Nintendo NES Classic Edition review: A box of nostalgia
It has not been an easy couple of years for Nintendo. One moment, they're raking in the dough as the world gleefully swings controllers and virtual tennis balls with the Wii; the next, they're making excuses for a pseudo-connected tablet to a console with the Wii U.
But gamers stick with the company - obsess over it, even - because Nintendo is part of our DNA. And most of its classics dating back to its very first home console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES.
Playing those classic games is easier said than done these days. You can try hooking up an old NES, but you'll need a fair bit of luck that everything is working as it should. Sure, you can download emulated games for various systems, but that gets pricey, and just does not feel right.
The Classic NES Edition, however, does. Available for $ 60, the Classic Edition is a pint-sized, plug-and-play replica of the old-school NES that delivers picture-perfect 30 NES games. Revolutionary? No. Totally awesome ! Yes, sir.
Of course, the Classic NES Edition is not an exact clone of its ancestor. Nintendo added a few modern-day tiny tweaks to the system, including an HDMI out that lets you quickly connect the Classic Edition to your TV via HDMI cable. That's a big step up
from the crummy component cables packed with similar plug-and-play units.
A USB connector and AC adapter power the Classic NES Edition, though you can plug it into any powered USB port, such as the one on a laptop, console, or newish TV. Two controller ports on the front let you connect a slightly smaller, wired version of the original NES gamepad (only one comes with the system). But these ports are proprietary, so do not think about using your old NES controllers.
For that matter, do not think about adding new games or digging through your garage for your old carts. That's because the cartridge cover is sealed shut since the games themselves are stored on the system's internal memory. To get them working, you simply press the power button and boom, 30 NES games appear on the screen, waiting for you to play.
The Classic NES Edition comes with 30 games.
Other companies have released these sorts of plug-and-play systems before, but they're typically low-quality devices. I bought one of those janky Atari plug-and-play units on impulse while waiting in the checkout line at a Bed, Bath and Beyond, and it's terrible. Most plug-and-play systems are a frustrating waste of money slapped together by third-party manufacturers who do not care much for good or sturdy hardware emulation.
The Classic Edition, however, is a high-quality Nintendo jam through and through, and it shows. The game lineup is tremendous: the first two "Legend of Zeldas," "Punch Out !!," all three NES "Super Mario Bros.," two "Castlevanias," "Mega Man 2," "Metroid," "Kid Icarus "even overlooked gems like" Gradius "and" StarTropics "are here. It's a smart enough library that delivers epic NES games that you'll easily forgive the fact that "River City Ransom" and "Metal Gear" were somehow overlooked.
Best of all, the games run flawlessly. Three screen options are available: an old-school CRT emulation, standard 4: 3, and a "perfect pixel" mode that puts big chunky black bars on the sides of the screen in order to turn each pixel into a perfect square. While I appreciate the Scan-lined CRT option, it's pretty ugly intentionally. The other two are much more user-friendly.
Nintendo drives home the nostalgia factor by including digital versions of the original game manuals , maps and all. I have vivid memories of ogling the "Legend of Zelda" map in junior high and doing it again sent me right back. The ability to save any game at any point using four different save slots is also great. Considering how hard some of these games are - I'm staring at you, "Ghosts'n Goblins," you jerk naked - it's a real treat.
But where the software experience is largely terrific, the Classic NES Edition is constrained by a few baffling hardware decisions. For instance, saving your game requires backing out to the Home screen, but you can not do that with your gamepad. You'll need to press the little 'Reset' button on the unit itself, which is incredibly unintuitive. And while that might sound like a pain since you'll have to get your off the couch to do it, you probably will not be sitting on your sofa to begin with thanks to the Classic Edition's exceptionally short cords.
The included HDMI and power cables, for example, are far from lengthy, which would not be a huge problem were the gamepad cord longer than just 2.5 feet. That's several feet shorter than the original NES controller's cord. Put this all together and you wind up with a system that requires you to sit or stand annoyingly close to your TV. That was fine back in the day when we played games on sepia-toned 27-inch CRT screens, but sitting on the carpet three feet from a 50-inch HDTV kind of sucks.
Presumably to keep costs down, the Classic Edition does not include internal Bluetooth support and Nintendo does not sell its own wireless gamepad; the only way to untethered is to buy a third-party wireless gamepad made specifically for the Classic Edition ( Nyko sells one for $ 20 ). You can alternately drop some coin to extend the cord length (again, Nyko to the rescue ) or grab a longer HDMI cable, but now we're talking about wires draped across your living room like we're back in the 1980's.
The thing is, the Classic Edition is so good and the emulation so impressive that you'll probably make do. The store is adorable, the game library is great and little touches like game-agnostic digital manuals suspended points and bring the experience up to date. If you can overlook the tiny cables, your inner child (and maybe your real ones) will be thrilled to play with this sort of power.
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