Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition offers some modes, but they are all based on the Speedrun mode. In it, you will play through a series of challenges that at the lower levels will force you to jump to a platform in Ice Climbers, at the higher levels, which could lead you to overcome an entire dungeon in Zelda II: Link’s Adventure as quickly as possible. Each of the 13 games has a handful of short challenges with different difficulty levels. This is where I had the most fun, defeating a bunch of microgames based on a bunch of titles that most people probably only know about from their appearances in Super Smash Bros.

Successfully completing challenges rewards coins that can be used to unlock more challenges or avatar icons, but the economics of the unlocks are frustrating. I always felt like I was looking for money to unlock the next challenge when I got A++ and occasionally S. If you want to challenge yourself exclusively, you have to be exceptionally good to see everything, and it’s an unnecessary obstacle.

Fortunately, playing in the online modes rewards additional (and ultimately necessary) coins, and it’s fun to compete with other people’s high scores. They don’t compete live, like in Super Mario Bros. 35, but they play through a collection of speedrun games against the ghosts of other players. I like this approach because you can tackle challenges at your own pace as often as you want, without having to worry about network connectivity.

The local multiplayer mode is the highlight, and I had a particularly joyful experience playing with my son, who is understandably not nostalgic for this era of Nintendo games. It was almost educational to watch her slowly appreciate the fun of these games, thanks to the bite-sized presentation that never exceeds her greeting. The microgames are also varied and offer enough practice opportunities that I rarely win automatically just because I’m old. As a local party game for up to eight players, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is definitely a hit thanks to its fast pace and nostalgia.

Although barebones, I also like the presentation and explanation of what the Nintendo World Championships are and were. Nintendo understands that most gamers who got into the game, ideally, didn’t watch The Wizard in 1989 and probably didn’t know that before esports there was this weird thing where people participated in single-player games. Those were other times.

I have my frustrations with the in-game coin system for unlocking additional content and unfortunately most if not all of the games in the collection don’t stand the test of time. But to highlight Nintendo’s history, engage in nostalgia with local friends and play classic games exactly as long as they are fun, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition succeeds in its intention.