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition console, anticipated to be one of the hottest gifts this holiday season, launches on Nov. 11 at a suggested retail price of only $59.99. The system includes 30 classic NES games like Super Mario Bros. 3, Metroid and The Legend of Zelda, plus a replica of the original NES controller that can also be used with NES Virtual Console games on the Wii or Wii U systems. And the games look sharper than ever using the included HDMI cable.
Maybe you’ve heard some of that before, but did you also know the system can be played in three different display modes? Or that games can be saved at any time using Suspend Points? Or how about the fact that all of the games’ original manuals can be viewed by scanning an on-screen QR Code with a smart device? Well, now you know! As the 1980s would say: “Tubular!”
“Be the cool dad, mom, aunt, uncle or best friend by gifting someone this holiday season with the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “This perfectly sized stocking stuffer could produce the same level of excitement that people felt over 30 years ago when they received the original NES as kids.”
Whether you have fond NES memories or want to introduce yourself and your kids to the video games that made Nintendo a household name, you’ll love the compact and attractive console. The hub of the NES Classic Edition is the HOME Menu, which can be used to access all 30 of the classic NES games. From here, you can adjust various settings or just dive into a game and start playing. To help locate games quickly and easily, you can press the Select button to sort by title, two-player games, recently played games, number of times played, release date and publisher.
To make sure every Goomba stomp looks as authentic as possible, all games can be played in three display modes. With the CRT filter, a scan-line effect is added to the screen to give everything that oh-so-retro look and feel. 4:3 is a sharp, clean look that adheres to the original aspect ratio used by the NES. And when playing in Pixel Perfect mode, every pixel is shown as a perfect square, providing the most accurate representation of the games as they were originally designed.
Retro gaming is defined in part by the search for save spots and the need to enter long passwords, but in practice, those tasks can definitely be a little … um … time consuming. While all aspects of the original 30 NES games are intact, Suspend Points have been added to streamline the experience of playing them. At any point during gameplay, simply press the console’s Reset button to return to the HOME Menu and save a Suspend Point that will let you pick up right where you left off. Up to four Suspend Points can be saved per game, so you can track the progress of multiple players or file away your favorite moments. This is great news for parents, as their kids won’t be able to use the “I’ll be there when I get to the next save point!” excuse any more when dinner is ready.
In a nice touch of physical meets digital, each of the game’s original manuals can be viewed online, opening a window to the glory days of unboxing an NES game and leafing through its beautifully illustrated booklet. All you have to do now is scan a QR Code from the HOME Menu to pull up the entire manual on your smart device or access the provided website to view the manual in all its nostalgic glory on your computer.
Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition is a little more than a month away! To learn more about the system while you wait for it to launch on Nov. 11 (and to view the list of all 30 playable NES games), visit http://www.nintendo.com/nes-classic.
Below are the previous videos that have been released. Only watch them if you really want to go into nostalgia overload.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
