I often find that replaying certaing games from my childhood such as Super Mario Bros., DuckTales, Mega Man and The Legend of Zelda, don't just provide me with a fantastic feeling of nostalgia, but also remind me of my roots. They help me keep perspective of where I started as a gamer, and retain the appreciation for those games. Last year, Nintendo took that amazing classic library I fell in love with as a kid, and turned it into a gauntlet of challenges they called NES Remix. Then last month, Nintendo compiled the best games from both NES Remix 1 and 2, and made it into a portable package on the 3DS with Ultimate NES Remix, providing bite sized challenges through a collection of classic games that might make you look at them just a bit different than before.
This time around, games like Wrecking Crew, Pinball, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Urban Champion and NES Open Tournament Golf, to name a few, have been removed in favor of combining the best titles from the two NES Remix games. That means you have the entirety of Super Mario Bros., including the Lost Levels, Donkey Kong games, both Zelda games, and much more. In total, you have 16 titles to complete challenges in, and that's not counting the Remix and Bonus levels, or the two extra modes, Speed Mario Bros. and Championship Mode.
Progressing through the game is relatively straight forward. You pick a game, then a challenge offered by that game, and try to complete that challenge in as little time as possible. The better you do, the more stars you earn, and stars are basically the currency which will unlock new challenges, new games as well as new Remix stages. The game is designed to encourage you to restart when you don't get a favorable star count. But even when you do earn three stars, there is a tier above that which outlines the stars with rainbow colors. It does absolutely nothing in terms of unlocking new content, however, it gives you bragging rights. Since you're able to upload and compare your times with people around the world, knowing that you made it in the top 10 for example is an immensely good feeling.
For those that might have some trouble with a few challenges, or perhaps want to see how the number 1 spot achieved that time, you can watch anyone's replay. It's a bit like cheating, because once you know how they did it, it's a bit easier for you to try and replicate it. Still, it's neat knowing that when you're in the top few spots, you'll have a bunch of people watching your spectacular feat.
But even with the ability to see how the pros managed to get the best times, it's not hard earning the full three stars on each challenge. Sure, some might have you restarting a few times due to player error, but the challenges are never so out of left field that you'll be scratching your head, wondering how they're accomplished. That's because the challenges actually play out more like tutorials for each game. When you start with Dr. Mario, you'll be tasked with eliminating a virus or two, but by the end, you'll be tasked with chaining them together. Donkey Kong will task you to jump over a barrel but eventually move on to jumping over three, and then eventually toppling the big guy himself. If you were to combine the challenges into one long stretch, you'd basically be learning how to play the game without interruption. The one cool thing, for those that maybe haven't beat all of the games, is that some offer you a glimpse at the final boss. For example, for Super Mario Bros. 2, the last challenge literally has you fighting Wart, essentially beating the game.
The best aspect of the game, however, are the Remix stages. Here you can be tasked with dodging spikes in Balloon Fight as the camera zooms in and out, or perhaps try to survive a stage from start to finish as an auto-running Mario, or even have characters appear in games they didn't star in. Trying to get to the top in Donkey Kong as Link might sound trivial, until you realize that he can't jump, meaning ladders are your only hope. There a bunch of these that are unlocked over the course of beating challenges, but not enough. It's called NES Remix, but the Remix stages are a relatively smart chunk of the overall experience. That's a shame because they're easily the best part. Cutting down on the individual challenges and making more Remixes would seem like a smart move.
Ultimate NES Remix and the 3DS are actually the perfect pairing, considering the extremely bite sized challenges. You'll never really play a stage for more than a few seconds, and even some of the longer challenges will take you less than 5 minutes to complete. That means you can whip out your 3DS, complete a few challenges, and put it back in your pocket and be on your way.
Though none of this really matters if you've already played the two games on the Wii U. All the handpicked games for Ultimate NES Remix come with the same exact challenges, with no difference whatsoever. So if you've already put hours into three-starring those challenges there, you probably won't be that enticed to do it all over again on a smaller screen. If you managed to hold off though, then congratulations, this is the best iteration of the series, containing only the best of the best.
While it may not be a new game, but rather a director's cut of the two previous games, it's still worthy of a purchase if you managed to miss out on the fantastic Wii U versions. The portability lends itself well to short spurts, and the game itself contains enough to keep you busy, just be prepared for a hard case of déjà vu if you've already played NES Remix 1 and 2.
