NES Classic Edition: Nintendo Classic Mini Release Date, Games, and Pre-Order

By Edwin Kee
NES Classic Edition
The NES Classic Edition might be difficult to find in the first few months of its availability, but all of that is set to end pretty soon. BusinessWire

The NES Classic Edition or Nintendo Classic Mini is living proof that old is gold. With the existing generation of consoles in the market that deliver plenty of polygon action and lifelike graphics, it is certainly a throwback to far more simple days where plenty of imagination is required to go along with the 8-bit adventures on your Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is nice to see that the upcoming smaller version of the NES, the NES Classic Edition, is ready to be unleashed upon the masses this November.

Nintendo’s home market, Japan, will be the first alongside Australia to pick up the NES Classic Edition this November 10th. As for folks living in the US and across the pond in Europe, they will simply have to wait for another day more -- which would be November 11th.

So far, reports that have trickled in concerning the emulated graphics and colors of the games which are found on the NES Classic Edition have been more than favorable. The 30 pre-loaded games are touted to be a faithful representation of the original games in their 8-bit glory as opposed to the re-releases on Nintendo's Virtual Console in the past. Basically, those who have seen it in action have gushed in the same manner that TVs are talked about with whites being sparking white, while everything looks really bright and cool thanks to the HDMI connection that it uses.

There does seem to be one potential hiccup for the NES Classic Edition though -- it will have a rather short cord for the NES controller that accompanies the console. We are talking about approximately a meter long, which is not the best length at all considering how large our TVs have become, meaning we would be sitting way too close to the TV for our comfort. In fact, the original NES that came out in the 1980s had controller cords that were around 8 feet in length which is more than double. Pray that the HDMI cable that you use will be lengthy enough in order to maximize the enjoyment of your new NES Classic Edition.

It will support multiple display modes that include standard HD output, one that simulates the aspect of CRT displays, a pixel perfect mode, and a 4:3 aspect ratio mode. You will not find on-screen instructions on how to play games on the NES Classic Edition though. Thankfully, Nintendo has a pretty novel way of letting you know how the game should be played -- by scanning a QR code in order to load old scans of NES instruction booklets on your smartphone. Pretty nifty in a unique way, don’t you think so?

There will be 30 pre-loaded titles, with 22 titles being common regardless of the region. As for the remaining 8 titles, they will be exclusive to either Japan or North America/PAL region, respectively. Both region microconsoles will feature the following titles: Balloon Fight, Castlevania, Donkey Kong, Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Dr. Mario, Excitebike, Galaga, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Gradius, Ice Climber, Kirby's Adventure, The Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros., Mega Man 2, Metroid, Ninja Gaiden, Pac-Man, Super C, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

The Japan release will carry the following exclusive titles: Atlantis no Nazo, Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai, Final Fantasy III, NES Open Tournament Golf, River City Ransom, Solomon's Key, Tsuppari Ōzumō, and Yie Ar Kung-Fu. As for the North American version, its exclusive titles would be Bubble Bobble, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Donkey Kong Jr., Final Fantasy, Kid Icarus, Punch Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream, StarTropics and Tecmo Bowl.

There is one feature in the new NES Classic Edition: the use of Suspend Points to save your progress in the game. If you press the Reset button on the console, you can save and jump back in from any point. Each game can store up to four of these Suspend Points. Sure as heck beats writing down a password or finishing a game at one go!

Expect it to retail for US$59.99, £49.99, A$99.95, €59.95 and ¥5,980, depending on the region in which it appears in.

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