If you’re not familiar with the NES Remix series, it’s a simple gameplay concept. Basically, old games are broken up into smaller challenges. For example, one challenge in NES Remix 2 has Link directly via a Zelda II: The Adventure of Link level having to retrieve a key in one of the original game’s temples. It’s straight from the game and it’s simple stuff. Players are awarded with stars (up to three) based on how fast it takes the player to retrieve the key. The more stars you acquire in the game, the more levels you unlock in it, and most of the game works this way. The challenges are just a tiny piece of an original classic game that usually lasts between 45 seconds to a minute and a half, depending on what the challenge is asking of you (sometimes you reach challenges that might take 2-3 minutes). You can run through these things pretty quick, at least at the beginning. Before we talk about difficulty, let’s get into what games are included with this sucker.
With NES Remix 2, Nintendo has decided to bring the goods. Almost every game on the list is something you’ve probably owned/played or currently own during the NES days. You’ll find games like Kirby’s Adventure, Punch-Out!, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Dr. Mario, Wario Woods, Zelda: The Adventure of Link, Super Mario Bros. 2 and even Super Mario Bros. 3 broken up into smaller pieces with very short goals to accomplish. Simple stuff that makes for a fast and sometimes challenging bit of gameplay.
What I found fascinating about this is that there were actually some games that I had not played prior to this release from the Nintendo collection (I know, I know — I was a SEGA fan back in the days). This dilemma actually posed a challenge when I was trying to accomplish small feats in a short amount of time. For example, I have never in my life played Dr. Mario (sorry, Steven Schardein). I knew it came out around the same time as Tetris and around the time that SEGA was releasing its own version of Tetris called Columns. I didn’t know immediately how to navigate the pills to eliminate the viruses in the game, but eventually I figured it out. That’s a neat experience trying to play an old game for the first time. It’s a bonus side-effect (no pun intended) to playing NES Remix 2, but sometimes it did bite me in the butt hard (see Wario Woods for example).
Aside from the regulars games, you also get remixed games, which takes the elements and characters from several of the Nintendo classics and mixes them together to create a certain challenge. For example, there is a remix that is offered where Link must collect all the coins on a Super Mario Bros. level. It’s a bit odd, but Link’s sword swiping abilities make up for lack of Mario’s jumping abilities. Sometimes it’s simple stuff like that when it comes to the remixes or you get other things like the video below.
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The remixes offer up a nice variety of options that allow you to have a montage of classics in one group, or a true mix, like the Link example. It’s also nice to know what NOT to expect out of some of these mini-games, since most of us have completed most/all of the regular games. It offers up a good variety of gameplay.
Outside of these smaller mini-games in NES Remix 2, you also have Super Luigi Bros. as an option. While we may no longer reside in the ‘Year of Luigi’, this is Super Mario Bros. played backwards with Luigi leading the way. It’s an amazing experience, especially if you appreciate the original NES Super Mario Bros. and an added bonus to the $14.99 package. Aside from that, you also have a Championship Mode in NES Remix 2, which is only accessible if you have the first NES Remix. Leaderboard competitors will like that option, so it might be worth dropping the extra dough for the first game.
One point I would like to make before we move on is that some of these mini-games (not all) are not for the weak of heart. There’s a lot of frustration in some of the goals the games have you accomplish. If the video above didn’t really show you how the games are purposely unfair at times, then you should realize you the ultimate ‘unfair’ title is included in the NES Remix 2 gaggle of games. The Lost Levels will drive you nuts, and its quite frequent in the overall package. If you know nothing about Lost Levels then prepare thyself. It was supposed to be the second Super Mario Bros. game, but was deemed too difficult after market testing in Japan, so it never made it to North America originally (outside of the SNES All-stars game). It also didn’t help that the game was running late during development, which prompted a move for Nintendo to fill its spot. That’s why Super Mario Bros. 2 is so oddly out of place. It was a filler manipulated from a game called Doki Doki Panic. Arabian Nights-type characters were replaced by the Mario cast. I know, right? The More You Know.
Anyway, most of the games here are pretty straightforward, but some of the remixes/bonus games can really be frustrating. For example, there is a Lost Levels game where you must jump several gaps. The gaps are incredibly frustrating, and some of them have a wind element added to the mix. Good luck with that and try not to break your controller in the process. Those are expensive suckers.
In regards to the presentation of the game, everything is intact from the old days. While certainly there are some new elements present in the game (zooming in, awkward colors, flashing between blacks/whites/colors), the initial 8-bit core graphic style is in place. You will find the pixilation that you’ve come to enjoy and love from the old days. You will find moments where the game actually slows down if there are too many enemies onscreen at once (see all Metroid mini-games for example). Heck you’ll even find flickers from the screen here and there (see Kid Icarus for details). There’s a lot going on here, but all of it is still respectful and true of the 8-bit culture that it arose from eons ago. That’s part of the allure for this series, especially for old school gamers who actually enjoy breaking out their NES once in awhile. We are weird people.
As for sound, you have a wonderfully maintained sound core straight from the video games they started on. Much like the graphics, you’re going to get all the same 8-bit sounds still intact. There’s really nothing too new, except when you’re playing the remix levels — then it’s a good mixture. As I’m typing this right now I’ve got that damned Kid Icarus theme song stuck in my head — it’s something I haven’t heard in a long, long time. I digress, you will get all your favorite 8-bit tunes that you know and love.
So does this game have enough value in it to warrant the asking price? I think I would drop $14.99 for it if I hadn’t picked it up free from Nintendo. I just spent about 6-8 hours of gameplay time with this over the weekend. I’ve collected about 60-70 percent of the stars on each level and feel pretty confident that I would continue this game on the side. There’s enough here to make it feel like a solid purchase, especially since they brought in some of Nintendo’s (and the gaming industry’s) best classics. You have games like Punch-out!, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Kid Icarus in the bunch. By far this is better than the first NES Remix title, and that was somewhat worth the price of admission.
So, in short, yes there’s enough fun and hours to be had here (and replay value) to warrant the $14.99 asking price. NES Remix 2 is a very solid Nintendo title.
