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GAMING FEATURE

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BE AN OLD SCHOOL NINTENDO CHAMP!

Way back in 1990, the first Nintendo World Championships were held in the USA. It’s taken some time, but now the concept is coming home this month, in the form of Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition on Switch. So, we reckon it’s the perfect time to look back at just what the event was all about. Words Amy Flower T he brainchild of two blokes at Nintendo’s marketing agency, the idea was to hold an event that would end up touring across It featured specially composed minigames utilising three top NES

While Nintendo held various other competitions over the years following 1990, it wasn’t until 2015 that they revisited the Nintendo World Championships concept, to celebrate its 25th anniversary. This time out, players competed on a customised NES Remix on the Wii console, with the two eventual finalists tasked with conquering full-on levels from the then

DYK?

forthcoming Super Mario Maker for Wii U that threw every challenge imaginable at them. The winner received a trophy, while both finalists were given New Nintendo 3DS XL handhelds autographed by the surprise special guest, none other than Shigeru Miyamoto. The last outing of the Nintendo World Championships was in 2017, which followed a similar setup to those of 2015. The overall winner of this competition

The Nintendo World Championships 1990 cartridge is considered the most valuable of all

NES carts, with examples known to have changed hands for six-figure sums. The exact number of them out there is unknown, but it’s believed to be somewhere in the vicinity of 350 grey cartridges, as well as 26 gold ones that were given away in a magazine competition.

29 states of the USA. They kicked off in Dallas, Texas in March of 1990, where players in three different age groups – 11 and below, 12-17, and 18 and above – competed across three days. It was one of the first recorded esports competitions. Finalists were awarded a trophy, US$250 and, best of all, a trip to the World Finals at Universal Studios in California. These were held in December of 1990, in the then Star Trek Theater. The finals utilised a special custom, numbered game cartridge

titles in Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris . Players were tasked with setting the best cumulative scores

possible in the six minutes and 21 seconds allotted to them. After much competition, three

defeated the 2015 champion, who’d returned to defend his crown – and in the end probably wished that he hadn’t.

world champions were crowned, each receiving a convertible car, a US $10,000 savings bond, a rear projection TV, and a golden Mario trophy – plus a copy of the Nintendo World Championships 1990 cartridge, which has ended up being the most desirable prize of them all.

simply called Nintendo World Championships 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

• Nintendo World Championships:

NES Edition is out Jul 18

Compete in your own Nintendo World Championships, anywhere you want!

Rather than just delivering three games, this Switch outing gives us an array of 150-plus bite-sized timed challenges across 13 classic Nintendo Entertainment System games: Balloon Fight, Donkey Kong, Excitebike, Ice

Climber, Kid Icarus, Kirby’s Adventure, Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels, The Legend of Zelda, and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link .

We’ll be able to play alone in speedrun mode, while those equipped with Nintendo Switch Online accounts will go up against people the world over in weekly challenges. Meanwhile, up to eight players will be getting competitive locally in the game’s party mode. There will likely be tears!

This month’s release of Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition brings us the chance to experience much of the competitivity of the old school contest, but in a more relaxed setting.

44 JULY 2024

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