I was a Nintendo kid growing up. We did own non-Nintendo consoles, but my first experience with video games is with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Many memories of playing the Super Mario Bros. series of games. Also games like Duck Hunt or Excitebike with my siblings. It’s hard to forget the thing that started it all for you when it comes to the things you’re passionate about, and for videos games it was the NES. So when Nintendo announced the NES Classic Edition, I was already on board with what they were selling. 30 NES games packed into a miniature NES, with controllers that resemble the classic NES ones. All that for the price of $59.99, it was a no-brainer that I had to check this thing out.

THE GOOD: The NES Classic Edition is a miniature NES, like literally. On the outside, the system has all the details of the original NES, but at a fraction of the size. Fits in the palm your hand and is very lightweight. Two controller ports in the front in the same location as the original, and even power/reset buttons in the same spots I remembered. There are difference from the original NES, other than its size. The front controller ports are actually the ports found on Wii remotes. The lid also does not open up and is merely there for accuracy. On the back of the device are two ports, one for HDMI and the other for power. It really is a neat and charming looking device that accurately represents the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Included with the NES Classic Edition is the system itself, one NES controller, AC adapter, HDMI and USB cables.

As I mentioned, the ports on the front are Wii remote ones, but the controller that comes with the NES Classic Edition is of the actual NES controller. The iconic rectangle shape shell, with a Dpad, and A, B, Start, Select buttons. It looks and feels like the actual thing. You’re not tied to just the NES controllers either. Thanks to the Wii port, Classic Controllers are compatible with the system. The NES Controllers will also be compatible with your Wii or Wii U devices when connected to a Wii remote, for Virtual Console play.

Power up the system and you’ll be met with a menu that will show you the included 30 NES games laid across the screen. Navigate left or right to your desired game. You can choose to sort the games out in several ways, like by release or recently played. The list isn’t particularly long and navigating through games is fairly quick, so it was hardly a problem when moving from one game to the next.

Games can be displayed in multiple ways on your HDTV. There’s Pixel Perfect, which will display the game with only square pixels and offers the most accurate representation of the game. Then there’s 4:3 if you desire a more wider area, does make things a little blurrier but it’s hardly noticeable unless you’re really looking for it. Lastly, there’s CRT which will fill the screen with scanlines and make things even more blurry and colors washed. If you really want to go back to the olden days, then the CRT will definitely give shades of nostalgia when playing NES games on an old CRT television. It’s a pretty neat filter. For my preference though, I stuck with Pixel Perfect. It really makes these old games look great in HD. The colors are better presented and everything is just more sharper. If you’ve felt displeased with Virtual Console on the Wii U or other Nintendo systems, the picture provided by the NES Classic Edition is the best offering by Nintendo yet.

Another nice modernization mechanic brought in to accompany these classic titles are save states. By pressing the RESET button on the system, you’ll pop out of your current game and into the NES Classic’s menu. From there, you simply push down on the Dpad and you’ll be able to save your current state of the game to one of four slots. These four slots are available on every game, giving you a good amount of slots to do with as you please for each title.

Then there’s the games themselves, in which there are 30 in total. Offering big Nintendo hits like the original Super Mario Bros. along with SMB 2 and 3. Other Nintendo classics like Excitebike, The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II, and also Metroid. Even third-party games like Final Fantasy, Mega Man 2, Castlevania, and Tecmo Bowl. It’s a nice varied list that is sure to have something that long time fans will have memories of, and also help introduce games they might’ve never played before. It was certainly that way for me. Lots of memories of the Super Mario Bros. games, but never touched Castlevania or Mega Man. So this was a great excuse to getting around to checking them out for the first time. Also, to mention again, this is priced at $59.99. That’s 30 NES games for $2 each, which is actually cheaper than getting them from the Virtual Console on Wii U at $4.99 each.

Below is a list of the 30 games in the NES Classic Edition.

• 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™

THE BAD: As with any game list, especially one that was made to represent a list of classic NES titles, there will be questionable inclusions and omissions. For instance, including Double Dragon II over the original Double Dragon. This also goes for Super C over Contra. Then there are the odd inclusions of arcade ports like Pac-Man and Galaga. They’re not exactly games I normally associate with the NES, though they are still great games. Then there’s the games that didn’t make it that will have fans disappointed, like not having River City Ransom or Bionic Commando, maybe even Metal Gear. It comes with the territory. Disappointed or not though, the list of 30 games that did make the cut are still an impressive lineup.

This is a minor issue, but I was disappointed to see that game manuals aren’t actually on the system. There’s a manual option present, but it just gives you a QR code and a URL that points you to where the actual game manuals are. The site itself is actually good though. Offering high-res scans of the original manuals. So if you’re looking to scratch that nostalgia itch just a bit more, looking at the game manuals is sure to help. It’s just unfortunate that they were not included on the system itself.

Possibly the biggest knock against the NES Classic Edition is the length of the controller cord. It is very short at only 30 inches long, which is much shorter than what the original was. This means you can’t get too far away from the system, unless you have longer USB and HDMI cables nearby. There is also the option for third party cord extensions. That would mean extra costs though for what you get out of the box. The problem could’ve easily been fixed if Nintendo opted for a longer cable. This is a miniature representation of the original NES, but they could’ve at least kept in mind how far away folks normally sit from their HDTVs when playing games. Maybe even the possibility of syncing a Wii remote to the system, so you could have a option for wireless play.

Another reason for the short cord could possibly be with keeping the distance needed to travel to the system’s RESET button rather tiny. The RESET button will actually see a lot of use when using the system. It not only will need to pushed if you wish to change games, it’s also used to do save states. Since there’s no form of a RESET button on the NES controller, you have to get up close to the system when you want to perform these actions. With 30 games present, the system is designed to have users switch from one game to the next, so it can be inconvenient for those who do invest in things that have them sit farther away from the system. Fortunately, when using a Classic Controller, the Home button functions like the RESET button.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: The NES Classic Edition is just as advertised. It offers up 30 NES classics in a small form factor and allows you to play them on your HDTV at the cost of $59.99. It’s made to look like a classic system, but some modernized designs have been put in place, like multiple ways to display games and the ability to save anywhere. The visuals of these classic games actually look much better than their Virtual Console counterparts too. Unfortunately, there were other things that were not modernized and could cause inconveniences. Like not having a RESET button on the controller in some form, so that players don’t have to always get up to the system in order to access its advance features or to switch games. The NES controller cord is also too short and will require extra costs in third party accessories to work around. Nintendo set out to re-create something that was true to the original, and they have accomplished that. Though it may have caused a couple negatives in some parts. Those issues aside though, the NES Classic Edition is a great item that is sure to bring in a lot of nostalgia with longtime gamers and also introduce a new generation of gamers to a classic library of titles. Otaku Dome gives the NES Class Edition an 85 out of 100.