X user and Nintendo insider Pyoro_X stirred up some already lingering rumours. He dropped image of a Nintendo World Championships NES cartridge a couple of days ago, implying that some sort of re-release or at least inspired release was imminent. The cart was used in 1990’s official Nintendo World Championship events.
The hinting post by Pyoro soon was followed up by a posted that appeared on ESRB.org with the news that a game named ‘Nintendo World Championships : NES Edition’ got a ESRB rating (‘E’ for Everyone).
Since then, news outlets and the Nintendo fan community have been speculating on what this game could be. The ESRB description does give us an indication of what to expect:
“This is a collection of 2D challenges and platformer games in which players traverse through various modes (e.g., speedrun, survival). Several challenges involve reaching specific points, while others prompt players to defeat small enemies or survive brief battles. Some games depict pixelated characters using small swords or arrows to strike at enemies; enemies typically get stunned or disappear in a flash.”
This sounds a lot like a variant of NES Remix that was released on Wii U in 2014. The big question is if they will mix up the gameplay from NES Remix a bit and if there is an online and/or multiplayer component. Based on the previous releases of Tetris 99, Super Mario 35, and F-Zero 99, it would be weird to not add an online tournament element to a game called ‘Nintendo World Championship’.
The current generation of Nintendo Switch gamers may not be too familiar with the NES Championships and its NES cartridge. The Championship event was held in 1990 and consisted of 29 regional rounds, held in most major US cities. The finals were held in Los Angeles. The carts made for this event are few and far between. There are two versions; the grey version was used for the stage competition itself, while the gold version was handed out to all semi-finalists as a prize. Its scarcity resulted in both the grey and gold carts becoming holy grails for NES collectors worldwide.
