I have no idea where my hands are.
When I had first heard the news of the NES Mini coming out, My inner child leaped free from my body, shattering several of my ribs and causing a great amount of hemorrhaging as well as eating all available candy and cookies throughout the house...
Okay, not really, but I was pretty excited to hear that they were bringing the old system back.
I had imagined they were going to redo the NES like it used to be, the old cartridges that needed a good puff of air every once in a while, the simple 8 bit graphics and getting games that you didn't know were good or not until it was too late (We have the internet now, so that point is kinda null.)
But I wondered how they were going to do this. Would they cram 15 like games per cartridge? Would they make new games?
HOW AWESOME WILL THIS BE?!
When I learned that it was a plug and play system with 30 pre-set games, I had gone from a "GADZOOKS I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THEY'RE BRINGING IT BACK" to "Oh wait, never mind."
My small remaining interest with the system faded out with the scalping situation that's been going on with Wal-mart and Amazon.
At the time of writing this article, Amazon had them at $195 and walmart had them at $997.72
If you get it from Amazon, that means the games are approximately 6.50 each (Not too bad) But from walmart, they're 33.25 (This price is actually closer to what they were when the NES came out so long ago.)
This leaves the other problem, are the games actually worth 6.50 each?
We'll get to that later.
But enough with the technicalities. This system reeks of trying to make a quick buck and get up the hopes of gamers that want a sense of nostalgia to share with their kids that didn't grow up with that feeling.
For the sake of this rant, I've decided to think up questions a younger version of myself would ask in regards to my adult self. That font will be in blue.
"But CC! This kind of thing isn't for you! You don't even have kids! Think of the people that do! They can share the memories the game system gave them!"
Okay, sure. Maybe. I do see it from a different point of view.
These games have all been released for the Wii at right around 2.99 a piece. Not only that, a lot of the games have been ported and reported by way of NES classics for Game boy advance, E-reader cards (Again, for game boy advance)
Nintendo seems to think that if they port the same games over and over again we'll keep buying them. And maybe we do but I haven't and I don't know may that have.
And for me, it's not all about the games on the system, it's the experience of the system itself.
Let's talk about the original NES for a bit.
The NES I had was from 1987 and had let's just say... Issues.
I grew up in coastal Virginia where the temperature occasionally hit the low hundreds and the humidity made everything steamy and muggy. When it did that, My sister and I had to stay indoors so we played games. That would cause the system to overheat. and get moisture inside. I didn't think it could but it did.
My NES suffered some damage a few years later during a bad lightning storm, yet it still worked. It had the occasional problem, some pretty neat glitches, but it still worked.
"That doesn't sound fun at all. Wouldn't you want a system that works perfectly for your kids?"
I can't believe I asked myself a loaded question.
For me, My NES and collection was going to be more of an heirloom item. Something that meant something. Not just another plug -n-play system that had the "best of the best" games with no quirks or flaws shelled out by Nintendo for a quick buck.
Something that I had played, my mom and dad had played in happier times. sure it had problems, but isn't that the feeling they're trying to capture? That it wasn't perfect which made it perfect?
( Okay, now I'm rambling. I want to get to the points on what I was trying to get to.)
When I saw the games that were on the list, it was my deal breaker.
I'm not trying to be a snob or a so-called hipster when it comes to the games of the NES. A lot of the games I used to play were based on cartoons that family thought I would enjoy, movies that my parents watched and got the game but the big thing was I had whatever the stores had. They were ones that just weren't on the list but I think they could do better.
I'm sure licensing and some of the legal stuff might come into play on this, But given the selection, I would say if it WAS the 60.00 it's supposed to be, it would be more reasonable, but the problem I have is that I couldn't see much interest in playing most of the games.
This is all done by emulation. They could have packed the entire NES library on the thing and they limited it to 30 games. Nintendo does everything they can to get Emulator sites taken down ( Which, legally it's their right) But why be so short about it? Anyways.
Let's take a looky-loo at the games, shall we? And seeing as how I've figured out the coloration for fonts, I'm going to color code this!
Games in blue are games I would love to play again
Games in red, I probably wouldn't play much or at all
Keep in mind, I'm basing this off of the combined effort of my adult self now and what I would have played as a kid. Also, I would most likely be playing this 1p as there's no one else to play along.
Balloon Fight-Meh. I've played this one. I might play it once or twice, but it doesn't do much for me.
BUBBLE BOBBLE-Okay, this is a good one. If you had the second controller, it is a good 2 player game.
Castlevania- I'm undecided on this one. But I'm leaning more towards not being interested. I've played it to completion a few times and it is a good challenge. But I also had it on GBA and played it excessively.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest-Since AVGN started his entire fame by tearing this game apart. I can't help but wonder why they even bothered with this one. It is extremely flawed and it isn't even one of the good ones. Castlevania III Dracula's curse would have been better.
Donkey Kong-It's a classic and it does have some playability but it would get boring fast.
Donkey Kong Jr.-Much like it's predecessor (father?) Donkey Kong Jr. holds limited interest to me. Most of the older games are based on getting a high score. Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 Repeat but a little faster.
DOUBLE DRAGON II: THE REVENGE- This is one I was on the fence with again. I'm not really into fighting or beat-em-ups, but I do have a few fond memories of playing this. I doubt I would play it again though.
Dr. Mario- Dr. Mario is good.
Excitebike- Meh. Not into racing games really.
FINAL FANTASY-This is alright. I would probably play it again.
Galaga- Galaga is an arcade game. It can also be readily found several places online and in the namco collection. Why port it here?
GHOSTS'N GOBLINS- Again, AVGN reviewed it and it is a flawed game. You have to play the entire thing TWICE to completion. The only good thing this time is that you can use savestates, but doesnt' that take away from the original feeling (Okay, I'll stop.)
GRADIUS- Salamander or Parodius would have been better.
Ice Climber-I didn't even know this game existed until I played Super Smash Bros Melee. It isn't a bad game but it's kind of generic and doesn't keep me interested for long.
Kid Icarus- See Kirby's Adventure
Kirby's Adventure- Kid Icarus and Kirby's adventure are 2 games that I missed growing up. I had Kirby's dreamland and Kid Icarus: Myth and Monsters for the original game boy but they're not really the same. I would probably play these.
Mario Bros.- What fun is a 2 player game when there's no one to play with.
MEGA MAN 2-I already have the Megaman Collection for PS2 that has 1-8 I play it once in a while but since I already have it, I wouldn't be playing it on here.
Metroid- I had this one on GBA when they re-released the classic games back in the early 2000's. I would probably play Metroid.
NINJA GAIDEN- A tough as nails platformer that's unforgiving and been reviewed by AVGN and others as being near impossible? Pass. I wasn't good at it anyways.
PAC-MAN- THIS GAME IS EVERYWHERE. I HAVE HAD CELLPHONES WITH THIS GAME BUILT ON IT. WHY PORT IT AGAIN?
Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream- I never got into the punch-out franchise. I'm just not into sports or boxing, and although I've gotten far when I unlocked it in Animal crossing, It just isn't my kind of thing.
StarTropics- I got startropics when I was about 13. I wasted so much time playing it and loved all the interesting concepts of the stories, the things you had to do with your manual to reveal the secret code number ( That stuff can be looked up online now) It would be cool to go back and play it again.
SUPER C- I have no interest. Didn't have any interest in the original Contra game either. I beat it, it's done in my book.
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3- There's a good chance I've spent more time playing these games than most people should. I've beaten them over and over again and their ports are already numerous. I've had all 3 on GBA and I still have Super Mario All stars for the Snes which is the same game with upgrades to graphics.
TECMO BOWL- I have a special beef about sports games. My grandparents got me John Elway's Quarterback to encourage me to like sports more. Instead of the desired result, I both grew to dislike football and played other games. ( I did take up ballet much to the chagrin of my grandparents.)
I can't stand playing sports games. If you're going to play a sport, play a sport. Unless you're a die-hard football fan, what's the point. ( Also, I don't like sports Anyways.)
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link- Another 2 I wouldn't mind playing again.
Okay, so that's 9 games out of 30. One was a maybe. So, 10 games out of 30. One third of the games that I have any interest in. Are the games worth 6.00 each? Sure. Any more than that? Certainly not.
Final thoughts- Thank goodness!
What I see is a situation that is somewhat sad. I've always been a gamer since I was 2 or 3. I've loved picking up something new and giving it a try and hearing that the NES was going to come back and it was going to be a quality product somewhat made me happy. I imagined that maybe nintendo would have some nifty tricks up their sleeve by releasing translated games from the famicom that I've never had the experience of enjoying or maybe porting some well made homebrew games and hacks that I've heard about. I even had a funny idea of them releasing 8-bit versions of some of their new games like skyward sword or splatoon.
The wonderful meld of new concepts in games with old school graphics. This is what I hoped for. Instead it's yet another rehash.
the possibility of seeing some games that could work flawlessly on a system sounded like (somewhat) of a great idea but it's cut short with a small game selection.
Ok. Rant over. Thanks for reading!
The wonderful meld of new concepts in games with old school graphics. This is what I hoped for. Instead it's yet another rehash.
the possibility of seeing some games that could work flawlessly on a system sounded like (somewhat) of a great idea but it's cut short with a small game selection.
Ok. Rant over. Thanks for reading!
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