Ultimate NES Remix (3DS) - Review

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It’s hard to review a game which is essentially a collection of games most people already know and love. Nintendo's back catalogue of titles will forever be heralded as the pinnacle of their respective generations of gaming, boasting some of the most iconic characters and tightest game design to ever grace the Earth. In a way it makes sense for Nintendo to re-release this content, so as to ensure everyone can experience these classics anew. Ultimate NES Remix for the Nintendo 3DS takes a handful of Nintendo’s classic titles, combines them all together into one neat package, and adds a series of twists and challenges to make old classics feel like new experiences all over again. 

Ultimate NES Remix gives you 16 NES classics to play little chunks of - not the best value package in the world considering the age of the games in question, but nonetheless a nice variety of titles. Each game has a set of challenges that must be completed as quickly as possible, with your time taken to complete these challenges being rewarded in the form of stars, as well as being posted to a worldwide leaderboard. These challenges range from jumping over 3 barrels at once in Donkey Kong, to surviving an entire lap on Excitebike without crashing. Each challenge is small, but definitive, resulting in a fail state if you deviate at all from what is required. 

It’s charmingly original idea for a compilation package and, although it’s not going to be for everyone, it certainly appealed to the achievement-hunting part of my brain and provided a refreshing new spin on otherwise tried and tested games. Having to play Super Mario backwards as quickly as possible without getting hit, for example, soon shows how hard it can be to adjust your play style when playing retro gems in a new and original way. 

Leaderboards also help to keep you coming back for more, with each individual challenge having its own worldwide leaderboard. More importantly you can also view your Nintendo friends' scores, as well as view replays for any time that you see on the leaderboard list, thanks to the game recording all of your attempts and saving your best time. If you have a competitive streak in you then this offers an easy method for picking up good tactics and improving upon your own times. The one black mark against the game's online functionality is its relative - there are only leaderboards and replays, and not attempt has been made to introduce online multiplayer functionality where it would be appropriate.

Along with the standard Remix Mode, which allows you to play through the aforementioned varied challenges, Nintendo have added Speed Super Mario Bros., which allows you to play through the original NES title as quickly as possible, with the game speed having been doubled. Also included is a Championship Mode, which allows you to play much harder challenges in a competition with other players to find out who’s truly the best at these classic titles. You can die as many times as you like in this mode, but considering it’s all about the amount of time you take to complete the challenges given to you, it’s obviously best not to die at all. 

One major gripe that can be levelled at Ultimate NES Remix is the inability to play the entirety of any of the games included in the package from beginning to end, as they originally existed. It’s all fine and good playing through small sections of these games and completing custom challenges, but I would have liked the ability to play each one in its entirety; this would have made it the truly 'ultimate' collection of NES hits. 

Featuring snippets from 16 different NES games, and a myriad of different challenges, Ultimate NES Remix for Nintendo 3DS is sure to entertain long-time Nintendo fans, breathing fresh air into retro classics that they have likely played to death. Whilst the online features leave something to be desired, and the lack of complete games is a huge misstep, Ultimate NES Remix nonetheless offers up a fantastically addictive experience.

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