| NES Remix | |
|---|---|
 Logo | |
| Genre | Action |
| Developer | Nintendo EAD Tokyo[a] |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Producer | Yoshiaki Koizumi |
| Composer | Toshiyuki Sudo |
| Platforms | Wii U,Nintendo 3DS |
| Original release | |
| First release | NES Remix December 18, 2013 |
| Latest release | Ultimate NES Remix November 7, 2014 |
NES Remix[b] is a compilation video game series developed and published byNintendo for theWii U. The first and eponymous game was simultaneously announced and released on December 18, 2013, on theNintendo eShop following aNintendo Direct presentation. A second game,NES Remix 2,[c] was released on April 25, 2014. A retail edition consisting of both games, titledNES Remix Pack,[d] was released on April 24, 2014, in Japan[1] and December 5 in North America. Another title,Ultimate NES Remix[e] forNintendo 3DS, was released on November 7–8, 2014 in Europe and Australia, December 5 in North America and August 27, 2015, in Japan.[2]
The first game in the series,NES Remix, is composed of 16 vintageNintendo Entertainment System games with a total of 204 challenges throughout; the second game,NES Remix 2, features 12 additional NES games with a further 169 challenges. Mostly composed of vintage excerpts from games, these compilations also present special categories of stages called remixes to additionally concoct unique challenges not possible in the original games. The purchase of bothNES Remix andNES Remix 2 unlocks Championship Mode in the latter, sporting an onlineleaderboards system.
Most challenges are simply excerpts from vintage games, involving timed tasks such asspeedrunning, clearing an area without dying, or defeating a certain number of enemies while utilizing a given power-up.
The remix categories are additionally based on the fundamental reshaping or combination of games, sometimes by blending in more modern graphical features of the Wii U, for a new experience that may even be technologically impossible on the vintageNES. For example: completing a darkened level which is lit only by a spotlight superimposed over the player's character; navigating upon disappearing platforms inSuper Mario Bros.; or playing aDonkey Kong stage asLink instead ofMario, challenged by Link's inability to jump.
NES Remix 2 contains two particularly substantial remixes. Reminiscent of 1990'sNintendo World Championships tour across America, theNintendo World Championships Remix is unlocked ifNES Remix is also purchased and its save file is present. This remix pushes players through three successive challenges inSuper Mario Bros.,Super Mario Bros. 3, andDr. Mario, in order to achieve a ranking score on its new onlineleaderboards.Super Luigi Bros.[f] is aLuigi themed remix of the entireSuper Mario Bros. game which is now played reverse-mirrored from right to left. It features Luigi's higher jumping ability which had not been originally introduced until the 1986 Japanese sequelSuper Mario Bros. 2.
Ultimate NES Remix is a Nintendo 3DS game featuring a select compilation of games and challenges from the first two Wii U releases. It uniquely featuresSpeed Mario Bros.,[g] which is the entirety of the originalSuper Mario Bros. running at a much faster speed.Ultimate NES Remix also has a new mode known asFamicom Remix, which is unlocked by getting all the stars from the original missions. It has all the missions from the original mode, but all the games featured runs on the original Famicom hardware.
Aside fromNintendo World Championships Remix's online leaderboards, a good performance will reward players with stars and points. These accumulate to unlock new challenge stages and collectible stamps. These stamped graphical icons, along withNES Remix 2's support for video recording, can add flair toMiiverse posts.Off-TV Play is supported.[3][4]
| Title | NES/FC release | NES Remix | NES Remix 2 | Ultimate NES Remix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balloon Fight | 1985 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Baseball | 1983 | Yes | No | No |
| Clu Clu Land | 1984 | Yes | No | No |
| Donkey Kong | 1983 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Donkey Kong Jr. | 1983 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Donkey Kong 3 | 1984 | Yes | No | No |
| Dr. Mario | 1990 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Excitebike | 1984 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Golf | 1984 | Yes | No | No |
| Ice Climber | 1985 | Yes | No | No |
| Ice Hockey | 1988 | No | Yes | No |
| Kid Icarus | 1986 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Kirby's Adventure | 1993 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mario Bros. | 1983 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Metroid | 1986 | No | Yes | Yes |
| NES Open Tournament Golf | 1991 | No | Yes | No |
| Pinball | 1984 | Yes | No | No |
| Punch-Out!! | 1987 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Super Mario Bros. | 1985 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels | 1986 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 | 1988 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Super Mario Bros. 3 | 1988 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Tennis | 1984 | Yes | No | No |
| The Legend of Zelda | 1986 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Urban Champion | 1984 | Yes | No | No |
| Wario's Woods | 1994 | No | Yes | No |
| Wrecking Crew | 1985 | Yes | No | No |
| Zelda II: The Adventure of Link | 1987 | No | Yes | Yes |
According to anIGN interview, the game started as a pet project byNintendo EAD Tokyo'sKoichi Hayashida, after having directedSuper Mario 3D Land. With approval from group manager and producer Yoshiaki Koizumi, Hayashida developed the first 100 challenges ofNES Remix by himself. Also co-directingSuper Mario 3D World at the time, Hayashida was later assisted by three additional members of EAD Tokyo. Nintendo additionally hiredIndieszero to help finish the game.[5]
Hayashida stated that he designedNES Remix partly out of desire to play NES games at work; he did not get to play many of these games as a child, and he considered the game an opportunity to make up for lost time. Hayashida was also inspired to break the games up into minigames for similar reasons, because as an adult he did not have as much time as he did as a child, but he still wanted to play later "scenes" in the games.[5]
Hayashida expressed his belief thatNES Remix should be completely authentic to its vintage roots. To this end, the compilation is based entirely on accurate emulation of the NES's hardware and on the original game software. This includes hardwareglitches such as frame rate slowdown when too many characters are on the screen, andsoftware bugs. Hayashida explained that these were intricate parts of the original and directly affect the difficulty and so they were not changed. Hayashida also spoke similarly about the controls; even if they were not considered ideal, he understood that they had been conceived that way for a reason and so they were unaltered forNES Remix.[5]
In an interview with gaming websiteIGN, Hayashida revealed thatNES Remix would have been more difficult to develop for theNintendo 3DS handheld system, adding that the development team required "some more machine power" in order to achieve the desired result at that time. Hayashida also noted that his familiarity with the Wii U architecture, having resulted from his work onSuper Mario 3D World, lent itself well to the early development ofNES Remix.[6] However, a version of the game for the Nintendo 3DS, known asUltimate NES Remix, was eventually announced.[7]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 71/100[8] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 7.5/10[9] |
| Edge | 6/10[10] |
| Eurogamer | 7/10[11] |
| Game Informer | 6.5/10[12] |
| GameRevolution | 3.5/5[13] |
| GameSpot | 6/10[14] |
| GamesTM | 7/10[15] |
| IGN | 8/10[16] |
| Joystiq |    [17] |
| Nintendo Life | [18] Pack: [19] |
| Nintendo World Report | 9/10[20] |
| Official Nintendo Magazine | 74%[21] |
| Polygon | 8/10[22] |
| USgamer | 4.5/5[23] |
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 73/100[24] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 8/10[25] |
| Edge | 7/10[26] |
| Game Informer | 7/10[27] |
| GameRevolution | 4/5[28] |
| GameSpot | 7/10[29] |
| GamesTM | 7/10[30] |
| IGN | 7.7/10[31] |
| Joystiq | [32] |
| Nintendo Life | [33] Pack: [19] |
| Nintendo World Report | 8.5/10[34] |
| Official Nintendo Magazine | 82%[35] |
| Polygon | 8/10[36] |
| Shacknews | 7/10[37] |
| USgamer | 4/5[38] |
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 69/100[39] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| GameSpot | 7/10[40] |
| Nintendo Life | [41] |
| Nintendo World Report | 7.5/10[42] |
| Pocket Gamer | [43] |
IGN ratedNES Remix at 8.0 out of 10.0. While they did find this first compilation enjoyable, they criticized the lack of multiplayer functionality and onlineleaderboards as a "startling oversight", and wished that a greater quantity and quality of titles had been included. They suggested that Nintendo could have more fundamentally altered certain vintage games, such as by improving upon the "frustrating" play control of the vintageIce Climber,Tennis, orClu Clu Land, or by makingPinball more "fun".[16]
IGN's follow-up review forNES Remix 2 is also overall positive, rating it at 7.7 out of 10.0. While noting this sequel's fulfillment of their original request for leaderboards and for a superior selection of games,IGN says about the remix portion of the collection that "better games don't necessarily make for better remixes". They specifically commend Nintendo's "great job of revealing the overlooked, clever design" of the JapaneseSuper Mario Bros. 2, and summarily praise the overall collection by "officially demanding more".[31]GameSpot assigns a 7.0 out of 10.0, callingNES Remix 2 "a delightful experience" with "more than enough content to keep you busy ... for a good while".[29]
On July 18, 2024,Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, which features similar gameplay, was released. It has been described as aspiritual successor toNES Remix.[44]